Ossan Saikyō Chapter 7 Part 02
“Intrusive as it may be to ask, what kind of relationship have you formed with Lady Freynil, Soushi-dono? If possible, I would like you to start from how you first met.”
In what appeared to be his office, the Viscount opened the conversation like that.
“Understood. When I first came to the town of Euron…”
I had nothing to hide, so I told him everything honestly. When I described how we first met, the Viscount seemed somewhat moved, muttering, “Poor thing…”
“I see. Then it is only natural that Lady Freynil has become so attached to you, Soushi-dono. And what are your intentions regarding her?”
“My intention is to continue adventuring together as members of the same party. She possesses extremely high ability as a member, and I believe she will become an excellent adventurer in the future.”
“Well, yes, but… that’s not what I meant. At your age… you understand what I’m getting at, don’t you?”
“Ah… you meant it in that sense. Given the difference in our ages, I don’t believe we would become involved as a man and woman.
…
However, it is true that she has developed a degree of dependence on me. I believe her behavior stems from that.”
At that, the Viscount scratched his head; an un-noble gesture, likely a remnant of his days as an adventurer.
“My gut tells me you’re someone I can trust, Soushi-dono. But if I say that without any basis, Anatolia would probably chew me out.”
His sudden casual tone caught me off guard. Perhaps this was his true self.
“And if I told Lady Freynil to stay away from you, she might just get bedridden. That’s probably a skill, you know. Have you realized it?”
“Huh? No, I wasn’t aware…”
“There are some skills that manifest only under very specific conditions. One of them is called【Devotion】. Basically, it’s this bizarre thing where your abilities increase by depending on a specific person.”
“Such a thing exists?”
“Apparently. It’s about as rare as『Divine』attribute. Otherwise, there’s no way an E-rank adventurer could use magic effective even against B-rank monsters.”
“That makes sense. Then does that mean her dependence is being amplified by that skill?”
“Possibly. Though whether the skill came first or the feelings did… nobody knows.”
“I see… In that case, all the more reason for us to continue working together for now. While her abilities are heightened, we should strengthen her skills as much as possible, and once she’s capable of operating independently, let her decide her own path.”
“Yeah… I could have her train under Anatolia to make her stronger, but I can’t keep her here myself. Still, Soushi-dono… even after hearing all this, you intend to stay with Lady Freynil?”
“About that — Could you tell me, within what you’re allowed to disclose, like the situation she’s in? How I handle things will depend on that.”
At my request, the Viscount let out a sigh and scratched his head again.
“Fair enough. I’ll tell you what I can.”
What he explained was as follows:
First, Freynil is the daughter of a highly distinguished noble house.
Second, Freynil was a candidate to become a Saint of the Aashram Church.
Third, Freynil was caught in a power struggle between her noble house and the church, and was exiled under the pretext of her Awakening.
“The last part is my conjecture, but I’m almost certain.”
“But… did her parents simply allow that to happen?”
“There were various circumstances… Lady Freynil’s mother passed away a few years ago. And of course, her father has taken multiple wives… so, you see.”
I see.
Nobles being polygamous was understandable, and it likely meant someone was scheming to make their own bloodline the heir. Normally, as a girl, Freynil wouldn’t be the heir, but her status as a Saint candidate probably complicated things.
Still… Freynil as a Saint. It fit her appearance quite perfectly, but life really does take unexpected turns. In that sense, she’s not so different from me.
“Actually,【Divine Magic】carries great significance in the Aashram faith. If it became known, Lady Freynil could be elevated again as a Saint candidate. And if that happens, those who cast her out won’t stay silent.”
“I understand… I can grasp her situation now. However, unless I know which noble house it is, we might unknowingly enter their territory.”
“What, planning to travel around different dungeons?”
“Yes. As adventurers, we aim to become as strong as possible.”
“Hah, people who say that so easily are rare these days.”
After a brief pause, the Viscount scratched his head again before speaking.
“The House of Duke Armand. Lady Freynil carries Royal blood.”
◇◆◇
After receiving a modest special reward, we were taken by carriage from the Viscount’s mansion back to in front of the Guild.
Naturally, we drew some attention when we stepped out of the carriage, but that couldn’t be helped.
After all, I had defeated a Boss equivalent, the Headless Soldier and being summoned by the Viscount wasn’t entirely strange.
“Soushi-dono, I’m counting on you.”
That’s what Anatolia said upon parting, but her gaze was so sharp it felt like it meant, “Do anything funny and I’ll cut you in half”. Not that I had any intention of doing so.
“Whew… that was nerve-wracking. Never thought becoming an adventurer would lead to being invited into a noble’s house.”
As Rani said that, Freynil lowered her gaze.
“I’m sorry… it’s because of me…”
“Huh!? If anything, I feel lucky! It’s not a place you’d ever normally get to see.”
“Really…?”
“Yeah, yeah. But Freynil being a no-! Mmpgh!?”
I quickly clamped a hand over Rani’s mouth before she could blurt something dangerous in the middle of the street. My【Reflex】skill was the MVP.
“Don’t say that out loud. Let’s head back to the inn and talk about what to do next.”
Rani nodded repeatedly, so I let go. Freynil looked a little envious, but I pretended not to notice.
Back at the inn, I called the two of them into the room.
After explaining things (though I left out the finer details about Freynil), Rani crossed her arms and nodded.
“So basically, we just have to make sure no one finds out Freynil can use【Divine Magic】, right?”
“That’s about it. Ideally, it would also be best if people didn’t know she’s Freynil at all, but…”
“We can’t fake names on adventurer cards, so that part’s unavoidable, right?”
As Rani said, adventurer cards apparently couldn’t use aliases due to some unknown system. So at the very least, it was impossible to hide the name Freynil from Guild staff. The only saving grace was that her surname Armand seemed to have been erased after her exile.
“Right. The best we can do is change how we address her in daily life.”
“Yeah… something short would be better in a pinch. How about Fray?”
When Rani suggested it, Freynil gave a small nod.
“Yes, please call me that.”
“Then it’s decided.”
And just like that, we settled on a loose plan for handling Freynil’s identity. The most important thing was avoiding territories close to the Armand Ducal house, but as long as no one found out about her【Divine Magic】, things should be manageable.
If those who saw her as a nuisance truly intended harm, they would have eliminated her from the start instead of merely exiling her.
“So, Soushi, what’s next?”
“Now that we’re D-rank, we’ll start entering D-class dungeons. There are two here in Euron and one in nearby Tolson — we’ll start with those.”
As I answered Rani, I found myself thinking back to the large-scale subjugation mission.
At the Viscount’s mansion, I hadn’t been able to ask about the individuals who likely set up those Summoning Monoliths.
But if humans were involved in the appearance of undead monsters, there had to be some kind of motive. Given the scale of something like an undead stronghold, it could be an organized conspiracy; possibly even political.
It was unlikely that a single adventurer party like ours would get directly entangled in something like that… but if it came to battle, we could still be indirectly dragged in.
Either way, we’d need even more strength than we have now to protect ourselves.
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E/N:
Feel like Viscount Barius and Ossan would hit it off as bosom buddies and go out for drinking or something 😂
Stay tuned!
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