Sword Saint Kiel (3)
Sword Saint Kiel (3)
"And you still expect me to trust you?"
Silence fell. A very deep silence. Even the fiercely raging blizzard went still in this moment.
[Title 'The Bold One Before the Dragon' activated.]
- Status Effect 'Tension' removed.
Olivia barely regained her wits and snapped her eyes open.
Getting dragged in any further was dangerous.
If Kiel told the other Regressors about this, things would become truly irreversible.
In that case, the worst-case scenario was that she might have to drag Kiel around while keeping him suppressed at all times.
Since killing him wasn't an option.
'Shit, should I have gone the mental route instead of the ice route?'
Top-tier magic like memory manipulation was completely impossible to use unless you climbed that particular tech tree.
In that case, she had to find another way to break through.
'Should I just put him into hibernation for about ten years?'
If that were possible, she would have done it. But hibernation required some minimal means of life support. No matter how superhuman Kiel was, he couldn't survive for years trapped in empty ice.
Olivia stared squarely at Kiel. The fury contained in those eyes was something she couldn't presume to judge.
To her, it had just been amusement beyond a screen.
But to Kiel, she was the mortal enemy who had assassinated the emperor, the lunatic who had massacred tens of thousands.
'...But this is honestly kind of unfair.'
No. Not kind of—really unfair.
Who would play a game expecting it to become reality?
How could anyone play if they were that afraid?
In the first place.
Were they the only ones entitled to be angry?
Considering how I had nearly died of stress because of them, I had grievances of my own.
Olivia looked Kiel straight in the eye and spoke in a cold tone.
"Don't trust me then. Who asked you to?"
When she raised her head, Kiel was looking at her with wavering eyes.
Thirteen years.
That was how many years Olivia had poured time into Lactea.
She had practically lived thousands—no, tens of thousands of hours inside the game.
Did he know how many times Kiel alone had killed her during all that?
Twenty-three times.
Kiel had killed Olivia twenty-three times. And the reverse?
Once.
Just once.
"If you know me that well, you must obviously know how old I am?"
No answer came.
"Do you know my family history? What I like? No, do you even actually know a single thing about me?"
Fine. I'd grant you a hundred concessions and say I'd destroyed the world.
In that case, I saved the world seven hundred ninety-five times.
And what were you all doing during all that?
Fighting each other, waging wars on your own whims, brusquely turning me away when I came all the way up north to ask for help, killing people just because you didn't like them.
It wasn't once or twice that I got utterly sick of you people who wouldn't even exchange words with me if you didn't feel like it.
One time. You were doing all this shit over one goddamn time?
As if being possessed into this body wasn't already fucking miserable?
Fine. I admitted it. I'd gotten pissed off and killed everyone at the end.
You could hate me. You could loathe me enough to want to kill me.
Sure, I knew you were allowed to feel that way.
"But you don't even properly know me, and you're talking about deception? Betraying trust?"
Fury boiled up.
If you assholes just hadn't acted like absolute dipshits, I never would've even tried the Genocide Ending.
'If I just gathered up all the bullshit I endured for you bastards' Favorability Grinding, it'd make a mountain. A damn mountain.'
Did you know how much I suffered because of these guys when I first started Lactea?
[Suddenly, that thought occurred. I've saved the world hundreds of times; maybe it's fine to destroy it once.]
Now I understood why that sentence had first come to mind.
"Hoo..."
Pressing down the surge of emotion, Olivia opened her mouth.
"The certain fact is, I met you for the first time today."
The hand gripping her staff trembled faintly.
Shit, I'd gotten worked up without even realizing it.
Why was something like this making me so angry?
"...You don't know a single thing about me."
Kiel remained still, like someone caught completely off guard. He stared at her for a long moment without even breathing.
She'd encountered Kiel thousands of times, but this was the first time she'd ever seen that kind of face.
Regret, fury, disbelief, chaos, shock, love-hate... Love-hate?
Anyway, it was simply astonishing that such a complex mixture of emotions could appear on a single face.
Olivia slowly extended her hand. Unlike earlier, Kiel didn't flinch. Had he already resigned himself?
"Remember this. If you act like you know me next time, you're dead."
Blue current sparked from Olivia's hand.
Thud.
Kiel's body collapsed limply.
Olivia clicked her tongue and froze Kiel's body. She'd frozen it just enough; he'd thaw out in about three days.
I'd knocked him out at least, but...
Hahaha...
What the hell could I do now?
******
[Hmm...]
Glacia was staring outside the Lair with an anxious expression.
[Why isn't she coming back...]
Glacia recalled what had happened just moments ago. When the black-haired human swung his sword, the sky split open, and her neck had nearly been severed by a hair's breadth.
Glacia touched her nape once more. Fortunately, it was still attached.
What if the black-haired human had killed Olivia?
'That would probably make me very happy, but...'
No matter that Olivia was a batshit insane psycho, the kind of legendary hell-bitch that would make even a Witch recoil in horror, she at least had no intention of killing Glacia.
'Amazing. There really are times when that human is the better option.'
Whatever happened, this life was better. That was Glacia's credo.
"...Urgh."
Glacia turned her head toward the direction of the groaning noise.
The slaves—no, the three humans who were supposedly her disciples—were squirming on the stone floor. They'd apparently just regained consciousness.
Their bodies were beyond being called a mess. Two of them were relatively okay, but one was literally on the verge of death. Left like that, something bad was bound to happen.
Whether that one was actually Olivia's disciple or not, who would take the blame if he died?
[Sigh...]
Glacia sighed and transformed into her human form. Seeing Glacia striding toward them, Jeina yelled out.
"H-Hyak!"
"Shut up, female. Right now I'm providing medical..."
The moment Glacia reached out a hand toward Aramis, she sensed a presence from behind.
"What are you doing?"
Glacia's head whipped around.
"Uh... Lady Olivia?"
Olivia was walking over, carrying something in both hands.
"Were you trying to eat my disciples just now?"
"N-No, I wasn't! It's a misunderstanding! A misunderstanding!"
"Misunderstanding my ass. You were going on about 'female' this and that."
Olivia whispered into Glacia's ear.
'It's fine otherwise, but from now on, if you say "female" or "male" in front of me, I'll split you in half.'
Glacia nodded frantically.
"Yeah, yeah. If you've understood, move aside for a moment."
Glacia stepped aside. Olivia plopped down onto the floor and grabbed Jeina by the back of the neck.
"P-Please spare...!"
"I'm not killing you. This is a Potion. A Potion."
Jeina's eyes went wide as she caught the familiar strawberry scent. Seeing that reaction, Olivia snorted in amusement.
'Jeina, that kid's adaptability really was top-tier.'
She had grit, and she was sociable. To exaggerate a little, if you dropped her in the middle of a jungle and came back a month later, she'd have befriended the cannibals by then. An absolute social god.
"Wow!"
Look at her being surprised because it tastes good. This was the kind of kid she was.
Olivia fed Potions to Lowe and Aramis too. There was a small commotion when Aramis, with his race trait of human distrust activating, clamped his mouth shut, but she suppressed him easily with the level gap.
In other words, she forcibly stuffed the Potion down his throat.
"Gahk! Gahk!"
"You're spilling something this precious. Disciple, do you seriously want to die?"
"I am...not your disciple!"
"Really?"
Current crackled in Olivia's grip.
"I don't remember bringing along anyone who isn't my disciple."
Startled, Jeina threw her hand up.
"I-I'm your disciple!"
"...Jeina?"
Aramis glared at her as if she were insane, but Jeina paid him no mind.
"Um, but can I ask you one thing? Master?"
She didn't dislike that kind of cleverness.
Olivia nodded, as if telling her to speak.
"What is it exactly that we'll be learning?"
"Magic."
"W-Well, I mean, which type of magic, specifically... Hehe."
She could see exactly what Jeina was thinking.
The girl was probably thinking that if Olivia really was a Witch, then the magic she taught would naturally be related to demons, and she'd rather die than get involved with a demon and bring disgrace upon her family.
'Good grief.'
[Jeina Eculein]
- Level: 37
- Favorability: 0 (Wow, this is delicious.)
Hearing those words from Jeina, whose Favorability was the highest, left a bitter taste.
If all three of them had had their Favorability completely wrecked like the others?
This kind of conversation would have been beyond even her dreams.
"First of all, I'm not a Witch. I'm a mage."
"You don't exactly lack proof."
At Aramis's words, Olivia snorted derisively.
"The fact that I haven't killed anyone is that proof."
"..."
At that logic, Aramis shut his mouth.
Deep down, he understood it too. If Olivia truly had been a Witch, everyone in the White Tower would have been long dead and then some.
"Anyway, this is the magic I'm going to teach you."
Olivia dumped a pile of ancient books out of her Inventory. They were items she'd collected bit by bit ever since she was a low-level player.
"Wh-What is this?!"
"Hyaa! This is the original Cruulis from the Cariel School!"
"Th-There's even Solmian's Two Hundred Summoning Arts!"
Olivia instantly separated the ancient books into three categories. One was Ice Magic, another was Lightning Current Magic, and the last was White Magic.
"Think carefully, you lot. You understand what it means for a mage of my caliber to teach you with materials of this level, right? This is an opportunity. A chance that will never come again in your entire lives."
Olivia spoke as if whispering.
'If you don't like it, get out now. I'll let you go.'
The throats of the White Tower disciples bobbed.
****