Chapter 19
Spirit Body
"...You really are quite the masterpiece."
The prince, who had been bursting into laughter across from for quite so ti, wiped the tears welling in his eyes as he dropped those words.
"Sir Noel, you’ve truly brought along the most bizarre person. Even I couldn’t have predicted soone like this."
"...?"
Honestly, it was half a provocation, but the reaction seed far too mild compared to what I expected.
Just as I wondered if he was still planning to make so additional proposal and was about to open my mouth—
As if he had read my mind, the prince spoke a beat faster.
"After saying this much, I don’t plan to offer you anything more. You can just stay as you are, can’t you?"
"...?"
At the refreshingly decisive tone of surrender, my eyes narrowed even further.
"Isn’t that right? If you insist on sticking around out of affection, it’d feel forced to try prying you apart."
"..."
"But."
The prince continued with a soft smile.
"The ‘risk’ that cos with staying there—I trust you’ll bear that yourself."
His voice remained calm and as polite as ever.
"Let’s et again later, Mr. Aiden."
But what lay inside that sentence he left behind as he rose to his feet—
Was a chill so cold it made my spine feel like it was freezing solid.
"I’m sure we’ll see each other again."
...That was—
Sothing I, too, deeply agreed with.
▣
"Mr. Aiden."
"Yes?"
"Sir Noel seems rather unwell. Do you happen to know anything about it?"
"..."
The mont I returned to the banquet hall, Stella threw this question at , and I rolled my eyes slowly.
"Unwell—what do you an, exactly?"
"It was as though her soul had slipped out—she couldn’t collect herself. Then she suddenly said she felt ill and returned to the military headquarters. She’s never once done anything like this at an official function..."
"..."
"Her face was so unnaturally flushed that I don’t think she was lying... but she isn’t the sort to fall sick all of a sudden."
...No wonder she had vanished without a trace since earlier.
Seeing Stella drop her worried voice again and again, I nodded slightly with a subtle expression.
I could guess why.
-System Log
▶ Affection level of target ‘Noel Astrea Simus’ has increased.
▶ The increase in affection is extraordinarily high!
▶ Bond level surges from Level 3 to Level 5.
▶ You gain 2 additional skill copy attempts!
▶ The accumulated bond is now sufficient. The application of ‘Weaver of Fate’ will soon change!
▶ Related content will be added to the main quest shortly!
▶ A new entry has been added to Quest ‘Fake Marriage’!
It existed.
It definitely existed.
"...Well. I’m not entirely sure either."
For the ti being, this was all I could say.
Honestly, if Sir Noel had been listening to the conversation I just had there, the rise in affection itself was sothing I could understand.
He had gone out of his way to side with the prince, and in the end…
'...I’m so embarrassed I could die, honestly.'
Just thinking about how I’d practically blurted out sothing like a public confession made my face burn.
As for Noel, I could always co up with so excuse later. It’d be troubleso if she truly misunderstood.
To be fair, it wasn’t exactly the worst thing. After all, I had really gotten two extra skill copies.
'It’s a gain if you look at it that way.'
But this ti, it wasn’t sothing I’d deliberately planned, so it left feeling uncomfortable. The fact that my relationship with her was growing deeper was also a noteworthy problem.
'This is dangerous.'
…I was aware that I was contradicting myself.
Given my current situation, I had to grab whatever skills I could find to survive, and Sir Noel was simply too powerful to leave off the list of targets.
Even putting her abilities aside, maintaining this 'marriage relationship' with her was one of the main pillars holding up my survival. No matter how I looked at it, my bond and affection with her were essential to staying alive.
But on the other hand—
Precisely because of that, if I ever really beca close to Noel as a person…
…That would be its own sort of headache.
Not because I disliked her, or because she wasn’t important on the contrary, it was 'because she was too important.'
'I have to be cautious with all the main characters.'
What I needed to do hadn’t really changed. Ultimately, raising their affection was necessary.
However.
In a situation where the protagonist was nowhere to be found, I was the one who had to face them all the way to the end of the main scenario.
If by chance we ended up genuinely close, and then I slipped up sohow—
The higher you climb, the longer the fall. Once a bond that had grown close was shattered, nding it could be as good as impossible.
There were countless cases where the closer people grew, the more easily they ended up hurting each other. That was simply human nature.
And I, at the very least, was aware enough to recognize that anyone could end up like that.
That was why approaching all of them carefully and delicately was a problem in itself.
"..."
Even so.
I’d worry about that later.
For now, there were other things demanding my attention.
-Skill Info
◈ Weaver of Fate
⧾ Arden Brimstone Lionel
* Malice: Level 1
* You can imitate one skill.
※ This is a target with whom 'bond relationship' cannot be ford. The skill’s effect will differ from the original!
The skill copy I had just wrung out of the prince felt different from anything I’d used before.
For one thing, it wasn’t called 'copying' but 'imitating,' and when I opened the skill window to examine the inner workings, that impression beca even stronger.
‘The performance has been severely reduced.’
Compared to the skills the prince originally possessed, every one of them was pitiful in quality.
Whether it was their power or their effective range, everything had been weakened, and a few skills were marked out in red as if to say they couldn’t be imitated at all.
However, one thing stood out.
▶ The target’s ‘Malice’ level is low.
▶ Only ‘Imitation’ is currently possible.
▶ Increase the Malice level to unlock additional functions such as ‘Rejection,’ ‘Filtering,’ and ‘Sealing’!
Compared to the skills copied through affection, this one seed to co bundled with all sorts of extra utility.
While I couldn’t use them with the original level of power, it felt as though I, personally, could exert so ‘influence’ over this skill itself.
I wouldn’t know the details until I raised the Malice level.
‘More importantly, the fact that the condition is called Malice...’
…Did that an the more this person hated , the more skills I could access?
“...”
No matter how I looked at it, that was an awfully twisted activation condition.
I actually had to deliberately earn soone’s resentnt?
With a deep sigh, I pushed myself up from my seat.
“Are you leaving?”
“Yes. I’ve t everyone I needed to.”
That’s what I said, but honestly, I was about to et the most troubleso person of all.
After stepping out of the banquet hall and walking a bit, I saw a knight clad head-to-toe in heavy armor, perched on the fountain’s edge, resting her chin on her hand with a sleepy look.
…Though in truth, she wasn’t a knight or anything of the sort.
“So bo-ring.”
The mont she spotted , Katya imdiately started kicking her legs and grumbled.
“What is this? There’s not a scrap of entertainnt. Isn’t there so huge incident or sothing?”
“What do you an, a huge incident?”
“Sothing, anything, as long as it’ll get us in trouble.”
“...”
“Like beating soone up, burning sothing down, killing soone—anything?”
“...”
This was the very sa person who had once insisted on becoming my adjutant, claiming she’d get dirty looks if she attended official functions.
“You’re the one who insisted on becoming my adjutant. You should carry out your duties.”
“That was only so I could spend more ti with you. Did you forget? I told you, I took the position just to stay by your side longer.”
“...”
It was just like Katya to bring up burdenso things without the slightest hesitation.
I pressed my temple as a wave of headache swept over .
“Then, shall we go do sothing more exciting together? The banquet’s over anyway.”
“Yeah? What are we going to do?”
I turned my head a little and swept my gaze over the buildings where the banquet was being held.
In any case, the banquet was an event inside the Imperial Palace, and within these vast structures were countless places steeped in history and secrets.
One of the places Aiden had set his sights on was among them.
However, how should I put this—what he intended to do there, at least on the surface, was…
Hm.
I scratched my chin, trying to think of a way to phrase what I was about to do in a slightly more agreeable manner.
But in the end, I realized it would sound the sa no matter how I said it, so I simply spoke plainly.
“Tomb robbing.”
“…Oh.”
▣
“The Hall of Honor?”
At Aiden’s request, Katya had brought him here, “infiltrating” the place together. She tilted her head as she spoke.
It seed she knew exactly where this place was.
“It’s an actual tomb. You weren’t speaking figuratively—you really ant grave robbing?”
The custom of honoring great figures existed everywhere in the world, and the Empire was no exception.
This space, the Hall of Honor, was dedicated to preserving the belongings and commorating the achievents of such great figures.
Strictly speaking, you could call it a museum, but Katya’s comnt about it being a real tomb wasn’t wrong either.
Whenever possible, the remains of the honored figures were also preserved here.
Perhaps she found the place intriguing, as Katya began glancing around curiously.
Aiden, trailing behind her with anxious eyes, felt a chill down his spine.
‘…She really is a monster.’
It went without saying that anywhere within the Imperial Palace was protected by the highest level of security.
Yet watching her dash through it so effortlessly, even bringing him along without breaking a sweat, made it hard to tell whether she was a royal or a professional infiltration operative trained for decades.
It felt as if she was hiding dozens of other talents.
“…Your Highness. Back when you fought Sir Noel, you weren’t fighting seriously, were you?”
“Hm? That wasn’t even a fight to begin with.”
“…”
He felt anew just how monstrous the adjutant by his side truly was.
Shaking his head, he stepped into the Hall of Honor.
“But if you say tomb robbing, that ans you’re going to steal sothing, right? What are you after? A weapon? A secret manual? Armor? Anything kept here would be top-grade, no doubt.”
Her question ca with an unmistakable thrill, as if the idea of “doing sothing we’ll get scolded for” was making her heart race. Maybe it was just his imagination, but her eyes even seed to sparkle.
And whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Aiden was already prepared with an answer that would never disappoint her.
“…The figure himself.”
“What?”
Katya tilted her head, puzzled, but rather than explain, Aiden simply began walking forward with steady steps.
As he’d said earlier, there were indeed preserved remains kept here.
And the spot where he ca to a halt was right in front of one such figure, whose remains were in excellent condition.
Spirit dwells within flesh, and the better preserved the vessel, the higher the chances of success for what he was about to attempt.
“…The Knight of Dawn?”
Katya checked the preservation case where Aiden had stopped and spoke the na aloud.
“You know of him? He’s one of the Empire’s great figures.”
“Wouldn’t it be stranger not to? ‘The First Knight’ is still a favorite subject for artists, you know.”
A hero of the Empire who had amassed countless military feats and legendary exploits.
The Conqueror of the Naless Ravine, the Overlord who brought down the Tower of Heaven, the one-man army, the first and mightiest knight, the most loyal servant of the goddess Karva.
He was also the first to discover the use and cultivation of Qi. Apart from Sir Noel, no one had yet surpassed him in wielding the purest form of Qi.
“The Knight of Dawn is revered even in the Holy Crown Kingdom. I doubt there’s anyone on the continent who truly dislikes him.”
That was probably true.
Even judging by the lore Aiden knew from the ga, the Knight of Dawn’s achievents were undeniably worthy of such praise.
However, Aiden idly dug a finger into his ear as he replied in a flat tone.
“There’s one thing I should correct.”
He spoke calmly.
“This person really isn’t all that impressive.”
“...”
For once, Katya’s expression turned genuinely baffled.
She clearly hadn’t expected to hear an Imperial citizen trashing their own national idol.
“...Um, well, even so, isn’t he still soone your Empire reveres as a hero?”
“Only because he’s a figure from the past who’s been glorified. Honestly, there’s not much to him.”
“...”
“Personally, I even suspect so of those achievents were fabricated.”
“Uh...”
Katya’s look all but asked what on earth I was talking about, but instead of answering, I silently manipulated the interface.
After saying this much, there was a high probability the “reaction” would start showing up soon.
-Skill Info
◈ Weaver of Fate
⎨ Rania A‘Shan ⎬
* Bond: Level 1
* You can copy one skill.
The skill I planned to use was the copy token I’d obtained earlier from Rania.
I selected the skill I’d already marked and copied it as is.
[ Copying skill: ‘Spiritual Perception’ ]
< Copied Skill >
◆ Spiritual Perception
Those who have touched divinity can see, converse with, and interact with beings invisible to others. Your senses to perceive spiritual entities are unlocked.
The mont I copied the skill, faint “presences” began registering around the edges of my vision.
In response to what I’d just said, wisp-like vapors were rising near the Knight of Dawn’s remains. No doubt, I was the only one who could see them.
As I thought, he really was here. Since the remains were so well preserved, a spirit this strong wouldn’t simply fade away.
‘…Necromancy isn’t sothing you can normally pull off this easily.’
For the living to confront the dead was, of course, an act that defied the natural order. Usually, you’d need a trendously skilled shaman from the Far East just to attempt it. But given certain conditions, even soone as powerless as could manage it.
For example—
If a person strong enough to defy common sense in life were to hear sothing so infuriating they couldn’t endure it, sotis their soul would briefly return.
The Knight of Dawn was exactly such a case.
This man—
While his recorded deeds were so dazzling they’d make your head spin, his personality was—
“Petty.”
I let out a soft laugh as I continued.
“If you have complaints, feel free to co out and argue.”
The instant those words left my mouth, the vapor inside the preservation case began shaking violently, and soon enough, the surroundings started reacting “physically.”
“…What is this?”
Even Katya looked startled as wind picked up, objects rattled, and an electric tingling spread across our skin.
It was absurd—just the “presence” alone was enough to cause all this.
A testant to how powerful the spirit contained here really was.
Among ga players, he was known by another na:
The Strongest Small-Minded Man in the World.
No matter how extraordinary his abilities, he was the kind of person who could never, even in death, tolerate anyone insulting him—a man with the pettiest, most hypersensitive pride imaginable.
In short—
Even in death, hearing what I said would make his temper boil over uncontrollably.
[-What did you just say, you little brat-!]
…Exactly.
As I watched the enraged spirit erupt from within the remains, I let out a silent laugh.
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