After introducing her own companions to Riezel, Aesc also introduced him to her companions.
"And he’s a... well, a magus on a journey. He just happened to pass by and got caught up in the anomaly I sensed earlier, so I brought him back with me."
Because of what Aesc said, Black Knight looked at Riezel with even more caution, and Totorot’s face was full of surprise.
"Magus? Isn’t that just like you, Aesc?"
Totorot spun around at Riezel’s side as she spoke.
"Yeah..." Aesc smiled. "He’s like me, a user of magecraft."
"Ohh, that’s really something!" Totorot exclaimed in surprise. "I always thought the only weirdos who’d want to use magecraft were you and Grimr."
Needless to say, this was also the general opinion among fairies.
In their eyes, anyone who wanted to use magecraft was a weirdo, so hearing that there were people outside of her own companions who used magecraft, Totorot reacted this way.
"Well, there’s nothing bad about it, right?" Aesc wasn’t angry and stated as if it were just a fact. "Magecraft really is convenient. Fairies are born with Mystery and can naturally do a lot of things that are the same as magecraft, but if you keep researching magecraft, it opens up all sorts of possibilities, doesn’t it?"
Perhaps it was precisely because Aesc held this belief that she was able to become a magus far more skilled than Artoria.
She had sensed the appearance of Water Mirror on the shore from far away and went to investigate—this alone proved that this savior’s ability was far beyond what the clumsy magus Artoria could ever compare to.
Furthermore, the bounded field set up around the camp was also of a very high level. In Riezel’s view, if this bounded field were compared to Tier Magic, it would be at least 9th Tier.
From this, one could see how advanced Aesc’s magecraft was.
In truth, Riezel had even felt a faint sense of threat from Aesc.
What did that mean?
It meant that Aesc’s strength, even if not quite at Riezel’s level, definitely would not fall short by much.
If Riezel had not been sent to this era along with the Calamity of Norwich and had not acted against the Calamity, then Aesc, who had sensed magecraft from the same system as the Mirror at the shore and come to investigate, would surely have taken action herself and eliminated the Calamity.
In other words, Aesc’s strength was at least enough to handle the troublesome Calamity of Norwich, which was not impossible since she had traveled in Faerie Britain for nearly 2,000 years and eliminated countless Calamities as a savior.
Aesc had just finished expressing her views and attitude on magecraft, unaware of what Riezel was thinking, when Totorot jumped in.
"Yeah, yeah, we know, Aesc loves researching magecraft the most. We’ve known that forever, okay?"
Totorot’s blunt reply left Aesc looking rather helpless.
"You really underestimate him." Aesc had no choice but to change the subject. "I mean, his strength isn’t below mine. I saw him eliminate an extremely powerful Calamity with my own eyes. If it were me instead, I definitely wouldn’t have done any better."
Aesc’s words genuinely surprised both Totorot and Black Knight.
"You’re kidding, right?" Totorot said somewhat unwillingly. "There’s actually someone even stronger than you?"
It was obvious that in Totorot’s memory, Aesc was the strongest existence.
"...It’s honestly a little surprising." Black Knight spoke up as well, his voice heavy. "In Britain, there are only a handful of fairies stronger than Aesc. Even the head of the Fang Clan—if he fought Aesc, Aesc would still win, wouldn’t she?"
He was referring to the current head of the Fang Clan, who was from the generation before Woodwose.
He had died in battle against the Great Calamity in the year 1000 of the Queen’s Calendar, and some time after his death, Woodwose was born as his descendant.
Strictly speaking, he could be said to be both Woodwose’s previous life and Woodwose’s father.
Archduke of Exhaust Heat—this title, inherited by Woodwose, had originally belonged to the previous head of the Fang Clan, which meant this clan head was also an A-Rei.
Aesc’s ability to defeat the Fang Clan’s current head, who was an A-Rei, showed just how strong she was.
However, Aesc herself had a different opinion.
"No, the divine protection on Wryneck is still troublesome. If I’m not using some special method, I absolutely couldn’t defeat him." Aesc shook her head and spoke calmly. "In my view, if we don’t count Queen Mab, who rules the northern fairies, the strongest fairy in Britain should be Wryneck. By sheer strength, I can’t win against him as I am now."
Totorot clearly wasn’t convinced by Aesc’s words.
It couldn’t be helped.
"Mab already lost to you, and Wryneck hasn’t ever beaten you, so you’re obviously the strongest in Britain, aren’t you?" Totorot looked troubled.
"...Mab only lost because I took advantage of her weakness at the time, and Wryneck has never really gone all out against me—that’s how things turned out." Aesc responded helplessly.
"Fine, fine, whatever you say."
Seeing Aesc so adamant, Totorot didn’t bother arguing with her anymore.
Black Knight spoke up at just the right time, shifting their attention.
"What I want to say is, if there were a fairy stronger than Aesc moving around in Britain, it would be impossible for us not to have heard about it." Black Knight’s words were unexpectedly sharp. "He isn’t the queen of the King Clan, nor is he the head of the Fang Clan, so why have we never heard of such a powerful fairy existing in Britain?"
What he meant was simple—Riezel’s background was definitely not simple.
"Are you not a fairy of Britain?" Black Knight questioned loudly.
"Not a fairy of Britain?!" Totorot finally caught on, instantly raising her voice. "Don’t tell me you drifted over from the other side of the sea?"
Clearly, this was exactly what Black Knight had suspected as well.
If that were really the case, then it would be necessary to keep a close watch on this young man.
Of course, even if the young man turned out to be a fairy of Britain, Black Knight would still keep his guard up, since the fairies of Britain were, after all, just as untrustworthy.
"Totorot... Black Knight..."
Aesc furrowed her brows and was just about to say something, but Riezel stopped her.
"I’m indeed not a fairy of Britain. In fact, I am not even a fairy at all."
Riezel’s words were astonishing, and he spoke calmly, paying no mind to the look of surprise on Aesc’s face.
"But you don’t have to worry. I don’t really have much interest in any of you. If I wanted to do something to you, I could have done it already."
Just as these words left Riezel’s mouth, a hand suddenly reached out from behind Black Knight and pressed down on his shoulder.
"Just like this. Do you understand now?"
Riezel’s voice no longer came from in front of the group, but instead from behind Black Knight.
He had appeared behind Black Knight in an instant, one hand pressing down on his shoulder, the corners of his mouth beneath his hood curling up slightly, making everyone’s expression change at once.
"!!!"
Black Knight instinctively jumped back.
One had to admit, despite his large build, Black Knight’s reaction was surprisingly agile.
"What?"
Totorot was equally shocked to find that Riezel, who had been standing right in front of her, had vanished at some point, only to reappear behind Black Knight.
’...Is that teleportation magecraft, just like Opposing Mirrors?’
Aesc thought deeply, giving Riezel a long, searching look.
Riezel withdrew his hand and offered a faint smile under everyone’s gaze.
"In any case, I won’t do anything to you. You can relax. Even if you don’t trust me, you should at least trust your savior, shouldn’t you?" Riezel spread his hands in a calm gesture. "In front of those eyes of hers, I wouldn’t dare lie about anything, y’know?"
Totorot and Black Knight were both startled, then turned to look at Aesc.
Aesc nodded, letting the two of them know that every word Riezel had just spoken was true.
No—more accurately, from the moment he appeared until now, every word Riezel had spoken was the truth.
Because of this, Aesc’s gaze toward Riezel changed ever so slightly.
’Not someone from Britain..?’
Aesc lowered her eyes, lost in thought.
Totorot and Black Knight, seeing Aesc’s nod, exchanged a glance before finally lowering their guard against Riezel.
"Since you didn’t come here for us, I’ll believe you for now." Black Knight said in a low voice. "I just hope you don’t do anything that’ll make trouble for either side."
"I don’t really care either way." Totorot said nonchalantly. "With Aesc here, even if you do anything strange, she’ll see through it right away."
Aesc gave a barely noticeable nod.
At this moment, she found herself growing a bit curious about Riezel as well, wanting to see for herself what kind of person this outsider—who was certainly a very special existence to her—really was, and what he planned to do.
At this point, Aesc had not yet realized that the fear she once felt toward Riezel had quietly disappeared.
Whether this was because of something Riezel had said before arriving here, or for some other reason, even Aesc herself might not know. All she knew was that her heart felt alive for the first time in a long while, and her spirit, which had been on the verge of exhaustion, suddenly felt reinvigorated, no longer lifeless.
As a result...
"If you really don’t have anywhere else to go, then why not travel with us?" Aesc offered a suggestion. "I mean, with someone as strong as you helping us, I just might be able to complete the goal of this journey more easily than I thought."
Riezel nodded in indifferent agreement to her invitation, though whether he was truly indifferent or not, only he himself knew.
As Aesc turned around to chat with Totorot and Black Knight, Riezel quietly muttered to himself.
"So, this is where the fateful connection between you and me began, isn’t it?"
"Morgan..."
Riezel touched his chest, the place where the Stake was lodged.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
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