Arc 6: Golem (2)

How did I have a third dagger when I had only started with two? Because the second dagger, the one Atzier had knocked away with Falling Tension, was a fake made with Weaving.

Weapons made with Weaving cannot interact with reality. In other words, I can hold a woven weapon and a real weapon in the same hand, since woven weapons pass through objects.

The dagger Atzier had knocked away with Falling Tension was the one I had woven. My woven dagger had manifested in reality at the moment of contact and been sent flying by his Falling Tension, but the real dagger had remained in my hand. That was the dagger I had thrown at his head.

‘That was close...’

I had spoken nonchalantly, but cold sweat was pouring off me. I had thrown the dagger the instant Atzier took his stance, and even then, he had nearly beaten me to it. Honestly, I hadn't been able to see that final Diagonal Slash at all.

“... How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

I played dumb. I couldn't explain Weaving to him.

I had expected Atzier to be offended, but he nodded as though he understood.

“Of course. You challenged me because you had a trump card like that. Asking you to reveal it was rather petty of me.”

He looked at me as he spoke. If anything, his gaze seemed softer than it had before our fight.

... Atzier de Roach. Strict as he was with others, he was even stricter with himself.

“I lost, Frondier. I will teach you Combat Skills.”

Just like that.

With a move that had been little better than a gamble, I had barely managed to secure a way to improve my combat abilities.

... This was a good thing, right?

* * *

The next day, Edwin heard faint whispers as he walked across Constel's grounds.

“That's him, right?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

He had been hearing whispers for a while, but had never imagined they were about him.

“I heard a first-year saved him from getting killed.”

“Yeah. The Second Son of the Roah Family.”

“...!”

Edwin turned toward the voices. The whispering students walked on, pretending not to have noticed him. But the mockery continued afterward.

‘Fuck.’

Edwin hadn't done anything more embarrassing than any other student. He had simply been singled out. As the son of a fallen noble, he had no place among either commoners or nobles. To commoners who resented the nobility, he was the easiest target.

‘... If I activated the Golem right here...’

What would happen? It was the masterpiece Professor Binkis had created through tireless research. Only a handful of students would be able to handle it properly. It would certainly become a horrific bloodbath. The students nearby wouldn't even remain recognizable, and even if they ran, it would strike them down from behind, one by one—

“Hey.”

“Ah!”

Edwin jumped in fright. He turned to find Elin looking at him.

“What are you standing around for?”

“Oh, n-nothing.”

Her voice finally brought Edwin back to his senses.

‘What am I thinking?’

What an insane thought.

His anger had been growing harder to control lately. Was it because he had obtained such a powerful weapon in the Golem? No, tracing it back, had it begun when he met Frondier?

... Did your inferiority complex torment you that much, Edwin?

“You're on your way to eat, right? Let's go together.”

“Oh, sure.”

Edwin followed her.

The Evans family were commoners, yet their fame had soared thanks to Elin's younger brother, Aster. The Behertio family were nobles, yet failed businesses and a lack of talented heirs had brought about their downfall. In that sense, Elin and Edwin were both close and worlds apart. They had known each other since their first year. Regardless of her connection to Aster, she was one of the few people Edwin could open up to.

“... Oh, I see.”

As they walked, Elin's eyes darkened. She had heard the whispers mocking Edwin.

“That's why you were standing there like that.”

“... More or less,” Edwin admitted honestly.

“Ignore them. Idiots put everything they have into acting like idiots. They need someone to take their anger out on.”

“I could use someone like that, too. Someone to take my anger out on.”

“... Edwin.”

Elin looked at him. Her darkened gaze was equally cold as it pierced him. It was an unmistakable warning.

“Well, hello there, Lord Fallen Noble.”

A smug voice struck Edwin's ears. The timing couldn't have been worse. He turned, his anger still plain on his face, and saw someone he knew.

Geri Klatt. The leader of the commoners' group.

“Geri. Stop picking fights and move along.”

Elin stepped in first. Normally, she would have left it alone. Edwin would have handled the situation himself. But something was off about him today.

“... Geri. Are you behind all the whispering? What did you tell your commoners' group?”

“Commoners' group? Call us ‘Aktober.’ And what makes it my doing? It's yours. You're the one who made a fool of himself, idiot.”

Geri continued provoking him. But Edwin soon turned his angry face away and closed his eyes. Geri's eye twitched at the sight. That was what Edwin always did when he was calming his temper.

Geri clicked his tongue. He had to give that penniless noble credit for his patience, at least.

“Geri.”

But today—just for today—Edwin and Geri wanted the same thing.

“When would you like to die?”

* * *

A few days later, Edwin arrived at the appointed place at the appointed time. The Golem was beside him. He had no intention of using it, but there was no telling what the other side might do. His prediction proved correct.

“Huh? Well, look at this,” Geri sneered.

He wasn't alone at the meeting place. Five or six students—presumably commoners—were waiting for Edwin.

“You've got some nerve, bringing that weird thing along.”

“If we're talking about bringing weird things, look around you.”

Edwin smirked at the surrounding students. Geri shrugged.

“These friends are spectators. It'd be too boring with just the two of us fighting. Someone ought to watch, don't you think?”

His face was full of scorn.

When choosing the location, Edwin had wanted as few witnesses as possible. That was why he had picked a clearing people ordinarily had no reason to visit. And that was precisely why Geri had deliberately gathered an audience. The thought that he might lose had never even crossed his mind.

‘Well, it doesn't matter.’

He hadn't chosen this place out of fear of losing. He had simply wanted no eyes on them, exactly as he had said. Edwin drew his sword. Needless to say, it was a real blade. Geri drew his own sword in turn.

“Beg for your life now, and I'll forgive you.”

“...”

Geri had never killed anyone. Nor did he have the resolve to do so. But swordsmanship could make the gap between two people abundantly clear without killing anyone. Once he taught Edwin a lesson, the boy would crawl before him on his own.

Both sprang into motion at once. Geri's sword cut straight down first, and Edwin deflected the blade at an angle. At the same time, his sword point darted toward Geri's throat.

“Ugh!”

Geri barely managed to lean back out of its path.

Edwin's movement was clean, as though he had known Geri's opening move in advance. In fact, he had predicted it. The more reliable a move was, the easier it was to read. Geri might have some experience with a sword, but he couldn't match Edwin's family training.

Metal clashed and blades hissed through the air several times. As expected, Geri was the one being driven back. Edwin's relentless sword attacks left him no opportunity to counter. It was offense serving as the best defense.

“Y-you bastard!”

Geri knocked Edwin's sword wide.

CLANG!

Edwin's shoulder swung outward, exposing his chest.

‘An opening!’

The thought lasted only an instant, and Geri's sword shot forward even faster.

‘Now.’

But a deliberately created opening is no opening at all. Edwin had read Geri's impatient sword and exposed himself on purpose. He turned his back to evade the thrust, spinning all the way around. Geri's neck lay at the end of that turn. Of course, he intended to stop before reaching it.

But—

“Urgh!”

He had evaded Geri's thrust perfectly, yet something struck Edwin and threw him off balance.

‘This is wind magic—“Gathering Wind”...!’

There was no way Geri could cast magic while fighting. Edwin looked around. Among the watching students, he saw several holding out their hands toward him and muttering something.

‘Ha.’

He had expected it, but it still felt foul.

Edwin somehow recovered his balance as he retreated. But with the other students interfering, he had no way to fend off Geri's attacks.

THUD!

In the end, Edwin fell, and a blade pressed against his throat.

“... Fuck.”

Despite having won, Geri spat out a curse.

“You fucking bastard. What gave you the balls to come here alone? Did you really think I was that much of a joke? You son of a bitch.”

“... You named the commoners' group ‘Aktober’ yourself and declared yourself its leader.”

Edwin looked at him. Even as Geri stood over him in victory, his face was red with humiliation.

“I thought you'd have at least that much pride, you fucking moron.”

“... You're finished at Constel. Everyone will know you as the idiot who picked a fight with a commoner and lost. It'll suit a fallen noble perfectly.”

“Do whatever the fuck you want.”

Edwin lowered his head. Perhaps his injuries were making his language rougher. Not that the bastard was any better.

“Fuck...”

Still apparently unsatisfied, Geri swore again, then his gaze fell on the sword Edwin was holding.

“Hey. Leave that sword here. I'll sell it.”

“Don't touch the sword.”

Edwin snarled, his eyes vicious.

There it was. Geri turned toward the spectators.

“Hey. Take his sword.”

The students slowly approached. Edwin tried to rise, but stopped as Geri pushed the blade toward his throat.

“Stay still unless you want to die.”

A smile spread across Geri's face, as though his mood had finally improved.

‘Ah.’

It was so revolting he wanted to vomit. What was he doing? Why was he putting up with this? Was there any need to sit here and do nothing? He had done his best to make this a fair fight. Even when it hadn't been, he had still accepted defeat.

And now they were taking his sword?

The Behertio family's sudden downfall one day.

... None of it had been his fault.

The commoners' backlash against the power of the nobility.

... It had nothing to do with him.

‘Just die, all of you. You fuckers.’

The instant Edwin arrived at that thought, a crunch sounded above his head.

CRUNCH!

“... Huh?”

What came into Edwin's view was the Golem's cold arm, holding Geri aloft by his lower jaw. Geri's face had caved in below his upper lip like crumpled paper.

‘His j-jaw...’

It had shattered. From the strength of the Golem's grip alone.

“Guh... Ghurk, gkk.”

No proper sound came from Geri's mouth. Tears streamed down his face as he dangled helplessly in the Golem's grip.

“Wh-what is that thing?!”

“Run!”

The moment the students saw what the Golem had done, they turned and fled. Edwin reached out without realizing it.

‘No, if they leave now...’

They would find out about this Golem. Professor Binkis would, too.

He had merely thought it.

The Golem set Geri down and leaped. That single leap brought it up to the fleeing students in an instant.

THWACK! THUD!

The sounds of one-sided violence rang out. Moments later, every student there was sprawled on the ground, slumped where they sat, or embedded in something.

And the Golem stood quietly, as though nothing had happened. As though it had merely carried out an order.

‘S-surely...’

They weren't really dead, were they?

The one small mercy was that the Golem hadn't used its spear. That might be evidence that it hadn't killed them, but Edwin couldn't possibly bring himself to check.

His hands trembled violently. Soon, the trembling took over his entire body. He tried to get up from the ground, but even that wasn't easy. The sky—no, the ground—was spinning. It felt as though each had flipped over in turn, and all he could see was black.

“G-Golem. Come here.”

The Golem immediately stood beside him.

First, he had to hide it.

Even if the people here woke up and told someone else, their claims would be less convincing without the actual Golem as evidence. In this case, it was fortunate that they all belonged to the same group, Aktober. It left open the possibility that people would believe they had conspired to spread false rumors.

If things worked out that way, this incident would fall, at worst, into the category of “involuntary manslaughter.”

... Assuming they were all still alive, of course.

But if the Golem were discovered, it would be a different story. He had stolen the Golem's master authority, picked a fight with Geri, and inflicted violence on Aktober's members. Judging by that sequence of events, what he had done was an entirely premeditated crime.

‘Quickly, to Professor Binkis's laboratory.’

What about the route from here to the lab?

... It wouldn't be easy. He would have to pass several facilities the students frequented, so the chances of escaping everyone's notice were slim.

‘I have to hide until nightfall.’

Somewhere other than here. Anywhere would do, as long as the bastards here couldn't find him even if they woke up.

“... Let's go.”