Episode 9

A chance encounter became a reunion. Ciel was recalling the suspicious request she had received two years ago while working as an adventurer. When the lid had been lifted, it turned out to be a top-secret assignment from the ducal house. She remembered that dangerous request directed less at Luke than at Zeke.

“I never imagined we would meet again here in Apion.”

“Neither did I. …I’ve heard a great deal about you. It seems you have completely mastered holy arts.”

Two years ago, Ciel had not been able to use holy arts. He had heard that her power awakened due to the curse incident in Apion, and it went without saying that Zeke had been involved in that.

“Thank you very much. I often hear of your achievements as well, Luke-san. You said what you would do, and then made your dream come true.”

At that time, Luke had still been nothing more than an adventurer. No matter what someone like that said, his words could only sound like empty talk. To make the right thing something natural, one needed standing.

“A lot happened, but somehow I managed. — My apologies. I have not yet properly introduced myself.”

At present, Luke and the others were in a room inside one of the city’s public facilities. It was the same place that had been used as the response headquarters during the curse incident. The person who had been in charge back then knew both Luke and Ciel, and had gladly lent them the room. It was probably just Ciel’s imagination that the person had seemed somewhat frightened.

“I am Luke Hartmann of the knight order. These are members of my squad: Skinny, also a knight, and Nahal of the mage corps.”

The two who were introduced offered hesitant greetings. Skinny’s face was stiff, and Nahal was unusually stumbling over his words. What was wrong with them?

“Then allow me to introduce us again as well. I am Ciel Astera. It is a pleasure to meet you. Everyone, please introduce yourselves too.”

“Selen Bloom. I serve as Ciel’s guard.”

“…Atri. That’s all.”

“I’m Van Freak.”

They introduced themselves in flat tones. Luke had thought they were all connected to the ducal house, but apparently that was not the case. One surname in particular caught his attention, but the person he should be focusing on most right now was someone else. — Though it was being held down, the quality of the mana spilling out was clearly abnormal.

“My name is Glanz Fort. There was a time long ago when I belonged to the mage corps as well.”

“Th-the Sage!? M-my apologies for the delayed greeting!”

Nahal sprang to his feet in a panic. It was surprising enough that the Sage, who stood as the counterpart to the Sword Saint, was here, but Nahal’s complete change was even more striking. His whole character had fallen apart.

“Skinny! What’s with that idiotic look on your face? Look sharper! That’s rude!”

“Hah? Huh!? Whose face are you calling rude, damn it!?”

“Calm down, both of you. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

Skinny fumed that even he was being treated like a suspicious person, while Nahal launched into an impassioned speech without pause.

“Luke! How can you stay calm? Don’t you know of the Sage’s great achievements? And what even is this gathering? There are way too many big names here!”

“You’re the one who needs to calm down, idiot! Now they’re going to look at me weird too!”

“They already always look at you weird!”

“What was that!?”

Skinny and Nahal began hurling insults at each other. Watching the two noisy men, Ciel and the others widened their eyes. Glanz, called the Sage, merely murmured that youth was a wonderful thing and watched them fondly.

“My apologies. Sorry for the disturbance…”

“It is no matter, Luke-san. …I have actually long held an interest in you, after all.”

“In me…?”

That was news to him.

Though not as an excuse for Nahal, Luke of course knew about the many great deeds of Glanz Fort, the Sage. The magical theories proposed by Glanz were famous enough to be known even by those who were not mages. He could not imagine why such a living legend would have any interest in him.

“Yes… Even merely as the son of Regimental Commander Brink, you are someone worth noting, but it is not only that. Your valor as both an adventurer and a knight had reached even the ears of a retired old man like me.”

“I’m truly honored. Though there is one thing I’d like to ask as well… I heard that in the past my friend Zeke did something rather reckless…”

The moment Luke brought up Zeke, everyone, including Glanz, showed some kind of reaction. As Nahal had said, perhaps they really were all important figures, and all somehow connected to that troublesome friend of his. The one who called himself Freak, especially, was the most obvious. — Just as Luke had expected. A chance had come to obtain information about Zeke.

“Ho ho, to describe that as merely reckless means you too are quite extraordinary, Luke-san. It was five years ago, yet I still remember it vividly.”

Glanz began speaking nostalgically of his first meeting with Zeke. Back then, Glanz and the others had gone to investigate an unexplored dungeon that had appeared in Lagias Domain. At the deepest point, they had fallen into a trap and been placed in mortal danger, but thanks to Zeke’s actions, they had all returned alive. Apparently his best friend had forced a Unison Link on them despite it being their very first meeting. …Zeke had always been Zeke.

“I showed it only once. Yet with that alone, he completely made teleportation magic his own, and even added his own applications to it. Well now, that had been the result of my many long years of work too.”

Though his words sounded pessimistic, Glanz himself looked pleased. It felt like talking to a kindly old man delighted by the growth of the young.

(The Sage Zeke respects, huh? That’s one person I’d like to avoid clashing with.)

Why was Luke already assuming a battle with the Sage? It was not because he was battle-crazed… The reason lay in the information circulated beforehand by the knight order.
Zeke, wanted on suspicion of killing the Sword Saint. According to Hares Unit’s report from the scene, besides the adventurer said to have fled with him, there had also been the Sage, the Silver Saintess, her guard, and a relative of the Sword Saint.

Then why assume this could develop into battle? If they had merely been there, then gathering information from them would be enough. There would be no need to fight. None at all, but…

(The hostility is intense. Skinny and Nahal don’t have it. It’s directed only at me.)

A strong emotion was being directed at him by the young man called Van.

Hares Unit’s report summarized that Zeke and the Sage’s group had apparently been fighting for some reason. Though no direct testimony had been obtained, it had been recorded as one of the pieces of circumstantial evidence connected to the Sword Saint’s murder.

From Luke’s perspective, there was no reason to fight them. But that did not mean the same was true for Van. There was a possibility they were opposed because of Zeke. And it was entirely possible that the Sage and the others at his side would support Van. Luke knew Ciel, but the rest were strangers. It was unclear whether Van, who seemed emotional, would calmly listen to what Luke had to say.

(It was probably an unfortunate misunderstanding. Zeke’s always been easy to misunderstand. It’s an old bad habit of his.)

If Van Freak really was related to the Sword Saint, then it was only natural that his emotions would be deeply shaken. If a family member had been killed, anyone would be the same. If something happened to his own father Brink, Luke himself had no confidence he could remain calm either.

(But… even so, that doesn’t mean I can just accept it. Zeke didn’t kill the Sword Saint.)

He needed to hear Van and the others out. But Zeke was absolutely innocent. Proof of that was that the knight order had only announced him as a murder suspect. If he were truly the culprit, they could simply declare it outright. It was easy to imagine this as a frenzy born from Lagias’s bad reputation.

More than anything, there was no way that best friend of his would commit murder. Luke knew that though Zeke’s mouth was always foul, kindness lay behind it.

“He’s always been outrageous. I’ve had a hard time with him too. — And he’s causing a stir in the world even now.”

“!? Causing a stir, you say?”

Van’s face twisted at Luke’s light jab.

(My bad prediction is turning out to be right. But you’re misunderstanding him.)

Luke had watched him from close by all this time.

To save a complete stranger, he had challenged a poison dragon. To save a girl, he had openly defied the ducal house itself. He had fought to preserve the lives of future knights and mages. He had stood alone in Westen, covered in blood, fighting to protect the city from a horde of monsters.

Because of his standing as Lagias, none of it earned him reward or fame. But none of that mattered. Zeke was someone who would throw away his life for others without any thought of gain or loss.

“That’s right. It’s always been my role to stop his rampages.”

“…What? What the hell are you talking about?”

Van’s emotions clearly destabilized at Luke’s words. Luke glanced toward the others, but their reactions were not what he had expected. Ciel looked anxiously at Van, her guard Selen looked fed up, the woman called Atri stared down in silence, and Glanz quietly watched Van.

(This is…)

Why was no one stopping Luke? Wasn’t it normal to rebuke him for speaking in a way that rubbed salt into the wounds of Van, whose family member had been killed?

Even if they showed the same anger as Van, it would not have been strange.

Sensing the change in the atmosphere, Nahal and Skinny stopped fooling around and fell quiet.

“This time is difficult too. He’s always like this. I wish people would at least understand some of the trouble I go through.”

“…”

“Hey, Luke. What’s wrong with you?”

Skinny spoke quietly to him, but Van’s voice cut in before Luke could answer.

“You — are you screwing with me?”

The atmosphere was now on the brink of exploding. Like an unstable spell that could detonate at any moment. Mana was leaking out from Van due to his emotional turmoil.

“What the hell have you been saying all this time? Do you even understand what he did?”

“…Would you mind telling me, for reference?”

“He killed my grandpa, the Sword Saint! And you’re calling that… causing a stir in the world!? Calling it trouble!? Are you going to dismiss murder with words that simple!?”

Van’s surging emotions made the mana in the air tremble. The room itself rattled with vibration.

“I’d like you not to fabricate facts on your own. That’s nothing more than your personal interpretation.”

Van and Selen glared at each other. From the way they spoke, it was clear that both had been at the scene, so why were their accounts at odds? The same went for the others. Something was wrong.

“Luke-san. We were present at the scene where Masfelt-san was killed by someone. We have already reported it to the knight order, but let us explain again.”

Glanz carefully explained the situation from that time. Luke was able to obtain more detailed information than what had been in the report. Including matters related to the ‘Key,’ which connected to Luke himself.

(There were words that caught my attention, but… just as I thought. The report really was twisted.)

He did not know who had done it, but if what they were saying was true, then there was no reason for Zeke to be hunted as a wanted criminal. Declaring him a murderer on circumstantial evidence alone was far too forced.

“We have no information on the culprit himself, but the knight order has put Zeke-san on the wanted list.”

“So it would seem. The various units are moving to apprehend Zeke.”

The people targeting the ‘Key’ mentioned in their discussion. They too had been attacked by people likely connected to Rovinz, the former deputy director of the Archaeological Survey Institute.

Van and Ciel, who like Luke had been called ‘Keys.’ What exactly was a ‘Guide’? And what had ‘buying time’ referred to?

“I do not believe Zeke is involved in the killing of the Sword Saint.”

“So a knight’s going to let his personal feelings get involved?”

This young man had been directing hostility at Luke ever since he introduced himself. Perhaps he had heard in advance about Luke’s relationship with Zeke, but more likely, he had simply sensed it. Just as Luke had his own thoughts about Van.

“Judging from the situation, don’t you think the two bandits are the suspicious ones?”

“Are you saying it was just a coincidence that the guy standing there with a blood-covered sword had also stolen Grandpa’s sword?”

“You seem rather prone to jumping to conclusions.”

No matter what was said, it was only fueling the fire. Van could not see what was around him. And he was not blessed with companions who would rein him in.

It was not that Luke could not understand Van’s feelings at all. — He simply had no intention of accepting them.

“From what I heard, you were the one who slashed at him first. And then you were completely outclassed. That sounds like perfect self-defense.”

“What did you say…?”

“Considering his position, all he could do was retreat. And in fact, the knight order is now unjustly pursuing him.”

“You’re a knight too, damn it!”

“I am. Which is exactly why I need to correct this mistake.”

There were many things he found questionable. Which was precisely why he needed to meet Zeke and hear the truth.

“And what if he himself turns out to be the mistake? What are you going to do then?”

“If he has strayed from reason, then I’ll correct that too. …What about you? After going this far, do you think you can simply say it was all a misunderstanding and be done with it? You’re just a child throwing a tantrum.”

Van looked as though he might slash at him at any moment. Seeing that, Skinny and Nahal quietly began gathering mana.

Luke understood well enough that he should not provoke him carelessly. It was not that he had been stirred up by Van’s own heated emotions.

He simply — could not forgive it. Van knew nothing about Zeke, yet dared to talk about his best friend as though he did.

“…There is an old custom that when opinions clash like this, the matter is settled through martial skill.”

A calm voice echoed quietly through the tense atmosphere.

“Not to the point of staking your lives, of course. But would this not be a good opportunity to understand each other?”

No one opposed Glanz’s suggestion.

A training ground inside the Apion Adventurers Association facility. When they requested to use it for sparring, it had been gladly lent to them. The matter had gone smoothly, perhaps because the Adventurers Association already recognized Ciel and the others.

“Once again, I’m Luke Hartmann. I serve as a squad commander in the knight order.”

“…Van Freak.”

Van and Luke stood in the center of the training ground. Glanz and the others watched the two from a distance. Besides them, many spectators had gathered at the training ground as well.

“In knight order training, we use blunted weapons, but are you sure a real blade is fine?”

“Don’t insult me. I’ve spent my life fighting in real combat. It’s not like your formal little games.”

The current hot-topic squad commander and the Sword Saint’s grandson. The talk among the crowd was all about which of the two would win.

As Van drew his sword, Luke matched him and took up his own. The moment Van saw Luke’s stance, memories stirred within him.

He had fought Zeke a total of four times so far. Twice in the royal capital, once in Lagias Dungeon, and once in Finis Domain. Whether any of them could properly be called battles was uncertain, but it was true that they had clashed. He had never properly traded swords with Zeke, yet his instincts as a swordsman made Van speak.

“Your sword… resembles Zeke’s.”

“Of course it does. We learned swordsmanship under the same master.”

In his battles with Zeke, Van had always moved first, yet each time he had failed to seize the initiative. The reason was simple and clear. Zeke was just too fast.

Van lunged forward. In his vision, Luke and his archenemy Zeke overlapped. — The moment it looked as if Luke’s form blurred, he was already right in front of him. The sword that had been in Luke’s hand was suddenly sheathed again, and brilliant mana had gathered in his right hand.

“Damn it—”

“Too slow.”

Van barely blocked with his sword, but he took the shockwave full-on and was blown away. — This pain and sensation made it the third time he had experienced it.

“— Shock Pulse. It’s a technique Zeke and I created together. …Was that your first time seeing it?”

Van planted his sword into the ground and rose to his feet. The effect was greater not from the blow that had sent him flying, but from the abnormality that had occurred inside his body. It was a demonic kind of technique — slamming a wave of mana into the opponent to disrupt the flow of their own mana.

(This guy — he’s strong! …And he’s got a terrible personality too.)

“So? Want to see whether this is just a formal little game or not?”