Chapter 7: The Power of a Hero
Five days had passed since Celia visited the stone house at night. During that time, a date was set for investigating the heroes’ Divine Arms. At the same time, it was decided that Sora would leave the Galarc castle.
And so, on the afternoon of the experiment, the residents of the mansion gathered at the entrance to see Sora off.
“Sora...!”
Latifa, Komomo and Aki approached Sora and called her name sadly. True age aside, these three were the closest to Sora in appearance, so they had been the most assertive in becoming friends with her.
“Y-You’re too close. What’s that look on your face for?” Sora replied, flinching back.
“We’ll miss you.”
“That’s right. You finally started opening up to us.”
“And now we have to say goodbye.”
Latifa, Komomo, and Aki all spoke with dejected faces. It had been explained to everyone that Sora had been separated from her master in Rodania and was only staying at the mansion temporarily.
Thus, it was only natural for her to leave once her master was found, but after a week together, Latifa and the others already considered Sora to be a precious friend of theirs.
“It’s already been decided, so nothing can be done. Sora has to return to the Dra... to her master’s side,” Sora said, turning her face away in a huff. It was just this morning that she told everyone she had found her master and was leaving.
She had announced without any warning that the magic artifact she possessed—which allowed Sora and her master to keep track of each other’s locations—had shown her master was nearby, so she was going to leave and find him.
Of course, no such artifact existed. She had shown them a random artifact and made up the story on the spot. Although it was true that she could detect Rio’s general location due to her status as a disciple.
“Sora really loves her master. He’s like a parent to her,” Celia explained of Sora’s awkwardness.
“That’s right. Sora’s master is very, very important to her,” Sora emphasized.
“Then you should ask that master if you can visit the mansion again someday! Then you can introduce us to your master too,” Latifa said shyly.
“...Sora can ask.”
It was unlikely to happen. Sora’s tone of voice was so passive, it was clear what she was thinking.
After all, Sora’s master was Rio. She didn’t need to introduce him to everyone—he knew them all already, they had just forgotten him. No one would remember him if she brought him here, and the rules of god would make them all forget him immediately. There was nothing to be gained by bringing him.
“Umm, Sora... Here.”
Perhaps they would never see Sora again. Without knowing why, that was the feeling the girls had. Latifa held out a bag to Sora.
“What is it?”
The bag was pretty heavy. Sora accepted it and looked at it curiously.
“They’re sweets. The ones you said were tasty,” Latifa explained.
“Sweets? For Sora?” Sora blinked.
“You suddenly said you were leaving the mansion, so we asked Miharu and Orphia to help us make them as quickly as possible,” Aki explained.
“We chose types that can last for as long as possible,” Komomo added.
“R-Really?” Sora stared at the bag in her hands, her emotions unreadable. Then, after looking between the girls and the bag several times—
“Thank you, Suzune, Komomo, Aki,” she called their names quietly. “Ayase Miharu, Orphia, Sara, Alma, Satsuki, Sayo, Princess Charlotte, Masato, Gouki, and Kayoko too.”
She also called the names of the older folks watching a short distance away, bowing her head in gratitude.
Satsuki beamed happily. “Oh my. You remembered all of our names?”
“I see I’m going to be referred to by my full name until the end,” Miharu said, scratching at her cheek with a wry smile.
“So there’s a cute side to her after all,” Sara sighed in exasperation.
“S-Sora knew she was going to leave soon, so she chose not to use names on purpose. Sora isn’t used to goodbyes like this.” Sora blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassment. “At any rate, thanks. Sora will ask her master if she can return to this mansion. Is that okay?” she asked worriedly.
“Of course it is. Isn’t that right, everyone?” Satsuki replied, looking around at the others. They all voiced their agreement one after another.
“Thank you... Then Sora will come visit the mansion with her master some day, so you better not forget her.”
Still feeling shy, Sora kept her face down the entire time. But her feelings reached everyone properly.
“It’s a promise. Let’s meet again, Sora!” Latifa hugged Sora front-on while Komomo and Aki clung to her from the sides.
“D-Don’t cling to Sora! Get away... Ugh. Fine. It’s a promise, so make sure you make Sora lots of sweets again.”
“He he. Sora really loves sweets.” Latifa laughed in amusement.
“In that case, you should make them with us next time,” Komomo suggested.
Aki agreed. “Ah, yeah. That’s a good idea.”
“Sora specializes in eating. But maybe once wouldn’t hurt.”
“Then that’s a promise as well!” Latifa added to their promise happily.
“Such pushy people. Okay, since Sora’s going to be coming back anyway, she’s going to go now. Celia.”
“Yep.”
Sora looked up at Celia, who was standing beside her, and signaled for her to move. Celia had been tasked with seeing her out of the castle.
“I won’t say goodbye. Take care and see you later, Sora. Celia too.” Latifa sent them off with her words.
“I’ll make sure she gets to her master safely. See you when I get back.”
“We’ll be waiting!”
Thus, Sora and Celia headed for the carriage waiting beside the mansion.
“Have fun!”
“See you later, Sora!”
Everyone waved Sora off with reluctant expressions.
Sora merely nodded silently in acknowledgment before boarding the carriage with Celia, bag of sweets clutched carefully in her hands.
“Honestly...what’s with them?” she mumbled, puffing up her cheeks shyly as soon as she sat down in the carriage. It was the first time she had lived with people who were so extroverted, when she hadn’t had much contact with people in the first place. She knew that people would forget her in the end, so she always awkwardly brushed them away. That’s what she had done with the residents of the mansion as well.
Yet the residents of this mansion continuously hounded her at every opportunity. She honestly found them an annoyance—but that wasn’t the only emotion she felt. Before she knew it, she found herself thinking she had no other choice but to humor them by staying a little longer. That turned into her thinking she wanted to stay with them a little longer. This was what confused Sora the most.
It may be nice for you to make some friends.
She suddenly recalled the words her master said to her before he headed off to the Divine War a thousand years ago.
Is this what the Dragon King meant by “friends”?
She wasn’t quite sure, she thought while clutching the bag in her arms.
“Well? They were all nice, good people, weren’t they? Everyone there had a connection to Rio. Although they’ve forgotten him due to the rules of god...” Celia said with a sad look as she watched Sora.
“Sora knows that much.”
“I haven’t told you how each one of them is related to him, but do you want to know now?”
“Sora will save that for next time.”
“I see...”
“Celia.” Sora called the name of the woman sitting across from her.
“Yes, Sora?” Celia said gently.
“In order for Sora to keep her promise with them, something needs to be done about the rules of god. They need to regain their memories of the Dragon King and remember how they met Sora.”
Because in a few days’ time, everyone in the mansion will forget about Sora...
“You’re right.”
“Sora will leave with the Dragon King on a journey for hints. That’s why you...” Sora said, then paused for a brief moment. “You do your best researching the mask, Celia.”
Celia blinked in surprise for a few moments, then smiled brightly. “Thank you. I’ll do my best, so you do your best too.”
A few moments of silence continued after that, but there was no awkwardness. If anything, Celia felt comfortable in the time that passed.
“Here is fine. Sora’s getting off,” Sora said, staring out the window.
“Huh? But...”
The plan was to send her to the square of the noble district where she would conveniently come across her master and leave. But they were still another three minutes’ walk from the square right now. The coachman looked confused as well.
“Sora’s getting off. She’ll walk from here,” Sora insisted.
“I see... Okay then.”
It seemed she was in the mood to walk. Celia asked the coachman to stop the carriage.
“See you later, then,” Sora said once the horses came to a stop, then stepped off the carriage.
“Yup. The square is that way.” It was unlikely she would get the direction the carriage was moving in wrong, but Celia pointed at the road anyway.
“If you get lost or treated as someone suspicious, tell them you’re with Celia Claire and Princess Charlotte,” she added.
“D-Don’t treat Sora like a child.”
Sora pouted in protest, clutching the bag close to her and running off down the road. Celia wasn’t that worried in the first place.
“See you later, Sora!” she shouted down the road, waving at Sora’s back. Sora paused for a brief second to look back, then resumed running. She must have accelerated at some point, as she was gone in a matter of seconds.
Once Sora reached the square, she turned back to stare in the direction of the castle. After standing there for a few seconds, she dabbed at her eyes with her sleeve as though to wipe away tears.
Then, she headed down a deserted alleyway and took to the skies, heading for the stone house where Rio waited.
◇ ◇ ◇
The next day, it was finally time for Satsuki and the other heroes to test their Divine Arms.
Satsuki, Masato, Hiroaki, and Takahisa boarded an enchanted airship and left for an area roughly an hour away from the capital. Celia, Sara, Orphia, Alma, and Gouki accompanied them. The airship landed on an uninhabited lake to avoid being seen. Then, they unloaded the horse carriages they had brought with them and rode until they reached a vast but uninhabited plain. The group alighted from the carriages, and Hiroaki turned to Takahisa with a cold look.
“You were so against fighting, yet you came along in the end, huh?”
“The powers we have can kill people easily. That’s why we need to know more about our powers. That’s all,” Takahisa replied to Hiroaki in spite of the somewhat irritated look on his face.
Six days ago, Francois had summoned the four heroes to the castle to hear their thoughts on investigating their hero powers. While three of them expressed their interest in cooperating, Takahisa had been greatly opposed to the idea. Because of that, he had spent the entire next day shut away in the guesthouse mulling things over, but he was back to visiting Satsuki and the others in the mansion after that.
“Hmm. I see,” Hiroaki mumbled with disinterest.
“No one should be able to see anything here. Feel free to release your powers to your hearts’ content,” Francois said to the four heroes.
“Who wants to go first?” Satsuki asked.
“I will.” Hiroaki volunteered first, eager to get going. He materialized the Yamata no Orochi he was so proud of. Gouki’s eyes widened curiously at the extra long tachi blade.
“Go on then,” Satsuki said, yielding the order to him. Neither Masato nor Takahisa had any objections either, so Hiroaki proceeded to use his Divine Arms at full power.
“Make sure you distance yourself adequately before activating your weapon,” Gouki said. Francois had asked him to take charge of the investigation today, so he asked for Hiroaki to step far away from the observers before beginning. Sara, Orphia, and Alma were present to protect the observers in case of any emergencies.
“Right...” Hiroaki held his Divine Arms at the ready.
All he had to do was release all his power. He imagined himself pouring all the energy from his body into the blade and activated his technique. He imagined the strongest water monster he could think of—the Yamata no Orochi, the legendary eight-headed creature of Japanese folklore and namesake of his weapon. He wasn’t actually summoning a creature called the Yamata no Orochi, but he was producing water that took the shape of a giant eight-headed, eight-tailed dragon, and controlling that water freely.
“Ooh...”
Hiroaki finished casting his technique to reveal a six-headed water dragon. There was no body or tail, but each head was over ten meters in length.
If the lengths of the heads were added together, the total distance would be on par with the highest grade of attack magic. That evaluation would only increase if he could continue controlling the heads after summoning them. Francois, Duke Huguenot, and a number of other observers were wide-eyed in wonder.
“Yamata no Orochi, huh?” Satsuki didn’t look impressed.
Any Japanese person would have heard of Yamata no Orochi before, regardless of their interest in subcultures. It was that well known of a mythological creature. And it was fairly common knowledge that the creature had eight heads and tails.
Satsuki also possessed this knowledge, which was why she found it questionable that something with six heads could be called the Yamata no Orochi.
“I think it’s cool just like this.”
Masato was also aware of the name’s origin, but he still had the heart of a young boy. His eyes sparkled in excitement as he gazed at Hiroaki’s water dragon.
“What do you think, Princess Christina?” Francois asked.
“It’s a magnificent technique, but...it seems far smaller than what was used at Rodania. There are also fewer heads. I doubt it could withstand a single blow from the ice hero.”
Christina gave her honest opinion.
“I see...”
Francois’s reaction was also rather indifferent. There was no denying it was impressive, but he could tell it was not as impressive as Christina had hoped.
No... This isn’t enough. His attack was even stronger. How did that bastard conjure up so much power?
As the caster of the technique, Hiroaki himself was the most aware of how incomplete it was. He frowned in frustration.
He wanted to make the attack bigger than this, but he didn’t know how. He was already putting all of his energy into the Divine Arms. The use of the Divine Arms was purely intuitive, so he didn’t know how to bring out its power.
Until now, he had always believed he could do it if he tried. But this was the reality. He had tried with all his might, and now he had no more excuses.
“Damn it!” Hiroaki shouted angrily, slamming the Yamata no Orochi against the ground. He tried to bring out as much power as he could and gouge the ground. The water lost its shape as it struck the ground, spraying water everywhere and creating a faint rainbow.
“That’s enough! You’ve demonstrated your power. Please stand down, Lord Sakata!” Gouki shouted, running towards Hiroaki with his physical body enhanced.
“...Okay.”
Hiroaki came to a stop after slamming his Divine Arms against the ground and dragged his feet back over to the other observers.
“It was an impressive sight,” Gouki said to Hiroaki, praising him for his strenuous efforts.
“I guess I’ll go next.” The next volunteer to go was Satsuki.
“Do your best, Satsuki.” Masato waved her off as she headed for the spot where Hiroaki had just used his Divine Arms.
“Right...” Satsuki materialized her Divine Arms: a short spear in the shape of a glaive. She took a deep breath—although the plains before her were uninhabited, she still had some fear towards releasing a move with all her strength. She was afraid of knowing how much devastation she could cause by using her power.
“Here I go!”
Clutching the handle of her spear, Satsuki shouted to encourage herself. She then pointed the tip of the spear at the sky and held the spear ready over her head.
As soon as she did, a fierce tornado formed at the base of the tip. It towered at over fifty meters tall and would have easily cut down—or rather, blown away—the six-headed Yamata no Orochi Hiroaki had created.
As a fellow wind user, Gouki hummed in admiration. “Fantastic.”
“Haaah!” Satsuki roared as she swung her spear down, slamming the tornado-entwined blade into the ground. The tornado bore deep into the ground and a fierce wind blasted through the area, avoiding just the area where Satsuki was.
“Orphia, Alma...”
“Got it.”
“Yup.”
Sara, Orphia, and Alma used their spirit arts to create a barrier against the wind and rubble. Orphia created a gentle breeze to blow away the dust obstructing their vision.
“Wow... Satsuki’s amazing.” Masato was utterly astonished.
Is it because she’s learned the basics of spirit arts, like Rio suspected? Lady Satsuki’s clearly bringing out more of her power than Sir Hiroaki.
Celia compared Hiroaki to Satsuki and quietly analyzed the difference. Meanwhile...
What the hell. That Satsuki... She’s definitely stronger than me...
Hiroaki had realized that Satsuki was drawing out more of her power than him. He gritted his teeth with a look of frustration.
When comparing the ground where Hiroaki slammed the Yamata no Orochi to the area where Satsuki released the tornado, it was clear that the latter had gouged deeper.
“What do you think, Princess Christina?” Francois asked, seeking a comparison with the ice hero.
“While it falls behind the ice hero’s attack and the Yamata no Orochi Sir Hiroaki used at Rodania, it’s getting there. The area of damage isn’t very wide, but its force within a localized area could even surpass that of the ice hero.”
This was because the ice hero Renji’s attack had been focused on freezing its targets rather than destruction. Even if this move couldn’t destroy the Yamata no Orochi that had appeared in Rodania, it should be able to take out one or two heads.
Soon after, Satsuki returned. Masato ran up to her to compliment her. “That was awesome, Satsuki!”
“It was no good. I was so caught up with size, it ended up looking more impressive than it actually was.” Satsuki hummed in contemplation, believing she could have condensed the power more.
“I see. I guess I’ll go next, then!”
“Yes, go and show us your power. But be careful.”
“Got it!”
With an enthusiastic reply, Masato ran off. The Divine Arms he materialized on his way was a large greatsword disproportionate to his still child-sized body. He seemed to have enhanced his physical body, as he was able to pick it up lightly in one hand.
“All right, let’s do this!” Masato swung his greatsword around, getting used to the sensation of it in his hand. After some time, he raised it in an overhead stance and paused. With the sword braced ready, he took a deep breath and pictured the phenomenon he wanted to create. Then, he swung the greatsword down with a roar.
“Raaaaaagh!”
The moment the tip of the sword came into contact with the ground, the ground lifted up and crumbled.
“Huh?!” The overturned land formed a tsunami of earth ten meters tall, fanning out from the epicenter to destroy everything in its path. The wave weakened the farther it got from Masato, and came to a complete stop roughly fifty meters out.
“That’s impressive...”
Satsuki was taken aback by the resulting destruction. She had more power when it came to a localized area, but Masato was clearly the winner when it came to applying destruction evenly in a fan shape.
“...” Masato looked down at the weapon in his hands, surprised at his own results. He then beamed happily as he returned to where everyone was.
“You did it, Masato!” Satsuki welcomed him back with applause.
“He he. That was the best I could do with my current strength. I call it the Ruin Slash! Or something like that,” Masato joked with a laugh.
“What does Princess Christina have to say?”
“The ice hero’s attack also scattered in a fan shape to spread damage. The scale of the phenomenon is still vastly inferior, but Sir Masato could potentially surpass his force in certain aspects,” Christina said, reviewing Masato’s strike.
“I see. That makes sense—even the highest grades of attack magic vary depending on whether they’re single- or multi-target spells. There are also differences based on element, so it would be rash to evaluate someone merely on the scale of their power. Hmm...”
Francois hummed in thought, wondering how to evaluate this. Meanwhile...
Even this brat is better than me. Damn it. All that’s left is the pretty boy hero...
Hiroaki felt restless about his current position as third strongest. What if he came in last out of the four of them? He definitely didn’t want to lose to this feeble man with the pretty face and disagreeable values. He glared at Takahisa with a sense of rivalry.
“Seems like it’s my turn.” Takahisa stepped forward with a grim look. “Laevateinn.” He called out the name of his Divine Arms—a red sword with a meter-long blade.
“That appearance screams fire element. The name too.”
Hiroaki overheard his words and analyzed the Divine Arms of fire he was seeing for the first time. Meanwhile, Takahisa moved to where Masato had been standing a few moments ago and clutched his sword in both hands, squeezing his eyes shut as he brought it close to his face. Then, with a deep breath, he swung the sword.
“Haaah!” In response to Takahisa’s roar, the raging flames rose from the blade of his sword. The sword traveled in a horizontal line and released an explosive blast of fire, burning within ten meters in front of him.
The fire scorched the earth for a few seconds before vanishing. The scale of the attack was enough to match that of a highest-grade attack spell, but it was clearly inferior to Satsuki and Masato’s, and even Hiroaki’s incomplete Yamata no Orochi.
The ground within the range of his attack was still red with heat, but there was no physical trace of damage like the other heroes.
“...” When he saw the lack of traces, Takahisa himself wondered if he was inferior. He glanced between the sword in his hand and the cooling ground with a disappointed look.
Did he not release all his power? He raised his sword to try once again.
“Please return, Lord Takahisa,” Gouki called from behind him.
“Oh, okay...” With a start, Takahisa nodded and dragged his feet back to where the observers were.
“The other heroes excelled in scale, but...”
There didn’t seem to be any aspect he surpassed the other heroes in. Francois didn’t seek an opinion from Christina regarding Takahisa. During that time, Takahisa returned.
Lilianna approached him and bowed. “Good work, Sir Takahisa.”
“Ah... Thanks, Lily. How... How was it?” Takahisa asked with uncertainty. He probably felt pathetic at the sight of his attack barely leaving a mark when he looked behind himself.
“It was wonderful,” Lilianna answered without hesitation. In reality, it was a fine move. If the subjects of comparison hadn’t been fellow heroes, he would have been openly praised instead.
“Well, depending on where you use it, you could cause the most secondary damage,” Hiroaki said to Takahisa with a superior smirk, believing he had won over him.
Tch. What am I getting relieved for, coming in third before this coward? If that ice brat were here, he’d be in first and I’d be in fourth.
Realizing he was feeling relieved at avoiding last place, Hiroaki grimaced bitterly. He had decided he would win over Renji, so coming second last wasn’t good enough.
“What do you mean by that?” Takahisa asked sullenly.
“I mean exactly what I said. If the burning area spreads into more fire, your secondary damage would be even greater. Isn’t that the strength of all fire attacks? I mean, I’m just guessing, but...” Hiroaki ruffled his own head and looked away.
Damn it... Are there elements that are better than others? What’s the difference between us? How are they drawing out more of their Divine Arms’ power? Hiroaki racked his brains for a way to become stronger. Meanwhile...
Hmm. Well, that’s about the result I expected. Gouki was satisfied with the results. If he had to put a reason to it, then he would guess it was due to Satsuki and Masato being in the middle of learning spirit arts. Besides, only Satsuki and Masato had any experience handling weapons out of the four heroes—he could tell with his expert eye that Hiroaki and Takahisa were amateurs.
That aside, the Divine Arms are outrageous. Who in their right mind would give inexperienced children who have never received any training this much power? The thought of them being abused is truly terrifying...
Regular children had come into possession of so much power. This was something Gouki found frightening. He was especially scared for Satsuki and Masato, whom he considered his family already.
If they’re willing, then it may be time to get serious about teaching them how to fight.
Gouki’s innate kindness reminded him to offer them his assistance in the near future.
And there were others who had watched everything take place. It was Rio and Sora, who had heard the schedule for the investigation from Celia in advance and positioned themselves high in the sky above the plains.
“What a low-level demonstration,” Sora muttered with a disgusted look. She seemed to find the ability of the four heroes on the ground to be of poor quality. Meanwhile...
As I expected, it seems their experience in spirit arts is key to how much power they can draw from their Divine Arms.
Rio concluded his prediction was correct after witnessing the four of them demonstrate their moves. However, at the same time...
But that doesn’t explain how Saint Erica was able to use so much power when she was relying entirely on her weapon. Did she receive training in spirit arts from someone? If not, then is there another reason?
The mystery deepened.
There has to be another method of drawing forth the heroes’ power besides spirit arts.
After a moment of contemplation, Rio came up with a hypothesis to that mystery. And in order to find evidence of this hypothesis...
I should investigate what I can about the path Saint Erica took after being summoned into this world.
Rio decided to investigate the land Erica was summoned in while they journeyed to find clues about Lina. With that thought, he called out to Sora. “Let’s go, Sora.”
“Right away!”
Thus, Rio and Sora left the Galarc Kingdom.
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