Sword Saint Kiel (2)
Sword Saint Kiel (2)
...A main quest already?
Even though it was a Clue, this was far too fast. No matter how much I racked my memory, there had never been a single instance where I got entangled with the main quest this early.
[Main Quest]
- Clue #1 - Acquired
- Clue #2 - Not Acquired
.
.
.
- Clue #15 - Not Acquired
- You can check the details.
There were fifteen Clues in total.
Hmm, a very obvious number. I had a feeling-ish feeling that one would open up every time I met one of the main NPCs.
Olivia pressed the first Clue.
A moment later, a short message appeared before her eyes.
[Clue #1]
[Memories of Imperial Year 992.]
- You may view Kiel's memories once.
- You may view the memories by placing your hand on the head of a subdued target.
Year 992? What had I done in 992?
Olivia retraced what Glacia had said.
If so, 992 was five years from the current point.
But I couldn't remember what I'd done.
Major events like graduating from the academy vaguely came to mind, but even the order of those was jumbled up.
'Nothing to be done.'
"...What are you doing!"
Kiel shook his head violently, shaking off Olivia's hand. It must have been because he realized she wasn't simply trying to kill him.
But that didn't change anything.
When she placed her hand on Kiel's head again, a message appeared.
[Viewing memories of Imperial Year 992.]
- Time Limit: 5 minutes
Five minutes, huh.
It seemed she had to go directly into the memory and figure things out, rather than having it explained in message format.
A moment later, her consciousness flickered.
When she opened her eyes again, she was in an unfamiliar forest. But something about it was familiar. Trees soaring as if to touch the sky, the sound of insects coming from all directions...
"...Euran."
The demon realm governing Wood, the Great Forest where the kingdom of elves was located.
A message appeared shortly after.
[Olivia]
Level: 78
Class: Advanced Ice Mage
Title: Trusted One, Academy Valedictorian.
[The Hourglass begins to move.]
- Remaining Time: 4:59
It seemed she had inherited the stats from the previous Run.
Her class was merely a High Mage, not an Archmage, and she hadn't even learned lightning magic.
'And even the ice magic I do have, my proficiency is wrecked.'
For an ice mage, the title attached before the class changed according to proficiency.
A novice mage had the title 'Cold', an intermediate mage had 'Frost', a high mage had 'Glacier', and finally, just before becoming an Archmage, the title 'Bitter Cold' was attached.
"Are you awake?"
A familiar voice came from behind her. A black-haired swordsman stood with a smile on his face.
"Kiel?"
"It seems I was too loud. My apologies, Olivia."
"..."
Watching Kiel answer with a smile, Olivia's mouth dropped open.
'S-Status Window.'
[Kiel Rothschild]
- Level 88
- Favorability: 50
His level was 88, a full 5 higher than five years ago.
Considering it was the leveling of a mere NPC and not a player, it was tremendous growth.
But that wasn't the part to focus on.
The Favorability was plus 50, not minus 50. That level was that of a companion you could trust with your back, beyond a friend.
It was hard to keep my wits together seeing someone who had radiated hostility as if he'd bite my throat out now smiling and smirking at me.
'This is crazy.'
Olivia shook her head from side to side, barely steadying herself. Even as she did, the Hourglass was still draining.
Whatever the case, the fact that she had to find a Clue within this memory did not change.
The Great Forest quest was a quest that could be done with Sword Saint Kiel, just the two of them.
Olivia searched through the message window and found the quest list stuck in the pending section.
[Euran Great Forest - In Search of Ancient Magic]
- Progress: Completed
- Reward: 1 type of Ice-type Ancient Magic
[Your current proficiency is insufficient to learn it!]
From the looks of it, this was a point where the quest had already been completed.
Indeed, a Favorability of 50 wasn't something you achieved from just a few battles.
You had to fight together for months on end in the Great Forest to get it that high.
"Kiel."
"Hmm?"
"Are you hiding something?"
"What sort of thing do you mean?"
"Anything."
Kiel stroked his chin, lost in thought. A moment later, Kiel shook his head and spoke.
"I'm not sure. But why do you suddenly ask such a thing?"
"Never mind. It's nothing."
Olivia clicked her tongue.
She knew better than anyone what kind of personality Kiel had.
He was a nobleman, but he did not discriminate against people, and he was a true knight who protected the weak.
Kiel's only flaw was that, while bearing the label of house head, he was frequently absent from his family home.
'And that he has no interest in women.'
If someone married Kiel with his terminal wanderlust, she'd probably spend her entire life steeped in loneliness before dying. Perhaps Kiel had remained unmarried because he knew that too.
Olivia stopped her musings and got up from her spot.
"I'm going to look around the area for a bit."
"But there's nothing around?"
"I'll just go and come back."
Leaving Kiel tilting his head in confusion, she walked into the forest.
Three minutes passed like that.
Olivia was sprawled on the ground, unable to hide her despair.
'What the hell kind of Clue is this supposed to be?'
She'd tried to go deeper into the Great Forest, but was blocked by an invisible wall and couldn't proceed further. When she kept walking along the wall, she returned to where she'd started.
She figured out the cause quickly enough.
This was inside Kiel's memory.
The invisible wall was the boundary of the scenery Kiel remembered.
The trees losing their color the further they receded from view proved it.
"Haaah..."
This wasn't a Clue. It was just showing her a memory.
[Remaining Time: 1:00]
What on earth did it want her to do?
What did it want her to do by reviving an old memory?
Kiel, who had been quietly watching Olivia sighing heavily, approached and asked.
"Is something the matter?"
"...There is a problem. A very big one."
"Could you tell me what it is?"
At that, Olivia shook her head. She didn't even know what the problem was, so how could she tell him?
She didn't know why this situation was a Clue, or what on earth she was supposed to find.
When Olivia kept her mouth shut, Kiel spoke in a slightly hurt tone.
"I thought I was someone you trusted."
"I did trust you."
Olivia spoke in a cold tone.
[Remaining Time: 0:10]
The Hourglass was rushing toward its end. So she had to return with no results whatsoever like this. It was despairing.
"...Does that mean you don't trust me now?"
Why was he acting like this all of a sudden?
"It's a different matter from trust."
"Isn't that the same thing in the end?"
Kiel's crestfallen expression caught Olivia's eye. The grains of sand fell to the ground, and the world began to stain gray from the outskirts.
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't get it."
[Clue #1 Viewing Time has ended.]
With those words, the memory crumbled to dust and vanished.
*****
Olivia opened her eyes. Kiel, his entire body frozen, was glaring at her with ferocious eyes.
Honestly, I'd far rather have this than receive a man's soulful gaze.
"...Did you come back too?"
Olivia felt a strange sense of déjà vu from Kiel's cold tone. She knew the fact that Kiel had regressed.
But Kiel didn't know.
'It must be because I'm too strong right now.'
Even if you busted your ass at the academy for a year, 30 was the max level you'd reach.
Yet Olivia's current level was 100.
It was not a level of military force you could obtain just by regressing.
In the first place, 'Olivia' was Level 1 at this point in time. It wasn't unreasonable for Kiel to be mistaken.
'...If I play this well, I might be able to trick my way through it?'
This was exactly the reason Olivia had been reluctant to contact the main NPCs.
In case she got caught for regressing.
To be precise, it was possession, not regression, but it wasn't much different in essence given that she knew the future.
But her thoughts changed after seeing Kiel's reaction.
'I just need to not get caught knowing the future!'
Olivia's thoughts accelerated. The brain of an Archmage found an answer in an instant.
The necessary supplies: a bit of acting ability.
"You've been saying 'you bastard' over and over since a while ago... Do you know me?"
"What do you mean..."
"No matter how much I think about it, this is the first time I've seen you?"
And she said it with a brazen face.
Kiel seemed to want to say something, but Olivia had no intention of giving him the chance.
"Is it right to fling casual speech at someone you're meeting for the first time? If you don't want to die, you should at least pretend to beg for your life. Attacking me out of nowhere wasn't enough? Really, I'm speechless."
"..."
Whether Kiel believed these words or not wasn't important.
What mattered was planting a seed of doubt.
The confused look on Kiel's face proved that.
"...Are you trying to deceive us again? Did you think we'd be fooled by that kind of acting?"
It was a sharp rebuttal.
But he couldn't hide the sliver of doubt carved into one corner of his eyes.
At this rate, an easy victory...
That was the moment.
A deep shadow fell over Kiel's face.
"...You were always like that."
The emotion contained there couldn't be captured with the single word of anger.
"You deceived us at every turn and betrayed our trust."
Uh...
Uh, um...
Cold sweat beaded up and trickled down her back.
"And you still expect me to trust you?"
"..."
I was fucked.