Kays Translations

Chapter 26: The Bag Traveler’s Interest.

Ren stood before the gate of the Imperial Military Academy’s girls’ dormitory.

Escorting Fiona all the way there might attract attention, but she said she did not mind. Ren therefore accompanied her to the building itself.

“Thank you, Ren.”

The marquis’s daughter bowed reluctantly. The end of their time together left her wishing she could delay the farewell.

Ren would return to Elendil rather than remain at Arnea Inn.

Fiona knew that keeping him any longer would only inconvenience him.

“Lady Fiona?”

She had just turned toward the dormitory when Ren called after her.

“There’s something in your hair.”

“Eh? Where?”

“Over there… No, farther to the right.”

“…?”

Fiona tilted her head from side to side and touched her hair, unable to find the object.

When her confusion deepened, Ren reached toward her.

“Excuse me.”

He gently removed what had become caught among the strands.

A leaf remaining on one of the roadside trees had apparently fallen onto her head.

Ren tossed it away and smiled.

“It was only a leaf.”

His expression was so gentle that Fiona wanted to continue looking at it forever.

“Th-Thank you…!”

She had no idea when the leaf had landed there.

That detail no longer mattered. Ren’s unexpected closeness filled her with happiness and embarrassment.

“Um!”

As they were about to part, Fiona gathered her courage and stopped him.

Ren had already turned away from the dormitory.

“Yes? What is it?”

“Do you… have any plans for winter break?”

“Plans for winter break…”

Ren considered the question.

He wanted to visit the Lion’s Holy Office and improve his swordsmanship. He also intended to train against monsters, refine his Arts, and study for the examinations scheduled shortly after the holiday.

In other words, he would probably spend the entire break in Elendil.

“That should be about it.”

Fiona’s expression brightened.

“Then… may I visit you occasionally?”

“Of course. I’ll gladly keep you company whenever you come.”

Ren answered without hesitation.

Joy spread across Fiona’s cheeks. She almost performed a small celebratory dance, but cleared her throat and corrected her posture in time.

“I’m sorry for stopping you! Then… good night!”

She bowed deeply and entered the dormitory with light steps.

Ren remained until she disappeared from sight.

At the entrance, Fiona stopped and looked back. She had expected him to be gone, but when she saw him still watching, she waved happily before finally going inside.

Ren left the girls’ dormitory but did not head toward the station.

Instead, he followed the familiar road to the Imperial Military Academy.

Only a handful of instructors remained at that hour. Students were forbidden to enter without a special reason.

Ren approached because someone was waiting for him outside.

“I’ve heard everything. You had a difficult day.”

Radius, the Third Prince and Ren’s closest friend, leaned against the wall surrounding the academy.

“Where are your guards?” Ren asked.

“Estelle is nearby. If anyone attempts to attack, she will capture them instantly.”

“For a moment, I considered attacking you as a joke.”

Estelle’s voice came from the shadows.

“Under what charge am I supposed to arrest Ren for playing with you?”

“That’s a fair question.”

Ren laughed and stood beside Radius.

His body had been worked hard throughout the day. He exhaled and rested his back against the wall.

Dark circles surrounded Radius’s eyes.

“You haven’t been sleeping much?”

“…For the last several days, I’ve managed only three hours each night. I’ve been drinking large bottles of potion like a man drowning himself in alcohol.”

“That sounds awful. Try not to collapse.”

“I expected you to tell me to rest.”

“I could, but you wouldn’t listen. Telling you not to collapse is at least slightly more useful.”

“Indeed. That is reasonable.”

“I’m still curious why you haven’t been sleeping.”

Radius hesitated, then dismissed the question with, “Another time.”

Ren did not press him.

“There’s something I wanted to ask you too,” Ren said.

“What?”

“The factional situation. Airia is practically House Leonaal’s greatest treasure, and the Hero Faction is celebrating.”

“What brought this on? I thought you had no interest in factional disputes.”

“I have no desire to participate in them. I also never want House Clausel dragged into another struggle. But I wondered what you think about everything happening now.”

Radius smiled faintly.

“A shield wielded by one of the Seven Heroes was discovered. Is that not wonderful?”

The answer was sincere.

Radius felt genuine happiness over the good fortune granted to the Seven Hero Houses at the center of the Hero Faction.

“If the people of our empire are pleased, then I am pleased. That is all.”

“The factional consequences are still troublesome.”

“Certainly. That is why I cannot ignore them.”

“Is the Imperial Faction planning something?”

“Planning is not quite the word. We have already begun moving in several directions—primarily through my efforts.”

“Is that connected to what you mentioned before, and to how busy you’ve been?”

“Yes. I will explain it to you eventually. Please wait a little longer.”

Much of history had already changed, but Ren tried to remember what Radius had done during this period in Legend of the Seven Heroes.

Nothing came to mind.

Instead, the memory brought pain.

In the game’s history, Radius was abducted and killed during this very winter.

“I hear House Leonaal is preparing a gathering unlike anything held in recent years,” Radius said. “Every current head of the Seven Hero Houses will attend.”

“Ah… Yes. That should happen.”

“What is wrong? You suddenly sound uncertain.”

Ren told him it was nothing.

After a short pause, Radius moved the conversation to the Imperial Faction.

“Ulysses apparently believes he has not exercised enough lately. He sent me a ridiculous letter suggesting that our faction counter the Hero Faction by taking a long trip somewhere and holding a party.”

“A long trip? Where would you go?”

“I cannot imagine, but surely not somewhere like the Baldor Mountains.”

Ren stared at him.

“You and Lord Ulysses should never go there together. Absolutely not.”

The Baldor Mountains, Ulysses, and Radius formed a combination with far too many ominous associations.

The conversation was a joke, yet Ren’s smile froze for an instant.

“I should return soon,” he said.

“Yes. It has become late.”

Estelle, who had avoided interrupting them, stepped closer.

“Ren, shall I have one of my subordinates escort you to Elendil?”

“I’ll be fine. I don’t think I’m weak enough to require an escort.”

“Kuku. Quite true. Any attackers would probably be the ones to flee.”

Ren parted from Radius and Estelle and began the journey back to Elendil.

As he traveled, his thoughts returned to the event triggered by discovering Hero Equipment.

“…The event after finding one of the relics.”

It belonged to a side quest in which the player searched for the equipment of the Seven Heroes.

Even by Legend of the Seven Heroes II, the game had not explained why their weapons and armor slept in scattered locations. Players naturally assumed some hidden reason existed.

Hero Equipment was also a collection of priceless historical relics.

These were the arms carried by heroes who defeated the Demon King. The discovery of even one was an event of enormous importance.

Neither Ren and Radius nor Licia’s group at Arnea had spoken with excessive solemnity, yet Airia’s appearance had caused a sensation throughout Leomel.

The games could not depict every social and political consequence.

Leaving those matters aside, Ren remembered a specific scene.

“Let’s keep working hard, Vayne.”

“Yes!”

It occurred during the party in House Leonaal’s territory.

Afterward, while the group traveled through that territory, a Demon King cult attack could occur at a random time and place.

It was an event battle, so the party could not lose.

Its purpose was to demonstrate the overwhelming power of Airia after Kaito obtained it.

The group only needed to repel the powerful monsters sent by the cult, after which the event awarded experience and ended.

Ren barely remembered the details. As a player, he had repeatedly attempted to kill the monsters rather than merely drive them away.

They were far too strong for enemies appearing without warning and carried an ominous sense of importance, making him determined to try.

Like every other player, he had failed to defeat them.

“I have to warn them.”

He could not remain silent about the danger.

The problem was how to explain it.

Simply claiming that an attack might occur would persuade no one, and Ren lacked the authority to move powerful adults based on unsupported fears.

Still, he believed he could find some method of communicating the warning.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

One of Old Town’s sealed doors had been opened.

Another day of investigation, centered on Ragna’s laboratory within the Bureau of Mysteries, was drawing to a close.

“Director, it is nearly time.”

“I’ll come shortly. Wait outside.”

Ragna was sometimes called Director and sometimes Doctor.

More than ten years had passed since his own school days.

He had not attended the prestigious Imperial Military Academy, but an ordinary school in an unremarkable provincial city.

Influenced by his parents, Ragna became interested in archaeology and related fields while still a student.

His research gradually centered on the era of the Seven Heroes.

In truth, however, the heroes themselves interested him very little.

Countless legends—true and false—already surrounded them, and the continued existence of the Seven Hero Houses made studying their lives feel insufficiently challenging.

Ragna now stood inside the rear chamber of Geno Orphanage, where the mural had been found.

Magic-tool lights illuminated the painting.

He stared at the girl depicted upon it.

“There is no doubt.”

He recognized the story.

It was a myth describing the creation of the world, beginning in an age before the very concepts of light and darkness existed.

Before the world began, there was a girl.

She possessed no name and did not understand why she existed. She simply was.

Alone in an empty space, the girl hugged her knees and trembled with loneliness.

After enduring a span of time that felt endless, she finally learned to cry.

Her tears drifted through the void and began to shine.

The first light she had ever seen illuminated the emptiness each time another tear fell.

Ripples spread outward without end.

Where nothing had existed, green land appeared. Flowers bloomed, and a deep blue sky stretched into infinity.

A vast sea began to move beneath the brilliant sunlight that now warmed the girl.

A small spring formed where she had crouched.

The girl scooped water into both hands and scattered it.

The droplets reflected the sunlight and sparkled as they danced through the air. Their brilliance intensified and gave birth to four sisters.

They became the Four Goddesses of the Beginning, absolute beings who received the world’s deepest worship.

And the first girl was—

“Creator Goddess Alice. Geno chose an unusually ancient deity for his mural.”

Only a few places in the modern world still enshrined gods older than all others.

Over the course of history, Elfen became the central object of worship, and stories of these ancient deities grew rare.

The influence of the war gods who established the Sword King Rankings also contributed to their decline.

That was the relevant fragment of the old myth.

After recalling it, Ragna promptly lost interest in the painting.

Something else fascinated him far more.

“This may be the first time in my life that I’ve felt such excitement.”

Still speaking to himself, he left the small chamber.

He passed the researchers working in the hall.

The Shelgadian who endlessly pursued wisdom glanced once more toward the door, then continued outside.

Only faint starlight reached the submerged streets of Old Town. Every stronger light around him came from a magic tool.

As Ragna slowly left the orphanage grounds, one researcher approached.

“Director, who opened the seal?”

“Someone occupying a special position. As stipulated by the imperial law so often praised as magnificent, that information falls under the Bureau of Mysteries’ confidentiality obligations. No one but the responsible director has the right to know. Do not investigate it.”

“Understood.”

The researchers gathered near the library.

Ragna stood slightly apart with his back against an old wall and looked toward Geno Orphanage.

Then he recited a passage.

“‘The traveler who fought the Phoenix said: I am accustomed to dealing with children. I have often helped a friend and played with the children. As though proving his words, the hero called the traveler cradled the infant in his arms.’”

It was an insignificant old tale preserved only in part of the Shelgad Empire.

Stories of the hero who fought the Phoenix existed throughout Shelgad, and some regions retained minor episodes like the one Ragna had quoted.

“…Something about this troubles me. Why could Ren open a door that had never opened? And why did he mention Adventurer Ashton?”

The Shelgadian who pursued romance and wisdom could not stop considering the question.

He thought of the old Sky Continent tale, the orphanage, and the name Ren had left behind.

Perhaps every part of the story was connected.

“It appears worth investigating.”

Ragna returned to the Bureau of Mysteries.

After making minimal preparations, he told his subordinates only:

“I’ll be away for a little while. I have something to investigate.”

“We can finally enter the orphanage. Is this truly the time to leave?”

“Another matter caught my interest. I’ll return as soon as possible. Continue the work carefully. If any of you damage the mural, I will rage about it for the next seventy years.”

“Understood… although most of us will have died of old age by then.”

His wording was severe, but his tone remained ordinary, and the researchers laughed.

Ragna had personally interviewed every member of his laboratory. He trusted their work completely; mixing threats with humor was simply one of his habits.

His results consistently exceeded expectations, so the Bureau rarely objected when he disappeared without warning.

That night, searching for new wisdom and romance, Ragna adjusted his familiar robe and raised the enormous bag onto his back.

He once again looked exactly like the traveler described in rumors.

“Time to go.”

He left the Bureau of Mysteries alone.

Less than one month remained before he reached a certain piece of information.

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