Chapter 343 - Where the Eyes Are
"See ya later!"
Maintaining a level of energy that had been soaring through the sky the entire time, Lux exited, waving her arm with enough force to make one worry it might come off.
In that moment, an overwhelming silence fell. The boisterousness from before had been so off the charts that instead of being a relief, it actually felt unsettling.
Leaving aside Ashe and the others who seemed used to it, my partner next to me must have felt something similar. Our eyes met, and the fidgety Sora offered a smile with an indescribable expression.
"—That concludes the immediate business. If you are ready, I would like to return to the conference room. What say you?"
"Sounds good."
"Yes, I'm fine with that."
For now, we had reached a stopping point… meaning our private and individual discussions were over. We both nodded at her confirmation, and Helena-san nodded back, preparing to teleport—
"Haru."
Before she could activate it, Ashe's voice called out, putting a stop to things.
"Hm? What is it?"
"I want to talk for a moment."
Oh, this is… Seeing her gaze fixed solely on me, I had a feeling the words 'the two of us' were implied.
It might make Sora feel awkward, but—honestly, this was convenient for me.
"Just for a moment?"
"Yes, just for a moment."
"Got it. Sorry, Sora, could you head back first and wait for me?"
And… honestly, I wasn't sure how she would react, but—
"I will wait patiently, so please don't worry about it."
Her reply was an exceedingly natural and gentle smile.
"Helena-san, if you would."
"As you wish."
There was no particular reaction; no strangeness in her expression or tone.
My partner's thoughts, as she left the waiting room with Helena-san, were too difficult for me to read. Was she truly not bothered at all? Or perhaps—
"I'm envious."
"Hm?"
"You both naturally put each other first. I've never seen such a pure partnership between a man and a woman… I'm envious."
Receiving what was truly a genuine compliment—now then, should I puff out my chest with pride, or should I offer a wry smile and say, 'It's actually quite complicated'?
"So, what did you want to talk about?"
When dealing with Ashe, there's no point in carefully choosing my words or trying to read her intentions.
She's like a bell that rings when struck; if you ask, the answer comes back immediately.
If it's something she can't talk about, she'll honestly reply, "I can't talk about it." The only problem is that her responses are so quick that conversation topics tend to run out at lightning speed.
"First, I want to ask you something. A while ago, you said there was something you wanted to show me."
Oh, she remembered. The reason I thought it was convenient for her to stop me was precisely because I'd been trying to figure out the right time to share that very thing.
Something I wanted to show her—it was, of course, none other than that.
"It's about 'Red'… about the [Ryelta Helia (Red Circle)]."
I unhooked the short sword from behind my waist, sheath and all, and placed it on the table, pushing it towards Ashe. It was an item she should remember from our many clashes, a rather problematic piece.
"[Rabbit Short Sword: Parabellum]—I'm sure you know of the famous 'Flame Artisan,' right? I had him make this weapon for me from that rabbit's horn…"
"Yes. It didn't break even when it clashed with my sword."
"It's one of my prized possessions. Anyway, what I want you to look at is the flavor text."
"Check it out," I said, tapping the table to prompt her. Ashe, obediently opening the short sword's details window,
"————…"
let out a faint, surprised breath before narrowing her eyes just a little.
Mixed in with her usual hard-to-read expression was a bit of confusion and doubt… Well, that was to be expected.
`[Rabbit Short Sword: Parabellum]`
`Crafted Weapon: Short Sword`
`A crimson short sword carved from the demon horn of the Ruby Rabbit, guardian of the red spiral.`
`Hidden within the demonic glow that governs the immortality of 'Red' is a peculiar authority—`
`Worship and revere, fear and kneel. For the pillar is yet immortal, the gaze of the 'Red Circle' has not ceased.`
Not only was the flavor text deeply suggestive… but the words were even included in the incantation for its hidden magic. Namely—
"The pillar is, yet immortal…"
"And 'the gaze has not ceased.' I mean, I don't know. Flavor text is just flavor text; it could just be some random string of words to set the mood."
But still. Considering the game design of Arcadia, which I could no longer believe was ordinary, a certain possibility inevitably came to mind.
My clearing of the [Spiral Crimson Tower],
My acquisition of the horn from the Ruby Bullet Rabbit afterward,
And the creation of the [Rabbit Short Sword: Parabellum] from the [Ruby Rabbit Demon Horn]—
Of course, naturally, all of it happened after the Red Circle was supposedly subjugated.
"—'Red is here.'"
"…?"
"That's the incantation for the magic this thing has."
'Red is here.' 'Look to the earth, the eye is there.' 'Look to the sky, the eye is there.' 'Defeat, downfall, despair, decay, yet the stirring flame is that of devotion.' 'Worship and revere, fear and kneel, the gaze of the Red Circle has not ceased.'
As I finished reciting the full incantation, the look in Ashe's eyes clearly changed.
"—It sounds like it's saying it hasn't been destroyed yet."
"…Right? That's what I thought too."
This flavor text and incantation carry significant weight precisely because the Red Circle has already been defeated.
"Governs… immortality… infinite and immortal… A different… individual…?"
"I've thought about it a lot, but there was still an announcement that it was successfully subjugated, right? And the system expansion reward was definitely implemented."
On top of that, even Chitose-san from the development team believed the Red Circle had been defeated. That's what makes it all the more confusing.
This is probably a mystery that we can't find the answer to right now, no matter how hard we try. Whether we should be concerned about it, or if we don't need to be, even that is unclear.
"I really couldn't make a judgment call on my own, so I figured I should at least confirm with a minimal group before starting any kind of investigation."
"…Yes, being cautious is a good thing."
Will it become a bombshell, or not? Now that I have a 'colleague' with the same goal, it's best to avoid making a judgment on my own while the outcome is uncertain.
So, I had told Ashe to 'make some time eventually' and put it on hold… and in the end, I'd frankly forgotten about it.
I thought it would be smoother to present my suspicions after she had seen the actual item, but if it was going to be this long, I should have just told her in words first.
"For now, I'll share this with Helena and have her gather information. If we start a new investigation with the premise that 'Red' hasn't been destroyed, we might find something."
"Is that where you deploy the legendary intelligence unit I've heard rumors about…"
"I'm quite sure we've never conducted espionage on other factions, at least."
With a small chuckle, Ashe—
The Sword Queen, who was also the master of Arcadia's largest clan, Alliance, took the rabbit short sword from the table, offered it back to me, and nodded.
"Everyone is highly competent, so you can count on them. Thank you for the information."
"You're all so reliable, I don't know what to do… Alright, I'll leave this to you."
If the hegemonic clan with over five million members is taking this on, there's nothing to worry about. Even more so if Helena-san is taking command.
And with that… my 'talk' was more or less concluded.
"So… shall we hear what you wanted to talk about?"
When I asked again, Ashe nodded this time and said—
"Sora… I've greeted your partner, so I want to move on to the next step."
"…Hmm? Uh, wait… next step?"
Her voice was perfectly level and clear. Vaguely grasping the meaning of her words… I asked for confirmation while anticipating what would happen next.
"The other person I've heard about."
And sure enough, Ashe's intentions were exactly as I'd read them…
"—I believe we should at least know each other's faces, as love rivals."
"…………"
"What do you think?"
Receiving the utterly direct, fair, and fearless words of the princess, I quietly resigned myself, thinking, 'The time has finally come.'
My mind painted a vivid picture of the chaos that was about to unfold—
"…………Can I get her opinion on this first?"
For better or for worse, when I opened my friends list to send a message, the name of that 'other person' was displayed as online.
More will be revealed about Alliance later, so you don't need to worry about it too much for now.