Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Panhima
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Everything has its ups and downs.
He'd managed to prevent a situation that could have spiraled out of control, which was great—but now, the fallout from cleaning it up was spawning new problems.
-System Log
▶ Target 'Felix' takes even greater interest in your past!
The Gray Cardinal had developed a profound curiosity about his history.
"⋯⋯."
Hmm.
Truth be told, there wasn't much to dig up anyway.
She must have associated something from the excuse he'd hastily thrown together on the spot.
"Hero. Do you know anything about Cardinal Felix's past? Anything at all?"
[Well⋯⋯ she's never been one to talk about herself, so I doubt I'd be much help there.]
Even the Holy Sword didn't seem useful on that front.
That left only one option.
"⋯⋯Should we just deal with it if something blows up later?"
[You've finally learned to think straight.]
Good is good.
Considering the Gray Cardinal's reaction at the time, it was likely tied to some personal issue that shook her emotionally.
Her attitude toward Carlyle himself had been extremely cautious, so the odds of it turning sour were low.
He could safely shift his focus elsewhere.
Mainly.
[Things will be quiet for a while, but they'll come at us again soon.]
He was talking about the Devil Worshippers who'd brazenly summoned a demon this time.
For them to unleash a demon so openly in the capital, it wouldn't be surprising if something even bigger had already erupted.
"Of course, even a lesser demon isn't trivial⋯⋯ but still."
Even without a noble-rank demon, the number of sacrifices required for the summoning was beyond imagination.
They'd probably been "collecting" victims from outside society's safety nets over a long period.
Which meant their operations had likely been going on for who-knows-how-long at a scale impossible to gauge properly.
And.
On that day, a demon had been summoned immediately from just one outpost Carlyle had hastily discovered on-site.
He had no idea how many more similar outposts they had elsewhere.
⋯⋯It left a bad aftertaste.
The feeling that something bigger was lurking in the shadows.
[On the flip side, they probably didn't expect a summoning to result in zero damage and a full rout. Like you said, even a lesser demon is still a demon.]
"Hmm."
[They'll go quiet for now to prepare a real decisive blow.]
That was a reasonable assumption.
So, what remained was for his side to build up strength to crush them properly when they resurfaced.
In that case.
'Ways to build strength⋯⋯'
They boiled down to roughly three.
1. Carlyle's own growth
2. Gray's growth
3. Growth of the companions around him
The third one stood out in particular.
'Now that I think about it⋯⋯'
During the exam, a quest had opened through a student named Letty to give Vespa a spirit.
That alone was high priority, but there was more from the window that had popped up yesterday.
-System Log
▶ An additional event related to 'Hero's Companions' has been generated!
'Companion-related quest, huh⋯⋯'
He wasn't sure exactly what it entailed, but there were only three people it could involve anyway.
Vespa, Panhaima, and Drexler.
Whichever it was, making quick contact would be ideal. All three were pillars who would one day support humanity's united front.
'If only I could meet one of them soon.'
Carlyle gave a wry smile at the thought.
Unlike Vespa, who was always by his side, the other two hailed from places far removed from the Empire. He had no clue where they even were right now.
'Which leaves⋯⋯'
Vespa's reinforcement, something he could tackle immediately.
But that came with its own issues.
-Quest Info
◆ Ingram Family's Long-cherished Wish
The Ingram family, a prestigious house of magic engineering, has long researched the 'Will of the World' and 'Subdimensions.' They saw a fragment of their long-cherished wish in the companion by your side.
Fulfill their wish to forge a bond, strengthening both your companion and yourself!
※ This is a quest of extreme difficulty. Check your forces before starting!
"⋯⋯."
⋯⋯Fine, whatever else—but plastering "Expect to Die" at the end like that was the real problem.
Dragging Gray along might make it doable, but he had no intention of taking losses before even fighting demons.
'⋯⋯Need to think of a way.'
Either way, both options had too many constraints to touch right now.
Unless he found a clever shortcut to clear them all at once, it was impossible.
What he could actually do boiled down to one thing.
"Guess we head to class. With Dean Shea."
The fastest way for Carlyle to grow right now was undoubtedly awakening the Holy Sword's various sealed functions.
Lessons with Dean Shea were the most efficient method for that.
[Ah, yes. Best to attend those diligently.]
⋯⋯The surprising part was the Holy Sword egging him on.
This thing used to not care about stuff like that—what had gotten into it?
[Seeing that pipsqueak throw a tantrum pisses me off.]
"You talking about the Lady?"
[Who else but that little runt?]
"⋯⋯."
[⋯⋯Watching you hang around her already gets on my nerves.]
"⋯⋯Why does that piss you off⋯⋯?"
The whole premise of his struggles was raising this timeline's Gray properly—otherwise, world salvation was off the table.
[Reason and emotion don't always align.]
"So what does that even—"
A jolt shot through his entire body.
The Holy Sword had forcibly injected mana into his circuits.
"What the hell."
[Punishment for idiots.]
"⋯⋯."
What?
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But the moment he faced Dean Shea, the news hit like a thunderbolt.
"⋯⋯Class is canceled today? For real?"
"Emergency came up."
The dean shrugged.
That⋯⋯ sucked.
For Carlyle, who needed to maximize every second, unexpected schedule changes like this were never welcome.
"Normally I'd send another professor, but this case is a bit unusual."
"What's the situation?"
"Some guy's causing a ruckus at the academy's main gate. Even suppressing him is beyond most of the staff."
"⋯⋯Isn't that common at Cradle?"
Gathering promising talents from every nation made Cradle a powder keg where accident-free days were rarer.
A brawl was routine.
But precisely because it drew all sorts, Shea's words sounded even stranger.
"It's a type of person I've never seen before. Not one of our students either."
"⋯⋯Pardon?"
"They're yelling in some language no one's ever heard. Wearing clothes in a style I've never seen. At least in any nation with our state religion, no one's encountered that."
"⋯⋯."
"And yet they're smashing everyone nearby with the flat of their blade—no room for talk. Skill's no joke either; hard to subdue easily. Figure it's least hassle if I handle it."
Huh.
Wait.
Carlyle blinked for a moment.
He'd heard this exact description before.
Back when he'd met someone he 'knew' in the past.
"⋯⋯."
And.
If it was that person.
Retrieving her now would be a massive jackpot.
'No wonder with all the companion quest talk.'
Carlyle suppressed a grin threatening to break free and spoke.
"That person—is she blonde by any chance?"
"⋯⋯."
Now Shea blinked blankly.
"How'd you know?"
"Uses a strangely shaped sword with a single edge?"
"⋯⋯And how'd you know that?"
It was a type of weapon called a dao.
Completely different from the Empire's longswords.
Perfect. That sealed it.
Just one more confirmation.
Carlyle cleared his throat and asked for the 'biggest clue.'
"⋯⋯And, uh, big chest?"
"⋯⋯."
The dean stared at him like he was spouting some avant-garde nonsense.
"Kid. I've been suspicious since you went on about turning swords into bodies last time. You aren't, like⋯⋯ letting your youthful vigor get the better of you, are you?"
"⋯⋯⋯⋯It's important intel."
⋯⋯It really was.
If this was the person Carlyle had in mind, it was a trait anyone would spot at a glance.
"⋯⋯."
At Carlyle's firm response, the dean looked dubious but relayed the question through the communicator.
The reply came back dubious too, but straightforward.
"Says it's big. Even tightly bound with bandages⋯⋯ on the chest, it still stands out."
⋯⋯Exactly.
"Then I can help out. I know her."
"You know her?"
"Very well."
All too well.
Blonde, speaking an unintelligible language, never-before-seen attire, chest so prominent it defied tight bandaging.
It matched his memory of her appearance perfectly.
"Oh? Name?"
"Panhaima Acha Oren."
Carlyle brushed off his seat and stood.
"A warrior from the Far East Continent."
Moreover.
She was the 'Sword Saint' who'd led the Hero Party's vanguard.
'Jackpot.'
The masterstroke to sweep away every quest constraint at once.
It had landed right in his lap.
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