After raising his stats through the Status Window and finishing his assessment of the Void Skills, Yuto went outside.
Sariel had set a chair before the campfire and sat upon it. Yuto glanced at her, then surveyed his surroundings. Before he lost consciousness, he had clearly seen a cemetery. Now he was in some unknown forest, and the place he had just emerged from was a cabin used by a forester.
“Hmm.”
Sariel, who was drinking in front of the campfire, looked at Yuto with a gleam in her lone eye.
“A number of things have changed since earlier. Have you finally awakened?”
Sariel cocked her head as she asked. The changes were due to his investment of stats through the Status Window―but he could not tell her that outright.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“One day.”
As though she had not expected an answer to begin with, Sariel shrugged as she replied.
“Shall I guess your next question? Where are we? That is what you want to ask, is it not?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
“Hmph. Let This One make something clear: This One cannot read minds. Your question was simply so painfully obvious that anyone could have guessed it. In any case, as you can see, this is a forest.”
Sariel chuckled and shook her bottle.
“This forest likely has a name, but This One does not know it. This One does know the name of the nearest city, however: ‘Oltea.’ It is a rural city of the Balistera Empire. The place where you collapsed yesterday was Oltea's cemetery.”
“Why......? Are we in a forest now?”
“Ahaha, why? What an obvious question. Crimson Ringmistress, that monster, visited Oltea and unleashed her power. This One happened to be passing nearby and stopped to see what was happening. Before long, the world will likely learn of the tragedy that befell Oltea's underground colosseum.”
After taking several swigs, Sariel lowered the bottle.
“Well, Crimson Ringmistress killing humans is hardly unusual. Her victim may have been a noble, but she was not an important one, so the matter will likely end with everyone saying she was simply unlucky. But if someone decides that they want back what This One seized underground, it could become quite troublesome, could it not? That is why we left the city.”
After saying that, Sariel stared intently at Yuto's face for a moment.
“You were fortunate in many ways. You survived Crimson Ringmistress's whim, and This One took you in. Nor need you fear that someone will demand you answer for being the sole survivor. The foolish noblewoman who summoned Crimson Ringmistress brought that misfortune upon herself, so the matter will end there.”
“Is... that so?”
“Yes. This One looked into things a little after tossing your unconscious body aside. The noble bitch who ruled that city was Ervina Cares. That bitch was of Balistera's House Cares and the current family head's half sister.”
According to what Sariel had learned, Ervina―Ebil―was a child House Cares had cast aside. She had received control of Oltea under the late family head's will, but the current head resented the decision.
Now that Ebil was dead, control of the city would return to her older brother, the current family head. From his perspective, the half sister he disliked had summoned a monster only to be bitten to death by it, so he would likely rejoice instead.
“In other words.”
Sariel smiled as she gazed at Yuto.
“There will be no troublesome complications if This One takes you along.”
“Why do you intend to take me with you?”
“This One already told you why. You look reasonably clever, but are you actually a fool?”
“I remember you saying there was a price you wanted from me. But what price could I possibly...”
“This One said she would decide later. Boy―ah, yes. This One has yet to hear your name. What is it?”
“Yuto...... is my name.”
“Very well, Yuto. Enough of this dreary talk. If you are awake, come at This One.”
Sariel brushed off her knees and rose from the chair. Her abrupt demand made Yuto narrow his eyes.
“Come at you? Out of nowhere?”
“This One is interested in your power.”
Sariel answered with a smile.
“Did you think This One showed you kindness for no reason? This One is not so great a good person (a kindly soul). This One took you in because you clearly interested her, and because there is something she wants from you.”
“......”
“So hurry and attack. Ah, do you need a weapon? Here, take this.”
Sariel kicked the sword at her feet toward Yuto. He caught it as it flew through the air. It was the same sword he had taken while escaping the underground colosseum.
“There is no need to hold back. As you have surely sensed, This One is very strong.”
Sariel grinned, baring her white teeth.
Yuto adjusted his grip on the sword. Her demand that he attack stirred no resentment in him. If anything, it was welcome. There were things Yuto wanted to confirm as well.
The memories that had begun to surface, however faintly. How far this body could move now that its stats had risen. And―what manner of being the woman before him truly was.
Yuto kicked off the ground. THUD! His body shot forward at a speed incomparable to before. The invested stats had undeniably strengthened his body. Closing the distance in an instant, Yuto swung his sword down at Sariel's shoulder.
Sariel herself had told him not to hold back. More importantly―Yuto's instincts knew perfectly well that she was not an opponent against whom he could afford restraint.
TICK.
One of Sariel's fingers lightly nudged the side of his descending sword. That alone threw its path completely off course. Yuto's blade cut through empty air far from Sariel.
‘She deflected it?’
She had not blocked it. She had merely placed a finger against the sword's trajectory and twisted the direction of its force ever so slightly. Sariel had accomplished with one finger exactly what Yuto had done in the colosseum.
Swallowing his surprise, Yuto recovered his sword. Rather than forcibly correcting the broken trajectory, he followed its momentum and spun. A horizontal slash laden with centrifugal force swept toward Sariel's waist.
“Hmm.”
Sariel made a sound as though appraising him. At the same time, she stepped back half a pace. That alone left Yuto's sword cutting empty air once again.
“You changed the flow rather than forcing a ruined trajectory back into place. Not a bad decision.”
Sariel nodded and continued as calmly as ever.
“Again.”
Yuto clenched his teeth and swung without pause. Downward cuts, upward slashes, thrusts, feints, and sudden changes of stance followed one after another. The barrage was faster and sharper than any swordplay he had unleashed in the colosseum.
Yet none of it landed. No matter how many times he swung, he could not so much as cut the hem of Sariel's clothes. With her hands clasped behind her back, Sariel evaded most of his strikes through the slightest movements of her body, occasionally extending a finger to deflect his blade.
“Huff, huff......”
How long had he been swinging? Yuto's breathing began to break down. Even his stat-enhanced body had limits. Sariel's breathing, meanwhile, remained perfectly steady, and she had not moved more than three steps from where she began.
“Just as This One thought.”
Sariel giggled.
“One last time. Swing with everything you have.”
Yuto did not answer. Instead, he wrung every last drop of strength from his body. CRACKLE! The aether within him boiled up and shrouded his sword. Sariel's eye gleamed at the sight.
SWISH! The aether-clad sword tore toward Sariel's neck with all the speed and power Yuto could muster.
CLANG!
The sword struck her finger and snapped pitifully. The broken blade spun through the air before dropping to the ground in the distance with a dull thud. Yuto froze in place, still gripping the broken hilt.
“This One shall give you her assessment.”
Sariel began to speak. With her hands clasped behind her back as if nothing had happened, she slowly circled Yuto.
“Your swordsmanship is quite impressive. How old are you?”
“I... do not know.”
“Ah, yes. You said you could not remember your past. Hmm, you look roughly twelve, so let us settle on that. In any case, few boys your age with a body like yours can wield a sword so well. However.”
Sariel's lone eye narrowed.
“You rely far too much on instinct. There is no thought behind your sword. Your eyes see, your intuition judges, and your body moves. That is all. It is as though you are merely repeating what your body remembers.”
She had struck the heart of the matter. Yuto looked down at the broken hilt. Sariel was right. Yuto had never thought about his sword as he swung it. His body had moved on its own, and that had been enough. At least, it had been in the colosseum.
“You said you lost your memory, did you not?”
Sariel stopped walking and gazed at Yuto.
“The sword engraved into your body does not belong to who you are now. You must have received proper instruction in the past. To be frank, considering your age, you likely reached an almost unbelievable level.”
“......”
“Leaving that aside, you now do nothing but follow your body's memories when you swing. What a waste. When you wield your sword only as instinct commands, instinct is all it will ever amount to. You could do far better.”
With that, Sariel crooked a finger at him.
“Enough about your sword. This time, show This One that ‘power.’”
Sariel's lone eye gleamed with interest. Yuto swallowed hard and stepped back.
“What... power?”
“Do not play innocent. This One means the pitch-black thing that rampaged from your body last night. This One personally subdued that power. Do you intend to pretend you know nothing of it?”
She was not someone he could hide it from. Sariel had seen the rampaging Void firsthand, torn it apart with her bare hands, and forced it back inside Yuto.
“There is no need to hesitate. You do not seem capable of properly controlling it, so this works out well, does it not? This One shall personally and graciously teach you how to wield it.”
Sariel whispered with a smile. Yuto hesitated for a moment, then set down the broken sword.
‘Right.’
He did not trust Sariel. But it was true that she had saved him. During the day he was unconscious―no, even if he had been awake, Sariel could have killed Yuto at any time if she so desired.
‘I need to test it anyway.’
He needed to learn how effective this power would be in actual combat. Testing it alone inside the cabin had not been enough. Yuto focused and drew up his aether.
WHOOOO......
Pitch-black aether spilled from Yuto's entire body. At the same time, the present and the past began to overlap in his mind. His past had yet to surface clearly, and emotions were tangled throughout it.
Rage, hatred, murderous intent. Every emotion that drove his revenge threw Yuto's mind into turmoil. He clenched his teeth. Unlike the tentative tests he had performed earlier, using his aether at full power brought those negative emotions with it.
“Grrr......!”
Yuto gritted his teeth. He tried to calm his emotions, but―why? Why should he calm them? The question that followed erased every trace of restraint. CRACKLE! A single pitch-black hand surged up behind Yuto.
A gigantic hand formed from rippling darkness. Void Hand. Following Yuto's murderous intent, it shot toward Sariel.
“Hmm.”
Sariel did not dodge. She calmly extended her own hand toward the approaching Void Hand.
BOOM!
Void Hand collided with Sariel's hand. That slender, pale hand struck the gigantic hand of darkness head-on. Void Hand strained time and again to seize Sariel, only to collide with her hand and be knocked away each time.
“Indeed, indeed. So that is what this is.”
Sariel watched the rebounding Void Hand with fascination.
‘Now.’
Yuto acted at once. Void Step. Darkness rippled beneath his feet. In the next instant, his body vanished from the spot as if erased.
Yuto reappeared behind Sariel, in her blind spot. It was movement that skipped across space, an ambush impossible to track with the eye itself. The instant he appeared, Yuto wreathed his fist in aether and drove it toward Sariel's back.
He thought it was a perfect surprise attack.
“You possess quite a variety of tricks.”
At Sariel's voice, Yuto's vision abruptly flipped. THUD! When he came to his senses, he lay on his back in the dirt. He could not even grasp what had happened. The moment he thought he had gotten behind her, the world spun and he was slammed into the ground.
“And they are interesting.”
Sariel giggled as she looked down at the fallen Yuto.
“A step that crosses space. What an amusing power. But boy, crossing space did not erase your ‘presence.’ The moment you vanished, This One could clearly sense where you would appear.”
Sariel tilted her head and continued.
“It is a strange power in many ways. Depending on how you use it, it could be formidable. For now, though, it is quite poor. Boy, it seems you must first learn how to properly use the power you possess.”
“Why......?”
Yuto glared at Sariel as he spoke.
“Why do you call me boy even after I told you my name?”
“Hmm? Ahaha! This One asked because she was curious about your name. Whether she uses it is entirely up to her. In This One's eyes, you are a boy not worth calling by name, so boy is what she calls you.”
Giggling, Sariel extended a hand toward Yuto.
“Your sword depends entirely on instinct, and you wield your peculiar power with nothing but brute force. How could This One possibly call you anything but boy?”
Yuto ignored Sariel's hand and stood on his own.
“Just... who are you?”
“This One already told you, did she not? Her name is Sariel.”
“Even that name is an alias, isn't it?”
“You are far too inadequate to know This One's true name. Understand only what you can see. As you can plainly tell, This One is not human.”
Sariel smiled and pointed to her ear.
“This One is half elf. Do you remember what elves are? They are another race that lives in a land called ‘Vermira,’ far from here.”
“......”
“Her name is Sariel, and her age is... hmm, a secret. This One is a woman, after all. What else should she tell you? This One is exceedingly strong. She is not a being who should have to trouble herself training the likes of you.”
“Then why are you going to the trouble?”
“How many times must This One repeat herself? She intends to collect the debt you owe her someday. For that purpose, boy, she means to train you.”
As Yuto staggered upright, Sariel placed her hand on his head. He flinched and tried to knock it away, but before he could, her fingers were already tousling his hair.
“This One is also deeply interested in your peculiar power. Is this the power of a constellation? Hmm, she cannot tell. It is far too peculiar and alien. This One never contracted with a constellation herself, so she knows little of such matters.”
“What...?”
Yuto looked at Sariel in sudden bewilderment.
“You never contracted with a constellation?”
“Is that truly so rare? In Callisto, this wretched world, those who have not contracted with constellations vastly outnumber those who have.”
“That is... true, but...”
“This One is of mixed blood. Some would crudely call her a mongrel. Elves contract with elven constellations, but the human blood in This One prevented her from doing so. The human constellations would not contract with her either.”
With that answer, Sariel removed her hand from Yuto's head.
“In other words, this power is entirely This One's own achievement. That is what makes her so remarkable. Well? Do you not find This One remarkable too?”
He could not help being impressed. In Callisto, nearly all ‘strength’ is determined by constellations. Among humans, only nobles contract with constellations, whose interest manifests as blessings and power. That is why the poor and the commoners can never defy the nobility.
Yet Sariel had attained such power without contracting with a constellation. Sariel smiled in satisfaction at Yuto's shock and admiration, then nodded.
“At last, there is respect in your eyes when you look upon This One. Boy, have you not grown hungry after all that exertion?”
“...What?”
“Come and sit. You must eat plenty if you wish to grow, so This One shall share some of her drinking snacks with you.”
Yuto could only blink in disbelief. It had not been long since Sariel gave him bread and milk, yet she was offering him food again. She thrust a bare hand into the blazing campfire, drew out a well-roasted potato, and held it toward him.
“I am not hungry...”
“Do not refuse what an adult gives you.”
With her insisting so firmly, he had little choice but to accept. Yuto cautiously reached for the potato, only to flinch at the heat and snatch his hand back. Sariel burst out laughing at the sight.
“Ah, too hot for you to hold. This One will give it back once it cools, so sit beside her.”
Sariel was impossible to pin down. Her strength was astounding, yet her conduct was frivolous even when her words seemed grave. Watching Yuto sit a short distance away, Sariel spoke.
“You have now understood that This One bears you considerable goodwill and has no intention of killing you.”
“...Yes. Someone like you could kill me at any time, yet you have not.”
“A sound observation. Then do you also understand that you must travel with This One?”
“That part, I do not understand.”
“Hmph. Then do not understand it. This One will simply take you along. If someone who cannot even remember who he is wanders around this wretched world, he is bound to meet a terrible end.”
As she spoke, Sariel began peeling the potato.
“So travel with This One and strive to recover your memories. This One shall also personally teach you how to wield your ‘power.’”
Yuto hesitated for a moment, then nodded. In truth, Sariel's offer held no disadvantage for him.
‘At least for now.’
He still did not know what price she might demand.