Violet — Interlude
Dust-caked deep-violet hair billowed on a wind of mana.
She — Violet Blackgarden — stretched a hand toward the corpse of the high-ranking demonic beast, the Poison Monster Bird Popus, and spoke a command.
"Answer my call."
⟨ Necromantic Binding ⟩
In an instant, Popus's corpse was engulfed in flame-like pink mana. I'd already gathered the severed pieces and fitted them back into place. The pink flames drank in the beast's flesh and viscera, and Popus rose again as a body of nothing but bone.
Violet stared in astonishment at the familiar she had reanimated so easily — so successfully.
"It... it actually worked?"
I nodded.
"I-I've never tried a high-ranking demonic beast before, so I didn't think it would..."
"That's because it's you."
I flicked up a thumbs-up.
Why else would the remnants of the fallen Demon King's Army try to make you their new Demon King and stage a revival?
Because you're an absurdly gifted necromancer, that's why.
Even so — she really did make it look easy.
Reanimation. The core magic of necromancy. When a necromancer breathed a special strain of dark mana into a corpse, that corpse became an undead familiar under the caster's command. The condition was simple: the body had to be freshly dead. It would be weaker than it had been in life, but with Popus's power, it would still be more than threatening enough.
If I could have reanimated demons too, that would've been ideal.
Unfortunately, demons turned to ash and vanished the moment they died — as Orankel had, every time. Nameld. Ceris. All the same. No corpse, no familiar.
"Shall we head back?"
"Ah — y-yes...!"
I converted Howling Wolf Sword Calzark and Flame Ghost Blade Hwama into mana and stored them within my body. Violet likewise converted the Poison Monster Bird familiar into mana and reverse-summoned it into her circle.
A low hum. A whistle of wind. I turned a key in empty air, generated an exit Gate, and left the dungeon together with Violet, who had hoisted her mother onto her back.
We emerged where we had first entered. It was a labyrinth — setting the exit anywhere else would have been a fine way to get ourselves lost.
"Urgh..."
The moment we stepped through the exit Gate, the power drained out of me in a rush, and a staggering wave of exhaustion crashed over me. My body felt like it was melting, collapsing like a puddle of ice cream left in the sun. I could barely keep from groaning.
Violet startled, panic flashing across her face.
"Hazley-ssi!? A-are you all right!?"
"I'm fine... This is normal."
Ahh... so I'm back.
Back to the usual, fragile Ron Hazley...
"Normal? What do you mean, this is normal...?"
"I'll explain everything later. All at once."
"???"
Question marks seemed to swarm around Violet's head. I felt a little bad.
Then she closed her eyes, as if gathering herself, and when she opened them again she was smiling.
"You'll explain properly, though? You will, right?"
"......"
In those pink eyes I could see the will to trust me.
"...I will."
I nodded, answering her in earnest.
I asked Violet not to breathe a word about me to anyone. She set her questions aside and chose, for now, to respect my wishes.
On the way back, she cast search magic at intervals, checking for so much as a single trace of me — stray hairs, footprints, residual mana. Whether it was the footwear that left no tracks, or the care I'd taken not to shed even a single strand, she found nothing.
And so we made it out of the underground labyrinth.
Magic really is convenient. And reassuring.
Long live magic.
We agreed to talk at length later and to handle what needed handling first. We quickly conferred on what to tell the Blackgarden household — though neither of us could be sure it would go smoothly.
"Don't worry, Hazley-ssi. I know how the Blackgarden family does things."
Violet said it to put me at ease, then took her unconscious mother and headed for home.
Having my identity exposed to people I hadn't built any trust with would be a serious headache. I had no choice but to put my faith in her.
And so I returned to the academy alone.
My heart's pounding...
I actually revealed the secret. For the first time...
Trustworthy as Violet was, now that I'd actually gone and done it, the nerves were unavoidable.
"I-it'll be fine... right?"
I sat in the dormitory, trembling, and waited for her with nothing else to do.
A few days later, Violet returned to the academy.
Steeled for whatever came next, I met her alone in a secluded corner of campus. She confirmed with detection magic that no one was nearby, then deployed a soundproofing spell.
Had her thoughts changed while she was home? Her face had gone deathly pale.
Violet apologized in a voice that shook as if the ground itself were quaking.
"I-I-I-I, for someone like me to d-dare fail to recognize a Swordmaster, I've over-overstepped my place..."
"......"
I planted a hand on my forehead.
This isn't how this was supposed to go...
Convincing her I was still just her friend was, apparently, going to take some work.
"You only get stronger inside dungeons...?"
"Yeah."
We talked it through properly, and I heard first what had happened at the Blackgarden household.
Violet had told her family this: remnants of the fallen Demon King's Army had abducted her mother and tried to make Violet herself the new Demon King. Then, out of nowhere, an unidentified swordsman had appeared and saved them both.
The Blackgarden family launched an investigation at once — and they found something. Elise Lorendia had also been rescued in a dungeon by an unidentified swordsman, and the abilities he had displayed were identical to those of the one who had saved Violet and her mother.
The family informed the academy of the situation. As for the fact that Violet had been targeted as a new Demon King, they agreed to share it only among the key parties involved and to keep it hidden from the public. There was no telling what chaos and trouble that information might unleash if it got out — and it was also a matter of protecting Violet herself.
As an academy cadet, she fell under the school's jurisdiction and had to return; she had wanted to come back anyway. So she had come back, submitted to questioning, and come to find me.
Once I had heard all of Violet's account, I laid out my own secret in turn. The principle behind my ability. The dangerous forces at work. My purpose — to protect the people here.
"I-I'm not saying I doubt you, Hazley-ssi, but... whether you call it a unique constitution or an ability, isn't it too strange? Your realm, your mana — the idea that they just soar like that inside a dungeon..."
"You saw it yourself, though."
"Then... the weak Hazley-ssi I know wasn't an act?"
"Ahem. Painful as it is to admit... yeah."
"How is that even..."
Outside dungeons, Ron Hazley the weakling. Inside dungeons, Ron Hazley the Swordmaster. What a ridiculous ability. Of course Violet was confused.
Then she reeled as if she'd been smacked across the back of the head.
"I-I thought this whole time that you'd been putting on the performance of a lifetime! I was so impressed...!"
"You really do get shocked by the last thing I'd ever expect, huh...?"
If I had acting chops like that, I'd have been a star in my previous life already...
"But Hazley-ssi. If that's the case... how did you know I was going to be in danger?"
"That's..."
This was the problem. Did I feed her some rough lie, or not?
Lying to her after coming this far would be pretty cheap.
The only thing I could put my faith in here was the trust we'd built.
I answered her carefully.
"That part... is hard to talk about. It's complicated to explain, too. So that piece of it... I'm sorry."
How was I supposed to tell her I'd learned it from a game?
It wouldn't help in the slightest. It would only pile more confusion on top of everything else.
"I see..."
An uncomfortable silence stretched between us. At last, Violet's lips moved, her voice quiet and even.
"The reason you can't say... is it because you're trying to protect me?"
I took a moment to sort my thoughts before answering.
"'Protect you' might be putting it a little grandly. It's just... it's the kind of thing that would obviously throw you into confusion. And even if I said it here, it wouldn't help anyone."
"Then is it something like seeing the future?"
"There are similarities. But that's not exactly it."
"Then that's enough."
"Hm?"
"I trust you, Hazley-ssi."
The corners of Violet's mouth lifted, soft and sure.
"You've already taught me far too many enormous things for me not to trust you over something like this. And more than anything, I know you're on my side."
"Well, that's true, but..."
"You could have talked around it and lied. I think you must have a reason you can't speak about that part alone."
"You're taking this... really well, you know that?"
"Well... we're friends."
Violet let out a small "Ah," flushed, and ducked her head.
"...Probably."
She added that last word with a weight I couldn't quite read, fidgeting the way she always did, pressing her fingertips together and squirming. She looked like she wanted to ask something and couldn't quite bring herself to.
I could guess easily enough what that question was.
Perhaps the air had grown awkward. Silence settled, and the only sound was the chirring of insects in the grass. I waited, giving her time to find the words.
A cool breeze drifted through, and Violet finally managed to part her lips.
"Hazley-ssi..."
"Yeah."
"I don't know if I should even ask this, but..."
She looked down at the ground, a faint worry on her face, and murmured the question softly.
"We... we're still friends, right?"
A strange, fragile anxiety lived in that voice.
That...
O-of course we are! We're already soul friends, aren't we?!
I wanted to blurt out something that stupid on the spot. But a serious answer was the better choice right now.
Unlike Violet, I looked up at the sky as I spoke.
"Violet."
"Yes?"
She knew now that there were forces targeting her. I had even laid my secret — my weakness — bare before her. We were bound, from here on, to share life and death. At least, that was how I felt. She had probably guessed something similar.
So.
"If I'm being honest, I feel like you're more than a friend to me. We've shared secrets like this, and we're both tangled up in something enormous."
Violet's head trembled.
"Hazley-ssi, when you say 'more than a friend,' what do you mean by that...?"
"Well — a deeper bond than friendship, I guess...? Not lovers, obviously. Comrades, allies — something I can't quite put a name to? Ah. That might be a bit much to dump on you."
"N-not at all! It isn't the least bit too much...!"
Violet denied it in a rush, looking straight at me. I followed her gaze, met her eyes, and smiled.
As if only then realizing what she'd said, she let out a trembling "U-um..." and shrank with embarrassment.
Well. If it wasn't too much, that was fine.
"Violet. I think you saw it this time — I'm going to help you from here on. But when my strength isn't enough, I want you to be on my side."
"......"
"That's the favor I wanted to ask. Of you."
Violet stared at me, her lips slightly parted. I clasped my hands behind my back and clenched my fingers tight against the urge to fidget.
Ugh, that was so cringey...
I'd been the one to say it, and even I was getting goosebumps. Then again, sincerity usually was like that.
Hang in there, dignity.
But if she turns me down here...
Just imagining it was depressing. If that happened, there would be nothing for it. I'd have to keep taking the risks myself.
I sat there wound tight — and then.
"Ehehe..."
A pure, unguarded smile spread across Violet's face. A gentle wind caught her bangs and set them fluttering. Her smile caught the sunlight and shone.
It struck me all over again how beautiful that smile was.
Something like a clear tear seemed to gather at the corner of her eye. I pretended not to notice.
"May I... ask a favor of you, too? When things are hard... lean on me."
The moment two hearts meet, you always know. Just like this.
"...Yeah. Thank you."
I smiled and held out a fist. She bumped hers against mine.
That was the moment I gained my first true comrade.
The wind calmed again, and Violet's bangs threw a shadow across her eyes.
"More than a friend... ehehe..."
Hm?
Before I knew it, Violet's smile had — if you went by appearances alone — twisted into something as dark and scheming as a witch plotting mischief. It was the kind of look that left you speechless, enough to make you wonder if she was doing it on purpose.
"Haa..."
Violet Blackgarden sat motionless in her dormitory, staring blankly into space as sigh after sigh escaped her. A skeletal puppy sheathed in pink mana paced across the desktop — Skally, posing the question in a woman's voice. Black magic was doing the work of speech.
"That's a great many sighs, Master."
Violet glanced toward the window. Beneath the sunlight, birds chattered as they passed by in companionable pairs.
"The world looks so peaceful..."
And yet her own life seemed to have hit a massive turning point.
She had learned that remnants of the fallen Demon King's Army were targeting her. She had even become comrades with a mysterious existence who became a Swordmaster only inside dungeons.
That aside — how was she supposed to repay Ron Hazley?
She had asked him, and he had told her to forget about debts; if they could help each other in the course of ordinary days, that would be enough. Even so, she felt she ought to return the favor somehow. That was the worry occupying her now.
And in the midst of it—
I can't stop thinking about it.
The sight of Ron saving her would not leave her mind. Morning, noon, evening, night — even as she lay down to sleep. Always.
Of course it won't. How could anyone forget that...
If anyone at all had saved her in a moment like that, she would have been moved, and she would have carried the memory for the rest of her life. But that person was her friend? The very person they called the weakest in the entire academy?
She wondered if her life would ever hold another moment that striking. Anyone she told would never believe her.
The words Ron had spoken wrapped themselves suddenly around Violet's heart.
"More than a friend..."
Already, the simple fact that he was the first true friend she had ever longed for made Ron's worth to her something she wouldn't trade for a mountain of gold. And now he had called it something more than that. When she first heard it, she had taken it as a confession of deep affection and been nothing but happy — but looking back, a question remained.
Friend, and comrade, and ally, and fellow soldier, and... so on. What were you supposed to call that?
Yes. It had become impossible to cut their relationship down to a single word.
"Not lovers, obviously..."
The words Ron had added, almost in passing, came back to her in turn.
Lovers. A relationship she had never once considered — never once allowed herself to expect from her own life.
A gentle wind came through the open window and stirred the curtains in silence. Violet found her hand resting, unthinking, over her heart.
Something inside her chest began to tickle, little by little, and her thoughts went soft and hazy.
Violet... could not name what that feeling was.
"Good grief, Master... how dense."
All at once the skeletal hound Skally shook her head, producing a clacking sound as if she were clicking her tongue. She had no tongue, of course.
"Why do you keep muttering and fretting all by yourself? I may be dead, but even I know a man like Ron Hazley is not easily found."
"Huh?"
"A man of Ron Hazley's caliber would make a fine mate for you. You did drool over his bare body once, did you not? So the next time you meet him, simply take him to bed and—"
Violet reverse-summoned the skeletal hound in a frantic rush before another word of that nonsense could leave her.
"W-w-w-what are you even saying...!"
Violet gasped for breath. Before she knew it, her face had flushed burning hot.