Chapter 41 – What Courage Is

“…So. What happened after that? What transpired, Junior?”

“T-that’s all I can tell you! There’s, there’s nothing more!”

Flapping her arms in a fluster, Yurisiyah continued.

“D-Deus and I returned to Yordem right away with the instructors. That’s the end. The Chairman probably knows more about what happened afterward…”

“No! Junior. Not that!”

Nefertiti’s eyes gleamed as she leaned forward with a *whoosh*!

“I heard Deus carried you out in his arms, Yurisiyah.”

“Yes? Yes, he did!”

“Then…Oh my heavens. It was exactly that! A Princess Carry! Oh my, oh my!”

“Chairman?” Yurisiyah stammered, unable to hide her confusion.

It seemed that this student council president was impressed by something rather… strange.

“How was it? Being embraced by someone like Deus? Was he… exceedingly dependable?”

“I, uh… I was so out of it. I don’t quite… quite… remember…”

*Should* be hard to remember. With everything that happened, it’s only natural.

Listening to Neferti’s words, I try to recall the scene, and it slowly becomes clearer.

For my sake, he offered his own back, silently blocking the path ahead.

Telling me, in that moment, that *this* was courage. Quietly cheering me on.

And in the end, he held me, bravely cutting through the raging flames.

A steadfast and reliable man. More than anything, someone who made you feel at ease leaning on him.

‘Deus.’

— *Gulp*

Just thinking the name made me swallow hard, dry as the desert.

What happened a few days ago will probably never be erased from my mind.

It will forever be a contributing factor to my face flushing crimson.

Moreover, it ignited an even greater flame of admiration for him.

Yes, I want to become like Deus. Even if the path is difficult.

Or even if it’s utterly impossible. I will walk the same path as him, no matter what.

“Anyway. You’ve worked hard, Yurishia. Hearing from the other second-years who returned first, I was very worried.”

Deus, not so much, of course. More worried about the sudden changes to the nursery.

As everyone already knows, the nursery was built around a low-risk gate.

With Sealstones installed nearby, completely preventing the emergence of other gates.

All that was left was to control the population of constantly regenerating monsters and utilize the gate.

Neferti knew that the nursery was established over 20 years ago.

In all that time, an accident like this had never happened.

No warning signs of a sudden increase in rank. Or the gate spewing flames.

‘Lately, strange things keep happening.’

Gates suddenly exploding in number.

A seemingly harmless nursery gate suddenly breathing fire.

And, on top of that, the appearance of another being, not a monster.

— *Click*

“I’m here. President.”

“Ah! Welcome, Deus!”

Deus, having come from the Headmaster’s office, strides in.

And then, without a care (or maybe without a thought), he sits down next to Yurishia.

Without even noticing how red her face was turning.

“I heard you wanted to see me.”

“Yes. It’s about the incident at the nursery the other day. Some questions have come up.”

“I will answer to the best of my ability.”

“Thank you. Well then…”

She put on quite a serious face, but in reality, Neferti was limited in what she could ask.

After all, she’s just a Cradle student. And Cradle students cannot interfere in many things.

In the end, they were destined to be nothing more than satisfactions of my own curiosity and answers to my own questions.

“…So. You’re saying that the goblins becoming so incredibly savage wasn’t just due to excitement and fear from the flames.”

“Yes, Chairman. To put it simply, it’s more accurate to say they were driven mad. As if being manipulated, controlled by someone.”

“I’ve shared this with the Investigation Unit and Headmaster, of course.”

“Naturally.”

I told the story. Spelled out everything I saw, experienced, and felt, in painstaking detail.

But the reaction that came back was, inevitably, much the same.

“Truly peculiar. I said I would investigate further, but I believe it will be difficult.”

“The reason?”

“Because the source was not present at the scene.”

If a second demon had appeared. If a second boss had emerged, that would have been better.

But nothing happened. Mad goblins and raging fires were all there was.

With just that, it’s a reality that you can’t draw any kind of answer.

“That means… Senior. Could it be?”

“A demon. In my estimation, a being similar to that Zagan who appeared in the Cradle before, has shown its face somewhere in this world.”

“….”

These words, spoken by Deus of all people. The one who single-handedly defeated that demon.

To dismiss it as needless worry, or a prediction that’s gone too far, is difficult. There are too many loose ends.

“You conveyed this as well?”

“Yes. So they said they would pay attention to all Gate manifestations within the Empire….”

“Considering the Empire’s size, and the number of Gates that appear each day, that’s practically impossible.”

The previous incident could almost be considered a stroke of incredible luck.

That forces capable of holding the demon for even a brief moment were stationed at the Cradle.

And that, following that, a powerhouse of strength appeared to end its existence.

But that same scenario simply cannot be applied everywhere else within the Empire.

“…Let’s leave this discussion here. There’s no point in continuing, we won’t find any more answers among ourselves.”

“Agreed.”

“Which brings me to this. Our Junior Deus, who’s been through so much lately? How about you take a little break?”

A break? Isn’t sleeping every night enough of that?

“You’re aware that next week is a long holiday, aren’t you?”

“…Yes. I am.”

Actually, I wasn’t. Today was the first I’d heard of any holidays.

More than that, holidays in a fantasy world. They really have put modern things everywhere.

“On top of the weekend, the following Monday is Empire Ability User Commemoration Day. So, we have a total of three days off. I’m thinking of going down to my family estate during that time.”

“Your family… you mean your duchy.”

Sometimes I forget. That clumsy instructor, Neferti, is in fact the cherished youngest daughter of a Duke.

The story of how Maenheim’s head, Duke Chester, sobbed when she entered the Cradle is still legendary lore around these parts.

“Yes, that’s right. Junior. I should be here at the Cradle, but my father keeps complaining that I never visit the family, especially during a holiday.”

“Duke Chester’s love for his daughter is quite profound.”

“Thank you. That’s what I want to tell you. Why don’t you come together?”

Deus almost thought he’d misheard.

“Me, you mean?”

“Yes, Junior.”

“…Why me?”

“Naturally, because you’re the hero of the Cradle! I want to introduce you to my father. To say, ‘This is the young man who will follow in Shabel-nim’s footsteps and become the Empire’s strongest Awakened!’”

At the proposal, Deus was about to refuse without a second thought.

It was awfully kind, but he had things to do, staying behind during the holiday.

But he quickly changed his mind, deciding to answer, “I’ll think about it.”

‘A sudden return to the family estate at this timing. Looks like something’s up, doesn’t it?’

Maybe this was the path to the second boss, the one that hadn’t appeared yet.

…No. It *was* certain. This was the route. This was it. Deus nodded repeatedly.

*

The Empire’s southern region. A broad field, outside of Sealstone’s influence, where a Gate could appear at any time.

– *Swish! Swish swish!!*

A gaping, black void split open, like a maw.

Out from within emerged not monsters, but two figures, a man and a woman.

“Ugh. This is so inconvenient. Shouldn’t you just open the way directly?”

“That would have involved us in troublesome affairs. Wasn’t the Duke’s desire to quickly meet the ‘Trumpet of Dawn’?”

“…That’s true.”

“Thus, we used this method. To direct attention elsewhere. I even deliberately let some of my flames fall to draw them in.”

“Ah. Was that it? You should have explained it like that from the start!”

The red-eyed woman grumbled. The crimson man sighed.

“I already explained it several times.”

“And?”

“The Duke simply didn’t listen properly each time.”

“Really? Sorry. I remembered properly this time.”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Alright. Enough chatter.” Astaroth grinned.

“By now, the lesser beings will have caught the scent and be approaching. It’s annoying to deal with them, so let’s move quickly. Releasing some beasts should erase our tracks, no?”

As if on cue, Awakened, alerted by the Gate’s appearance, were approaching from the distance.

By using the monsters, they could prevent the Awakened from realizing their presence.

“Shouldn’t we just kill them?”

“Too bothersome. Why go out of our way to find and kill bugs?”

“…That’s true too, I suppose.”

Perhaps they had been together for too long. His lord’s annoyance seemed to be rubbing off on him.

“Duke.”

“What is it?”

“Even so, we shouldn’t be careless. If they could fight Zagan…”

“Don’t speak nonsense. Are you comparing me to that simpleton?”

“…Indeed. My apologies. I misspoke.”

“Enough already. Just give me the directions. You’re saying Zagan croaked somewhere along this road, right?”

“It’s a bit of a distance… but yes, it’s certain.”

Exchanging such less-than-riveting words, the two individuals were heading towards none other than the Duchy of Chester. In the direction of the Maenheim family.