Ending Maker Chapter 28
Ending Maker Chapter 28
Chapter 6 - Witch's Forest
One day before leaving Langesthei.
Yuder and Cordelia, who had come out onto the balcony for their now-routine "time for just the two of them," immediately went into a strategy meeting.
"First, let's check over the gains."
He wasn't only talking about the items Count Chase had given them. Yuder and Cordelia had each prepared things during their few days staying in Langesthei.
"I got my hands on a few potions. They're D-rank potions. Health and mana recovery, antidotes, and...... even a stimulant, just in case."
As befitting a commercial city, Langesthei had a fair abundance of magical goods.
As if proving she wasn't Hero Legend 2's top hunter for nothing, Cordelia spared no expense in securing supplies.
"So I'm almost completely out of money."
"......Didn't you go a little too hard?"
"Hmph. My father gave us money anyway. I saw it, you know?"
She was right.
Before leaving, Count Chase had given them a pouch of gold coins for travel expenses.
'Thank you, Father.'
Yuder, once again grateful to Count Chase, changed the subject before Cordelia could suggest splitting it N ways.
"I got some equipment. Fortunately, the blacksmiths in Langesthei are quite skilled."
"Oh, knuckles. You went full custom, huh? Planning to go the martial artist route instead of swordsman?"
Until now, Yuder had gripped the Sun's Necklace like a knuckle whenever things got urgent, but it was a stretch to call it a proper knuckle. There was also the risk of damaging the Sun's Necklace.
So Yuder had directly commissioned a blacksmith to make custom knuckles that could hold the Sun's Necklace and utilize only its holy power.
"For now. Considering the equipment I have and everything else, this gives me higher immediate combat power."
"Hmm, well, you've got the Heavenly Martial Body, so it should be fine."
Even if he switched routes midway, it wouldn't be that much of a loss.
Convinced, Cordelia also looked over the other items Yuder had brought out.
Most of them were protective gear.
"Wear this under your outer clothes even normally. It's thin, so it's fine, right?"
"It's really thin chain mail. Won't the defense barely go up?"
"Still, this is reality. It'll be much better than nothing. It's meant to keep you from getting directly hurt if you're stabbed or cut by a sword or something."
"Hmm...... I see."
Cordelia turned the chain mail, made like a T-shirt by weaving thin iron chains, this way and that, then nodded.
"Now, let's move on to today's highlight."
The items Count Chase had left them.
Yuder pointed to the black bracelet on his right wrist.
"You know this bracelet too, right? It’s a C-rank bracelet that boosts magical defense, especially against dark magic."
"Tch, he could've given me one too."
"Instead, I'll put it to good use."
Yuder grinned slyly, then raised his left hand.
"Next is the ring."
"You already put it on?"
"Huh? Yeah. Why?"
"Oh, no. Just because."
Cordelia, who had mumbled and trailed off, took a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully unfolded it.
Inside lay a ring that looked exactly like Yuder's.
"Put it on your left ring finger. Since they're couple rings, for now."
"I-I know that too, you know?"
Cordelia took a deep breath and swallowed hard.
And just as she was about to pick up the ring.
"Give me your hand."
"Huh?"
"Give me your hand."
"Oh."
When Cordelia reflexively held out her hand, Yuder immediately picked up the ring and naturally slipped it onto her left ring finger.
"Mm, nice. Maybe because your hands are pretty, it suits...... Cordelia?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. O-of course. It's me, Cordelia."
Cordelia snorted and quickly pulled her hand back, feigning nonchalance, and Yuder chuckled at the sight.
"Wh-what."
"No, nothing."
Yuder just shrugged once, then changed the subject for Cordelia's sake.
"Father gave me the instructions before he left."
"About the rings?"
When Cordelia asked while fiddling with her left ring finger, Yuder nodded and spoke.
"First, they have two effects."
"What kind?"
"First, the magic grows stronger when it is cast between people wearing the paired rings."
"How much?"
"About 1.1 to 1.2 times?"
"Oh...... nice. Then do attack or curse magic get stronger too?"
Whether attack or curse, they were still magic.
At the truly Yellow Storm-like idea, Yuder pulled out a magic circle and spoke.
"Let’s avoid conversations where we destroy each other, okay?"
"Tch. It’s not like you’re even a mage."
His class was clearly martial artist, yet judging from his magic alone, Yuder could put most mages—and even Cordelia—to shame.
"What's the second effect?"
"When the rings are close together, the magic built into them gets stronger. Mine is recovery-type and yours is defense-type. When we cast them on each other at close range, that stacks with the first effect, so the power increases dramatically."
When Cordelia examined it, sure enough, a shield spell was embedded in the ring.
"How should I put it... These rings really commit to the whole concept."
"Right."
Their effects grew stronger on each other, and the rings performed better when the two wearers were together.
The oddly cute design was exactly like Count Chase's own handiwork.
"Ahem."
"Why?"
"No, I think I just had a slightly rude thought."
In front of Cordelia, who tilted her head as if asking what he meant, Yuder recalled Count Chase's stern face and managed to regain his composure after several deep breaths.
"Anyway, let's stop the gains check here and move on to the strategy meeting."
"You mean the way to go to the Witch's Forest?"
"Right. The Witch’s Forest is in the north too, but if we head straight for the Count Hraesvelgr Household, there’s no reason to stop there. We need to create one."
Moreover, monsters had even been appearing in the Witch's Forest.
To persuade the escort party, which would prioritize a safe journey to the Count Hraesvelgr Household, they needed a fairly plausible reason.
"So what do you have in mind? If you’re bringing this up now, you already have a plan, don’t you?"
Cordelia had already grown accustomed to Yuder even before coming to Pleiades.
Yuder wasn't the type to bring up something like this without any plan.
Sure enough, Yuder grinned and replied.
"Of course I do. Remember what I said before the last information exchange meeting?"
"Uh...... that you'd reveal your cards to draw the big picture?"
"Right. It’s time for a new miracle cure-all to take the stage."
A new panacea following the Nine Yin Meridian Blockage.
A deep smile spread across Yuder's face.
* * *
"The Fairy Queen, you say?"
"Yes, the Fairy Queen said so. That a thread of fate for Cordelia lies in the Witch's Forest, so if we ever have business in the north, we must stop by."
When Yuder spoke with a very serious face, Lucas looked back at Cordelia, and Cordelia put on the same serious face as Yuder and nodded.
"It's true, Lord Lucas."
Because it was true that an event for Cordelia was prepared in the Witch's Forest.
'If the Fairy Queen said so, what are they going to do about it? Check? How?'
What Yuder had said last night.
Yuder and Cordelia had met the Fairy Queen.
Moonlight proved it, and that was an undeniable fact.
'Meeting the Fairy Queen isn't something just anyone can do.'
There was a simple reason the Fairy Queen’s night revel was a Cordelia-exclusive event.
Cordelia had been invited to the night revel because she was beautiful enough to impress even the fairies.
Among the people they'd met so far, the only one with any possibility was maybe Sylvia?
You had to find a beauty of that level, then go to a set place at a set time on a set day and bathe.
Lucas's party didn't properly know the date, time, or place, so even if they wanted to confirm it, they had no way to do so.
'And here's where we add the follow-up hit. You know Lucas's setting too, right?'
A hero novel fanatic.
A still-young sixteen-year-old boy who wanted to live a life like the heroes in novels.
"Even now, when I close my eyes, that day I met the Fairy Queen comes back vividly. It was a truly fantastical...... and beautiful night."
As Yuder quietly closed his eyes and spoke, Cordelia also covered her mouth with both hands and continued.
"Really...... truly a memory I'll never forget for the rest of my life."
It was true.
Because it had been a night of being absolutely, madly tormented by dozens of fairies.
Even now, when she closed her eyes, Cordelia broke into a cold sweat remembering that time.
'Good, he's taking the bait.'
Yuder, who had quietly opened his eyes, saw the various emotions beginning to stir in Lucas's eyes.
Meeting a mysterious being like the Fairy Queen was a staple of heroic tales, after all.
"Perhaps we might have a similar experience this time as well."
"That's right. Since the Fairy Queen went out of her way to tell us, we're sure to have a mysterious experience."
Since it was none other than meeting a witch's soul, it couldn't help but be mysterious.
Cordelia’s acting was usually as stiff as reading from a textbook, but perhaps because she was telling the “truth,” it came more naturally than usual.
"We may have to fight monsters, like when we fought the Bicorn... but that too is part of the adventure."
"Oh my, how frightening. Lord Yuder."
"It's all right, Lady Cordelia. If anything happens, I will protect you even at the cost of my life. Lord Lucas will join us as well."
A knight protecting a beautiful lady.
When Cordelia turned back with frightened, yet at the same time expectant eyes, Lucas momentarily held his breath with a sharp intake.
Lucas had already witnessed Cordelia's true nature before, but even taking that into account, the current Cordelia—or more precisely, her pitiful yet beautiful appearance—certainly possessed tremendous power.
"Ahem. That goes without saying. Protecting a lady is a knight's duty, after all."
Seeing the corners of Lucas's lips rise slightly as he answered quite gallantly, Yuder and Cordelia thought simultaneously.
'That's a line he's always wanted to say.'
'Wish fulfilled, wish fulfilled.'
The two, who exchanged glances, dealt the final blow.
"Lord Lucas, a heart-pounding adventure awaits us."
"Ah...... it's so exciting, just like a hero novel."
Let's pass through the Witch's Forest.
Let's enjoy the adventure gifted by the Fairy Queen.
Lucas gulped dryly again.
Yuder and Cordelia.
The two of them had already completed adventures straight out of a story: defeating a Bicorn and meeting the Fairy Queen.
Those two were reaching out their hands, inviting him to a new adventure.
It was too great a temptation to refuse.
"That......."
"That?"
"Won't it be dangerous?"
"The escort will be with us, so we should be fine. And... a little danger is part of what makes an adventure exciting, isn’t it?"
"A little danger is part of what makes an adventure exciting," a staple line from The Heroic Legend of Biltbain.
In the end, Lucas nodded and spoke with an excited face.
"Understood. Let us pass through the Witch's Forest for Lady Cordelia's sake."
"Thank you."
"Thank you so much, Lord Lucas. A heart-pounding adventure will be waiting for us."
Perhaps caught up in the mood, Cordelia was acting quite well, unlike her usual self.
And she wasn't the only one caught up in the mood.
Lucas, whose cheeks twitched once more at the word "adventure," sprang up from his seat and spoke.
"I’ll go speak with my escort. Please speak with yours as well."
"Understood."
"Then I'll be off."
When Lucas, now impatient, left the room, Yuder and Cordelia looked at each other and bumped fists in satisfaction.