82
Chapter 82
One day after returning to the mansion.
I sat on the bed in my room, lost in thought.
Wondering just what kind of person I appeared to be in the eyes of others.
I already knew it was a useless worry. But given the situation, I couldn't help it.
"Why on earth is no one surprised?"
I had grown wings.
Wings had suddenly sprouted from a person's back!
I was sure it would cause a huge commotion. However, reality was different from my expectations.
-S-See, I knew it!
The children praised me, saying I was indeed the boss.
Gazes full of admiration.
Looking at me with eyes sparkling so brightly it was almost burdensome was just a bonus.
Not a single child freaked out asking what was up with those wings.
Everyone just chattered incomprehensibly about how they expected it, arbitrarily coming to their own understanding.
-Wow!
At the very least, Rien was a little surprised.
But she simply admired it in pure awe.
It was a reaction on the level of saying a newly bought outfit suited me well.
When I asked if she wasn't surprised that such a thing had happened so suddenly, Rien very awkwardly spat out a compliment about me.
It seemed she took my words as a request for praise.
-So, what kind of person did you bring in this time?
As the icing on the cake, Ciel showed more interest in Lucy, whom I had recruited this time, than in my wings.
The large number of Black Fang army applicants who ended up under my temporary protection.
For some reason, everyone was so enthusiastic about their education that even the kids, as well as Ciel and Rien, were currently over there.
Ciel told me to send Lucy here as soon as she had time, saying she wanted to meet her in person.
It seemed she had something to confirm.
When I asked in bewilderment if she wasn't even bothered by my wings, Ciel answered as nonchalantly as ever.
-No matter how your appearance changes, you're still you. That's enough for me.
She was saying that her attitude toward me wouldn't change no matter how I looked.
It was a warm sentiment, but wondering if that was really the right thing to say right now, Ciel ended the video call with those final words.
In the end, Rubia was the only one who freaked out over my transformation.
Considering that Rubia was by far the most dramatic among us.
Practically everyone had brushed off this sudden change as if it were nothing.
So it would have been weirder if I wasn't bewildered.
What kind of image do I have that sprouting wings overnight isn't considered strange?
Just how had everyone been looking at me all this time?
I simply couldn't understand...
"...Ah."
Memories flashed through my mind in an instant.
And naturally, my doubts vanished.
I did have some conscience, after all.
There were far too many things I had done to complain about being treated this way.
Truth be told, even I had to admit I fell into the category of 'the kind of person where sprouting wings overnight wouldn't be strange.'
'...Besides, come to think of it, this was actually more convenient.'
Even after I woke up, Rubia had been acting strangely, praying to me for a long time and sobbing about how sorry she was for not recognizing me.
I mean, when someone suddenly shows up with wings, that kind of reaction seemed pretty normal.
If everyone had reacted that way, explaining things would have been quite a hassle.
It was already hard enough persuading Rubia that nothing had changed and begging her to treat me like usual.
Thinking about it that way, maybe this was actually for the best.
Reaching that conclusion, I checked my body's condition once more.
Two pairs of wings.
They radiated a soft glow, proudly asserting their presence.
And for some reason, an unfamiliar symbol was etched into my left arm.
It was a Stigma.
The same Stigma that had appeared in the previous work.
But this was no ordinary Stigma either.
It was on the level of something you could barely obtain near the very end of the game.
It possessed enough healing power to save anyone who wasn't already dead, and had no restriction preventing its use on oneself.
Essentially a cheat code had fallen into my hands.
An immeasurable gain.
It was a gain, but...
'Why on earth did this even appear?'
There was no logical explanation.
I hadn't cleared a hidden dungeon or gained enlightenment through some life-or-death struggle.
It just appeared.
Wings had sprouted out of nowhere, so I checked my body here and there wondering if something else was off, and found the Stigma.
'It's hard to even call this a lucky encounter...'
Even lucky encounters usually come with some effort.
Even if you obtain an Elixir, there's a process to getting it, and after that, don't you suffer to fully absorb it?
But the lucky encounter that came to me had no process whatsoever.
'Could it be related to the change in the Sovereign's Grace trait? Or is there some connection to the God of Light?'
That bothered me, so I came up with various hypotheses, but...
In the end, nothing changed.
That was a given.
What was the point of coming up with plausible hypotheses when there was no way to verify them?
Even if I murmured Status Window, all that popped up was a useless screen.
The broken text, which now even felt familiar.
Normally, when you experience growth or gain something like a new power, the standard procedure is to check your Status Window and sort things out.
Something kind enough to list my stats or owned traits would never happen.
A Status Window that couldn't show my status.
It was nothing short of ironic.
In the end, finding the cause of this sudden change seemed daunting. A sigh naturally slipped out.
First of all, it was true that this benefited me. I might just be whining with a full belly.
Still, I couldn't help but feel a little unsettled about it.
So, what on earth should I do about this,
I pondered for a long time... and then stood up from my seat.
Just because finding the cause was impossible didn't mean I could just sit around doing nothing.
It was better to at least try doing something.
In other words,
It was time to test my power.
*****
The training ground located next to Rubia's mansion.
A place prepared for the children's training.
I threw open the doors to the place.
'It feels bigger than the last time I saw it.'
Maybe it was because I had only ever seen it packed with kids. The empty training ground looked larger than I thought.
For the current me, that might actually be a good thing.
If I was going to test something, it would be better to have no one around to get caught up in it.
'...Is this a bit too dramatic?'
It wasn't like I was Rien or anything.
Just testing my power a little wasn't going to drag anyone nearby into it.
I had built a solid foundation with the Elixir, but my level was ambiguous—neither truly strong nor weak.
Separated from my companions, I didn't quite reach the level of an overpowered character, but it was also unreasonable to call me weak. It was a middling state.
That was my objective skill level.
'There was definitely some change this time, but...'
I couldn't confidently assert that it had led to an increase in combat power.
Divine Power was originally a force specialized in healing and exorcism.
The Holy Knight Order was strong because they used Divine Power and Mana simultaneously.
If they were at the same level, the one with Regeneration would naturally be much stronger, wouldn't they?
'I guess it's best not to expect anything.'
Expectations only lead to betrayal. If you don't expect anything in the first place, you'll never be betrayed.
Etching that maxim into my heart once more, I pulled a Wooden Dummy out of the storage room.
A Magic Tool for practical training.
Honestly, if I rummaged through the storage, I might find something stronger.
But mobilizing something like a guard golem for a light test felt a bit excessive. I wasn't planning on using a sword this time, either. This should be enough.
I placed the Wooden Dummy in front of the wall.
With a clattering sound, the Wooden Dummy took its stance.
The moment it recognized my attack, it would start attacking me back.
'For starters... it's probably best to do it like I usually do.'
The purpose of this test was to see how much I could do with my wings and how I could utilize them in combat.
Even if Divine Power was a force specialized in recovery, the wings were a separate matter.
It was common sense that an increase in speed would also raise the power of an attack.
This could end up being a bigger help than I thought.
First, I would fight it without using my wings, and then I would go all out using them to personally experience the difference.
Making that decision, I took my stance.
Maybe one of the kids had doodled on it. The Wooden Dummy had a cute cat face drawn on it.
I launched a preemptive strike at it.
Rien's one-on-one training.
Perhaps as a result of that, it was a perfectly executed punch.
My fist struck the Wooden Dummy's solar plexus dead-on. A massive hole was being bored through the dummy in real-time.
......But something was off.
I could clearly feel through the impact that the Wooden Dummy was crumbling like a cookie.
Yet, the momentum showed no signs of dying down.
A loud sonic boom.
The sound of slicing through the air echoed fiercely.
At the same time, an ominous premonition washed over me.
I knew that perfectly well.
This was the Training Ground.
A space built literally for honing martial arts.
Its durability was naturally superior to any other building, and just from what I remembered, over thirty defensive Spell Formulas were applied to it.
Still, the ominous feeling didn't fade. And... that kind of premonition was never wrong.
The moment my fist touched the wall, a crack formed.
It spread in a flash. Before I could even react, the collapse began.
-Kwaaaaaang!
A deafening roar loud enough to hurt my ears resounded.
...The Training Ground was crumbling down.