Chapter 98
Chapter 98
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Calm Before the Storm on the Floating Island
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"Hmm..."
"Huh? What do you think?"
Mayal tilted her head cutely, beaming with a bright smile.
As far as I could tell, this wasn't an act.
Truly, despite her flashy appearance, she was the epitome of an airhead girl.
"Look, it's great that you're offering to help."
"Great, huh?"
Mayal drew out the end of her sentence, looking up at me with sparkling eyes. She was so adorable in that moment that I wondered if my heart had stopped.
I say it again—her demeanor was so at odds with her glamorous looks that it always felt fresh no matter how many times I saw it.
I barely calmed my pounding heart and spoke.
"It's going to be pretty intense."
"...Huh?"
"You know, you look kinda delicate? So..."
The character sheet said she was a physical fighter, but she really looked fragile on the outside.
I'd said it out of worry, but before I could even finish, Mayal's cheeks puffed up like a blowfish.
She was clearly sulking, leaving me flustered.
"Pfft!"
Her puffed cheeks deflated like a leaking balloon, and soon she was giggling.
"Ahahaha!"
"...?"
Why is she laughing so hard?
I was trying to look out for her, you know.
Mayal finally stopped laughing and grinned at me.
"Dret."
"Yeah?"
"You still don't know what specialty got me into the academy, do you~?"
"......"
Yeah. No clue.
Wasn't it just a free pass because of her top-ten family status?
Come to think of it, I vaguely recalled that even top-ten families needed a specialty to get in.
"Let's go! I'll explain!"
"Go where?"
"Gold and Asita are still waiting in the reception room. Oh yeah, Dret—you looked like you had a ton of questions for me and Asita earlier?"
So she noticed my fidgeting.
Or maybe Mayal was just quick on the uptake.
I scratched my head and followed my cheerful, pretty friend as she skipped ahead.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
A place far from the Hart estate.
Somewhere in the forest, a man hid in the shade under a tree. Not content with that, he'd layered stealth magic and even killed his own presence for triple-layered concealment.
A blond pretty boy. Kaiz Hiro.
The hero sat silently in the darkness, leaning against the tree.
[So, how'd it go?]
A voice echoed in his ear. It was Kaiz's unique item.
Kaiz fell silent for a moment.
His conversation partner right now was someone he had to tread carefully around.
'He's the only one I can trust at this point, but if I screw up even a little, he'll bail on me.'
So he chose his words carefully.
At the same time, he recalled the prophet who'd immediately pegged him as a regressor.
The more he thought about it, the more inscrutable the guy seemed. Kaiz furrowed his handsome brows.
[Hey. Hero?]
"Sorry. Well, he's..."
Kaiz hesitated before speaking.
"Reliable for now."
[For now, huh.]
The voice from the item didn't show it, but it sounded pretty surprised.
It knew how strict this eternally young boy—who played the perfect, righteous hero on the surface—could be.
"Reliable for now."
It might sound like he could become unreliable later, but to Kaiz, it meant he was one of the few he could trust right now.
"It's not that big a deal."
[Stop reading my mind...]
"I inferred it, not read it."
[Same difference. But what made you decide that? He's an Outsider, right?]
Considering most Outsiders were troublemakers, Kaiz's trust didn't make sense.
"He got angry."
[What? Angry?]
'Yeah. That guy, Dret—he got mad.'
As a prophet, the guy stood to gain a lot.
Kaiz had wondered if he'd try to exploit the poor girl, Asita Leisia, for future gains.
So he'd tested the waters.
And Dret had been genuinely furious.
Kaiz had lived tediously long lives.
He'd encountered countless liars, and to survive, he'd honed his eye for deception.
To Kaiz's eyes, Dret was truly enraged.
Enraged and disgusted at Kaiz for spouting such nonsense.
That anger felt refreshing to Kaiz.
In this damned world where people would do anything for power, such a person was rare.
But Kaiz glossed over his true thoughts.
"He couldn't tolerate injustice. That's all."
His partner thought it was some inscrutable criterion but didn't comment.
[I'll leave it to you, Hero. Anyway, next topic? It's the Murderers trying to summon the Demon King, just like we thought. Timeline's about a week or so, as expected.]
"......"
No words, but Kaiz's lips twitched.
"Those scum?"
[Yeah, those scum. Feels weird going from a good Outsider to trash ones.]
Murderers.
In simple terms, corrupted Outsiders. Criminal Outsiders who'd caused trouble.
They came from beyond the World Tree, already prone to selfishness, but Murderers took it to extremes.
No—at least regular Outsiders tried to pretend to be good, but these had abandoned good for evil.
The wicked who, crushed by reality and awakened from delusions of grandeur, craved power.
[But I don't get it. Floating Island seals privileges, so most Murderers' prized combat power will be useless trash.]
"Yeah."
On Floating Island, privileges were sealed.
But Kaiz knew a way to bypass that seal.
[Hmm... Did they find a way to use privileges? Or some other plan?]
"Something like that."
[Same thought here. Those guys who protect their own hides like crazy wouldn't take risks unless it's a sure thing.]
"Investigate more."
He already knew what they were up to, but it was too early to share with this guy.
Kaiz held back.
He didn't want his sharp-minded ally getting needless suspicions.
[Got it. Just wait. But hey, when are you telling Mary or the other collaborators?]
Kaiz went silent again.
His contact, "the Scholar," didn't mind and continued.
[About the collaborator among the academy instructors.]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Whoa. You said something like that to Mayal?"
"......"
Was "outrageous" a bit much...?
We'd come to the reception room, and when I casually asked if Mayal was good at sports and explained what happened, she gave me a look like I was an idiot.
"What, aren't you supposed to know about your friends? Dret, you talk all fancy but don't actually do anything... Kyaaah!"
Annoyed, I ruffled her hair, and she screamed.
Fun.
"I'm gonna hit you!"
"I'm already hitting you."
She was pounding my chest with her fists, but it didn't hurt at all.
Asita glared and shot Mayal a pleading look.
"Oh? Should I try too?"
Mayal grinned and approached, raising her fist.
Her gal-girl nails were all flashy—I worried they'd break—but amazingly, they vanished as she clenched her fist.
Is that magic too...?
Magic. Isn't it too versatile?
But it felt like Prynar flowing instead of mana...
"Hya!"
Thud.
The room seemed to shake.
"?"
I glanced down at Mayal's fist buried in my chest, and then—
"Cough!"
I hacked up a cough.
"Aw, don't be such a baby!"
"No, it's..."
Okay, honestly, I exaggerated a tiny bit. Just a tiny bit.
...Mayal's stronger than she looks?
Asita's punches were like toy hammers, but Mayal's felt like a sledgehammer.
"I-I didn't hit that hard. I held back..."
Mayal panicked as I clutched my chest.
Gold, Asita, and the other classmates piled on her.
"Mayal. You need to be aware of your own strength."
"Yeah. And you're a fighter, Mayal."
"You guys too?! I just tapped him!"
Mayal, calling that a "tap" is a bit much on the conscience, isn't it?
I couldn't ruffle her hair like Asita's since we weren't that close yet, so I just sat on the sofa silently.
It hurt like hell.
"D-Does it really hurt?"
"Yeah."
"Uh... Want me to huff on it?"
"Huh? For real?"
What? Huff and puff from this gal-looking girl?
She's so innocent...!
"What's 'for real'? You trying to sniff Mayal's breath or something? Dret, you're sneakily pervy."
"Asita Leisia. Don't insult my bro."
Gold's the best.
Asita snorted at me.
"Hmph. Dret seems popular with guys. Not so much with girls—kyaaah!!"
Shut up.
This time I grabbed her head and shook it side to side. Asita's eyes spun like crazy.
But even that was super cute...
Cute enough to forgive.
With the mood lightened, we chatted about various things.
In the meantime, I picked up on common knowledge I hadn't known.
Like the real Demon King stuff from earlier—basic lore.
First off, this world, this planet, is called Elyunar.
There are basic energies here: 'mana,' 'qi,' 'Prynar,' 'divine power,' and such.
And, though you probably don't care, the gods.
Elyunar has the chief god, Nanar of Light, plus four others.
Spirit God Ipalia
Dwarf God Rokukoru
Elf God Elhaem
Heaven-Earth God Nous
There are minor gods too, but only those five are recognized by the world.
Where's the fire god, damn it.
Anyway, on this continent where Entiaer belongs, "god" usually means Chief God Nanar. The Holy Kingdom Narnia's divine power takes the form of light based on the god they worship.
But it felt off somehow.
How to put it—humans only have Nanar.
The other gods felt like afterthoughts tossed to other races to avoid complaints.
"But Dret, why are you so clueless about basics? Other Outsiders know this stuff."
Asita studies Outsiders and writes papers, so she's gotta be right.
Loveheart... I'm gonna crush her nasal bone.
"Other Outsiders get... briefed at the agency or whatever. I missed my briefing."
"Then just ask the ones who did."
"No friends. And I got overlooked for the briefing 'cause I'm forgettable."
Good excuse for the future... I thought, but Asita's eyes welled up red.
"......"
Asita wiped away fake tears.
I reached to grab her head in frustration, but Mayal quickly interjected.
"I-I'm your friend for life! Dret!"
"I'm your brother, bro."
"..."
Thanks for the tear-jerking comfort.
Anyway, that's the end of god talk.
It differs wildly from the truth I saw, but this is common knowledge to Elyunarians.
We heard more basics, then discussed training plans.
Mayal was a total pro.
Her specialty was devising workouts and building bodies.
Basically a fitness trainer.
I thought she'd gotten in on top-ten family blood, but she'd earned it legit.
No—listening to Asita and Gold, her family status had actually been a hindrance.
No need to dig deeper.
But even without asking, Mayal brought it up herself.
"Well... I guess I should tell you sometime. Our family is top-ten, but... kinda not."
"Mayal."
Asita called softly, Gold stared, but Mayal forced a smile.
"It's no big deal to me?"
"...Do what you want then."
"Yeah, I will."
Mayal stuck her tongue out at Gold and looked at me.
I dropped my playful vibe and got serious.
Sharing something hard meant she trusted me somewhat, so I had to match that.
"Our family, um... We are top-ten, but also not."
Even an idiot could get it now.
Dragging up family talk, lack of confidence.
"They don't treat you like top-ten?"
"Yeah, kinda."
Mayal slipped her hand into her ample cleavage—buttons undone by three. Even now, it's turning me on, what a creep I am.
She pulled out a necklace from her cleavage.
"This is a replica artifact. The real one's with Dad... Yeah. Our ancestor's artifact is with us, but... at some point, its unique Prynar owner qualification stopped activating."
"......"
Unique Prynar.
...What's that?
Reading my confusion, Mayal flailed.
"Oh! Unique Prynar's like a special training method. Not exclusive to top-ten families."
"But top-ten families' unique Prynar are especially powerful. That's fact."
Gold chimed in.
"Anyway, Prynar Academy doesn't let you in just for top-ten status? El, Gold, Clarit—they all mastered their family Prynar to get in. I couldn't, so I needed another specialty. Ehehe. But I got in anyway—humanity wins?"
"......"
Lots of gaps in the story.
Her family's current state.
Why she had to get into Prynar Academy specifically.
How she felt developing another specialty through such effort.
I get it.
I've seen the misery of fallen elites with my own eyes.
My own hands did it.
A family with the huge top-ten name.
The anxiety of its foundation crumbling.
Expectations from those who came turning to disappointment or mockery, over and over.
That's why, when she met Flat, she eyed me right after mentioning her family.
She must've been hurt bad.
I was curious, but I wouldn't ask.
Not until she opened the wound herself.
And I recalled her kindness to me.
I might not pull it off, but to repay that... I wanted to restore her unique Prynar.
But meddling could hurt more.
Instead of declaring resolve, I said something else.
"So, you'll help?"
"Huh? Oh?"
"With training. You offered. Pay later."
My airheaded pivot lightened the mood. Mayal blinked, then grinned wide.
"Psh—no need for pay, ehehe. But since you're calling me friend, I'll go all out!"
"Good. Looking forward to it. You too, Asita."
"Y-Yes."
"Yay~ Asita, perfect. That pretty body of yours needs no work? I'll make it even prettier!"
"P-Please go easy on the hard stuff..."
Asita's plea wouldn't faze Mayal's burning eyes.
Anyway, goals set.
Before leaving the estate, Mary told Gold the Demon King pops out within a week.
Train myself till then.
Blurt Grandpa's training room lets me train nearly 100 days.
In that time, find clues for Mayal's unique Prynar or Asita's mana assimilation.
And forge my body for that technique.
Planning to learn skills for the Demon King fight, but this one's special.
Not Severing Sword or Galaxy Sword.
Maybe more important than anything.
Yeah.
My own flame.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Cool.
Asita meant it sincerely.
Even Outsiders changed attitude at top-ten names, but Dret didn't.
His consideration for Mayal made her happy too.
She knew how hurt and how hard Mayal had worked.
Dret saw the person themselves.
Ignoring family, karma—judging purely on character.
However.
Mayal's gaze toward Dret had changed a bit... and it irked her for some reason.