Chapter 53. The Ultimate Fan (1)
Chapter 53. The Ultimate Fan (1)
1
-You are now watching an incredible video!
-The witch famous under the alias Black Witch is commanding the 11th-floor raid team. This is the latest footage our BBS just obtained. Ah! Let's zoom in on this part.
-Yes, this part right here! Let's pause the video for a moment.
A quiet waiting room.
I was staring blankly at the television.
-Viewers, can you see this? Black Witch is holding hands with another hunter. This hunter is presumed to be Death King (死王).
-If this footage has not been manipulated, Death King appears to have hunted the 11th-floor stage boss with a single strike. Hunters commonly call that a one-shot one-kill. However, no case of taking down a boss monster in one shot has been discovered to date.
The caster and the commentator were making a fuss.
-So you're saying this is the first?
-Yes, that's correct. Of course, Black Witch assisted, but the hunter who directly faced the boss monster appears to be Death King alone.
At the bottom of the screen, a breaking-news caption floated: [Death King, press conference this afternoon].
-Everyone, then let's watch the next video together.
-Death King, who had been shrouded in mystery until now. Yesterday afternoon, he finally revealed himself. He returned to Babylon via a teleport stone. As you can see, Black Witch and Sword Saint are accompanying him.
-It really looks like the two of them are escorting Death King, doesn't it?
-Yes, to convey the atmosphere of the scene to our viewers, let's turn up the audio for a moment.
A video that someone appeared to have filmed with a phone played.
In the center of the screen, I was walking with a blank expression.
-Please look over here for a moment!
-Stop shoving! Say something, please!
-Black Dragon Master, when can we hear an official announcement!
-What is the relationship between the two of you.......
Click!
Unable to take it any longer, I jabbed the remote.
The guardian spirit sitting beside me watching the television with me frowned.
-Ah, why'd you turn it off? I was just getting into it.
I spoke.
"Because I'm so embarrassed I could die!"
This place was the waiting room.
A full night had already passed since Sword Saint acknowledged me.
Today was the day of the press conference about the progress of the Tower raid so far.
Originally, it was a matter the major guild masters should have handled on their own, but this time I had also been invited as a special guest. The conference would begin shortly.
-So what if you die a little? You don't die even when you die, anyway.
"I still don't want to!"
With nothing to do until the conference began, I had thought I might as well watch some television, and that had been a mistake.
-Ah, shit. Fine. Then change the channel.
"Every channel is only talking about me anyway!"
News channel or not, nearly every broadcast was covering the 11th-20th floor raid. And it wasn't just television broadcasts. The situation was the same when I turned on the internet.
They say you go to sleep and wake up a celebrity.
That was exactly what had happened to me.
[Goddess of Protection points out that your achievements are that extraordinary.]
The holy sword at my waist quivered, vwooom.
[Fame is like a tax a hero pays day by day. Goddess of Protection advises that you need to grow accustomed to the position of a hero!]
"......."
Feeling deeply burdened, I looked down at the holy sword.
"I was so exhausted yesterday that I fell asleep without really talking to you... Hey there, Goddess? Aren't you overestimating me a bit?"
[You are light!]
The holy sword vibrated harder.
Maybe it was just my imagination, but it was exactly like a fan idolizing a celebrity.
[Goddess of Protection whispers that she still remembers it vividly. The lion's roar you let loose alone upon ascending the imperial tower! Your figure as you declared, 'From now on, I entrust the empire to you all,' was truly so gallant that.......]
"Aaaagh!"
I covered my ears.
"Stop! Stop it! I said that when I was completely worked up!"
But it was useless. The sword's voice was transmitted directly into my head, not through my ears.
The holy sword whispered my dark history to me without pause.
[Goddess of Protection says: a hero ought to love oneself! The end of a hero without self-love is always miserable, and it makes even the people around them unhappy. In that sense, your confidence is highly desirable! Tremendously magnificent!]
That's right.
Goddess of Protection was none other than my superfan.
"Stop... please, just stop......!"
Just as I had once been a fan of Flame Emperor, the holy sword was a fan of me.
It would have been fine if it burned with fandom somewhere I couldn't see, but this sword's voice was broadcast live to me twenty-four hours a day.
[Goddess of Protection confesses.]
[That she is happy to serve someone like you as her second master!]
Good lord.
Have you ever had someone beside you sincerely praising you, nonstop? Praising you while endlessly muttering memories that I myself had dismissed as dark history and wanted to forget as quickly as possible?
Just kill me instead.
[Especially the moment when you took Demon King of Fall Rain as your retainer and murmured, 'A lord has a responsibility to protect his people'—that was truly a masterpiece of a scene.......]
This was really too much.
I took sword oil (御刀油) out of my backpack. Sword oil is the oil used for polishing a blade. I lightly soaked a cloth with the oil and glared at the holy sword.
"You started this."
My hand drew near the blade.
The holy sword flickered with white light.
[Goddess of Protection senses a threat to her person.]
[Goddess of Protection asks you to stop.]
[Goddess of Protection.......]
Ten minutes later.
[Goddess of Protection apologizes to you for her wrongdoing.]
Gleam—
Thanks to my devoted polishing, the holy sword had become clean. The blade had turned transparent as a mirror and reflected my face exactly. But the holy sword trembled, steeped in humiliation.
"Whew, now it's finally quiet."
I looked down at the holy sword, which had become much more docile.
"So, you're a Constellation, so why are you a sword? Were you possessing a sword from the beginning?"
As far as I understood, a Constellation (星座) was like the administrator of a stage.
There might be cases like Agwi, who started as a monster and became a Constellation, but I couldn't imagine how a 'sword' could become a Constellation.
When I voiced this question, the holy sword emitted a soft white light.
[Goddess of Protection shakes her head.]
[It is easiest to understand a Constellation as 'something that represents' the world in question.]
A representative of the world.
[Goddess of Protection says.]
[She was originally a holy spirit worshiped as a god. But the founder of the empire, 'Lefanta Aegim,' split her into five swords and sealed her.]
[She is the first of those holy swords, 'Idol.']
I blinked.
"The sword's name is Idol?"
[Affirmative.]
And Goddess of Protection listed the five swords.
[First Sword, Idol (偶像).]
[Second Sword, Compassion (憐愍).]
[Third Sword, Prayer (祈願).]
[Fourth Sword, Sacrifice (犧牲).]
[Fifth Sword, Salvation (救援).]
[These are the five sister swords.]
[Goddess of Protection boasts that if you gather all the sister swords, she can recover power rivaling her prime.]
"Hoh."
In short, the sword gleaming before my eyes right now was a fragment of the true holy sword.
It meant that to draw out its true power, I would need to find the remaining four swords as well.
"Interesting. So where are the sister swords?"
No answer came back.
An awkward silence settled over the waiting room.
"Hello? Goddess? I asked where your sisters are."
Silence.
My eyes narrowed.
"...Don't tell me you don't know either?"
A moment later, a low voice answered.
[Goddess of Protection exercises her right to remain silent.]
"So in the end, you don't know."
[Goddess of Protection protests that she can sense their presence if they are nearby.]
I shrugged.
"Well, it's not urgent right now. Anyway, you've at least got one-fifth of the power. Sword of Idolatry, what can you do?"
[She can receive the absolute support of the Aegim Empire's citizens.]
"I know that better than anyone. What else?"
Flaaash!
As if it had been waiting, the holy sword blazed with light at maximum output.
"Aagh! My eyes! My eyyyyes!"
I clutched my eyes and rolled on the floor.
In my head, I heard the holy sword's smug voice.
[Goddess of Protection boasts that she is confident in emitting light.]
"I obviously know that too, since I've seen it until I'm sick of it!"
Good grief. It was a good thing I had protected my eyes with aura in that instant. I had nearly gone blind!
"No, I'm asking what you can do besides getting the empire's citizens' support and sparkling!"
Silence fell.
A dim light shone from the holy sword. If it were a person, it would have been stammering.
[She is confident in slicing monsters.]
"......."
[Goddess of Protection hastily adds that she is also confident in slicing humans.]
Knock. Knock.
While I was speechless from sheer disbelief, someone knocked on the waiting room door. I hurriedly sheathed the holy sword. From anyone else's perspective, me talking to a sword would look like nothing but a lunatic.
"Who is it?"
"It's me."
The witch's voice came from outside the door.
"It's been noisy for a while now. Is something wrong?"
"It's fine. Nothing's wrong!"
"Is that so......?"
The witch seemed suspicious, but she didn't press further.
"The press conference starts in five minutes. The reporters will probably bombard you with questions. Around when the press conference ends, the 21st floor will open. We'll answer the reporters appropriately, then head straight to the 21st floor. Understood?"
"Yes!"
"Your answers really are something else... Make sure you're not late."
Footsteps sounded beyond the door. Trudge, trudge. Only after confirming that the witch's footsteps had completely faded did I draw the holy sword again.
And I stared quietly at the blade.
"To sum up, apart from shining, you're completely useless."
[Goddess of Protection protests against the unjust opinion.......]
"Enough. From now on, you're not Goddess of Protection, you're Sparkle. The name holy sword is wasted on you!"
Come to think of it, this Constellation was hopeless beyond belief!
Hadn't she failed to protect her own world and nearly been devoured entirely by Demon King of Fall Rain? In the end, I had to carry and protect this Constellation's world. Just like Agwi, this Constellation was in no position to hold her head high before me.
"And you're too noisy. Sword Emperor alone already has my head over capacity. You keep going on and on with Goddess of Protection, Goddess of Protection, so it's driving me crazy! From now on, don't talk to me except when it's truly necessary."
[Goddess of Protection.......]
"Ah-ah. Maybe I should just return you to the Aegim Empire. Do you understand, Sparkle?"
Silence hung for a while.
A moment later, the holy sword trembled.
[Sparkle answers, "Yes, Hero."]
It was the moment I scored a Constellation.
2
The press conference was held in the plaza.
Not just the central plaza, but even the alleys were swarming. A crowd that easily seemed to exceed tens of thousands. As we walked out onto the stage erected in the middle of the plaza, camera flashes burst from every direction.
The witch, Sword Saint, and me.
The three of us sat side by side at the prepared table.
"...Thank you for welcoming us."
The person holding the microphone was the Witch. As the Witch's flat voice carried across the plaza, cheers soared from one side.
"Black Dragon Master!"
"Kyaaaa!"
"Please look this way, Black Dragon Master! Just once!"
A group of people waved placards. Some had even brought magazine cover photos featuring the witch as a model.
'Impressive.'
Was it because this was still before the era when a Saintess (聖女) had appeared? As a female hunter, Black Dragon Master enjoyed unrivaled popularity.
The witch bowed her head in greeting, then properly took the lead in the conference.
"As you all know, we have cleared the 11th through 20th floors. As many press outlets, broadcasters, and small media outlets have highlighted, it is a tremendous achievement. We deliberated over how to share this happy news... but there was no need to deliberate, as you all promoted it for us. Yes. We deeply thank you for saving us the promotional costs."
Light laughter rippled through the press corps occupying the front row before the stage.
"However, there is a separate fact that we are most proud of this time."
The plaza gradually quieted.
"It is not the fact that the 10th-floor raid, which everyone has longed for over the past several years, was finally accomplished. Nor is it the fact that we cleared up to the 20th floor at a speed no one predicted. Zero casualties. That not a single death occurred... is what makes us happiest above all."
After a small joke, she revealed her sincerity.
Even to me, a layman when it came to speeches, the Black Dragon Witch led the conference skillfully from the start.
'I guess you have to be at least this good to lead a top guild?'
I wondered if this was really the same person who had acted like a total goof while dressing me in various clothes yesterday.
"Everyone, please look down for a moment."
The witch said.
"Please look at the plaza floor of Babylon that you are standing on. You will see names carved into each and every stone. The names of the fallen who have been sacrificed so far. The names of our seniors who gave their lives to raid the Tower."
Whirrr—
The press corps' cameras all pointed at the floor in unison.
"When the 2nd floor was cleared, when the 3rd floor was cleared, countless names were carved into the floor. Because of their sacrifices, we exist as we are now. Before these people... I am truly glad to be able to make this declaration."
The Witch's voice carried across the plaza.
"Today, we carve no one's name into the plaza."
Click! Click!
The reporters alternated between photographing the plaza tiles and the witch. With this, the photo that would run in the newspapers was decided, and the atmosphere of today's conference was decided as well. The crowd shouted the witch's alias and cheered.
'There's no need for me to step up at all.'
I watched the conference, maintaining a blank expression.
For some reason, I felt pleased.
'As expected, you have to pick the right people to stand with!'
With a relaxed heart, I glanced up at the sky.
[01:22:10]
It was exactly the same as when the 11th floor opened. Even now, a clock of light was drawn in the sky. The moment the numbers pointed to 0 hours, 0 minutes, 0 seconds, the 21st floor would open.
'I want to wrap up this conference quickly and get to the 21st floor.......'
It was while the press conference was proceeding smoothly.
It was in the middle of the back-and-forth between the reporters' questions and the witch's answers.
"I'm John Evans, reporter for Babylon Daily News!"
A reporter sprang to his feet.
"I have a question for Death King, who has newly risen to rank 3."
'Huh? Me?'
I looked at the reporter.
Naturally, the gazes of the people gathered in the plaza also converged on me.
"There is a lot of talk about Death King's sudden rise in the rankings. In particular, the speculation that [a major rookie secretly raised by the major guilds for a very long time] is gaining traction!"
"Uh......."
"If this is true, then Death King would be a hero deliberately manufactured by the major guilds. What do you think about these suspicions!"
Murmur, murmur.
The plaza grew somewhat noisy.
"There are also considerable voices of concern that the major guilds are uniting to monopolize the 11th through 20th floors. In particular, I heard that Death King has come to exercise exclusive rights over the 20th floor! Is that true!"
The atmosphere stirred even more.
Tsk.
The witch sitting beside me kept a blank face, but clicked her tongue quietly enough that only I could hear. She turned off the microphone and murmured.
"It's bait. Don't answer. I'll handle it."
"No."
I shook my head.
"People like that will keep showing up anyway. I should properly state my position at least once."
"But......."
"It's fine."
I held out my hand to the witch.
"Hand me the microphone."
"......."
My will was firm.
Before climbing to the 21st floor, I would definitively nip that kind of bait in the bud.