Ch.69Celestine Incident – Ship No. 2 (3)

Hundreds of horn-like pillars stretched like taffy. Honestly, I didn’t think I could block them. I was half-prepared to die.

Crack!

I heard something splitting. I touched my neck. Thankfully, it was still intact.

“Eidel!”

A familiar voice approached.

I lowered my calipers and slowly shifted my gaze. A girl with a blonde ponytail stood before me.

“Rustila?”

Only then did I grasp the situation.

The silver pillars split on either side of Rustila, twisted grotesquely. She had cut them with her sword. As expected, the future sword saint’s skills were extraordinary.

But how did she get here? Rustila should definitely be on Ship No. 2.

“…Are you okay?”

I nodded at her question.

“Thanks to you, I survived. Thank you.”

“I should be… thank you for being alive.”

Rustila swung her sword while facing forward. The split horn pillars completely collapsed with a crumbling sound.

“From now on, I’ll protect you.”

Click.

She adjusted her stance.

[“What are you? Where did you come from?”]

Yodel glared at Rustila. A bleak shadow reflected between his deeply sunken eyes.

[“This is unexpected, truly unexpected. I certainly didn’t use any techniques. And to interfere with my hunt. How extremely unpleasant.”]

I see. Now I understand why Ms. Enabet suddenly disappeared.

Yodel must have a <Teleportation> skill. He used that ability to separate me from Enabet and then immediately attacked me.

But this alone doesn’t explain why Rustila appeared.

Did Instructor Isaac on Ship No. 2 send Rustila down first? That doesn’t seem like something he would do.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ states that it used <Target Coordinate Transformation>.]

“……”

So it was you.

The unexpected result made me laugh ironically.

At any rate, this confirms that Cartesia doesn’t want me dead.

Then perhaps I could use this fact to my advantage?

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ has discerned your intentions.]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ proposes temporary submission to the ‘God of Purity and Resolve’.]

No, it’s similar to what I was thinking… but a bit different.

And demanding submission like that can’t be called a “proposal.” That’s an “order.”

[— The ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ has rejected the proposal.]

Naturally, from Vega’s position, she had no choice but to refuse.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ snorts.]

People who only do research in their rooms typically have zero negotiation skills. I sighed without realizing it.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is displeased with your assessment.]

I lightly ignored the message and counted my remaining Pron. Good, I should still be fine with a small payment.

[— 1000 Pron has been paid.]

[— You have temporarily acquired the right to converse with the ‘God of Purity and Resolve’.]

As soon as that window appeared, my consciousness flew to the other side.

Time stopped, and a pure white space appeared.

The brightness indicated this was a strategic point of the constellation. In other words, I had entered Vega’s domain.

“…Who are you?”

Feeling a hot energy, I turned around.

There was a woman weaving at a loom. Around her head, faint dust particles floated in a disc formation. I recognized those dust discs immediately.

I bowed my head right away.

“I am honored to meet the Weaver Star.”

“……”

She asked with a wary look.

“Eidel von Rheinland. Who are you?”

“I am a close friend of Rustila.”

“No!”

A prim voice pierced my ears.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“Then……”

“I thought you were being controlled by an outer god. So I worried about you. It’s the role of our star to care for the living beings of this universe.”

She continued speaking as she rose from her loom.

“But I was wrong. Meeting you here, I understand. You… were a monster from the beginning.”

“……”

A long silence followed. I waited until Vega spoke first. Eventually, she said:

“Since the situation is urgent, I’ll ask only what’s necessary. What do you want from me?”

“I would like you to form a minimum level <Bond> with my outer god.”

Whack! Something hit my head.

It was a wooden tool shaped like a leaf, a shuttle used for weaving.

“Are you insane? How dare you mention <Bond>?”

“I apologize.”

“If you’re sorry, don’t make such a proposal ever again.”

“But it’s absolutely necessary.”

“……”

“Please reconsider. At this rate, both Rustila and I will be killed by that avatar.”

Whack!

This time, a dragon-head part of the loom came flying. She’s more violent than I thought. She asked, breathing heavily:

“What exactly do you need a <Bond> for?”

Yes, I was waiting for that question.

“I’m going to teach Rustila about <Body Stars>.”

“Body Stars, you say…?”

Vega’s pupils trembled.

She must know. If Rustila masters <Body Stars>, her survival probability will increase significantly, both now and in the future. Her swordsmanship will evolve to the next level. And very quickly at that.

“Yes. After mastering <Body Stars> and defeating Yodel, I’ll terminate the contract immediately.”

“…Then you won’t gain anything from this.”

I smiled wryly.

“Come on, what would I not gain?”

“Then what reward do you seek?”

“What else could there be?”

I answered with a shrug.

“Seeing my friend’s smiling face is reward enough.”

“……”

“Time’s almost up.”

[— Your effective time has expired, and you have been expelled from the constellation’s domain.]

My vision cleared as I returned to reality. The first thing I saw was the system window.

[— Successfully established <Bond> with the ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ on behalf of the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’!]

Good. I succeeded in persuading Vega.

Indeed, someone with project commissioning experience does it better.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is greatly agitated.]

[“W-what is going on here.”]

Meanwhile, Cartesia, who had been scammed, was greatly confused. Ding! The status window rang and updated the information.

[Contract Relationship]

[Party A: ‘God of Purity and Resolve (Alpha Lyr)’]

[Party B: ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity (Sgr A*)’ – represented by ‘Eidel von Rheinland’]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ stares blankly at the chains around its neck.]

Cartesia had ordered Vega to submit. But when it came to its senses, it found itself as Party B?

I’d be angry too.

[“…Hey, kid.”]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ expresses anger toward you.]

[— The ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ protects you.]

[— Due to the effect of <Bond>, the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is in a state of submission to the ‘God of Purity and Resolve’ and cannot make any attempt to negatively affect you.]

I’m sorry, outer god.

No, actually, I’m not sorry. You were going to impregnate me immediately if I failed the quest.

So this is self-defense. I didn’t do anything to be sorry about.

[“…Ha, fine. I didn’t expect this at all. This is interesting.”]

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ feels curiosity and interest in what has happened to it.]

[— You have received a donation of 2000 Pron.]

A jingling sound echoed in my head. It was the sound of the outer god playing with its chains.

Time to deal with Yodel.

I stepped forward and said:

“I’ll help you.”

“No. Eidel, stay back. You might get hurt.”

“I’ll still help.”

Rustila tried to stop me, but I moved even further forward. Her resistance faded at some point. She was still soft on allies, even if she was firm against monsters.

I asked:

“Rustila, do you notice anything different?”

“Different?”

She tilted her head, then let out an “Ah!” Yes, something must have changed.

Rustila blinked and looked at me. I asked another question:

“How many multi-sword techniques can you use?”

“So far, only two…”

“Can you use them right away?”

“Well, that depends on my condition, which is the problem.”

Multi-sword techniques require at least two constellations. Rustila had only one constellation, but with the help of a free star, she could temporarily produce multi-sword techniques.

But that’s literally a gamble. Non-backing constellations are capricious. Whether they help or not depends entirely on their mood.

In other words, to manifest multi-sword techniques with 100% probability, you need at least two contracted constellations.

And now.

[— The ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’ is serving as a backing constellation for ‘Rustila Kersil’.]

Rustila was satisfying that condition.

“It’s okay. Just try to use it.”

“O-okay.”

Rustila nodded at my encouragement.

Boom!

Yodel threw silver pillars again. They seem more intense than before. Rustila took a deep breath and painfully cut through the pillars.

I looked down at the calipers in my hand.

“…If only I could stick this in that guy’s head.”

The Calipers of Wisdom. I had once used these to knock out Rustila’s parents. Therefore, Rustila also knew what this weapon’s function was.

She nodded.

“I’ll try to close the distance somehow. When a safe opening appears, help then.”

Whoosh!

Rustila kicked off the ground and moved forward. Her form flickered in time with the blinking lights. With the suit’s assistance, she reached a speed that couldn’t be followed by the eye.

[“Fast. But…”]

Yodel placed his palm on the ground and bent his knees. It was a kind of preparatory movement.

[— Avatar ‘Yodel’ has completed preparations to use <Teleportation> on ‘Rustila Kersil’.]

“…!”

Using that right away was unexpected. Does he recognize Rustila as a formidable opponent?

Yodel was excessively cautious. And that caution will be his downfall.

I quickly followed after Rustila.

[“How annoying. Go somewhere else for a moment.”]

[— Avatar ‘Yodel’ is using <Teleportation> targeting ‘Rustila Kersil’.]

The activation time for <Teleportation> is just 1 second.

And the time it takes for Rustila to swing her sword and reach Yodel is physically about 1.1 seconds.

“Hup!”

During that gap of 0.1 seconds, land one effective hit.

[— The effect of <Bond> prevents <Teleportation>.]

[— EX-grade transformation, <Dual Sword Technique> activates!]