It had been three days since the Holy Ronelian Empire’s attack on Liengard. The country’s leaders had made some important decisions during that time, which were communicated to the people through newspapers and other media.
First, the Sword Master Festival was canceled. It was determined that it would be too difficult to hold a festival and guarantee the students’ safety while also undertaking the gargantuan task of rebuilding Aurest.
Next, the Holy Knights Association led searches of the houses of influential people in the noble faction. The reason for this was none other than the betrayal of the influential nobles Patriot Bolnard and Dafton Manay. Full sweeps of the noble faction base and its leaders’ estates revealed multiple pieces of evidence proving a close connection to the Holy Empire. Unsurprisingly, the faction had been leaking confidential information to the enemy.
There was a mass arrest of all nobles who were proven to have dealt with the Holy Empire, which permanently destroyed the reputation of the noble faction. The Empress and the imperial faction seized full control of the government, stabilizing Liengard’s political situation for the foreseeable future.
During those days of upheaval, I devoted myself to helping with Aurest’s recovery efforts. All swordcraft schools around the city were closed for an estimated ten days, and the students were put to work to help rebuild.
“Thank you very much for gathering here again, students. Let’s make the most of today, too. Aurest isn’t going to rebuild itself! Remember, safety first!” Clown said. The rebuild progressed at an efficient pace under his leadership.
“Come this way with any ore that needs refining and any metal that needs working! Be careful of the heat!” Lia called out.
“Your Soul Attire’s fire is so powerful, miss! Thank you so much!”
Lia had been assigned the role of metalworking using Fafnir’s incredible firepower. She shaped iron plates, steel rails, metal pipes, and more. Her assistance as a literal human furnace greatly sped up construction.
“Dammit, why do I have to do this boring job…?” Shido complained.
“We can’t let these rot, Shido,” said Ferris. “Your ice powers are helping to transport food to Aurest from neighboring cities, allowing everyone to work with peace of mind.”
Shido had been positioned in a vacant lot, producing cold air to preserve food for transport. He didn’t seem happy about being used as a human refrigerator, but as Ferris said, he was performing a necessary task. Thanks to him, an inexhaustible supply of food was being delivered from nearby cities.
“Is this enough electricity?” Idora asked.
“Wow, that’s a convenient ability! Thanks, young lady!”
Idora had been assigned the job of charging all machines that needed electricity. She performed a variety of tasks, including restoring power lines and charging mobile devices.
“Hmm, we can carry that, too,” Rose said.
“Heh, leave all the manual labor to us!” Medi said proudly.
“What in the…? Do you have any idea how heavy those are? You two are amazing.”
Rose and Medi were tasked with using their self-strengthening Soul Attires to carry heavy objects. It was a simple yet much-needed job, and they ended up serving people all throughout the city.
Meanwhile, as the swordcraft students of Aurest put their skills to use, a certain Soul Attire Wielder with an overwhelmingly powerful and versatile ability sat under a tree playing tic-tac-toe by himself.
“Hey, kid! You’re that crazy strong Holy Blade, aren’t you? Could you lend us a hand?”
“…You want my help? Nope. Not happening. I’m not wasting my abilities on something so boring… Go ask Mr. Special over there for help instead,” he said, pointing at me.
It was Shin Rex, wearing a worn-out Divine Emperor uniform.
Shin had been arrested by the holy knights on suspicion of attempted murder during our captain’s duel in the Sword Master Festival, but he’d escaped without charge due to his status as a Holy Blade and because he’d been instigated by the noble faction.
He was a person of questionable moral character, to say the least, but his strength was undeniable. Some people hoped he would prove useful in Aurest’s recovery, but his spirit seemed to have been completely broken, rendering him useless.
Judging by his current attitude, I wouldn’t expect him to recover anytime soon, I thought as I walked toward my post.
I had been assigned to help with the top priority during the recovery: the reconstruction of Liengard Palace. The palace was the Empress’s residence and the political center. It was also the face of the country, and appearances were of vital importance to a nation. In the interest of stable governance, the palace needed to be rebuilt as soon as possible.
Okay… Time for another day of hard work!
I knew nothing of construction, so my role was that of a handyman.
“Hey, does anyone have any batteries?” someone called out.
“Oh, I can handle that!”
I channeled Neba Grome’s power to charge the machine in place of a battery.
“Shoot, this steel plate’s bent…”
“I can fix that, too!”
I channeled Fafnir’s flames to reshape the thick sheet of metal.
“Ow…!”
“Are you okay? I’ll heal you.”
I used my white darkness to heal injuries.
Thanks to my newly awakened Rapacious Demon Zeon, I was able to channel multiple Soul Attires and do many different jobs. I worked for a few hours until we all stopped for lunch.
“Phew, I’m exhausted.”
I carried my boxed meal and paper cup of water to the break area and found an open spot to sit down.
“Ahh… That’s refreshing.”
Nothing tasted better after hard physical labor than cold water.
This ice is so pretty. I wonder if Shido made it, I thought, admiring the ice floating in my cup. I reached for my lunch next.
What do I have today…? Wow, it’s salmon!
I picked up my chopsticks and muttered a few words of gratitude for the meal just as a large number of workers plopped down around me.
“Good work today, boy. That Soul Attire of yours is somethin’ else! I’ve never seen construction go this smoothly!” one of them said in a northern accent.
“Would ye like tae work for our company once the reconstruction is over? We’re called Fox Construction, and we’re the biggest construction company in Liengard!” another said, sounding like he desperately wanted me to join.
“Uhh…” I wasn’t sure how to respond.
Another worker leaned forward and answered for me.
“Is yer helmet on too tight, mate? This kid’s as strong as a national army. He doesnae have as much free time as us small folk!”
“Gah-ha-ha, good point!”
I sighed with relief after getting out of that without offending anyone.
Once we finished lunch, we got right back to work. We continued until the sun began to set in the west, at which point we stopped for the day.
“I’m so tired…”
I had learned something from using Rapacious Demon Zeon for long stretches of time. Channeling other people’s abilities consumes a lot of spirit power… The next time I fought consecutive battles like I had with Shin and Gauron, it would be best to avoid repeatedly channeling other abilities.
“Okay… Lia’s probably still at the metalworking site.”
I was about to head that way when someone tugged on my sleeve.
“Hmm…?”
I turned around and saw Lou Lorenti, the first year at Thousand Blade.
“Huh? What is it, Lou?” I asked.
“I…actually have something I want to speak to you about alone. Do you have a moment?” she asked.
“Yeah, sure.”
“Thank you. I don’t want to be overheard, so let’s go somewhere else.”
I followed Lou for a short while. We cut across roads under construction, a large forest park, and deserted streets. Lou frequently looked around to make sure no one was tailing us.
She’s on high alert. Is whatever she has to tell me that important?
After a little while longer, she finally stopped in a dark alley.
“…This seems okay,” she said.
“I didn’t expect you to bring me so far. What do you have to tell me?” I asked.
“About that…”
Lou cleared her throat nervously and looked directly into my eyes.
“Allen, have you heard of the 100-Million-Year Button?”
“?!”
Of all the things I’d thought Lou might say, that wasn’t one of them.