Chapter 20 - The Spirit (2)

“Fascinating.”

Katya's eyes shone as she watched Aiden being flung every which way like a scrap of cloth in the wind. Intrigued, she asked, “Are you getting beaten up by a ghost right now?”

“Don't just stand there watching! Come and hel—!”

Before he could finish, Aiden's body went flying in another direction.

Ghosts existed in the Reverse Realm, a space “overlaid” upon the real world, and could not exert much influence on the physical realm.

Normally, that was.

Unless they had been so terrifyingly powerful as humans that they could twist even those laws.

Which meant that the ghost currently slamming Aiden into everything in sight was indirectly demonstrating just how powerful he had been in life.

“You've got some fucking nerve, you little bastard—!”

Katya couldn't hear him, but the Knight of Dawn's furious bellows were truly savage.

Quite at odds with his exceedingly handsome appearance, though.

Blond hair, blue eyes, a handsome face, and the full plate armor that marked a knight. If he would just stand still and keep his mouth shut, one could charitably call him distinguished.

“What? Exaggerated? A petty bastard? You wet-behind-the-ears brat, you must have a death wish—!”

That description might have worked if he weren't constantly spluttering things like this.

Aiden sailed through the air again as he thought that.

“... Please calm down for a moment, my senior—”

“Senior, my ass! Don't go lumping me in with you—!”

Still fuming, the Knight of Dawn raised a fist. He looked ready to vent his towering rage with a punch.

Now that looked a little dangerous, even by the standards of this encounter.

“I said, would you please STOP!”

Divinity flared from Aiden's body with those words.

The Knight of Dawn stopped just as he was about to lunge. Suspicion and astonishment mingled in his eyes.

“... Divinity?” the Knight of Dawn murmured blankly.

“You definitely smell like someone who uses energy. How can you wield divinity too?”

“...”

With a rueful smile, Aiden dusted himself off.

“Didn't I tell you? You're my ‘senior.’”

Yes, he'd known that showing off his multiple supernatural powers would catch the man's interest.

“Consider this a greeting from your junior. If we're talking strictly about wielders of multiple supernatural powers, that makes you my senior, doesn't it?”

Even throughout history, people with the talent to wield multiple supernatural powers were extraordinarily rare. The Knight of Dawn standing before him was one of them.

It was easy to see why he had been beloved across the continent. Who else could have skillfully wielded multiple supernatural powers, each a defining characteristic of a different nation?

“I need your help.”

That was also why Aiden wanted to “take him along.”

Search the entire world, and this was the only person who could understand his development path inside and out and advise him on it.

“... To be perfectly honest, I desperately need your help. Something truly terrible will happen otherwise.”

Primarily, the fate of the world was at stake.

Aiden was currently the only person who properly understood the existence of the world-scale threat called the “main scenario.” Which was practically the same as saying that if he failed, everyone would die together.

“... What the hell are you babbling about? You were calling me overrated a moment ago, and now you—”

“Those were all lies to get a chance to meet you. I couldn't have called your spirit here otherwise.”

“...”

“Who in the world would ever disparage the first knight, a hero renowned across the continent?”

“...”

Aiden could feel Katya staring at him in disbelief beside him.

She couldn't hear the conversation, but her eyes plainly asked whether anyone could possibly fall for that.

-System Message

▶ You have made contact with the ‘Knight of Dawn,’ Meyer Belford.

▶ Although he does not influence the main scenario, his abilities are extraordinarily exceptional. His value is equivalent to that of an ‘Important Character.’

▶ Bond with the target has increased to Level 1!

▶ Linking with the skill ‘Weaver of Fate’!

... Yes, someone could.

Someone that simple did exist.

Aiden stared at the window with a hollow inward laugh. He'd expected that a little appeal to the man's personality would win him over, but it was almost absurd how perfectly it had worked.

“... You think anyone would fall for such halfhearted flattery?”

The fact that he was saying this while falling for it was even more unsettling...

Meyer, the Knight of Dawn, folded his arms and spoke, still wearing an outwardly sulky expression.

“Besides, I hear there's someone in this era who puts the likes of me to shame. The Lionhearted... was it?”

One might wonder how a ghost knew all that, but as his instant response to Aiden's provocation had shown, this man was terribly concerned with his “honor” and “reputation.” It would have been stranger if he hadn't paid attention to the person who'd displaced him as the strongest knight.

However...

“As it happens, I'm the Lionhearted's husband.”

Meyer narrowed his eyes sharply, only for his expression to turn peculiar at Aiden's next words.

“I can vouch for it. Even she would struggle to catch up with you.”

At the edge of his vision, he saw Katya's lips twist.

She looked as though she couldn't imagine what he was talking about, but Aiden meant it.

Quite apart from the simple question of who was stronger, it was a statement that couldn't possibly be false with one qualification.

If this man had only had a little more time...

Even Dame Noel would never have surpassed him.

For a dead person's soul to linger rather than pass on, two conditions had to be met.

They had to be a great figure worthy of leaving their name in history.

And they had to carry a regret so deeply rooted that even death could not bring them rest.

In the Knight of Dawn's case...

“There's still so much you never got to do.”

The Knight of Dawn's expression changed abruptly.

Until now, he had shown nothing but fury and rage. For the first time, Aiden's words seemed to have caught him off guard.

“...”

The Knight of Dawn appeared only in the game's lore, but he still left a profound impression.

The heights he had narrowly failed to reach because he discovered his talent too late were described in a single brief sentence:

“Beyond the realm of human endeavor.”

Even the legendary exploits he had left across the continent were supposedly part of his training to reach those heights.

“... You.”

After staring at Aiden for a long time, Meyer let out a short laugh and continued.

“You say some interesting things. There's no way records would have preserved that much.”

“Think of it as the dedication of a junior who admires you.”

“Like hell. You approached me because you want to use me. You think I can't see that much?”

“That's actually correct.”

“...”

While that devastating honesty left Meyer speechless, Aiden shrugged and continued.

“But surely there's no one better than me for you to use in return.”

“What?”

“How long do you think it'll take for another wielder of multiple supernatural powers to come along?”

“...”

“And what are the chances of that person coming here to speak to you directly?”

“...”

“And after all those odds, what are the chances that the person you meet will swear to fulfill your deepest wish in your stead?”

Meyer's frown deepened.

“... You really know how to pick the most aggravating things to say.”

They were aggravating because they were true.

His next words made that clear.

“What exactly do you want me to help with? There's not much I can do as a ghost.”

'Got him.'

Grinning inwardly, Aiden picked up a nearby relic.

He'd had his eye on it since entering: a bracelet he could wear comfortably without looking out of place.

“Put another way, there are things you can do precisely because you're a ghost.”

“What?”

“Would you try ‘entering’ this first?”

With that, Aiden proceeded to explain what Meyer could “help” him with.

“... How did I end up stuck with a bastard like this?”

Admittedly, his explanation did warrant that groan.

▣

A little later.

“Hmm.”

Aiden breathed out through his nose as he examined the bracelet's strange glow.

It clearly held Meyer's soul safely within.

'With this...'

He'd accomplished everything he'd set out to do.

Rania's Spiritual Attunement, Meyer's soul that he'd contacted through it, and the first imperial prince's skill, perfectly suited to handling that soul, though he had yet to acquire it.

He could safely say he'd gathered everything he needed to resolve Act 1's “Ghost Knight Disturbance.”

“Are you done?”

“Yes. All we have to do now is leave.”

So he could answer that question without hesitation.

“But...”

Katya tilted her head, cutting in.

“I think we've been here too long.”

“Pardon?”

“That wasn't there a moment ago.”

He turned to look.

A crystal embedded in the wall was visibly emitting red light. It was clearly about to sound an alarm, and the entire room was taking on the same hue, as though responding to it.

Aiden's expression froze as everything around him turned red.

“Looks like a system that activates automatically if someone stays inside too long.”

“Instead of analyzing it, we need to stop it...!”

Aiden tried to move in alarm.

But in that instant...

CRACK!

The alarm emitting the red light shattered, cleaved in two by a sword stroke delivered at terrifying speed.

Aiden stared blankly toward the source of the attack.

He had no idea where or when she'd appeared, but Noel was sheathing her sword with a sigh.

“I don't know what you've been doing, but would you please refrain from entering places like this without permission? You could land yourself in considerable trouble.”

“... Dame Noel?”

Dame Stella had definitely said she'd gone back because she wasn't feeling well.

“Where on earth did you come from...? Didn't you say you'd gone back?”

“... I was going to. But I saw you busily slipping through palace security with Her Highness, so I followed just in case.”

“...”

“You looked to be in danger, so I helped.”

So she'd seen all of that too.

And rather than stop them, she'd just quietly followed.

'Still, well.'

Thanks to her, things had gone smoothly without any trouble.

He ought to thank her.

“You saved us a lot of trouble. Thank you, Dame Noel.”

“... Yes.”

“...”

What was that reaction?

Her curt reply was so stiff that a wooden doll would have sounded livelier.

Noel abruptly turned her head and pulled her hat low, as though determined to avoid meeting Aiden's eyes.

“... Would you follow me? I'll show you the way out.”

“...”

“Let's return to headquarters immediately. I'd rather not prolong this night any further.”

Puzzled by her oddly curt manner, Aiden tilted his head and followed.

“... Hmm.”

Behind them, Katya was staring at the back of Noel's head, looking unconvinced.

“Has her attitude... changed a little...?”

The mutter lingered on her lips.

▣

An untimely commotion stirred through military headquarters.

The cause was Dame Noel, newly returned from the banquet with her husband-to-be.

After parting with Aiden, she was causing quite a great deal of... “commotion” on her way to her private room.

“Oh, Dame Noel? Did you enjoy the banq—”

The person trying to greet her snapped their mouth shut.

A natural reaction.

One look at Noel's face as she strode down the corridor would tell anyone that speaking to her was a bad idea.

“D-Dame Noel. Are you all right?”

“I'm fine.”

“If you're ill, I'll contact the medical unit right—”

“I said I'm fine.”

“Eek.”

One of the concerned people around her involuntarily sucked in a breath.

Probably because her reply had been so icy.

Normally, she showed little beyond a blank expression or a contrived smile. Right now, though, her expressionless face positively radiated the sense that she was forcefully suppressing something.

'She must be in a bad mood...'

Who knew what had happened, but something must have occurred at the banquet.

As everyone backed away with that thought, Noel marched on toward her private room.

She kicked the door open, all but threw down her sword, and hung her coat and hat on the coat rack.

Then...

“...”

She collapsed forward, slamming her head into the desk.

BANG!

Only then did she feel a little of the heat dissipate—the heat that seemed to be turning not just her ears but the very crown of her head bright red.

Holding it all in so no one would notice had been truly exhausting.

'What was that?'

What was that?

What was that, what was that, what was that?

Those were the only thoughts filling her mind.

She was short of breath.

She'd somehow held herself together long enough to reach her room, but now heat seemed to race through her entire body.

It felt as though someone had poured fire into her veins.

[“I have feelings for her.”]

“—!”

As that sentence played through her mind again, she slammed her forehead into the desk once more.

BANG!

'... What was that?'

Panting, her forehead pressed to the desk, she rubbed her head against it until her hair was a mess. Still, that question refused to leave her mind.

Even she couldn't understand what had just happened.

That man had said he had feelings for her.

Why? How? For what reason?

As far as Noel knew, there wasn't a single reason for him to feel that way about her.

'A lie.'

The man had been a con artist by trade. Most likely, he'd said it simply to get himself out of that situation.

Intellectually, she understood that.

The problem was...

[“I'll do it. I'll prove my worth, if that's what it takes to get engaged.”]

To dismiss it as nothing more than a lie...

[“But why did Aiden want to learn dharmic power in the first place?”]

[“He said it was for someone he loves.”]

[“I told you, you chose your husband well. Isn't life worth living when someone born with that much talent is so devoted to you?”]

There were all the things she had seen and heard up to now.

“...”

Come to think of it, wasn't it strange that he would go so far as to lie to take her side in the first place?

Considering everything Aiden had done so far, the prince's terms fit his attitude perfectly.

He wanted to avoid hardship wherever possible, cherished his family dearly, and preferred to live quietly without drawing attention.

And yet...

Was there any reason for him to go so far as to lie to reject an offer that perfectly satisfied all of those wishes?

Even inventing such an absurd claim. That is...

That Aiden had feelings for her—

“—!!!”

With her forehead still planted on the desk, she hammered her fists against it.

BANG! BANG!

Decorum, dignity, and all that crap had gone right out the window, but she had no attention to spare for any of it.

'Why would you say that, Aiden, why on earth—'

Amid the tangled, jumbled mess of her thoughts, only that sentence floated with any clarity.

“... Haaa...”

A long sigh escaped Noel's lips, as though her very soul were being drawn out with it.