EP.212 Reunion (7)
The Ashen Tower’s first master, Armiel.
His achievements are decorated everywhere, from the entrance of the Ashen Tower to the exhibition hall located on the top floor.
From the lowest position to the highest position.
From the moment one steps into the Ashen Tower until the moment they leave… the Mages in the tower are made to realize the magnitude of the accomplishments built by the first Master of the Tower.
And this is true for Raniel van Trias as well.
The more power she gains, the more she realizes how remarkable the first Master of the Tower was as she climbs higher in the tower.
“It doesn’t break.”
Even after hundreds of years, the golden tower built by the first Master doesn’t seem like it will ever break. It raises the question of whether it’s possible to achieve feats that surpass his.
“That’s why it’s worth challenging.”
Young Raniel thought so.
While she was seated in the position of the next Master of the Tower, she often spent the end of the week in the exhibition hall of the Ashen Tower. Gazing at the robe of the first Master hanging there, Raniel steeled her resolve.
“I will surpass the first Master.”
She will achieve accomplishments that no one will dare to covet.
She will build a golden tower even higher than the one constructed by the legendary first Master. She aims to become a Mage remembered throughout the ages.
This was Raniel’s goal.
The robe of the first Master hanging in the exhibition hall was a symbol of admiration for Raniel, a kind of mirror reflecting her distant future.
So,
It was immensely meaningful.
Something she yearned for dearly.
And, something she held very, very dear.
Later, she felt a bit disappointed to find out that the first Master was just a “stubborn Elf,” but still, her longing for that robe remained.
And Raniel happened to get the chance to try on that robe.
How joyful was she when she wore it?
How long had it been since she craved clothes?
Probably, it was the first time.
Every time she looked in the mirror, a silly smile escaped her lips, and every time she walked, the fluttering sleeves made her feel inexplicably good. Imagining her appearance in the robe felt like a dream come true.
And now.
Raniel is blinking blankly.
What she’s looking at is a piece of cloth clutched in her hand.
A white piece of cloth, as if it had been cut by a sword, is causing Raniel’s pupils to shake vigorously. More than ever before.
“Ah.”
She reaches out and touches the back of her neck.
A sense of emptiness is felt in the hand gripping the tangled cloth on her neck. There should have been more sensations wrapping around her fingers, but there are none.
“Could it be, no way…?”
She tries hard to deny reality, but it’s an impossible story. Pulling the hood down tight on her head, she realizes how utterly inadequate its coverage is.
The cut piece of cloth.
The empty hood of the robe.
Raniel’s lips open and close repeatedly. Her head bowed low as her shoulders trembled. Then, when Raniel suddenly raised her head… what reflected in her blue eyes was deep, deep anger.
“You bastard…!”
Her voice trembled.
“You, you, you filthy bastard…!”
Rough breaths were felt between syllables.
“———, ———!”
The harsh words spat out of Raniel’s mouth made Kyle’s eyes shake for a moment. Realizing how varied curses could be, Kyle unconsciously stepped back.
“Give it back! Give it back, you bastard!”
“What are you talking about?”
Raniel charges at him.
Kyle, caught in a clumsy position where he couldn’t hold up the Holy Sword nor let it go, stumbled back.
“The robe. The robe, you bastard! The robe!”
It was a cry filled with intense rage.
*
Seeing the charging girl, Kyle feels considerable confusion. When her identity was unknown, he could just swing the Holy Sword with abandon… but now the situation was a bit different.
Rania van Trias.
Kyle remembers the girl’s name.
She was a girl he found extremely impressive since their first meeting, belonging to the same clan. From her, Kyle feels traces of an old comrade.
“Could it be, she’s not really…”
The number of times he confronted her face to face is few, yet Kyle feels familiar with her. It feels like he’s meeting a long-term companion.
Raniel and Rania.
Star whispers to Kyle that they are still two separate beings. Kyle has no intention of doubting Star’s voice. He simply watches the charging girl with narrowed eyes.
“What should I do?”
Having confirmed her face, Kyle cannot bring himself to swing the Holy Sword at the girl. It’s an inexplicable feeling of repulsion.
Bam.
In the end, Kyle decides to grab the girl’s wrist, accepting the risk of some minor injuries. Though her wrist is slender, seizing it sends a sharp pain through his ribs.
“Let go.”
“······.”
“I said let go.”
The girl growled. With her eyes wide open, she seemed ready to bite at any moment. She lifted her leg back to kick Kyle’s shin.
Thud!
A loud sound erupted from Kyle’s shin. Despite her frail appearance, her kick was rather sharp. Kyle narrowed his eyebrows slightly.
“First, let’s have a talk…”
“Shut it.”
Stuck in a position where he couldn’t do either, holding both her wrists, the girl started to move her lips. And to Kyle, it was clear that this was not for the sake of uttering ‘ordinary language.’
“■···.”
Condensed language.
The language of spells.
Raging mana begins to swirl around the girl. It appeared she was ready to blow herself up if he didn’t let go of her wrist. The intensity of the approaching mana was alarming.
Thump.
Fortunately, that spell language was never fully pronounced. Someone had covered the girl’s mouth with their hand. With both hands occupied seizing the girl’s wrists, who could it be?
“Stop it.”
The silver-haired Elf who had quietly watched the situation spoke up.
“Do you really think breaking all the pillars will make you feel better? Those pillars are also relics. I said, they are relics, you brat…”
Thirty-seven pillars.
Pointing at the now dozen pillars that remain, the Elf let out a long sigh.
“Just stop it already…”
The landlord, unable to endure the destructive acts of the ruffians ruining their hometown, stepped in.
2.
He had planned to leave them alone if possible.
Neither truly intended to kill each other, and Cardi also knew that Raniel had deeply rooted emotional conflicts with her old comrade.
“So, I thought I’d let them fight until they’re sufficiently vented…”
But there was no “sufficiently.”
He wonders if it was wrong of him to expect any moderation from that girl in the first place.
The church’s basement is a total mess.
The thirty-seven pillars that Gleria had been proud of are now down to merely a few.
“I’m going crazy…”
Cardi sighed and looked around.
“So, that person is…”
“…the Savior of Elves?”
“Yeah, an ancient Elf. That person is reliable…”
As he looked around, he could see the Archery Master diligently explaining the situation to the Hero. When he locked eyes with Cardi, the Archery Master slightly lowered his head.
Nod.
A gaze that seemed to say he was leaving it to him.
The effects of several minutes of sermon appeared quite apparent. Cardi assumed the situation wasn’t going to become overly complicated and shifted his gaze.
“The problem is…”
In a corner of his sight.
“It’s that guy.”
He spotted Raniel, who was squatting on the ground, trembling over the cut robe. She was repeatedly touching the hood portion that had been sliced off.
“…Huh.”
Sighing silently, she looked up with a sulking expression, then shot a resentful glare at the Hero repeatedly for a while.
“The torn robe is mine, yet.”
Why is she the one who’s angry?
“Such a puzzling matter.”
Cardi shook his head with a sigh. However, if she was in such a state, it seemed there wouldn’t be any progress in their conversation.
Thud.
As Cardi approached Raniel, he gave her a light tap on the shoulder. Raniel looked up at Cardi.
“…What is it?”
“Just gather the fabric. I’ll fix it for you later.”
“Fix it… will you?”
“Would it be a problem? After all, that robe was one I had torn multiple times during my journey. It was neatly repaired so that no traces remain.”
A bit of life returned to Raniel’s eyes.
“…Will you really?”
“I will. If I don’t, you’d have no idea what burdens I would have to face again…”
Only then did Raniel dust herself off and stand up. She casually wrapped the robe around her shoulders.
“…I guess I won’t be getting it back.”
Sighing, Cardi led Raniel forward. More accurately, toward the Hero, who was conversing with the Archery Master.
“…”
Kyle Toven.
The Hero who received the strongest starlight in his time and possessed the most remarkable talent. He gazed at Cardi. Cardi met Kyle’s gaze.
“…Were you the Savior of Elves, Cardi?”
“An impressive title. Just call me Cardi.”
“May I ask you something?”
Kyle posed a question.
“Have we met somewhere before? Specifically, when I was a bit… younger.”
Cardi narrowed his eyes.
“Even with your memories gone, you seem to feel some semblance of familiarity. Or perhaps you simply have good instincts.”
Prior to awakening as a Hero, Cardi had previously met Kyle. He had once taken Kyle and Raniel, who were begging in the square, into his store.
Raniel chose to become independent.
Kyle chose to stay in the shop.
And while Kyle was working in Cardi’s store, he had approached the truth in a wrong direction. Contravening the rules, like a trick.
“As a result, he lost all his memories.”
All aspects related to him.
The Elf known as Cardi and all events intertwined around him.
The memories of that incident were completely erased from Kyle’s mind. Cardi felt no need to deliberately provoke them. It would only result in damage.
“Well, I suppose we’re meeting for the first time.”
“…The Star predicts that you are an erased being.”
“It’s true that I’m a forgotten entity in history. Now, let’s get to the main point. Why are you here?”
Cardi spoke with his arms crossed.
“This is a ruin of the ancient kingdom. And it is also a ruin of my homeland. It appears that you forced your way through using starlight…”
Cardi’s gaze shifted to the bone fragment hanging around Kyle’s neck. It was Gleria’s finger. Cardi’s brows furrowed.
“Were you planning to plunder?”
“…It’s for humanity.”
“That’s a short explanation. Just because you’re a Hero, not all actions are permissible. Explain your objectives accurately.”
Kyle turned to look at Lemia beside him.
Lemia slowly nodded.
“…We’re searching for the Holy Grail.”
Holy Grail.
At that word, Cardi’s brows furrowed. He confirmed the constraint placed upon him. He judged that the Hero before him held no qualifications.
“He shouldn’t have been able to approach the contract; how audacious…”
Cardi has no way of knowing that a superhuman had pried into the gaps of the contract with sheer will.
“You’re saying you intend to recover the Grail?”
“Yes. That’s likely what your group possesses. We need it.”
Kyle fiddled with the hilt of his Holy Sword.
“Due to the lack of superhumans, the current battlefield needs new superhumans. Humanity keeps getting pushed back, and the front lines retreat more each day. We need an existence that can change the momentum…”
Thus, we need that Holy Grail.
The Hero’s voice, which carried the weight of grand purpose, felt almost sacred. There was no tremor in his speech, trained by preaching.
“So.”
Kyle extended his hand.
“I ask for the transfer of the Holy Grail.”
“Well.”
Cardi gazed at Kyle with disinterest.
“You’re lying.”
“…What do you mean by that?”
“You said you were lacking superhumans?”
Cardi pointed at Kyle’s Holy Sword.
“That’s not a lack of superhumans. It’s a matter of lacking Heroes.”
The beast-like eyes glistened with a yellow hue.
“You’ve made a contract with the Star.”
At that voice, Kyle’s fingers twitched slightly. Raniel, standing behind Cardi, narrowed her eyes.
“Cardi, what do you mean by that…?”
“Wait a moment.”
Cutting off Raniel’s words, Cardi stared at Kyle. Having once made a contract with the Star himself, Cardi senses the anomalies present within the Hero’s body.
“Does it differ in kind from the contracts I’ve made?”
Yet he also feels that the essence is similar.
“What exactly did you contract with the Star? What kind of contract did you make…”
Cardi’s fingers, which had been pointing toward the Holy Sword, now directed toward Kyle’s heart. Pointing at the heart, which should have been filled with starlight, Cardi asked,
“Why is the starlight not within your heart…”
“That’s enough.”
Kyle interrupted Cardi’s inquiry.
“What contract I’ve made is none of your concern. Can you give me the Holy Grail, or not? If not, I intend to forcibly take it from you.”
Kyle’s fingers interlaced with the Holy Sword.
Looking at Kyle, who seemed ready to draw the sword at any moment, Cardi sighed.
“The Holy Grail here isn’t something just anyone can wield. Even if you try to take it, it will be impossible.”
He receives the Holy Grail from Raniel.
He held it out to Kyle.
“If you can take it, then go ahead.”
Kyle silently extended his hand.
However, the Holy Grail scattered away into particles. The scattered Holy Grail only returned to its original form after Kyle’s hand had completely passed through it.
“You won’t be able to grasp it.”
Cardi stated.
Kyle made another attempt to seize the Holy Grail. But the result was the same. Just by touching it, the Holy Grail scattered again. Lemia also tried and received the same outcome.
“You lack the qualifications. If you haven’t approached the truth, grasping this will be impossible.”
“…If that’s the case.”
Kyle extended his hand.
That finger pointed at Rania, standing beside Cardi.
“Why can that girl hold it?”
“You think you and I are the same?”
Raniel growled, her finger itching to bite Kyle’s pointing finger. Unfazed, Kyle continued speaking.
“And why are you and that girl here? What exactly is that girl…?”
Kyle rubbed the soot that stained his forearm. It was the mark of a spell unique to Raniel, Ashes to Ashes.
“Raniel, you use the same spell as her?”
Cardi looked back at Raniel.
She wore a face that suggested everything had come to a head. With a slight nod, she stepped forward. Kyle and Raniel exchanged looks.
“What exactly are you?”
Just as Raniel was about to open her mouth to answer the question.
-Kyle, is everything done?!!
A voice rang from above the ruined stairs.
Someone peeked down to observe the scene. All eyes turned to that direction.
-I’m going down now! I’m coming down!
The Saint, Sara.
Before Kyle could respond, she leaped down into the joint. As she activated her holy conjuration midair, she descended toward the ground at a slow pace.
“Oof.”
Landing beside Kyle, she let out a short breath.
“Ugh, call me quickly if it’s done…”
Just as she was dusting off her clothes, Sara’s expression stiffened. Her gaze was fixed on a certain girl standing face to face with Kyle.
“…Huh?”
Sara’s eyes widened.
“You, you are!”
She pointed at Rania.
“You crazy girl from Apuria!”
Kyle and Cardi sighed in unison.
The previously untangling situation seemed to have tangled even more.
Author’s Note
I had a great trip 😀
Regular updates resume next week.
I will try to post tomorrow as well…!
* I packed it generously 😀
