207 – Doubt
After a night’s rest at home, we headed to the lake early in the morning.
“Here, here.”
I handed Excalibur to Vivian, who had gotten used to it by now.
I was a bit greedy as it was the most famous legendary sword in the world, but I quickly erased that thought from my head.
I’m not layered anyway, and I don’t have anything to use a sword for, so what can I do if I’m greedy for nothing? The information she needed to hear from Vivian was several times more valuable than that.
“I haven’t seen this sword in a long time.”
Vivian took the sword from me and carefully inspected it.
The legend of King Arthur is a story set in the era of at least 1,000 years ago. After seeing the sword he had seen again after a thousand years, the short review of long time no see ended. As expected, the transcendental concept of time far surpassed that of humans.
“By the way, what is that strange pattern on your chest?”
Bewildered by the unexpected question, I exclaimed in amazement, pointing at the mark Sherlock had left behind.
“See this!?”
“Of course you can see it.”
Yes. If you think about it, there was nothing strange about that.
It’s hard to feel it because she often showed a particularly servile appearance in front of her goddess, but it’s because Vivian was the fairy of the lake who handed Excalibur to King Arthur herself.
If you can see this mark, doesn’t that mean you might know how to get rid of it?
I carefully asked her with her pounding heart.
“Could you please remove it?”
“That’s it, it’s simple.”
Vivien replied in a carefree tone, cutting the Excalibur in her hand into the air. Then the crest, which had been shining green, split in half and disappeared.
“·······.”
I looked down at my chest, dumbfounded. It was only after she swiped it a few times with her hand that she realized that the pattern had really completely disappeared, and complicated emotions began to well up.
As expected, Excalibur. It is truly a skill worthy of a holy sword that appears in legends.
Or maybe Vivian is just a monster who can break human magic with one gesture.
Whatever it was, I couldn’t help but feel emptiness.
Was it a problem that could be solved this easily? If it was like that, what would happen to the mental stress that I was worried about while sleeping last night?
Yes. Let’s think good. Anyway, it’s good that the problem I was worried about was easily solved.
I received unexpected help, but the reward I originally planned to receive from Vivian was different.
Actually, that was also the reason I stole Excalibur while I was struggling.
“Now tell me what you promised.”
“Oh, was it about the god of time?”
Hayangi’s power to control time was said to be a power bestowed by God. In other words, the god of time was no different than the most important key to reveal the answer to the riddle, including magic engineering.
Unlike the way she was willing to remove the mark earlier, Vivian, who hesitated a little while rolling her eyes, sighed and touched her forehead.
“···Yes. I made a promise, so I have to let you know.”
Anyone who sees it seems reluctant to speak. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand.
She herself said last time that she could be punished for speaking the name of God to others.
But I had no intention of stepping down from here either. Even if you are hated by the god of time, it’s okay because the goddess will definitely protect you.
“Go to the ruined temple in Ireland.”
“A ruined temple…?”
“Hmm. It would be better for you to go and check it yourself than let me tell you. You’ll know right away when you get there.”
Also, she avoids directly mentioning the god of time.
She didn’t get the answer she wanted right away, but it was a good harvest. If you forcefully press Vivian any further than this, you might only get a reaction. I guess I’ll have to be satisfied with this level.
“You can really learn about God by going there, right?”
“I always keep my promises. I lent this sword as a bet with the Pendragon kid.”
I never thought there would be such a behind story. I just lost the bet and gave you Excalibur. There were many things I wanted to say, but I held back and bowed my head.
“Thank you.”
“Huh. It’s okay, so go away The more I get involved with you, the more tired things seem to happen. If you’re not looking for a horn, don’t come looking for me.”
“Yes. Okay.”
She let out a deep sigh in frustration and glanced at me. She mumbled her mouth as if to say something, and eventually, without saying a word, she slipped away into the lake.
Why does Vivian react like that? Is there any reason why I shouldn’t visit the god of time?
I was a little afraid, but my will was unchanging.
Above all else, the miserable end I will meet that the witch of prophecy and the goddess of fate spoke of. Because I wanted to know what it was.
It was dawn and the morning sun was rising.
Since I came out early in the morning, the tiredness hasn’t completely gone, but I can’t go back home.
Now that the mark on his chest was gone, it was time to go to the academy.
***
Today, I was actually not planning to go to the academy.
If you go there with the mark on it and run into Sharon, your identity will be exposed right away.
That’s why I stayed up all night wondering what to do with this.
As she said, this magic wasn’t a problem that could be solved with the passing of time.
She was eventually able to return to school safely, thanks to Vivian dispelling her magic with a single knife cut.
I went into class, sat down, and looked at Sharon. She, who was sitting in the seat in front of her, met her glance with mine and moved her gaze to the book without any reaction.
“…Huh.”
Fortunately, I didn’t seem to notice. Well, it’s not an ordinary human being, but a transcendental person who put his hand on it, so there’s no way he could see through it.
“Why are you suddenly sighing?”
Rachel, who appeared just in time, sat down next to me and started talking to her.
“What is a sigh?”
I was going to get over it and move on, but the guy started to laugh uncomfortably as he narrowed her eyes to see if he had no intention of just skipping over it.
“Have you seen everything? I made eye contact with Sharon, but he sighed because he looked away from the other side first.”
You saw that all along?
No, why are you asking after seeing it in the first place?
Rachel tries to ignore her because she doesn’t even feel it’s worth answering, so Rachel keeps poking her side with her elbow to annoy her.
From noble mtl dot com
“Hey. This sister knows everything, so just be honest. Are you so sad about being dumped by Sharon? She was very down. She sighed.”
“No. I like you.”
Stand tall. Rachel’s expression hardened as she suddenly stopped all her actions.
“It’s a joke.”
If you make fun of me like that, then you should accept what happens to you.
The reaction was more intense than expected, so he raised the corner of her mouth and laughed.
Then Rachel, her face flushed red, trembled at her, and she grabbed me by the collar and shook me wildly.
“Die! Just die!!”
“Billion! Ugh…”
I felt the threat to her life and tried to stop her, but only non-human words came out of her mouth.
‘How can a woman be so strong!?’
Fortunately, she was able to save her life thanks to Yulia who appeared in the middle and intervened. If it wasn’t for that, she might really be dead.
After Yulia calmed her Rachel down, she began to chatter, her eyes twinkling.
The subject of the talk is, of course…
“Did you hear that? The phantom thief appeared in the palace again last night!”
That was my story. She is the academy’s best model student and the eldest daughter of a great nobleman, but in fact she is the head of the Phantom Thief Followers, a group of fanatics who praise criminals. Who can really believe this?
No matter how much he talked about it, even the classmates now accepted Yulia’s talk about the phantom thief. Rachel, in particular, responded with an openly sullen attitude, as if she was fed up with her.
“What? I hadn’t heard of that. She wasn’t even in the papers.”
“Of course it is kept secret! If the news spreads that the palace has been robbed again, public sentiment will hit rock bottom!”
“But how do you know that top secret?”
“… Huh? That, that’s…”
Yulia was speechless.
I can give her that answer. She’s sincere in following my footsteps as a phantom thief follower. She was told that she actively uses her and the members’ abilities to gather rumors about me.
To be honest, at this point, it’s a bit scary. The transformation into a revolutionary organization was safely prevented, but the feeling of becoming a real pseudo-religious organization in return is just an illusion.
“But why isn’t Sharon coming?”
Yulia muttered anxiously as she looked at Sharon, who, unlike usual, sat down and read only her book.
Rachel, on the other hand, responded with a yawn as if she wasn’t particularly worried.
“Leave it alone. If I’m bored, I’ll come on my own.”
At those words, I stared at Sharon’s back.
No way…
You didn’t get caught…?