Chapter 61

★ Kingdom of Light Knights, Port Town Zackerhaven, Mayor's Residence ★

"Indeed, it's a shame to have the members of 'Silver Scales' as mere adventurers. How about all of you becoming knights of our country?"

"That's right. Our kingdom's church has produced the most popes. Why don't you, Non, train there as well?"

"Hey, I'm fine, but don't go filling Non's head with strange ideas."

As the knights turned their gaze toward Non, a young woman, Dante stepped in front of her, blocking their view.

"No, it's not a strange idea at all. Right?"

"O-of course. It's for the good of the country to have a young and beautiful person stay here."

"Are you really not thinking of anything strange?"

"Oh, Dad..."

Non was aware that her overprotective nature had a backlash effect on her father, making him overprotective as well. However, she was at an age where being treated like that in public was embarrassing. She was a full-fledged adult, after all.

"…Miss Non, you have a letter."

At that moment, the butler of the mansion approached and said,

"A letter?"

"Yes, from the Kingdom Church."

"…I see."

Non nodded, greeted the butler, and left the scene to enter the mansion. The letter handed to her was indeed sealed with the Kingdom Church's wax seal. She quickly read the contents—though she had braced herself for various possibilities, it was not a message telling her to return to the church.

"!"

However, as she read on, she was surprised by the content and her eyes widened. When she turned around, her father Dante was looking at her with a worried expression—Non waved her hand to reassure him that everything was fine. Her father nodded slightly.

"What happened?"

Asked by the butler,

"…I might cause some inconvenience to the mayor."

Non placed her hand on her forehead and let out a small sigh.

★

At the venue where Asha had left, I stood there, lost in thought about what she was planning to do. But I couldn't come up with an answer—women's hearts are indeed complicated, I thought.

"Rage!"

Scout, one of Lark's gang, ran over.

"The lady has woken up!"

"!!"

All my thoughts vanished, and I ran with Scout. Many people looked at us, but I dashed out of the mayor's residence and headed for the inn.

"Hey, hey, that's fast, man! You're really the lady's brother!!"

With [Body Reinforcement], [Sprint Technique], and [Support Magic] stacked, I reached the inn faster than Scout, who was a professional scout, and burst into Lark's room.

"Lark!!"

Inside the room, illuminated by a magic lamp, Lark was sitting up in bed, a doctor was checking her condition, and Cook and others were present.

"…Is that you, little brother? Geez, it's noisy even at night…"

"Lark…?"

I was taken aback. Despite her eyes being directed at me, she wasn't seeing me. Even without [All Things], I could tell that Lark had lost her sight.

"Please be quiet. There were no such symptoms during the last examination. Has anything changed?"

The doctor asked Cook, who, despite knowing the "answer," remained silent.

"…Hmm. For now, it seems her condition is stable, but this is not good news. It means she is stable at a low level. Without sight, she won't be able to do intense exercise immediately, but she must rest. Do you understand? I've said it."

"Understood."

"Then, I'll be going."

The engineer escorted the doctor out, and the exhausted Scout entered the room.

"Cook."

As soon as the doctor left, Lark said in an unhappy tone,

"Did you steal my innate ability?"

"No. There's no way I would steal it now."

"…Yeah, that's right. If you had the means and the intention to steal it, you would have done it long ago. So, it must be the little brother, right?"

"That's right. I removed Lark's [Shadow King Sword Technique]."

When I answered honestly, Lark clicked her tongue.

"Doing things without permission… Give it back quickly. It's mine."

"Lark, that's not a good thing. You know that, right?"

My [All Things] continued to analyze. Lark's loss of sight was undoubtedly due to the [Shadow King Sword Technique]. Moreover, using the innate ability had been costing Lark her life force, and her sight had already been lost, but the ability had been compensating for it—an abnormal state.

"Whether it's good or bad, that's what makes me who I am!"

"That's not true. You're still Lark without it."

"That innate ability is something I found! It's mine! Give it back!"

"That's not right… It's not right. If you let the innate ability control you, it's no good. If you die because of it, what's the point of living—"

"Even you, little brother, got your abnormal strength from an innate ability, didn't you?"

"!?"

I was taken aback.

That was true, and I wasn't stupid enough to forget it.

But—now, as I was trying to reason with Lark, I felt incredibly foolish. I, who had obtained various things through [All Things], felt I had no right to say such things.

"I…"

"…I'm not saying it's bad. But what's mine is mine. Give it back."

"……"

"Little brother!"

"I won't return it… It will ruin you, Lark!"

"You!!"

She threw a pillow at me, but it missed and hit Scout, who was standing diagonally behind me.

"Get out!! I don't even want to see your face!!"

"…Lark, I—"

"I told you to get out!!"

"Lady, what are you doing!?"

Cook tried to stop Lark, who was trying to get out of bed with a hateful look. Scout nodded, placing his hand on my shoulder, with a difficult expression.

"I'll… come back."

"Don't come back, you who stole my innate ability!!"

Lark's words pierced my heart. I left the room and walked out of the inn, feeling dejected.

Indeed—I had done something terrible to Lark. I knew she had been using the [Shadow King Sword Technique] with full understanding, but I removed the innate ability without her consent.

I didn't expect her to react so strongly.

Did I misunderstand Lark?

Or had she changed so much during the four years we hadn't seen each other?

—Lark would use that innate ability even if it meant sacrificing her life.

—To protect the weak—people like me.

—No matter who said it, Lark wouldn't give up that power. She knew that with power, she could protect many people.

—I can persuade Lark. No, I will definitely try.

How arrogant I had been to think that.

"…Maybe I was getting too cocky with [All Things]…"

As I gazed up at the sky absentmindedly, I suddenly noticed the commotion around me.

"—What's that?"

"—Look, it's an elf's magic airship."

"—Flying at night?"

Despite it being night, many people were out on the streets, their gazes fixed on the sky—where several large silhouettes were floating, illuminated by multiple lights.

"'Owl's Wing Flap'…?"

I finally realized.

Asha was on one of those airships, and it was heading to the "Three Heavens Forest."

In other words, Asha had decided to return to the elf forest.