Chapter 27 - Portents

"Uuugh..."

"Guuurgh..."

"Haaagh..."

"..."

Maybe he had gone a little too far.

Looking sheepish, Aiden surveyed the knights making barely human noises around him. Limbs bent at grotesque angles, broken ribs puncturing lungs, twisted spines... Every one of them had suffered injuries unbearable even by superhuman standards.

'Wow.'

He had been confident, admittedly. None other than the Knight of Dawn, a hero renowned across the continent, had assured him that he could hold his own. With that man's endorsement, he had been certain he could keep fighting even with his supernatural powers weakened. But even Aiden hadn't imagined he would overwhelm them to this extent.

'... The lessons really have sunk in.'

Now he felt exactly what Meyer had meant when he said each death had earned him a spare life. His body already knew that failing to act a certain way would bring horrific pain, and instinctively sought out the most efficient movements. Combined with Meyer's skill, which analyzed his opponents' techniques in full, it had let him crush them as though he were merely toying with them.

-System Message

▶ Combat has ended. 'Skill: Analysis' has deactivated. The bonus to analyzing opponents' weaknesses has ended.

▶ The bonus from 'Combat Styles: One Strike, One Arrival' has ended.

▶ Proficiency in Schools of low significance has accumulated.

▶ These will not be copied as skills. Points will accumulate instead.

▶ The 'Point Shop' will open soon. Collect just a little more!

'Nothing... got copied.'

Analysis had allowed him to reproduce the movements involved in the knights' techniques, but those hadn't taken shape as additional Combat Styles. As always, that was probably because these people had little significance in the main scenario.

Not that he particularly regretted it. He already had Noel's vastly more efficient Combat Style, and he was on the verge of unlocking the Point Shop.

'I don't know what it's hiding that's so good it still won't open...'

As Aiden scratched his cheek at the thought, a thunderous shout rang out nearby.

"Aiden!"

It was Noel. Barely a few minutes could have passed since he requested backup, but apparently she had already rushed over.

"Oh, Dame No—"

Aiden turned to greet her, only to cut himself short. The instant he saw her expression as she ran toward him, he knew instinctively.

... She was angry.

Really, really angry.

Sure enough, the first thing Noel did upon reaching him was seize both his shoulders. Terrifying pressure bore down on them, as though they were caught in an industrial vise. He could almost see flames blazing in her eyes...

"What were you thinking, charging in alone without backup?!"

"..."

Aiden involuntarily shrank back at her booming voice.

"What if you'd been hurt?! What if something worse had happened?!"

"... Katya would have been in danger if I'd done nothing."

"You are far, far more likely to die than Her Highness!"

"..."

"Do you understand? You must never take a risk like this again! You should be leaving me or Her Highness behind and running for your own life—!"

... Wait.

She looked like a tiger about to devour its prey, but every word out of her mouth was concern for him.

He felt bad saying this to someone like that.

No, it was precisely because she was that sort of person.

"No."

However angry she was, some things had to be said. Aiden blinked, but his answer was clear.

"I can't do that."

"What in the world do you—!"

"If you were in that situation, Dame Noel, I'd do exactly the same thing."

"..."

"What's wrong with helping you or Katya when you're in danger?"

There was a world of difference between living an easygoing, peaceful life and living like a coward. And while Aiden wanted a peaceful life, he wasn't a coward.

Katya was his friend, and although he and Dame Noel had gotten off to a bad start, she had been consistently kind to him. It was fair to consider them people close to him.

And whenever those within his circle were threatened, he had always stepped up to meet that threat head-on. That was how he had lived, and how he would go on living.

Even if he was the only one who knew what dangers the future held, that was ultimately why he had shouldered the absurd burden of saving the world, a task far too great for any one person.

Even Aiden didn't know whether it was truly possible. He might fail miserably along the way, die, and leave the world to its destruction. Yet his reason for taking it on was, as always, something very small and very clear.

"If I'm going to abandon everyone I care about and live comfortably on my own, what's the point of working so hard?"

What value was there in going through life alone? What joy, what meaning?

He didn't mind putting himself at a little risk. He didn't mind losing out a little. If he and the people close to him could stick together and live happily, laughing and getting along, that was enough.

And anyone who got in the way of that idyllic picture ought to be crushed, whatever it took.

He had become entangled with extraordinary people, gained incredible abilities, and somehow ended up fated to save the world. But the course of his life had never once strayed from that path.

Family. Friends. An ordinary man dreaming of a peaceful life with them.

And one prepared to do anything to protect it.

"..."

As Noel listened, her grip gradually loosened. She lowered her hands and remained silent for a long time.

The longer she stayed silent, the more color drained from Aiden's face.

'I shouldn't have talked back...!'

Wasn't this what people looked like right before they exploded? Had he tried to act big in front of someone angry, only to earn himself an even worse dressing-down...?! Even if he had to speak his mind, he should have put it more gently...!

"... You really are a strange man, Aiden."

Her eyes looked as though she were about to cry.

"Why are you only ever so adamant at times like this? Usually, you want to live as though you're invisible."

... Uh.

Aiden blinked awkwardly.

Wait. Why was she acting like this? He had expected her to scold him for talking back, but this felt...

'Like I've triggered some kind of trauma?'

In fact, her demeanor resembled the time he had asked how she came to be called the Butcher. Listening to him seemed to have caught her off guard, as though she were seeing something she didn't want to remember superimposed on him.

At last, Noel pulled her cap low over her face. It was something she often did when she didn't want her expression seen.

"Please return to headquarters with Her Highness. I'll take care of things here."

"..."

Unlike before, though, even getting an explanation for this seemed a distant prospect.

▣

"That one's the real deal."

Sir Levant gave a dry laugh as his hands were bound behind his back.

"You've landed yourself a decent husband, Noel. Looks like you have a good eye for people."

"..."

"Which makes it all the easier to see why you keep your distance from him."

"..."

"Different sex, but he's a lot like Teresa, isn't he?"

"... Sir Levant."

Noel paused before continuing.

"What possessed you to do something like this?"

"I didn't think we were close enough to worry about each other."

"We were comrades in the Coalition War."

"We were, until Teresa died because of you."

"..."

Noel's hands stopped moving. Sir Levant addressed her slowly.

"Noel Astria Seamus. Listen carefully."

There was too much regret and sorrow in his voice for it to be mere condemnation.

"You should have been the one who stayed behind until the very end, not Teresa. The Lord Protector should have returned in triumph as the hero who saved the nation. Not you."

"..."

Noel offered no reply, silently moving her hands to bind the knights, as though these words were a burden she had to bear.

Watching her without resisting his restraints, Sir Levant gave another dry laugh and continued.

"You've changed, Lionhearted."

"In what way?"

"You used to fly into a rage at the mere mention of Teresa. You seem to have a bit more composure now."

"..."

Noel smiled bitterly at his words.

Who could say? Until recently, that certainly would have been the case.

Why was that?

"Married life must agree with you, huh?"

"..."

"You're newlyweds, still all lovey-dovey. I hope he goes and has an aff—"

Instead of answering, Noel struck the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious.

... It was a merciless blow.

▣

It had been an eventful day.

Back at headquarters, Katya had gone straight to her room and shut herself away, apparently deep in thought. Aiden, too, had collapsed face-first onto his bed after everything that had happened.

'Those knights—'

Apparently, they would be sent straight to trial. That was what Dame Noel had said after arresting them and handing them over to the prosecutors.

They would probably face severe punishment.

"..."

There was no evidence anywhere that could lead him to whoever had arranged this, or why. But he had his suspicions.

-Skill Info

◈ Weaver of Fate

⧾Arden Brimstone Lionel

- Malice: Level 1

- You may imitate 1 skill.

※ It is impossible to build a Bond with this target. Skill effects will differ from the originals!

After all, this was the only person who explicitly harbored Malice toward him. The only conclusion he could draw was that the attack had been intended to put him in a difficult position.

'... In that case.'

Aiden stared at the window through narrowed eyes. If the prince was beginning to act openly hostile, he had no intention of sitting back and taking it. He would need countermeasures.

Of course, there was something more urgent to deal with first.

-Quest Info

♠ Main Quest

◈ Act 1, < Rift in the Capital >

▶ Chapter 1 will begin soon!

▶ A related event will begin soon. (D-1)

◈ Sham Marriage

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

- A related event will occur soon. (D-1)

"Hmm."

Aiden's eyes narrowed further as he examined the window floating before him, until the skin around them practically crinkled with wrinkles.

Only one day left.

The Main Quest had been scheduled all along, so that was one thing. But why was something involving Noel happening at the same time?

'I've done everything I can to prepare.'

He didn't know what would happen, but he could say that without a shred of shame. It was a pity he hadn't unlocked the Point Shop, but he had already copied more than enough skills. If the difficulty matched what he remembered from the original game, he should be able to get through it without much trouble.

Still, one consistent pattern kept him from feeling reassured.

'Nothing has ever gone the way it did in the original.'

For starters, this world had no protagonist. The very assumption that everything would follow its original course was absurd.

Something unexpected was bound to happen.

In that case, he would need at least one insurance policy. Apart from building up his strength, there was at least one thing he could do that would directly help with the incident.

"Hmm."

Aiden exhaled through his nose and walked straight out into the corridor. Most people had finished work for the day, even that workaholic Noel, but there was always one person who worked later still.

Reaching his destination, he knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

At the exhausted voice, Aiden eased the door open and stepped inside. Dame Stella came into view, still pounding away at her typewriter with mechanical efficiency despite her punishing workload.

"Aiden? What brings you here at this hour?"

They had hardly ever met privately like this, and Stella's eyebrows arched as she asked.

It certainly was an odd situation. What he was about to say would make it stranger still.

"Dame Stella."

"Yes? What is it?"

"Would you like to go out with me?"

"..."

Stella frowned and looked out the window. Dusk was long past. It was the pitch-black hour before dawn.

... However you looked at it, this was an odd request to make of a woman who wasn't his wife at this hour.

"... It does seem rather late to be going out...?"

"It does, doesn't it?"

"I'm glad you realize that. If it's urgent, you should report it to Dame Noel and have her assign suitable personnel—"

"No, I don't think anyone but you will do."

"..."

"I'd like it to be just the two of us."

Stella spat out her coffee in a spectacular spray.