Chapter 30: The Ghost Knight (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 30: The Ghost Knight (2)
When he thought about the person known as the Lord Protector…
Even in the original game, she was already dead by the time the main story began, her background only touched upon briefly.
Dame Theresa Adelite. A peer just a few years older than Noel.
Yet her experience on the battlefield was far richer. She was the benefactor who had taken in Noel when the war left her an orphan with no living kin. She had profoundly shaped Noel’s values and was, for all intents and purposes, her only family.
In short, she was a mother figure.
She was also the master who had taught Noel the techniques she used—her swordsmanship and her Pure White Qi. Of course, in terms of sheer capability, Theresa had only systematized the theory; Noel was the one who perfected it, ultimately surpassing her master.
“…A ghost?”
At the moment, however, that wasn’t the issue.
Noel’s voice was barely a whisper, but the emotion packed into that tiny sound was more intense than any expression Aiden had ever seen from her.
How could he even describe it?
Grief, despair, confusion.
No single word could capture her state, much less resolve their current predicament.
Glancing at her face, Aiden could analyze her condition in even grimmer detail. This went beyond merely losing her composure; she had entered a state of near-total denial, unable to even process what was standing right in front of her.
Setting aside who was stronger or weaker, with Noel in this state, she wouldn’t just be useless in a fight—she wouldn’t even be able to run away.
“Why… are you here…?”
Yet, Aiden completely understood the dazed murmur escaping her lips.
Why the hell is she here?!
This person had never shown her face like this in the original game. She was only ever mentioned, never appearing as a resurrected ghost they had to fight. Much less raising her sword to unleash a slash at Noel!
Aiden gritted his teeth and lunged, tackling Noel. He collided with her dazed form, and the two of them went tumbling across the ground.
I don’t know what the hell she’s doing here, but…!
There was a way out of this.
To begin with, the rift—the source allowing spectral bodies to manifest in the material world—was already closed. No matter why the Lord Protector’s spirit had suddenly appeared, she wouldn’t be able to maintain her manifestation for long. Simply escaping this spot and getting out of the spirit’s ‘combat range’ would end the encounter.
The problem was…
I can’t escape on my own…!
Aiden’s physical abilities were nowhere near high enough to flee from a spirit capable of unleashing such monstrous slashes.
He absolutely needed help.
“Dame Stella! Can you carry both me and Dame Noel at the same time?!”
“…It’s possible, but…!”
Stella gritted her teeth in response, grabbing a nearby streetlight with one hand. With a loud crunch, the massive iron pole was ripped straight from the concrete by a single hand. It was a jaw-dropping, absurd display of strength, but Stella’s eyes remained locked on the ghost of the Lord Protector, filled with intense tension.
She seemed to instinctively sense just how powerful ‘that thing’ was.
“I can’t do it while fending that thing off! Dame Noel has to snap out of it!”
With those words, Stella hurled the uprooted streetlight like a javelin. The sight of a metal pole larger than a man hurtling through the air was terrifying enough, but the Lord Protector slicing it cleanly in two with a single stroke was even more absurd.
Immediately after, Stella drew her own sword and charged.
Her intent was clear: buy time. She wasn’t trying to win, just giving him a window to get Noel sorted out.
…Her intentions were admirable, but getting Noel to snap out of it seemed harder than escaping. Her eyes were unfocused, as if staring into the far distance. Her limbs hung limp and lifeless. She seemed unable to even comprehend what had just occurred.
“…Theresa…?” she whimpered, clearly unaware she was even speaking. “Did you… attack me?”
“Dame Noel, snap out of it!” Aiden grabbed her by the collar, pulling her close to force her to look at him.
“…Mr. Aiden?”
“If we stay here, we’re all going to die! We need to get out of here first!”
Indeed. Aiden still had the Imperial Prince’s Skill Copy Ticket, but using it on the Lord Protector now would be pointless. He needed a better plan.
“…Die?” Noel weakly repeated the word, her eyes still vacant. “Theresa… is going to kill me?”
Her voice sounded completely detached from reality, a tone entirely unlike her usual self. She seemed utterly incapable of grasping what was happening.
He understood. Considering her relationship with the Lord Protector, it was probably akin to hearing that your own mother was trying to murder you. But that was the reality of the situation. He had to find a way to snap her out of it, somehow…!
“…?”
As he was thinking, a trickle of blood ran down his forehead. He must have cut himself when he’d tackled Noel and rolled across the ground.
The moment a drop of blood fell onto her face, Noel’s pupils dilated.
As the crimson drops dripped onto her skin, focus rushed back into her eyes. It was as if her consciousness, which had been drifting far away in unreality, had suddenly snapped back into place.
As if… she had remembered what she had to do.
She raised a trembling hand and brushed back the hair on Aiden’s forehead. Crimson stained her fingertips.
“…Are you hurt?”
“What?”
“Mr. Aiden, are you hurt?”
“…Well, yes, but it’s nothing serious.”
It wasn’t a serious injury at all. Just a minor scratch. Yet, looking at it, something akin to resolve flared in Noel’s eyes.
“What do you mean it’s nothing?! You’re bleeding!”
“…”
“Honestly, you…!”
“…”
Noel barked at him as she pushed herself up. It seemed that single drop of blood had instantly snapped her out of her shock.
Just how overprotective of him is this woman?
He was glad she was back to her senses, but it left him with rather complicated feelings…
Noel gritted her teeth as she looked at the ghost of the Lord Protector clashing with Stella. Whatever the circumstances, she seemed to realize what needed to be done.
“—Huu.”
Letting out a soft sigh, she wrapped one arm around Aiden and tucked him firmly against her side.
He didn’t even need to ask where Dame Stella had learned her method of carrying people.
With Aiden secured, Noel tensed her legs and leaped. The sheer force of her takeoff left a crater in the pavement as if a bomb had gone off. It didn’t stop there; the entire ground rumbled for a moment. Anyone looking would have thought an airstrike had just hit the area.
Reaching Stella in the blink of an eye, Noel channeled the momentum of her leap into a devastating kick aimed straight at the Lord Protector.
And then—
—!
—!!
That single strike sent the Lord Protector flying like she’d been hit by a battering ram, crashing into and half-destroying a nearby building. Unlike before, when she had easily pressured Dame Stella, she hadn’t even been able to react to this blow.
What in the world—!
Honestly, he had thought Dame Stella ripping a streetlight out with her bare hands was monstrous, but this was on another level entirely.
As Aiden realized that knights who wielded supernatural abilities operated on a completely inhuman scale, Noel scooped Stella up under her other arm in the exact same fashion.
“Hold on tight.”
With the sound of the ground cracking beneath them once more, she added, “We’re leaving!”
With those words, they all soared into the air. Of course, they weren’t actually flying; Noel had simply leaped so high that it only seemed that way.
Yet, even as she did so…
Noel’s eyes remained fixed on the Lord Protector, who was glaring back at her from the half-destroyed building.
Even as they vanished from sight.
Unblinking.
* * *
It was good that they had managed to escape, but…
Aiden was currently suffering from a splitting headache.
— Quest Info
▶ Failure to complete the events listed below will result in a massive penalty!
♠ Main Quest
◈ Act 1, <Imperial Capital Rift>
— Chapter 1, <Ghost Knight Incident>
▶ The ‘Boss’ has not been subjugated. The quest is not yet complete.
▶ A penalty has been applied due to partial failure.
▶ The boss will become significantly stronger!
▶ A ‘Subjugation Battle’ will occur again soon.
▶ If you fail this Subjugation Battle, the quest will end in failure!
…Oh, boy.
Looking at the window floating before him, Aiden let out a heavy sigh. Honestly, he had expected this. Since they had just run away from the boss battle—the most crucial part of the event—there was no way the game would let them off easy.
Still, seeing that the boss would be even stronger made his head spin. Even before the buff, she had seemed capable of going toe-to-toe with Noel. If she became ‘significantly’ stronger, even throwing both Noel and Katya at her might not be enough.
Ugh, my head…
How was he supposed to solve this one?
As he was groaning inwardly, Noel, who had been meticulously wrapping bandages around his forehead, pulled her hands back.
“That should do it.”
“…Anyone looking would think I got shot in the head.”
Before he could even complain about her overreacting to a mere scratch, Noel continued, completely unfazed.
“I’ve called for a specialist. You should get checked out, just in case.”
“Still, that’s a bit—”
“Mr. Aiden.”
Noel cut him off with a bright smile. Her eyes, however, were not smiling at all. She clearly wasn’t accepting any arguments.
“Get checked out.”
“…”
Aiden silently nodded.
“It’s a wound from contact with a spectral body. No one knows what kind of complications could develop.”
“…Ah.”
Honestly, if they were going by that logic, he should be far more worried about getting beaten to a pulp by Mayer on a daily basis, but there was no need to say that out loud.
More importantly…
There was something else bothering him.
“…May I ask you one thing?”
“Yes?”
“Dame Noel, are you alright?”
“My injuries are just minor scratches—”
“No, I don’t mean that.” Aiden paused for a moment before speaking again. “Are you really alright?”
“…”
“You will probably have to face her again.”
Realizing he was talking about the Lord Protector’s spirit, Noel shut her mouth tight.
“You might have to fight her again.”
“…You sound certain that will happen.”
“Yes.”
He did have a solution. Watching the fight yesterday had given him a vague idea of a breakthrough. But the question was whether Noel could handle it. Even yesterday, during her brief clash with Theresa, she had shown an uncharacteristic amount of hesitation.
As if she absolutely, desperately did not want to do this.
After a long silence, Noel let out a deep sigh.
“…Of course I’m not alright,” she spoke quietly. The pain etched on her face was as deep as the memories of her past. “Theresa was with me since I was too young to even remember. She was like an older sister to me.”
“…”
“…It still hurts just to think about her. How could I possibly be fine with fighting what appears to be her soul?”
Of course. With her in this state, maybe it would be better to keep her out of the next fight—
“But,” Noel cut off his train of thought, continuing, “I’ll be angry if you try to handle this without me.”
“…What?”
“I’m the one who dragged you into this in the first place.” Before he could reply, Noel placed a hand on his shoulder. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly. Her expression was light, but the sincerity behind it was palpable. “…Well, there’s no concrete proof that it really is Theresa’s soul, anyway. And even if it is…”
Noel took a deep breath and finished her sentence.
“No matter what, I will take responsibility and return you safely to your family.”
Just like when things went south yesterday. Even if she had to cross blades with what seemed to be her sister’s soul, she was promising to protect Aiden’s safety above all else.
“Do you understand? Don’t worry about my circumstances. Your safety is the top priority.”
“…”
Aiden stared at Noel, temporarily lost for words.
…Once again.
He let out a silent, self-deprecating chuckle and rubbed his face. He had heard her say she would protect him plenty of times before, but he hadn’t realized she was this serious about it. To think she would prioritize his safety even when the Lord Protector was involved.
“Why the look, Mr. Aiden?”
“I’m just a bit embarrassed.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m seeing you in a slightly different light, Dame Noel.”
How should he put it? It wasn’t that he had ever disliked her before, but now, he truly felt close to her on a personal level. He wasn’t thinking of anything romantic, but he had certainly grown genuinely fond of her.
This was trouble.
“…”
The moment she heard that, Noel took a few hesitant steps back.
“…Why would you say something like that in this situation…?”
“Huh?”
“Mr. Aiden, I don’t dislike you either, but I don’t think this is the right time to be hitting on me…”
“…”
No. That wasn’t what he meant at all.
He needed to change the subject.
“By the way, what’s that?”
Hoping to divert her attention, Aiden gestured with his chin toward the newspaper sitting on Noel’s desk. He had only asked because he had never seen her read the paper before, but the moment he spoke, Noel’s expression darkened.
“…Ah, this is—”
Seeing Noel trail off, Aiden narrowed his eyes and leaned in to get a closer look. The moment he read the headline, his expression shifted dramatically as well.
< The Ghost of the Lord Protector Appears in the Capital… “Lionheart, What Happened During the Alliance War?” >
“…”
“It seems yesterday’s incident has caused quite a stir,” Noel said with a bitter smile.
While she spoke with a wry grin, Aiden read through the article with a stiff expression. For a spirit to materialize in the physical world, as seen in Mayer’s case, several conditions had to be met. They had to have achieved an incredibly high realm of power or possess a lingering regret so intense that they couldn’t rest in peace.
“…The Lord Protector died because of Dame Noel, and she has returned to seek revenge?”
And if one were to spin those conditions, the appearance of the Lord Protector’s spirit last night could easily be fabricated in such a manner. Although the article cleverly danced around the wording to avoid direct liability, it was practically presenting this speculation as established fact.
It would be one thing if this were just some tabloid, but this was one of the most reputable newspapers in the capital. For such an outlet to openly attack Lionheart, a hero of the Empire, was unprecedented.
On top of that…
Even so…
It was too fast. The incident had happened just last night. For an article like this to appear in a major paper less than half a day later pointed to clear, malicious ‘pressure’ behind the scenes.
As for who was responsible…
The Imperial Prince.
No matter how he looked at it, the Prince was the only one hostile enough to exert such pressure on Noel right now.
“Well,” Noel said, still wearing that bitter smile. “It doesn’t matter what they say. They’re free to think whatever they want.”
“…”
“I don’t really care. It doesn’t bother me at—”
Noel’s words cut off abruptly.
It was because Aiden had strode over and placed his hands firmly on her shoulders.
“Dame Noel.”
“…Yes?”
“We haven’t known each other for very long, but there’s one thing I know for sure.” Aiden said, squeezing her shoulders. “You would never do such a thing.”
“…”
Noel fell silent, meeting Aiden’s gaze.
“You don’t have to give me details, but I’ll ask anyway. Did you do it?”
“…What do you mean…?”
“I mean the absolute nonsense this newspaper is spewing. Did you actually do what they’re claiming?”
Noel blinked, looking up at Aiden in sheer bewilderment. Her face wore its usual slightly tired expression, but the look in her eyes was different. It was the look of someone who had resolved to cause some serious trouble.
“…Of course not. Theresa was my benefactor.”
The moment Noel spoke those words, Aiden nodded and took his hands off her shoulders.
“Good. Let’s go then.”
“…Huh? Go? Go where—”
“We’re going to crack open the heads of the bastards who dared to slander you.”
“…”
“Where is that Imperial Prince fellow, and what is he up to right now?”
Just as Noel had done to him moments ago, his expression made it clear that he would not accept any arguments.