Chapter 160
Chapter 160
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 160
>Chapter Title: Lucky, Aren't We?
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I crossed the Blandoga Family grounds in response to Henji's summons.
Of course, this was something I never would have dreamed of attempting under normal circumstances.
Sneaking around inside was easier than breaking in from the outside, but the Blandoga Family's defenses were no joke, befitting a prestigious house.
The fact that it was possible came down to my experience as a Troubleshooter, but more than that, it was thanks to my capable guide, Dinner No. 1.
*Tweet, tweet.*
Following the flapping of Dinner No. 1's wings, I slowly made my way toward the School of Magic along paths absent of people.
A flap of the left wing meant left, a flap of the right meant right.
'What is this... not even a proper mount.'
I'd suddenly become a bird's passenger, but maybe because of my prior experience with Breakfast No. 1, it didn't feel all that awkward.
As I strolled through the Blandoga Family grounds under the cover of darkness, I mulled over a few thoughts I needed to sort out before meeting Henji.
'Getting to meet Henji is fine and all...'
But there were some sticking points.
Let me think this through.
How did Henji define the person known as 'Aster'?
The first thing that came to mind was probably my origins as a 'Black-White Slums street rat.'
Sure, I'd gotten tangled up with Damian by chance and ended up aboard the New Heavenly Origin Art ship, but deep down, the image of me as a Black-White Slums street rat was likely firmly ingrained.
And that's where my dilemma began.
'How do I explain everything that's happened so far?'
Truth be told, there weren't that many incidents tied to the New Heavenly Origin Art.
The raid on Parun's mansion was unavoidable, but the Tower of Trials fiasco was something even Parun didn't know about.
So, at most, it boiled down to the recent Infinite Chain business.
And those two events were the problem.
'Henji... he could connect me to the masked figure who showed up during the raid on Parun's mansion.'
There might have been contact between Parun and me that I didn't know about, or even without it, the circumstances aligned too perfectly.
Rather than 'a masked figure who happened to show up and help Parun,' it was far more plausible to think 'that Black-White Slums street rat from back then must be connected to the masked figure somehow.'
Of course, your average person would dismiss the latter as nonsense, but the Henji I'd seen was anything but average.
Where most people would trust coincidence over the slimmest possibility, Henji would zero in on that tiny possibility instead.
Now, consider this.
'What if the Black-White Slums street rat you coincidentally pulled in turns out to be some hidden powerhouse?'
Ah, no way you'd let that slide without suspicion.
What would a normal person do?
'Ah, lucky break... and move on?'
Like hell.
I'd rip them open.
Even nonexistent doubts would erupt like a volcano, and I'd drag them off, torture them until they spilled everything, even things they didn't know.
And if...
'...he even got wind of what happened with Lortel?'
My head spun.
If I were Henji, I'd drag them to that 'private space' I'd jokingly mentioned before and spend some horrifically intimate quality time.
Well, maybe the Lortel thing was a bit of a stretch.
"Tch, having too many secrets is a real pain."
Truth be told, I wasn't hiding anything.
I was just a mysteriously enigmatic man, with new layers peeling back like an onion no matter how deep you went.
In any case, this ambiguity in our relationship slowed my steps, but I wasn't particularly tense.
It just gave me a headache figuring out where to start and where to stop in my explanations.
'For now, I guess I have to share the Lortel stuff too...'
Anticipating a long talk tonight, I quickened my pace under Dinner No. 1's guidance.
We arrived at the back of the School of Magic.
Even in the pitch-black night, the building blazed with light. As I looked up at it carefully, Dinner No. 1 flapped its wings right then.
*Flap, flap.*
It perched on a window at the topmost floor, its eyes seeming to say:
"Come on up?"
*Tweet.*
Without asking twice, I leaped up, bounding off a couple of window ledges to reach the one where Dinner No. 1 waited.
Before knocking, I took a moment to breathe deeply.
'I'm upright. And righteous.'
The me who had come here before was just a Black-White Slums street rat, but the me returning now was a righteous Troubleshooter.
So, what is righteousness?
Power.
Greater power makes me even more righteous.
Therefore...
'Henji's private space?'
Not afraid.
I just hoped one thing.
Please, Henji, don't make any hasty judgments that awaken my sense of justice. My violence dressed up as righteousness... or whatever it was, don't awaken it.
With that in mind, I knocked on the window.
*Swish—*
The curtain parted, revealing a familiar face.
Henji looked at me with his usual affable expression, showing no surprise as he promptly opened the window to welcome me in.
"Haha, Aster. Long time no see. How have you been?"
"I've been well enough."
What was this pounding in my chest?
My hands itched.
Looks like I... might be addicted to justice?
* * *
Henji poured tea with a smiling face and naturally opened the conversation, starting with 'Parun's letter.'
"By the way, I just got a letter from Parun not long ago. So, should I start calling him Tower Lord now?"
"Letter?"
I voiced my doubt at the fact that Parun had sent a letter.
I'd expected close contact between the two, but it was because of the sensitive word 'Tower Lord.'
Knowing about the 'Tower Lord' meant the letter contained the full story involving Lortel.
Catching my gaze, perhaps, Henji spoke up.
"Ah, this is the first letter I've received from him in months. Thanks to One Sword, the Decullan surveillance has lightened up."
Ah, so that's how it was.
Still, it was quite unexpected that Parun had sent a letter despite that.
Parun wasn't unaware that I'd be visiting Lortel during the break, so there was no real need to—
As my thoughts reached that point, Henji added an explanation.
"For the record, it absolutely wasn't a letter sent because he doesn't trust you, Aster. He said it was just to provide a more objective and accurate account of the situation."
...Right.
He probably didn't think I'd run off with the Heavenly Origin Art paper, but there must have been something unreliable about it, so he sent the letter too.
Anyway, that detail wasn't important.
'Well then, let's see how you react.'
I waited with bated breath for Henji's response.
In case he'd fallen to evil, to purify him with justice, to guide him back to the straight and narrow.
But in the end, Henji hadn't fallen to evil.
He'd simply—
"You hid your identity from Parun. Wise choice. It's better that way to avoid unnecessary hassle."
Supported my decision.
"And I have to say, I was surprised. Did you come across some fortuitous encounter in the meantime? I'm sure you weren't at that level when we first met."
Expressed intrigued admiration laced with curiosity.
The conversation that followed was mostly Henji asking questions and me answering, all driven purely by his interest.
How was Karahen? What exactly happened at Lortel? And how did you manage to impress Parun, since he seems to like you quite a bit?
That's the part where I couldn't hide my bewilderment.
"Parun? Likes me?"
"Yes, hard to believe? Haha, I get it. He's such a cold fish."
That made me intensely curious about the letter's contents.
Given what I knew of Parun, it wouldn't be odd if half of it was filled with scathing critiques like 'ignorant' or 'lacking qualifications as a mage'...
Anyway, after an exchange of detailed circumstances not in my account and interest-driven questions,
We paused our talk and wet our lips with our teacups.
At this point, I couldn't help but ask.
"...Why?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well..."
Now that I was actually asking, the words stuck in my throat.
It felt too awkward to outright say with my own mouth, 'Why aren't you questioning my identity?'
But was it that obvious?
Henji spoke up right after.
"Honestly, yeah, I'm curious. You're a Black-White Slums street rat, Aster... You were just a bit standout when we first met, not this level. But according to Parun's letter, well... haha."
Henji trailed off with a laugh.
As if recalling the surprise when he first read it, though without any dramatic emotion.
Anyway, after composing himself briefly, Henji turned the question on me.
"But does it matter?"
"...It doesn't?"
"Let's say you're a chess player, Aster. On the board are your pieces and your opponent's. But the starting setup isn't fair."
Henji spoke calmly as he manipulated mana to form a chessboard and pieces.
It was an astonishingly precise and swift transformation, soon dividing into colors as black and white chess pieces took full shape on the board.
But the arrangement was peculiar.
The white side's camp was packed with pawns, rooks, bishops, knights, king, queen—overflowing, ignoring the squares entirely.
As if disregarding the rules.
Meanwhile, the black side?
Only a queen and king.
Holding out with just those two pieces.
"It's an unfair game, right? Now, let's say you're the black player, Aster. Then one day, a 'pawn' joins the black side. A completely useless pawn. What do you do? Discard it? Or grip it and keep playing the game?"
"I'd... keep playing the game."
"That's why I chose you, Aster. Ah! Of course, I didn't see you as just any 'pawn.' More like, 'Maybe this pawn could push to the enemy's backline and promote?' Something like that faint hope?"
By now, I understood what Henji was getting at.
Here, the white player was the Decullan Family.
The black player was Henji and Parun.
At the same time, Henji and Parun were the queen and king.
Then, one day, I showed up.
'A pawn that might become a queen.'
But here's the twist.
"When we peeled back the layers, it turns out you weren't a pawn at all. Bishop or knight for some reason... or maybe more. Beyond expectations, anyway. In a situation like this, do we need a reason?"
"......"
I quietly took in the black pawn that floated up smoothly over the chessboard. It soon shifted form into a bishop, then a knight.
Yeah, I didn't know how a pawn chess piece became a knight, but the reason probably didn't matter much.
In this precarious board state, what mattered was having a usable piece.
And one more thing.
I could guess why Henji had used the chess metaphor specifically. Probably something like this.
'Chess pieces don't need backstories.'
Why a pawn is a pawn.
Why a bishop is a bishop.
Few people ponder that meaning while playing. Even if they do, it doesn't affect the game.
What matters is the piece's utility.
His clear answer made me nod slowly.
"Lucky, aren't we."
"......Pardon?"
"No, nothing."
Pity—no, fortunately, there was no need to administer justice.
As I let out a sigh of regret—no, relief—Henji smiled faintly.
"Oh, right. I heard you have something to give me? And something to ask as well."