Chapter 24: As an Apostle

 

“Darryl and Cecily. He is Baron Albert Falconer. For various reasons, our faction has decided to cooperate with him, and we may be working together more often in the future. Basically, he will be working with Vera, but we have been told to introduce each other”

One morning, before separating by subject, Al and the “Oracle of the Divine Child” were meeting.

“I am Albert Falconer. I heard that Mister Yoel had already revealed my family name, so I told you my name, but I would appreciate it if you would just call me Al …… By the way, you two don’t need to say your family name. It may be better that way”

Al seems to have decided to abandon his smallish character and go with the outgoing character he usually uses.

“It doesn’t seem fair,…… well, if you say so yourself, I’m Daryl. Just for the record, I’ll just say I’m from an aristocratic family on the eastern frontier.”

“I am Cecily. Also a frontier noble family from the east. …… But Mister Al is awesome. I can only think of you as a non-mage even though you are right in front of me. I don’t mean to be indelicate, but is that the Falconer’s secret?”

“Cecily, you’re being rude to Al-dono.”

They are both quite well trained. They are well above the average for their age for those associated with frontier aristocratic families.

However, even so, they are unable to see through Al’s mana control. It was Cecily’s innocent question, but it was Vera who felt that the question was not quite right…

” Mister Daryl, I don’t mind. Lady Cecily, if you ask me if this is Falconer’s secret, I can only say that it is not. It could be called a secret, but it’s not particularly secret. If you can’t do this, you can’t even fight in the Great Forest, so it is a basic technique for those who follow the Falconer’s lineage.

Personally, I think it would be more efficient to develop more …… long-range attacks and useful magic, or incorporate them into the battle strategy, like the neighboring noble families. For some reason, Falconer has specialized in the Melee combat direction. ……”

For Al, it is serious self-mockery. All he could do was laugh dryly.

Why do we need to get flesh and blood with demons, to hit each other, to cut and tie? I went to the trouble of strengthening my body with magic …….

You could fight at a greater distance. You could safely win. That’s what the other noble families bordering the Great Forest are doing. It’s a question Al has been asking himself since he woke up in this world.

“…That’s the basic step… …… awesome.”

“In Falconer territory, everyone is an expert in body enhancement or rather mana control…”

Cecily and Daryl are impressed, but Joel and the others watching beside them are simply not inclined to thank Al and Falconer.

In particular, Vera, who has been good at sensing mana, can no longer believe in her ability, which she has been ..refining, after being beaten by Al. And it is the same for Yoel and Rauno, although to a different degree.

However, they learned that there were people of the same age on the frontier, aristocratic families who had abilities beyond their own.

Not only Al, but also some of the other students felt that they could not compete with them depending on the conditions. Not a small number of them.

Under such circumstances, Al, as a provisional apostle, decided to cooperate in matters related to the “Divine Child of the Oracle. Joel and others, especially Vera, have mixed feelings.

They are not confident in their own abilities, but reality is different.

The Yoels, who are the shadows of the royal family, are more than a head above the rest in terms of overall strength, even at the academy.

The same is true for Al.

If they start from a close distance, they will be overwhelmed by physical reinforcement, but if they are far away from each other, there is a high possibility that Al will be caught by a “binding chain”.

Although it is a secret, Al’s “bullet” is also an effective first kill at close range to overturn the common sense of this world, but if there is a distance, Vera should be able to detect it.

Now that we’ve had our meeting, I have some business to attend to, so I’ll leave now.

“It’s my pleasure. Al-dono.”

“If you have time, I would also like to know the secret of that mana control. Best regards, Al-dono.”

****

“Huh. I did as you asked and made the connection with Darryl and the others, didn’t I?”

“Hmm. Now you can step out if anything happens to them. And If you are going to make a move involving the black mana, be sure to let us know in advance. And move with Vera. Is that clear?”

After all, it remains unclear whether Al is an “apostle” or not. There is no way that the church would tell us if Albert Falconer’s name is included in the oracle from the goddess that the church holds in secret.

It was settled that those who are called the Victor Squad, which is the Royal Family’s shadow….. will cooperate with Al on their own.

That is the decision of one of the elders …… “Claire of Laziness” who is in charge of the Shadow of the Royal Family.

Claire of Laziness.

She is an elf and not an elf.

A misfit elf who has violated various taboos to live among humans. And ended up in the shadowy elders of the royal family.

They do not appear on the regular route of the game.

The character is depicted as a character whose existence is gradually revealed and hidden in various routes and free quests outside the regular route.

In the end, however, the full story is never told in the game, and she ends up being a throwaway, meaningless character.

“Claire. Regarding Albert, he should be treated only as an unofficial apostle and handled only by the Victor Squad, and no information should be shared with other squads. …… Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Sign. You are as skeptical as ever, Victor. That’s all right about the kid. I will not tell the other elders. I won’t tell the other elders, and I won’t tell the church either. …… this guy is a handy hand when the time comes.”

The length of life…… of time is so different that Claire, who is not usually so interested in individuals of humans, has a special interest in Albert for some reason.

While calling it a provisional apostolate, doesn’t Clare know about some kind of oracle?

That is how Victor felt.

But alas, …… He is only a middleman, too. It is also a genuine black workplace. He had no choice but to follow the instructions of those above him.

“I am not interested in whether they are apostles or not. I don’t care how you use my information about apostles. Just….Please give me some information on “The Oracle’s Divine Child”. That’s all I ask. After that, I will follow your instructions.”

After all, Al had no choice. Once he was spotted by Claire, the shadow of the royal family and its elders, he was forced to play along with her plot.

Even if he tried to defy her, he would be overwhelmed by pure violence, and he would be no match for her in terms of power. Then, the only thing he could do was to find his own advantage in the situation.

(Not quite what I was expecting, but it’s a good position to be in. It gives me information about the main characters and allows me to get involved if needed. I don’t want to see a small group of the protagonist’s party making a suicide mission to demon territory like in the second half of the game. …… Well, as long as they get through the war with the demons in a satisfactory manner, that’s all that matters. I’m not sure if I’m going to be able to do that. I’m sure this monster called Claire has her own agenda.)

Quite apart from the game setting and the anxiety of war with the demon tribe..

The blood of the Berserker in Al rises.

He, too, is of Falconer blood.

He does not endorse being subdued by force.

Don’t think you can keep me in your shackles forever, …. Waiting for the right time-Ready to pounce. Al is burning with a fighting spirit.

And Claire knows that. So does Victor.

This time around, they had to put a collar on Al, but Victor doesn’t know if that was really necessary or appropriate.

He sees a shadow of bad luck.

And he does not know to whom the shadow is bad luck.

****

“Hey, Cecily.”

“Hmm? What’s up?”

The two main characters, two of the “Oracle’s Divine Children”.

“I don’t know why, but I have a feeling …… that you I and Al-dono will eventually turn against each other….”

“…. suddenly. You’ve never had a real conversation with Al before, have you? Why do you have that hunch? I have a good feeling about Al-dono, don’t you?”

For a moment, Cecily thought Daryl’s abrupt statement was a joke, but…… His expression was serious.

“I don’t know. But something in me feels that I’m going to have a breakdown with Al-dono,…… and I have the same feeling about this as I did with …… Master.”

“…… Hey Darryl. Don’t go any further. That’s a ridiculous assumption. You think that Al-dono is the same as your master?”

A slight anger could be felt in words.

Cecily and Daryl.

Since childhood, the two families had a strong connection to each other as members of a noble family on the eastern frontier. The kingdom and the church had arranged it, of course. But it is a fact that they had spent time together as childhood friends. The trust and friendship between the two is a sure thing.

However, there are certain topics that should not be touched on because of this.

Their teacher. The one who tried to harm them while being an apostle. The one who tried to manipulate their potential.

“…I’m sorry. You’re right. Assumption. Even for Al-dono, he may have been pulled in by the Falconer rumor somewhere. …… probably did.”

“…………I would like to talk to Al-dono again in the near future and hear about the learn about mana control techniques.”

“I’d like that too. I thought about selfish things without knowing the other person well.”

Cecily knows.

Daryl’s “hunch” is never wrong. Especially regarding bad omens.

But in the past, Cecily has also had similar premonitions, though not to the same extent as Daryl.

And she is the exact opposite of Daryl regarding Al. For some reason, she had a “hunch” that they would walk together.

Neither of them had ever compared each other, but this was the first time they had such opposite “premonitions. Even if there was a difference, it was generally within the margin of error, and Daryl’s was more accurate.

Cecily has a vague sense of uneasiness, but does not know what it is in response to.

Cecily has a vague sense of uneasiness, but does not know what it is in response to.

End of tutorial.

The “Divine Child” and the “Apostle”.

A relationship that does not exist in the game’s settings is beginning to take shape.