Chapter Sixty-Three
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After parting ways with Amses and leaving the guild, I headed towards the Knights’ headquarters. However, today it was unusually quiet.
“…You again.”
The Knight who had dismissed me with a “This isn’t a place for children” when I first visited addressed me with a mixture of exasperation and surprise. However, he must have seen me being invited inside by Zenoah Almerida, the Vice-Commander.
“…Business with the Vice-Commander?”
This time, I wasn’t turned away, and he asked if I had business with Zenoah.
“No. Not today. Today I have business with someone else. Do you know a burly old man named Ryuuzas?”
He has a scruffy beard, and he’s in his 40s.
When I said that, the Knight seemed to recall something. He furrowed his brow slightly and pondered. He seemed to be searching for the right words.
Eventually,
“…Where did you get that information?”
Was it information he didn’t want widely known? The man knelt down to my height and asked in a low voice.
As expected, it seemed Ryuuzas, whom I met last night, was at the Knights’ headquarters. I had come here on a whim, since he had spoken as if he knew Zenoah, but I was lucky.
“Last night, I happened to be with him, and we got involved with the ‘Magician Hunter.’ There was something I forgot to ask him, so I came here, but if Ryuuzas is here, could you let me through?”
“…”
This was the Knights’ headquarters.
He couldn’t let outsiders in without a reason. However, I was someone Zenoah had invited inside once.
Then, wouldn’t it be alright to let me through? He seemed to be struggling with these thoughts.
“…I’ll let you through on the grounds of providing information about the ‘Magician Hunter.’ The Vice-Commanders should be in the place I showed you before. You remember, right?”
“Of course.”
Alright then, go ahead.
With those words, the Knight scratched his head and let me inside.
“—So you came.”
Inside, there were Ryuuzas, Zenoah, and a few unfamiliar faces.
But since everyone except Zenoah wasn’t wearing a Knight’s uniform, I assumed they were former Knights, and I nodded in response to Ryuuzas’s words.
“I’ll ask you what you’re here for.”
“I want to know the ‘Magician Hunter’s’ location.”
“…I knew you’d say that, kid.”
Had he expected me to come at some point?
Ryuuzas chuckled, despite sounding exasperated.
“See? I told you he’d come. Right, Zenoah? So let’s bring this kid in too. There’s no telling what he’ll do if we leave him alone, and even though he’s a brat, he’s a legitimate fighting force. Since we’re splitting into two groups, the more the merrier.”
Ryuuzas addressed Zenoah. What did he mean by splitting into two groups?
From what I heard, it seemed they were planning something, but I couldn’t grasp the whole picture.
“We have to find the one who cast the spell on the ‘Magician Hunter’ and stop the ‘Magician Hunter’…no, Oliver, Bermuda’s younger brother. So we were planning to split the people here into two groups.”
Ryuuzas explained it to me, as I was completely unaware of the situation. Meanwhile, Zenoah gave him an accusing look as if to say, “…Are you serious?”, but Ryuuzas ignored it.
“Oliver’s ability is ‘Collector.’ So we have to deal with him with as few people as possible.”
To minimize the damage in case they failed.
In addition, if there was a magician with mental manipulation abilities, they would undoubtedly have many pawns.
They couldn’t spare too many people for just Oliver.
That’s what Ryuuzas said.
“Besides, in terms of priority, capturing the mental manipulation magician is far more important than Oliver. Since Oliver is the one being controlled, if we suppress the controller, everything will be resolved. So, all we have to do is buy time against Oliver.”
Just like yesterday.
He added jokingly.
“So, we were planning to have me deal with Oliver… but we’ll add you to the mix, kid. It’s better to fight together than to have you rush in alone and have your abilities stolen.”
He must have learned his lesson from yesterday’s exchange. Even if it was a logical argument, once I made up my mind, I wouldn’t listen to anyone.
So, his proposal, after giving up on persuading me, was refreshingly straightforward.
“So, what do you say, kid?”
“What do you mean?”
“You haven’t figured out how to win on your own, have you?”
He hit the mark.
I was prepared to do something reckless.
That was a given, but I still couldn’t envision a way to win.
—However.
“Well, yeah. But I’ll… manage somehow.”
I couldn’t stop here. Even if it seemed impossible, I had to break through the wall before me.
Because a ‘Star Slayer’ was someone who could forcefully twist the ‘impossible’ and turn it into ‘possible.’ Once I had taken on that name, I had to see it through. So, I said shamelessly,
“…Seriously? You’re actually trying to defeat him? Kid, you’ll die this time.”
“There’s meaning in overcoming a wall that exists beyond certain death. That’s what I think.”
When I visited Minaura.
I think I said those same words to Fiole Ihlberg.
No matter how many years passed, certain truths remained unchanged. This was one of them.
To become stronger, sacrifices were necessary. Whether it was time, pain, resolve, or loss.
In other words, without them, one couldn’t become stronger. So there was nothing wrong with this way of thinking.
I repeated the words in my heart, as if to convince myself.
“Besides, I’ve fought him once. So I can do better next time.”
“…You were clearly being held back, and you only fought seriously for the last moment. Where does that confidence come from?”
—It’s probably… absolute trust in my aspirations.
I answered in my heart, and brushed off Ryuuzas’s question with a laugh.
“You won’t even stand a chance unless you can at least freely use ‘Shroud.’”
“…‘Shroud’?”
I tilted my head at Ryuuzas’s sudden words.
What was ‘Shroud’?
“Huh? The thing you used near the end. There was a moment when you surpassed Oliver’s ‘Accelerate,’ right?”
I finally realized what he meant. I hadn’t been conscious of it in the heat of the moment, but I vaguely remembered something like that happening.
“So you were using it unconsciously after all. …I’ve only seen a handful of people who can use it, but I call it ‘Shroud.’”
Come to think of it, I seemed to have used it well when I sparred with Lilea, and she seemed surprised.
It was something I had become able to use unintentionally at times during my training to become closer to the ‘Star Slayer.’ That feeling of my body becoming lighter, as if I had sprouted wings, was apparently called ‘Shroud.’
“And there just so happens to be someone who can use it, right here.”
Ryuuzas’s gaze shifted from me, and landed on—Zenoah.
“I’ll tell you where Oliver is. I can even guide you there with my magic. But I have one condition. Learn how to use ‘Shroud’ from Zenoah. If she doesn’t want to teach you, then steal it with your eyes.”
You can’t win in your current state.
Therefore, he said the minimum requirement was for me to be able to use what he called ‘Shroud.’
[Translator – Vine]
[Proofreader – Lust]
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