Chapter 338
After escorting Stella to the mansion, I immediately left the mansion.
Although Stella seemed to feel a bit sad about me leaving without even drinking a cup of tea.
He said he had a prior promise, so he immediately erased his regret.
Well, in the first place, I wouldn’t have been sincerely sad.
Stella was also in a position where she had to act immediately to prepare for a mana disaster, so she might have had time to drink tea.
I was just sad~ and appealed silently.
‘It seems to be getting more and more explicit.’
After Sein-nim’s death, it’s been two and a half years since I took over Stella’s place.
As time goes by, Stella’s dash is becoming more and more explicit.
Thanks to you, I have a bit of a headache these days.
If you openly challenged him, he would just reject it with a single knife.
It’s something blatant, but it’s taking a strange attitude that seems like it’s not, so it’s hard to reject it outright, but it’s a bit awkward to respond like usual.
It is an ambiguous situation in many ways.
‘Where is the pure Stella going… … . Only Saint Binoche Jr. remains… … .’
The feeling is quite strange.
I’m happy to see traces of Sein-sama in Stella, but I’m also sad for no reason.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
Then, a woman appeared in front of me.
Long silver hair that reached her waist.
And the red eyes that contrasted with that silver.
A unique appearance that seems to be engraved with mystery.
A woman wearing a mercenary uniform with an emphasis on comfort in contrast to the mysterious atmosphere.
“Are you here?”
Charles.
She is laughing with her hands in her pockets.
“Then you promised, won’t you come?”
He pulled one hand out of his pocket, sat down roughly next to the bench I was sitting on, and put his arm around my shoulder.
“Rather than that, what are you worrying about so much?”
“No big deal.”
Today, Captain Charles’ mood is quite lively.
Two and a half years have passed since Sophia-sama went missing.
And a year and a half since it was determined that Sophia-sama was actually dead.
In the meantime, Captain Charles’ complexion was no different from that of a dying zombie.
The reason why my hair is so long right now is not because I grew it to decorate something, but because I neglected it because it was annoying to cut it.
The condition was so serious.
“It’s nothing. It’s a big deal for anyone to see.”
Of course, half a year ago, he recovered to some extent from a certain incident.
Still, it wasn’t such a cheerful atmosphere.
Did anything good happen to you?
“ah. i get it.”
Captain Charles smiled mischievously with raised eyes.
It is clear that he took my silence in a different way.
You’re sure to be on the verge of grandiosity.
“Is it a woman’s problem?”
… … do you fit this?
“It’s true that there is no answer. woman problem. After all, you need to know my eyesight.”
It was clear to anyone that he was caught, but the correct answer was the correct answer, so there was nothing to say.
“Let’s see. Assuming that you have to worry about women’s problems right now… … .”
The captain smiled with a smirk on his face.
“Stella Binoche. Right?”
“… … .”
Another correct answer.
‘As far as a real sense… … .’
He used to be a person who had a good feeling, but lately, his feelings have gotten better.
If it was a feeling of something wild that hadn’t been captured before.
Should I say that it is close to future poetry that has been refined to some extent now?
The feeling was so good that I even doubted, ‘Are you secretly observing me?’
“Hmm. Is it a relationship with Stella Binoche? It is a very difficult problem.”
“… … yes.”
There’s no reason to hide it since it’s already been discovered.
“If you are an ordinary man, you are right! You might have snatched it up, but you are not a man who falls into the category of normal.”
Captain Charles scanned my whole body with his ax eye.
“No. Should I just say I’m not a man?”
“You are not a man. Anyway, I think that’s too harsh.”
“Serious asshole. If you’re going to say it’s serious, say it after you have even the slightest interest in women.”
“You misunderstood. I am just as interested as everyone else.”
“Damn it.”
Captain Charles snorted.
“you. Tell me what the three human needs are.”
“What is it all of a sudden?”
“It’s okay, so tell me.”
“Isn’t it sexual desire, sleep desire, appetite?”
“Then what are your three major desires?”
“Where is the third need? It’s the same.”
“no. different.”
Captain Charles pulled out one hand that was still in his pocket, and wiggled his fingers while making a tsk tsk sound with his black but stretched out.
“Your three major desires are achievement, initiative, and knowledge.”
“What kind of novel three desires are those?”
“Shin Ha-yul’s three major desires?”
Captain Charles straightened out his fingers one by one and continued.
“First of all, aren’t you sleeping?”
“… … It is.”
“That means you have no desire to sleep.”
“… … .”
I heard it and it is true.
“There’s an appetite. You don’t have a particular favorite dish. No, I like it or something, but before, because it was a waste of time to eat, I just filled it up with nutritional supplements.”
“… … .”
“A person with an appetite does not give up the taste just because time is wasted. In other words, you have no appetite.”
It was an irrefutable theory.
“And the last sexual desire… … What, can I not say anything? You can tell just by looking at what happened a year ago.”
“At that time, I was just worried about Captain Charles… … .”
“It’s because I was worried, it’s a bummer.”
Captain Charles snorted.
“Do you know how much my pride as a woman was hurt at that time?”
“How do I know that?”
1 year and 3 months ago.
Immediately after Sofia-sama’s death was virtually confirmed.
The day I forcibly visited Charles, who had become like a disabled person, to wake him up.
Something a little impure happened.
… … It’s a past I don’t want to think about.
“Even if you take one hundred steps and leave out what happened with me, it is clear that you have no desire as a man. The proof is that there have been no incidents so far even with all those glamorous faces around you.”
Captain Charles said with an expression like a detective who has completed all the proofs.
“No, that… … .”
I was furious at the moment, I tried to refute something, but I held it in.
“… … after. no. yes. Let’s call it something like that.”
It’s like, no matter what I’m saying, you don’t want to listen.
I just have to do it.
… … Well, it is not wrong to say that the desire for achievement, the desire for advancement, and the desire for knowledge are more important to me than the three major human needs.
To be honest, filling in the lack of knowledge is the most fun in the world.
“okay. It’s nice to see you admit it.”
Captain Charles patted my back.
“Oh, yes, that’s right. I heard about Project Mimir. Did you say it went well?”
“yes. Good for you.”
“I heard that you moved here today using Shadow’s magic.”
“yes. The news is fast.”
“Did the restrictions of distance disappear?”
“yes. Now, with Mimir’s assistance, I can go anywhere, regardless of the distance.”
“… … hey That’s great. Now, like Shadow, you can move anywhere you want, whenever you want, to any place you want?”
“That would be nice, but unfortunately it is not always available.”
I smiled bitterly.
“As I said at the beginning, Umbra hasn’t been perfectly forged with mythic magic yet.”
“Oh right. Didn’t you say you still haven’t subdued the Shadow Goddess?”
“When did I say that? You said you couldn’t control it.”
“Subdue or surrender, that’s what.”
“Submission is a tone that could be misunderstood by anyone who hears it, isn’t it?”
“no way. who listens Don’t pay attention to such trivial things.”
Captain Charles waved his hand with a big smile.
“Anyway, am I right? Because I couldn’t completely subdue it, I have problems handling shadow magic. This is it.”
“That’s not surrender… … .”
… … done.
It hurts my mouth to say more.
“yes. Umbra, there was no problem when using shadow magic at low power, but after forcibly increasing the power with Mimir’s help, it’s like this… … .”
I rolled up my left sleeve and showed my forearm.
Forearms painted black, as if stained with shadows.
“The Umbra ego is starting to spill out.”
Captain Charles’ expression became serious.
“… … Is that a curse too?”
Through her blackened body, it must have reminded her of Sophia-sama’s curse.
“I wouldn’t call it a curse. It’s just that a shadow beyond my control has clung to my body. As long as it doesn’t expand beyond this, there’s no problem. If left alone, it will fall off within a few days.”
Fortunately, it was the first use, so there were no grandiose side effects left.
“Of course, if I use shadow magic again in the meantime, it will get worse.”
“Oh~”
At my words, Captain Charles nodded his head with an expression that he understood what I meant.
“You mean that shadow is close to mana overload? It means that once you use it, you cannot use it for a certain period of time.”
“yes. Exactly.”
I lowered my sleeves again.
“According to Mimir’s calculations, it will take about three days for this shadow to completely disappear. Long-distance movement using shadows can only be used once every 3 days.”
“Are you unable to travel long distances? or not… … .”
“It is the latter. In the meantime, you can’t use Umbra at all.”
This is Umbra’s new constraint.
“hmm. It’s not that big to be big, but it’s big to be small… … It’s a strange restriction.”
“yes. It feels just like that.”
“That goddess. Shouldn’t she be subdued now?”
“well. I think it will be difficult until we find a way.”
It is now impossible to steal market share through Ignis.
Unless something new is found, it is impossible to subdue Umbra.
“Well, I’m going to leave it like this for now. Being able to use it once every three days is great.”
“It’s not like that. I don’t think the 3-day limit would have a big impact.”
“yes.”
Unless something big happens in a row in the 3 days, there is no problem.
“In the first place, Umbra also has something like a side leg.”
In fact, there is no problem even if major incidents occur consecutively within three days.
Because I’m not the only Umbra.
“A side leg?”
“Umbra isn’t the only one who has evolved to the next level with Mimir’s assistance.”
“… … ah!”
Captain Charles’ eyes widened.
“Could you… … Did you really succeed in transforming the mythic magic into nothingness?”
“yes. It worked.”
Except for Umbra, all other mythic magic can be used without any restrictions and without chanting.
“And Ignis?”
“of course.”
“… … such crazy.”
Captain Charles uttered a shocking curse.
“you… … Are you a real monster?”
“hmm… … . Originally, I would have denied it. I can’t do it now.”
I haven’t used my powers in real combat yet, so I can’t say for sure.
It’s definitely in the monster category.
“want see.”
“What?”
“You’re using Igni as a non-breathless spear. Judging from Umbra’s case, the output must have gone up.”
“yes. It’s not as much as Umbra, but Ignis’ output has also increased slightly.”
“… … haha.”
Captain Charles smiled and looked around.
It was like looking for someone invisible.
“It’s really great. amazing. Did you say Mimir? Surely you deserve to be so mouth-wateringly proud.”
“He is a great partner to me.”
He seemed to be looking for Mimir.
“Are you nearby?”
“yes. I do.”
“Then say hello. We will see each other often, so we should say hello.”
“uh… … . hmm… … .”
I turned my gaze to where Mimir was above Captain Charles’s head.
“Um, sorry to say that. Mimir is busy focusing on other things right now. He won’t have time to say hello.”
“What do you mean you’re focusing on something else?”
“They said that Project Mimir suddenly came up with a new direction, and after saying that they would organize it, they continue to fall into their own world.”
Mimir is now organizing his thoughts by writing down formulas using the memo application.
“A new direction? already? How long have you been awake?”
“Iknow, right. I was surprised too.”
“… … hey.”
He said he realized something before coming to France.
It seems that it was not a small realization.
What Mimir realized now is what the convergence will be.
I’m already looking forward to it.
“Then, what can I do?”
Captain Charles smiled as if regretting it.
“Don’t be too sad. Next time, I’ll arrange a seat in a place with proper facilities. Captain, isn’t it better to greet each other face-to-face?”
“That’s right.”
The regret disappeared from Captain Charles’ expression, and he returned to his usual expression.
Then, while sitting on the bench, he stretched out his arms and legs.
“Whoa. Somehow, the small talk got longer. sorry. You must be busy.”
“no. The project is over, so there is nothing particularly busy.”
“Then I’m glad.”
The captain turned his gaze to me with his hands in his pockets again.
The soft atmosphere from a while ago disappeared in an instant, leaving only the sharp momentum unique to mercenaries.
“It’s no different that I called you like this today… … .”
He took a receiver out of his pocket and handed it to me.
“I have something I want to show you.”
“You want to show me?”
“uh.”
I accepted the receiving terminal as it was.
A video appeared on the screen of the receiving terminal.
“here. You will know when you see it.”
I pressed the play button as it is, and the video played.
“… … !”
And as soon as I checked the person in the video, I was shocked.
“Captain… … This blue robed person is… … .”
“Does it look the same to you?”
A CCTV video in front of a convenience store that appears to have been taken at a convenience store in a quiet rural village.
A woman was pictured there.
A face that anyone living in this era cannot recognize.
“Miss Sophia… … Are you?”
Sofia Annechefrey.
The face of Sofia-sama, whom I thought was dead, filled the screen.
