Chapter 395: The Master (4)

Knock, knock, kock.

Ryozo tapped the glass with her forehead. Where she hit, white marks remained.

“…That person.”

The words pierced her chest like a stake.

“I also… why am I like this…?”

Her sigh fogged up the window.

She regretted it.

It was the emotional hangover of having spoken that way to Abel.

Sure, Abel had also acted a little childish.

But Abel, now is not the time.

The whole world was in turmoil. Ryozo could understand Abel’s feelings a hundred times over if needed, but on the larger scale, that was a minor issue.

“I know she was seeking advice from someone in the same situation.”

They were both adults now. They couldn’t live always dragged by emotions.

Even less so in their positions. Ryozo was the director of Joaquin Academy, and Abel was the queen of the social circle.

Above all, Abel… cannot allow emotion to dictate her attitude.

Nibelung had too many enemies. And these days, with nobles hostile to Geom-Ma approaching the Empire, Abel had to watch every word, every gesture. A single imprudence could spawn new rivals for Nibelung, and even taint Geom-Ma. That was why Ryozo had spoken to her in such a harsh tone.

“…Why?”

And yet, guilt tightened her heart.

“Why is that the only way you know how to speak, Ryozo?”

She realized that, unintentionally, she had tried to crush her with her position. She hadn’t treated her as an equal. She had thrown a cold “leave” at her, as if she were a nuisance.

It was no wonder Abel had been offended.

That was why she had spat out precisely the phrase she hated hearing most.

“That person.”

Tick!

Ryozo pressed her hand to her temple.

“Ugh…”

It had been so long since she had spoken that name, and as soon as she did, a migraine drilled into her head. Groaning, she let herself fall back over the desk and resumed her pen.

“….”

Silence filled the director’s office for a long while.

“Haah…”

Ryozo lifted the receiver of the internal phone.

“Yes, it’s me. Can you clear this afternoon’s schedule?”

— Ah, yes. Understood.

“Thank you.”

— But, Director… I need to note a reason for the absence. What should I put?

“It’s spring already, isn’t it?”

With the receiver still at her ear, she turned her gaze to the window. Outside, the cherry trees scattered a rain of petals.

“I’m going out for a walk.”

***

The graduate professors threw themselves into cooperating with me. Their conservative stance changed immediately upon seeing in me a “possibility.”

The awakening of magic.

Most of them were experts in magic, and also demons, faithful to the logic of power.

I had shown them a hope—that magic could evolve a step further. It made their hearts beat faster.

“Lord Heavenly Sword, this is the result of my research from last night…”

“Please look at this as well. In my opinion…”

We spent an entire week immersed in research. We used the Special Building as if it were an enormous laboratory. We ate and slept there. The professors only left during their classes, returning right after.

It was just after midterms, so the Special Building was closed to the public for weeks. Nothing interrupted us.

“A perfect environment to concentrate.”

The momentum was good. Progress was accelerating.

Smiling, I stepped outside. The spring sun greeted me. It was the first time in days that I breathed fresh air, after so much confinement. The air tasted sweet.

“…Eh?”

As I stretched, I caught sight of a profile. Familiar, yet strange.

Shaaaa.

Cherry blossom petals fluttered.

She was only sitting on a bench. But even that was enough to make the scenery seem brighter.

“Ah, Geom-Ma.”

Abel, noticing my fixed gaze, turned to me. She brushed the petals from her hair and approached.

“It’s hard to catch a glimpse of my husband’s face, don’t you think?”

I felt awkward. I scratched my eyebrow forcefully.

“I’m sorry…”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. It’s not an empty compliment—you’re the busiest man in the world.”

That I could not deny.

“If you were the kind of husband who stayed home with nothing to do, I think I’d even get tired of you. Besides… sometimes it feels like we’re a weekend couple, and that has its charm. It’s not so bad.”

“…”

“Don’t misunderstand, I’m serious.”

Abel smiled and clung to my arm. She rested her head on my shoulder, walking beside me like that. I let myself be led in her stroll.

Tap, tap.

I don’t know how long we walked.

“Geom-Ma.”

Suddenly, Abel opened her heart.

“You know… I…”

“Yes.”

“…I feel so, so useless.”

I stopped and looked her in the face. Her eyes shone wet.

“Is something wrong?”

I asked, alarmed. Abel shook her head.

“No. Actually, I was the one who caused everything for no reason.”

“…But I want to hear it.”

“Maybe it’ll make you lose some affection for me.”

I pursed my lips, uneasy.

“That’s impossible.”

“True. You’re not one to say things you don’t mean.”

A cherry blossom petal fell on her nose. The trees seemed to have done it on purpose, covering her like a handkerchief.

“…I said something unforgivable to Ryozo.”

“What did you say to her?”

Abel hesitated, but finally spat it out.

“…I mentioned him.”

“Ah.”

A sigh slipped from me.

“How did Saki Kojima come up?”

“Well…”

There, in the middle of spring, Abel told me what had happened.

It had been a week. While I was locked in with the professors in the Special Building, Abel and Ryozo had argued about the current situation. Times were becoming increasingly unsettling, and over a trivial comment, they ended up clashing. In the end, hurtful words were thrown.

“I’m a damn disgrace.”

When she finished speaking, Abel burst into tears. Her tears slid down her cheeks and reached my heart like blows.

My mind went blank. I just opened and closed my mouth like an idiot.

“I know I shouldn’t have. I know everything Ryozo has been through. I should’ve been the first to understand… but I was so angry.”

I answered in a low voice.

“…It’s not your fault.”

It’s mine.

The imminent second catastrophe. The resurrection of the Villain Alliance. Chloe’s salvation. All that consumed me, and in the end I neglected what mattered most—my family.

As an orphaned child, I had sworn that if I ever had a family, I would give everything for them, no matter what. The reality was the opposite. I am a broken man.

“Love, hey, love!”

Seeing my vacant look, Abel shook me by the shoulders. Slowly, I returned to myself.

“I didn’t tell you this to pile more weight on you.”

Abel wiped her tears and said.

“I was only complaining about my own mistakes. I know it sounds repetitive, but tell me, where in this world will you find a man like my husband? Capable, yes. And on top of that, the most handsome of all.”

“Isn’t the most handsome in the world Leon?”

“Ugh!”

Abel made a face, almost biting her tongue.

“That’s handsome? That’s just an empty dandy.”

I remembered that a baron once said that “dandy” was almost a synonym for “distinguished gentleman.” But coming from Abel, she surely meant it.

“It flatters me that you say so, but the fact remains that I am a bad husband. The reason you saw in Ryozo the reflection of that person, in the end, was also my fault.”

“Eh? What do you mean?”

Abel was left bewildered. Meanwhile, I brushed away the spring petals that had settled on her shoulders and added:

“Ryozo has always been alone since childhood.”

The Nibelung family and Saki’s family held similar social positions, but their life paths were very different. Abel grew up surrounded by affection. After losing her parents in a tragic accident, her grandfather did everything possible so she would never feel any emptiness.

By contrast, Saki Kojima—that person—never accepted the loss of his wife. He tried to replace her with Ryozo. Perhaps it was his way of paternal love, but it was unhealthy.

The result was a twisted relationship. Kojima isolated Ryozo, separated her from her mother, Shin Cynthia, and never showed her affection. Even though she had everything, she never received recognition from that person. Her direct, unrestrained nature, then as now, came from that childhood.

“You know that Ryozo detests that person, right, Abel?”

“Yes… well, sort of. I don’t know the details…”

“But even hating him, that is still a feeling. When someone is truly despicable to you, you don’t even bother hating them. You erase them from your mind.”

“Now that you mention it… I’m the same way. The people who truly disgust me, I simply forget.”

“So imagine Ryozo, whose brain works like a supercomputer. If she wanted, she could erase that person’s image in an instant. And yet, she left the scar. She could have deleted him as a father and as a superior, and she didn’t.”

“Then that means…”

“That deep down, there was a time when she longed for his recognition. And maybe she glimpsed an echo of that wound in you, Abel. That’s why she reacted that way.”

I fell silent for a moment, and with a lump in my throat, I confessed.

“It isn’t Ryozo who resembles Saki Kojima. It’s me.”

“…”

Abel, shaken, stepped back a couple of paces.

Fwoooosh.

The spring breeze blew between us. She looked at me with her hands clasped behind her back, serene.

“Go talk to Ryozo.”

I nodded.

“That was my plan. In fact, I was heading to the director’s office right now…”

Bzzzt.

I shuddered. It was my phone vibrating in my pocket. When I pulled it out, I saw it was Weapon. Even in the vibration, the urgency was clear.

— President!

“What’s wrong?”

— We found the base of the New Villains’ Alliance!

At last.

“Where?”

— Haa… it’s the place we went on the school trip in our first year, but right now my tongue is twisting…

“The trip? Avalon Island?”

Where the World Tree, Yggdrasil, stood.

The very place where I first awakened the power of the God of the Sword.

— Yes, right there!

So that was it.

“All right. I’ll stop by the director’s office first and then head there.”

— No, no need.

“What do you mean, no need? I’ve been absent these days without explaining anything, I must report to Ryozo…”

— You don’t understand! The one who gave us the location… was Saki.

“…What?”

Speedweapon shouted, excited,

— Saki is on Avalon Island right now!

Avalon, once used as Joaquin’s training ground.

But after that incident, Yggdrasil lost its glow. Its golden waves vanished.

Over time, the island was abandoned, untouched by human hands.

The forest grew dense, the dead branches of the World Tree creaked in the wind like a macabre moan.

The mythical island, now degraded to a cursed place, was perfect for the Villains’ Alliance to establish their lair.

And there they did. Inside Yggdrasil itself. Its trunk was as vast as a colossal building; hollowing it out was enough to install their base.

***

“The scattered cells are practically dismantled.”

A man with a rough face spoke. A woman with a nose ring snorted.

“Damn it! So the nobles finally turned their backs on the Minister? And since when are the hero agencies so cooperative? Weren’t we supposed to have the backing of the Celestial Tithe?”

“Our intel failed.”

“Shit, shit, shit!”

Between curses and laments, the villains shouted. They were the Twelve Villains, the core of the New Alliance. A council of twelve that had gathered criminals from all over the world under one “great purpose.”

“At least for now, only the scattered cells…”

Suddenly.

Whoosh!

The leader who was speaking was hurled backward.

“Gugh!”

He slammed against the wall, caving it in. A scream tore from his throat—a single arrow had pierced his chest.

The remaining ten whipped their heads toward a hole in the wall. Before they could react, another arrow whistled.

Thwack!

The projectile pierced his forehead. He fell dead in two strikes. Then, a rain of arrows descended.

Ffft! Ffft! Ffft!

Sparks and splinters flew everywhere. And amid that barrage, the attacker’s silhouette appeared.

Riding a dragon, with sky-blue hair fluttering in the wind, drawing her bow against the backdrop of the sky.

“L-Lady Director…!”

It was Saki Ryozo.

“Right between the eyes.”

And the arrow flew.