Section 23: Coincidence

The night Frondier made his bombshell announcement, Ampere summoned Atzier to his room. In the silence, with only a single small lamp lit, he asked his son a question.

“Atzier, what do you think?”

“Your will is mine, Father.”

Ampere smiled at the answer, but shook his head.

“I thought you would say that. Ever since you were little, you have faithfully followed my words without once defying me.”

Calling Atzier a model student or an outstanding pupil hardly did justice to his accomplishments. His family’s expectations, including Ampere’s, and the attention and pressure at Constel—he had overcome them all. The standards the world demanded of him were impossibly high by any ordinary person’s measure. Yet Atzier had risen to meet them without apparent difficulty, as though it were only natural.

He had never shown any sign of struggling along the way. That made him a source of both pride and concern for Ampere. Steel that was too hard could also break easily.

“But Atzier, having watched Frondier up close, you must have thoughts of your own. That is why you remained silent at the restaurant, is it not?”

Frondier’s declaration that he would go to Teibeon had been even more dangerous than the remark he had suddenly made at the meeting. Yet Atzier, who had stopped him during that meeting, had said nothing about his plan to go to Teibeon.

“Atzier, the change in Frondier still feels unfamiliar to me. It means I have fallen short in my role as his father.”

Astonishingly, Ampere had admitted his own shortcomings. It was as far as he could humble himself before his son.

“I need wisdom now. What are your thoughts? Do you believe Frondier will be all right if he goes to Teibeon?”

Atzier closed his eyes for a moment. With his father going this far, he could not evade the question. Besides, he too had been feeling the need to tell Ampere a few things about Frondier.

“At the very least...”

Atzier seemed to weigh which words would be most appropriate before finally murmuring an answer entirely characteristic of him.

“He won’t come back dead.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

Doubtful, Ampere asked again. That was how dangerous Teibeon was. It was a place where the question was quite literally whether one would live or die.

“The Frondier of today is not the boy he was until last year.”

Atzier had witnessed Frondier’s rate of growth more closely than anyone. Of course, even he did not know the full extent of Frondier’s abilities, but he had personally taught him close combat. He had expected Frondier to quit within three days—no, within a single day. Instead, Frondier had stubbornly kept up with his lessons.

From what he had seen, Frondier was the type to think as he acted, laying traps in advance and waging psychological warfare to narrow the gap between himself and his opponent. It was a completely different approach from Atzier’s own reliance on fundamentals to handle every situation. Thus, even what looked like petty tricks produced definite results. The final exam had been no different. Through hidden moves, superior information, and deception, Frondier had turned the battle in his favor, then seized the opening.

Perhaps because of his habit of laying multiple traps, Frondier began with the things he believed he could do. It was as though he were steadily collecting tools for psychological warfare. That must have been why he had asked Atzier to demonstrate Falling Tension. That was the part Atzier felt he had come to understand.

Frondier had spent all that time doing nothing, appearing lazy, because he had considered most things impossible. Then something had prompted him to reconsider—to believe they were possible. The result was the Frondier they saw now.

“Frondier is not being reckless.”

“There is something to gain by going there? Is that what Frondier believes?”

“If it were merely a belief, he would not have attempted it. Frondier knows. He knows he will gain something there.”

In Atzier’s eyes, Frondier had begun living with fierce determination one day, as though he really had become a different person. His announcement about Teibeon had surprised Atzier too, but he did not believe that someone living with such determination would suddenly make a foolish decision.

“Unless he is disowned, Frondier will live with the Roach family name behind him.”

If the original plan had been to cast Frondier out and send him somewhere safer, then, without that disownment, he would ultimately walk the same path as Ampere and Atzier.

“If it is a hell he must see someday, seeing it in advance may not be a bad thing.”

* * *

I was agonizing over whom to tell about my trip to Teibeon. I should at least tell Aten, who had helped me so much. No, wait—what if she followed me all the way there? Surely she wouldn’t go as far as Teibeon? Just in case, should I tell Aster or Saibel first instead? But did I even need to tell anyone? It wasn’t as though I was going there to die—so went my worries, and every last one of them proved utterly pointless.

“I hear you’re going to Teibeon.”

That was the first thing Aten said when I entered the classroom.

And it wasn’t just Aten. The moment I walked in, the other students began whispering as they looked at me. Even in passing, I could hear the word “Teibeon.” How did everyone know? Then Elodie came to mind.

That little brat had spread the news all over school!

“Oh, yeah. I was going to tell you, but the rumors got here before me.”

Whatever Elodie was thinking, there was no point denying it now that word had spread this far.

Aten looked at me as though I were about to die.

“Why are you so willing to throw your life away?”

She really did think I was about to die.

“Who says I’m dying? I’ll come back in one piece.”

“Then why Teibeon...?”

Hmm. It was a fair question. To me, Teibeon was a high-risk, high-reward destination. To anyone else, it was all risk and no reward. And an extraordinarily high risk at that. Some people even called it “die-risk.”

“There’s something I need to bring back.”

That was the answer I settled on after some thought. I wanted to avoid lying to Aten if possible, but she wouldn’t understand even if I explained everything. A half-truth, perhaps. Aten blinked at my answer, then seemed to consider something.

“I see. Something to bring back...”

The way she murmured it made it sound like something extraordinary.

“Aten. Just to be sure, you’re not going to follow me, are you?”

“Of course not. I’m a woman who knows her limits.”

... Hmm. Right. I had a feeling that asking any more questions would only make things worse, so I left it at a nod.

* * *

“... Teibeon? Frondier is going there?”

At the other end of the phone, Aten’s older sister Sale repeated what she had heard. As far as Aten could remember, the number of times Sale had been surprised enough to ask a question twice could be counted on one hand.

“Yes. He said there was something he needed to bring back.”

“Something to bring back...”

Sale murmured much as Aten had.

“So he’s saying he left something in Teibeon?”

“That’s what I think too.”

“Then Frondier has been to Teibeon before?”

“If we take his words literally, yes.”

Sale and Aten were thinking along the same lines. To those who had been there, Teibeon was hell. To those who had not, it was a land of terror and the unknown. There were only death-row prisoners, criminals, and soldiers to serve as meat shields, and monsters invading at every turn. Yet he had something to retrieve from a region where no one knew anything beyond that. The only explanation was that he had been there before. In other words, Frondier had “left something behind” in Teibeon and was going back to reclaim it over the break.

‘Calling Teibeon dangerous hardly begins to describe it. And he’s deliberately going back there.’

Whatever it was, it must be something incredible. The Frondier Aten knew was already far stronger than any student needed to be—and that was with something important missing.

“But Aten.”

“Yes?”

“Why are you telling me this? Surely you don’t expect me to help this Frondier?”

About all Sale knew of Frondier was that their mother, Philly, had sent Aten to him to dig up information about the Dragon Heart. In other words, they were strangers. Sale did not know that Frondier was the one who had stopped Elysia. If she found out, her opinion of him would plummet.

“What are you talking about, Sale? We’re just chatting.”

“... Do you realize you’re becoming more and more like Mom?”

“Anyway, this is an entirely different subject.”

Elysia continued as though she hadn’t heard her.

“There’s somewhere I want to go over the break.”

“... Hey. You. Stop right there.”

“Apparently, the purpose of Constel’s vacations is for students to improve their individual abilities. So I’m planning to travel a little to improve mine. Nothing strange about that, is there?”

“Hey! Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what that place is like? You think I’ll let you go?”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t even said where I’m going yet. Of course, I’ll take good care of myself, but who knows what might happen in this world? The journey might turn out much harder than I expect, you know? Oh, but don’t worry. Surely nothing will happen. I’ll only be away for ‘a month,’ after all.”

Aten’s shamelessness had reached its peak. A deep sigh came from the other end of the line.

“So that’s why. I was wondering why you were telling me about this instead of Mom.”

“What do you mean, Sale? I can chat with anyone, whether it’s you or Mom.”

“Fine. ‘Wherever’ you go, I’ll help you make every preparation for a comfortable trip. I’ll assign you guards too. But remember, they’ll also be there to keep an eye on you. If you do anything even slightly dangerous—no, if you so much as dip a toe into danger—I’ll have them drag you back and lock you in the Imperial Palace.”

“Thank you. Though I wasn’t asking.”

No, she hadn’t been asking. That was called a threat, Aten.

“Anyway, this is an entirely different subject.”

Sale echoed Aten’s words.

“Do you like Frondier?”

“...”

Aten fell silent at Sale’s question. Was she embarrassed? Just as Sale was picturing her sister’s face turning bright red, Aten answered.

“I’m not sure.”

It was a somewhat unexpected answer, yet also one that seemed very much like her.

“You’re not sure?”

“No. I don’t really know what that sort of thing is, either.”

Hmm. Fair enough. Sale tried to act like a proper older sister around Aten, but she was still young herself. All the more so since she had spent most of her life practically shut inside the Imperial Palace.

“Maybe you’ll find out this time?”

“Maybe.”

Aten answered without thinking. Then, about three seconds later, she spoke again.

“Wait, what are you talking about? I’m only taking a trip over the break.”

“Yeees. Of course you are.”

After that, Aten did her best to ignore Sale’s half-teasing remarks and ended the call. Her white eyes blinked within a face so pale and expressionless that it looked cold.

“Hmm. I’m a woman who knows her limits.”

Who said anything about following him? I’m simply taking a trip over the break. Anything that happens after that will be nothing more than coincidence.