Modified Habit Brigade Commander Lianna (3)
"That's enough sparring for today."
Liam dismissed the Holy Power blade in his grip. His opponent let her own holy sword fade as well and bowed at the waist.
"Thank you for your time. I still can't hold a candle to you."
Selen wiped the sweat from her brow and caught her breath, platinum eyes glittering as she looked at him. Reverence, or perhaps awe — either way, it was a feeling that almost made him laugh. Because the whole time they'd been sparring, Liam had felt like he was slamming face-first into a wall.
She doesn't even know how incredible she is.
Honestly, he wanted to drop his jaw in shock. The potential of this world's successor Hero was beyond anything he could have imagined — a talent as fathomless as the deep ocean. Calling her the greatest Hero in history would not have been an exaggeration. He was starting to get a sense of just how carefully the Goddess had deliberated over this one.
"How long do you think it'll take before I can become like you?"
"Just keep doing what you're doing. You're already doing well."
Liam kept his tone and expression serene, burying the astonishment underneath. This might be another world, but he wasn't about to look pathetic in front of a junior Hero.
"Thank you. But isn't it about time you told me who you really are?"
"I already did. I'm just Clitia's ordinary ex-boyfriend, currently unemployed."
"There's nothing ordinary about you."
"You don't need to know, so don't ask."
Liam fought hard to keep his itching mouth shut. What he really wanted was to boast that he was the Hero who'd saved the world. But that would put Clitia — the Clitia who'd lost to the Demon King — in an awkward position, so he swallowed it.
"Anyway, good work. Go on in."
"Understood. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
Ever the picture of courtesy, Selen bowed once more and turned to head back to her quarters.
"Have you just finished?"
That was when Eluke approached, having drawn near without anyone noticing — her face fully uncovered.
"Ah — hello. Other-world Unni... no, former Saintess? Your Holiness the Pope?"
Selen stammered, thoroughly flustered. Which, to be fair, was only natural. A defrocked Saintess and a Pope — the same person, yet utterly different in rank, personality, and even the way they spoke. Who wouldn't be thrown off?
"What should I call you?"
"Just 'Eluke' is fine."
"...I'd prefer it if you spoke to me casually."
"I would like that as well, but I'm afraid I have my reasons. I hope you can understand."
Eluke smiled lightly as she politely declined Selen's request. An attitude utterly unlike this world's Clitia — manners refined enough to leave Selen staring blankly.
"Would you mind giving us a moment?"
The succession of genteel remarks snapped Selen back to her senses, and she bowed again.
"I'll take my leave first."
The moment the greeting was done, Selen bolted. Her footsteps were especially quick — probably racing off to tell her companions everything that had just happened.
And so the still-green Hero departed. The estranged lovers stood in silence, looking at each other. Both Liam and Eluke wore cold expressions, as if they'd already made up their minds to part ways. The truth was a little different. Neither of them had any idea what to do, and they were just standing there fidgeting. The frosty air was nothing more than desperate face-saving — a struggle to look unbothered.
"There's something I very much want to say."
After a long stretch of awkward hovering, Eluke spoke first.
"Please hear me out in all seriousness."
Liam's heart lurched. She looked ready to say they should break up then and there. As if to confirm it, Eluke stepped closer and fixed him with a fierce gaze.
"Liam."
"...What."
"Do you like every 'Clitia' there is?"
"Huh?"
Thankfully, nothing like this is as far as we go came out of her mouth. Instead, something he hadn't expected at all kept coming.
"Why do you keep looking elsewhere and making me so upset?"
"......"
The same quietly settled tone as always. But her face and her body language were practically vibrating with nerves. Was this what people meant when they talked about jealousy? Liam suppressed the twitch at the corner of his mouth and answered.
"Of course you're my first priority."
"I don't want to be first priority. I want to be the only one. Am I asking for too much?"
"......"
Liam grew serious. This wasn't the time for a teasing answer.
"I'm sorry. From now on, I'll think only of you."
There was no other choice. It was time to let the other Clitias go, even if it meant swallowing tears.
"But, you know."
There was just one. One Clitia he simply could not abandon.
"I can't give up on this world's you. Not ever."
Perhaps the most unfortunate Clitia walking any world. He wanted to lend his strength to the former Saintess who didn't even realize she was falling apart. Not simply because she was a Clitia — but because it was a Hero's duty. A good person drowning in misfortune deserved to be looked after.
"Do you really think what I'm doing is wrong? You know what kind of life she's lived."
"Of course I know. Even things from a far more distant past that I never told you."
Eluke stepped closer still. The distance between them shrank until they could hear each other breathe.
"That's why it hurts. I'm so terribly sorry that I'm the only one who gets to live in comfort. You will never understand what this world's Clitia carries in her heart."
"Of course I don't."
Liam looked straight into the eyes right in front of him.
"But I'm still going to save her. Fighting with everything you've got and staking your life for a complete stranger — that's what a Hero does."
"......"
Eluke didn't continue the conversation. She simply stood there, biting her lower lip. The silence stretched, heavy. Not a promising sign. Liam braced himself for something ugly.
"I really am going to lose my mind."
At last that beautiful face crumpled.
"As I thought — there's no breaking that stubbornness of yours."
But then a faint smile touched her lips. A small, luminous thing, like the lingering fragrance of a flower.
"You said it yourself last time. That every Clitia has the right to be happy."
Eluke pressed herself against him. Their warmth crossed and spread.
A surrender, in all but name. She hadn't abandoned her own view, but she had opened a gap. For someone whose nature was to follow the Goddess's word without question, this was an enormous decision.
"Go on, then. As a Hero — save this world, and Clitia too."
Liam nodded firmly. Of course, that had been the plan whether she said it or not.
"Do your best."
"Thank you. Oh — but this world's me doesn't count as a 'Clitia,' right?"
"......"
"No, that's not what I— I was genuinely curious. Don't get the wrong idea."
Liam was, after all, still Liam.
"We're here."
Thanks to the mole's blistering pace, we reached Serda before I knew it. Truly the finest mode of travel there was.
"Give us a ride back too, would you?"
I asked once we'd climbed down onto solid ground. The mole shook its head from side to side.
"Sorry, you're on your own. I've got training with Wipilud. Busy."
We'd be in trouble without it, but it was hard to argue with a reason like that. The guardian of the Hero's party wanted to get stronger. Who was I to stand in the way?
"I'm off."
And just like that, the mole left us behind. I was already worrying about how we'd get back.
"What a pain."
The mole had always ferried us back and forth in no time, but Serda and the Brigade village were a long way apart. Even running every day with Aura wrapped around your legs, you were looking at a week, give or take. Would we have to ride a Blackstone Horse again? Tamed monsters were far too expensive for that. Last time we'd bought one with money Riella had given us. That wasn't happening now.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of the trip back!"
Liam was beaming, as if this inconvenient situation were the best news he'd heard all day.
"Do you even have any money?"
"Why would I spend money? I'll just infest a Blackstone Horse with a mutant parasite and bring it along."
"......"
Even the way he thought was different. I stared at him, speechless, and he just gazed back with those clear, innocent eyes, as if he hadn't the faintest idea what was wrong with that plan. I clearly couldn't leave him to his own devices. I wasn't about to let a former Hero, of all people, turn to theft.
"Liam."
"I told you to call me Lianna when we're outside."
"Fine. Just listen."
I put a hand on his shoulder and spoke with complete seriousness.
"From today on, you ask my permission before you do anything. Anything at all."
Behavioral control. It wasn't excessive. Considering his delinquent years, this barely even counted as a leash.
"You're looking after me.... Just like before...."
He was getting misty-eyed again, grinning like an idiot. I sighed and waited for him to settle down, and to my surprise he pulled himself together reasonably fast.
"Clitia, let's go."
"Done savoring it already?"
"I'm saving the afterglow for later."
"Right...."
I was starting to wonder whether he really had improved at all.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"No. Let's head in."
The lecture on how not to go off the rails could wait. We had more important business right now.
We passed through a checkpoint that may as well not have existed and entered Serda, and the city's particular brand of clamor hit our eyes and ears at once. Not that I was complaining. A city has a charm all its own. I took it in as we walked — buildings of every shape and color, people talking, people hurrying along. A packed, living energy you never felt in empty places, and it lifted my gloom a little. That was Serda for you. Compared to this, the Brigade village was still learning to crawl.
"It's changed a lot."
Liam, who hadn't been to Serda in ages, kept glancing around in fascination. His two subordinates' heads whipped around in the same direction every time, which was so ridiculous I almost laughed.
"Clitia, maybe we could look around a bit before we... no, never mind."
"Good. You already know."
Now that Liam had learned when not to push, we pressed on without delay. Our destination was the Adventurer Guild — the place where Master was. The closer we got, the more impatient I became, and I picked up the pace. Most of the people on the street were taking their time. I was the only one in a hurry.
"Why are you walking so fast?"
"Less talking, more following."
Anyone who wasn't anxious in my position wouldn't have been normal. Put anyone else in my shoes and they'd have reacted the same way.
Your master is in league with the Demon King.
The suspicion Remiraen had thrown at me before leaving. I needed to get to the truth, and I needed to do it now. I wouldn't sleep properly until I did.
We walked without stopping, and the Adventurer Guild came into view before long. I'd been there enough times that I didn't even have to think about the route.
"Li...anna. From here on, keep your mouth shut as much as possible. Don't stir anything up."
"Got it. I absolutely will not cause any trouble. I'll sit perfectly still."
Why did the word absolutely sound so ominous coming from him? Hoping the worry was for nothing, I stepped inside.
"...What is this."
The interior that greeted me the moment I walked in did not match my memory in the slightest. A quiet, cozy atmosphere. Soft lighting. Small tables scattered here and there. A place that had once felt like a lively tavern had somehow become an elegant lounge. There was even gentle music playing. The voice was lovely, I'd give it that — but it belonged at a noble's salon, not an Adventurer Guild.
"Didn't they say that ugly orc was the one running this place?"
"They did."
The vice-guildmaster of Serda's Adventurer Guild was Giph. Wise and level-headed for an orc, but he had never been the type to enjoy this kind of luxury. Which meant there was only one person who could have been behind a renovation this drastic.
"I'm going to see Master. Stay here and behave."
I sat Liam at a table in the corner and made the warning as firm as I could.
"I can look around, though, right?"
"As long as you don't cause trouble."
I still didn't feel great about leaving him, but I wanted to speak with Master alone. The matter was that serious.
"You cause a scene and you'll never see my face again. Remember that."
One last warning, and I headed for the reception desk. The young woman behind it put on a bright, professional smile.
"How may I help you? Are you here to register?"
"I've come to see the founding Adventurer Guildmaster."
The receptionist hesitated for a beat. Fair enough — I hadn't made an appointment.
"I came on short notice. Please tell him his disciple is here."
"No need. I'll take you to him."
She stepped out from behind the desk, as gracious as if she were escorting a guest of honor. She accepted it so readily, without a shred of suspicion, that I was the one left off-balance.
"I can just go in?"
"He spoke to me this morning, actually. He said if a disciple arrived wearing a robe, with a lovely voice, I was to welcome her warmly."
"...I see."
He never stopped surprising me. How had he known? Carrying that question with me, I followed the receptionist to a door at the very back of the guild.
"Your disciple has arrived."
She knocked a few times and stepped aside.
"Please go in."
I drew a slow breath and prayed I'd stay calm. Then I opened the door, and a fresh scent of grass washed over me — the smell of standing in the middle of a forest. Leave it to an elf. The room was overflowing with plants. Some in pots, some climbing the floor and walls, growing in every way imaginable, and every last one of them vividly, fiercely alive.
"I've been waiting."
Master sat in a seat of tree roots shaped into a chair, wearing a clean, well-cut suit instead of his usual tattered martial arts uniform.
"Sit."
There was an ordinary chair as well, presumably for guests. I sat as invited and turned to face him.
"Have you been well? I have missed you."
He smiled easily, holding nothing back of the affection he had always shown me.
"I'm fine, except for the right arm."
I shrugged off the robe and showed him. His brow furrowed, and he shook his head.
"You used Holy Power."
Of course he'd seen it immediately.
"It just... happened that way."
"Did the Goddess grant your wish?"
"I prayed with everything I had, and she answered. I was truly honored."
"Good."
An ordinary exchange between master and disciple. Nothing special about it, and yet it put me at ease. This was the only place I ever felt I could lift my head. He was the one who had given me the warmth of a parent's arms — something my last life had never offered. I wished this moment could just go on. It was a shame that it couldn't.
A weak thought crossed my mind. Couldn't I just talk with him a while and then leave? It was tempting. But I steeled myself. I had to settle the suspicion Remiraen had planted, even if it meant things turning ugly.
"What brings you?"
"There's something I need to ask you."
"Very well. I thought as much. Go on, then."
The time had come. I bullied my reluctant tongue into moving.
"Master...."
I stopped. The shaking was too much. The question was a single sentence, and yet my heart was pounding so hard it felt like my whole body was trembling.
"Settle yourself, and speak slowly."
The kindly look was gone. Master's eyes were closed, as if he already knew exactly what I was going to say. That only made it worse. Even so, I opened my mouth and asked the question that would give me the truth.
"Master... what is your relationship with the Demon King?"
I finished, barely, and looked at him. His eyes were still shut.
"Clitia."
He opened them again and looked at me. The proud bearing that had always radiated from him was gone.
"......"
A short apology. The one thing I had never wanted to hear.
"I shall not cheapen this with excuses."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to flee the reality that had just landed on me.
But the cruel truth kept pouring in through my ears, rummaging through my heart and tearing it apart.
"...Is he still a disciple you care for?"
I asked, clinging to one last hope. Maybe it had all been a misunderstanding.
"A disciple I hold more dear than you, or Ruel."
And with that, the last hope crumbled — taking every happy memory I had built with it.
Remiraen had been right.
Master was my enemy.