〈 Chapter 128 〉 Relic Assignment (3)
*
“Hello, Professor Ludmilla.”
I greeted Ludmilla, who had come to see me.
“Have you found a successor this year?”
I didn’t intend to tease her.
I just felt it was still too early to be sure about her choice.
There were many others with similar archery skills, so she might have just been curious about me.
“Well, I had been thinking of Wilhelm, but I haven’t seen him around.”
That was true.
I hadn’t spotted Wilhelm since earlier.
He might have decided to inherit the family bow after all.
“If a Divine Seat existed, he might have inherited Ludmilla’s bow.”
Without a Divine Seat, the default choice is to inherit the Rosemond family’s bow.
That explained his absence here.
Ludmilla seemed to understand this situation as well.
“In that case…”
The options narrowed down a bit.
“Could I be the successor?”
“I guess, but honestly, you don’t stand out enough for me to choose you based on archery alone.”
She said this while looking around.
“But that applies to others as well.”
Last year, she didn’t select all the promising candidates who gathered.
From her perspective, the rest of us wouldn’t be satisfactory compared to Wilhelm.
What surprised me was that she came to me in the first place.
“I wasn’t exactly expecting this.”
Her interest in me might have been because she sensed a bit of Allen Pleuk in me.
But I had completely separated myself from Allen and Sung Yoo-rang during today’s performance.
So, I thought she’d have no reason to be interested in me anymore.
“Or could it be that she had other reasons for her curiosity?”
Ludmilla came to find me.
I wasn’t sure if she would choose me as her successor, but it was clear her interest hadn’t completely faded.
“So, why did you come to see me?”
What could her reason be?
“Just curious.”
“Curious about what?”
“About your identity.”
Her vague words left me puzzled.
Did she still suspect that I was Allen Pleuk?
Or was she just curious about me?
“Well, in any case…”
The identity I could share with her was limited.
“That’s right; I’ve thought a lot about what my identity really is.”
Simply put, I was just Allen Pleuk.
But I couldn’t ignore the fact that I had memories of Sung Yoo-rang.
I had lived as Sung Yoo-rang for several years.
“But I’m not Sung Yoo-rang.”
So, was I just Allen Pleuk?
No, it couldn’t be that simple.
This inner conflict was essentially meaningless anyway.
“I’m just me.”
That was the answer I came to.
You can scold me for running away from my problems.
But there are things much more important to me than this dilemma.
“That’s enough.”
Perhaps this revelation wasn’t what Ludmilla wanted to hear.
But regardless of what answer she sought, this was all I could give her.
“You’re just you…”
She nodded as if she came to a conclusion after hearing my answer.
“Is that why it felt that way?”
She looked me in the eye and said,
“You’re just you. That’s why you could be so calm in any situation.”
That’s partly true.
“No matter how the ground splits or lightning strikes, my existence doesn’t change.”
Regardless of how strong a rival or powerful an enemy might be,
In the end, I remain unchanged.
So, I don’t compare. I don’t panic.
“It’s not just because I’m strong.”
I’m not boasting about defeating three Demon Kings.
I’m still incredibly weak.
I might have an advantage in sword fights, but there are still too many beings in this world I can’t defeat.
“There’s no point in being afraid of them.”
Of course, I wasn’t always this way.
In the beginning, I was a coward who was scared even of a dying wolf.
But I went through a lot afterward.
From my first trial to the 71st Demon King.
And then the second trial in Sakh and the Libero incident.
If we measure by experience alone, the second trial was significantly overwhelming.
“From that point, Absolute Obedience became practically unnecessary.”
Yet at the same time, there were limits to ‘me’ as ‘me.’
That’s why I needed allies.
Yusera, who could be said to be stronger than me, and Elsie, who would become stronger if our mission in Leim Kingdom succeeded, and Gwen, who would burn with passion if she regained the Rose Sword.
“And through the third trial, I learned something.”
The trial created by the God of Connection was dreadful, but it left me with a crucial insight.
That connections are ultimately a part of ‘me.’
So, I decided not to ignore those connections.
I can now be somewhat certain of myself.
“So for you, I’m just me, right?”
Just because I lived as Sung Yoo-rang doesn’t mean I’m not me.
To her, ‘me’ is essentially Sung Yoo-rang.
I didn’t force Yusera to call me Allen for the same reason: to prevent any potential slip of the tongue on her part, but also because to her, I’m ‘Sung Yoo-rang.’
“My archery skills are probably as you see them.”
I had nothing to hide.
In terms of swordsmanship, she wouldn’t be thinking about the differences between me and Allen anymore.
But if we were to talk about archery, that was a different matter.
To her, I was just Sung Yoo-rang, so she only needed to focus on that.
“That miserable archery, huh?”
However, her remark about it being miserable stung a bit.
I had worked hard on those skills over the past year, practicing as much as Wilhelm.
“Well, it has only been a year.”
And if she was at the level of Ludmilla, I couldn’t argue with her calling it miserable.
Her next comment was rather curious.
“However, I’m quite interested in that ability of yours.”
“What ability?”
The two abilities I had shown her were Overload and Wind’s Power.
“Wind magic.”
It must have been the latter.
But wind magic, huh?
After all, magic does have that same feeling of borrowing powers from a God through a contract.
“Yes, what about it?”
“Well, if you can utilize it well…”
She turned her gaze and continued.
“I think it would pair well with my bow.”
Her bow was a 4-star Relic named Resonance.
However, I had never thought that my Wind’s Power would suit her bow so well.
Mainly because my knowledge of bows came entirely from the game knowledge of Sung Yoo-rang.
“I never expected this to be a real world.”
Most players don’t meticulously read through item settings in games, right?
But those settings turned out to be quite important in reality, as items would have varying effects based on their stats.
As for Ludmilla’s 4-star Relic, Resonance…
“To be honest, it didn’t have a good reputation.”
Since most Relics were swords, there weren’t many bows as Relics.
Even among the few 4-star bow Relics, Resonance wasn’t well-regarded.
Rumors even suggested hidden stats rivaling those of 3-star items.
“Of course, while it seems considerably better than the Rosemond family bow when used by Ludmilla…”
This bow inexplicably performed much worse when it wasn’t in her hands.
But here she was, saying it would pair well with my Wind’s Power.
“What kind of features does the bow have to make it so?”
Curiosity began to swell.
“What do you mean it would pair well?”
“Hmm, I think we’ll need to try it out directly. But I really believe it would match well.”
At this point, it seemed obvious what she was suggesting.
“So, are you proposing I take the position of your successor?”
Ludmilla nodded.
“If I delay until next year, I think Kyle will make quite the impression, but I’d rather not give it to just anyone.”
If I could inherit the Relic from her, it wouldn’t be bad for me.
However, the real question was whether or not I could actually use it.
Ultimately, I’d have to give it a try, as she said.
“If anything goes wrong, I also have the reward from the trial given by the God of Connection.”
I hadn’t had to use it much, but it could be worth trying based on this opportunity.
Of course, it would be best if I didn’t have to use it at all.
“Alright. If I can use that bow, I’ll inherit it.”
Whatever the effect, getting a 4-star Relic is certainly better than receiving a 2-star Relic from the Church.
Provided I can use it, of course.
*
“Wilhelm! Wilhelm!”
Voices echoed in the corridor outside the audience seats.
It was Lord Rosemond’s voice.
“Wilhelm, where are you?”
For some reason, Wilhelm had gone out for fresh air and hadn’t returned.
At the time, I thought he was just hanging out with his academy classmates, but now graduation was over and he still hadn’t shown up.
“Where could he be?”
All the other candidates were gathered in the tournament arena to meet the Heroes.
Yet Wilhelm was nowhere to be found.
“Wilhelm!”
That’s when it happened.
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
“Huh?”
A pure white robe that felt entirely detached from reality.
Contrarily, the darkness visible under its hood seemed endless.
It was like facing a ghost.
“Who is this guy…”
For someone like him, who had been active as a Hero for a long time, this figure was already well-known.
“Are you an Apostle?”
Apostle.
A special group that operates under the High Priest, discovering Heroes and retrieving Relics throughout the world.
But that was all that was known about them.
“Lord Rosemond, long time no see.”
The figure didn’t deny being an Apostle.
That meant, at least, he was likely an Apostle.
“High-ranking Hero Yulen Rosemond meets you.”
In truth, it didn’t matter to him whether the figure was indeed an Apostle.
He had a strong feeling that this Apostle was somehow linked to Wilhelm’s disappearance.
“By the way, Apostle, have you seen my son, Wilhelm Rosemond?”
In response, the Apostle answered immediately.
“I came to talk to you about that.”
Just as I suspected, this was tied to him.
“Where has Wilhelm gone?”
“Stop looking for Wilhelm.”
“What?”
Stop looking?
That was not the answer I wanted to hear.
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s the decision of the Apostles, and you don’t need to know.”
“But he’s my son.”
“You should be happy if your son becomes the strongest with a bow, shouldn’t you?”
That left him without words.
“Well…”
“We will make your son the strongest with a bow. No, it might not just be with a bow.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“There’s no need to know more than that.”
With that said, the Apostle turned his back.
And he delivered a final verdict to Lord Rosemond.
“Hero Yulen Rosemond. Once you retire, return the Relic to the Church.”
*
