To digress a little, the concept of the Numbers series had been born from the nine taboo territories that made up Gio Nest, but talk was underway to expand beyond nine. Being granted an armament was symbolic of being accepted into Sol’s inner circle, so no one was against the idea of adding more seats. Once the idea was finalized, Type Rodem would be assigned a number too. It was very likely that the numbers themselves would become separated from the numbering of the Gio Nest taboo territories and be reorganized into a ranking system.
“Mm-hmm! I’ll do my best!”
In any case, now that Rosalind was completely separated from Blue Water, she spoke and acted like her age. In fact, she was just a seven-year-old girl in every sense. Since it had not been long since she had inherited the crown, the separation process had had almost no effect on her. If it had been any later, her mind would have been more than halfway fused with Blue Water, essentially leaving her with two personalities until complete assimilation.
When Blue Water itself revealed this information, everyone aside from Sol and Gawain had been more than a little disturbed. And little wonder, as it felt like their very understanding of what defined a person was being challenged. At the same time, they understood that it would be disrespectful to pity Rosalind, who had clung to this tradition as a way to keep her country alive and viewed the inheritance of Ruler’s Wisdom as a fundamental obligation of Crystania’s ruler. As a result, it had been a bit awkward for a while.
In contrast, Sol and Gawain had become even more lively as of late and were spending an increasing number of nights in Gawain’s workshop with Type Rodem. Significant resources were now being directed toward creating a replacement for Ruler’s Wisdom.
Rosalind had been a little worried about the split at the start, but her concerns largely became a nonissue compared to the benefits of joining the Libertadores. Blue Water itself had vehemently supported the idea and worked hard to convince her, so she had acquiesced without resistance. During their talk, she had also been persuaded to speak and act her age after the split, and she was now dutifully sticking to that.
As a result, Sol’s entire group had become extremely overprotective of her. Even Eliza, who had been the youngest until Rosalind joined, was significantly older than her, and she apparently loved being able to act like a big sister. Rosalind, for her part, had grown deeply attached to the trio from the slums, as they were the closest in age to her.
Unfortunately, the separation process was shy of perfection in just one way. As Blue Water was now completely separate from Rosalind aside from moments of crisis, she no longer possessed the inherited combat mastery that identified a legitimate heir of Crystania’s throne as distinctly as Absolutus did Emelia’s royals. It was because of this mastery that the ruling monarchs of Crystania had all directly taken part in battles, regardless of gender. They were never at a loss when facing monsters and could always win without much of a struggle.
The moment Rosalind had been cut off, she had reverted to being a complete novice in combat, especially in light of the fact she was still too young to receive her talent. That was why Sol’s entire party had stuck around to help her train these past few days, consequently making her feel sorry. A normal seven-year-old girl would be seized by fear upon encountering a monster. Although those on the higher floors of Abyss had no hope of getting through her HP barrier and would practically explode from a smack from her, they still scared her. However, she diligently headed into the dungeon day after day. The mental fortitude she possessed was astounding.
That said, fear stubbornly remained a part of her experience, as did mortification. Because of that fear, she got cold feet when facing opponents she could kill with a single strike and fell into a mild panic every time she found several such opponents in her way. Monsters with scarier appearances made her burst into tears, and her legs even gave out on her sometimes. Player had granted her strength that allowed her body to greatly surpass the limits of a seven-year-old, but it wasn’t easy for her mind to do the same.
But then she would look at Eliza, who’d had no experience fighting monsters until recently either but was now cutting them down with composure. There also was Frederica, who was a princess like herself—albeit of a much, much bigger country—and yet was one-tapping hulking enemies that scared the living daylights out of her. Part of Rosalind thought, Of course they’re strong; they defeated Country Eater, but a bigger part of her was ashamed that she couldn’t do the same despite having received just as much power.
Fear was all she had felt at first, but shame had steadily overtaken it during the past few days until she’d become defiant and told herself that, since she had already been given everything she needed to do her best, her best was exactly what she was going to do and results would eventually follow. Though young, she very much lived up to being the heir of the memories of Crystania’s royal family. The way she set her mouth and declared, “I’ll do my best!” was deliberate, albeit a little forced.
Naturally, this admirable display stoked the protective instincts of her “big sisters” with the effectiveness of adding oil to a fire. Seeing the surprisingly positive attitude she was adopting despite her timid nature, Julia, intending to assuage her frustration, said reassuringly, “When we started as adventurers, we were a mess too. For quite a while, in fact.”
It was funny how even Frederica and Eliza, not just Rosalind, looked surprised to hear that. The pair had been certain that Julia and Reen, geniuses who had secured Rank A promotions, had crushed it from the very start. After all, their party had graduated from the Royal Academy with top marks and quickly come to be known as the Miracle Children of Ros Village. Because Frederica and Eliza had been granted overwhelming strength right off the bat, they had no experience building up their mental fortitude by facing opponents they had to really push themselves to fight, subsequently getting stronger little by little. One side effect of this was that they possessed a somewhat overblown admiration for normal adventurers.
“Wha— Julia!”
“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not going to go into details.”
Reen was flustered for real, and to a much greater extent than the others. Even Frederica and Eliza, who had spent a significant amount of time with her by now, rarely saw their usually cheery and relaxed friend so shaken. While Julia was cackling away, Reen was shaking her head with all the vehemence she could muster, confirming there was at least one episode from that time that she really didn’t want revealed.
Frederica turned to Sol. “I would love to learn such details. May I?”
Her curiosity was piqued, but she knew better than to pursue the matter at the risk of earning Sol’s displeasure. Therefore, she was checking with him directly. If he didn’t mind, then no matter how vehemently Reen objected, Frederica intended to insist.
Contrary to her expectations, Sol turned pale in a flash and cried, “Nuh-uh, don’t you dare, Julia! Just because you’re willing to self-destruct doesn’t mean we are too!”
Frederica immediately understood this was a topic she should drop right away. At the very least, it wasn’t something to be aired out in the open before the whole group. The word “self-destruct” hinted at how bad the story really was, and Julia deserved serious respect for being willing to expose it regardless. Knowing that made Frederica even more curious, but it was likely something she could only ask in bed when alone with Sol, and only if the mood was right, to boot. So she pulled on an innocent smile and fell silent while suppressing her emotions.
“As you wish, O Lord Sol,” said Julia, acting demure to hide her surprise that even Sol had been so flustered, before cracking the most devious grin she had ever shown.
“Grr...” growled Sol.
His reaction convinced Julia that she had a card that would be effective against him, as long as she had the nerve to catch some of the fallout too. It would also be a rare treat to see Reen with her soul seemingly leaking out of her mouth again. As a clincher, the vibe told Julia that, given her position, Sol wouldn’t hate her for real if she actually dropped this bomb.
This relationship and atmosphere was truly only possible between people who had been friends since childhood, who went way back when they had both been nobodies, and it made Frederica and Eliza jealous to see.
“We have arrived,” said Blue Water, purposely ignoring the mood. “Is everyone ready? I shall open the door to Abyss now.”
The entity, which now also functioned as a key through Type Rodem, was deeply thankful to Sol for freeing its current host from itself. To repay him, it was dedicated to helping his adventuring in absolutely any way it could.