Chapter 1: After Return, Before Return
Immediately after returning from the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica, Rio made his way to his mansion with Liselotte and Aria. They proceeded to the dining room, where King Francois was coincidentally visiting at the same time.
As soon as they had all taken their seats, Francois looked at Rio. “I believed you could do it...and you truly did. Well done bringing Liselotte back. Thank you for your efforts, Haruto.”
Rio gave a short nod and bowed his head. “It was nothing.”
“Welcome back, Liselotte,” Francois said, turning to her next. “I’m glad to see you safe.”
“I’ve caused so much trouble for the country and everyone here... Please accept my deepest apologies.”
“Don’t let it bother you. Think of it as encountering an unlucky misfortune. The Saint’s existence itself was a disaster...” Francois said, sighing at the memory of meeting Saint Erica. “I’ve asked someone to summon Cedric and Julianne, as well as Princess Christina and Princess Flora, who are close to you. They will arrive shortly, so show them that you’re safe.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Of course. The main discussion will start after they arrive, but I’m sure Haruto must be very confused right now. Did you hear about what happened to the mansion on your way here?” Francois asked, glancing at Gouki and Kayoko.
“No, I was told it would be better to wait for everyone to be present.”
That was what Charlotte had said to him on the way here. She had spoken teasingly, but it was indeed the more efficient option.
“I see...” Francois hesitated, but made up his mind quickly after. “In short, invaders attacked the castle shortly after you left.”
“Wha—?!” Rio and Liselotte both widened their eyes.
Francois paused, thinking about how to explain things in a way that wouldn’t cause them excess concern. The assailants were deeply related to Rio’s fated enemy, so he chose his words carefully.
“Rest assured. Although the scale of the attack was large, the matter was resolved with relatively little harm. It was all thanks to the efforts of this mansion’s residents. I visited today in order to express my gratitude over the incident.”
“Is that so...”
Rio and Liselotte looked a little less anxious, but there was still too little information to dispel their confusion.
“Excuse me. Princess Christina, Princess Flora, as well as Duke Cretia and his wife have arrived.” A female knight announced the arrival of the invited guests.
“Thank you for the invitation.”
The first to enter after the knight were the foreign royals, Christina and Flora, but they promptly moved aside after giving their short greetings. They were probably being considerate of Liselotte’s parents, Duke Cedric Cretia and Duchess Julianne Cretia.
“Your Majesty...”
As her parents, they wanted to call out to their daughter immediately, but as a duke’s family, they couldn’t do such a thing. With his position as a noble in mind, Cedric greeted King Francois first. That being said, his gaze and attention were completely focused on his kidnapped daughter who had safely returned.
“There’s no need to greet me. I will not stand in the way of a father-daughter reunion,” Francois said, dismissing the need for any noble etiquette.
“Thank you for your consideration. Oh, Liselotte!” After a quick bow, Cedric rushed straight over to his daughter. His wife Julianne was right behind him.
“Thank goodness you’re safe...” she sighed, sweeping Liselotte, who had stood up to meet them, into a loving hug with Cedric.
“Mother, father...” Liselotte was unable to budge from their embrace. There were tears in her eyes and her voice was trembling. Everyone else in the room watched over the family quietly.
After some time, Cedric and Julianne turned to Rio and bowed their heads deeply.
“Sir Amakawa... No, Haruto. Thank you for bringing my daughter back.”
“I acted of my own accord, so don’t worry about it,” Rio said, shaking his head.
“Oh my...”
Those words must have resonated in Julianne’s heart, as she looked at her daughter with a sigh of admiration. Liselotte tried to feign composure, but her cheeks were tinted a shy pink.
“Thank you, truly...” Cedric smiled softly and shook Rio’s hand, emphasizing his gratitude from the bottom of his heart.
“You’re welcome. However, it might be a bit too early to celebrate. I have some bad news to report as well...” Rio said, looking at Francois.
“I expected as much. I also need to explain what happened over here to you. But let’s start with your report first.”
Thus, Rio and Francois explained to each other what they had experienced during Rio’s absence.
◇ ◇ ◇
Two days ago, on the outskirts of the Holy Democratic Republic of Erica...
The sun was just about to set behind the stone house set up in the woods.
“Mm...” Rio, who had been wounded in his battle with Saint Erica, opened his eyes.
Where...
The familiar ceiling of the stone house greeted him. He tried to recall what had happened with his still-groggy mind.
“Sir Haruto...?”
A familiar voice called to him from beside his bed, so he turned to look that way. Liselotte was seated in a chair next to his bed, having nursed him while he was unconscious. Their gazes met.
“Liselotte...?”
“Umm, how are you feeling? If it hurts anywhere...”
Her hands hovered over his body, prepared to cast Cura to heal him.
“I’m fine. Nothing hurts.”
Rio slowly sat up, moving his arms to check the condition of his body. He could feel his body was stiff from sleeping, but he wasn’t in any pain.
“Thank goodness...!” Liselotte exhaled in relief, slumping over as all her strength left her. Her hovering hands settled on clinging to Rio’s right arm on the bed, squeezing his hand tightly.
“...” The sudden contact to his hand almost made Rio flinch, but he stifled his body’s reflexes with a gulp of air.
“Thank goodness... Truly...”
Liselotte was crying. Her head was hanging downwards, but both her slender body and lovely voice were trembling.
“Sorry, I must have made you worry,” Rio apologized quietly.
“No, I should be the one to apologize! I’ve caused you so much trouble...”
Liselotte had lifted her face to argue back, but was looking down once again with the latter half of her words. Rio watched her like he was unsure of what to say.
“It was no trouble at all.” He quickly gave her a gentle smile of assurance. Then, he moved his left hand and squeezed her hands softly between his.
“Sir Haruto?” Liselotte asked, looking up in confusion.
“I’m here of my own will. Being bedridden after charging in so triumphantly is pathetic of me, but I’ve never thought of it as a trouble caused by you.” Rio spoke slowly, as though he were explaining things to a crying child.
“You’re not pathetic at all.” Liselotte’s voice cracked as she spoke. She still looked like she was blaming herself.
“That’s a relief to hear. I’m so glad you were unharmed. We both came out of this benefiting from something, so please don’t look so upset,” Rio said, the sharp outlines of his face easing in joy.
With that, Liselotte was unable to argue any further. Her body flinched a little in surprise.
“Okay...” she murmured with a small nod.
The two of them gazed at each other at close range, holding each other’s hands.
The first one to react was Liselotte. Her emotions had spurred her to act far more daringly than she normally would have. Gazing into the eyes of the opposite sex while holding hands was a completely new experience for her. Once she realized this, she immediately turned redder and redder.
“O-Oh! I’m sorry!” Liselotte let go of Rio’s hands in a fluster, backing away to create distance and ducking her head.
“No, I should be apologizing... I’m sorry,” Rio said awkwardly. Although he had wanted to cheer Liselotte up, squeezing her hands back had been thoughtless of him.
“Oh, no, don’t apologize. I was the one who held your hand first...”
“Then...” Rio looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment, then rephrased his words with a grin. “Thank you very much.”
“Wh-What are you thanking me for?”
“For nursing me back to health while I was unconscious. You stayed beside me the whole time, right?”
“Lady Aishia and Aria also took turns caring for you... All I really did was sit here, so you should thank the two of them instead.”
“I see. Still, I appreciate how worried you were for me. Thank you so much, really.”
“I-It was nothing... And I should be saying that to you. Thank you for coming to save me.”
The embarrassment that had nearly faded came rushing back at Rio’s honest admission of his true feelings. Liselotte looked downwards with a blush once again.
“It was no problem. So, where are Aishia and Aria?” Rio seemed to be feeling bashful himself, as he changed the subject awkwardly.
“I’m right here.” Aishia entered the room through the open door. She had probably been listening to their conversation from the hallway, as she made her entrance as soon as Rio asked about her.
“Morning, Aishia,” Rio said with a soft smile.
“Yup. Morning.” As usual, there was no intonation to her voice, but even Aishia seemed to be in good spirits today. Her mouth was turned upwards in happiness.
“Thank you for coming back after the battle. You saved me.” Rio recalled the battle with the Saint and thanked her before anything else. Just before he lost consciousness, Aishia had arrived to help carry him.
“It was nothing.”
“How long was I out for?”
“Over a day.”
“I slept for that long...?” Although his wounds had been healed, his physical body had taken a huge burden. The fact he could get by with just some bed rest was extremely fortunate.
“Liselotte watched over you the entire time. She hasn’t had a wink of sleep.”
Aishia and Aria also took turns caring for you was what she had said earlier, but Liselotte herself hadn’t actually swapped out of looking after him.
Rio’s eyes widened. “Wait, really? Please get some sleep,” he said worriedly.
“U-Umm... I’m fine, this much is nothing,” Liselotte mumbled. She hadn’t wanted Rio to know that, so she shook her head with a tinge of shame.
“Sleep and rest are important for the body. I appreciate your concern for me, but please take care of yourself as well. Please.”
She had acted that way out of concern for him—he couldn’t scold her too harshly.
“She was beside herself with what to do if you didn’t wake up because of her. Please go easy on her.”
Aria entered through the still-open door while defending her master. She was carrying a water pitcher on a tray.
“Aria...”
Her attendant had spoken to support her, but the way her state of mind had been exposed left her even more embarrassed.
“As long as you rest after this, I have no objections,” Rio said, watching her in concern.
“Yes. I was about to drag her to bed myself if she didn’t sleep soon. Thank goodness you woke up before then, Sir Amakawa. Please, have some water.” Aria filled a wooden mug with water and handed it to Rio.
Rio took a gulp of the water and sighed in relief. “Thank you... I feel better.”
“I should be the one expressing my thanks. Because of your efforts, my master has been retrieved safely.”
As soon as Aria placed the tray down on the bedside table, she knelt down to express her gratitude.
“There’s no need for that. Like I said, I did it because I wanted to.” Surprised by the sudden change in attitude, Rio tried to stop Aria in a fluster.
“That doesn’t mean I cannot express my gratitude,” Aria replied flatly, her head still bowed low.
“Yes. Thank you so much.” Liselotte agreed with Aria and bowed her head alongside her attendant. Faced with the gratitude of both the master and her servant, Rio finally accepted their feelings.
“All right, all right... You’re very welcome.”
They continued to hold their heads low for a few more seconds, until Aria looked up to speak first. “Now, by your leave, I believe it is time for my master to sleep. Is that all right with you, Sir Amakawa?”
“H-Hey, I’m not a child that needs to be put to sleep...” Liselotte puffed up her cheeks cutely and glared at Aria. Aria had spoken up in a very serious tone, but her words had been chosen with humor in mind.
“Please do,” Rio replied with an amused look.
“Right away. I will prepare a light meal for you after my master falls asleep. Please wait a short moment.”
“Thank you. The earliest we’ll leave for the Galarc capital will be after tomorrow, so please rest well, Liselotte.”
“Fine...”
Thus, Liselotte allowed herself to be led out of the room, leaving behind Rio and Aishia.
“Where is this house located, by the way?” Rio asked Aishia, who was standing beside his bed.
“Several kilometers from the city where you fought the Saint. In the middle of the woods.”
“I see. Did anything happen while I was asleep?”
“Not particularly.”
“You said you were hindered by a skilled spirit art user as you were escaping with Liselotte, right? Is it safe to assume we haven’t been followed?”
Rio recalled the matter of the spirit art user who had seen through Aishia’s invisibility art. The stone house had a similar barrier that prevented it from being perceived, but a skilled spirit art user would be able to see through it.
In reality, the one who had interfered with Aishia’s rescue mission to make Rio battle the Saint was Reiss, but there was no way for them to know that.
“Most likely, yes. It’s possible the Saint was the one who got in our way,” Aishia theorized.
“That is indeed a possibility...” Rio agreed.
The effects of the Divine Arms are extremely similar to those of spirit arts, he thought.
However, there was something else that bothered him. “But the spirit art user manipulated bullets of light to attack you, right?” Rio asked.
“Yeah.”
“In that case...” Rio placed a hand on his chin and thought carefully.
Apart from the physical body enhancement and language interpretation, the abilities of Divine Arms seem to be limited to a single element. Satsuki’s is wind, Sakata’s is water, Rui’s is lightning, Takahisa’s is fire, the Rubia Kingdom’s hero used ice in our fight, and the Saint’s should be earth...
Magic and spirit arts that fired light orbs as bullets of energy didn’t count under the six elements of fire, water, earth, lightning, ice, and wind. Thus, if the Saint had been the one to attack Aishia with light bullets, it would mean the Saint was capable of controlling something outside of the six elements.
Was it not the Saint who attacked Aishia? No, it’s possible the Saint has learned how to use spirit arts instead of her Divine Arms...
After all, the heroes had all the groundwork for learning spirit arts laid down already. That was probably an effect of the Divine Arms—Satsuki had been the same. She could visualize magic essence from the moment she was summoned into this world.
They couldn’t practice using spirit arts openly before Charlotte and the castle knights, so he hadn’t taught her any more than the bare minimum, but she should be able to pick it up fairly quickly if she learned properly. That would create a hero that could use both Divine Arms and spirit arts.
There’s also the possibility of her Divine Arms having more abilities. Satsuki said she didn’t completely understand hers either.
At any rate, thinking about this any further wouldn’t resolve anything.
“We can’t discard the possibility of a third party interfering. Let’s keep our guards up.”
If it was the Saint that had obstructed Aishia, there was no need to be wary. Rio had killed her himself, after all. But if it was a third party, then they had to fear the possibility of an attack from someone else.
Of course, there was no need for Rio to say that out loud. Aishia already had it covered.
“Okay,” she said, nodding obediently.
“Thanks. The other thing to worry about would be that beast... It seems most natural to assume the Saint was controlling it as well, but...”
He couldn’t be sure.
“I could sense a spirit-like presence from that huge creature,” Aishia stated simply, referring to the beast’s identity.
“So it was a spirit after all?”
Rio had considered that possibility during the battle himself. But it had possessed so much power—more than a high class spirit would have had—and it wasn’t a humanoid spirit. As far as he knew, all high class spirits and above were humanoid, so he wasn’t sure if that beast could’ve been a spirit.
“I can’t say for sure... The presence was really cloudy.”
“The presence was cloudy?”
Humans couldn’t detect spirit presences with their senses. When Rio looked like he was struggling to understand—
“People, spirits, animals, monsters, plants; any living thing has a presence. There are characteristics distinct to the presences of certain species, and there are variations in the presences of different individuals. Out of all living creatures, the easiest presence to detect is that of spirits and monsters,” Aishia added.
“So the presence was most similar to that of a spirit?”
“But it was cloudy.”
“Hmm...”
That was the expression it came down to. Rio hummed in confusion, not quite getting it.
“Monsters also have cloudy presences. So in that way, it might be similar to a monster? But it also felt really similar to a spirit.”
Since it was a matter of intuition, Aishia struggled to describe it as well. However, although they didn’t have an exact answer, it was definitely something similar to a spirit.
“I see. Could you sense anything else about the creature’s presence?”
Aishia paused for a moment. “It was angry,” she answered.
Spirits were sensitive to the emotions of others. They could sense them to a certain extent through the presences of others.
“Ah, I noticed that too,” Rio agreed.
His impression may have been influenced by its overwhelming size—over a hundred meters in length—but its eyes were filled with a resentment greater than any word could describe. That was something Rio could observe even as a human.
“It was really, really angry. It was pitch black.” Aishia’s description was short, but it resonated, painting a truly dreadful picture of the beast’s wrath.
“Pitch black... It was so angry, it lost all sense of itself?”
“Probably. It had lost all reason.”
“What was it so mad for? I suppose it could have been mad at me, the enemy, but...”
When did he incur such enmity?
Sure, he had invaded the enemy’s territory to retrieve Liselotte, which could have triggered the beast’s wrath—but something didn’t seem right about that.
“It didn’t seem like the anger was directed at you. It wasn’t angry at anyone there in particular.”
“In that case, why...”
What reason did it have to be so angry?
“Maybe it didn’t know why it was mad itself. Perhaps it was blindfolded and left in a state of confusion, like it didn’t know whom to direct its anger towards. All it knew was that anger was overflowing from within itself. That was the feeling I got from it.”
“And that was what made it pitch black?”
“Yeah.” Aishia nodded quietly.
“I see... But for some reason, it seemed like it was rampaging in an oddly calm way. It was like I was fighting a cunning beast that had locked on to its prey.”
The last attack that struck its own allies had caught Rio by surprise, but every other attack before then seemed to be controlled by the Saint to prevent destruction to the city. It had even feigned its death up until it made its last attack. There was something unpleasant about that.
“If it had lost itself to its rage, would it have been able to obey its master’s orders so calmly?” Rio wondered out loud.
He could understand if the Saint had absolute control over the beast’s movements. However, if that beast was something similar to a spirit, a contract wouldn’t be enough to create such a connection.
In a contract relationship, both sides were equal. Spirits served their contract partners because they wanted to—they were still capable of moving about of their own will.
“That, I don’t know.”
That was a given. Aishia had never been in such a mental state.
“Of course...”
Rio sighed as though to expel accumulated mud. The lack of any confirmed information made him feel as if he were sinking deeper into a bog the more he thought about things. Waking up to such a heavy topic was tiring him out quickly.
However, that didn’t mean he could stop to rest.
“If that beast was a spirit, then it’s not dead, is it?” Rio asked. It was the most important thing he had to confirm right now.
“That depends on what kind of attack you used to defeat it. A spirit cannot die of wounds dealt to its incarnated body—any damage has to be done directly to the spiritual body. It’s also possible to eradicate a spirit by making it expend essence until it can no longer maintain its spirit form.”
That meant it was no good just damaging the physical body that was created when a spirit materialized. As long as it recovered its magic essence, it could reappear with its wounds healed.
“If I use spirit arts to directly attack a materialized spirit, I can do some damage to its spirit form, right?” Rio asked. He had once learned that in the spirit folk village.
“Yup. But it’s difficult to deal enough damage to kill it. Against strong spirits, it’s pretty much impossible.”
“I see... Can you sense that beast’s presence right now?”
“I cannot. Its presence completely disappeared shortly before I reached you.”
“Honestly speaking, I highly doubt I managed to kill it. If killing the contract holder doesn’t kill the spirit, then it’s probably in its spirit form right now, too low on essence to materialize itself. I doubt there’s anyone else out there with enough essence to supply something like that, but...”
If the spirit art user who interfered with Aishia wasn’t the Saint, then that person could have been controlling the beast. But there couldn’t be many people out there capable of materializing such a powerful spirit. It would be out of the question for a human. It would even be impossible for a high elf like Orphia, despite their abundance of essence.
But no matter who was controlling the beast, there was a high possibility it still existed in spirit form somewhere. And the next time it materialized, it might attack them again.
I’d rather not picture that...
Rio didn’t have the confidence to say he’d win a rematch. He didn’t believe he’d be able to prevent damage to the surroundings and protect others at the same time. He needed the strength to protect people if the worst should happen. Rio’s face tensed at the thought.
“Let’s look together. For a way to win the next battle. We can fight together next time.”
She had probably read his fears. Aishia grabbed Rio by the hand as though to remind him he wasn’t alone.
With that, Rio’s expression softened a little.
“Thank you, Aishia... We’ll have to find out more about that monster.” Rio squeezed Aishia’s hand back. He then smiled gently to clear the gloomy fog that had befallen him.
“Dryas and the others in the village might know something.”
“Yeah. Let’s ask Sara and the others when we get back.”
There were many things he wanted to investigate.
It’s highly likely that the Divine Arms are related to that beast. I’ll need to ask Satsuki for her assistance, which might require permission from King Francois too.
He considered what he needed to prepare for a possible rematch with the beast. First, they had to return to Galarc as soon as possible. Rescuing Liselotte and bringing her back was the most important mission at hand.
“Now that you’re awake, I’m going to check on things in that city,” Aishia said, voicing the words in Rio’s head first.
“I was just thinking of going as well...”
“You’ve still recovering. And your face might be recognized after that huge fight. I can check on things in spirit form.”
“But you might end up in a fight with that spirit art user that hindered your escape.”
“All the more reason for me to go, then.”
There was no way he could argue with that reasoning. He shouldn’t be pushing his recovering body.
“Fine... Then I’ll leave it in your hands.” Rio showed signs of uncertainty, but chose to rely on Aishia.
“You can count on me.”
“There’s just one thing I’d like you to check. I want to know how the people living in the city are reacting to the Saint’s death. I need to report that to King Francois.”
“Okay.”
“If you can find the spirit art user, then please do so. But it isn’t a top priority, so don’t push yourself into a bad situation over it.”
“Got it.”
“Be careful out there. If you sense the slightest sign of trouble, you can run right away.”
“Okay.” Aishia nodded firmly. Even Rio would struggle to catch her if she devoted herself to fleeing. There shouldn’t be a problem.
“...” And yet, Rio couldn’t help looking at her worriedly. He looked like he was on the verge of insisting he went along anyway.
“You worry too much,” Aishia pointed out, seeing right through him.
“Oh, well...” Rio mumbled evasively, unable to deny it.
“Believe in me a little,” Aishia said to him.
“I do believe in you.”
Rio tried to muster a forced smile.
“I’ll be fine.” Aishia’s expression softened and she wrapped him up in a gentle hug.
“Umm...” Rio stiffened slightly out of embarrassment.
He and Aishia were normally close, often sticking together for everything, but being hugged out of the blue like this gave him a little shock. However, it was strangely comforting. Rio’s body gradually relaxed, accepting Aishia’s warmth. Some time passed like that in silence, creating a space where only the two of them existed.
The food’s ready, but I can’t enter the room... What should I do?
Meanwhile, Aria stood outside the bedroom awkwardly.
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