During the two weeks of working through the break, everyone threw themselves into their respective tune-ups.
The objective was Charon, who possessed Poseidon’s Divine Power. The capital of Palma where he was.
'No, in truth it won’t be Poseidon but something impersonating him.'
In any case, that something was the key holding the possibility of Palma’s civil war, and if it was a demon, a time bomb that could even trigger a war with the gods.
The very moment Frondier headed for the capital, a civil war might break out. No amount of preparation would be enough.
Knowing that, Principal Carla also came by Frondier’s house whenever time allowed, and they held meetings.
“This is a map of Palma’s capital.”
Carla brought a table and spread the map wide on top of it.
“If you go by car from here, it takes about five hours. Pretty far, right?”
“If you drew a straight line between here and the capital, would it also take about five hours by car then?”
“Yes. The roads are already close to that straight.”
It was remarkably far.
Not a detour road around mountains or valleys, but even in a straight line, five hours by car.
That was simply, physically far.
'At that distance, news from over there will reach here quite slow. If it’s an enormous incident, it’ll show up on WizaView, but we won’t even notice the small signs.'
In the worst case, by the time the news that a civil war might have started reached here, the capital might already be well into it.
“If we go, it’ll be hard to stay in contact with this place.”
“In other words, we can’t count on support.”
“There isn’t even anyone who could support you.”
Riri spoke from the side. It was true.
“Who’s going with you?”
Elodie asked Frondier. How many among them were heading to the capital. It was an important matter. It was time for Frondier to exercise his power as leader.
“To begin with......”
Frondier raised a finger to point to Elodie first, then felt an eye-light packed with tremendous will and stopped at once.
When he shifted his gaze, Selena was there.
“.......”
Selena kept her mouth clamped shut and, with eyes alone, said,
—You’re not going to leave me behind again, are you?
If he left her, she looked set to either die or kill.
“......Selena, for now.”
“I knew it. I believed in you.”
Don’t lie.
Selena’s complexion flipped and she smiled sweetly. Frondier shook his head as if there was nothing to be done.
“But you’ll act separately.”
“......! Why!”
“Because if I’m in danger, you’ll fly over to me immediately.”
Selena had Shadow transfer. She could be by Frondier’s side at any time.
So it was rather better for her to act separately from Frondier. Coming was always possible, but going wasn’t easy.
Selena spoke as if aggrieved.
“Ugh, that feels unfair somehow.”
“Not at all. What are you even saying.”
This time, Frondier looked to Elodie.
“And Elodie. Basically, move freely. We don’t know what situation will arise, so I’d like you to respond flexibly. I’ll trust you with most things.”
“Mm. Got it.”
“Do you need a vanguard?”
“I don’t.”
“Good.”
Their exchange was so plain as to feel empty. But it seemed that was enough.
“And Riri and Arald, act with me. Our goal is ultimately to ferret out the demon. Having the two of you will be reassuring.”
“I can’t distinguish demons from humans either, though?”
“That’s fine. When it comes to a demon’s way of thinking and knowledge, you’ll know far better than I do.”
The two nodded as if accepting.
Frondier looked at Mei.
“Mei, I’m sorry, but could you watch the house this time?”
Taking Mei along was dangerous. It wasn’t that he worried for Mei—he worried about what would follow after Mei saw a demon or god.
A time when Mei would be needed would certainly come. But not now.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
Mei said.
With that, everyone in here had their roles assigned.
Only, people still remained. Elodie asked,
“What about Ias and Glaucos?”
“Of course I can’t take them. It’s dangerous.”
It was an immediate answer. Those two, in any case, were just students he would teach in Magic–War Combined Training and had nothing to do with this plan.
If told to follow, they seemed like they might follow, but he didn’t have even a speck of intention to let that happen.
“Vasileo?”
“I’ll take him, but I’ll put him in an extremely safe place. If it becomes a situation where that guy is in danger, we abort all plans and pull out. That means the operation failed.”
“......He said with tremendous resolve that he ‘doesn’t want to live alone.’ You made it sound like you’d have both you and Vasileo fight.”
“That was only to see his resolve.”
Frondier shook his head firmly.
“I won’t let that guy get hurt.”
“......Hmph, okay.”
Elodie nodded. For some reason, there was a lot of strength gathered in her lips.
Selena, who was listening beside them, asked,
“W-what about Pielot?”
“.......”
There, Frondier’s immediate answer stopped.
That made Riri tilt her head.
“What’s wrong? Wasn’t Pielot decided from the start? He’d be at our rear with Elodie and you, going to support whichever side turned dangerous.”
“......Right. That’s correct.”
Frondier nodded and affirmed, but his voice and facial expression weren’t positive at all.
“Is something worrying you? Selena, did you notice something?”
Normally, Selena wouldn’t ask such a question first. But when it came to Pielot, Selena asked first.
As if she had caught on to something.
Selena seemed to choose her words, then slowly opened her mouth.
“Pielot has been training with Lord Frondier until recently. I only saw it by chance.”
Pielot’s training was different from that of the Magic–War Combined Training students.
Frondier himself stepped in, and it was training that threw Pielot into the literal real world.
Just yesterday, Selena had headed to Frondier’s workshop to report on the status of the meetings and plan preparation.
And she saw it.
“Pielot took down the Prototypes. He really turned them into scraps.”
“......What are those Prototypes?”
Riri asked, and Frondier answered in her stead.
“You saw them then. When we faced the Zodiacs, the golems I created to hold back the other Zodiacs besides Ludovik. Those are the Prototypes.”
“Ah, the time you told me to kneel?”
“......Why is that how you remember it?”
“Why else. From my point of view, that was the most intense moment.”
Riri grinned. Then her eyes popped open.
“Wait—if Pielot took those down......”
Her expression was quickly dyed with shock, and Arald, who was listening, asked,
“Are you saying Pielot’s strength has surpassed the Zodiacs’?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Frondier shook his head there.
“For one thing, the number of Prototypes facing the Zodiacs was greater than them. And from the outset, my objective was not to injure the Zodiacs, so I devoted myself solely to stalling for time. I even protected them from dangerous golems with Heukcheon. So a simple comparison is difficult.”
But even so, the fact that Pielot had taken down the Prototypes carried great meaning.
Selena said,
“You’re acting composed now, but the face Lord Frondier showed at the time was shock itself.”
“......Honestly, I was surprised.”
Pielot’s growth curve was outstripping Frondier’s expectations.
A steep, rapid ascent. As if he had boarded that kind of train.
Riri asked,
“Then isn’t that good? If his skill’s gotten better, he can do more.”
“It would be nice if it were so, but humans are truly difficult at times like this.”
Frondier made an ambiguous expression.
Right. That rapid growth itself was the reason for Frondier’s present dilemma.
“For the first thing, Pielot himself doesn’t understand.”
“Understand what?”
“How he cut the Prototypes.”
“......Huh? What do you mean, how? He just cut them, didn’t he?”
“I’m telling you, he couldn’t. Originally.”
Pielot’s match against the Prototypes.
Frondier had kept silent on purpose, but the possibility that Pielot would be able to damage the Prototypes was zero.
Frondier knew the full output of Pielot’s single strike up to now.
Considering the material called Heukcheon, and the composition the Prototypes possessed. With all of that in mind, Pielot’s sword shouldn’t have been able to cut even a stationary Prototype.
Of course, he hadn’t said that in order to raise Pielot’s practical sense.
Pielot cut them. He turned them into fragments.
And from that moment on, he could never cut them again.
“That guy has definitely caught the flow of growth right now. That’s for sure. Which is why it’s dangerous.”
“By now, in his head, he’ll be going in circles over why he could cut then and why he can’t now, what changed, whether it was coincidence or skill, and if it was mere chance, whether it’s something he can’t reproduce again, and so on and so on.”
Selena said.
A worry most of the people here had probably felt—the agony right before a one-step leap. Pielot was standing at that point now.
But at least most people climbed that stair during that period in safe situations through training. Generally speaking, they don’t go to even more dangerous places in that state.
“There’s no way he can move properly while his head is tangled. It’ll be hard for him to keep up.”
“Then wouldn’t it be better to leave him out of the plan?”
Riri asked again. But at that question, Frondier’s head tilted with a strained groan, as if that made it even harder.
His head tilted so far it took his body with it.
“The growth opportunity Pielot is feeling now isn’t something that comes often. He himself will know that better than anyone. When you get into that state, a person’s mind gets simpler and clearer. All your spirit and brain work only to break through the wall. Maybe this experience could be a chance to ramp up Pielot’s growth by a huge margin, or else—”
“Or else, it’ll be a choice that puts him in an even more dangerous situation?”
“Ngghhh.”
At Elodie’s joking tone, Frondier’s anguish deepened.
Elodie said,
“You said you’d stop seeing Pielot as a student, didn’t you?”
“......I did.”
“You said you were being overprotective of someone only a year younger than us.”
“......That ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) was about Vasileo.”
“It’s no different.”
“......Right.”
Pielot’s skill was already above professional. There was no room for argument.
Frondier’s dilemma might make Pielot feel slighted. He might think Frondier still didn’t trust him.
But—no—even so—perhaps—maybe.
“......Selena.”
In deep thought and heavy worry, in the end, Frondier made one choice at this moment.
“......Truly?”
Selena knew exactly why she had been called. So she asked again.
Whether he would really make that choice.
Frondier nodded and said,
“Link Pielot’s shadow with yours.”
