During my life-and-death battle on the island, I had connected with what felt like the “path” for the first time in my life. Infinite darkness had poured into my body, which I’d used to overwhelm two superior True Attire wielders. Mastering that power would enable me to reach much greater heights.
If I’m being totally honest, I want to go to the Soul World and speak to Zeon right now. But without Chairwoman Reia here to act as a deterrent, I couldn’t risk Zeon taking over my body and causing some sort of horrific disaster. I had decided for that exact reason to resume training in earnest when the new semester began.
“Huh… In that case, let me ask you something else. Question two: What is your greatest wish?”
“To get stronger, of course.”
If I had been stronger, Lia wouldn’t have suffered a life-threatening injury, the other girls wouldn’t have been poisoned, and Bacchus wouldn’t have died. I needed to become a better swordsman to protect all the people I cared about.
“Hrmm… I see. Let’s try this one. Question three: What is the strongest impulse or desire you feel in your everyday life?”
“That would have to be…my desire to perform practice swings.”
I thought I had gotten that out of my system with the three hours of practice swings I’d done this morning, but I was already itching to get back to it. I was gonna pick up my sword as soon as this meeting ended.
“Grk… You fool!” Rodis yelled. “Are you a man or not?! Healthy boys your age are supposed to want money, girls, fame! There must be some luxury you desire!”
Why was he so mad at me? I didn’t think my answers had been that weird.
“Calm yourself, Rodis,” the empress scolded.
“Huff, huff… My apologies,” said Rodis, taking deep breaths. “Can I ask you one more question, Allen?”
“Go ahead.”
“What physical object do you want the most?”
“A physical object…? That’s a hard question.”
I had my black sword, and my cloak of darkness was all the armor I could want. That left… Hmm, this was a surprisingly difficult question.
“I guess if I had to choose something, it would be my own house,” I said.
“That’s an admirable answer. What kind of house would you like? I imagine—”
“Two rooms—ten square meters—would be perfect. Add a yard I can use for practice swings, and I couldn’t ask for more.”
I had always wanted to build a nice house in Aurest and live there with my mom. She was getting older, and I worried that her body wouldn’t be able to take the harsh life in the countryside much longer. She deserved to enjoy a comfortable life in the capital before she broke her knees or back.
The only problem is the crazy increase in land prices. I’d heard that the cost of land in Aurest had soared recently. This was especially true of the prime real estate near Liengard Palace, which was known for its safety and convenience; the prices were jaw dropping. That’ll be hard on a holy knight’s salary alone. I was planning on working full time as a holy knight and as a witchblade on the side to make enough money, but I didn’t yet know if even that would be enough.
“T-ten square meters…?” the empress repeated in shock.
“Yeah… Am I dreaming too big? I was afraid of that.”
“N-no…I just, uh… Never mind. I hope you get your ten square meters one day.”
“Thank you.”
The empress, Rodis, and Shii huddled up.
“…That’s the most plebeian dream I’ve ever heard,” whispered the empress.
“Hmm, I can’t believe he’d wish for something so plain… Where is his ambition? Aren’t all great men known to be lustful?” said Rodis quietly.
“That’s just the kind of man he is. Aside from his extreme obsession with swordcraft, Allen is remarkably ordinary…which is precisely what makes him so fascinating,” whispered Shii.
I felt like they were saying rude things about me…but I could hardly intrude on the empress’s conversation. I needed to be mature and wait.
Rodis asked a lot of other questions after that—including how I spent money, my taste in the opposite sex, and what I wanted to achieve in my life—before finally ending the examination. As soon as he was done, the three imperial faction members huddled up again.
“…Bribing him with gifts is going to be impossible,” admitted the empress quietly.
“His perspective on life is way too mature for his age. It feels like he’s lived many lives already…,” whispered Rodis.
“As I told you before, Allen isn’t the type to take that kind of bait. We should be more worried about the enemy using dirty tactics like capturing the people he loves to use as bargaining chips,” said Shii.
“It seems that way,” whispered the empress.
“I also agree with my daughter. We should make finding Allen’s relatives and stationing trustworthy guards to watch them our priority,” Rodis said quietly.
After about a minute of whispering, the empress turned toward me and smiled.
“Thank you for your cooperation today, Allen. This meeting has been illuminating.”
“Really? I’m honored I could help,” I responded.
The meeting ended, and I went straight home, not stopping once along the way.
It was the morning of March 30. Spring break was almost over, so I decided I should spend the day visiting my home in Goza Village.
I wonder how Mom’s doing. The last time I saw her must’ve been when I went home to discuss whether or not I should enroll at Thousand Blade. Time sure does fly. It’s already been more than a year… I hadn’t meant to go this long without visiting home, but every time I considered it, something had happened to make me put it off.
I washed my face, brushed my teeth, changed into my uniform, grabbed the steamed buns I’d bought as a souvenir, and was finally ready to go.
“Wanna head out?” I asked.
“Yeah!” Lia responded excitedly.
I was going home with my friends this time. I had first brought it up a few days ago while eating lunch with Lia…
“Hey, Lia, do you have a moment?” I’d asked.