An Uncomfortable Three-Way Meeting

An uncomfortable three-way meeting.

There was no better summary than that.

Count Lemercier had settled into the guest parlor, sipping his tea at a leisurely pace. Lola fidgeted in her seat, stealing anxious glances, clearly miserable with the whole arrangement. Meanwhile X's mind was spinning at full tilt, scrambling to process a situation he had never seen coming.

And in the midst of it all, this was the scene that presented itself:

"Lola, these cookies are exquisite. Do try one."

"Y-yes, Father..."

"You've always been fond of black tea, haven't you? I brought some with me this time."

"Th-thank you..."

"You aren't short on spending money, are you? Say the word and I'll give you as much as you need."

"I-I have plenty of allowance..."

Count Lemercier tended to Lola with painstaking devotion. Watching this overprotective, hopelessly smitten father, it was hard to believe he was the same charismatic middle-aged gentleman from before.

"I-I can't breathe..."

Lola looked overwhelmed by the sheer excess of his attention. Count Lemercier found even that adorable.

"It's been ten years since I last saw your face. Have a little sympathy for your father's heart."

"You saw me at the entrance ceremony..."

"That might as well have been twenty years. What kind of parent in this world would sit still after going thirty years without seeing their child?"

The Count simply stroked Lola's hair, his touch overflowing with affection. Lola couldn't keep her eyes still, darting them this way and that, mortified that X was witnessing any of this.

"That aside."

Count Lemercier cleared his throat, and a sharp gaze locked onto X.

"I hear you're my daughter's only friend."

"Ah — yes. My name is X."

"X, then. What you showed us in that courtroom left an impression. I never expected anyone to expose the Imperial Princess as a demon. You're no ordinary boy."

"Uh... well. Thank you?"

"However."

Count Lemercier's voice surged with raw feeling.

"I will not forgive you for hitting on my daughter!"

"...Excuse me?"

"I don't care if you're a Hero who wields all three powers — I won't allow it!"

Silence fell.

Lola covered her burning-red face with both hands. Count Lemercier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snorted with indignation, his nostrils flaring. X opened his mouth before his mind could finish going blank.

"If I may be so bold, sir — I consider Lady Lola a classmate and nothing more."

The truth was that X had not thought of a single person he'd met since falling into this world as a romantic prospect. The students in his class, as far as his own eyes could tell, were nothing more than children. And this world was hurtling toward doom by the minute; he hardly had time to sit around falling in love.

"So you needn't worry on that account."

"Are you telling me you feel not a shred of attraction toward my daughter?!"

What do you want me to say.

While Count Lemercier launched into a spit-flecked recitation of Lola's beauty and charms, the look Lola turned on X had gone distinctly cold — a quiet, simmering anger. Apparently the part about feeling no attraction whatsoever had not gone over well.

Is this really that terrifying Margrave's family?

House Lemercier's standing in X's mind was dropping by the second when the Count abruptly changed tack.

"I came to see my daughter after so long, so I showed you an unseemly side of myself. I will not, however, apologize."

"You needn't concern yourself, sir."

"I didn't invite you here for anything complicated. I simply wanted to hear from a friend's mouth — not Lola's — how my daughter has been getting on."

It was a more human reason than X had expected. He'd been on the other side of something similar himself, so he decided to speak frankly.

"Lady Lola has been... making the most of academy life, in her own way. She's been studying hard of late, and she's already become a 4th-Circle mage — a remarkable achievement. She'll make a fine mage someday."

"A fine combat mage, you mean."

The temperature in the room plummeted.

Count Lemercier shed the doting fool as if it had been a coat, and the eyes he turned on X were cold and still.

"Do you have any idea how a father feels, seeing murder in his daughter's eyes after only two months apart?"

"F-Father...!"

"Lola. Be quiet."

The Count simply held X's gaze, laying out his carefully contained feelings one by one.

"I sent my daughter to the academy because I wanted her to make ordinary memories — the same kind other children make. Not to stake her life on crises in a place no better than a killing field."

X said nothing.

"I couldn't be happy when my daughter received the Royal Knight Medal. It meant she had faced a threat to her life equal to the honor. And when I heard she'd nearly gone missing in the Ancient Ruins — a danger zone in all but name — my heart dropped into my stomach. I felt like a fool for ever giving her permission to go."

He was angry as a father. No matter what proud accomplishments Lola had earned for herself, in the Count's eyes she was his irreplaceable daughter. A father's heart would always put her safety above her praise.

"I know my daughter's nature better than anyone. Lola is not a child who would have gone looking for this kind of thing on her own. Which means it has everything to do with you — her only friend. I don't even need to investigate. The rumors are already everywhere."

In other words, what Count Lemercier wanted to say was this:

"If you're going to be my daughter's friend, then be her friend ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and nothing else."

Do not use my daughter.

X had no answer. He couldn't claim he had never used Lola for the sake of efficiency. The Count was right — the path Lola had walked at X's side had never been a safe one. It was a path where, if things had gone wrong, she might well have died. Hadn't he felt that danger in his bones inside the Ancient Ruins?

"I..."

It wasn't just Lola. Simply being someone's friend was a luxury. The road X had to walk from here was one that no one could travel without staking their life. In a situation where every minute, every second counted, playing at friendship would get everyone killed. That was the Doom Scenario.

We've just been lucky so far, that's all.

This wasn't some abstract argument — it was a father's position, and X couldn't help but sympathize. But if someone asked whether he had the right to drag these people into a fight against the end of the world, he had no easy answer.

So X was about to make a decision.

Until Lola cut him off.

"I thought it through, and I decided. X, don't you dare try to take responsibility for my share. I have the right to own my choices. Don't you try to take that from me."

Lola pressed on, her expression utterly serious.

"Father, I'm not some princess who needs to be protected. I can choose my own life."

A glint of interest flickered in Count Lemercier's eyes at his daughter's boldness. Then, as if handling a child, he carefully smoothed down her hair.

"You don't know that yet. You are a member of the proud House Lemercier. The consequences of your actions aren't something you can speak of so lightly."

"Is stopping me from learning combat magic the pride of our house?"

The Count's hand stilled. Lola took that hand and drew it down, pressing her case.

"I can't understand all of your worries. But you don't understand all of me either, Father. I don't think the way I'm living now is wrong."

"That's yet to be seen. Preparing for war is a job for muscle-headed fools with more power than sense. You don't need to be one of them."

"But I need power. To protect the things I want to protect. And it's not as if I lack for power, either. Look."

Lola raised her hand, and a swarm of stars bloomed in the empty air — each one a condensed explosion spell.

Count Lemercier's eyes went round. Then, with a bitter twist of the mouth, he murmured,

"Stellar Strike... To already produce this many explosion spells without a chant... Blood will tell, I suppose."

The Count closed his eyes. Lola dismissed the magic and pressed on.

"I understand your worries, Father. But I am making sound judgments, and I—"

"No. If you have that kind of ability, that makes it even worse. I cannot let the same thing happen twice."

Count Lemercier opened his eyes, sunk deep in thought.

"Lola. That's enough for today. Go inside. We'll continue this another time."

"Father..."

"Go on. I'd like a word with this young man alone."

The words were final. Lola hesitated, restless, then reluctantly withdrew from the room.

When only Count Lemercier and X remained, the Count spoke again.

"From this moment, I will address you not as Lola's father, but as the head of House Lemercier and Margrave of the border."

"...Yes, sir."

The atmosphere shifted once more. A general's oppressive presence filled the room, and every word he spoke carried a weight of force. The man standing before X was no longer a middle-aged gentleman. He was a battle-hardened general with blond hair.

"You used Aura and mana — and Divine Power as well. Just like the Hero of legend."

"It is true that I wielded all three powers."

"And in a little over two months, you reached the 4th Circle in magic. A growth rate that defies all common sense. For an ordinary person to reach the 4th Circle typically requires five years of training. You did it in two months. That is no ordinary genius. Add Aura and Divine Power on top of that... You are a remarkable talent."

X couldn't quite tell where the Count was going with this. Then the Count made his offer in terms even X couldn't miss.

"Originally, I intended to withdraw Lola from the academy and bring her home. But my daughter has steeled her resolve. As her father, I can hardly ignore that."

"Is that so...?"

"Which is why I have a proposal for you."

Count Lemercier spoke with grave deliberation.

"Join the Blue Moon Magic Corps. I will give you the chance to serve House Lemercier officially."

The sudden offer caught X off guard. But he understood at once that it had not been made on talent alone.

"You want me to become Lady Lola's watchdog."

"You're quick. From what I can see, you haven't a speck of romantic feeling for my daughter, and you look capable of keeping her in line."

The Count's voice was ice.

"Whatever you want, I will grant it. In exchange, devote your life to Lola. I ask nothing more. A noble and a commoner can hardly be friends in the first place, wouldn't you agree?"

X was reminded, all over again, that the man in front of him was the general who held the empire's front line against the Demon Realm. Right now, he was looking at X as a single piece on a board.

If I turn this down, things are going to get ugly in all kinds of ways.

Being told to stay away from Lola would be the least of it. As the Count had said, Lola might well be pulled from the academy. It was a cruel irony that her path now sat in X's hands — but he had to choose.

"I imagine you have a great deal to think about. Human relationships aren't so easily rewritten."

Having seen that much, Count Lemercier rose and settled his fedora back into place.

"The Corps' door is always open. Contact us whenever you make up your mind. However — from this point on, you will not approach my daughter without due consideration. Even if you have the Crown Prince's protection, our house does not care."

"...Of course."

"I trust you'll make the right choice."

Count Lemercier strode out. His footsteps said the decision had already been made.

X could only let out a long, heavy breath.

"I'm going insane. Seriously."

Too many threads had tangled together. Roxwell's departure. Andras's escape. Circe's split from Leon's party. Elysia's intervention. Elia's whereabouts. On and on. It felt like being forced to assemble a broken puzzle that would never ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fit — because the only other option was dying.

And something else didn't sit right.

"This isn't the worst-case scenario I expected."

The Luck assigned to him was zero. He still didn't fully understand how Luck actually worked, but he had at least learned this much: the things that happened to him always twisted into the worst possible outcome. Looking at the board as it stood, though, the current situation was not the worst.

Someone else might have called it a lucky break. X could only sink deeper into thought.

I feel like I've been set down on someone else's board.

Was that someone Elysia? It didn't seem like her style.

The questions went unanswered, only sinking deeper.

Inside a vast wreckage where the burned ashes still lingered, someone was tearing through the ruins, searching for something.

"Hah... hah..."

She had been digging for so long that her entire body was already stained with ash.

"I have to find it... the records... anything... please..."

It had already been days. With no end in sight, she tore through the mansion that had collapsed in the arson, lost in a trance.

"Hah — hh — uegh...!"

She vomited up what rose from her stomach. What came up was black, rotting blood and chunks of flesh.

"...I really don't have much time left."

Looked at closely, her condition was anything but human. Half her body was rotting away as if she had caught the Black Death, and the hair that had once shone so brilliantly had lost all its luster. Death was not far off.

"Please...!"

She just wanted to know. That alone had brought her this far.

So if there is a god — please. A miracle. Mercy...

That was when something touched the tips of her withered fingers. The one eye that could still see turned toward it of its own accord.

"Ah... ahh..."

What welled in that eye were tears. Whether they were tears of grief or of joy, there was no way to tell.

"Elia. Is that you?"

Because someone had chosen that moment to interrupt.

"...I am not Elia."

"Did you think you could escape the Magic Corps' pursuit? The crime of attacking House Lemercier isn't something you can walk away from so easily."

"I."

The girl who denied being Elia rose to her feet. Her clothes were worn to rags, so frayed they no longer served as clothing at all. The only things she still possessed that were intact were two swords: the Soul Killer, and a scrap-iron blade.

"Am not Elia."

Her eyes gleamed with a chilling light — and it was not the Soul Killer but the scrap-iron sword that drew itself from its sheath. The leader of the Magic Corps, watching that, immediately shouted to the dozens of soldiers surrounding her.

The soldiers responded at once, spreading out and preparing their magic. It might have looked like an excessive response to a dying, frail girl.

It was not excessive at all. It was not nearly enough.

"I'm not."

Before the Magic Corps could finish preparing their spells, her sword traced a great circle through the air like a flash of light. Not a single person escaped that blade.

"A... monster..."

The leader of the Corps got that much out before he lost consciousness.

"...That's right. I am a monster."

Hearing those words, she laughed at herself. She knew ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what she was now. Someone who reached the 7-star realm in less than a month could not be called human. Monster. There was no other word.

Having broken the Magic Corps' ambush in a single stroke, she sheathed the scrap-iron sword. There was no blood on it.

Then Elia tucked into her clothes the thing she had found in the wreckage. It was something she must never lose.

"...Come to think of it, I still had this."

This time she drew the Soul Killer, staring at the blade for a long while, lost in thought. Then, as if she had decided something—

"I won't be needing this anymore."

CLANG—!!!

She had smashed the Soul Killer into the floor. The broken sword decomposed like dust and disappeared.

There was nothing left to do here. Elia dragged her body toward a distant point. At the end of that direction lay her destination.

"X... I really do hate you."

Make it to the tournament finals. That promise, struck under false pretenses, was now her only goal.

She kindled her killing intent and set her sights on the target.

"I'll need to be thoroughly prepared, of course."

She opened the system and called up the stat screen.

In a half-system with no item shop and no talent shop, there was only one thing she could purchase.

The Intelligence stat.

She bought Intelligence to the absolute limit.

"So I'll kill you with everything I have."

All that remained now was reaching the academy.