Kays Translations

Chapter 6: The One Who Leads the Black Knights

Licia planned to shop with Sera before returning home.

The Imperial Military Academy didn’t forbid students from making stops or buying food on the way home. Naturally, conduct that damaged the academy’s dignity would be dealt with appropriately, but there was no need to worry about those two.

That was why Ren had gone alone that evening to Werlich’s workshop in the blacksmith district.

“For the next set of armor, I’m planning around how much more your body is likely to grow.”

Werlich had long been working on armor made from Asval’s horn.

Ren occasionally visited the workshop to discuss its progress.

“Sorry your armor keeps getting pushed back.”

“It doesn’t bother me. I’m the one who asked you to prioritize repairing the magic ship Lemuria. Besides, you said it yourself, Werlich.”

“Oh? What did I say?”

“You’re still searching for monster materials for my next set of armor, aren’t you?”

“That’s right. I even had to talk to that brat Ulysses, but we’re finally about to get what I need.”

“So you can begin once the materials arrive?”

“You bet. After making you wait this long, I’ll produce something that can stand beside the Flame King’s Gauntlet. Look forward to armor made by yours truly. —All right! Time for me to head to the Hanging Garden and work on Lemuria!”

Werlich slapped a bicep almost as large as a child’s head and flashed a broad grin.

“You’re starting repairs now? The sun is already setting!”

“New parts are arriving. A man wants to see anything new as soon as possible.”

“I understand completely.”

Ren nodded at once and left the workshop with Werlich.

Werlich locked the door, yawned, and set off with long strides.

Ren followed behind him.

“So, how’s the academy?”

“Ordinary. I attend my classes like any other student.”

“That’s it? Don’t you have a more student-like story?”

“What sort of story were you expecting?”

“Swordsmanship classes, for example. How are those?”

“They should begin soon.”

Several classes didn’t start immediately after enrollment, and swordsmanship was one of them.

New students had a surprising number of other matters to handle first.

“Hmm… Still, you probably shouldn’t attend.”

“Huh? Why not?”

“It’d be a waste of time. In the Special Class, good exam results are enough to keep you out of trouble. You’d be better off skipping swordsmanship and studying another subject on your own.”

Ren trained regularly at the Lion’s Holy Office, so an ordinary swordsmanship class was unlikely to teach him anything new.

The same was undoubtedly true for Licia.

“You’d be more useful on the teaching side.”

“No, teaching is difficult in its own way. What would you do if the government asked you to teach your craft to younger smiths?”

“Gaa-ha-ha-ha! Impossible, and pointless! There’s no way I could teach anyone anything!”

“I don’t know what would happen in practice, but I suspect I’m much the same.”

Ren was naturally attentive to others, however, so it was difficult to insist he could never teach.

In any case, he was a student; no one would place him in that role.

Werlich suddenly looked up at the sky.

“Come to think of it, they’ll be back soon.”

He abruptly changed the subject.

“Have you heard that the troops are returning from the Martell Continent?”

“Not at all. This is the first I’ve heard that Leomel had forces deployed there.”

The Martell Continent lay immediately east of the Elfen Continent.

It was smaller than Elfen, and most of its countries were tiny by comparison. Conflict was common there.

Players had never been able to visit it during the game, so that was nearly all the information the game itself provided. Since coming to this world, however, Ren had learned more through exam preparation and other opportunities.

He had studied its languages, the proportions of its different peoples, and various other details.

“Why did Leomel send troops there?”

“A humanitarian mission dispatched by the Holy Land got caught in a regional conflict—base and all. The Holy Land requested reinforcements, so Leomel sent troops to earn goodwill from both the Holy Land and its central sanctuary, the Silver Holy Palace of Nodias.”

“How long were they deployed?”

“They left shortly before you moved here. About a year and ten months, I think. The force numbered only a few dozen—roughly one platoon.”

“That was the entire force?”

Ren couldn’t imagine what so few people were expected to accomplish in a conflict zone.

The answer became obvious as soon as Werlich continued.

“Every one of them is an elite from the Lion’s Holy Office. Sending them probably doubled as a little show of force.”

(That’s more than enough.)

“And the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office led them personally. With that woman present, a quarrel between small countries might have required only one soldier. The assignment lasted so long because she also handled negotiations with the different governments, not merely operations in the conflict zone.”

Ren’s brows shifted at the word Director.

“Even with special circumstances, someone of that rank remained outside the country for nearly two years.”

“Now that you mention it, that’s strange.”

Ren could have understood such an absence during a war of great importance, but this didn’t sound like one.

Something undisclosed might have required the long deployment, though Ren had only just heard the story and couldn’t yet imagine what it might be.

Whatever the reason, it caught his interest.

“You seem to know more about the boss lady than I expected.”

“Only her name and the stories about her strength.”

Even that knowledge came from the game, and Ren had to struggle to retrieve memories that had faded during fourteen years of living in this world.

One fact remained clear: the Director was monstrously powerful.

As he walked beside Werlich, Ren recalled what he knew.

—Estelle Osloes Drake, Director of the Lion’s Holy Office.

She bore the epithet Death-Eater and was regarded as Leomel’s strongest knight. Because the Sword Kings didn’t hold formal positions as knights, Estelle effectively stood at the pinnacle of the profession.

Her first appearance in the games came after the main story of Legend of the Seven Heroes I had ended.

Chronologically, the scene occurred during the winter of the protagonists’ first year—this coming winter, in Ren’s present timeline.

All descendants of the Seven Heroes appeared during the first game, but the younger group, which hadn’t yet enrolled, didn’t join the party. At that stage, the party consisted of the protagonists’ year and students one year above them.

After completing the main story, players generally focused on clearing side events, reaching the maximum level, and searching for missed items. Legend of the Seven Heroes offered extensive postgame content, including a hidden event after the ending.

The event’s condition was completion of every side story in Legend of the Seven Heroes I.

After school, the player approached the dean’s office and heard a woman’s voice from inside.

‘I should be going. His Majesty has summoned me.’

‘See you again, Estelle.’

The woman who emerged from the office was Estelle.

The other voice clearly belonged to Chronois, but this was the first moment players learned Estelle existed.

Estelle merely glanced at the protagonists before leaving, so they didn’t speak.

At the conclusion of the event, the player obtained the achievement ‘Hero’s Descendant,’ marking the true completion of Legend of the Seven Heroes I.

Estelle’s next appearances came in Legend of the Seven Heroes II.

After the incidents surrounding Ren Ashton began, she independently pursued both the Demon King cult and Ren, separate from the protagonist’s party. Several events involved the party meeting and speaking with her.

She was neither enemy nor ally, but her stated strength was extraordinary.

Players had expected Legend of the Seven Heroes III to reveal the full extent of her power.

“Ren, why’d you suddenly go quiet?”

“Sorry. I was wondering what kind of person she is.”

“Knew it. So, Ren—would you like to meet Estelle?”

“I’m not sure how I feel about that, but she doesn’t sound like someone I could meet easily in the first place— Wait. You’ve called her ‘the boss lady’ several times, Werlich.”

“Estelle is one of my clients. She’ll probably come to my workshop as soon as she gets back. Even if she doesn’t, you may run into her at the Lion’s Holy Office.”

Ren stared for a moment, then nodded in understanding.

Werlich’s skill required no explanation. It was hardly surprising that the Director of the Lion’s Holy Office was among the master craftsman’s clients.

“Well, if you meet her, make sure you introduce yourself properly.”

“I will.”

A dozen or so seconds of silence followed the end of the topic, during which Werlich yawned again.

He cast an appraising glance around the blacksmith district.

“This place will start getting lively again. It always does around the Lion King Grand Festival.”

“Doesn’t the festival administration provide the weapons and armor used in the competitions?”

“It does. I’m talking about the visitors. The Imperial Capital has plenty of famous smiths.”

Werlich pointed toward a street lined with some of the district’s most prestigious workshops.

Students still wandered there as they always had, and many nobles and other wealthy patrons were present. People who appeared to be early visitors from abroad had already begun to mingle among them.

“The popular shops are increasing their stock for festival visitors. Imagine how much work they’re doing!”

“It’s their best season for earning money. Unlike you, though—they actually work.”

“Gaa-ha-ha-ha! You’re starting to understand me, Ren! Good! I’ll give you the cooking knife I forged the other day. I made it on a whim, then remembered I never cook!”

“Thank you. I’m sure House Clausel’s head chef will be delighted.”

“Right! Bring it back whenever it needs sharpening!”

Several days later, House Clausel’s head chef would receive the knife and be astonished by the quality of the masterpiece—but that was another story.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

That night, a magic ship sailed through the sky toward Leomel.

Along the route, several vessels hovered in place. Special gangways connected them, allowing people to cross from ship to ship.

“We’ve been awaiting your return!”

“Welcome home! Beyond this point lies Leomel airspace!”

The greetings were directed at a tall woman by several Mighty Sword practitioners.

Ren was often surrounded by tall men, and although he wasn’t present, she stood nearly as tall as they did. Her voluminous scarlet hair fell almost to her waist and carried an air of elegance.

Her refined features held an indescribable strength and the unmistakable intensity peculiar to practitioners of the Mighty Sword Style.

She was Estelle Osloes Drake, Director of the Lion’s Holy Office.

The Office’s knights hadn’t seen her in a long time, and the force of her presence made them instinctively hold their breath.

“Thank you for coming to meet me. You’re the unit departing for the Martell Continent, I take it.”

Estelle wore a jet-black military coat so long it nearly brushed the deck, carrying it with effortless grace.

The night wind at that altitude caught the coat and spread it behind her like a pair of wings.

Previous chapter | TOC | Next chapter