WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Natty
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈
Chapter 28: Omen (2)
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... To his surprise, Lady Stella agreed at once.
After all, he was Lady Noel’s husband, even if only by contract, so assisting him was part of her duty.
Of course, that came after she had heard the details of what he needed done.
After all, no matter how strange someone’s tastes were, if they wanted a romantic atmosphere, they would not go leaping across rooftops while loaded down with supplies.
“... Please do not startle people like that.”
Lady Stella spoke with a dazed expression.
“You need to learn how to phrase things so they cannot be misunderstood. You frightened me.”
“...”
Aiden, being dragged across rooftops by the collar, was arguably even more frightened.
Seeing her carry a grown man one-handed like a piece of luggage and clear several buildings with every leap truly showed what a superhuman was capable of.
‘Her physical ability really is...!’
He had only recently fought knights directly, but that made the differences in rank among knights all the more apparent.
She was surely weaker than Noel, who could draw on all of her Pure White Ki, but Lady Stella was doing this without using any particular ability. Aiden could now keenly understand why she held the position of Lionheart’s Adjutant.
Thanks to her, they were easily accomplishing something Aiden could not have done alone even after staying awake for several days.
“Yes, please put one there as well.”
At Aiden’s direction, Stella pursed her lips and drove another stake deep into place.
So far, she had done nothing but run across the designated buildings and plant these mysterious “stakes.”
“Aiden.”
Stella tilted her head.
“What is the purpose of all this? We finished quickly enough, but still.”
“It does have a purpose.”
Those were not ordinary stakes, after all.
- System Log
▶ You imbue target “Wooden Stake” with “Divine Power.”
He had made them continuously whenever he was awake during the day, even while Meyer cut him to pieces every night to teach him how to fight.
They were not as complicated as firearms, so putting just one ability into each was not particularly difficult. The quantity, however, was enormous.
Noel had seen them and asked in alarm whether he was planning to hunt an army of vampires.
- System Log
▶ You use “Weaver of Fate” on target “Katia.”
▶ You copy the skill “Divine Power Manipulation: Delayed Release.”
And he had the skill that would be crucial to using them.
An ability that would make the power contained inside activate whenever he wished.
If he combined that with the Divine Power he had already placed in the stakes through Ability Imbuement, it could be used in some rather... interesting ways.
Of course, that alone would not stop all of Chapter 1.
The key would be Noel’s three remaining copy rights, along with the Prince’s one copy right, which he could “imitate” at a lower performance than the original.
How he used them would determine whether Aiden lived or died in this incident.
As he continued thinking, Lady Stella crossed her arms and asked another dissatisfied question.
“... I do not know what you are planning, but for something like this, you could have asked Her Highness Katia or someone else. Why me?”
“Because I cannot ask them.”
“Ask them what?”
“What exactly happened between Lady Noel and the Lord Protector?”
Lady Stella froze.
“... That is someone else’s private matter. I do not think asking me is the proper thing to do.”
“The Prince is trying to pressure Lady Noel over it. His personal grudge seems far from ordinary.”
“...”
Stella stubbornly kept her mouth shut, but Aiden continued calmly.
“Please trust me, Lady Stella. I am asking because I want to help Lady Noel as well.”
“... You are remarkably devoted for someone who merely got caught up in a contract marriage.”
“Is it not good to work hard?”
“There is nothing more suspicious than kindness when you cannot know its purpose or motive.”
Fortunately, he had a very clear motive.
“I hate the Prince.”
Especially after he had made a move on Katia merely to make Aiden’s life difficult.
Aiden tended to hold grudges over that sort of thing.
“I will not be satisfied until I ruin everything he does. So I need to know what he is using to threaten her.”
“...”
“I dislike it even more when someone I hate tries something with Lady Noel.”
“...”
“His face is pretty enough, but he goes around plotting in the shadows. It is unpleasant to look at.”
At that last remark, Lady Stella finally failed to hold back her laughter and covered her mouth.
“... That will get you hanged if anyone hears it, Aiden.”
“Oh, are you going to report me?”
“No. I also dislike people who treat Lady Noel that way.”
They shared the mischievous smile of people with a secret understanding. Then Stella continued in her flat voice.
“Near the end of the Coalition War... there was a battle that was catastrophically unfavorable to the Empire. Do you know of it?”
“Vaguely.”
He had heard the rumors.
The nation that had fought the Empire most fiercely and for the longest time during the war had been the Grivers Magic Kingdom. The same was true of the final battle near the Empire’s border.
To turn the losing tide of the war, they had dispatched a special assault force meant to pierce straight through the Empire. It was a perfect checkmate, and the Empire’s defensive forces had reportedly been weak as well.
If it had succeeded, they would not be standing here and talking now. The entire Empire would have been engulfed in the flames of war.
Lionheart, Noel, had become famous around that incident.
As the hero who had saved an Empire on the verge of collapse from a single decisive move.
She had gathered the few defensive troops available and crushed head-on the special assault force that the Magic Kingdom had assembled with all its strength.
“... It is not widely known, but among those who went out with Lady Noel then, there were two particularly notable people. One was His Highness the Prince, and the other was...”
Lady Teresa Adelaide.
Commonly known as the Lord Protector. An elder among knights.
The person who had first brought Noel into the Imperial Army.
They had led the battle at the time. Two of them returned, but one did not.
“That is all I know.”
“...”
“Only Lady Noel and the Prince know what exactly happened that day. But there is one thing that is known...”
Lady Stella took a long time to choose her words before continuing in a displeased voice.
“... There is a rumor that Lady Teresa sacrificed herself to save Lady Noel after Noel made a mistake during the battle.”
“...”
“I have heard some people who participated in that battle say such things, but nobody knows whether it is true.”
“... I see.”
Aiden’s face tightened slightly.
Even if the details were unknown, the outline alone answered many questions.
He had heard that the Lord Protector had been precious to both the Prince and Noel. The original story’s backstory even described Teresa as almost a mother to them. If the rumor were true, he could vaguely understand why the Prince hated Noel so much.
But something was strange.
‘... Why would he propose to someone he hates that much?’
Asking someone he despised to marry him did not make any sense.
He had even asked Aiden to break off the engagement so he could take that position.
It did not add up. It seemed as though he had an entirely different goal, rather than personal revenge.
‘... I will have to look into him more.’
With that thought, Aiden patted Stella’s shoulder.
“Shall we head back now?”
Tomorrow was an important day.
He needed to sleep well and build up his strength in preparation for when things began.
And, if possible, secure a good position. Somewhere he could respond a little faster.
‘Though what is going to happen will happen wherever I am.’
As the name of Act 1 suggested, the Imperial Capital Rift would occur on a scale too large for anyone in the city to miss.
It might not be quite that severe, but wherever he was, there was no way he would fail to notice when the incident began.
As that thought crossed his mind, something suddenly appeared before his eyes.
- System Message
▶ Quest Information is updated!
- Quest Info
◈ Act 1, < Imperial Capital Rift >
▶ Chapter 1 will begin soon!
▶ A related event will begin soon. (D-Day!)
◈ Fake Marriage
▶ You have been chosen as Lady Noel’s spouse. Maintain your contract with the other party until the end!
▶ A related event will begin soon. (D-Day!)
... Updated?
Why had this suddenly appeared? Thinking about it, it was nearly time for the date to change.
Then it made sense that it would update. He had only just accepted that casually when...
...
...!
...!!
Suddenly.
Without any warning.
A terribly sinister presence began to swirl around them.
Aiden was not the only one who felt it. Lady Stella, who had Aiden tucked under her arm like a piece of luggage and had been preparing to leap, flinched and looked up at the sky.
“... What is that...?”
Black, visible deathly energy churned around them. Then it rose into the sky as if gathering into a whirlpool.
What he saw there was a “gap” visible even from this distance.
Like a sheet of paper being torn, a hairline fracture appeared as though the scenery had been crumpled, distorting the space around it.
Then.
The distortion in space, initially no more than a thin line, spread into a massive rift with a crack, crack.
‘Ah.’
Aiden sighed inwardly.
It was a sight he remembered quite well.
This.
It was the event that signaled the beginning of Act 1, the Ghost Knight Incident.
‘You heartless bastards...!’
Then a curse burst out inside him, though he did not know who exactly it was aimed at.
Could they not at least give him some time to rest...!
“... You should hold on to me tightly, Aiden.”
Seeing that, Stella’s face hardened as she pulled him firmly into her arms.
To Aiden, it felt as though he had been promoted from baggage tucked under her arm to a precious valuable.
“I will take you somewhere safe at full speed first. Then I will call for support...”
But it did not seem necessary for her to finish that sentence.
“Aiden!”
In such an abnormal situation, there was someone who would worry about his safety even more than Stella.
The strange whirlpool had only just appeared, yet Lady Noel’s voice rang out from somewhere nearby. He had no idea how she had found them so quickly.
Then, as always, Noel flew down from the sky like a meteor and landed before them.
“Are you unharmed? Something strange suddenly appeared...”
Noel’s mouth snapped shut as she tried to continue.
It was probably because she saw Aiden and Stella clinging to each other like a baby bird held by its mother.
“...”
“...”
“...”
The three of them shared a very awkward silence.
It lasted for an impressively long time...
“... Aiden.”
Noel finally broke the silence.
The usual smile was on her face as well.
It seemed as though she was trying not to make the atmosphere hostile.
“... The way you two look is strange, but I do not think this is the time to worry about such things.”
“... Right?”
“So I will only ask one simple question.”
... So there was no option to ask later.
Even in such an urgent situation, she still had to address this first...
Looking closely, even as she smiled at him, her eyes did not seem to be smiling at all.
“What were you doing with Stella?”
“... Taking a walk.”
“At this hour?”
“...”
“Alone?”
“...”
“How strange.”
“... I have done nothing that I could not openly tell Lady Noel about.”
“Is that so.”
Her voice was as gentle as always, but Aiden somehow felt he could hear the words hidden between the lines.
“Oh, is that so?”
Something like that.
“Even if you had done such a thing, it is not my place to interfere. We are... married by ‘contract,’ after all.”
“... Lady Noel?”
“Yes, that is true. We are not in a relationship where we would exchange truly deep feelings. Right...?”
Aiden’s gaze moved to Noel as she continued speaking while stroking her scabbard.
It was probably just a habit, but for some reason, it made his blood run cold...
“... You said you liked me.”
“Pardon?”
When he asked because she had mumbled something, Noel immediately cut off his question.
“It is nothing.”
Then she set her brows in a straight line and sharply turned her gaze forward.
That smile, somehow carrying a chill, still remained on her lips...
“... Shall we deal with that first?”
At the edge of Noel’s gaze was the rift, now large enough for anyone in the Imperial Capital to see.
“...”
Somehow.
It looked like she intended to go there and vent her frustration.
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