The Fear Sets In
It was probably Hurtlocker who disguised me as a corpse. There’s no one else it could be. The only person who could have known in advance that I was heading into the Wist Forest, followed me, and revived me without anyone noticing. The only one who would pull such a petty stunt in the name of revenge.
At this point, it was clear. The intelligence agency had made its final decision to keep me alive. All those times I’d beaten Hurtlocker half to death yet still let him live might have finally paid off. That didn’t mean they saw me as an ally, though. It was still best to approach this with caution. After all, they might just be keeping me alive so they could use me later.
“Your attention is wandering!”
“Huh?!”
A blade flew in at blinding speed, grazing my sword before thrusting forward. It stopped dead right in front of my eyes. My own face stared back at me from the gleaming steel. I had nearly taken a direct hit that would have shattered my face.
“You’re really not focusing at all. Got a lot on your mind after dying and coming back to life?”
“Stop teasing me already…”
“Hehehe.”
Trie sheathed her sword with a mischievous giggle. But the moment I saw her swollen eyes, I knew she had been sobbing her heart out. Trie crying. I had only heard it in the Wist Forest, never seen it with my own eyes. It was a shame I had missed such a rare sight.
“Still, that was pretty clever. Slowing your blood flow to delay the absorption of mana energy. I can’t believe you survived like that.”
“…”
Somehow, my little act of pretending to be a corpse had become my own brilliant survival strategy. Since I couldn’t reveal anything about Hurtlocker, I decided to just roll with it.
What mattered was that this incident wasn’t going to cause too much of a stir. The Imperial Academy had already begun silencing the first-year combat magic students and covering everything up. The emperor would inevitably hear about it, but at least the story of my death and resurrection wouldn’t spread through the press. Apparently, rumors of resurrection tended to spark major religious controversies.
“Haa… haa…”
“Let’s call it here for today. You look exhausted already.”
“Yeah. I’m really not in good shape today.”
My metabolism had only just returned to normal, so my condition was terrible. I was already out of breath after just a few practice bouts. I let out a small chuckle and took Trie’s hand to stand up.
“Whoa?”
“Ah.”
I tried to stand, but Trie suddenly staggered. Still holding my hand, she toppled backward. I tried to catch her around the waist, but my current strength wasn’t enough. In the end, I ended up falling on top of her as she sprawled on the ground.
“Sorry. I don’t have much energy right now…”
“N-no! It’s my fault, I stepped on my own foot! You didn’t do anything wrong, Professor!”
“Professor… So you’re sticking with that title.”
“Of course. You’re the one who guided me onto the path of magic.”
“…”
It was a little—actually, extremely—embarrassing. Who could have predicted that a few casual pieces of advice would awaken Trie’s talent for magic? Her expectations for my magic classes were probably through the roof by now… I was already worried about how disappointed she would be later.
“C-could you get off me first?”
“Right.”
The position was rather awkward for conversation. Trie’s face was flushed and she kept avoiding my eyes, so it must have been quite uncomfortable for her too. I forced myself up with great effort and offered her my hand. When she pulled on it, I nearly fell over again and almost created an even more ridiculous scene. Once was more than enough.
“And this longsword… Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”
I raised the sword in my right hand. It wasn’t what one would call ornate. Yet its solid form and fierce blade radiated the dignity of a weapon made for slaughter. This was definitely a fine sword. I had felt it clearly while carving through monsters with it.
“Yeah, that one. It’s actually the sword I’ve used since I was a child. Father said even a training sword should be the best, so he ordered a top-quality one…”
“…”
The mood grew heavy. Gawain von dem Schulzenburg. Come to think of it, it had only been three days since Trie accepted her father’s death. Even if she forced herself to smile on the outside, she probably hadn’t fully come to terms with it inside. Those swollen eyes might not have been because of me, but because of Gawain.
“I’ve used it constantly since I was six.”
“I’m honored to receive my master’s cherished blade as a gift.”
“Master…?!”
When I said it playfully, Trie’s eyes widened in surprise. But she really used this from age six…? Even after being sharpened many times, it was still far from light. To think she had swung such a heavy sword since she was six… I couldn’t even imagine what Trie looked like as a little girl.
“Hehehe… Master. So I’m calling you master now.”
“Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”
“Still, hearing it directly from your mouth feels different.”
Apparently in a good mood, Trie kept giggling. Yes. This was how Trie should look—smiling. The sound of her crying back then had been truly painful to hear. I vowed never to make her cry again.
“Thank you, Professor.”
“What’s with the sudden gratitude?”
“No, just… I’m grateful for everything. I just realized it. What would have happened to me if you hadn’t been there…? I probably wouldn’t be holding a sword again like this. I might have lived my whole life never knowing what happened to Father. Really… thank you so much.”
“…It’s nothing.”
I turned away from Trie. Not because I was embarrassed. Because of the guilt.
Everything she had just listed would have happened even without me. It would have happened if Hurtlocker had enrolled instead of me.
It’s not because of me. You were always destined to reach the pinnacle.
One way or another, Trie was fated to ascend to the peak of swordsmanship, to become the Sword Deity who surpassed even the Imperial First Sword. Of course, there were rare cases like Ainz who broke free from fate and the constraints of the original story, but those were exceptions.
“You were already perfect before you even met me.”
“But still…”
“Trust your teacher. Even without me, you would have picked up the sword again, and even if I suddenly disappeared, you would still rise to the position of Imperial First Sword.”
“Such flattery. You won’t get anything from saying that.”
“It’s not flattery. I’m telling you to have more confidence in yourself.”
Perhaps I was actually slowing Trie’s growth. By awakening some kind of magical talent in her… It might turn out to be mediocre talent with a low ceiling. But since it had already come to this, since I had already intervened, I intended to take responsibility to the end.
My current goal was to guide Trie to become a magic swordsman. To go beyond the Imperial First Sword, beyond the Sword Deity, and even surpass her father Gawain’s position. That was my objective for now.
“Once you can believe in yourself with true confidence, then I will guide you onto the path of magic.”
“I’m always full of confidence! So I’ll be counting on you, Professor.”
“I’ll be counting on you too, my student. And my comrade.”
“Hehe.”
Spouting such cringeworthy lines, we shook hands firmly. If anyone else had been listening, I would have died of embarrassment.
After sending Trie off, I returned to the living room. And immediately felt displeased.
When I had passed by earlier, I thought I must have seen wrong. But it was still there.
“So who are you?”
A girl with red hair tied back. She was calmly savoring her tea as if she were in her own living room. It was so natural that it genuinely surprised me.
“Celine von Festia. I was in Team 1 during the practicum.”
“Ahhh…”
Ahhh my ass. Other than a vague memory of passing by her, I had no recollection at all. Had a character named Celine appeared in the original story? Or was she just an extra this world had forcibly created to fill out the numbers?
“So how did you get in here?”
“The servant opened the door for me?”
I couldn’t help but glare toward the hallway. Emilia, who happened to be bringing the teapot, flinched in surprise—or rather, pretended to be surprised—as she entered the living room.
“She was crying and begging at the door, saying she had something to tell Mr. Heinkel…”
“W-we agreed to keep that a secret!”
“…”
Well. If someone was whining at the door, it made sense that she would eventually get tired of it and let her in. I couldn’t exactly blame Emilia for this.
“Sigh… What do you want? I’d appreciate it if you could state your business briefly and leave.”
“It’s not like that. I just have something to say.”
To be honest, I was a little—actually quite—curious. This was the first time an extra had gotten entangled with me since Ms. Marie. What on earth had brought her to see me?
When I sat down across from Celine, Emilia promptly filled my cup with black tea as well.
“I saw it. The mana energy antidote in your drawer.”
“Pffft…!”
I nearly spat out my tea. What the hell. I had wondered who saw it, and it was you?
“After the antidote ran out, a large quantity of highly concentrated antidote suddenly appeared. That was yours, wasn’t it?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Mr. Heinkel. You did enter the training room with a Palein flower, didn’t you?”
“…”
Damn it. Emilia suddenly interrupted with an innocent expression. I hadn’t expected her to troll me like this. It was like being stabbed in the foot by the axe I trusted. The perfect metaphor.
“See? I was right.”
“…”
“You were covered in blood but gave the recovery potion to the instructor.”
This was a complete misunderstanding. That recovery potion wasn’t something I had saved; I had bought it from the shop. Besides, the blood covering me at the time hadn’t been mine—it was the monsters’ blood.
“What? Covered in blood?”
“Calm down, Miss Emilia. This is about the practicum. It’s because of the monster hunting incident…”
“And then you lured the monsters all by yourself for Ainz.”
“What?! You lured monsters?!”
“…”
Emilia dropped the teapot with a loud clatter. Startled by the noise, Celine flinched and looked back. Damn it. Emilia still didn’t know what had happened during the field training. I had planned to tell her slowly, but I never expected her to react so dramatically. Or rather, to pretend to react so dramatically…
“Get to the point.”
How was I supposed to clean this up? I rubbed my throbbing temples and spoke irritably.
“I have a confession to make. The truth is… I was spying on you under Erika’s orders.”
“…?!”
An unexpected story came out. Celine was under Erika’s orders…? Ah. Now I vaguely remembered. Celine was a collateral member of the Lichtenburg family and had made a very brief appearance in the original story. She was only mentioned by name. That was why I hadn’t remembered her.
“She said you were suspicious and told me to watch your every move and report back. But I can’t do it anymore. Feeling guilty about secretly digging up information on someone as kind as you—who would go so far as to nearly die for a jerk like Ainz…!”
“…”
Hey, you crazy woman. Shut up already. Emilia is staring at me like she wants to kill me. I hadn’t known Erika was using Celine like that. If the story diverged from the original in places I didn’t know about, it could cause serious problems with predicting the future later. It was fortunate I learned about even this trivial matter in advance.
“I don’t know if this will count as atonement, but… I thought at least telling you was the right thing to do… I’m really sorry. For suspecting someone like you and secretly watching you from behind…”
“It’s fine. Isn’t that something anyone would do?”
“R-really? So you forgive me?”
“…”
Celine looked up at me with sparkling eyes. She was a strange type. The kind of person who couldn’t feel at ease until she received forgiveness from someone she felt guilty toward. Forgiveness was something I could easily give.
“No. If you do me one favor, I suppose I could forgive you.”
“W-what is it? What do I have to do?”
“I’d like you to spy on Erika for me.”
“What?”
The happy expression on Celine’s face went blank. She looked like she had misheard.
“S-spy on Erika? No. I can’t do that.”
“But spying on me was fine?”
“T-that’s… ugh… I’m sorry… Really sorry…”
“Then let’s do it this way.”
“Huh?”
“Just collect and report any orders or information Erika gives regarding me. One month should be enough.”
“Only things about you, Schlus?”
“That’s right.”
In short, I was asking her to be a double agent. No matter what, it would have been hard for her to accept orders to monitor Erika’s every move. But if it was only information about me, the psychological burden would be greatly reduced.
“That seems like quite a generous compensation for the damage I suffered.”
“O-okay! I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”
“Then I forgive you.”
“Really? For real?”
Celine was overjoyed, practically jumping with happiness. It seemed relieving the guilt in her heart was her top priority. With that, I was able to send Celine away quickly.
What is Erika plotting?
Come to think of it, Erika had been far too quiet lately. In the original story, she was a main heroine who had the most contact with Hurtlocker, yet here she wasn’t particularly close to me. It was reasonable to assume she was quietly scheming something where I couldn’t see.
Go ahead and try.
Your mother has already become my subordinate. If I exaggerate a little—no, a lot—then the entire Lichtenburg family was practically in the palm of my hand. What could Erika possibly accomplish on her own? Go ahead and try. I’ll accept whatever you throw at me.
I stood up with a scoffing laugh.
“Mr. Heinkel.”
“Miss Emilia?”
Something rushed over from behind and hugged me tightly. Small but strong arms wrapped around my waist. The warm, soft sensation against my back. It was Emilia.
“Just now… what was all that about? Covered in blood, nearly dying… I’ve never heard any of this before?”
“Miss Emilia. Please calm down a little…”
“Answer me. Please? As your attendant, I believe I have both the responsibility and the right to know everything. So why… why didn’t you tell me? I did think your complexion looked bad lately… but why…!”
“…”
Why is her acting so good? It feels so real it’s making it hard to breathe.
“Tell me. Everything. What happened. Tell me all of it. There’s no other reason. I just need to know everything about you, Mr. Heinkel. That’s all. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. Tell me slowly, step by step. You will tell me, right? Yes? Mr. Heinkel? Why are you staying silent? Please answer me, Mr. Heinkel.”
“…”
Could you please tone down the acting just a little…? It’s seriously giving me the creeps.