level_act30side_07_beg

Hey, maid, everyone else about has already scarpered off. Why are you still here?

Shouldn't you have left as well, Madam Sciurus?

Do I really have to, just because you tell me to?

This statue is the fruit of everyone's labors. If anything happened to it, how could I break the bad news to them?

Is it the fruits of everyone's labors, or Enciodes's?

No wonder I saw the Saintess hold you back just now. Think I saw her tell you something too.

You hardly sound surprised.

I'm not an idiot. She looked completely blindsided, but how could that possibly be?

It's just that, looking at it from her perspective, the best position she can be in is knowing a little bit, but not too much.

And so she sent you to go the last mile for her, huh? Well, what is it then?

Of the people currently drawing close, one is Degenbrecher, while the other is a Trilby Asher from Victoria.

A Trilby Asher?!

He couldn't... No, he wouldn't go that far...

Did the Saintess ask you to stay, just so you could warn me about this?

Let's go with that.

Allow me to look after the statue in your stead.

This ends here.

Urk...!

Sure enough, you are the Black Knight. I will not underestimate you.

But that is precisely why you should realize that you cannot best me.

Oh?

I like the confidence.

But my patience runs thin.

The way you scurry and flit about has already started to bore me.

My apologies, Madam. I have been derelict in my duty, if you feel that way.

However, if I may speak freely, Madam Degenbrecher, I feel no murderous intent in your swings.

You were invincible during your days in Kazimierz, the Black Knight that struck terror into her opponents with her mighty blade, but now you're reduced to using these edgeless toys—

Grkh!

These edgeless toys will be enough for the likes of you.

I only ever used that Leithanian greatsword in competitions. The sponsors demanded it.

'The greatsword-wielding Leithanian warrior', 'the Artsless freak' ...Call me what you will. It matters not.

But it's time to cut this dance short. You seem to have forgotten something.

The reason why I started using these degenbrechers in the first place—

What...Ugh!

The frosty bite of her blow stops his words before they leave his mouth.

The frigid winds of Kjerag stab him, the unfeeling mountain snows crush him, and the ice-cold degenbrechers slam into him with all the force of a glacier.

There is no resisting such an attack.

Gah...

This is but a warning.

There are many who wish to cause trouble for Enciodes, and if I could crush them all dead, there would be a lot less trouble for me.

But unfortunately, there are some people who are much more useful alive than dead.

You, for example.

*cough*, *cough*... I see.

I thank you for your mercy, Madam Degenbrecher.

These weapons.

I use them for a very simple reason.

They have no edge, so it's much easier for me to keep men like you alive.

If I were to use a little more force with these blunt weapons, most would become nothing more than mincemeat.

That's how it's always been, from the very start.

Among those who step up to fight me, many would be easily crushed.

It does not matter if you are a caster of Leithanien, or a knight of Kazimierz. In the end, you are the same.

Faith, ideals, grit and perseverance, firm determination. They all fall before sheer brute force.

It's hilarious.

Being broken too easily is its own complication.

The woman who took her weapon's name looks down disdainfully upon the Victorian before her. He had been by no means an easy foe to handle, so it was up to her, and only her, to face him.

But even so, it has not been particularly difficult to defeat him.

The road from being a destitute, Artsless nobody to becoming the Black Knight, three-time consecutive champion, was not an easy one to walk.

Compared to that, anything that came after was only a trifle.

Hah... By your standards as the Black Knight, the 'natural-born warrior', there can't be many who aren't considered 'fragile'.

Hardly.

If you had been even the slightest bit more serious, I would have had to put in a lot more effort.

Unfortunately for me, as an intelligence officer, it is not in battle where I have to get serious.

Wow, they've already climbed up all the scaffolding.

These Trilby Ashers are skilled indeed.

There is not a person in all of Kjerag who could scarper from the mountains to this island while getting hunted by Degenbrecher.

Could there be many such people in Victoria?

Truly, there are terrors all about these lands.

Indeed. There are terrors all about these lands, and we must cope with them in our own way every day. I have half a mind to find a replacement for myself as Saintess.

Oh, perish the thought. Wasn't it you who sought to be Saintess in the first place?

You truly do resemble your brother in that regard. You both love giving yourselves things to do.

I am nothing like him.

Oh, yes, alright, he's very much like you, then. Is that better?

Kjarr.

Yes?

Do you still remember our agreement?

Hmm? Which one?

This is no time for jokes, Kjarr.

Yes, of course I remember. 'Kjeragandr need only watch over her people, nothing more'.

Yes.

At the time, I had already begun doing some things under the table... If we depended on Her even for this matter, then whether it was him or me, our ideals would be but empty words and bluster.

It's not quite so easy being a bystander, you know.

I ask Her only to be patient for a little while longer.

Alright then, although I'm not sure if She can even hear our little agreement.

Anyway, I just came to see if we could change this statue a bit is all.

I can't believe you haven't given up on that ye—

This is one matter that I'm definitely not giving up on.

Wow. I think the statue might be a bit slanted after Degenbrecher's kick just now.

That Trilby Asher isn't half bad either. Him grabbing the statue's finger to adjust the balance of his body sure was a surprise. That there's the real deal.

Do you think they could help me thin out the face a bit?

*sigh* I was far too naïve from the start, thinking that it didn't matter what I looked like on the outside. Made me not really care much about my appearance.

After many interactions with others, my aesthetic senses changed alongside the people, and so we end up with the look I have today.

But those drawings in those ancient tomes persisted all the while. I should have taken those books away from the Edelweiss clan when they were out of the house.

Who expected them to suddenly decide to build a statue of Kjeragandr anyway?!

Those two sure climbed up to the top of the statue real quick.

Ah, that's right, shave the cheek on that side down a little bit more.

Damn it, don't shave down the sides of Her hair too! I quite like those!

Hmm... From this angle it doesn't look half bad though, does it?

Where was I? Right, after getting to know Enya, I started to look after my appearance more.

I would always go with her when she would sneak out for walks, recommending me various cute ornaments and trinkets. After who knows how long, I started to like those things myself.

Hmm. Maybe we can replace that lock of hair that got shaved off with a big piece of jewelry.

I should write that down somewhere.

Must be tough being a Trilby Asher. Looked like he was about to jump down from the top of the head himself, but then Degenbrecher sent him flying with a mean kick.

Poor guy.

Now that I think about it, those other fellows that Degenbrecher fought. I wonder if they felt the same way as this Trilby Asher?

Knowing that you are not truly a match, but with no other option but to struggle for your life, unsure if you'll have the opportunity to get out in one piece?

Until finally you realize that there really is no such opportunity.

No.

Those with more mercenary motivations for battle are much weaker than him.

Are you satisfied?

Yes?

You seemed to be quite pleased while you were watching us give the statue a light trim.

Is it to your liking now?

It's not bad, I'd say.

Good.

Where are you going?

Despite the fall, he is not the type to die so easily. He will be back soon enough.

I'll resume keeping an eye on him.

You're certain he won't best you next time?

He was no match for you during that fight earlier, but I fear that if he had truly put his heart into it, he would have proven the victor quite easily.

Moreover, there's hardly a guarantee that he's not bait, correct?

I will leave that sort of thinking up to Enciodes.

Enciodes cannot be here at the moment. Surely you know that better than me.

Allow me to take the lead.

You?

Or, to be more precise, allow the Saintess.

Kjarr buzzes the communications terminal in her hand.

Did you get all that, Saintess?

Allow me to take the lead.

You did well, Degenbrecher.

My pleasure.

Will you be coming to the bonfire banquet tonight?

I'm afraid not. I'm not fond of busy parties.

What a shame.

What did you have in mind?

I would like you to watch over a foreign envoy. I believe diplomacy will prove more effective than force in this case.

He might not actually be a foreign envoy.

He might very well be.

Alright. I am in your hands, Saintess.

Uh, you know the exit's in the other direction, right?

I know.

Whew, he should be able to pull through, right?

Alright, stop rubbernecking, clear the way. Let's think of a way to get him out of that hole first.

Based on his clothes, he looks like some kind of foreigner. I don't think even we could handle water that cold...

Hey, mind if I ask what's going on here?

Some poor fellow just flew on over here from the island in the middle of the lake. Smashed a hole right through the ice.

What?! Tsch—

Alright, coming through, make way, excuse me, thank you.

Harold squeezes his way through the crowd, and the moment he sees what all the fuss is about, he cannot help but laugh.

A perfect circle has been punched through the frozen surface of the lake, and in the center of that circle floats a 'corpse'.

And so it fell to him to come to the rescue.

This water, brrrr— These old bones ain't spry enough to handle that.

Excuse me, anyone got some kind of stick or the other on hand? He's a friend of mine and I'm here to get him out of there.

Hmm, nothing like that over here. Maybe you can head over to the nearby finning village, ask someone there if you can borrow a finning pole?

No need, I've got something that can help!

Nice, thanks—

Eh?! Rosalind?

Hey, dedushka. Fancy meeting you here.

I'll lend you my weapon. Let's get that guy out of there.

Cheers.

We'll help too!

Using Rosalind's weapon, the people work together to dredge the 'corpse' up and out of the hole.

Looks like he still hasn't kicked the bucket.

I probably shouldn't be saying this, but if he really had died, I would have had a whole lot of beastshite on my hands.

Thankfully the one who did this had the same idea, so they held back a bit.

Let's get this fellow somewhere warm for now.

Yep.

Ho, shopkeep, allow us to borrow your fireplace for a spell.

Sure.

Isn't this John? He should be up the mountain. How'd he get his ass kicked down here?

Up the mountain? You've met him before?

Yep.

I met him up there...

And then what?

Ah, no, nothing. It'd be a pain to explain.

What about you, dedushka? What're you going to do these next two days?

Me?

Haha, I'm just here to clap at the Kjeragandr statue unveiling ceremony tomorrow, as a Victorian delegate. After that, I guess I'll be heading back home straight away.

If I manage to find one last opportunity before I go, I'd like to walk about and buy some souvenirs for the wife and kid back home.

Sounds like you've got a lot of free time on your hands, dedushka.

When you're young, you feel like you have a thousand and one different things that you need to get done. But when you get to around my age, you'll learn that some free time never did any harm.

*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*

Ah, the 'dead' rise.

Bluggh—

How's it hanging, 'John'?

Madam Larina? And the Lord Viscount?

Good, good. I was just about to have a chat with my dearly-departed grandfather.

The hell happened to you anyway?

It's a bit of a long story.

Are you getting along with your father?

Eh, alright enough, I guess.

Father? Did I miss something?

It's a bit of a long story.

Seriously, what happened, 'John'?

You've managed to become chummier with Rosalind than me, right under my nose.

Finally found you.

Eh?! Saintess?

The Saintess?

Pramanix?

Ah, Leto! You're here too, perfect.

Me?

Lord Viscount, I hope you remember tonight's bonfire banquet by the lakeside. The one that will serve as a warm-up before tomorrow's ceremony?

I had heard that you had been having your fill of scenic tours of Kjerag lately, and I feared that you had forgotten, which is why I decided to give you this little reminder.

Of course I remember! Worry not, for I shall definitely be there.

Will you be coming too, Leto?

To the bonfire banquet? Sure, I'll come.

And I believe this Trilby Asher is a friend of yours?

Yes... quite.

As a friend of the Lord Viscount, naturally you too are a guest of Kjerag. I hope that you will do me the honor of attending our humble banquet.

Whatever reason could I have to refuse an invitation from the Saintess herself?

Very well. It's settled then.