The Noisy Old Man

What was this banquet for?

A celebration, surely—House Gardner and the hero party Radiance, congratulating themselves on having driven out the empire's great evil, the Black Wolf.

Then why was he, the leader of that very Black Wolf, in attendance?

For this one person. Her, and no one else.

Nahan, still answering his own questions, let his gaze slide to the woman walking at his side. Brilliant sky-blue hair, sapphire eyes a shade deeper than the strands, and over skin as white as new snow, a face that gave nothing away.

"To put it plainly—attend the banquet ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the margrave is hosting. Together with Radiance."

He was here because Asha Mirabell had invited him. Leader of Radiance, and hero of the empire.

When his eyes drifted to the corner of his vision, a deep-blue system window rose to meet them.

The Nahan of this moment was not Black Wolf. He was Ian Red, come to clear the sub-quest I, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Too, Am a Hero. Success would win him Radiance's trust. Failure would hand Radiance over to Eclipse, just as in the original, and so he had to clear it no matter what.

He might be exposed as Black Wolf. A fight with Eclipse might break out. He wasn't worried.

Because Asha is here.

He had already used the mask of Ian Red to help bring Hestia back, and in doing so had secured Asha's faith. The other heroes were another matter, but the distance between himself and Asha Mirabell, he had judged, was close enough. Stick to her side, and if something erupted, play the fool and pass along nothing but information. That had been the plan.

......Yes.

To say it had been the plan was only another way of saying the plan had already failed. And the greatest cause of that failure—

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet."

"What a coincidence. Neither have I. Since it's come to this, shall we take a light meal and then be on our way?"

"No need. Fetch it yourself."

"Ahaha... No. I'll refrain as well."

—was that Asha's attitude had turned on a dime.

Why is she suddenly like this?

This was Ian Red. The Iron-Blooded Knight, the Silent Empress, the Expressionless Hero—he had drawn near enough to coax even a shred of feeling from an Asha like that, wearing a character tailored to her and her alone, and still—

"Enjoy the rest on your own."

"Pardon...? You brought me here saying we'd go about together, didn't you?"

"I did. I've changed my mind."

Why, all of a sudden?

Nahan was still fumbling for something, anything, to add when Asha drew an object from her bosom and held it out to him as it was.

"A safe-conduct token. I've had a private carriage prepared. When the banquet ends, take it. Present the token again at the gate, and they will send you back to the capital free of charge."

In plainer words: everything is ready, so read the room, amuse yourself alone, and go home alone. The very person who had delivered the invitation, now that they had actually arrived, was telling him to go his own way and discarding him. An ordinary person would at least have pretended to be sorry. Asha did not.

"......"

She only looked at him with that same cold face as always, and waited for an answer. As if—

...she wants me to curse her.

He had no idea what had brought this on. One thing, though, was certain. A flinch. For all she pretended to feel nothing, Asha was guilty.

Then what should he—no. What should Ian Red do?

"It's all right."

"What? Wait, let go of this hand—!!"

He closed, in a single step, all the distance she had opened between them.

"I don't know what you're afraid of, that you would push me away. But even if you would hurt me—don't hurt yourself."

Unconditional acceptance. A held smile, and a place taken firmly at her side.

"I have no intention of bringing trouble on the Hero. Set your heart at ease, and enjoy the banquet."

"......!"

When he refused the token she offered, Asha's brow creased, faintly.

"Even so, take this."

"It's all right."

"But—!!"

"Then I'll take my leave."

As if he would let her conscience rest easy.

Bury her in guilt now, and she'll come back to me.

Nahan watched the feeling in her start to surge again, then quietly turned away. Soft footfalls, calm as a free priest's ought to be, carried him off from the Asha left standing alone.

"Ah......"

Staring blankly after his back, Asha twitched a hand before she knew it—and stopped.

The memory she had forgotten rose, and she drew the hand back and closed it into a fist.

"......Right."

I am someone who isn't allowed to be happy.

In the end Asha turned the other way from Nahan, one last handful of lingering regret clenched tight in her hand.

Left on his own, Nahan—no, Ian Red—avoided the glittering banquet hall and walked the grounds of Count Gardner's estate.

Two conditions remained.

Find Lady Hestia and speak with her, and stop Eclipse's assault. If he was honest, talking to Hestia was the only real problem.

The hero party will deal with Eclipse's assault one way or another.

But Hestia? She had already been kidnapped once by the Black Wolf. She had never even awakened the power of her house. She was a frail woman who could not so much as walk, and there was no world in which she wandered a banquet hall at her leisure. This was no ordinary banquet, either. It was closer to a provocation, flung in the face of the Black Wolf they had beaten back—a hall an enraged Black Wolf might well raid again. No house mad enough to let its daughter roam a place like that would still be standing.

"...Where might she be."

The noble soul who could clear his sub-quest with nothing more than a simple greeting.

His stomach growled.

"...Oh dear."

He was rubbing the hunger there and turning back toward the hall for anything at all to eat when a voice like thunder broke through a mind that had been quiet for some time.

"Someone approaches!!"

"Agh—you scared me."

Right. This one was still here. Nahan swallowed, in a hurry, the words he had blurted aloud, and spoke inward instead.

I told you to keep quiet.

"I was being quiet!!"

Be quiet about the talking, too.

"I'll try to mind it!"

If that was him making an effort, it was still loud.

"By the way, what did you say your name was?!"

The noisy old man's name was Balak Gardner, progenitor of the Iron Wall. A Guaranteed Enhancement Ticket, badly misused, had reinforced the Heavenly Shield all the way to Ex-rank, and the will sleeping inside the relic had woken in the aftermath. The awakened Heavenly Shield had settled into Nahan's left hand, and the old man had come pouring in after it, binding the two of them into a contract whether either of them liked it or not.

Well. He didn't fully understand it, but—

A shield that could stop any attack at all. Set aside the fact that Balak Gardner never shut up, and it was nothing but profit. A shame it wasn't the Ring of Iaso—but block the blow before it lands, and being hurt ceases to matter.

Still... wasn't this an artifact that did something important?

He ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had a feeling it had been all right to take. He also had a feeling he should never have just walked off with it. He had set Balak's question aside and sunk into the thought when—

"Your name!! What is it!!!"

"......!!"

The shout came like a demand for an answer. Nahan's brow tightened, and he replied inwardly.

How many times do I have to tell you it's Nahan!?

"Ah, right!! Nahan!!"

Only then, as if the memory had finally surfaced, did Balak laugh his great booming laugh and add—

"Did I not say someone was approaching!! Turn your head now and your eyes will meet!!"

And you tell me this now...!!

Only then did he feel the presence at his back.

"My, my. A finely made face. This must be my own successor!!"

......What?

"They watched you squirm, and now they're on their guard!!"

Balak was right.

"...Are you all right?"

The gentle voice he had heard once before was thick with wariness. Nahan, already certain who it was, turned slowly and offered a formal greeting.

"Free Priest Ian Red greets the brilliant young lady of House Gardner."

And with the words, a status window drifted up.

Done.

Smooth the moment over somehow, then wait until Eclipse's assault was stopped. That was the thought in his head as he cast about for a harmless thing to say—when Hestia, who had been staring holes through those crimson eyes, murmured before she knew it.

"...Black Wolf?"

"......"

I am seriously going to lose my mind.