NOVEL NEXT Chapter 153
My head was a chaotic mess.
Me? Van Chaser? Passing on a deity?
When?
No matter how hard I think, I don’t recall ever doing that.
There was no time, and I had no intention to do so.
Why on earth would I pass a deity to someone who’s become a lewd, strange woman and doesn’t even care for her life?
Even if I had, there’s no way she could use it properly.
I don’t think Hilde would be able to use it, considering even the brilliantly talented Yurasia struggles with it.
But me? Grant that to her?
What nonsense is this?
Could it be that Hilde, who faced me, somehow gained enlightenment and passed it down to her descendants?
She kept trying to block me when I slapped her… so she did use the deity.
But the deity isn’t a technique you learn by being hit like that.
In the first place, both Paulo and Arisa could never use it; how could that… strange woman have learned it?
It’s impossible that Hilde stole my technique.
So what in the world is going on?
“So, that’s why I asked Princess Eustetia. To see if she created it herself… or if she received it from someone.”
“If… she received it from someone, what happens then?”
“Starting with the head of the Van Chaser family, all the elders who know that vision will interrogate her.”
They’d call it an interrogation, but the process would be extraordinarily annoying.
Those Northerners are like that.
I’m not sure about Hurd, but Ashtar seems a bit gentler; however, overall, Northerners are quite aggressive.
So that interrogation is likely to come with violence.
“Before that, Princess Eustetia will have to visit the North at least once. But that won’t bring her harm. Judging by her response, it doesn’t seem like she learned it intentionally.”
“She didn’t use it intentionally. She did plan to visit the North at some point, but if so, I guess it’ll be sooner than expected.”
“Seeing your expression isn’t overly tense, it seems she didn’t receive it from anyone… that’s a relief…”
Ashtar let out a sigh of relief.
“Yes. This is… the deity is a technique I created on my own.”
Dramatic pause
That’s neither a lie nor incorrect.
No, my understanding is indeed correct.
The deity was created by me.
I, Ronan Luzarack, devised it to follow the movements of Paulo’s blessed sacred sword.
It was made to pave the way for my companions.
It’s meant to slice through the resilient demon race.
So, it was indeed created by me.
“There’s no hint of a lie in your voice.”
“Yes. They say you can’t lie to the warriors of the North. They’ll catch on to everything.”
“Not everything, but enough to catch on to certain things. Our family’s red eyes are a bit special.”
That’s true. The Van Chaser family possesses an extraordinarily animalistic intuition.
Hilde was the same way.
At some point, she started to sense the feelings I wanted to keep hidden.
“Then… yeah. I don’t think it’ll be a problem for the Van Chasers.”
“It sounds like there are issues on the other side.”
“I wouldn’t say issues… more like, um…”
Ashtar chuckled.
“It seems like our dreams might just come true.”
That’s a bit complicated.
Ashtar, with a complicated expression despite achieving a dream, slowly walked to sit down.
The “we” in that statement felt less like referring to the Van Chasers and more about the two siblings.
Why?
“It’s going to be a long story. Is that okay?”
I guess I’ll understand as I listen.
“I’m a rather busy person, but I’ll make an exception for you, senpai.”
“Aha ha!”
*
It truly was a long story.
Well… most of it was about the Van Chasers’ wishes and a boring background story.
The crux is this.
Ronan, who passed on the deity to the Van Chasers, said that if an outsider showed up using the technique, they should convey something.
What that something is, I don’t know. Only the head of the family knows, and that’s up in the North.
So, it’d be nice if they visited the North sometime.
However, if I don’t want it, the head, along with the entire Van Chaser clan, will keep mum about it.
That’s the end of the story.
Naturally.
I’ve never done such a thing.
I never passed on a deity, nor did I ask to convey anything. If I was to ask for something to be conveyed, it’d imply that “Ronan” held something important.
An important item?
The pocket watch and the sacred sword.
Both are with me.
The pocket watch is in my possession now, and the sacred sword I gave to Yurasia, yet it still sits in my A-Space Pocket.
Even the sword used by Aunt Diana was retrieved from the treasure house of the imperial palace.
So, that certainly isn’t me.
It’s not like I went senile before hitting my sixties and pulled some prank like that.
And then, after that…
When I express my dislike, Ashtar says he’ll keep quiet, but it feels like he actually hopes I say that.
Isn’t it a good thing if the wishes of the Van Chasers could be fulfilled? Sure, if someone has no affection for their clan, that might not be so great.
But… that said, Ashtar’s tone was filled with a fondness for the Van Chasers.
He doesn’t hate the clan.
But he doesn’t want the clan’s wishes to come true.
More precisely, it felt like he doesn’t want them to come true “now.”
Why is that?
He seems reluctant to say why.
However, I can guess.
It’s highly likely my speculation is correct, but I didn’t want to burden myself with useless assumptions, so I dropped the thought.
Meanwhile, Yurasia, who had been sitting next to me and listening to all of Ashtar’s talk, still has a dazed expression.
It seems she’s mulling over what to do now that she’s learning the Van Chaser’s vision.
Of course, nothing will go wrong for Yurasia.
I’m the owner of that technique, and that damn fake Ronan is also looking for me.
Well… even though I called it a fake Ronan.
I think that’s Arisa.
After Arisa visited the Van Chasers and shared the techniques, she must have told them to narrate it like the history that’s been passed down.
After the declaration of the truce from the Human War, only Arisa came over from the Demon Realm to the continent.
Not only that, but that sly girl, Arisa, keeps leaving traces.
Traces whose intentions I can’t decipher.
But see, these end clearly.
The fairy tale… to be honest, I don’t know its intention.
Why did it write me as the troublesome martial artist Ronan?
Is it just to make me mad?
Because of that damned fairy tale, did someone like Hurd abandon the sword and become a martial artist?
If only it had written that I handled weapons properly, Hurd wouldn’t have found himself in such a mess.
Well, anyway, that’s that.
The one who passed the deity in the North must be Arisa.
However, how Arisa passed on my deity remains a mystery.
Arisa couldn’t use the deity; everyone else, except for me, couldn’t use it.
Even if they understand the theory, they couldn’t wield it.
Just as I understand magic theory but can’t use it to guide Stella, I can’t inform someone else about something I can’t use.
How would you teach someone something you’re not even sure about?
But how did she inform them?
And what was it that she wanted to convey?
If I touch that, will another illusion appear?
This time, what kind of illusion?
The Van Chasers. The grand duke house in the North.
Arisa knows I’ll definitely visit the North. She has to know.
To get to Gebihenum, I have to pass through the North.
To reach the “prairie” where the World Tree and spirits are, I must go through the North.
If Arisa knows me, she would know what a reborn me would do.
That’s why she left something in the North.
My head is a jumble.
That chimpanzee, it’s a big picture Arisa could never draw.
Did she always laugh in front of us just to put on a show? Did I not know you, or did we not know you?
What are you hiding, Arisa?
“Can I hear the decision of my junior?”
Ashtar’s voice jolted me from my thoughts.
“I’ll go to the North.”
“…I figured as much.”
Ashtar bit his lip in disappointment.
It’d be nice if he’d just tell me why, but I won’t push it.
I wouldn’t want to know and end up with extra baggage.
“However, I won’t be going just yet.”
At that, Ashtar’s expression brightened a little.
“No matter how early, it seems I’ll be heading there by the end of this year.”
The North. No matter what I learn, it’s too soon.
Right now, I’m weak. If I go to the North, learn something, and then, heaven forbid, let my temper flare…
I still lack the strength to handle that rage.
So, first, I must go to the Holy Kingdom this summer.
Even if I have to toss the Academy aside… it wouldn’t matter, but I’m still weak.
I need a little more time.
“Did you say that to take care of me? If so, you don’t have to worry about it.”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just a simple personal reason.”
“…Alright then. If so, that’s a relief… Thanks and sorry.”
“Senpai seems to have a lot to be thankful for and apologize for. Why live life so exhaustively? At the 6th Rank, it’s not a low level, and you’re a Grand Duchess of the Van Chaser family. Just live boldly.”
“A, Young Lady…!”
“Aha ha! It’s alright, Yurasia junior. I enjoy being treated comfortably. There aren’t many who do that in the Empire, so I felt a bit lonely, but now it feels quite fulfilled. Can we stay close from now on?”
“That’d be great. I needed someone who could casually swing a blade around without much fuss like you, senpai.”
Ashtar seemed pleased by that, but her lips pouted just a bit.
“So, does that mean I’m only needed as a sparring partner?”
“Well… not exactly. You’re simply easier to deal with than someone from the royal family… um, well… Hey, why do I have to justify it? We can just be friends.”
Giggles – Ashtar laughed.
“Friends… Yeah. Whatever it is, I don’t mind. I don’t think I’ll ever meet someone so genuine in front of a Grand Duchess like you, so… and also…”
As she laughed, Ashtar caressed her lower abdomen with a strange smile.
“The only one who hit me that hard… I might not meet again, but for now, you’re the first.”
That remark sent a chill down my spine.