Copy Skills with Affinity! - Chapter 36

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Natty

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Copy Skills with Affinity! ◈

Chapter 36: Divinity

──────

“Did you do something wrong or not?”

“... I did.”

“Have you reflected enough?”

“... I have.”

“Then why are your hands coming down?”

“...”

Kneeling with both hands raised, Aiden looked at Noel with mournful eyes.

His father had never punished him like this when he was young. He had never imagined he would be receiving this kind of punishment as a fully grown adult...

“... I was just thinking this was a little strange.”

Noel paid no heed to his expression and spoke with narrowed eyes.

“Didn't you deliberately get yourself kidnapped?”

“...”

“It's not as if you can't fight.”

“...”

He had been caught.

As Aiden smiled awkwardly, Noel sighed and swept back her hair.

“What would you have done if this had turned into something truly serious?”

“I trusted that you'd come save me from the start. I believed in you, Lady Noel...”

... She rapped him on the head.

Had she struck him with all her strength, he would have at least been knocked unconscious, so it was practically a rebuke telling him not to talk nonsense. Still, it hurt.

As Aiden rubbed his head, Noel fixed him with a fierce glare and spoke coldly.

“Who in the world makes plans based on harming themselves? You need to value yourself more...”

... Her lecture went on for quite a while.

By the time his raised arms were starting to go numb, Noel had thankfully recovered enough composure to let him sit down.

“... At least you didn't get hurt for nothing. We arrested the entire criminal gang using that place as a base. That's fortunate.”

“What about the evidence?”

What mattered was proof that they had been acting under orders from the Prince and the Minister of Administration.

Fortunately, Noel's faint smile suggested there was no bad news.

“You needn't worry. It felt like we'd struck gold.”

“If I hadn't gotten captured to draw their attention and call Lady Noel over, we wouldn't have caught them so cleanly...”

The moment Aiden sensed the temperature in Noel's gaze dropping, he shut his mouth.

It was the sort of social instinct that had kept his long criminal career accident-free.

“... Anyway.”

Noel held her forehead as she continued.

“The trial date has been set. We can reveal everything properly there.”

“How many days from now?”

“Two days.”

They had set it awfully soon.

It meant they intended to face them openly, without the slightest thought of backing down.

“Mr. Aiden, this is probably a trap.”

“...”

“There's no way they don't know we acquired this evidence. Yet they agreed to a trial date so casually. That means they must have prepared something else.”

Aiden could not help agreeing with Noel.

-System Message

▶ The Main Quest entry has been updated.

▶ The contents of ‘Quest: Fake Marriage’ have been updated.

-Quest Info

♠ Main Quest

◈ Act 1, <Imperial Capital Rift>

- Chapter 1, <Ghost Knight Incident>

▶ Subjugation Battle (D-2)

◈ Fake Marriage

- You have been chosen as Lady Noel's spouse. Maintain your contract with the other party to the end!

- A related event will occur soon. (D-2)

The window appearing before him supported that theory.

After the Main Quest, even the matter involving Lady Noel had been updated. There was not a single thing he could disregard.

Two days from now, during the Harvest Festival, in a place packed with people.

The Lord Protector's spirit would surely reveal itself again.

“...”

Aiden tapped his chin as he sank into thought.

He did not know how it would unfold, but considering the place and timing, it was bound to become a major incident.

Knowing the Prince's nature, it was unlikely to be a method that would cause heavy casualties. Still, either way, it would definitely put Aiden and Noel in a difficult position.

“Tell them we agree to the date as well.”

“...”

Noel blinked blankly.

“Did you even hear what I just said?”

“Yes.”

There was nothing more foolish than knowingly walking into a trap.

But...

“I know it's a trap. We'll break through it head-on.”

“...”

“They aren't the only ones who can prepare in advance.”

They simply needed to make preparations of their own, assuming that was the case.

If they let this drag on, only the other side would benefit. They would fabricate all sorts of rebuttals to the evidence Aiden's side had gathered.

The problem was...

‘... Her.’

Aiden sighed inwardly and glanced at Noel, who was looking at him with concern.

He had personally seen the extent of her strength not long ago, but receiving Noel's help in fighting the Lord Protector was practically impossible. It would be fortunate if she could keep her sanity intact.

In other words, he had to get through the subjugation battle without her.

‘Katia will help, but...’

The Lord Protector had originally been a monster only slightly weaker than Noel. The real problem was that the quest would make her even stronger.

Aiden did not know the extent of that enhancement, but a horrifying level of difficulty was inevitable.

‘... Fortunately.’

He had thought of one method to deal with her.

And there was someone he could ask about it.

“It seems you have another scheme in mind. Are you making plans in advance again?”

“If you want to do anything safely, you have to prepare diligently.”

After all, living as a criminal without getting caught even once was impossible without that level of preparation. To Aiden, it was nothing special.

Noel let out a dumbfounded sigh at his casual answer.

“If you'd put that effort toward something more enterprising, you would've become successful long ago.”

“... I don't particularly want to become successful.”

It would be enough if he could make a living with his family. He had never wanted more than that, neither then nor now.

As Aiden muttered that with a bitter smile, Noel suddenly spoke as though something had occurred to her.

“Oh, Mr. Aiden.”

“Yes?”

“... Um, what are your family members like?”

Aiden blinked blankly.

“What do you mean, what are they like?”

“What they like or dislike, things like that...”

The way she trailed off and avoided his gaze was rather suspicious.

Aiden tilted his head and answered.

“... Why are you asking?”

“... I, I was thinking of sending them gifts.”

“Ah, gifts...”

... Out of nowhere?

“My father would like any kind of alcohol, really. As for my younger sister... she's still young. She likes anything children like.”

Despite that thought, Aiden narrowed his eyes and answered obediently.

‘She wouldn't do anything bad.’

At least, considering how she had treated him so far, the odds of that were extremely low.

“... Then that's where I should try to earn some points.”

“Points?”

“Ah, it's nothing.”

“...?”

What was that supposed to mean?

▣

“Let's sort this out.”

Within the Mindscape, Meyer spoke bluntly while continuing their usual idyllic, harmonious “sparring” session by beating Aiden to a pulp.

... Honestly, Aiden wanted to stop dying so often. Yet Meyer appeared in his dreams every night to beat him up, saying it would all become useless the moment he lost sensation. Aiden wondered if the man ever got tired.

Still, it was fortunate that he could ask Meyer about countermeasures against the Lord Protector.

“So you need some form of attack that can land an effective hit on a knight with power among the highest in the Empire.”

“Yes. I need to subdue her in one go.”

Ability Imbuement, which combined Ki, Divine Power, and Spiritual Power into a single strike, had enough force to take Katia out in one hit before. But it was not enough on its own, especially if his goal was to subdue the target immediately.

Even then, Katia had spent a great deal of strength fighting Noel, and Aiden had only seen results after using the Hellfire Bomb and landing the attack on a vital point.

That alone would never be enough for a boss battle.

He needed far greater firepower to achieve that goal.

“Absolutely not.”

... It was understandable that Meyer would say so with certainty, but it was still frustrating.

At Meyer's scoffing response, Aiden complained.

“No, Senior.”

It was a strange experience to continue speaking with everything above his nose turned to mush, but Meyer's words were more important.

“Weren't you one of the strongest ability users of your generation? Please help me.”

“Even the strongest person of a generation isn't omnipotent. Do you have no shame?”

Meyer scoffed as he flicked the blood from his blade.

“Your skills have become somewhat useful, but that only means you can hold your own against ordinary superhumans. People who've fought on real battlefields could fillet someone like you with their eyes closed.”

“... Not long ago, I beat several regular knights one-sidedly.”

“Ah, did you? Then have you ever even managed to land one attack on me?”

“...”

“And I'm not even using any special abilities.”

... What a damned forebear.

It was even more infuriating because he was not wrong.

Aiden rose to his feet as he felt the parts cut away above his nose begin to regenerate.

It was perfect timing, since he could now make a more earnest expression.

“... Even so, I'm in a position where I have to squeeze something out, even if there's nothing.”

If he did not defeat that opponent, there was no way out of the Main Quest. And Meyer was the only one Aiden could rely on right now.

Meyer was the only other person who shared Aiden's trait of being able to wield multiple abilities.

“To begin with, even if I somehow made an attack capable of landing an effective hit and put it in your hands, could you even land it?”

It was not an entirely misplaced concern.

Considering the Lord Protector bore the title of Noel's teacher, it was not merely a matter of having an attack. Landing it would also be a problem.

The gap would not be limited to the specifications of their techniques. There would be an enormous difference in combat skill as well.

But...

“Yes.”

He could land it.

At least, he was confident of that.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I'll find a way.”

“...”

“I'm the type who's strong in real combat.”

Meyer looked at him as though asking whether he was joking, but Aiden met his gaze with confidence.

Well, it was do or die. If he failed to land it, the quest would fail and he would die anyway.

‘... And it's not an empty claim that I'm strong in real combat.’

Considering his list of skills, it was undoubtedly true.

It would not be difficult for his abilities to explode upward if enough conditions were attached.

“... Well, confidence is good, but I still don't see a way.”

“Ah, don't be like that. I read the records about you, Senior. You always grew at an absurd rate. At least tell me your secret.”

“I was simply a genius. I made up for it with talent.”

“...”

Aiden was left speechless for a moment by the self-praise that came out without even a blink.

No, it was too soon to give up.

At least, he knew how to handle people.

“Yes. That's why I'm asking you.”

“...”

“You're a genius, Senior.”

“...”

“The greatest genius. You effortlessly do what others cannot.”

“...”

“Ah, honestly, you can do it, right? Of course the Dawn Knight would...”

“How much empty flattery are you going to spout?”

“...”

Even as he said that, the corners of Meyer's mouth were twitching.

... It did not seem as though he failed to realize Aiden was using those words to coax him along. Yet it was clear that the word genius meant enough to him that he was falling for it despite knowing.

That was even more apparent when Meyer spent a long time thinking, unlike when he had first heard Aiden's request.

“If it's a workaround, I might be able to use it.”

“A workaround?”

“But there are conditions.”

Meyer spoke in a serious voice.

“Do you know how people who use multiple abilities can do that?”

“I don't know...?”

“Neither do I.”

“...”

Was this man joking?

But the explanation that followed made it clear that was not why he had brought it up.

“They're all different. There are people like me who break through with pure talent, people born with noble bloodlines, or people who borrow the power of divine artifacts. They all have their own basis. A trait unique to them that others don't have.”

“So?”

“I can't give you some kind of enlightenment, but if we can dig into that... we might find a way forward.”

Meyer scratched his cheek before adding,

“But you're rather unusual.”

“Yes?”

“You feel like someone who just somehow stumbled into wielding those abilities.”

“...”

“Wielding multiple abilities is a privilege reserved for the chosen. You're granted the authority of multiple gods. So the people who can usually wield them are all extraordinary enough that it wouldn't seem strange for them to handle such things.”

After taking a breath, Meyer delivered his conclusion with a sigh.

“Honestly, I can't even guess why someone with nothing to their name like you can wield them. That's why I can't help you.”

“...”

... Setting aside the rudeness for the moment.

Aiden understood why Meyer was troubled.

Fortunately, Aiden could think of one way to explain it clearly to him.

“... There is someone.”

“What?”

“Someone who can explain why.”

There really was.

Someone had told him something related not long ago.

A voice passed through Aiden's mind.