Chapter 3 - This Is Too Much

A knight’s armor was, by definition, top of the line. Equipment was tailored to its user, and ordinary gear would be of little use to knights, some of the finest elites in the Empire.

“And yet, look at it now.”

As Noel pointed to the utterly mangled armor, Aiden’s back rapidly began to grow damp. Even someone with no particular talent for combat could immediately tell that the pressure radiating from her was anything but ordinary.

“Do you understand what this means?”

“... What does it mean?”

“It means Gale would have died instantly without his armor. From a single clumsy punch you threw without even taking a proper stance.”

Noel continued with a faint smile.

“It’s absurd. Among ordinary combatants, Gale stands head and shoulders above the rest.”

“...”

“Even a formally knighted warrior couldn’t achieve this with one attack that ridiculous.”

He wished she would stop complimenting him. His mouth was getting painfully dry.

“Come to think of it, there is exactly one person I can imagine doing the same thing.”

“... Is there?”

“Yes.”

Dame Noel’s smile widened a little before her lips parted again.

“Me.”

“...”

“The pure-white energy you just drew from your body is the purest form of energy there is. Its sheer output would make something like this possible.”

“Well—”

Aiden faltered. In all honesty, it was a difficult scene to explain.

Knights were a group in which even those called geniuses could barely keep pace with their peers. And this pure-white energy was the ability that the woman at their very pinnacle had spent a lifetime honing.

So this was what she was asking him, in a roundabout way: How on earth was someone like him wielding the very essence of the skills she had built up?

“Explain yourself, Aiden Kellermain.”

With every word she spoke, his back grew damp at an ever-increasing rate. Her face was smiling as she spoke, but her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

“Who exactly are you?”

Fighting back the tightness in his throat, Aiden barely managed a reply.

“You saw my records, didn’t you? I really am just a nobody—”

“You mean that cover story of a record? Yes. I saw it. I certainly did.”

TAP, TAP

Noel slowly drummed her fingers against her own arm.

“... Pardon?”

A cover story? What on earth was she talking about now? As Aiden blinked blankly, Noel continued in a quiet voice.

“Why do you think I chose you out of all the people I could have brought here?”

He had no idea why she was asking as though he would know. No one in the world wanted the answer more than Aiden himself. Fortunately, Noel wasn’t the type to drag out an explanation.

“If you wanted to hide your identity properly, you should have left at least one blemish on your record. You have to keep your little games within reason if you expect me to believe them.”

“What do you—”

“Aiden. Even the biggest criminals get caught at least once. No matter how lucky or skilled they are, they inevitably slip up. Even a sage who understands everything in the world never knows when life might blindside them. And yet—”

Noel’s gaze darkened further.

“Here we have someone who claims to be an ordinary, insignificant con man, yet hasn’t even been investigated in over ten years, let alone arrested.”

“...”

“Looking over your career, you’ve avoided anything connected to a major case. The moment something looked remotely dangerous, you pulled out ahead of time.”

“...”

“Honestly, doesn’t that mean you ‘knew’ about every danger and steered clear?”

Aiden’s lips parted slightly.

‘... Well, that is true.’

Working outside the law did naturally mean getting caught up in major incidents, one way or another. He really had done everything he could to avoid being drawn into anything dangerous. Of course, that stroke of luck was only possible because he knew the original story.

Still, running away however he could just to avoid trouble was hardly a reason to think highly of him.

“That’s why I brought you here.”

... The problem was that she took an entirely different view.

“Whoever I put in the husband’s role in this sham marriage would struggle to pull it off. At the very least, no one I know could manage it.”

Noel set her teacup down with a sharp sound and elaborated.

CLACK

“Never having failed means no one knows the limits of your abilities. There’s no visible ceiling. So bringing you here was something of a lottery ticket for me.”

All right, he understood. There was some logic to it. But the truth behind those records was nothing more than his desperate struggle to stay unnoticed and keep out of the main story. He had never imagined it would come back to bite him like this. There was a limit to reading too much into things.

Aiden was about to open his mouth again and somehow make her understand. He had plenty of experience making a living with his tongue, after all. Surely he could have spun some plausible explanation...

“Judging by the ability you wield, I rather feel I’ve hit the jackpot.”

“...”

... If not for that. He had gone and demonstrated something utterly incompatible with the background he claimed to have. His mouth promptly clamped shut like a clam.

“Aiden. I would prefer to settle this peacefully. Your abilities exceeding my expectations is actually good news for me.”

Noel’s eyes, which had remained gently lowered until now, rose to meet his. That alone overwhelmed him. If a gaze could exert physical force, he felt that merely meeting her eyes would cut him.

“But I would at least like an explanation for what you just showed us. That pure-white energy—you may not know this, but there is quite a lot of history behind it.”

“...”

Uh... well, that did seem to be the case.

- Skill Info

◈ Weaver of Fate

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< Copied Skills >

【 Noel Astria Seamus 】

◆ Heart of Pure White

※Unique – Possessed exclusively by this character!

Boasts the highest efficiency of all energy-training methods and requires extraordinary effort and aptitude to master. This energy trait was attained by honing to its utmost limits an energy-training method passed down to Dame Noel’s mentor through a line of single successors.

Even Aiden would wonder what the hell was going on if someone else suddenly used a training method passed down to only one successor at a time. He could completely understand how she felt.

“So you would do well to tell me quickly. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to draw my sword.”

Correction. He couldn’t understand her if his life depended on it.

“... How did you arrive at that conclusion?”

“Gale’s way of thinking isn’t always right, but crossing swords does tell you exactly what path a person has taken as a fighter. That alone would give me a rough idea of how you learned it.”

The moment he saw Noel fiddle with the sword at her waist, the already damp back of his neck went ice-cold. Her face was still smiling, but the intent beneath her words was unmistakably genuine. If she didn’t get a satisfactory explanation, this woman really meant to draw her sword and slash at him.

“...”

But seriously. What was he supposed to explain, and how? How was he supposed to tell her that he had ended up inside a game and could somehow copy and use skills as a perk?

“May I take your continued silence as agreement?”

Still, he had to do something. Otherwise, he really might die.

As he repeated that thought to himself, a button clicked inside Aiden’s head.

CLICK

It was the sound that always rang out when he dealt with a ‘client.’ Like switching into work mode.

Convincing her he was an ordinary con man... that ship had sailed. Time to give up on it completely. Nor could he come up with an explanation that would satisfy Noel on the spot. In that case, the only option left was...

‘I’ll have to fool her.’

Wasn’t that his trade in the first place? Deceiving people to survive.

Aiden’s mind began to race. Knowledge of the ‘original story’ that might help in this situation came flooding through his head.

The foundation of a con man’s work was deceiving others, and the foundation of deception was moving their emotions. So, drawing together everything he knew about Noel Astria Seamus, he combed through it for the words most likely to unsettle her right now.

What emerged at the end of that search was...

“It seems—”

Even to Aiden, the sentence felt assembled more by instinct than reason.

“You don’t remember the old days, do you?”

“Pardon?”

“When you were little, for instance.”

He slipped the words out casually, subtly acting out loneliness and hurt. Even he was wondering what on earth he was talking about. Of course she didn’t remember. He had never met her before any of this.

But the instant Noel heard those words...

“—”

She froze where she stood. Her gaze flickered, and her expression twisted, cracking for an instant. She immediately returned to her usual self, but...

A moment. It was an opening that lingered for only the tiniest fraction of a moment, but Aiden’s eyes caught it precisely.

This woman, according to the information in the game, had lost some of her childhood memories as a result of a certain ‘incident.’ He didn’t know what that incident was. The game hadn’t gone into it.

‘What matters is...!’

She really had lost her memories, and she probably hadn’t told anyone. She would have had no reason to. So if he could insert himself into something only Noel herself knew, that would be enough. Simply knowing something only someone personally involved could know would lend his story a great deal of credibility.

“... What do you mean by that, Aiden?”

And the fact that she replied with words meant to conceal her unease meant this ridiculous excuse had worked reasonably well. He had touched on her secret, so the reaction was only natural.

All sorts of theories about Aiden’s identity were probably swirling through her mind. That alone made an excellent shield for him right now. Whatever else happened, he had to get out of here alive.

So all that remained was...

“No, it’s nothing. I just never imagined you would really have forgotten.”

He simply left his answer vague, as though there was no point in explaining unless she recognized him herself first. That alone made Dame Noel’s face stiffen. Now she couldn’t even hide her agitation.

“I’ll see you later, Dame Noel.”

In other words, it was the perfect moment to say something suitably profound and bolt.

Aiden continued in a voice laden with melancholy.

“... I hope you’ll greet me a little differently the next time we meet.”

Noel would never know what that meant. Because—

‘I don’t know either...!’

Even Aiden himself had no idea what the hell this bullshit meant! But anyone could see that this was definitely his chance to make a quick getaway. Feeling Dame Noel’s dazed stare on him, he strode out of the room.

▣

That had all happened yesterday. A whole string of turbulent events had left Aiden utterly drained after just one day on the job. Now he was holed up in his private room, refusing to see anyone.

- Skill Info

◈ Weaver of Fate

Only you know the truth of this world. Build bonds with key figures in the main story to earn new rewards!

【 Noel Astria Seamus 】

- Bond: Level 2

- You may copy 1 additional skill.

< Copied Skills >

◆ Heart of Pure White

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This was a good thing. Of course it was. Yesterday’s ploy had worked so well that a free skill-copying opportunity had practically fallen into his lap. There was no downside however he looked at it.

◈ Sham Marriage

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

- A related event will occur soon.

... Except for this, of course.

‘What’s this “related event” supposed to be?’

He frowned at the window. Nothing about those words inspired confidence. He had the distinct feeling that he would be facing danger to life and limb again.

‘... Should I gather more abilities?’

Honestly, he would rather not get into a fight to begin with. But with a warning this blatant that something bad was about to happen to him, sitting around doing nothing would be stupid.

‘But from whom?’

He couldn’t exactly go to Dame Noel and take another skill. After what had happened just yesterday, even facing her would be awkward right now.

Wasn’t there a suitable candidate somewhere? As he continued that train of thought, he noticed quite a commotion around him.

“His Highness Daniel will be arriving shortly!”

“Everyone, finish tidying up and clear out! Don’t get noticed for no reason!”

He poked his head out into the hallway at the unexpected commotion. Apparently, someone of high standing was visiting.

Capital Command was the nerve center of the imperial army, and all sorts of people came through. Even so, royalty from another country was certainly a distinguished guest of a stature rarely seen.

As the prince strode majestically down the hallway, Capital Command staff passing nearby were visibly quick to clear a path. Watching them, Aiden narrowed his eyes slightly.

‘A member of the Holy Kingdom’s royal family...’

Aiden sifted through the game’s lore in his mind.

The supernatural power used by the people of the Empire was energy endowed with Karva’s power. The people of the Holy Kingdom, on the other hand, wielded divinity, drawing on the power of Sier, the god of purification. And the most skilled at wielding it were the royals, who were, so to speak, closest to divinity’s source.

‘... Maybe I should give it a try.’

If strengthening a bond let him copy skills, surely there was no harm in getting acquainted with someone like that. If they hit it off, great. If not, so be it. With his title as Dame Noel’s spouse, briefly greeting the prince and chatting with him wouldn’t be any great breach of etiquette.

With that thought, he spotted the prince walking down the hallway with his chest thrust out. Aiden stepped naturally into his path, as though welcoming him.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness. I’m...”

The moment he extended his hand as he spoke, it was violently slapped aside.

SMACK

The voice that followed was laced with disgust, as though the prince had seen a cockroach trying to approach him.

“Get that away from me, you lowborn wretch.”

“...”

... Life really was rough. Turning that thought over anew, Aiden looked at the man who had struck his hand.

He was a slick-looking young man. Every muscle in his face seemed steeped in arrogance and imperiousness.

‘... So that’s why everyone was trying so hard to get away before he arrived.’

With a temperament like this, their reaction made sense.

“One kneels on one knee to pay respects to royalty. What is an ignorant bumpkin who doesn’t even know that doing here?”

“...”

Hadn’t that custom died out ages ago? These days, demanding something like that would normally ruin even a royal’s reputation.

“I am the seventh prince of the Holy Kingdom of Craven. My name is—”

Slick. There was no particular need to remember his real name. This guy was just Slick.

Aiden mentally snipped out the sentence he had just heard, his expression indifferent. What came next proved that had been a perfectly good decision.

“—And judging by your street-rabble manners, there is no need to ask about your bloodline.”

“...”

Good grief. Watching the man reveal his character in a matter of seconds, Aiden felt his temples begin to throb as though they might explode.

“... Your Highness. I believe you should reconsider treating this man so dismissively.”

It was bad enough that the fully armored guard standing nearby stepped up beside the prince, seemingly to dissuade him. Naturally, Prince Slick’s face immediately crumpled.

“Be quiet. Who gave you permission to interrupt?”

“But this man is—”

As he listened to the guard whisper quietly at his side, a crooked smile appeared on Slick’s face.

“—Ah.”

It was a sneer of disbelief, as though he had just heard an absurd joke.

“The one she recently brought here? The Lionhearted’s?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

At the guard’s reply, Slick’s obnoxious gaze swept Aiden up and down once.

“A man like this?”

“...”

“She wouldn’t even acknowledge my proposal, and she chose this fellow as her spouse?”

... Judging by what he was saying, this man had clearly harbored a keen interest in becoming Dame Noel’s spouse. Only then did a vague realization dawn.

◈ Sham Marriage

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

- A related event will occur soon.

“...”

That related event mentioned here... wasn’t it something involving the royal asshole standing right in front of him? And Aiden had come out to prepare for it, only to plunge headfirst straight into it.

‘Ah.’

Aiden Kellermain. Day two on the job.

On day one, a man claiming to be his spouse’s close friend had drawn a sword and charged at him. On day two, he had gotten embroiled in a dispute with a foreign royal.

‘Ah.’

That sigh was all he could muster.