Rest (2)
"Your little weeds'll all burn up in my fire. Nothing left."
"I only use plants, huh? For someone like you, a few animals would be more than enough."
"Bullshit. Hundreds of those things got wiped out by Kalt in one go."
"Hey, you bitch. That was because that bastard Kalt was ridiculously strong. You, Charlotte, would drop dead on the spot. And you? That matchstick flame of yours snuffs out with one little puff."
"Matchstick flame? Hey, that's imperial blasphemy."
"This bitch calls everything imperial blasphemy."
"Haa... But what's the point of us two going at it? We're both gonna get our asses handed to us by that little brat anyway."
"Yeah... true."
Riding down the mountain on Yuria's tree roots, I could hear Charlotte and Yuria's pointless banter drifting over.
Incredibly childish... arguing over who was stronger, only to end up concluding that both of them were weaker than Noah. That kind of conversation.
"Well... our Noah is pretty strong."
I brushed the hair from sleeping Noah's forehead and let out a soft chuckle.
"Hey, Rubia. 'Pretty strong' doesn't even begin to cover it. You never heard how Kalt reached Master rank?"
"I haven't. This was the first time I'd even seen a Master."
"Yeah... fair enough. But after today, you get it, right? The ones they call Masters aren't human."
"Mm... seems that way."
I remembered Kalt's sword swinging toward us.
And those horrific shadows...
They said when a Master swung a blade, it could split the sea...
I never thought it would actually be that true.
"Anyway. How that bastard Kalt became a Master was..."
Charlotte lit a crumpled mana cigarette and continued.
"Hoo... You know the kingdom of Girou next door? The one that just came under the Sunrise Empire."
"Ah, yes."
"Kalt destroyed it. Alone."
"...What?"
"He single-handedly crushed the entire Girou army."
"That's—"
"Charlotte's right."
Yuria, still stroking the head of the sleeping Hepais, nodded.
"It was a kingdom with all sorts of political messes... When he heard his family had been taken prisoner by Girou, Kalt—who'd already awakened his Unique Ability—went there alone."
"Alone?"
"Yes. Three days later. Exactly three days later, the kingdom surrendered. Begging him to please just stop."
I'd heard Girou had fallen.
But that it had been Kalt's work alone...
"After wiping out Girou, Kalt returned to the Empire and... this time slaughtered eighty percent of the Imperial Knights before vanishing. As for why... I guess we'll never know now."
"That's why my dad went completely bald, you know. Anyway, the important part is the Unique Ability. Kalt, me, Yuria... humans who've crossed a certain threshold can awaken one. The abilities vary wildly, but they all let you wield power beyond human limits. But..."
Charlotte glanced at Noah, then shook her head and went on.
"But this one... without any ability like that, beat a Master alone."
Silence settled over us for a moment.
"Normally, to stand against a Master, it's said you need at least ten people who've awakened Unique Abilities just to have a fighting chance."
Yuria brushed Hepais's hair back as the girl slept with her head in her lap.
"But... after fighting today, that doesn't seem right."
"No kidding... shit."
Charlotte flopped onto her back and nodded in agreement.
"You'd need at least twenty. Half of them would die, and the survivors would be half-crippled for life... but even then, you'd only just barely manage."
She stared up at the sky with a face full of frustration and shook her head.
"Honestly, I hit a wall. Couldn't even imagine winning. And Noah... she fought while protecting us. It's... it's just not right. She's a monster, pure and simple."
I looked down at Noah, sleeping so peacefully.
Slowly stroked her cheek.
So small and cute.
Soft, and fragile.
"How am I supposed to... how do I ever repay Noah..."
"What do you mean how? Just let her feel you up a bit. If it were me, that'd settle the debt."
"Please shut up."
"And if you let her knead your ass too, that'd be the cherry on top."
"Pffft—hahaha! You crazy bitch..."
"Haa..."
And so, only after we'd passed the mid-slope and reached the foot of the mountain could we finally let the tension go and laugh.
When we arrived in Urusphier, we drew an enormous amount of attention.
Probably because a subjugation party commissioned by the imperial princess had been formed, and because of the Black Sun.
The princess's party coming down looking like they'd just finished a massive battle... of course people would stare.
If we'd still had the Perception Obfuscation Robes, it would've been better.
But they were all torn to shreds, so our faces were completely exposed.
Yuria was quite famous too—plenty of people recognized her.
As we walked along drawing every eye in the street, we ran into the subjugation party led by Lebuje.
Since the situation was over, the party had naturally been disbanded.
Only after wrapping ourselves in the Perception Obfuscation Robes Lebuje provided could we finally reach Charlotte's hideout.
The moment we arrived, the tension drained out of them completely.
Yuria and Hepais collapsed into sleep in the next room.
"K-Kalt is... dead?"
"Yes."
I needed to finish this report quickly and go buy everything as soon as possible.
I had to find quiet, inconspicuous lodgings.
Clothes, underwear, a full month's worth of daily necessities...
I wasn't sure I could get it all done before Noah woke up.
"Lady Noah... fought Master Kalt... alone...?"
"For fuck's sake, how many times do I have to say it? Yes. We were all down for the count, and Noah fought Kalt by herself. When we came to, both of them were wrecked."
Lebuje's face went pure white.
"No, I'm not daring to doubt Your Highness's words... or Lady Rubia's either... but Lady Noah is only a Gold-rank adventurer, isn't she? Even if she did subjugate Carpeng... this is on a completely different—"
"So you are doubting us, you bastard."
Lebuje's mouth hung open. With trembling hands he started rifling through the documents he'd brought.
Then he yanked out a single sheet...
"Kalt... the Black Knight Kalt... Unique Ability: shadows... the one who destroyed the kingdom of Girou... wiped out the wyverns of the Serman Gorge... collapsed Zaitan Falls... slaughtered the Imperial Knights... and..."
He began reciting Kalt's entire record of deeds.
One impossible feat after another poured out—things no single person should have been able to accomplish.
He really had been an absurd human being...
"A Master... defeated by Lady Noah alone...?"
"That's what I said. If you still can't believe it, go climb up there yourselves and check. See what kind of mess is left."
Charlotte snapped, then pulled out a mana cigarette and stuck it between her lips.
"Sure, it sounds ridiculous. Hard to believe. But you all saw it too—the Black Sun floating in the sky. Without her, we'd have been dead ages ago. Not even corpses left."
"Haa..."
Lebuje's hollow face flicked between me and the sleeping Noah.
"The materials for Carpeng that Lady Rubia requested... I've gathered as much as I could."
"Ah, right... that too."
"Yes... materials to forge a greatsword, and materials for clothes and light armor..."
Lebuje trailed off, then finally sank into a chair and scrubbed both hands over his face.
"But... at this level, even if we just hauled the entire Carpeng carcass back, the Central Guild couldn't say a word."
Muttering A Master... she beat a Master... over and over, Lebuje stood again and began writing on the documents.
"There are going to be major changes ahead, but..."
"Hey, Lebuje. No Platinum promotion. You understand?"
Charlotte cut him off and strode over.
"Rubia, you roughly know why it can't happen either."
"...Yes."
Erden's Platinum promotion trial.
I didn't know the details, but...
It was a trial that shattered a human's mind and rebuilt it from the ground up.
I would never let Noah go through something like that.
Getting stronger was one thing... but absolutely not that.
No matter what, I would keep Noah safe from Erden's eyes.
"Block it as hard as you can. Erden's going to throw a fucking fit, but the Central Guild should be able to hold them off. The Imperial Family will do everything we can too, so put your back into it, Lebuje."
"Understood. This is... something I obviously have to handle carefully."
Lebuje glanced at me cautiously as he spoke.
"You don't need to watch my reaction. I know enough about it—that's why I left Erden in the first place."
"I... see. Hmm..."
Lebuje nodded, tapped the documents a few times, and rose from his seat.
"There is a way to awaken a Unique Ability without taking the trial, however..."
"What? There's a method—"
"I'll explain that one."
"Yes, it would be best to hear it from Her Highness, who has experienced it herself. Then... I'll take my leave."
"Mm... yes, Lord Lebuje. Thank you for your hard work."
"Yes... please rest well."
Lebuje trudged out the door.
Once his footsteps had faded into the distance—
"There's a method like that?"
I stood up at once and asked.
But Charlotte, unhurried, simply kept smoking her mana cigarette and gazing out the window.
"There is. There is, but..."
After finishing the cigarette, she turned around.
With deeply sunken eyes, she looked at me and said,
"If you fail that trial, you die."