89 - Reunion
Amidst the falling and accumulating snow, I stood ready with my saber.
I remained wary of the five opponents, but despite their movements being slowed by my skill, they showed no sign of retreating.
On the contrary—.
"A support-type skill. How utterly plain. It suits you perfectly, doesn't it, Lyell?"
The opponent, who provoked me with a smile, held a stance similar to my own.
Since we were from the same school, our basics were the same.
Exhaling white breath, I used my skill to check the surroundings.
Who would attack, and who was targeting whom.
If I focused on the battle, I also needed to fight in a position that would immediately protect Shannon and Eva, who were behind me.
I had intended to take them down with light injuries, but my outlook had been too optimistic.
(To think the knights and soldiers of House Walt would be this troublesome.)
The soldiers, who even threw in feints while watching my movements, wore serious expressions.
I had hit them with magic once, but they possessed enough toughness to stand right back up.
The Fifth gave me instructions.
'It would be troublesome to kill them here. I'd prefer to avoid it if possible... but I never expected to run into them in a place like this. And they're being aggressive, too. Lyell, if you hold back, these guys will take advantage of any opening. Fight as if you intend to kill them.'
If I killed them, it would mean becoming enemies with the other party.
I had prepared myself to be looked down upon, but I never expected to run into my senior disciple, Alfred.
The Third spoke.
'Having the soldiers of House Walt, who have been properly trained for generations, as enemies is truly troublesome, isn't it?'
A soldier who had been directly behind me took a step forward, and I reacted.
Taking advantage of that opening, Alfred lunged forward.
The attacks, a series of thrusts aimed at my vital points, had become sharper than before.
I parried with my saber and then dodged. Sensing a soldier slashing from behind with the Second's skill, I leaped backward and drew the dagger from my waist with my left hand, stabbing blindly.
The target was the thigh.
As I stabbed deeply, the opponent let out a groan, so I drove my right elbow straight into the opponent's face.
As the opponent's guard opened, Alfred lunged in, so I scooped up snow with my foot and threw it in his eyes.
As the opponent's attack shifted slightly, I parried the saber with my dagger.
As I immediately grew wary of the other soldiers, Alfred took some distance and began to chant a spell.
"Your magic is the same as ever, I see. Fire Bullet!"
I scattered magic with low power but immediate effect around me, and since I was fixing my aim with my skill, they assaulted Alfred and the soldiers.
The soldiers who were hit by the magic and turned into fireballs immediately extinguished the flames with the snow on the ground and stood up to create distance.
One of them was bleeding from his thigh.
However, only the fireball I launched at Alfred stopped right in front of him.
It vanished just before it hit Alfred.
(What? It was as if it were crushed.)
Alfred looked displeased.
"One dropout, eh. And I'll praise you for making me use my skill. I suppose all that mindless sword-swinging was for something."
As I swung my saber in front of me, Alfred reset his stance.
The one who had fallen pressed down on his thigh, tied it tightly with cloth for first aid, and crawled away from me to create distance.
Judging by the amount of blood lost, it would be difficult for him to participate in the battle anymore.
(I'll keep an eye on him.)
Behind me, Shannon shouted.
"We have to run! Lyell, we have to get out of here right now!"
"I know!"
As I shouted, two soldiers slashed at me. As the remaining one went to recover their ally, I threw my dagger.
One was stabbed deeply in the right shoulder, and I slashed the other's arm with my saber.
The Sixth shouted.
'Lyell, do it seriously!'
My body reacted with a start, and suddenly I felt as if my right arm had been grabbed—.
"What!?"
I tried to shake it off, but the grip was too strong to break.
Through the Second's skill, it felt as if something was entwined around me.
While that was happening, Alfred slashed in.
I immediately launched a kick, and a full-power blow landed in Alfred's stomach.
Saliva flew from his open mouth.
"Y-you...!"
My leg was grabbed, and since the distance had become close, making it difficult to fight with the saber, he drew the dagger hanging from his waist.
"I've been waiting."
While my leg was grabbed by Alfred, I kicked off the ground with my other foot and launched a kick straight into Alfred's chin.
The sensation of my arm being grabbed vanished, and I performed a mid-air rotation before landing on the ground.
Recovering the fallen dagger with my left hand, I looked down at Alfred, who had fallen on his back and had a nosebleed.
Seeing the dagger gripped in my hand, Alfred screamed.
"G-give it back! That was given to me by Celes-sama! Don't you dare touch it!"
"This isn't something you should have."
Kicking away the saber Alfred had dropped, I glared once at the soldier treating his injured comrade.
He looked at me with regretful eyes. The injured ones were the same.
Their will to fight had not been lost.
Then, Shannon screamed.
"Lyell, that guy has lots of hands! It's a skill! Four of them grew from his back!"
Told by Shannon, I looked at Alfred.
I was told arms had grown, but Alfred had simply stood up. However, although there was nothing on the ground, there were marks as if he had stepped down—no, as if he had pressed down with hands.
Nearly twice the size of a human palm, they were larger than anyone's hands present here.
The Fourth spoke.
'Invisible hands, perhaps? A skill user.'
The Seventh, as if remembering something, added.
'Now that I think about it, the Barden family is a house that has produced mysterious skills. I wonder if they did so out of necessity... Come to think of it, they were an underground organization. Invisible hands would have been necessary in many places.'
Whether for cheating or assassination... it is a skill that seems like it would be active in doing dirty work.
Alfred, holding his face with his left hand, extended his right hand to the side.
The fallen saber slowly floated into the air and returned to Alfred's hand.
Shannon, trembling, said.
"He's grown four arms on his back and is handling them freely..."
I couldn't see them, but Shannon could probably see them.
Alfred, looking at Shannon, spoke.
"Are your eyes special? Then, I must deliver you to Celes-sama... Lyell, I'll be taking your head. I'll carve you up, crush your bones..."
The eyes Alfred used to look at me were already rotten.
Previously—.
When he was my senior disciple.
In the beginning, he was a kind and strong person.
He would call out to me casually and teach me various things.
And now, he is smiling hideously.
"Celes... did Celes make you do this!"
To the feelings that escaped my voice, Alfred responded with his invisible hands.
Though I couldn't see them, I am also a skill user.
The Second's skill informs me of the opponent's movements.
The lumps of magical power that I could only vaguely understand could now be recognized as arms thanks to Shannon's advice.
The falling snow was being blown away by the invisible hands.
However—.
"It's easier once I understand... Earth Hand!"
A brown arm emerged from beneath the snow and immediately grappled with the arm Alfred had created with his skill.
A creaking sound could be heard, and Alfred was suffering.
"You... you failure!! Aaaagh!!"
Running between the Earth Hand and the invisible arm, I thrust my saber into Alfred.
Then—.
"Lyell, his body is being protected by arms!"
As Shannon spoke, I released the saber and created distance.
I missed the intended spot, but the blade pierced Alfred's left arm, and blood flowed.
Shannon, looking disgusted, explained to me what Alfred's body had become.
"Lots of arms are growing from all over his body, protecting him like armor. And they're wriggling, and the fingers are twitching..."
Hearing that, Eva said.
"What is that... gross."
I had the same impression.
However, Alfred waved his left hand, and my saber was pulled out and floated in the air.
"H-heavy. You were using a weapon like this?"
He seemed to have tried to use it, but perhaps it was heavier than he thought, as he had discarded it.
The Third, as if convinced, spoke.
'It seems he can't put out that much power. All those skills are troublesome, but this one seems more like a skill for cheating than for combat. Or perhaps stealing?'
The Fifth also added.
'No dexterity. No strength. He's even manifested applications of the skill, but once the trick is known, it's only this much.'
It would have been scary if I hadn't known, but it was also thanks to Shannon.
At the same time, a countermeasure against Alfred came to mind.
The tide of battle had suddenly turned in our favor.
Alfred was glancing at my dagger and couldn't concentrate. He was surely desperately thinking about taking it back.
(Would it have been dangerous if the Jewel Orb had been stolen?)
Just as I was about to finish him off with magic, a carriage stopped at the end of the street.
—Novem was worried about Lyell, who was late returning.
She was waiting on the first floor of the inn, but there was no sign of him returning.
"He's late. It's almost time for dinner."
To Novem, who sighed with her hand on her cheek, Aria said with an exasperated look while chewing beef jerky.
"He's not a child, he'll come back."
Miranda, sitting opposite her at the same table, looked at Aria and sighed.
"Don't you get tired of eating the same thing? Also, show a little worry. I heard Lyell's family is in the royal capital, too."
Aria said proudly.
"I'm just comparing which beef jerky is the tastiest. Besides, he just shouldn't go to places where he's likely to run into them. They aren't the kind of people you can meet just because you want to."
Monica was standing near everyone without sitting in a chair.
Perhaps displeased with Aria's attitude, she muttered.
"You're two kilograms heavier than when we first met."
When Aria glared at Monica, she acted as if she didn't notice.
Clara, who had been reading a book, looked at Monica.
"Monica-san is really amazing in many ways. How did you calculate the weight?"
Monica taught Clara the calculation method, while Aria made a fuss, saying it was nonsense.
As Novem waited for Lyell and the others to return, people entered the inn.
"Man, I'm beat."
A customer who told the innkeeper he was beat paid his bill. Perhaps he was a regular, as the innkeeper dealt with him with a familiar air.
"Did something happen?"
"A fight. A fight. Knights and adventurers were slashing at each other, five against one, it was quite a commotion—"
Novem stood up and immediately pressed the customer.
"Excuse me. Where did what you just said happen?"
The man took some distance as Novem approached.
Rather than fear, he seemed overwhelmed by Novem's serious expression and atmosphere.
"Not on the main street, but over in the back alleys. There are many singers there, so I wondered why they were fighting in such a place... are they acquaintances of yours?"
Upon hearing that, Novem dashed out.
As she ran out the inn door, Aria and the others hurriedly followed her—.
Amidst the falling snow.
Celes, wearing a white, fluffy coat, stepped forward and appeared before me.
The skill I had acquired conveyed the maximum level of alert to me.
Now that I had acquired the skills of my ancestors, I could understand Celes's abnormality.
Shannon, who was trembling while being held by Eva behind me, probably understood it too.
"Who are you?"
As I readied the dagger, I realized I was trembling.
The shaking wouldn't stop.
I had become more capable of understanding the existence known as Celes than before. But because of that, it planted a fear in me greater than what I had felt previously.
Eva whispered.
"She's not human. What... what does this mean..."
Celes brushed back her beautiful golden hair and spoke sadly, as if reciting lines from a play.
"Isn't that a bit harsh to say to a sister you've finally reunited with? I'm sad. Truly sad... Besides, I came here after hearing there was a talked-about elf singer, only to run into the one who was kicked out of the house. Were you alive? You should have just died."
At the end, she giggled, telling me to die with a cute expression.
Alfred and the soldiers hurriedly gathered under Celes.
Despite being injured, they forced themselves toward Celes's side, while the knights who had been with Celes glared at them.
"Can't you even carry out a simple errand properly, you disgraces of House Walt!"
One of the vassals I had once respected as a knight was shouting abuse at the injured soldiers.
The Seventh looked at Celes.
'What is the meaning of this. Is this Celes... she's a different person!'
The Third, looking at Celes, had lost his usual composure.
'Lyell, can you escape this place using your skills at full power? Take the two of them and flee immediately.'
Previously.
I had challenged Celes so that I wouldn't be kicked out of the house.
Now, I had experienced growth three times, and compared to before, both my physical strength and magical strength had increased. But I couldn't envision winning.
Celes, who was smaller and more delicate than me.
Her slender limbs and neck looked as if they would break if not handled delicately.
The innocent smile had lost some of its childishness compared to before.
Tracing her lips with her finger, she then placed that finger on Alfred's lips as she approached.
That gesture looked bewitching, and she didn't seem like someone two years younger than me at all.
Now that I was outside, I could tell.
That Celes was not human—.
Celes, smiling, spoke to Alfred.
"Alfred, thank you for your hard work until now."
"Celes-sama, I... eh?"
Shannon let out a small "Hie!" of a scream, and Eva also averted her gaze.
A rapier with a yellow orb embedded in the hilt was gripped in Celes's hand, having been drawn at some point.
As Alfred fell forward, Celes's rapier was stained with blood.
The snow on the ground where Alfred fell was turning red.
Alfred's face was turned toward me, but I wasn't even in his sight. He was simply smiling while looking at Celes.
Then, Celes slowly lifted the rapier.
"Wipe it."
"I'm home."
The knights wiped the blood from the rapier, but not a single one looked at Alfred.
The injured soldiers were also just looking at Celes.
Then, smiling, Celes spoke.
"Hmm, since I'm dealing with that thing today, I'll let you all live. So, work for me."
"Yes!"
"Even at the cost of our lives!"
"Celes-sama!"
"...C-Celes-sama."
One of the soldiers whose thigh I had stabbed was looking at Celes while suffering.
Then—.
"Oh, your face is terribly pale. It must be painful... now."
She lifted the injured soldier's face with her left hand, and the sound of bone snapping echoed through the area.
The soldier whose neck was broken had a happy expression.
Looking around, onlookers had gathered.
But everyone was captivated by Celes.
"Why..."
The Fourth spoke to me.
'Lyell, is that your sister? Was that really your sister?'
The Sixth felt the same.
'The monster the First spoke of... it seems we didn't understand in the true sense. That thing is too dangerous.'
My ancestors, who usually didn't become timid, felt a sense of crisis looking at Celes and told me to flee.
The Fifth shouted.
'She's coming! Don't hold back!'
In the next instant, Celes was right beside me, looking up at my face.
When I tried to create distance, she stepped on my foot, preventing me from stepping back.
A shiver ran down my spine, and a chill washed over me.
"Hmm, I wonder if you've gotten a little stronger? And eight skills... how interesting. Though the quality is worse than the Jewel Orbs I possess. Jewel Orbs for a failure, fitting for a failure."
Poor quality. Being told that, I glared at Celes.
I felt as if I had been mocked.
At the same time.
(This girl, she grasped the number of my skills. More than that, she called me a 'failure'!)
Everything I had built up—everything I had inherited from my ancestors—felt as if it had all been mocked.
Celes's eyebrow twitched.
"Oh, are you angry? As I thought, I hate you. You don't become captivated when you look at me... ah, that girl over there is certainly..."
Whether Celes became more interested in Shannon than me, she immediately moved, grabbed Shannon's hair, and threw Eva aside.
"Kya!"
Shannon struggled and resisted as Celes lifted her by the chin.
"Let go! Let go of me!"
Celes, with a smile, said.
"How cold. You spoke to me so much when we met before. Though, you've become quite visible. Have you grown a bit? Oh, that's right! I wonder where your older sister is? That beautiful older sister. I wanted an older sister like that. But now, I'm curious about your eyes... hey, give those to me."
"N-no, noooo!!"
As Shannon screamed, I snapped out of it and reached for Celes.
Then, Shannon was thrown and sent flying.
Celes looked at me and Shannon and giggled.
And she was stepping on the head of the fallen Eva.
"L-let go..."
It looked as if she were only stepping lightly, but even Eva, who was larger than Celes, could not escape despite struggling desperately.
"Your voice isn't as beautiful as I heard. I'm still better, right?"
As she said that, the surrounding knights and soldiers affirmed Celes.
"Yes, Celes-sama's voice is far more wonderful than that savage elf's."
"There is no need to even compare."
"Just hearing that voice makes me feel that becoming a knight was worth it."
Celes placed her hand over her mouth.
"Yes, thank you. Well, I don't need this either."
Saying that, she kicked Eva toward me.
Eva's arm, as she let out a groan, was badly swollen.
"You... what do you intend. By what right do you do this!"
Placing the two of them on the ground, I stood up.
I felt the bloodthirsty gazes from the surroundings, but Celes played with a strand of hair with her fingertip, appearing to be in thought.
Her gaze turned once toward the yellow orb.
"Right, or rather... it's because I inherited everything. You wouldn't understand, would you? Yes, surely you cannot understand."
Receiving Celes's gaze filled with hatred, I took a stance.
Looking at the rapier embedded with a jewel that was golden rather than yellow, the Seventh spoke.
'That orb... is it Zenoa's? You're saying you stole my wife's Jewel Orb! What is the meaning of this! That should have been kept under strict security! I didn't even inform Myzel!'
The Seventh was confused, but it meant the owner of the Jewel Orb was Grandmother.
I remembered the words the Seventh had said previously.
Agrissa, the beauty who could topple nations—the descendant of the clan that destroyed a country over three hundred years ago is Grandmother Zenoa.
"Grandmother's Jewel Orb..."
As I muttered, Celes's cheek twitched.
"You knew? As I thought. That's why I hate you..."
After looking down, Celes raised her face and looked at the blue Jewel Orb hanging from my neck.
"Even so, that blue orb is Grandfather's, isn't it? I wonder where you stole it from. Well, even if you have it, no one would use it. Ah, but... there was that old geezer."
Being told "old geezer," I remembered Zel, who had helped me.
Seeing my reaction, Celes spoke with amusement.
"He's already dead. He was in the way, so I burned him along with his hut."
Upon hearing that, I used my skills at full power.