Chapter 25: Outside the Town
“So, my sister went into the anomaly?” Ludwig asked with a sigh.
“My knight escorted her to the inner camp, and then she disappeared,” said the Duke of Carinthia. “No one saw anything, not the knight on duty, the patrolling guards, or anyone else.”
“I see.” Ludwig was disheartened. He understood the Duke’s implication:
His sister was most likely a Transcendental.
It wasn’t a big deal in itself; many noble children experimented with potions – but only after marriage and childbirth, when they could keep their secrets safe.
Becoming a Transcendental before marriage was foolish. You didn’t know if your future spouse and their family were trustworthy. There was not only the risk of being deemed a heretic by the Church, but also the issue of reduced fertility for Transcendents.
For nobles, an heir to inherit their title and estate was crucial. A bloodline ending was an almost unacceptable flaw. If Eleanor had become a Transcendental…
…then her marriage prospects would become a major headache for their father.
Ludwig looked towards the town in the distance, a worried sigh escaping his lips.
Inside the town.
Eleanor thrust her spear, a Dragon Spear, lifting the scorpion-like monster into the air, slamming it down, then a Triple Cloud Piercer, and a final Iron Cutter sending it flying.
She had mastered the Azure Dragon Rapid Assault, but the captain wasn’t here to teach her any further advanced techniques.
The Free Wind mercenary group had left half an hour ago. To be precise, Matthews had led his men to the other side, to engage the monsters there, and then they hadn’t returned.
This was clearly not right.
The anomaly had warped space earlier, forcing the two mercenary groups together, to try and provoke a fight between them.
Could it be that, having achieved its goal, the anomaly had lifted the spatial distortion?
For example, during the previous large-scale zombie attack, in the chaos of battle, it could have silently replaced some members of both mercenary groups.
These lurking imposters would then strike at the unsuspecting teams at a crucial moment.
When Thira voiced this theory, the girls felt a chill. Even Azure Longsword had three members replaced by two imposters. There was no reason for Free Wind to escape unscathed.
Perhaps that “Matthews” was already an imposter.
However, since the two sides had separated, the girls of Azure Longsword naturally had no reason to worry about them. They could only find a nearby building to hold out in and wait for the mysteriously missing Asker and the others to return.
After killing the last monster, Eleanor sheathed her spear and returned to the church behind them.
This was the church in the town’s central square. In the sermon hall, the girls were sitting on the carpet, trying to comfort a distraught Peggy, who had repeatedly asked to go out and look for Asker. It was thanks to Thira and Mia that she hadn’t run off yet.
“Code?” Thira asked, standing in the doorway.
Eleanor took the crumpled paper from her pocket and compared it with Thira’s. No problem.
“We’re doomed!” Peggy wailed again. “Medea and Nuo must have snuck off! They’re probably kissing right now!”
What could the girls say? They could only try to comfort the delusional Peggy.
“No, no, Nuo is a shy and introverted girl, she wouldn’t sneak off.”
“Then what about Medea? She’s not introverted at all!” Peggy exclaimed.
“Come on, with Nuo there, how could Medea sneak off?” Mia said, trying to reassure her.
“Exactly,” Thira nodded in agreement. “If one of them were alone with Asker, then perhaps. But with both of them present, they’ll keep each other in check.”
“Anyway, Peggy, just stay with us, don’t keep thinking about going out, okay? Otherwise, when Asker and the others return, we’ll have to go look for you.”
“Why wasn’t I swapped?!” Peggy burst into tears – real tears, her eyes brimming.
The other girls awkwardly looked away. First Nuo, then Peggy, and now Medea. Captain, can’t you just define your relationship already?! You’re constantly causing us all this unnecessary trouble!
“The captain is such a scumbag,” Miel, sitting in the corner, suddenly said.
“You can’t blame Asker for this,” Mia waved her hand dismissively, speaking with the air of someone experienced in such matters. “Isn’t that just how men are? When faced with multiple attractive options, they’ll fantasize about a harem, of course. They won’t rush into a relationship with just one.”
The girls were embarrassed. This precocious Mia, who had filled her head with all these harem notions?
“It was Medea, wasn’t it?” Eleanor sighed, standing by the doorway.
“Who else?” Thira rolled her eyes.
“This girl…” Eleanor smiled wryly. “I still can’t figure out what she’s really up to.”
“I always feel like she’s plotting something…”
“Medea is a Transcendental of the Conspiracy Sequence.” Thira said. “The influence of the Conspiracy potion will naturally make a Transcendental more inclined towards darkness and scheming.”
“However, she deliberately had Mia mention ‘harem,’ precisely to prevent a harem from happening – she was reminding us.”
“Reminding us?” Eleanor frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Do you like the captain?” Thira asked casually.
“Huh? No, how could I…” Eleanor was a little embarrassed. “I mean, I know Nuo likes him.”
“Then you understand, don’t you?” Thira leaned against the wall, arms crossed. “People, when they are in the gray area between black and white, can easily shift in either direction. The so-called ambiguous state, knowing but not saying it out loud, is a similar principle.”
“Therefore, as long as you haven’t fallen for the captain yet, while you’re still in the ambiguous stage between ‘like’ and ‘dislike,’ reminding you to confirm your current state means you’ll likely choose ‘dislike.’ Once you’ve made up your mind, it will be difficult to jump to the ‘like’ side later.”
“Is it really that complicated?” Eleanor pondered. “This is what they call ‘the human heart is unpredictable,’ right?”
“Heh, it seems you haven’t answered my question yet.” Thira’s bright eyes stared at her. “Do you like the captain?”
“To be precise, I don’t know,” Eleanor said after a moment of silence. “I… have never thought about it before.”
“Then, if you were to fall for the captain, how would you face Nuo?” Thira continued to ask.
“I would probably back off,” Eleanor said without hesitation this time. “I wouldn’t compete with Nuo, and I definitely wouldn’t destroy our friendship because of this.”
“That means you haven’t fallen for the captain,” Thira nodded. “True love is inherently selfish, it can’t be easily abandoned because of friendship…”
“…just like family ties versus power,” she muttered to herself.
“Then what about you?” Eleanor smiled. “What do you think of the captain?”
“I admire him quite a bit,” Thira admitted. “He’s strong, kind, and he’s been good to me. I feel safe around him.”
“Admiration… is that a form of ambiguity?” Eleanor asked, frowning.
“Sort of,” Thira said lightly. “At least I can’t say for sure that I don’t like the captain. But, as for the future, who knows?”
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