Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

Out in the Open

ROXY AND I ENDED UP moving to a quiet spot a little way from the party. As the conversation flowed, the topic shifted to Aaron. I regaled Roxy with the tale of our first encounter, when I discovered Aaron’s little village entirely by accident on the way to Galia. Back then, the village had been a last resort for people with nowhere else to go. Aaron and I had never met before that day, but I’d sparked something inside of him, and he’d gone so far as to teach me the fundamentals of swordsmanship.

As I told the story, Roxy had a smirk on her face like she knew something I didn’t. “I’ve heard this before, you know.”

“Eh?”

“Next, the two of you defeat the lich lord and free Hausen, right?”

“What?! But how? Oh, wait—oh, now I see…”

Roxy giggled. “Took you long enough.”

Not long after I’d left Hausen for Galia, Roxy had discovered the estate in the midst of reconstruction. Naturally, she’d met Aaron as well. She’d said as much herself when we crossed swords in Galia, right before she showed me that Aaron had taught her how to charge her sword with the power of the Grand Cross technique.

Roxy puffed her cheeks with mock dissatisfaction at my slowness, but she broke into another grin moments later. “Aaron didn’t say anything about me when you met him after Galia?”

“Not a thing! He’s not really the sort to share a lot about himself.”

“That’s true. Well, if he won’t tell you, I’m more than happy to.”

Roxy had stopped by to help with Hausen’s repairs for a bit, but Aaron had taken it upon himself to initiate her into the true art of the holy sword. However, it hadn’t been easy for Roxy to learn. During her struggles to control the new power, another lich lord had appeared in the streets of Hausen.

“There was a second crowned beast?!” I yelped. “Aaron never said a thing!”

“Well, that’s Lord Aaron for you. But it wasn’t a crowned beast, to be clear, just a lich lord. We defeated it with a special technique you yourself taught Aaron. Do you know what it was?”

I suddenly felt like a student being quizzed by a teacher. It really sounded like I was supposed to know the answer. I didn’t want to embarrass myself. I thought carefully, but the only thing that came to mind was the time Aaron and I had combined our attacks into a single blast.

“Did you layer your Grand Cross charges into a Double Grand Cross?”

“Bingo! Aaron was quite impressed with you, you know. He said that because holy knights so often fight alone, he’d never even imagined such combinations were possible. I was impressed as well.”

“Stop, you’re embarrassing me! It wasn’t that big of a discovery…”

“Why don’t we try it together next time?”

Roxy’s eyes bored into me with the weight of expectation. I suddenly realized that she was incredibly close. I couldn’t even fumble a proper reply.

“You don’t want to?” Roxy asked.

“No, no, that’s not it at all!” I stammered.

“Then let’s do it. Why don’t we try it out right here? You’ve already got your blade, so I’ll just dash off to grab my holy sword.”

“What?! We’ll terrify the whole party if we do it right here!”

Roxy had already jumped up to dash off. As I scrambled up to stop her, she turned to me with a satisfied look and stuck her tongue out. “Just kidding! You really fall for everything, don’t you, Fay?”

“You got me again.”

Ever since my time as her servant, I’d been caught up in Roxy’s pranks and jokes. But I hadn’t expected them to continue even after I became the head of the Barbatos family. Even so, it was like back in the old days when we were first getting to know each other. I liked it.

“How is the restoration of Hausen going?” Roxy asked.

“Smoothly so far. I enlisted the help of an adventurer I know who goes by the name of Baldo. He leads a group of fifty or so adventurers, and they’re in charge of security, so at least we don’t have to worry about monster attacks. A childhood friend of mine, Set, is establishing and managing trade relations for us too. There’s a lot to look forward to.”

“I’m so happy to hear it. I want you to introduce me to everyone next time I visit, okay?”

“Sure. They’re an eccentric bunch, but they’re good people.”

I’d met Baldo at the Lanchester estate, back when I fought the sand golem. I’d hoped we might meet again someday and had been astonished to find him already helping out at Hausen when I returned after Galia. I learned then that Baldo had once been one of Aaron’s soldiers. As soon as he heard that Aaron had once more picked up the sword, he rushed to Hausen as soon as he could. He’d laughed when he saw me. “It’s a small world after all!”

It wasn’t just Baldo either. Many others who had once worked with or under Aaron were gathering in Hausen.

As for Set, we’d parted ways after our hometown burned down in a gargoyle attack. Since then, he’d been getting by as a traveling merchant, and the work had eventually brought him to the gates of Hausen. He was bringing building materials for our laborers when I saw him and his caravan, and he saw me. It had been a long time since our last meeting, and I had been relieved to see his daughter was healthy and enjoying the traveling life alongside her father.

When Set and I talked, he said he’d gotten a feel for the work and understood it well. However, he was looking for some place to settle, so I asked if he would be interested in managing a merchant guild in Hausen. Set was floored, and with great seriousness carved into his face, he asked that I give him a little time to think. As for me, the grim past I’d shared with Set had vanished with our village. I was asking him not as Set my old neighbor but as Set the merchant. A few days later, he told me that he had decided to set up shop in Hausen.

“Is it true that you’re inviting people from Seifort’s slums to the Barbatos estate?” Roxy asked, ever curious.

“It’s true. There’s no future for so many people trapped here. Eris told me that she intends to change the kingdom for the better, but that’s going to take time. Also, Hausen is probably the best place for people who want to start a new life.”

“If there’s anything I can do to help, don’t hesitate to ask, okay?” Roxy said with a hint of apology in her words. She seemed sorry that the Hart family had never welcomed the forsaken to its estate, but it wasn’t so simple for her. She had the residents of the Hart estate to think about, for one. For another, even if Roxy had been as brazen as I had in front of all the other holy knights, they would never have let her get away with it. For starters, Rudolph Lanchester would have gone after her just as he’d gone after me.

Really, if the Hart family had done anything more than it already had, the other holy knights might have ostracized them or worse. On the other hand, I was an outsider from beginning to end, which allowed me a certain freedom to do as I pleased. Or at least, that was how it had worked before. Now that Eris was in charge, I hoped to exercise even more freedoms.

“What’s with that wicked look on your face?” asked Roxy. “You’re plotting something, aren’t you? And let me guess—it has to do with Eris.”

“Huh? How did you know?”

“Fay, your face is an open book.” She then placed her hand on top of my own, and before I could move to control it, my Telepathy kicked into gear. What wicked deeds are you planning, Fay?

“Roxy, I think you should know I’m unintentionally reading your mind right now…”

I don’t mind. Fay, you’re always welcome to read what’s in my heart and on my mind. It also means I can do things like this.

“Things like what?”

Fate! Look out! It’s Miria! She’s right behind you with her flaming sword!

I rolled out of my seat in an instant, turning to face what I realized was thin air. Roxy had gotten me again! She’d used my Telepathy to lie right through her thoughts and trick me. To be fair, Roxy already knew about all my skills because I’d told her about them when I’d explained my Gluttony in that letter. She’d learned about Greed at that point as well.

“Oh, that was so fun! I wish I had Telepathy,” said Roxy.

“Why?”

“Well, I want to talk to Greed.”

“Greed? Not a good idea. He’s arrogant, foul-mouthed, and endlessly stubborn.”

“Oh, really, now? That makes me even more curious.” Roxy leaned over and peered at the black sword. She was clearly terribly intrigued, and I could tell through Telepathy that Greed loved the attention.

“Ah, this girl, she’s special! She’s got an eye for quality! You hear that, Fate? She wants to talk to me! I may be a sword, but I’m also a ladies’ man, you hear?”

“Probably because nobody can hear you.”

Roxy studied me and Greed chattering and nodded to herself. “I think I finally get it. Back when you were a servant, you were actually kind of infamous, Fay. All the other servants talked about the way you walked the halls with your hand on your sword, muttering to yourself. Now we know why.”

“I wasn’t talking to myself—I was talking to Greed. I swear!”

“That would be easier to believe if Greed had a voice, don’t you think?”

“That’s impossible—he’s a sword. Right, Greed?”

“No, it’s possible.”

“Eh?!” I nearly fell off the bench at this sudden revelation. I had gone this whole time fully believing that conversation with Greed was only possible through Telepathy.

“To be clear,” he added, “it’s only possible if you reach the next weapon level. If you do that, I can repair some of my lost abilities, Telepathy among them.”

“Wow, seriously?”

Why hadn’t he told me sooner?! The next level would be the fifth, and I wasn’t anywhere close to reaching it, which meant I still had a long way to go. Nonetheless, it was now something to look forward to. I hoped being able to talk to other people might fix a bit of Greed’s awful personality. The thought brought a grin to my face.

“What are you talking about now?” asked Roxy, peering intently at us both.

“Greed just said that he might be able to talk with other people after he reaches the next weapon level.”

“That’s fantastic. I can’t wait! Do you mind if I hold him? Greed? Just for a little?”

“Fine by me. Fine by you, too, right, Greed?”

I didn’t sense any resistance from Greed, so I passed the sword over. I was curious about what she would do with it. Roxy stood from the bench and drew the black sword from its sheath. Then, as she swung it left and right, a pained look grew upon her face.

Fear spiked within me. What the hell?! What’s going on? This has never happened before…

Roxy put a hand to her right eye, pushing at it as she squeezed out her next words. “Ugh…the Gluttony…it aches. It’s not enough, I need more!”

“Whoa! Stop! Please!” I cried.

Roxy straightened up immediately. “Well, how was my performance? Do I get an award for my rendition of Fate in Galia?”

She slid the sword back into its sheath and handed it back to me, her face shining with a sense of accomplishment. Greed cackled the entire time. I got the feeling she’d been wanting to do that particular performance for quite some time. Were my actions actually that funny? I supposed it warranted further thought. Myne had done something similar, and…even Eris had, actually.

Does this mean… I shook my head. No, I’m probably just overthinking it.

“It means people think doing an impression of you is funny. Congratulations!”

“What do you mean, congratulations?!” I roughly hooked Greed back on my belt. “Just quit it!”

Now it was my turn to do an impression of Roxy, and I wasn’t going to let her off easy.

“Oh, no!” she cried. “What are you going to do?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

“Okay, well, I’m going to close my eyes, so go for it!”

“You can’t do that!”

Our time together was so much fun that it passed in the blink of an eye—so quickly, in fact, that I’d completely forgotten the mission given to me by Roxy’s mother, Lady Aisha. Clearly, she’d run out of patience and come to look for us, because when I looked up, Lady Aisha was standing right behind Roxy. The people around her stared in awe, made quiet only by the finger Lady Aisha held to her mouth.

Soon, the party had plunged into total silence.