Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Episode 63
"Damn it..."
Oz sprinted, his feet pounding the ground hard enough to make him breathless.
He was moving with his bare body, without [Physical Enhancement].
He couldn't afford to waste mana.
How could he squander mana when the truly important matter still remained?
-Prince Oz, the operation has failed.
The unilateral communication he had received during the battle with Prudence Loa.
It didn't take Oz long to realize that his worst-case scenario had become reality.
'Tia was aware of Prudence Loa's deviation and had condoned it.'
Whether she knew the underlying intentions was another matter, but that wasn't what was important now.
"Shit..."
Main Story Chapter 3.
The episode where Oz first revealed himself.
'So that's why.'
Oz frowned as if blaming himself. There were definitely strange points.
In the game, Oz basically didn't engage in external activities, yet he hadn't considered why Oz had bothered to show himself.
'Before his sudden appearance, there wasn't even any mention of Oz!'
Why would Oz, who had been so cautious, suddenly act?
He used to think it was just a character hastily inserted to create a sellable asset.
It was a common occurrence in games.
But now that it had become reality, it was natural that the truth was hidden behind that seemingly common reason.
'I recognized it at a glance, wouldn't the original Oz have been the same?'
No, that couldn't be.
Oz must have known as well.
He must have known that Eleanor was the key's owner.
If so, what would he have done?
'He probably had been constantly monitoring Eleanor from afar.'
He might not have known the exact information about the key, but he would have known what would happen if Tia found out about it.
'He had no choice but to act.'
It wasn't that he acted late, but that he had no choice but to act.
The situation forced him to be certain, unlike when Gerard attacked or when the [Death King] invaded.
He hadn't even decided what to do with Eleanor yet, but if Tia found out, all his plans would be impossible to even start.
The key was a type of strategic weapon.
If so, what would happen if an individual with no power possessed such a strategic weapon?
What if that strategic weapon could be taken away by others?
'He would take it and hide it in a safe place.'
And the safest place in this world was around Tia.
"Found her...!"
Panting heavily as he ran, Oz soon discovered Eleanor's figure.
She was fighting.
If it were the original story, she would have collapsed, but she was standing.
She must have overcome it.
'She probably could have overcome it in the game as well.'
It was just highly likely that Oz had intervened before she used the key, delaying the situation.
"If it's now, there's still...!"
Oz began to deploy magic towards the monster. He burned the mana he had saved solely for this moment.
With a large component formula in front, relatively smaller component formulas overlapped behind it.
Advanced-level magic
[Pinaka]
What was completed was the prototype of the highest-level magic, [Trishul].
It was truly a form like a bow.
If Oz released the bowstring, the monster would instantly die.
If that happened, it would end without Tia discovering the existence of the key.
Tia wouldn't make the judgment to imprison or kill Eleanor to retrieve the key.
But...
"......"
Oz couldn't bring himself to release that bowstring.
Eleanor was still fighting.
Her movements were clumsy.
Oz, who had only superficially learned swordsmanship, could tell that Eleanor's swordplay was crude.
Too much emotion was mixed in.
The tip of her sword was shaking, and she wasn't considering her center of gravity.
Her vision seemed impaired by tears, and even her direction was off.
And yet...
-The students are still immature.
Prudence's words echoed in his head, holding his arm.
It was natural to be immature.
That's why they were called students.
-Heir... Oz, can you give them time?
Oz thought.
She hadn't given up even while shedding those tears, she was steadily taking steps forward, so could he really say that hindering her growth was the right thing to do?
-Then can you, for the sake of these still immature ones, make the right choice?
Was that truly the right choice?
"Damn it..."
He couldn't bring himself to stop her, the way she kept talking and trying to face her past mistakes, the way she was swinging her sword for the sake of her future vows.
'If this continues, surely...'
Eleanor would end up using the power of the key. And if that happened, he couldn't guarantee what would follow.
Imprisonment would be better.
At least she wouldn't die.
But that couldn't be okay.
Considering her purpose, he should stop her here.
"Open──"
Yes, surely that would be right, yet...
"──Warmth of Kindness!"
Oz finally couldn't release that bowstring.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"So that was it."
The direction of the voice was directly behind him. It went without saying who it was.
"Headmaster..."
"That's what you've been hiding."
[KP Dragon Emperor]
Tiamat
She was standing behind his back.
"I thought it was unusually intertwined, so you knew about that."
"......"
When he turned around, he saw the eyes of a dragon filled with rage. It was understandable.
In her eyes, it would seem as if he had been hiding all of this.
"Even though you knew what meaning the key held!"
Tia spoke, trembling as if barely suppressing the rage that was about to erupt.
"Oz, tell me. Please, convince me before I burn everything down. Just what is that thing?"
She was trying her best to show me consideration right now.
"Why did you hide that from me?"
"Headmaster."
Now that it had been discovered, there was no helping it.
Unless it was an unavoidable situation, half-hearted words wouldn't be enough to convince her.
"We have to kill it."
"That won't do."
"Then at the very least, we have to prevent it from leaving Scientia."
"That won't do."
"Don't you understand? Just a while ago, a guy who abused the power of the key turned the world into a mess."
Was it a mistake to tell her about the existence of [Parade] back then?
No, that wasn't relevant. She would have come to the same conclusion eventually.
She was someone who had seen so much and lived through so much time.
"But Noah is different."
"But what if that child named Noah dies? What if the key is stolen by some unknown bastard?"
Normally, I would have been afraid to even open my mouth in front of her when she was enraged.
But today was different.
The red handprint burning hotly on my back was pushing me forward.
"I will take responsibility."
"You?"
Tia flinched at those words, then openly revealed her hostility.
"Someone like you?"
"......"
"What do you think you are? Do you think your single life is more important than the lives of hundreds, thousands of people living on this land?"
"No, I don't."
"Then why are you spouting such nonsense?"
"Because that's all I can offer."
"Ha...!"
The only thing someone insignificant like me could offer as the price of responsibility was this life.
"Alright..."
Tia finally spread her wings. Just as her heat was growing stronger, she declared to me.
"Then prove it."
Bang!
When I came to my senses, the scenery had changed. A crushing pain was running through my entire body, and the [Starry Sky Robe] was torn to shreds.
If not for the [Starry Sky Robe], I probably would have died instantly.
"Prove that you have the power to keep that vow."
"......Very well."
Having come this far, there was only one thing I could do.
Normally, I wouldn't take such a gamble, but now was different.
Now was the time to do it.
[67/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]
Remaining stacks: 33.
An act of entrusting everything to luck without even accumulating a full stack.
[Mana Dominator Lv. 2]
You can't solve everything by just relying on luck. But even if you have power, wisdom, practice, and preparation, the world isn't so easy that every plan will succeed.
I do not deny luck.
I simply hesitate to entrust everything to luck, but I do not think of luck itself as bad.
Because a vow is not something that can be kept with mere power and planning.
[0/100 until guaranteed SSR-rank magic]
Without the fortune that transcends all of that, it is impossible.
[Azure Thunder God]
That is the qualification.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Haa... haa..."
Eleanor, having defeated the monster, was breathing heavily.
It was the backlash from forcibly imbuing her still immature body with the power of the key.
"Haha..."
Eleanor let out a laugh that sounded drained. It was difficult. She wasn't just talking about the fatigue of her body.
"I'm really so weak, aren't I?"
Her eyes were filled with tears.
Even though she had just made a vow, it was too hard.
She knew that what she had defeated wasn't Decentura but the monster that had devoured her, but she still felt guilt.
Clang!
Eleanor thrust her greatsword into the ground and leaned on it.
"Ah..."
Perhaps it was due to the recoil of that impact, but the blue ribbon attached to the end of the greatsword's hilt slowly came undone and fluttered away in the faint breeze.
"Hngh..."
Eleanor could no longer hold back the tears that were welling up.
She couldn't bear it.
Eleanor liked blue. She thought that color suited her.
That was because there was someone who told her so.
"Decentura..."
Decentura Heros.
Another family who had promised to be by her side and with her for her entire life.
Eleanor desperately called out the woman's name like a child searching for her older sister.
But she was no longer there.
She had just erased that last trace with her own hands.
"You lose things because you're so absent-minded."
"Huh...?"
At that moment, blue reflected in Eleanor's tear-stained vision.
The blue ribbon that should have been blown away by the wind just now was fluttering in front of her eyes.
"Master...?"
"Yeah, Noah."
And the person holding that blue ribbon was Oz.
Eleanor wiped away her tears with her sleeve and looked at Oz.
He was covered in blood. The robe he was wearing was torn in various places, and there didn't seem to be a single undamaged spot.
"Are you hurt?"
"I fell down the stairs."
"...Did you fall down a 100-story staircase or something?"
Eleanor let out a dry laugh at Oz's unbelievable lie.
"Noah, you're hurt too, you know."
"Ah, this is..."
Eleanor pondered for a moment what to say, then spoke with a bitter expression.
"I fought with my sister."
She too did not tell Oz the truth.
But it wasn't a complete lie.
Decentura Heros was someone so close to her that she could call her a sister.
"Really? You must have been very close to fight like that?"
But at Oz's subsequent reply, Eleanor couldn't help but tear up again.
"Yes, yes, of course. Very... yes, we were very close... were."
They were close. As close as family. No, closer than family.
Decentura was that kind of existence to Eleanor.
"But I don't think I'll be able to see her ever again. I think we fought too badly. Maybe she's grown tired of me."
Eleanor still thinks.
Didn't Decentura, who suffered because she hadn't noticed the strangeness, resent her?
If she had noticed even a little earlier, wouldn't the situation have been different?
"Well? Your sister always gives in to her younger sibling, so wouldn't it be alright?"
"Would it...?"
But Oz said so.
Just that made Eleanor feel a little lighter.
That nonchalant reaction seemed to blow away her worries.
"Alright, first, we should pick up the lost item."
"Ah..."
Oz tied the blue ribbon to Eleanor's hair, who was still leaning on the greatsword.
"Hmm... I've never done this before, so I don't know if it's right."
"......"
"Check it in the mirror later, and change it if you don't like it."
Eleanor gently touched the ribbon on her head to check its shape.
A crumpled and clumsy shape.
But that didn't matter.
"It's okay."
"Is it?"
"Yes, because I..."
Blue suits me well.
Eleanor wore a confident smile filled with conviction, just like usual.
Even though tears were still welling up in her eyes...
"Yeah, it suits you well."
Oz decided to pretend he didn't see those tears.