Allen Wise (1)

“Humans are truly foolish.”

Wallace Hope left the master verification stage hosted by the hunter’s guild, moving his steps leisurely.

“They get distracted by what’s right in front of them and miss what’s truly important.”

He had achieved his purpose.

By showing Another Hope to his opponent, he could obscure his real objective.

Since that was both the actual plan and an issue too massive to overlook, they wouldn’t be able to look away.

Focusing on the big picture being drawn, they miss the small one.

Yes, they can’t grasp what Belial is truly plotting.

“Why do they only focus on the size of what’s before their eyes? Why can’t they even look back at themselves?”

Thud!

Belial stopped while leaning on his cane and lifted his hat.

Looking up at the cruel blue sky, Belial recalled.

-If by some chance that were possible, could you handle the empire’s fury that would follow?

What had the boy said then? Had he scoffed saying what did it matter?

-Once you’re dead, what does it matter if just one person like me dies?

This fearless fellow who dared try to overturn thousands of years of his grand plans with such meager power.

How amusing. Could there be anything more amusing than this?

-Once you’re dead, what does it matter if just one person like me dies?

A strong but cowardly old demon and a weak but courageous boy.

Though they seemed complete opposites…

“‘Having nothing to lose’… You don’t seem to realize that’s an obvious lie. Not even you yourself know.”

They were remarkably similar.

Fearless? No, that’s not it.

The boy too was a coward like himself. A coward who feared even expressing that fear, wearing courage like armor to cover his lies.

“A human with nothing precious has no reason to be alive in the first place. What seems insignificant or not worth caring about might actually be most precious.”

Not afraid of losing his life?

Wrong. He values something else even more than life.

“Those who disregard death either have something more precious than life or value their own life so lowly.”

The direction of one’s heart that even they themselves don’t know. Where could it be pointing?

If the boy truly had nothing precious, he couldn’t have even conceived the goal of stopping Belial.

“So let’s confirm from here.”

People have dreams.

They have purposes and beliefs.

It could be a vow to defeat someone, or a promise to protect someone.

Some live with survival as their only purpose, while others simply live because they dislike pain.

Trivial reasons. Ordinary things. When all those ordinary things become extraordinary.

Would they still act fearlessly claiming they have nothing to lose then?

“Let’s see what meaning companions hold for you.”

The most cautious coward of a demon in this world stopped.

Before him hung a nameplate reading ‘House Spirin’.

*     *     *

Having shown an excellent performance, Allen Wise supported the hunter and left the stage.

Until then my gaze couldn’t leave him, and even now as he chatted amicably with the hunter below the stage, my eyes kept wandering to him.

“What could it be…”

A being whose mere existence could split the empire.

What could I do to him? Stop him from becoming a hero?

Make his good deeds lose meaning and prevent him from gaining people’s support?

That’s impossible.

Before the Pantheon Temple’s reputation, I would lose my position as an apostle.

The gods wouldn’t overlook such one-sided malice directed at an innocent person.

In other words, I can’t lay a hand on him until Belial makes his move or Another Hope shows signs of being a half-demon or demon.

How unfair can a fight be where first strikes aren’t allowed?

Even if I wanted to apply political pressure, there aren’t many who could do so, and one person who could is on Another Hope’s side.

Edge Forys, that is.

“Hmm.”

With just that, Belial can start the battle having split the empire in half from the beginning.

An extraordinary strategy.

All I can do is pray that rather than being called a hero, he becomes a tyrant drunk on power who deserves condemnation.

Even this is a terrible thing to do but…

“He’s finally coming out. Look, the crowd’s starting to stir.”

“…Ah.”

While I was thinking about countermeasures for Another Hope, the one who was our original purpose climbed onto the stage.

With that, the expressions of the hunters waiting at the stage’s side began changing one by one.

Some grimaced, some showed interest, some turned pale.

The audience stirred as if a magical beast had appeared rather than a challenger, and some even clapped and cheered as if pleased by that.

When even War Mage Rohan, who had been rambling non-stop at unexpected situations, became momentarily speechless.

“Allen Wise.”

Titan who had climbed onto the stage quietly stated his purpose.

A more restrained appearance than ever before.

That dignified bearing reminds me of Craig from before my regression.

Though his pressure is incredible and just looking makes one’s knees weak.

Pressure felt from someone in a high position, not from a monster.

At that charisma, the eyes of people who had only seen Titan as a monster until now changed to show interest.

“Seems that guy wasn’t just playing around.”

“He was playing until recently.”

Of course he continued training.

But since he himself said he only found his direction recently, it’s fair to say he was playing until then.

It’s unlike him to agonize over an obvious path, but what can I definitively say about Titan?

All I can do is watch over that wandering until the day he chooses to open up about it.

“I request your guidance.”

“…Very well.”

Allen Wise with his stern expression climbs onto the stage. Allen Wise whose appearance is closer to a knight than a hunter, and Titan who subtly reveals the pressure of a leader.

Even the arena isn’t as noisy as before, holding its breath to observe the two in their atmosphere.

“I accept that challenge.”

Thud!

Allen nodded and dragged over a huge container-like object from the stage corner, setting it down.

Cracks form in the stage floor. One could understand that something of tremendous mass was contained in that huge container.

“His always taking every opponent seriously with full effort is one of his few good points.”

“It’s surprising that you see more flaws than merits in a Weapon Master who has reached master level.”

Edge Forys’s evaluation is too harsh. Though Allen Wise has a personality that dislikes fighting, doesn’t he have the ability that makes that possible?

Thud!

When Allen Wise kicks the container he had set up, its lid opens and all sorts of weapons pour out from within.

The weapons spreading across the floor like a waterfall were so diverse in type and size that it was hard to find any consistency.

“You’re amazing, Titan. I thought so when I first saw you too.”

“I am amazing.”

“I envy that confidence. No matter how much I train my strength and skill, I still feel afraid before battle.”

“Don’t be ashamed. Being fearful means you’re that much more cautious. That’s how one survives longer.”

“How about yourself? For someone making such an assessment, you seem to be walking the complete opposite path.”

“That’s natural.”

Bang! Bang!

Titan said while striking his chest with his fist.

“If the fearful one is cautious, then one who faces the impossible might create miracles. I believe in miracles. I believe I can create them.”

“…How amazing.”

“No, I must become amazing.”

Titan said.

That he is still far from enough. That even now, this disposition shows foolishness more often than it helps.

Yet he continues on this difficult and foolish path because he believes in the single miracle that lies at its end.

One who advances steadily and one who pours everything into a single moment.

That’s the relationship between them.

“You take first move. I’m the junior here.”

“Understood.”

*     *      *

Titan takes first strike.

He immediately plants his spear in the ground and charges at Allen Wise while gripping his hammer with both hands.

A strike aiming for instant victory.

Titan’s hammer truly manifests power worthy of that intent.

“Phew…”

Seeing this, Allen Wise instantly finds his answer.

Whoosh!

As the whip at his waist sweeps across the ground once, the lid from the container he had just opened follows its tip.

Only then do people realize that the broad, curved lid that had detached from the container was one of the great shields known as a scutum.

“…!”

Titan’s eyebrows twitch at Allen Wise’s choice.

Until now, no one had tried to block his hammer.

Most would try to dodge it, but none thought to receive it head-on.

Instant death if you fail to dodge, exposure to immediate follow-up attacks if you do dodge.

That was Titan’s main strategy.

But by choosing to block it, his opponent greatly reduced Titan’s range of options.

“Heh…”

Titan smiled at that choice that seemed both cautious and bold.

Coming this far to achieve a duel with Allen Wise was the right answer.

Though he had encountered many strong opponents during his journey, none had fired up Titan’s fighting spirit like the opponent before him.

That day, Titan hadn’t forgotten Allen Wise’s pale green aura that had stopped him at the Ryan barony.

Whoosh!

Wind rises, and rotating pale green aura on Allen Wise’s scutum receives Titan’s hammer.

“Hup!”

The hammer swung with full force. Yet no matching boom follows.

Rather, only the sound of a storm fills the stage.

Aura with wind attributes.

What that result symbolizes is Allen Wise’s long years of effort.

-Listen well, Titan. When you start sensing mana, your task is to manipulate it and settle it in your heart.

Lost’s advice during their journey for the not-too-distant future.

Preparation for handling aura.

-The first stage is creating a ring by continuously rotating that settled mana around your heart.

The method to reach 1st circle is realizing how to manipulate mana.

-Then the second stage is cramming as much mana as you can hold into that ring.

-So you just keep increasing the number of rings like that?

-No, mages might do that, but those aiming to be pure warriors usually don’t make that choice.

Mages increase the number of rings rotating around their heart.

That was their method of increasing the variety of things they could do.

At 1st circle they manipulate mana, at 2nd circle they convert it to attributes.

Connection at 3rd circle, methods to transform attributes again at 4th circle, interference at 5th circle, and methods to utilize nature at 6th circle.

That’s how mages increase their range and capability.

-Aura is power accumulated in the flesh, not the heart.

But warriors were different.

After completing one ring, they continue piling mana into it until it overflows.

That overflowing mana then flows through blood vessels to strengthen the flesh.

-You could make more rings. But in that case, it would take much longer for mana to flow into your flesh.

He said that’s how the job of magic swordsman worked, training both magic and swordsmanship.

And simultaneously, that job was little more than an unrealistic ideal.

Then what about the opponent before him? This Allen Wise who controls aura, the symbol of destructive power, in wind form.

“So you’re a 2nd circle magic swordsman.”

A warrior who imposed the penalty of increasing rings on himself.

How ironic is it not?

Titan who has elven blood making him struggle to sense mana more than others, though only partially, and Allen Wise who advances at twice the normal slow pace.

The two were similar. That’s why Titan had been interested in Allen Wise.

The man before him had walked the path Titan would follow.

“I respect you.”

There must have been fierce opposition from those around him. If he had simply trained aura while remaining at 1st circle, entering the imperial knights and reaching high position wouldn’t have been impossible.

But his opponent was different. He was someone who dreamed of romance.

“What does it matter if others call it foolish or stupid? If you believed it was right, you just had to stubbornly push forward.”

Bang!

With a sound like a bursting balloon, Titan and Allen Wise are pushed back.

The moment Titan’s full power and Allen Wise’s wind mana reached equilibrium.

The opening exchange ends. Titan had shared his honest feelings.

“…”

Those words resonated deeply with Allen Wise too. He had faced much criticism within his family. They told him he might as well become a mage instead.

But Allen Wise steadfastly chose to walk the path of magic swordsman.

Perfect technique and aura that falls short of it. Thus the second path he chose to compensate for that.

Whoosh!

A storm sweeps through.

The weapons scattered across the floor float up in the wind.

“Thank you.”

The weapons rise as if nailed in mid-air rather than simply being swept up by the wind.

“For a royal like you to evaluate me so highly, I might be able to acknowledge myself a little.”

Weapon Master.

“Then overwhelm me and complete your path further.”

Titan smiled seeing Allen Wise’s expression grow more confident than before.

The opening exchange was over.

From now was the time to demonstrate their achievements with full power.

“So those who follow watching your back won’t waver.”

That one can achieve results even choosing an unreasonable and difficult path.

“I, too, will show that with full power, having walked watching your back.”

Titan takes his stance while looking at the floating weapons.

Golden patterns appear on his body as if being engraved.

The elven power he had refused to use until now.

The ability related to his original sin.

“Now let’s both stop running away from what’s before us.”