#043 Illusion
#043 Illusion
The situation had been brought under control for the moment.
I searched Shax's entire laboratory, just in case.
In case he had left behind even a single note.
In case Shax had left behind a crystal ball for communicating with his superiors.
In case there was a Dimensional Gate scroll that could cross over to Zepar.
But nothing of the sort existed.
All there was were the bones of corpses and broken automatons, and we gained nothing from it.
"Morgen. When you report to the Adventurers' Guild, please leave out Lucius's exploits."
"Understood."
This time, Lucius had rendered distinguished service.
But I didn't want others to find out that Lucius had borrowed my power—more precisely, that I had possessed him—and swept away the enemies.
"We fought a fierce battle, and after giving it everything we had, we brought them all down. The Black Mage Shax said nothing and self-destructed. Please write it up along those lines."
"Understood, Witch. Then shall we get started...?"
"Please take care of the things here first. I'll check once more to see if any traces of the mastermind remain."
"Understood."
After asking the three of them to handle the internal cleanup, I examined the place presumed to be Shax's research space.
"Well then, everyone, I'm going to organize what to report to the Adventurers' Guild. Since this is a special situation, I'll write it and have you review it in front of you..."
"Is that allowed?"
"Of course not. But the situation is what it is. I'll organize it, so please review it once."
Morgen organized the report while talking with Lucius and Rosemas.
Now, only the level of information we wanted would be disclosed.
No matter how favorably Morgen felt toward Lucius, she couldn't keep this disturbance secret when it had happened in a place managed by the Guild.
'I just need to hide the most important truth.'
If so, then at the very least I wanted them to hide the fact that Lucius could fight at A Rank level once the conditions were met.
That I had taken down the enemy automatons with flame magic.
That Lucius had bravely swung his sword at the enemies and cut down skeletons.
That Rosemas had eliminated the enemies all at once with Arrow Rain.
That examiner Morgen had merely observed from behind and been surprised.
Those things were fine to go into Morgen's report.
'It'll have a good influence on the examination too.'
Despite the sudden appearance of enemies, they succeeded in defeating them.
The large number of automatons...
"Wow, they're all destroyed without a trace."
Perhaps because they had exploded inside such a cramped space, even the cut surfaces had melted so neatly that they were hard to identify.
It could be seen that the internal power source had been destroyed and exploded, but it was impossible to tell that it was a trace of being cut by a sword.
'I did cut them rather cleanly.'
From a distance, I had cut so cleanly that no cutting trace itself remained, so the cut body parts had probably melted and stuck together while burning in the explosion.
That was how good I was with a sword.
Lucius's body was also well suited to showing off all of my swordsmanship.
My technique and Lucius's physicality.
With the two combined into one, there seemed to be no great worry about settling things without exposing Lucius's full strength.
The worry was...
"Inside, there's nothing."
Shax had been thorough.
Even if it was a laboratory abandoned for a long time, he had recently entered, so there should have been at least one trace of communicating with someone, but he had meticulously erased everything.
'Don't be so meticulous in a place like this.'
Insolent Acedia.
No matter how much they were people trying to carry on the Belphegor Demon King Army, would it kill them to leave a trace somewhere a little clumsily?
'At this rate, I can't chase Acedia.'
All that was known was that a member of Acedia had come here.
That was all.
As for the rest—why he had come, why Shax had brought a load of automatons here, why Shax was carrying Mammon-style machines—I couldn't tell at all.
So...
"Witch, the report is finished."
"Is that so? May I see it?"
"Of course."
I examined the simple report Morgen had written.
Written in neat little handwriting and bullet points, it let me easily check what she'd recorded from an examiner's perspective, and I confirmed there was nothing problematic in it.
"Thank you. I hope it spreads widely at this level."
"Um, well..."
Morgen pointed at the report with eyes full of worry.
"Is it really okay to spread information about Acedia?"
"Yes."
We were certain that Shax belonged to Acedia.
In the report.
Regarding Witch Bel saying 'Belphegor, that bastard', the demon Shax became indignant.
Through my probing, Shax revealed that he was a member of Acedia.
Although we couldn't find any traces here leading to other Acedia connections, we might be able to draw out other members of Acedia.
"Those who approach us after seeing the report will be the culprits."
Whether they came to avenge the dead Shax.
Or came to punish me for hurling insults at the Great Demon King.
In short, I would leave the details in the report to draw the enemy's attention.
"If we can't chase Acedia, we make them come to us."
"Hmm..."
"If you're uneasy, if you're worried that you might be targeted, you can take it out. I won't resent you."
Writing the report was Morgen's job.
If she removed the phrase 'Shax belongs to Acedia' from the report, Acedia would have considerable trouble finding who killed Shax.
Then my revenge would be delayed again.
'Still, I can't force her recklessly.'
Morgen had merely been caught up in all this.
Acedia wouldn't make a big fuss if they learned that Morgen had omitted the Acedia-related content from the report.
But if she included the Acedia details, Morgen would enter their watch list.
Conceal the truth and remain silent.
Reveal the truth and fight against injustice.
"What will you do?"
"...I will report it."
Morgen gripped the report tightly and nodded heavily.
"Acedia is a matter the Adventurers' Guild treats seriously. To remain silent about this would disqualify me as an adventurer. And..."
"And?"
"If I can be of even a little help on your and Lucius's journey."
Morgen held the report to her chest and smiled bitterly.
"Adventurers' Guild... receptionist. Hora Morgen will assist your journey with all her strength."
"Thank you, Morgen."
"...It's nothing."
Morgen lightly wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"I'll do my best where I can to help you all."
Knowing full well that she hadn't been able to do anything, Morgen put the thought aside.
* * *
On the way back to the village of Normance.
Lucius fell into thought as he watched his master, Witch Bel, walking ahead with a vigorous stride.
Within his unconsciousness.
Lucius had certainly seemed to be dreaming, but he had definitely seen something very special.
It was someone's battle.
It was the memory of a desperate and sorrowful battle against a massive Black Dragon.
A black-haired young man.
He was facing the black dragon while holding a sword that was all too familiar to Lucius.
The Wind Holy Sword.
Riding his body on golden wind, he was swinging the sword.
No.
He wasn't riding on the wind—he was dominating the wind.
Toward the path he would advance, the golden storm surged forward, and the wind that went ahead protected the young man by deflecting attacks flying toward him with blade-like wind.
ROOOOAR—!!
The dragon screamed and tried to kill the young man.
Gathering an enormous amount of mana in its mouth, it unleashed a massive Breath and shot it toward the young man.
The Breath, gleaming with an ominous black light, seemed poised to swallow and destroy everything.
But the young man paid no mind to the Breath, merely smiling faintly as he dashed through the air.
-Secret technique.
Stepping on the sky.
Stepping on the wind.
Running forward faster than the Breath flew, the young man raised his sword high.
And then, he swung the sword powerfully toward the empty air ahead.
-Gale Thunderclap.
The young man split the black void.
It wasn't that he loaded Aura onto the sword and unleashed a slash, nor that he raised a sword gust to deflect the Breath.
He simply swung the sword powerfully, vertically, in the air.
Naturally, the young man's body tilted downward, and his body flipped upside down—
-Revolving Wheel (回輪).
—without falling, he spun around once.
The sword that had fallen downward turned upward and began to radiate a stronger golden light.
WHOOOOOSH—!!
The young man's body began to spin round and round.
The more his body spun, the rougher and faster the golden wind gathered on his sword became.
ROOOOAR!!
The dragon hurriedly raised its head to aim its Breath at the young man, but the young man had already arrived near the dragon's brow.
-We fought long and tiresomely. Didn't we?
The young man, who had momentarily stopped in midair, was about to bring his sword down on the dragon with the blade raised precisely high.
-It's over. Demon Dragon.
Slash.
The young man swung the sword downward.
The golden storm gathered on the sword became a clean slash and fell precisely toward the black dragon's brow.
SLICE.
Along with the Breath that had been shooting upward, the dragon's head split in half.
In that instant.
Lucius met the young man's eyes.
The young man, looking back over his shoulder with only his eyes, merely twisted the corner of his mouth once.
-Can you do it?
As if boasting.
As if showing off.
Or.
As if saying this was the place you must reach.
Proud of his own power yet stern-eyed, the young man fell between the dragon's split halves.
- Grow stronger, Hero. And.
The young man falling downward pointed his index finger at Lucius.
-You, protect it.
"You are—"
Whoosh.
Everything began to disappear.
A warm golden wind began to wrap around Lucius, and the world Lucius saw changed.
And when Lucius came to his senses, his master was before his eyes.
"......."
Lucius agonized.
Who was that young man he had seen in a dreamlike place after holding hands with his master?
If he used a golden Holy Sword, then perhaps...
"Arthur. What are you thinking about so deeply?"
"...Master."
"Yes...?"
"What kind of person were you in the past?"
The Crimson Mage.
A witch who mainly used flame magic.
And.
...The fact that she knew suspiciously much about the Wind Holy Sword.
"......."
Watching his master's back as she walked ahead vigorously, Lucius's mind grew increasingly complicated.