Chapter 35 – A Path Lit by Starlight

Shabel no longer threw a tantrum. She cleanly retreated.

She understood clearly the reason why the man before her rejected her offer.

Having heard his romantic ideals, it was only right to respect them.

“Still, if perchance, you wish to seek aid, find me at any time.”

“Are you saying you’d agree if I needed experience against someone wielding a sword?”

“Hahaha! Of course, I would! What difficulty is there in that!”

Shabel, who was repeatedly patting Deus’ shoulder, suddenly thrust her face forward.

“Which brings me to another matter.”

“Didn’t you give up on taking me as a disciple?”

“That, I have given up. What I propose is something different.”

Rummaging through her inner pocket, Shabel pulled something out and presented it forward.

A badge? A token? Whatever it was, one thing was certain.

“A skull, isn’t it.”

“Huh? Ah. Yes. It’s a skull.”

“….”

“…?”

So, what’s that supposed to mean? Is she perhaps showing off a skull emblem?

What? Could it be he doesn’t know what this token signifies? Seriously?!

The eyes of the two met briefly in the empty air.

“Hey. By chance, you don’t know what this is, do you?”

“No, I don’t.”

“…Are you even a Yorem student?”

“I’m still a freshman, and it’s early in the semester, so I don’t recall learning about something like this.”

No. I’m not asking about the curriculum. Honestly. This is absurd.

Scratching her head, Shabel tapped the token with her finger.

“It’s a symbol of the Special Task Force.”

“Aha.”

“*Aha*? What do you mean, *Aha*? This is unbelievable. I’ve never seen a power user who doesn’t know the symbol of the Special Task Force in my entire life.”

Well. I haven’t had any reason to see one, so it’s natural I wouldn’t know.

Deus made a face that seemed almost unfairly put-upon, and Shabel shrugged.

“Alright. When I think about it, someone as upright as you wouldn’t have cause to see something like this. Those who see these things are those who, despite receiving the ‘gift’ and obligation of their power, bring chaos to the world rather than stability and peace.”

The Special Task Force. Reapers who personally visit those who commit crimes with their abilities.

It’s not that they don’t handle gate and monster response duties at all.

But most of their work is the execution of power users who abandoned their obligations.

“You were part of the Special Task Force?”

“Of course! Do you think the Empire would let top-tier talent like me just laze around? Besides, with the strength I possess, I can easily take down even the most radical extremist.”

It’s a bit surprising that someone with your somewhat flimsy character is in a place like that, though.

“So. Why are you showing me the Special Task Force insignia?”

“Are you thinking of joining, perhaps? That’s what I want to ask.”

“As I mentioned, I…”

“I know. What you desire. Which is why I’m bringing up the Task Force.”

Ordinary ability users always work in parties, responding to gates.

But the Special Task Force is a little different. Each one of them is the equal of a decent party’s combat strength.

And they have to draw blood not from monsters, but from other beings of reason.

For that reason, they often operate alone.

Whether as reserves. Or as scouts. Whatever the case may be.

“I can’t promise anything, but if I were to ask, we could at least start a discussion.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to use that as an excuse to demand I become your student or some such thing?”

“How many times do I have to say no? Do I have to swear an oath?”

“That won’t be necessary.” Deus shook his head, lost in thought.

Special Task Force. The Special Task Force. If he could move alone, that wouldn’t be so bad, he mused.

In the first place, moving alone meant there were fewer direct restrictions, didn’t it?

“…However. Am I not still a student? A freshman, at that.”

“That’s true.”

“The empire’s established policy for ability users has always been that, no matter how gifted they are, individuals with insufficient skill in handling their abilities or a lack of field experience are only deployed after they’ve accumulated a certain period of experience. Isn’t that right?”

Shabel nodded at Deus’s question, agreeing.

But he continued, hinting that even that could change now.

“The unprecedented, large-scale gate manifestation. And, beyond it, the emergence of a new enemy.”

“…”

“Wouldn’t you say that warrants a change in the empire’s policy? That’s what I think, at least.”

*

—*Click*

Shabel closed the lounge door and quietly walked away.

He had said what needed to be said. And he had heard the answer he needed to hear.

Although it was a shame that the answer was a rejection, what could he do?

With such unwavering determination, it would be rude to try and persuade him further.

‘So that’s why my student’s eyes were shining so brightly. I understand now.’

Luciel Margrethel. His student. And also, the empire’s princess.

Nothing about her was trivial, and as such, her standards were extremely high.

No ordinary talent or mindset could even stimulate her.

And yet. Luciel was chattering like a girl again.

Seeing that, Shabel suddenly thought she resembled a girl who had fallen in first love.

‘Even *I* am this tempted to have him.’

The moment their swords clashed. No, the moment he met those eyes, he knew.

That young, or rather, *childish*, man was going to become the strongest that he had sought for so long.

Someday he would even surpass himself. And in doing so, would whip him forward!

How lonely he had been. How suffocated.

To be called the strongest meant to be alone. And to be alone, in the end, was to be solitary.

There was no one to spur one on. No one to compete against anymore.

He felt himself stagnating because of it.

He’d finally arrived at the romance of twin swords, but could go no further.

Frustrating, but what could he do? The time to break through this wall himself was a distant, hazy thing.

He might call them master and disciple, but it wasn’t the truth.

What he truly desired was someone to engage in good-natured rivalry for the sake of being the strongest.

That was why he’d so readily snatched up Luciel and made him his disciple.

“…Hmm.”

More importantly. Staring this openly at a person made it difficult to pretend one didn’t notice.

Suddenly, he turned. Then headed towards the flower bed in front of the break room.

Arriving there, Shavel stood before it and began to click his tongue.

“Hiding is meaningless before me, you know.”

There was no answer.

“Come out now.”

Even so, Shavel continued in a calm voice.

As if soothing a young child. Or perhaps a puppy.

“….”

—Rustle!

A moment later. From the bushes beyond the flower bed, someone stealthily emerged.

Her hair, a pinkish hue remarkably similar to the flowers blooming here and there, was striking.

“U-Um….”

“If you intended to eavesdrop, you should have been closer. And if not, you should have hidden further away. I am quite curious as to the reason for this in-between state.”

“I-I’m so sorry….”

Her expression was full of fear. But she still said what needed to be said.

Seeing that, Shavel stroked his chin before asking.

“What is your name?”

“Y-Yuricia….”

“Yuricia.”

Shavel repeated the name to himself for a moment before gesturing for Yuricia to come closer.

When she took a few steps forward, he gestured again. As if telling her to come even closer.

“I thought there was something odd about you.”

Shavel’s hand moved towards Yuricia’s head. Specifically, towards her ear.

Yuricia flinched, her body trembling as she reflexively tried to pull away.

Considering her usual demeanor, it was a highly unusual action.

“It’s alright, relax. Surely you don’t think I would harm you. Or even mock you.”

Shavel whispered, as if calming a wary puppy.

A moment later, Yuricia’s trembling subsided, and she moved her hand once more.

—Swish

“As I suspected. I was right.”

Even though it differed somehow from his own.

And was not entirely human, either. An ear, possessing a certain shape.

“A half? Or perhaps a quarter?”

“…My mother, she was an elf. Now, she has passed…”

“I see.”

The presence of other races within the Empire had been a fact of life since long ago.

Matters of who enslaved whom, who was subjugated, were tales from centuries past.

However. And yet. The number of those other races was insignificantly small compared to that of humans.

Inexorably, they became something *other*, forced into seclusion.

Wanting to mingle, yet ultimately aware of their difference, they grew passive.

“I, Sable, do not know you well.”

“…”

“But this much I can say with certainty.”

Nearly all elves never leave their designated areas.

Only a rare few blend into the Empire like this, gradually assimilating.

This, in other words, means that their children, without them, become alone.

This young one. Human, or elf? A confusing mix.

And so, to that soul, timid and withdrawn without even realizing it,

Sable continued speaking softly, as a mentor of sorts.

“If you are lonely. If you feel all alone. Walk along the starlight within your heart. Then, at some point, you will discover yourself forgetting everything, focusing only on that.”

“Starlight…”

“Yes. Does that starlight exist within your heart? When it is dark, if you lift your head, is there something that shines, leading you, guiding you?”

The moment she heard Sable’s words, Yurisiah unintentionally thought of Deus.

Next, she recalled the words he had said to her.

“I want to end this long darkness with my own strength.”

“So that no one around me suffers a tragic end.”

The face of her mother, who loved her so dearly, came to mind.

A sudden gate, and the image of a monster emerging from it, rushing towards them.

“Go. Quickly. Yuri. Don’t look back, just run.”

Even while bleeding. Even while collapsing in pain.

Even as her breath faded.

Her mother remained a mother, until the very end.

“…Yes, there is.”

She had not admired that star, moving forward on her own, without any reason.

Only if she could do that, it seemed, could she stop losing things.

Only then could she erase this great fear, and that deep guilt.

“Then go forth.”

Following the starlight.