Chapter 12 - Dharmic Power (2)

“Lionhearted.”

“Yes, Chieftain?”

“You certainly picked yourself a fine husband.”

“...”

“...”

Noel silently refilled Dunadan’s glass. She had never expected her liquor-collecting hobby to come in handy at a time like this.

It was certainly too early to be drinking, but one look at his condition made it impossible not to pour him a glass.

At first, she had wondered what had brought him here so suddenly. After hearing what had just happened, though, she could understand.

“... Aiden formed three dharmic cores in just a few hours, you said?”

“With ridiculous ease.”

As Noel cautiously revisited what had happened, Dunadan slammed the drink she had poured him straight down his throat. The sheer dejection in that gesture was something else...

“Did you know that forming one’s first core serves as a coming-of-age ceremony in the Tribal Alliance, Lionhearted?”

“I heard as much from those I fought alongside.”

“Then you must also know that everyone in the Alliance is required to learn to wield dharmic power from birth.”

In other words, even with training from such an early age, forming one core by adulthood was the ‘average.’ And that feat alone made the Tribal Alliance’s population the strongest individual fighters on the continent.

‘Certainly...’

Noel searched her memories. Hadn’t countless warriors of the Great Plains distinguished themselves even in the hellish Coalition War with only two or three cores?

Yet this man, Aiden Kellermain, had reached that level in a mere few hours.

“Simply being born with supernatural powers and wielding them well are entirely different matters.”

Occasionally, there were blessed individuals—people who wielded multiple supernatural powers as naturally as breathing. It was hard to deny that Aiden Kellermain was unquestionably one of them.

And so...

“Honestly, I was even preparing to console him. Even people confident in their command of power struggle to master dharmic power.”

They were geniuses. They were blessed. So why couldn’t they even manage this? He had seen quite a few people fall into that kind of despair.

And this young man had somehow been born with both the Lionhearted’s pure-white energy and the divinity of the Holy Kingdom’s royalty. It wasn’t hard to imagine he would take immense pride in himself.

Dunadan had expected him to experience what he himself had felt when first wielding dharmic power—to hit the same ‘wall’ he had seen others face. He certainly hadn’t expected to experience those feelings himself while watching a ‘beginner.’

“The boy’s a genius.”

At Noel’s quiet nod, Dunadan briefly grimaced. He seemed to be reconsidering what he had just said.

“No. Even calling him a... genius isn’t quite right.”

He swirled the liquor in his glass and continued.

“He’s a monster.”

“...”

The talent Aiden had displayed was certainly extraordinary, but it wasn’t unparalleled. History books alone were full of people whose talents could only be described as brutally overwhelming.

The savior of humanity, the vanquished god of calamity, the forgotten Demon King...

With such terrifying, transcendent names etched into the continent’s history, his talent wasn’t all that special. That was what Dunadan had thought—until he witnessed yesterday’s feat firsthand.

“I grew up being called a genius myself, but I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life. If I told my fellow chieftains back on the Great Plains, they’d think I’d gone mad.”

Noel fell silent for a moment at that blunt assessment before speaking.

“How long does it usually take to reach that level?”

“Ten years for someone of ordinary talent.”

“...”

“Even I needed two.”

“...”

“Believe me, Lionhearted. You chose your husband well. Even I’m curious to see how far that boy will go.”

What a genius had achieved in two years, he had accomplished overnight—and in just a few hours of that night.

Noel stroked her cheek, briefly considering what to say. Dunadan’s innate talent had placed him above others all his life, making him the very benchmark of genius.

Now, faced for the first time with talent so great it felt like an insurmountable wall, he was clearly on the verge of losing his mind. Should she console him? Or...

“That’s Aiden for you.”

“... I’m glad you’re so happily married, but must you boast about your husband in front of me right now?”

Noel chuckled and refilled his glass. In truth, she had said it less out of pride than out of her own bewilderment. His ability was one thing, but his decision to do this at all puzzled her.

‘... Why start training all of a sudden?’

Anyone who wasn’t a fool could see that Aiden went to extreme lengths to avoid getting entangled in anything ‘serious,’ ‘troublesome,’ or ‘difficult.’

Of course, being by her side meant weathering such storms, which was why she had brought in a man she thought could handle them. But his attitude made it clear he didn’t welcome them.

Wasn’t that precisely why she kept him so close, almost under surveillance—to protect him from being suddenly swept up in such trouble whenever possible?

As she mulled over that question, Dunadan spoke again in a dazed voice.

“This is good liquor.”

“I have another bottle. You can have it.”

“Care to join me?”

“I still have official duties to attend to.”

Noel smiled wryly. At least one of them had to keep a clear head, in case someone not in their right mind caused an unfortunate incident.

At least, that probably would have been the case if she hadn’t voiced the question on her mind.

“But why did Aiden want to learn dharmic power in particular?”

“He said there was someone he wanted to impress. That he wanted to become a better man.”

“...”

“I told you, didn’t I? You chose your husband well. Having someone so gifted look at you with such devotion—doesn’t that make life worth living?”

Noel stared at Dunadan in expressionless silence. For a long time. Long enough to fluster the man who had said it. In a way, she seemed to be suppressing her own flustered reaction.

“... Surely he wasn’t talking about me.”

When she finally broke her silence with that cautious murmur, Dunadan replied incredulously.

“Who else would he mean, if not his new wife?”

“...”

Noel’s expression grew even blanker. Well, he had a point. But still.

Aiden had been abducted and forcibly bound to a contract marriage in the first place. He had no reason to say that about her—

[“It seems you really don’t remember the past. Your childhood, for instance?”]

[“No, it’s nothing. I just never imagined you’d actually forgotten.”]

—or perhaps he did. Probably.

As those words battered her mind, Noel rubbed her hands over her face. Again. Again, again, again.

However much she wanted to deny it, those words held her spellbound. Had there really been something between them in the past? Was that why he went around saying such things without the slightest embarrassment?

She didn’t know. She wanted to set it aside, knowing she couldn’t find out right away, but with constant reminders like these, how could she not dwell on it?

“...”

And there was a fairly clear solution to distracting thoughts like these. With a sigh, Noel fetched another glass from the cupboard. Her intent was so obvious that Dunadan let out an amused laugh.

“Don’t you have official duties left?”

“... On second thought, a few drinks would help, if anything. I doubt they’ll get in the way.”

“Of course.”

CLINK

They touched the rims of their glasses together.

‘... Could he actually like me?’

Pouring liquor generously into her glass, Noel found herself mulling over that thought.

“...”

Oh, come on. Surely not. That was ridiculous.

She continued along that train of thought as she drained her half-full glass in one gulp. ... Perhaps it was the alcohol, but her face felt hot.

▣

-Skill Info

『 Dunadan U`zal 』

- Bond: Level 2

- You may copy 1 additional skill.

< Copied Skills >

◆ General Supernatural Power: Dharmic Power

A supernatural power bestowed by Urgan, God of the Supreme Vehicle. It can be wielded by imposing a prohibition upon yourself.

▶ Number of Cores: 5

※ Proficiency increases rapidly through the Omnipotence skill’s enhancement. An atypical property is applied.

※ Only ‘Unique’ prohibitions may be selected. This power cannot be used through any other means. In exchange, satisfying this condition will transform the skill.

Aiden stared at the number 5 beside the core count in the system window.

‘I stopped at three earlier because of the chieftain...’

With every new core, the man’s expression had crept closer to outright madness, making Aiden increasingly self-conscious. As a result, the question he had meant to ask afterward remained unanswered. The problem was the two additional notices at the bottom of the skill window.

‘So only special ones work for me?’

In the game, perfectly simple prohibitions like ‘skip a meal’ or ‘sleep less than seven hours’ had worked just fine. But when Aiden tried them, every prohibition of that kind was invalidated. Just as the skill window said, it seemed only special ones would work.

‘What exactly does it mean by Unique...?’

Judging by the terminology the system had used so far, it probably meant something with a characteristic ‘no one else possessed.’

‘A prohibition nobody else has ever used?’

... Just thinking about the number of people on the Great Plains made his head spin. Thinking about how many dharmic power users there were across the entire continent made it worse. At this rate, wouldn’t he be unable to use dharmic power after going to all that trouble to learn it...?

‘I’ll have to give this some thought.’

As he moved to close the window, a new message suddenly popped up before him.

-System Message

▶ Target ‘Noel Astria Seamus’ has increased affection for you.

▶ Bond has advanced from Level 2 to Level 3.

▶ You have gained 1 additional skill copy!

▶ Related content will soon be added to the Main Quest!

Aiden blinked blankly at the window that had appeared out of nowhere.

‘... Did that actually work?’

He had considered the possibility that the excuse he had casually given Dunadan might reach Noel. But honestly, he had been half joking. Seeing her affection actually rise left him feeling rather uneasy.

“...”

At this point, he did feel a warning that he ought to rethink his approach. If her affection kept soaring this quickly, their relationship might eventually become genuinely deep. Still...

‘... Surely it won’t go that far.’

For now, a string of coincidences was simply making her more and more interested in him. All the attention he received would eventually shift to the ‘protagonist’ once that person appeared.

In any case, he planned to dump everything on the protagonist he would soon meet and return to an ordinary life. He just had to make good use of this until then.

Aiden tapped his chin thoughtfully.

‘What I have left now...’

He currently had three skill copies remaining in total: one from Katya, one from Noel, and one he could take from His Majesty the Emperor.

‘No need to learn them right away.’

He had no idea what might happen during the main scenario event, so learning skills in advance made little sense. He had already skimmed the available skills. Ideally, he would stay flexible and learn whichever ability best suited the situation when things became urgent.

After all, hadn’t he gone to the trouble of learning dharmic power precisely as a way to handle unforeseen emergencies?

‘... Of course, getting through this peacefully without learning anything else would be best.’

Wasn’t that why he was working so hard now?

His footsteps took him somewhere he had visited once before: Billy Hagan’s tool shop. He was there to collect the information he had requested.

The moment he entered, Billy recognized his face and snorted.

“Ah, you’re the one sticking his neck into dangerous business, right?”

... That was a slightly odd way to remember him, but all right.

“Did you get the information?”

The moment he asked, a rolled bundle of papers landed on the counter.

“I’ve put everything together. Trade volume, distribution routes, and most importantly, the ‘transaction site.’”

He had probably emphasized the transaction site because Aiden had specifically requested it, considering it highly likely to be where the incident would unfold.

Aiden nodded and skimmed the documents. This was certainly work worth paying a premium for. He set the pouch of gold coins he had brought on the counter.

“I put in an extra fifty gold. As a token of friendship.”

“You rich or something?”

... Noel had given him quite a lot. Aiden nodded vaguely.

Billy emptied the pouch, counted the coins to confirm the amount, then let out a chuckle and separated the extra payment.

“Don’t need this. Take it back. I didn’t finish the whole job anyway.”

“Sorry?”

“Those weapons. I couldn’t find out who’s putting them on the market. They’ve covered their tracks damn well.”

“For five hundred and fifty gold, couldn’t you have tried a little harder?”

Billy answered with an easy laugh.

“Fuck off.”

“...”

“If I can’t find them, they’re at least a high-ranking noble. You want me to dig into someone like that? Trying to get someone’s head chopped off?”

“... I see.”

Aiden nodded, frowning slightly.

‘Was that always impossible to find?’

A high-ranking noble? In the game, tracking down the group handling distribution itself hadn’t been particularly difficult. They were run-of-the-mill criminals. The problem had been identifying whoever had hired them.

Getting stuck at the very first step like this was hard to reconcile with the original story Aiden remembered.

‘... Something really is different.’

There was the poor relationship between the Emperor and the imperial prince, one of Act 1’s good guys. And now something was off about the main scenario’s very first incident. Little details kept giving him the feeling that things weren’t quite right.

And one particular fact was amplifying his sense that things differed from the ‘original’ he knew.

“Excuse me, Mr. Hagan.”

“Just Billy is fine. What is it?”

“There’s nothing here about the person I asked you to look into.”

“Maybe because there wasn’t anything to put in?”

“... Is that so?”

Information on the ‘protagonist’ was missing yet again. Even an information broker this capable hadn’t been able to find anything.

“...”

He hadn’t given up hope yet. Even if the main scenario had been twisted a little, the absence of that person would shake the very foundations of this game world.

But...

“—”

If. If, by some chance, that person wasn’t there tomorrow. If this turned out to be a world without a protagonist...

-Quest Info

▶ Failure in the events listed here will incur severe penalties!

◈ Sham Marriage

- You have been chosen as Dame Noel’s spouse. Maintain your contract with her to the end!

◈ Act 1, < Rift in the Capital >

- Your frequency of contact with important scenario figures is rising to a sufficient level.

- Your presence will soon be formally incorporated into the scenario. Your course of action will determine the scenario’s direction!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-2)

◈ Life Is Beautiful

- Katya Heinkel Craven desperately wants something from you. Do everything you can to help the target fully experience ‘sensation’!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-2)

... If he had to resolve all these terrifying events entirely on his own...

There was something he had in mind. Something he absolutely did not want to do, and probably wouldn’t have to. But if the worst truly came to pass...

‘I’ll have to do it.’

When that time came, he, too, would have to do what needed to be done.