Part 3: Fate Manipulation (4)

Jane examined the wall that Frondier and Saibel had disappeared through. But the pressure plate would not depress again, and she could see no other mechanism. Apparently, the trap could not be activated a second time.

"Frondier! Saibel! Can you hear me?"

No answer.

Could they not hear the voices on the other side, or could the other two not hear theirs? Or both? Whatever the case, communication seemed impossible.

"What should we do? They're both first-years—"

Just as Quinier began to voice her concern, she felt a powerful gust beside her. Looking over, she saw Aster's body enveloped in white light.

"I'll break through."

Aster's Divine Power: Baldur.

The moment he saw his companions in danger, he acted without hesitation.

But Jane stopped him.

"No."

"Why not? With my power, I should be able to break through."

Aster was already fully prepared for battle. Jane shook her head.

"Yes. With your power, you could. Breaking through would be easy. But if anything went wrong, you could bring this entire dungeon down."

"...!"

Jane's calm words brought Aster back to his senses. She looked him straight in the eye.

"Aster. If the dungeon collapses, those two could be buried alive. If that happens, there will be nothing we can do."

"..."

Aster fell silent for a moment at her words. Then he released his Divine Power and closed his eyes.

"... I'm sorry I got carried away."

"I'm glad you understand."

Jane smiled at his sincere apology. But their problem remained unsolved.

She considered the situation for a moment.

Would Frondier and Saibel stay where they had landed, or would they move on?

Frondier would want to stay put. He knew a great deal about traps, and above all, he was notorious for his lazy disposition.

Saibel, on the other hand, would never tolerate waiting. Until just a little while ago, she had made her boredom abundantly clear.

A little fooling around would be fine with Jane and Quinier present, but right now, the two of them were alone.

'... They mustn't move. All I can do is hope Frondier stops Saibel.'

If he did, they still had time.

"Let's keep going. Once we clear the dungeon, it will lose its power, and this area will return to its original state. Then those two should be safe as well."

"... Yes. Then let's hurry."

Quinier nodded, her expression resolute.

Jane turned to Aster.

"I'm counting on that power of yours, Aster."

"Leave it to me."

His voice was reassuring.

Even without breaking down the wall, his power would be essential to clearing this dungeon quickly.

* * *

Jane probably wanted us to stay where we were. That was the first rule for lost children, after all.

But Saibel and I were walking along briskly.

She glanced around with anxious eyes. In truth, she was mostly looking at me.

'Splitting off from the others really was the right call.'

I had triggered the trap deliberately, to leave just Saibel and me here.

There were several reasons for that.

One was Quinier's sharp perception.

Having played through this dungeon many times, I remembered the locations of nearly every trap. That was why I had unconsciously glanced at one—and she had caught that fleeting look.

At least while we were in this dungeon, I was better off keeping my distance from Quinier.

Another reason was Saibel.

Fate reshaped itself to suit her wishes.

Even putting it generously, our expedition so far could hardly have been what she wanted.

She was interested in Aster. She wanted to see him in action and grow closer to him at his side.

But that was not a welcome prospect for me. I knew Saibel was a villain.

Of course, the Saibel of this world might turn out a little differently.

But throughout my countless playthroughs, she had never changed. Nor was I confident I could change her now.

So it would be best to keep Aster and Saibel apart as much as possible.

The problem was that damned Fate Manipulation.

If Saibel's desires went unfulfilled, there was no telling what unforeseen complication might strike.

With Saibel involved, even an Outside monster appearing in this Low-Level Dungeon, where it had no business being, was entirely possible.

So before that happened, I would take a hand in manipulating her fate.

"D-don't come near me."

The moment we were alone, Saibel's wariness had reached its peak.

This was probably how she really saw me. Disgust, and almost as much fear.

It was rather refreshing to see her face stripped of pretense. Few people had probably ever seen it.

But a Low-Level Dungeon was dangerous for two first-years.

However much Saibel disliked it, keeping her distance from me was dangerous. She might be able to kill monsters, but ordinary first-years could not identify traps.

I, however, knew every trap. And whenever I found one, I took the opportunity to store it in the Workshop.

Now, then.

Shall we change Saibel's "desire"?

CLICK.

I stepped firmly on an unnaturally protruding stone.

WHOOSH!

The same arrow trap as before.

This time, the arrow came hurtling straight at us.

"Whoa!"

Knowing exactly where it would fire, I let out a cry of feigned surprise.

Saibel stood right beside the arrow's trajectory.

"H-hah...!"

She trembled at the sight of the arrowhead.

It would have missed her anyway. Even if it hadn't, her reflexes would have let her dodge it.

Not just Saibel—any Constel combat student could have reacted in the nick of time. And even if she hadn't, her peculiar luck would have taken care of it somehow.

But since I had blocked it, there was no need.

When luck wasn't needed, it didn't act.

"Sorry. I think I stepped on a trap."

"Y-you..."

Saibel already looked ready to cry.

She might want to blame me, but knowing nothing about traps, she had no idea I had stepped on it deliberately.

Still looking tearful, she fumbled for her weapon and drew it.

A sword thinner than her arm, with an ornamental guard protecting her hand.

A rapier.

I drew the dagger tucked inside my clothes as well. It was meant for harvesting monster parts, but it was the only weapon I had. In truth, I didn't particularly need even that.

Still, I had to pretend to be tense if I wanted Saibel to stay tense too.

"Let's go."

"Y-yeah."

Saibel had grown a little more cooperative. Even so, she still hadn't closed much of the distance between us.

Hmm.

She hadn't quite learned her lesson yet.

"Eek!"

"Aaaah!"

"Mommy!!"

As we walked, I deliberately set off traps and dealt with the incoming attacks myself. Saibel jumped every time.

Of course, I didn't trigger all of them. Mostly, I pointed out their locations, instructed her to avoid them, and disarmed whichever ones I could.

Then, once I had built up her trust and she was gradually relaxing, every so often...

"Aaaaaah! Waaah!!"

This time, the floor gave way.

I caught her hand just as she was about to fall from the edge.

Saibel's body tilted diagonally out over the drop, her entire weight balanced on my grip alone. If I let go, she would fall straight down.

"Whew. That was close."

"Save me, save me, save meeee!!"

"You're safe now. Calm down."

I pulled her hand, and she tumbled snugly into my arms.

Once she regained her balance, she stared at the hole in the floor, shaking violently.

The bottom wasn't visible to the naked eye. Not knowing what lay down there probably made it all the more terrifying to Saibel.

But there was actually nothing there. Just bare ground.

Even if you fell, nothing much would happen as long as you landed calmly.

"Hhh, hhhh..."

All her suspicion and wariness of me forgotten, Saibel pressed close to my side.

Of course she did. She intuitively sensed that fate adjusted itself to suit her, but she didn't understand just how powerful that was.

Her extraordinary luck wasn't something comical, like dodging an incoming arrow by sneezing.

It eliminated the conditions that would send an arrow at her in the first place. It never allowed that situation to arise.

As a result, Saibel had almost never experienced an arrow actually appearing before her.

This wasn't some feeble luck that helped her overcome danger. It was powerful luck that eliminated danger itself.

Ironically, luck that powerful left Saibel confused when she confronted genuine danger.

"F-Frondier..."

She was already on the verge of tears, though she hadn't been hurt at all.

Had she been here alone, she would actually have felt reassured.

She would have avoided most traps without even knowing they existed. Even if she stepped on one, it would have failed to activate or proved so trivial that it only put her more at ease.

But I stepped on them myself and dealt with them myself. I kept thrusting danger in front of her, then removing it.

Since I was doing her luck's job, it didn't activate.

In other words, my very presence was actually Saibel's "luck."

But she must have been utterly confused. From her perspective, I looked as though I was in danger too.

Since I seemed to be barely managing to stop the traps, she couldn't feel her luck working.

'I hope this changes what Saibel wants.'

If only she would lose interest in Aster and start wanting to get out of here instead. I could help her with that as much as she liked.

I knew this dungeon.

Although the route Saibel and I were taking had more traps, it was actually a shorter path to the Sanctuary.

The Sanctuary was the dungeon's final location, so reaching it meant we were almost at the exit.

Even so, Aster's group would reach it first.

Burning with righteous determination, Aster would be plowing ahead with liberal use of his Divine Power.

A slightly shorter route wouldn't let us match that speed.

"Oh, it's opened up."

As we walked, I checked our surroundings. We had entered a noticeably wider space.

"W-what difference does that make?"

Saibel asked fearfully, following close behind me.

"Fewer traps."

"Really?"

That was true. You didn't set traps where there was plenty of room to dodge them.

Unless the entire area was a trap, of course.

"But where did you learn all this?"

Saibel sounded suspicious.

"In class."

"... From what I've heard, you sleep through every class."

"Haven't you heard I've gotten my act together lately?"

It felt strange talking about myself as though I were someone else.

Though, since I wasn't the real Frondier, I technically was someone else.

"Then if there aren't traps, what is there?"

"What do you think?"

A little farther on, a pack of beasts came into view in the distance.

Red eyes and gray fur. Though heavily hunched, they walked on two legs, and their faces resembled rats.

Ratmen.

"Things like those."

"... I see."

Seeming a little calmer, Saibel gave her rapier a light swing.

I adjusted my grip on my dagger too.

"Better than traps, right?"

"A hundred times. A thousand times."

The pack of Ratmen charged us.

There were about ten of them.

It would have been a nuisance if they had all come at once, but they came one after another. Rat intelligence, all right.

Saibel took down the enemies one by one as they approached.

There was something a little unusual about her swordsmanship. A rapier was primarily a thrusting weapon, but she fought mostly with slashes despite its thin blade.

She did so even more often after learning Aura.

Which made sense, considering that a blade coated in Aura wouldn't break easily.

"Hey! You! Aren't you going to fight?!"

Saibel snapped at me while fighting hard.

I shrugged.

"Sorry. I'm no good at fighting."

Disbelief spread across her face.

"This is what passes for a Constel student...?"