Chapter 14

Before That War Began -legal braves- It was the eve of the final battle. Everyone decided they should at least spend their last night with the people they missed the most. The legendary band of heroes who had gathered to subdue the Visitor Elq Hrqstn, designated enemy of the Church of Exalted Light, temporarily disbanded for that very reason. “…So why did you come to see me anyway?” Her former master, whom she hadn’t seen in a long while, asked the question with a frown. “’Cause I don’t have any lovers or family, y’know?” Lillia cackled as she answered. They were in a shantytown in the corner of the Imperial Capital’s sixth district, far removed from the knights’ regular patrol routes. The inn where her master chose to stay was located on a block notorious for rampant pickpocketing. The floor creaked loudly with every step. Dust caked the hearths to the point that they were unusable. All of the installed lamps were almost out of oil, and none of them offered very good light. Five silver coins for a night at a place like this sounded like highway robbery, but there was value in the goat-head design carved on the bottom half of the sign that hung out front. Put simply, the area’s influential organization, known as the Whisperers, guaranteed peace and quiet to any who stayed here. “I was trying to think of someone who’s like family to me, but the only person I could come up with was you, master! Geez, what a lonely life I’ve lived, right?” Lillia burst into forced laughter. Her master was a man of many mysteries. He had a slim build, but it was hard to tell his age… He could pass for thirty or sixty years old either way. Lillia had first met him over ten years ago, and his appearance hadn’t changed very much. It almost looked like he was getting younger. His age wasn’t the only unknown; his birth and upbringing were also a mystery. He was a master of each and every martial art, though it was anyone’s guess as to where he learned them. Moreover, his deep and extensive knowledge was so great that all the scholars in the capital were no match for him. This man, her master, dropped his shoulders in an exaggerated manner, tired. “…And what about my senior pupil who you’re so fond of?” “Willem? He said he was going back to Gomag to see Allie and the others.” “You should’ve gone with him, then. He’d never refuse his adorable junior.” “Ah-ha-ha-ha, you always make the worst jokes, master!” Though she laughed, the crevasses between her brows suddenly deepened. “If I really did ask that idiot, not only would he actually say yes, he might treat me like real family.” She lowered her voice as though she wanted to intimidate him. “Of course he would. What’s wrong with that?” “The world might end.” Silence. “There’s a place that I’d give up anything to go home to, but I know I’ll never be able to go back. That’s true for me. That’s true for you. And it was the same for all the people who came before us. I don’t know why, but it’s one of the basic conditions for being a Legal Brave, isn’t it? It’d be bad news if I had a home to go back to, right?” “It’s not like it’s an exact rule, though.” “Still. I can only keep the title of Legal Brave because the Church of Exalted Light recognized me as the unhappiest person in the world, right? At any rate, that’s why I think the second I become the happiest person in the world, I’ll be stripped of my qualifications. “Of course, I think I’d still be able to fight well enough with all this talent and skill at my disposal. But not against the Visitors—not the way a certain someone can, that’s for sure.” “Wait, you don’t think you could be the happiest person in the world that easily, do you?” “I’m confident I could. I’m just lonely, after all.” Silence. “You said it to me before, didn’t you, master? No one can match a Legal Brave’s strength. That’s why the Legal Brave needs to stay isolated—right? That was all wrong. “I’m so strong right now that it even scares me. But someone has been constantly following behind me, always. Even though he should know that he’ll never catch up, he never gets it. I glance back, and he’s always there. It’s like a B-class horror story! He’s always, always following me. The fool won’t leave me alone.” “You hate him that much?” the master asked, annoyed. “Hmm.” Lillia stared into space and searched from within her for what she wanted to say about Willem. “Yeah, I hate how serious he is. He’s still a kid on the inside even though his body’s grown up; plus, he uses brute force and physical strength in anything he does despite how much he studies; and just because he happened to meet you a bit earlier, he struts around like a senior pupil; and besides, he used to be cute a long time ago, but now he’s gotten so tall; then there’s the fact that he’s not inconsiderate, but he understands nothing about women.” “That’s harsh.” That was true. She didn’t disagree. She was practically forcing herself to come up with more false accusations as she rambled on. But what could she do? If she didn’t keep it up, then Lillia Asplay would stop hating him. The moment she stopped, there probably wasn’t anything she could do to keep herself from falling for him. Willem Kmetsch was the type of guy who couldn’t bear it if the people around him were unhappy. It didn’t matter if they were young or old, male or female. If someone said, “I’m lonely; can you stay with me?” he would undoubtedly do it. Even if that someone happened to be Lillia Asplay—though he might scrunch up his face in a frown if it was her. But that would be enough to satisfy her. She would discard the title of the unhappiest person in the world. Then, after that— “……” The Church of Exalted Light would mobilize and begin searching for the next suitable person to be the Legal Brave. She didn’t want to think about what would happen after that. “—Whatever. Whether I’m a backup choice or not, I’m not gonna turn away a pupil who’s coming to me on their last night.” As he mussed his own hair, the master grasped his coat from a worn-out chair. “This ain’t the place for a long conversation, so let’s continue at a place with food and drink. It’d be the first time in a while I’ll be hearing about your least favorite senior pupil’s tales of valor.” “Okay, sure. Are there any good places around here?” “Don’t get your hopes up. Most don’t serve proper meals.” Her master stepped across the creaking floor and placed his hand on the warped door. “That reminds me, Lillia. I’m surprised you found me here. I don’t think I’ve been telling the Alliance what I’ve been up to recently.” “Hmm? Oh yeah. Finding you was a serious pain.” …That was right. She hadn’t been able to track down the master himself at all through conventional methods. He had been a prestigious knight of the old Dione Order as well as the Eighteenth Legal Brave, once upon a time. She had assumed incorrectly that it would be easy to gather information on sightings of him out in public, given how famous he was. That was why it was entirely coincidence that she had run into the master here. She had actually been searching for someone else—the remnants of an armed anti-Empire cult she and the others had decisively taken down the other day, along with a dangerous individual who was developing some kind of new project. This inn was just one of the places that came up during the course of her investigation. And staying in this inn, for some reason, was her master, who she hadn’t been able to find no matter how much she’d searched. She wanted to think it was a coincidence. She wanted to unconditionally trust someone so important to her. But Lillia wasn’t so innocent as to drop all suspicions in a situation like this, nor did she lack any responsibility herself. “Oh yeah, I just remembered I had something else I wanted to ask you.” “Yeah? What?” She inhaled. Exhaled. She calmed her pounding heart and asked: “Are you the current leader of True World, master?” Slowly, her master turned around. He did not respond with words. He didn’t need to. Just by the tinge of caution in her master’s eyes, Lillia knew her prediction was correct. But not a single part of her felt happy about it.