Miyabi stood at the edge of the crater, keeping her sword ready for several more seconds.
Only after confirming that nothing else was happening did she finally sheath her blade.
The battle was over.
Miyabi had won.
Cael stepped out from behind cover and slowly approached the crater.
He looked at Dullahan’s body, already more than halfway dissolved, before turning toward Miyabi.
Only then did he realize that she was staring at him.
Her gaze rested on his face.
Something Cael couldn’t understand flickered through her beautiful eyes, but it vanished almost immediately, leaving her usual calm expression behind.
“Thank you.
Your warning was crucial.
You could even say you saved my life.”
Miyabi thanked him sincerely.
Cael smiled.
“I just got lucky.
I had a feeling something like that might happen.”
Miyabi looked thoughtful.
“Is that so?”
“Ahem…
Either way, the threat’s been dealt with, right?
Now that Dullahan, a high-activity Ether entity, is gone, the Hollow’s activity should decrease and eventually return to normal levels, shouldn’t it?”
“Yes.
That’s what Yanagi said.”
Miyabi looked Cael over.
“Are you feeling all right?
The Ether concentration in this area rose sharply for a while.
You have no Ether aptitude, so the anti-corruption serum alone won’t protect you for long.”
Cael checked his body.
Although the surrounding Ether concentration had already dropped significantly, the prickling sensation across his skin still hadn’t disappeared.
If he couldn’t leave the Hollow soon, the accumulated Ether would cause irreversible damage to his body.
“I’ll take you outside first,” Miyabi said.
“Okay.”
Cael nodded.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dullahan’s body finish dissolving.
Something seemed to be floating in midair where it had vanished.
What’s that?
Cael focused on it.
A purple card.
He instinctively reached out and touched it.
The card dissolved into motes of light and flowed into the back of his hand.
Immediately afterward, Cael felt as though something new had appeared inside his mind.
It resembled an inventory.
In the first slot lay the same purple card.
Cael touched it with his consciousness, and a new interface appeared in his mind.
[Name]: Intermediate Ether Aptitude
[Type]: Talent Card
[Description]: Grants the target the [Intermediate Ether Aptitude] Talent upon use, increasing the body’s adaptability to Ether.
Cannot be used on non-living targets.
What was this?
A Talent item from his system?
Or more specifically, an item that granted Traits?
“What’s wrong?”
Miyabi reached out and took Cael’s extended right hand, examining it carefully.
She found nothing unusual.
“Are you injured?” she asked.
Cael finally came back to his senses and carefully withdrew his hand.
“No.”
Miyabi nodded.
“Good.
Let’s go.”
“Mm.”
Cael followed behind her while looking down at his hand.
The purple Talent Card was currently in his grasp.
Miyabi clearly couldn’t see it.
Was that because it was a system item?
Did that mean he was the only person capable of seeing it?
As someone who had crossed into another world, having some kind of cheat ability wasn’t exactly surprising.
As for his own…
For now, he supposed he could call it a system.
It was just a rather strange one.
There was no intelligent AI.
It couldn’t communicate with him.
There was no explanation of its functions.
Even the inventory had only unlocked after he’d come into contact with a system item.
Whether that inventory could store ordinary objects remained to be tested.
Cael put away the Talent Card and glanced back at the crater left by Dullahan’s explosion.
A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
Did killing Ethereals have a chance of dropping Talent Cards?
Although, in this fight against Dullahan, he’d barely done enough to count as an assist.
…
He’d leave that question alone for now.
There were still far too many mysteries in this world, and just as many unanswered questions about himself.
“Come to think of it…
you still haven’t told me your name.”
Miyabi seemed to suddenly remember something important.
She turned around and looked at him.
“Huh?
I haven’t?”
Cael blinked.
Thinking back on it, he really hadn’t introduced himself.
“My name is Cael Veyne.”
“Cael Veyne…”
Miyabi repeated the name, then gave a slight nod.
“All right.
I’ll remember it.”
Outside the Hollow, Cael stood near the edge of the street.
Several police vehicles belonging to New Eridu Public Security were parked along the road in the distance.
Barricades had been set up on both sides, and numerous civilians were undergoing registration and various checks.
“This is far enough,” Miyabi said.
“I still have official duties to attend to, so I’ll be leaving.”
“All right.
See you, Miss Hoshimi.”
“Goodbye.”
With that, Miyabi turned around and entered the Hollow again.
Not long after she left, a petite girl in a Public Security uniform approached Cael.
She had short gray hair, round glasses, and a stack of documents held against her chest.
A long, slender tail extended behind her.
A mouse Thiren.
That was adorable.
Maybe it wasn’t the most respectful thought to have, but she really was cute.
“Hello, sir.
I’m Officer Lumi from the Metropolitan Order Division of New Eridu Public Security.
Please come this way and cooperate with the registration and examination process.”
“Of course, Officer Lumi.”
Cael followed the mouse Thiren toward the roadside.
“A large number of civilians were affected by this Hollow expansion, and many are showing varying degrees of Ether corruption.
For everyone’s safety, we’re carrying out a unified registration process.”
Lumi explained as they walked.
“Name?”
“Cael Veyne.”
“Age?”
“Twenty-two.”
“…”
Lumi compared Cael’s information against Public Security’s records.
Nothing.
There wasn’t a single record of him.
“Public Security doesn’t have any files associated with your identity.
Are you from the Outer Ring?”
Lumi put down the documents in her hands and picked up a different registration form.
“Yes.
I’m an orphan.
My parents died in a Hollow disaster when I was very young.
I’ve spent most of my life drifting around the Outer Ring and surviving by collecting scrap, so I’ve never had any official identification.
“I came into the city a couple of days ago hoping to find a decent job, but then today…”
Cael let out a faint sigh.
This time, the sadness in his voice wasn’t entirely an act.
Lumi’s pen paused.
She pursed her lips, and a trace of sympathy appeared in her eyes as she looked at him.
Poor guy…
She adjusted her glasses.
“If you want to find work in the city, you’ll need valid New Eridu citizenship documentation.
I can contact Public Security and help you apply for it.
The processing fee is 5,000 Dennies.”
“Five thousand Dennies…”
Cael’s expression stiffened.
Where was he supposed to get that kind of money?
He didn’t have a single Denny to his name.
“Sorry, Officer Lumi.
I don’t have any money…”
“That…”
Lumi looked troubled.
Five thousand Dennies wasn’t a particularly large amount.
But since it was a necessary administrative expense for processing official identification, she couldn’t simply waive the fee.
Just as Cael was worrying about being too broke to even afford an identity, a woman approached the two of them.
“I’ll pay the fee for this gentleman’s identification.
Would that be all right?”
Cael turned in surprise.
The woman looked toward him as well and gave him a gentle smile.
She had shoulder-length black hair and wore a brown knitted sweater.
Beside her stood a little girl whose hand she was holding.
They were the mother and daughter he’d saved from the Tyrfing earlier.
“Hello, Mr.
Veyne.
My name is Noni, and this is my daughter, Noa.”
Noni smiled and gently patted her daughter’s head.
“Noa, say hello.”
“Hi!”
The little girl greeted him in a sweet, cheerful voice.
Cael couldn’t help smiling.
He reached out and gently patted her head as well.
It really helps the fic grow!