Chapter 106 - The Grand Temple (2)

“I looked into that man, and I really think you need to be careful around him!”

Aya said this almost beside herself with agitation as soon as they entered the Grand Temple. While Mylène sat there vacantly in her heavy armor, her maid showered her with advice and warnings, seemingly intent on filling every corner of the room with her voice.

“I looked at the people around him, and he travels surrounded entirely by women. Plenty of royals are promiscuous, but hardly any are so uncouth as to flaunt their debauchery that openly!”

... Admittedly, her advice seemed to come from an extremely biased perspective, but it was not entirely fabricated without any basis in fact.

Though much of it would have struck Aiden himself as monstrously unfair.

“Say, Aya.”

At the rare sound of Mylène's normal speaking voice, Aya stopped her ranting dead.

Mylène seldom produced coherent speech at the best of times. Still less did she string sentences together in an attempt at “conversation.”

“What do you think he meant when he said he wanted a close relationship?”

No sooner had he said it than a black-haired woman who seemed to be one of his companions had dragged him away, looking as though a specter loomed at her back.

At any rate, he had abruptly dropped that remark on her not long ago. She had not even had time to ask what he meant.

“... You needn't concern yourself with that, my lady!”

After a beat, Mylène spoke again with an indignant huff.

Although looking after Mylène sometimes put her through absolute misery, she had spent nearly her entire life at the princess's side. With feelings halfway to those of a parent, she could hardly stand by and let a wolf like that approach her princess!

“...”

But Mylène merely tilted her head at those words.

Well. That was not the impression she had gotten.

With that thought, she sighed and closed her eyes.

“... Mm.”

This was something she always did when it was time to wake herself up and get moving.

Where Katya Heinkel Craven had been born with so much divinity that its sheer volume caused side effects throughout her body, Mylène had precisely the opposite problem.

She had been born with so little divinity that she could scarcely be considered royalty. Yet the “quality” of that divinity had earned her the privilege of standing second in line to the throne.

“Black divinity” pulsed through her body.

An alien supernatural power, distinctly unlike that of any other royal, stirred within her.

Her divinity did not burn the things around her. It made them rot and fester, reducing them to decay.

‘... Will he be all right, saying something like that to me?’

Mylène gave a long yawn as the thought occurred to her.

The other royals shunned power like hers.

Katya was treated with “contempt” despite her abilities, but what Mylène received was a kind of... “fear.”

Something like the feeling one had when looking at a snake carrying deadly venom.

‘It won't do his reputation any favors.’

Aiden Kellermain, was it?

What a strange man.

With that thought, Mylène slowly set her armor in motion.

▣

The Second Princess Mylène's trait—divinity with the property of “Penetrating Venom”—was an immensely valuable skill in its own right.

It had various weaknesses, but if one could overcome those and land a hit, the payoff was guaranteed.

As the name suggested, its properties were so horrendous that anyone struck by it could be considered as good as dead unless the caster wished otherwise.

She was not second in line to the throne, right behind that perfect superhuman Alester, for nothing.

That was why Aiden had gone out of his way to approach Mylène first: to secure a means of finishing off this scenario's “mastermind” for good.

Unfortunately, his inability to explain all of that openly was only making his present suffering worse.

“... I'm telling you, I only meant it in a political sense.”

“...”

“... Dame Noel. I can't feel my arms.”

“...”

After his repeated appeals, the glaring Noel clicked her tongue, apparently at least willing to hear him out.

“I will give you credit for having the nerve to say that with your fiancée standing right beside you, Mr. Aiden.”

“No, as I said, my intention was...”

“Does it not occur to you that doing something that requires you to explain your intentions is a problem in itself?”

“...”

Hmm.

She was far too adamant for him to win her over with logic.

In that case, there was another approach he could try...

“Isn't comparing yourself to someone like her absurd in the first place, Dame Noel?”

“... Pardon?”

“Do you really think she means the same to me as you do? I understand why you're angry, but she isn't the person I love.”

“...”

As Noel listened, the corners of her mouth twitched.

... It was working beautifully.

“Then say it properly, out loud.”

“Pardon?”

“Who is the person you love, Mr. Aiden?”

“...”

He was not quite sure how to feel about her demanding it so openly, but...

“... You, Dame Noel.”

The twitching corners of her mouth now shot upward as though about to ascend to heaven.

Watching someone who normally maintained such a solemn air grin like a fool inspired something approaching metaphysical terror. Still, if it made her that happy, there was no reason he couldn't say it...

“Say it one more time.”

“...”

Sighing inwardly, Aiden repeated himself.

“You, Dame Noel.”

“Again.”

“...”

Fortunately, someone interrupted before that hellish cycle could continue.

“They've finished assigning rooms. We're on the second floor of Saint Azelia Hall—”

Opening the waiting-room door, Katya spotted Aiden kneeling with both arms raised and narrowed her eyes.

“... Were you making him do punishment drills?”

“I believe it is warranted.”

“He did have it coming.”

In rare agreement with Noel, Katya conceded the point with a sigh, then deposited an armful of papers in Aiden's lap and continued.

“The official welcoming ceremony and the first event start tomorrow. They said to unpack and get plenty of rest today.”

“Ah. We've all been assigned to the same suite.”

The instant he said it, he saw Noel's and Katya's eyes light up.

“Th-then let us decide right now who will share a bedroom with you—”

“... I'll be sleeping separately.”

Before Noel could finish the suggestion she had made with a nervous swallow, Aiden cut her off, pressing firmly at his temples.

Essentially, Noel and Katya had entered the Grand Temple as his accompanying “aides.”

Sleeping with them would not merely be a matter of appearances; it would violate procedure...

Besides, they had been assigned extremely spacious quarters precisely to prevent that.

“We'll be truly busy starting tomorrow, so let's rest today without causing any unnecessary trouble.”

Disappointment flashed across both their faces as soon as he spoke.

In fact, they kept pouting even after they entered their quarters and began unpacking together...

“... I'll step out for a moment.”

Quietly extricating himself from that atmosphere, Aiden escaped into the corridor.

Of course, getting away was part of his motivation, but the truth was that his busy schedule began today, not tomorrow.

‘An investigation is essential.’

Given how things had progressed so far, he kept thinking it would be better for his mental health to abandon any expectation that events would follow the course he knew.

The main scenario could be considered underway from the moment he set foot on this island. It would scarcely be an exaggeration to say that the longer he wasted time here, the more people would die in real time.

‘... As I recall, the structure was...’

Starting with the first event, the “team competition,” sinister incidents would creep up out of sight. As things progressed, they would give way to a succession of major disasters with enormous numbers of casualties.

And as he remembered it, none of those incidents could happen without preparations being made at various locations in advance.

In other words, the “traitor” who had infiltrated this island had most likely already begun to act. He needed to uncover that activity before it was too late.

If he could not identify the culprit, he at least needed to track the signs and find some clues.

“...”

As he continued on his way, Aiden looked at the enormous torch burning at the center of the island and gave a small chuckle.

Just as Urgan communicated through a “priestess,” that was how Sier, the god of purification, delivered oracles to his subjects.

It was proof of the “vow” the first human to wield divinity had made with him. One could call it the very foundation upon which the Holy Kingdom rested.

There was a reason the succession ceremony took place here.

‘... Wait, didn't I have a way to make use of that?’

With that thought, Aiden searched through his skill window.

-Skill Info

◆ The First Vow

※Unique – Only this character possesses this ability!

A vow modeled after the pledge the first seeker made to the god of purification. Unrivaled in firepower, it can manifest additional user-specific qualities through the <Rite of Vows> with the god of purification.

◈ User-specific qualities have not yet been unlocked, as the rite has not been performed.

... He certainly did.

Aiden narrowed his eyes at the final sentence.

User-specific qualities would mean...

‘Katya's numbness, Mylène's venom—’

Not divinity itself, but the unique “properties” of divinity possessed only by select royals.

He had yet to see Abigail III's or Alester's, but they undoubtedly had their own as well.

It seemed to mean that Aiden could probably unlock something similar through the rite.

‘Maybe I'll ask Her Holiness about it later.’

Closing the window with that thought, Aiden suddenly started and looked around.

His ability to sense presences had developed through his many recent battles, allowing him to notice almost immediately that something was wrong.

‘... Just now.’

Someone had been watching him.

He had distinctly felt—how should he put it?

A “clinging” gaze.

“...”

What on earth had that been?

▣

“Ganesha, you bastard.”

[“... What is it, Chief?”]

“I just went to take a look at him. Why didn't you tell me?”

[“... Tell you what?”]

“He's ridiculously handsome! He's exactly my type!”

[“...”]

What am I supposed to do about it?

The silence Ganesha sent back over the communication link seemed to say precisely that.