Still saddled with the dishonorable label of prospective criminals, we followed Yuri toward the Empire's Academy.
Leaving the city's hustle and bustle behind, we passed through the Academy's imposing gates and arrived before an expansive training field.
There, a young man with striking, flame-red hair immediately caught my eye.
Reiji Wolf.
The man destined to become a hero and save this world.
Reiji was swinging a pair of wooden swords with single-minded focus....Form practice, was it? It looked like he was relearning dual-wielding techniques from the ground up. Sticking to the fundamentals was a good sign.
His swings were sharper than the last time we clashed, and he had clearly packed on some serious muscle. When I imagined all that reinforced with magical power and the might of a Holy Sword... this was going to be fun.
『Claude, are you sure you should approach him?』
Zest, dwelling within my right shoulder, issued a warning.
『If you're concealing your identity out of caution toward the Apostles, you ought to avoid contact with Reiji as well.』
Zest was right.
To deceive the eyes of any Apostles lurking in the shadows, it was best to keep my identity under wraps as much as possible. Avoiding acquaintances was the sensible choice.
However, the scales in my mind tipped decisively toward a single answer without the slightest hesitation.
I couldn't lose sight of my true objective. My purpose was to forge Reiji into a hero.
If he didn't become a hero, this world would be doomed.
Caution against the Apostles versus my mission as a stepping stone. If there was no way to balance both—naturally, priority went to my duty as a stepping stone.
Which meant...!
Time to go rile Reiji up again today!
『Sigh... I suppose there is no stopping you. At the very least, keep Yuri at a distance. Depending on what you say, word of your villainy might spread and leave you cornered.』
On it.
"Yuri, stay here. I wish to speak with him alone."
"Very well. But do not try anything funny."
Surprisingly, Yuri complied without an argument. Chesa remained in place as well.
Seizing the moment, I strode boldly toward Reiji's back. If Yuri hadn't been watching, I would have treated him to a Dark Shot just potent enough to give him a sharp poke...
"Don't go spraying sweat everywhere. As unrefined as ever, I see."
Reiji spun around as if struck by lightning.
The moment his eyes locked onto my face, they went wide with shock.
"Claude?! What are you doing here...?!"
"I am under no obligation to tell you."
You're the one who decided to study abroad, so I had to go through the trouble of chasing you all the way out here.
"Don't tell me... you're participating in the Advent Festival too?!"
"As if. Only a barbaric commoner like you would take part in such a beastly spectacle."
Man, I really wanted to, though!
Damn it... I still hadn't forgiven myself for missing out on such a prime stepping-stone scenario...
"Aren't you a commoner now, too?" Reiji pointed out flatly.
Come to think of it, that was true... I had been disowned, hadn't I?
Yet, the fact that I was now a commoner did nothing to put Reiji at ease. If anything, the wariness in his eyes only deepened. It seemed beating him down with pure strength rather than noble authority had paid off.
"Hmph. What a pity."
"What?"
Maintaining a villainous smirk, I declared:
"Had I entered this Advent Festival of yours, I could have brought you to your knees before the entire crowd..."
"You...!"
Reiji ground his teeth and glared daggers at me.
"Go on, strut around while you can. In a festival where I am absent, that is."
Tossing out those parting words, I turned my back on him.
Splendid... It was a brief exchange, but it had surely reignited the fire in Reiji's fighting spirit.
Basking in satisfaction, I returned to Yuri, only to find her staring intently at me.
"So your real name is Claude."
Huh...?
For a moment, my brain failed to process her words.
I glanced toward Chesa, who shook her head in a panic. It didn't seem like Chesa had given my name away.
Which meant... she had overheard my conversation with Reiji?
From this distance?...What kind of hearing did this woman have?
"The reason I permitted you to see Reiji was to eavesdrop on your exchange and ascertain your identity," Yuri explained with a faint smile. "However... heheh. It seems I can lower my guard around you somewhat. I had expected you to flee, yet here you are, obediently returning to my side."
She clearly had no intention of revealing the secret behind her sharp ears.
Still, my intuition told me: it was likely the exact same principle behind the bizarre bodily reinforcement the Holy Knights used.
"...Do not flatter yourself. I merely wish to know the true nature of the power you people wield."
"I will tell you once we reach the barracks. Consider it a reward for behaving yourself."
Hey... Was it just me, or was Yuri starting to look at me like a younger pupil?
『Still, it seems she does not recognize your name,』 Zest observed calmly.
Apparently, Claude's infamy had not reached as far as the Empire. It was a relief, yet it left me with somewhat mixed feelings...
"Even so, there is a limit to how much one should bluff. There is no way someone like you could defeat Reiji," Yuri remarked in exasperation.
I sure wish that were true.
Even I wanted nothing more than to hurry up, lose to Reiji, and get stepped on...
"From your perspective, is Reiji strong?"
"He is strong. I do not know the full details, but Reiji is the Savior chosen by Fate, is he not? I have heard he normally wields a weapon known as a Holy Sword, yet even without it, he is an even match for me."
I see. The reason he had only been evaluated as 'promising' was because Reiji hadn't been drawing on his Holy Sword.
No, even without it, if he unleashed that pseudo-Avatar he had used against me back in the royal castle's underground, he should have easily overwhelmed Yuri. But Reiji apparently hadn't relied on that pseudo-Avatar either.
...Good.
It was proof that rather than chasing short-term victories, he was focusing on honing his fundamentals and forging true strength. He was steadily climbing the steps toward becoming a hero.
『Perhaps tasting defeat at your hands had a profound effect on him.』
Haha... then it had all been worth it.
Precisely because I was a stepping stone, I had to be meticulous about the timing of when I got trampled. My judgment back then that "now is not the time" had been the right call after all.
"By the way, do you two have lodging arranged?" Yuri asked, glancing between me and Chesa.
"We do not. What of it?"
"Then this works out nicely. You can stay at the barracks tonight. It will make keeping an eye on you far simpler."
"Hmph. I will not tolerate a shabby room."
"Thanks to the Advent Festival, every inn in the city is fully booked. Consider it far better than sleeping out on the street."
Well, she wasn't wrong.
I had assumed this "protective custody" was merely surveillance under a friendlier name, but seeing how docile I was acting, her intentions seemed to be genuinely shifting toward protection.
Hehehe... You'll come to regret this.
The one you are currently harboring is a peerless archvillain!
『At the moment, you are merely a tourist being a public nuisance, you know.』
Shut up!
◆
Following Yuri's lead, Chesa and I eventually arrived at the Holy Knights' barracks. It was an imposing stone fortress. After Yuri handled some formalities at the entrance, we were escorted further inside.
A training ground had been laid out in the spacious courtyard, where several dozen Holy Knights were undergoing rigorous drills.
『Hmm...』
I immediately grasped what had caught Zest's attention.
Swirling around the bodies of the Holy Knights was that very same strange power.
"I believe it is time you told me. About that power you Holy Knights use."
"...Very well. Breaking a promise would be unbecoming of a knight."
Yuri enveloped her entire body in that familiar shroud.
The aura it gave off was indeed remarkably close to Third Rank Magic, Arma. But inspecting it up close, its sheer abnormality became glaringly obvious.
Only now did I catch a true glimpse of the power's nature.
I see... No wonder I thought it overlapped with Zest's abilities.
This power was—
"This technique is known as Life Shroud. It converts one's very life... which is to say, one's lifespan, into raw power."