WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 20: Spirit Body (2)
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“Interesting.”
Katia asked with bright eyes as she watched Aiden get flung about like a rag in the wind.
“You're getting beaten up by a ghost right now?”
“Don't just stand there watching. Come help me...!”
Before he could finish, Aiden's body flew off in another direction.
Ghosts that existed in the spirit realm, a space layered over reality, could not normally exert much influence over the material world.
Normally, at least.
Unless they had been terrifying enough in life to twist even such laws.
This presumably indicated just how powerful the ghost currently slamming Aiden into everything in sight had been.
“You've got some nerve, you little bastard!”
Katia could not hear it, but the Dawn Knight's furious shouting was truly vicious.
In contrast, the man's appearance was remarkably refined.
Blond hair, blue eyes, handsome features, and full plate armor that symbolized a knight. If he kept quiet, one could even call him noble-looking.
“You said I was all hype? A petty little nobody? You're still wet behind the ears and you're already begging to die...!”
He might have been able to maintain that image if he did not keep raging like this.
Aiden had that thought as he went flying through the air again.
“... Senior, please calm down for a moment...”
“Senior, my ass. I have nothing to do with you under a title like that!”
The Dawn Knight raised a fist, still fuming. He looked ready to punch Aiden with all the anger in the world behind it.
And this was starting to look genuinely dangerous.
“I said, stop it already!”
As he spoke, Divine Power burst from Aiden's body.
The Dawn Knight, who had been about to charge at him again, froze.
Suspicion and shock filled his eyes.
“... Divine Power?”
The Dawn Knight muttered blankly.
“You definitely smell like someone who handles Ki. How are you using Divine Power too?”
“...”
Aiden gave a wry smile and dusted off his filthy clothes.
“Didn't I tell you, Senior?”
Yes, he had expected the man to be interested if he showed him how he could use several abilities like this.
“A junior has come to greet you. If we're limiting it to people who possess multiple abilities, doesn't that make us senior and junior?”
Even through all of history, people capable of using several abilities were incredibly rare. And the Dawn Knight before him was one of them.
The reason he had been beloved throughout the continent was simple. There had been no other person who could skillfully wield the abilities unique to so many different nations.
“I need your help.”
That was also why Aiden was trying to bring this man along.
There was no one else in the entire world who could understand his growth path from beginning to end and advise him on it.
“... To be honest, Senior, I desperately need your help. Otherwise, something truly terrible will happen.”
Mostly, the fate of the world would be in danger.
Aiden was currently the only one properly aware of the world-scale threat called the main scenario. Which meant that if he failed, everyone would die with him.
“... What nonsense are you talking about? You were just calling me overrated, and now...”
“I only lied like that so I could meet you, Senior. Otherwise, I couldn't have called a spirit here like this.”
“...”
“Who in the world would put down the First Knight and a hero of the entire continent?”
“...”
At his side, Aiden could feel Katia looking at him as though he were absurd.
She could not hear their conversation, but her expression plainly asked whether anyone could possibly fall for words like that.
-System Message
▶ You make contact with “Dawn Knight,” Meyer Belford.
▶ Though he is not someone who influences the main scenario, the abilities he possesses are exceptional. He holds value on the level of an “Important Figure.”
▶ Your Bond Level with the target rises to Level 1!
▶ It links with the skill “Weaver of Fate”!
... There was.
Someone that simple.
Aiden stared at the window with an inwardly hollow laugh.
He had expected Meyer to take the bait if he pressed lightly on that particular point, but this was so completely predictable that it was almost ridiculous.
“... Who would fall for such half-hearted flattery?”
The fact that he said that while having already fallen for it was even more unsettling.
The Dawn Knight, Meyer, crossed his arms. Though his expression remained sulky, he spoke.
“They say there is someone in this era who has pushed someone like me aside. Lionheart, was it?”
It was strange that a ghost knew that much information, but Meyer cared terribly about his own honor and reputation, as was obvious from how quickly he had risen to Aiden's provocation. It would have been stranger if he did not care about the person who had taken the title of strongest knight from him.
But...
“As it happens, I'm Lionheart's husband.”
Meyer's eyes narrowed sharply at that, only for his expression to become even stranger at Aiden's next words.
“I guarantee it. She'd have a hard time catching up to you too, Senior.”
At the edge of his vision, Aiden saw Katia's mouth twist.
Her expression asked what in the world that was supposed to mean, but Aiden meant it sincerely.
It was not merely a matter of who was stronger. Add just one condition, and it could not help but be true.
If this man had been given just a little more time.
Even Lady Noel surely would never have surpassed the heights he had reached.
For a dead person's soul to remain behind without passing on, two conditions had to be met.
They had to be a great figure worthy of leaving their name in history.
And they had to carry a resentment so deeply rooted that they could not close their eyes even in death.
In the Dawn Knight's case...
“There are still so many things you never managed to do.”
The Dawn Knight's expression changed dramatically.
Until now, it had contained nothing but rage and fury. For the first time, Aiden's words seemed to have caught him off guard.
“...”
The Dawn Knight was a figure known only through the game's setting, yet he had still left a very deep impression.
The realm that this man had regrettably failed to reach because he discovered his talent too late was described in just one short sentence.
It was not a realm humanity could challenge.
They said that the legendary tales of valor he had left across the continent had all been training meant to reach that realm.
“... You.”
Meyer stared at Aiden for a long while before letting out a snort.
“You say interesting things. There is no way records of even that would remain.”
“Please consider it the devotion of a junior who admires you.”
“My ass. You approached me because you want to use me. Do you think I can't tell that much?”
“That is true.”
“...”
Meyer's words were cut off by that ruinous honesty. Aiden shrugged and continued.
“But there is no one better than me for you to use in return, is there?”
“What?”
“How long do you think it will take for another person who possesses multiple abilities to appear?”
“...”
“And what are the chances that such a person will come directly to you and speak with you like this?”
“...”
“After overcoming all those odds, what do you think the chances are of meeting someone who will swear to fulfill your wish in your place?”
Meyer's expression grew steadily more wrinkled.
“... You only pick things that make me feel bad.”
The truth tended to feel unpleasant.
That was clear from what Meyer said next.
“What exactly do you want me to help with? As a ghost, there is not much I can do.”
Got him.
Aiden grinned inwardly and picked up a relic nearby.
It was something he had noticed from the moment he entered. A bracelet that could be worn naturally without causing much inconvenience.
“Put another way, there are things only a ghost can do.”
“What?”
“Would you try going inside this first?”
Aiden spoke those words, then went on to explain what Meyer could help with.
“... How did I end up getting caught by a guy like this?”
It was only natural that the other party would let out a sigh like that.
▣
A little later.
“Hm.”
Aiden let out a quiet breath as he looked at the bracelet glowing with an enigmatic light.
It was clear that Meyer's soul had settled inside properly.
‘This should be enough...’
He had accomplished everything he set out to do.
Rania's mediumship, Meyer's soul contacted through it, and the First Prince's skill, which was ideally suited to handling souls, though he had not acquired it yet.
It would be fair to say he had gathered all the ingredients needed to resolve Act One, the Ghost Knight Incident.
“Are we done?”
“Yes. We only need to leave now.”
So he could answer that question without hesitation.
“But.”
Katia tilted her head and interrupted him.
“Don't you think we've been here too long?”
“... What?”
“That wasn't there earlier.”
Aiden turned his gaze in the direction she indicated.
A crystal embedded in the wall was clearly emitting a red glow. It was obviously about to sound an alarm, and the entire room was being dyed the same color as though affected by it.
Aiden's expression stiffened as red light filled the room.
“It seems to be a system that activates automatically if people stay inside too long.”
“Instead of analyzing it, we need to stop that...!”
Aiden tried to move in a panic.
Then, in an instant.
Crack!
The alarm device, which had been about to emit a red glow, broke apart.
It had been cut cleanly in two by a sword strike unleashed with terrifying speed.
Aiden stared blankly toward the direction the attack had come from.
Noel was sheathing her sword with a sigh, though he had no idea when or where she had appeared.
“I do not know what you were doing, but could you refrain from entering a place like this so carelessly? If you make a mistake, you will have quite an ordeal ahead of you.”
“... Lady Noel?”
He had definitely heard from Lady Stella earlier that Noel had gone back because she was not feeling well.
“Where did you come from? Didn't you say you went back?”
“... I was about to return, but I saw Mr. Aiden diligently infiltrating Imperial Palace security with Her Highness. So I followed you, just in case.”
“...”
“You looked to be in danger, so I helped.”
So they had been caught again.
And she had followed them without even thinking to stop them.
‘Still...’
Thanks to her, they had resolved the situation easily without any trouble.
He should thank her.
“Thanks to you, everything went smoothly. Thank you, Lady Noel.”
“... Yes.”
“...”
What was that reaction?
The reply that came back was so blunt and rigid that even a wooden doll would have seemed more alive.
Noel quickly turned her head away and pulled her hat low, as though she were determined not to meet Aiden's eyes.
“... Shall we go? I will guide you out.”
“...”
“Let us return to headquarters at once. I would rather not let this night grow any longer.”
As Aiden tilted his head at her strangely curt manner and followed after her...
“... Hm.”
Behind them, Katia was staring at the back of Noel's head with a questioning look, as though something about Noel's behavior did not add up.
“Doesn't her attitude seem a little different...?”
The murmur lingered on her lips.
▣
An unexpected commotion had settled over the military headquarters.
The reason was likely Lady Noel, who had attended a dinner party with her husband-to-be.
As she parted from Aiden and headed for her private room, she was creating a great deal of... “commotion.”
“Ah, Lady Noel? Was the dinner party today all right...”
The person who had begun to speak snapped their mouth shut.
It was a natural reaction.
One look at Noel's expression as she strode down the corridor was enough to make anyone realize that speaking to her would not be a good idea.
“M-My lady. Are you all right?”
“I am fine.”
“If you are unwell, I will contact the medical unit at once...”
“I said I am fine.”
“Eek.”
One of those worrying about her swallowed their breath without meaning to.
Probably because Noel's reply was so sharp.
She was normally someone whose face showed little beyond a blank expression or a practiced smile, but her current expressionlessness carried the distinct feeling that she was tightly suppressing something.
‘She must be in a bad mood...’
Something must have happened at the dinner party.
As everyone who thought that hesitantly stepped back, Noel walked steadily toward her private room.
She kicked open the door, set down her sword as if throwing it aside, then removed her coat and hat and hung them on the rack.
Then...
“...”
She collapsed forward and slammed her forehead onto her desk.
Bang!
Only then did some of the heat that seemed to have reddened not only her ears but the crown of her head begin to fade.
It had been truly difficult to keep suppressing it and not let anyone else notice.
‘What was that?’
What was that?
What was that, what was that, what was that?
Those thoughts alone filled her head.
Her breathing came fast.
She had somehow endured it until reaching her private room, but heat felt as though it were surging through her entire body.
It was as if someone had poured molten fire into her veins.
“I like that person, you know.”
“...!”
The sentence echoed in her mind again, and she slammed her forehead into the desk once more.
Bang!
‘... What was that?’
Even as she panted with her forehead against the desk and rubbed it back and forth until her hair became a mess, that question would not leave her mind.
Even she did not understand what had just happened.
That man had said he liked her.
Why? How? For what reason?
At least as far as Noel knew, there was not a single reason that man would have feelings like that for her.
‘A lie.’
His original profession was that of a con artist. It was most likely something he had said merely to get out of that situation.
She understood that with her head.
The problem was...
“I'll do it. Prove my worth. If that means we can go through with the engagement.”
“But why did Mr. Aiden want to learn Spiritual Power in the first place?”
“He said it was for someone he loves.”
“I told you. You chose a good husband. Is a life not worth living when someone with that much talent looks at you with such devotion?”
There were things she had seen and heard until now.
“...”
When she thought about it, was it not strange that he would take her side even by lying?
Considering everything Aiden had done so far, the conditions the Prince had offered perfectly suited the attitude Aiden had shown until now.
He wanted to avoid dangerous work whenever possible, cared deeply about his family, and preferred to live quietly without drawing attention.
And yet.
Was there truly a reason for him to reject an offer that fulfilled all those things, even resorting to a lie?
Making up something that absurd, meaning...
That Aiden liked her...
“...!”
With her forehead still pressed against the desk, Noel began pounding it with her fists.
Bang! Bang!
She had thrown away all decorum and dignity somewhere, but she did not have the leisure to care about that.
‘Why would you say that, Mr. Aiden? Why...?’
Within her tangled, ruined, hopelessly muddled thoughts, only those questions floated clearly.
“... Haaah...”
A long sigh, as though her soul were being pulled out, escaped Noel's lips.
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