The End of Lies (2)
Inside the dark meeting room, it was hard to breathe because of Elsie, who was hugging me tightly from behind. Still, I had to explain to her. The reason why I had no choice but to hide my identity from her.
"Operating as 'myself' instead of Sung Yu-rang had too many restrictions. That's why I needed another identity."
Alan Flake was now a high-grade Hero who had defeated three Demon Kings. Elsie surely knew that as well. The emergence of a new high-grade Hero was that monumental of an event.
"So, can you understand? Elsie."
"I had already guessed as much from the beginning. But that isn't what I'm asking."
Her grip tightened even further. My ribs were starting to groan under the pressure. Was she trying to threaten my life?
"If not that, then what..."
"Did you already forget what I asked just a moment ago? Then let me ask again. Why did you have to deceive even me?"
"Well, I'm sorry, but I wanted my disguise to be perfect... Urgh!"
Now I was certain. This was definitely a death threat. If I uttered another word of nonsense, she was going to snap me in half.
"Elsie? What on earth is the problem..."
"Yoo Seora. You showed her your swordsmanship. Why was it okay for her, but not for me?"
It seemed Elsie had caught on to my relationship with Yoo Seora to some extent. It made sense, considering she had been tailing me for a while recently. She might not have witnessed the exact moment we became comrades, but she could easily deduce it just by listening to our conversations.
"I had no choice. That was the only way to save Yoo Seora."
At that, Elsie's constricting grip loosened slightly. I could finally breathe a bit easier.
"That is a very typical excuse of yours. Since I have also received your help in the past, I suppose I can forgive you for that much."
"Then, does this mean..."
"But that doesn't stop me from being absolutely pissed off."
Suddenly, my body was lifted into the air. I felt as light as if I were using the Wind Authority. Come to think of it, tossing a grown man was child's play for the current Elsie. Though it was a major problem for me.
"Wait—"
Before I could even try to stop her, I was thrown upside down. At this rate, I was going to plant headfirst into the floor. Driven by a desperate will to survive, I frantically activated my Wind Authority. Wind swirled around me, and I twisted my body mid-air as much as possible. And... I managed to land on my feet quite stably.
When I looked up, Elsie was glaring at me with murder in her eyes.
Should I have rolled on the floor a few times on purpose?
The regret came too late; the damage was done. Fortunately, Elsie seemed to resign herself to my reaction, sighing and shaking her head.
"That ability is truly versatile. Are you some kind of wind god?"
Well, it was that guy's authority, technically. But the atmosphere was definitely not right for me to admit that.
"Look, Elsie. I'm sorry."
"My, what a prompt apology."
"I might not have said it out loud, but I've always felt sorry toward you."
Especially when I had sniped her head with an arrow during our last mock battle. I had been waiting for the right moment to apologize for that.
"But do you really think a mere apology is enough to settle this?"
Of course not. Somewhere along the line, I had ended up on my knees in front of her, but apparently, even that wasn't enough. I said to her:
"I'll do anything. Just say the word."
...The moment the words left my mouth, I winced. But there was no taking them back now.
"Anything?"
I had no choice but to nod. At last, a smile graced Elsie's face. The only problem was that it felt somewhat chilling.
"In that case... how about we speak casually with each other? I didn't realize it before, but seeing you again, our ages seem to be about the same..."
In truth, there was only a one-year age gap between Elsie and me. Back then, she had been severely malnourished and thin, but Gwen must have fed her well while traveling together, because she now possessed a remarkably toned physique.
"More than anything, it's quite annoying that you speak casually with Yoo Seora while strictly using formal language with me, you know?"
Yeah, I could see how that would be irritating. It was completely understandable, and it wasn't like it was a difficult request to grant.
"Alright. Let's speak casually from now on."
In the worst-case scenario, I had imagined getting beaten to a pulp by her. Dropping the formalities was a walk in the park compared to that.
"Great. I mean, great... This is awkward."
Yet, the very person who had demanded we drop formalities was the one feeling awkward. Then again, Yoo Seora, who had transitioned to casual speech instantly, was the unusual one.
"Since it's awkward, I'll stick to formal speech for now. That's not the important part anyway."
That wasn't the important part? I had no idea what kind of wish she was going to make. Whatever it was, I had to agree to it for now.
"Then, we are comrades now, right?"
But... this was something I had to think over. To be precise, it depended on what she meant by 'comrades.' I asked her as cautiously as possible.
"What exactly do you mean by 'comrades,' Elsie?"
"I mean a relationship like the one you have with Yoo Seora, of course. Or are you two lovers instead of comrades?"
And indeed, the 'comrade' Elsie spoke of was exactly what I had feared. This was the one wish I could not grant.
"I'm sorry, Elsie, but being comrades isn't as simple as you think."
This was the same dilemma I had faced when accepting Yoo Seora as my first comrade. Becoming comrades meant she would have to share the burden of my dangers. And the danger I carried was by no means small.
"But you accepted Yoo Seora as your comrade. Why can't you do the same for me?"
"It's the same reason I showed her my swordsmanship. I had no choice if I wanted to keep her alive."
She possessed an ability that made it incredibly difficult to survive on her own. It was a power that required someone to constantly look out for her, and I had simply volunteered to be that someone. But Elsie's case was different.
"But you, Elsie..."
"If becoming comrades isn't simple, then what is the problem?"
"You just don't know. You don't know how dangerous the path ahead of me is."
In a way, it was all my—Alan Flake's—fault. I had killed three Demon Kings and declared in my conversation with Libero that my next destination would be the Reim Kingdom. Furthermore, with the death of the 71st Demon King, the forces of Chaos had concentrated in the Reim Kingdom, where the 72nd Demon King resided. In this playthrough, the Reim Kingdom would likely be dangerous beyond anything Elsie could handle.
"It's for your own sake, Elsie. I don't want to drag you into that danger."
Originally, I had planned to spread rumors that Alan Flake was elsewhere and resolve everything in the Reim Kingdom as Sung Yu-rang. But now that things had turned out like this, that was no longer an option. In the end, the only way left was to persuade Elsie.
"I'm not strong enough to guarantee your survival in the midst of that danger. So..."
But Elsie was not so easily swayed.
"Don't talk nonsense. I'm not the same person I was two years ago. I don't need your protection anymore."
Of course, I had no intention of backing down either. I stated firmly:
"No, you are still weak."
No matter how high her talent stats were compared to her relatively low initial stats, and even if she had learned the Lidval family's swordsmanship—which Libero himself highly praised—from Gwen... she was still too weak compared to the dangers currently lurking in the Reim Kingdom. Yet, Elsie remained completely unfazed by my assertion.
"How can you be so sure?"
She drew her sword from her inventory. It was the Breeze Bringer, the Holy Relic Gwen had passed down to her. She wasn't about to attack me right this second, but the tension in the air had spiked dramatically.
"Unless you prove it to me yourself through a clash, I will not accept it."
It seemed there was no avoiding it. For some reason, Elsie had absolutely no intention of backing down. If that was the case, the only way was to show her directly, just as she wanted.
"Well, this place isn't really suitable..."
If we caused a scene here, we might attract witnesses. School property could get damaged, too. But there was a place I had used for this exact purpose before.
"Let's go to the Trial. We can clash to our hearts' content there."
The school at night, after the sun had set. For some reason, a sense of déjà vu washed over me. Though everything was the exact opposite of last time.
First of all, unlike last time, we weren't on our way back after finishing a bet; we were on our way to make one. And the one who had initiated the bet wasn't me, but my opponent. But of course, the biggest difference of all was...
This time, my opponent is Elsie.