Chapter 78 - Return

And so, with all their objectives accomplished, they were on their way back to the capital's headquarters.

A little activity was underway at their campsite. Whatever Aiden thought of it, Katya, who was taking part alongside him, looked distinctly dissatisfied.

Katya took a deep breath and continued.

"... Right. If you change the sequence of the arrangement a little like that, the technique becomes much more powerful. It might be a little difficult, but with a few attempts you should get the hang of—"

"Like this?"

"..."

Katya fell silent at the sight of the divine barrier floating before Aiden, its two colors mingling together.

Inside, she was barely managing to swallow a scream. Anyone would feel the same after seeing him immediately put her instructions into practice.

'You said this was your first time...'

She looked at him, inwardly on the verge of tears.

She had been so triumphant when these lessons first began. She had thought this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to prove her usefulness to him.

When it came to manipulating divinity, she ranked second only to the Pontiff in the entire Holy Kingdom. He would be hard-pressed to find anyone who could compare to her as a teacher.

'But this is supposed to be hard...'

That was why she had merely scoffed when he said he would develop his ability to manipulate supernatural power to one-third of her level within a month.

At first, her expectations had indeed proved correct. She had inwardly rejoiced at the sight of Aiden failing to memorize so much as a prayer or properly manifest even the most basic blessing.

'So he's not perfect either!'

At last, she had found something her friend was lacking!

By helping him with it, she could make him realize just how important she was to him, stop him from constantly fooling around with other women, and make him rely on her whenever something happened...

She had let those fantasies run wild.

By today, however, every last one of those hopes had vanished.

"..."

He was fast.

He learned far, far too fast.

To be precise, he was unquestionably a beginner when it came to the very basics of actually handling divinity. But once she helped him past that initial hurdle, he soaked up every scrap of knowledge like a sponge.

She could scarcely keep track of how much he had learned just today, in less than half a day between lunch and dinner.

Even she had struggled for at least a week to master the "Crossed Prayer" she had just taught him!

'So that's why he set such an absurd condition...'

The realization suddenly struck her. That target he had set when they started these lessons—he must have genuinely believed he could achieve it!

'So this is how it feels.'

While Katya stared at him as though he were a monster, Aiden was manipulating divinity without giving it much thought.

Several divine shields whirled into existence around him.

Shields made of flame were a little strange, but he had no particular trouble controlling them.

- System Message

▶ Successfully manipulated divinity!

▶ Proficiency in 'Combat Styles: Flourishing Flame Arts' increases.

▶ Your proficiency is improving by leaps and bounds!

As he moved the shields aside one by one, that window appeared before his eyes.

'... Not bad.'

Taking lessons from Katya had definitely been the right choice. The benefits were appearing as immediate, clear feedback. It was all thanks to her.

The results were good enough to make that thought come naturally.

Increasing his proficiency in a Combat Style itself could only help him handle things involving the corresponding supernatural power.

The proficiency he had gained so far would hardly produce spectacular effects on its own, but he was using Erger's Unique Trait, 'The First Vow,' which let him experience those efficiency gains several times over.

Besides, Aiden had twisted the course of the main scenario itself out of concern that people might soon get hurt. Now he truly had no idea what might happen, so there was no reason to turn down any means of growing stronger.

Time to check it once more, then.

- Quest Info

♠ Main Quest

[ Your actions thus far are altering the scenario. ]

[ Changes have occurred in Act 3, 'Rift in the Capital.' ]

[ The changes will soon be reflected in the main scenario! ]

"..."

Aiden stroked his chin and stared at the window.

What he had done was, without a doubt, tantamount to removing the most dangerous move the imperial prince and the minister of administration could make during the event itself.

But as they had proved time and again, those men were as thorough in their preparations as Aiden, if not more so.

They might be lying low after the blow he had dealt them over the Lord Protector, but only God knew what they were preparing...

"... Katya?"

While he mulled that over, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Katya looked decidedly unwell.

Bewildered, he called out to her slightly pale figure. Trembling, she set down a sheet of paper.

"Just do it yourself."

"... Pardon?"

"You're perfectly good at it without me teaching you! I even prepared a bunch of tips for beginners...! You idiot, you, y-you...!"

"..."

She had gone beyond anger and was now expressing her sense of injustice through near-tearful complaints.

As Aiden stood there speechless, someone emerged quietly from outside the campsite.

It was Noel, rubbing her eyes.

"... Aiden, have you been tormenting Her Highness?"

"..."

No.

He could swear to heaven he hadn't, but one look at Katya made his guilt an open-and-shut case.

"... I can explain all of this."

Aiden tried to explain, but Noel waved a hand as if to say never mind.

In truth, she clearly couldn't care less about it.

"..."

Oh, right.

She didn't get along with Katya.

With the two spending so much time together lately around their common interest—Aiden himself—he sometimes forgot. Still, he would do well to keep firmly in mind that they were destined to remain at odds until the scenario ended.

"More importantly, could you step outside for a moment?"

"Pardon?"

"There's something I'd like to discuss."

Aiden tilted his head at her words.

▣

"... Are you all right?"

He had followed her out wondering what she wanted to discuss, and that was the first thing Noel asked.

All right? In what respect?

As Aiden blinked at her in confusion, she scratched her head and continued.

"... Well, Aiden, you've been much busier than usual lately."

"Busier?"

"Unlike before, you've been throwing yourself into things. Whether it's poring over information, training, or increasing your power, you seem to be working far harder..."

"..."

That was true.

The incident with the Lord Protector had driven something home to him on an instinctive level.

The main scenario was a real bastard, with a knack for dropping ever greater events into his world from somewhere far beyond his awareness.

Even setting aside the Night of the Hunt, which had yet to show its sinister hand in full, there was Chapter 3, 'Treason,' the climax of Act 1, Rift in the Capital. Preparing for that succession of incidents inevitably meant Aiden had to keep busy too.

"Have you been eating properly? When you're that busy, it's easy to neglect it. When I have that much to do, I make a conscious effort to find time for proper meals and rest, no matter what."

"... You have time to eat...?"

Incredible...!

Whenever Aiden was run off his feet like this, meals were always the first thing he skipped...!

"... Aiden, just what has been weighing on you lately?"

... He wished he could tell her. He truly did, Aiden thought with a deeply bitter inward smile.

"... You look as though you absolutely can't tell me."

"It's complicated."

"..."

Noel looked at him, hurt.

Her face seemed to say that surely he could tell her that much, just once, so they could grow closer. But the expression soon disappeared.

Instead, she cleared her throat and held something out to him.

"Well, it's a good thing I made this. I was worried you were skipping all your meals, and it seems I was right."

"... Pardon?"

At those wholly unexpected words, Aiden stared wide-eyed at what Noel was offering him.

It was a stack of food containers neatly bundled in a wrapping cloth.

They were the same size as the ones Aiden had offered her during their date some time ago.

That must have left quite an impression on her. The shape, height, and even the amount of food were all identical.

"... Eat. You never bother with proper meals, do you?"

"..."

"I heard it's not just lately. You're always running around, so you skip meals more often than not. I made this myself, so eat it."

"..."

"How can someone who cooks well enough to give me something like this in return go hungry so often? It makes me uncomfortable just watching you, so make sure you eat."

Still dumbfounded, Aiden accepted the containers.

His nose suddenly stung with emotion.

It was true that he skipped more meals than he ate, busy as he was with one thing after another.

But he hadn't known she watched him so closely, or cared enough to remember what he had given her and want to return the gesture in kind.

"... Thank you."

When he said that, blinking, Noel smiled sweetly.

Then, humming to herself, she opened her own food containers beside me.

Simply giving Aiden a packed meal seemed to have lifted her spirits considerably.

"..."

I silently sat down beside her and opened mine as well.

The contents looked better than I had expected. Meat, noodles, and vegetables were neatly arranged inside.

I tried a few bites, and they tasted good too.

She had some serious skill.

"This is delicious. Dame Noel, have you always been such a good cook?"

"..."

Noel smiled sweetly, her smile as radiant as a blooming flower.

"I-is it?"

"..."

Though the way she kept grinning and squirming was a little unsettling.

After fidgeting like that on her own for quite a while, Noel finally cleared her throat and continued.

"... Actually, there is one more thing I'd like to ask."

"Of course. Go ahead."

After she'd gone to all this trouble, I could certainly hear her out.

She seemed to agonize over it right up until she finally managed to speak.

"What is it that's making you hesitate so much?"

"... If you don't even have time to eat these days, I'll take charge of doing at least this much for you from now on."

"..."

... This woman.

Her efforts to close the distance between them were practically palpable. It drove home, once again, that the system window hadn't labeled her feelings Utter Infatuation for nothing.

'... Well, in that case.'

Perhaps he could do something nice for her too.

With that thought, Aiden looked at the Soul Connector on his wrist.

'Shall we give it a try?'

... Equipment modification.