LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 37 - Fate Begins to Stir
Translator: Marctempest
Editor/Proofreader: TempWane
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Chapter 37: Fate Begins to Stir
“···You’re saying you don’t know about her? Her?”
Artan tilted his head in confusion at Lysithea’s words.
For a person of such prominence to be referred to with such an honorific.
Moreover, in front of him, the crown prince, she seemed to elevate that woman even further.
“I saw Your Highness’s piece, ‘The Landscape of Regret.’ Did you receive her help during a time of crisis?”
The painting of a man and woman portraying Quellière.
Though some might not know, it was based entirely on a true story.
That was why Lysithea asked as she did.
“That’s correct. I was reckless. That day ten years ago··· I left the palace on a whim, fell from the carriage······.”
The crown prince’s words drew the full attention of the lord.
A broken carriage and a fall. It was an indignity unfitting of someone of his rank. Yet, there was one question that lingered.
“Assassins dressed in black? Were they targeting Your Highness?”
“No. They were after her.”
“······What?”
Lysithea was utterly shocked.
Could there truly exist such heinous villains who dared to target a goddess?
Flustered, she asked again.
“Did you uncover their identities?”
“···No. Regrettably, we are still in the dark. We had no leads to pursue them.”
Artan bowed his head in frustration.
He felt powerless.
On the other hand, Lysithea pondered the identity of the villains.
But soon, she shook her head.
If even the empire’s intelligence network couldn’t reach them, there was no way to discover their identities now.
A moment of silence.
The crown prince, regaining his composure, asked with a hint of curiosity.
“Now, would you tell me? Why do you refer to her as ‘her’ with such reverence?”
Lysithea thought for a moment before responding.
“Your Highness.”
“Yes.”
“Don’t people need to meet others?”
“···What?”
Her words were somewhat vague.
But Artan felt as if she had pierced through to his inner thoughts, and it made him self-conscious.
Because of that, he realized something peculiar only belatedly.
“Are you saying she’s not human?”
“Probably not.”
“That’s···!”
Artan was taken aback, and the lord closely observed him.
She refrained from making definitive statements.
It was inadvisable to make any absolute claims about a higher being.
Instead, she tried to draw him in.
“Didn’t Your Highness sense it, even faintly?”
“That’s, well, certainly······.”
The crown prince swallowed his words.
Her unparalleled beauty, which transcended human standards, and the way her body transformed into mist—until now, he had thought it was some wondrous magic. But was it not?
Lysithea, watching him, pointed something out.
“Could a human kill a god?”
Quellière had slain the Serpent God.
Artan countered her assertion.
“But it wasn’t a real god. It was a false god, incomparable to the majesty of the gods recorded in ancient texts.”
His tone suggested disbelief.
Lysithea simply smiled.
“Even that false god brought Yulistia to her knees. Including veteran mages and the ducal knights.”
“······.”
That much was true.
A real god was beyond all measure and should be excluded from comparison.
Though Artan hadn’t seen the Serpent God himself, even a false god’s power would have been tremendous.
Even as he came to terms with it, the crown prince’s longing remained unwavering.
Lysithea suddenly felt an urge to test him.
“You likely don’t know the details, do you, Your Highness? Then let me explain······.”
How she had killed the Serpent God.
The tale of that great battle echoed through the tranquil room.
The vile Serpent God.
The woman who boldly stood against it, almost arrogant in her composure.
She summoned a snowstorm, transforming the streets into her domain, and single-handedly delivered divine retribution.
The sheer awe of it was indescribable.
Lysithea’s body trembled slightly, and Artan was left utterly dumbfounded.
The lord exhaled and asked.
“What do you think? Do you still feel the same?”
It was a sharp question.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Artan nodded.
The shocking story, while impactful, was not enough to shake his resolve.
“I still do.”
“···It must have been quite an unforgettable encounter for you. But does she feel the same?”
Lysithea thought it was because he didn’t truly understand her.
She felt a hint of defiance and pointed to one side.
There sat a music box.
“It’s hers.”
“···!”
The crown prince’s eyes widened.
The strange artifact that was always mentioned when discussing the lord. Its origin was surrounded by speculation, and now, it turned out to be her belonging?
“I received this treasure, the music box, from her. Surely, it must have been a gesture of goodwill.”
It must have been.
She had made significant contributions to the city’s development.
Someone so absolute would express their goodwill in such ways. Lysithea imbued her voice with strength.
“But what did Your Highness receive? If it’s nothing, then I’d advise you to abandon your futile dreams.”
Her words were half-serious.
Finally, she lowered her gaze and offered her respects.
Artan closed his eyes.
“······.”
He wasn’t angry.
He simply contemplated.
He faced the agony he had carried with him for so long.
Silence filled the room, accompanied by the music box. Melody and emptiness intermingled to form a harmony.
Eventually, he opened his tightly shut eyes.
Resolute words escaped his lips.
“I was saved.”
“······!?”
At the suddenness and weight of his statement, Lysithea was rendered speechless.
She looked at the man before her once more.
She had thought it was just the feverish passion or immature psyche of a young man in his prime.
The boy’s steadfast will flickered within him.
He was no longer a child, but an adult.
“Do you… do you know where she… that person went? Even just a hint would suffice.”
Artan made the request politely.
His demeanor, which seemed to reverse the hierarchy between them, made Lysithea furrow her brows in discomfort.
The crown prince was by no means politically or diplomatically incompetent.
And yet, here he was, behaving like this.
“I… I truly am desperate.”
How strong could that desire possibly be?
Lysithea realized she had to adjust her attitude. She clasped her hands together in thought.
A recent clue.
The realization of a plausible lead.
It suggested an intriguing hypothesis—Quellière heading eastward.
If, as suspected, she was a higher being—a “Goddess of Winter”—then there was only one place that came to mind.
Lysithea spoke carefully.
“East.”
“…East?”
“The two most famous cursed lands are there.”
That was enough.
Artan shot to his feet and expressed his gratitude.
“I will remember this.”
Was this truly the right course?
Feeling a pang of concern, Lysithea offered further advice.
“Many heroes… have sought to embrace the gods beyond their reach, only to meet their ruin. Legends and myths serve as proof of that.”
“I understand.”
The crown prince remained unwavering.
Instead, he revealed his raw determination.
“I will bear it alone.”
With that, he turned his back.
Perhaps because he was finally nearing the goal he had longed for.
A crisp wind swept through, as if in blessing.
Passing through the garden to the mansion’s entrance.
The commander of the imperial guards, Hiloze, came running toward him.
“Your Highness! Are you safe?”
Artan gave a faint, bitter smile.
Though Hiloze was an excellent swordsman, he worried excessively as a subordinate.
Artan was no longer a child.
“I’m fine.”
With that, he casually threw the words out and was about to step into the carriage.
Then, he noticed two individuals kneeling before him.
“Who are they?”
He muttered instinctively, caught off guard.
One of the two immediately responded.
“I am Sorab, commander of the ‘Hidden Blade’ tasked with guarding Krase.”
“I am Sigila, captain of the Shadow Unit under the Hidden Blade. I assist Commander Sorab.”
Their answers came from a man and a woman, respectively.
Artan merely nodded.
Judging by their auras, they were no ordinary individuals. However, it did not matter much to him.
As he prepared to leave without further thought, he suddenly glanced at Sigila. Her long violet hair.
“…”
There was a peculiar sense of discord.
Artan tilted his head slightly but soon dismissed it as his imagination.
“Let’s get going!”
“Understood.”
The carriage began to move with a clatter.
By then, the woman from earlier was already forgotten.
Ten years had passed, turning the once-reckless boy into an adult.
His hair had grown longer, and his features had changed.
Neither of them recognized the other.
Artan’s eyes, staring out the carriage window, held a deep heaviness.
“…It has been a long time.”
His heart pounded fiercely.
Ten years of waiting.
Longing and pursuit.
Finally, he had caught hold of a lead.
“The Ice Mountain Range.”
The cursed land of the East, known to all on the continent.
Beyond it lay the Snowfield, famous for the “Trial of Winter” in ages past.
A place only the greatest of heroes had ever reached.
“It’s still too much for me…”
Despite honing his god-given talents relentlessly, he was not yet ready.
His potential was so vast that the abilities he had unlocked thus far amounted to less than a fraction.
At his current level, it would be suicidal to venture there.
But with her so close, dedicating himself solely to training was not an option.
“Ah.”
At that moment, something came to mind.
One of Sir Agnatz’s latest inventions.
It had not yet been revealed to the public, but the crown prince existed beyond such restrictions.
If he used that invention, it would be a significant help.
His destination was now clear.
*
Adventurer’s Guild.
I took a deep breath and controlled my mana circuits.
The wavering energy flowed and circulated.
“Hoo.”
During my seclusion in the Snow Castle, I hadn’t simply been idling around.
I trained in mana control and leadership, which had been horrifically difficult by modern standards.
As a result, my mana capacity and control had increased.
“This is a bit better.”
Not only that, I had also learned several skills.
As a Snow Maiden, I couldn’t learn just any magic, so I focused on ones I found useful and trained with them.
One such trick I had learned was to circulate mana like this to enhance my recovery rate.
“Hey, um, Quelli······.”
A sagging voice came from behind me.
It was Sigina, who seemed unusually dispirited.
“I’ve always believed that money was everything···.”
“Really?”
“Yes. ···But that conviction is starting to waver today.”
Her face looked weary.
It must have been the result of the ordeals she had recently gone through.
With innocent eyes, Sigina asked me.
“I did accept a designated request··· and I was paid a hefty sum··· but how long do I have to keep doing this?”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t even set a deadline.
She had been so dazzled by the large sum of gold coins that she had practically fallen for it.
This was something that needed to be addressed.
When I turned to look at her, Sigina flinched.
“Well, uh, I mean. It’s just that things turned out a bit different from what I expected. I had only factored in the Holy Knights, but then the Dark Cathedral got involved too. It seems more dangerous than I thought···.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded.
I understood what she meant, so I spoke calmly.
“One week.”
“Huh?”
“The deadline. You’ve got one week.”
That should be enough to wrap things up.
She muttered under her breath, almost to herself.
“One week···.”
“It’s certainly a dangerous task. If you’re not confident, you should quit now.”
It would only harm both sides if I kept someone who wanted to leave.
Sigina seemed tempted by the idea of quitting.
“I’m not very confident··· Uh, so, should I? Um··· but then what about the money?”
“You’d have to return it.”
Even a gold-ranked adventurer seemed to feel a strong sense of danger.
To be fair, I hadn’t expected the Dark Cathedral to get involved either. I gave her a firm response.
She hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh.
“Well, I guess there’s no helping it~ No helping it~.”
And then she pulled out her purse and opened it.
It was roughly the same amount as what I had given her.
She was about to hand it back to me when she suddenly stopped.
“···Wait a minute.”
Her face turned deadly serious, as if she had seen the end of the world.
“If I return this just like that··· after being bled dry and marked by the Dark Cathedral······ all the suffering I went through···?”
Her expression was full of confusion.
I chuckled softly and entered the Adventurer’s Guild. Inside, adventurers were gathered, seemingly discussing something.
When they saw me, they went silent.
I signaled to one of them. Kelly caught my signal and approached a corner.
I looked down at him and asked.
“I want to ask about Nell Sartilla.”
“Uh··· the Red Calamity?”
“Nell Sartilla.”
It was just a simple correction.
But as usual, my tone was cold.
Perhaps because of that, Kelly couldn’t meet my eyes.
“They say the rumors about Nell being a calamity started right after the Overflow, right?”
The Curse of Blood.
I had assumed that the label of calamity was due to that, but I had confirmed that the Dark Cathedral was involved.
“Yes. That’s right. Back then, many adventurers saw her as a calamity··· Nell Sartilla. I think everyone felt a sense of foreboding.”
So the Dark Cathedral’s agents were present at the scene?
It was too late to determine that now.
“You said you were there too.”
He had mentioned that before.
Kelly nodded and muttered.
“The foreboding seems stronger the closer you are to Sartilla and the more power she’s exerting······.”
It was true.
Knowing that meant he must have been near Nell at the time.
But more importantly, I recalled another question.
“If she resolved the Overflow by herself, she must have saved a lot of people.”
Even with the Curse of Blood, people should still have recognized that they had been saved by her.
Despite her significant accomplishments, she had been branded a calamity overnight—this was suspicious.
Could the Dark Cathedral, lurking in the shadows, wield such political power?
What kind of methods had they used?
Just as I was about to ask further, the main door burst open.
“Quelli! Quelli!”
It was Sigina.
“What’s going on—”
“The Holy Knights are coming! This isn’t because of us, is it!?”
She pointed outside in a panic.
Before I could say anything, the sound of heavy armor echoed, and a group of more than ten knights entered.
Clang, clang, clang—!
The appearance of the Holy Knights made the adventurers scatter like the tide receding.
It was a stormy development.
If Sigina had heard the commotion from this far, she must have been quite far away. While I was still reeling, a man stepped forward.
“I am Blefer, the Commander of the Holy Knights.”
He was someone whose sharp aura was evident at a glance.
His gaze scanned the room before locking onto me.
“Outsider. You said Quellière, didn’t you?”
“…What?”
“Where did you hide the Red Calamity?”
“!”
The words struck me like a hammer, a massive shock reverberating through me.
How did they find their way here?
Could it have been at the inn…? No, the knights hadn’t seen me there.
And yet, they seemed to already understand the situation to some extent.
It was at that moment.
“…”
Kelly quietly stepped away from me.
Suddenly, I recalled that the only ones who had seen me helping Nell were him and Sigina.
The way he had avoided meeting my eyes the entire time now felt different.
I glared at him.
“Was it you?”
“…Uh.”
“I asked if it was you.”
At my reproach, he closed his eyes and shouted.
“Y-Yes! It was me! I told them! Because that thing is a calamity!”
It was essentially a confession.
My brows furrowed even deeper.
“You saw it up close too, didn’t you? You should know!”
“I don’t.”
“I do! When I looked up at that thing, scattering blood everywhere, I felt fear. Its red eyes, its long fangs, its thirst for human blood… That was not human!”
Once he started talking, his words spilled out like a flood.
I could see fear flickering in his eyes.
I had thought of him as a timid person, but it seemed his very nature was fragile.
Had that fragility collided with the Curse of Blood to create this explosion?
Whatever the case, I couldn’t understand him, and I bit my lip.
“Wh-What?! Kelly, what the hell are you saying?!”
“Sis…”
“How could you just go and do something like that on your own?!”
Sigina, who had been looking back and forth between me and Kelly in a daze, finally shouted.
She seemed just as flustered as I was.
Kelly shook his head, his face blurred with guilt.
“…It would’ve ended up like this even if it wasn’t me. But more importantly, Sis, why are you standing over there? Come here now.”
“You… You really…”
It seemed he didn’t know about the deal between me and Sigina.
As she fidgeted restlessly, Kelly drove in the final nail.
“You came back to Disdel in the first place because of my letter, right? The one asking you to get rid of the calamity? So why are you siding with it? Don’t you see the knights of the Holy Order over there? If you stay there, you’ll be dragged away too!”
“Ugh…!”
His desperate words made Sigina’s eyes tremble.
She looked between Kelly, the adventurers, the knights, and finally at me.
Then she lowered her head.
“…I’ll return the money.”
“…Alright.”
There was no point in prolonging the conversation.
I quietly accepted the pouch of money, and Sigina left the area.
Now, I had no allies left.
Having watched the entire exchange, Blepher spoke again with a triumphant tone.
“I’ll ask once more. Where is the Red Calamity?”
My irritation surged.
I spat out my response with a biting tone.
“I don’t know.”
“Where did you hide it?”
“I didn’t hide it.”
The commander of the knights furrowed his brows into a deep V.
“I find that hard to believe. That someone would protect a calamity.”
“Nell isn’t a calamity.”
“!”
At my reply, Blepher’s pupils flashed with surprise.
His expression twisted.
“…Not a calamity? Are you saying the Church’s declaration and the High Priest’s recognition were false?”
“The High Priest?”
I didn’t have time to think.
Blepher, enraged, drew his sword.
“You heretic! I will reveal every part of your scheme!”
Following him, the knights prepared for battle.
With a metallic clang, their silver swords reflected the light.
Forced action.
I clicked my tongue and reached into my bag, but at that moment, something rolled in through the shattered window.
“Stop it!”
A flash of fiery red hair swayed before my eyes.
That unmistakable, dangerous aura.
It was Nell.
Her crimson eyes locked onto me.
Caught off guard, I greeted her.
“…Hi.”
I hadn’t expected to see her again so soon after saying we’d meet later.
I was secretly glad to see her.
But Nell frowned deeply.
“Hi? Hi, my ass! Hey, what are you doing here all by yourself?! Why the hell am I shielding you like some impenetrable wall?!”
“…”
She seemed genuinely furious.
“Didn’t you say this wasn’t charity work?!”
“It’s not.”
“Then what is it?!”
Nell was my secondary character, an overwhelmingly potent True Ancestor.
Yet she probably didn’t even know what her species was.
I needed to explain it to her.
Just not right now.
“I’ll tell you later.”
For once, communication went smoothly.
Nell opened her mouth, her expression a mix of disbelief.
“Wow, I seriously—”
“It’s the Red Calamity!”
The knights, who had been frozen in place, finally snapped back to their senses.
All their swords simultaneously pointed at Nell.
Whether from the tension of facing a top-ranked fugitive or her overwhelming presence, their nervousness was palpable.
“To show up of your own accord, you must have lost your mind!”
“Bullshit.”
“W-What?!”
“What the hell did I do to make you talk shit, you bastards?!”
Nell unleashed her pent-up resentment.
“Don’t compare me to some calamity! I actually helped people. That ungrateful bastard over there? I saved his life!”
“W-What?!”
The one she pointed at, Kelly, started trembling.
The adventurers scattered away from him like flies, and Sigina’s eyes widened in shock.
“Wait, is that true? Kelly!”
“Uh… Well, y-yeah, but it’s more complicated than that—”
“Complicated, my ass!”
The moment Nell’s figure flickered, Kelly’s scream pierced the air. Her movements were almost impossibly swift.
Grabbing him by the collar, she swung her fist.
“Leaving them alone would have meant they’d die, so I saved them—is that a problem!? You ungrateful bastard!”
“Argh! Aagh! Aaagh!”
The physical abilities of a progenitor far surpass those of humans.
With each punch, blood spattered, and teeth shattered.
The adventurers retreated further, and Blefer charged in.
“The calamity is rampaging! Seize them!”
“Save the adventurers!”
The situation was on the verge of explosion.
At this rate, it would escalate into a bloody conflict, which was bad for both sides.
I needed to cool the tension first.
I pulled out my “Catalyst” and unleashed my magic.
The attribute amplifier intensified the snowstorm.
Kwaaaa—!
“······Ugh!”
A fierce blizzard and shards of ice whipped through the air.
The warm afternoon guild hall instantly transformed into a harsh winter scene.
The knights froze in place as if their legs were nailed down, and the fist slicing through the wind stopped mid-air.
“······!”
The entire room froze in shock.
The blue crystal in my upraised right hand shimmered.
I scanned the room with eyes glowing an icy blue.
“Stop.”
A cold voice escaped my lips.
No one dared to speak, so I continued.
“Quiet. Stop it.”
“···Who the hell are you······.”
The first to speak was Nell.
I glanced at her and then fixed my gaze on Blefer.
“···Hup!”
The gaze of winter.
Feeling the chill, he swallowed hard.
“Let me correct something. Nell isn’t human.”
I flipped the board with a single statement, but I didn’t have enough mana to maintain the act for long.
I needed to settle this quickly.
My brain worked rapidly.
Helping Nell was the right thing to do.
Even setting aside my personal motives, her power would be a great asset.
Since it was clear that the Dark Cathedral had framed her, simply revealing that fact would make it easy to turn her into an ally.
“You’re finally admitting it! If that’s true—”
“But she’s not a calamity either.”
“What···?”
However, in order to do that, I had to clear her of the false charges against her.
Since I was already involved, it was unavoidable.
I chose my words carefully to ensure they were understood.
All eyes in the room were on me.
Then I dropped the bombshell.
“Nell··· isn’t human but a demi-human.”
“···!”
A cold declaration.
Naturally, the person most shocked and quickest to react was Nell.
“You, you··· what are you talking about···?”
Her voice was a complex mix of shock, astonishment, and confusion.
She shrieked.
“Tell me! What do you know? How can you know something I don’t······!”
“Nonsense!”
Blefer cut her off with a sharp retort.
Distrust was evident in his eyes.
“No demi-human with such traits has ever been discovered! There’s no mention in any text, legend, or historical record of a race that manipulates blood!”
“Of course not.”
His doubts were reasonable.
There were no vampires in this world’s setting.
Whatever I said here, he wouldn’t believe me.
So, I had to use another approach.
Something that even the Holy Knights, who refused to listen to reason, wouldn’t doubt.
Fortunately, we were in the Theocracy.
And Astarte’s Theocracy had a tradition passed down since its founding.
I made a bold move.
“Open the Seat of Proof.”
—That’s where I’ll prove everything.
“······.”
When I invoked the divine ritual, the Knight Commander could no longer argue.