The New Gate

Book 9: Chapter 4 (3)

What the doors opened to reveal was, as Kuchinashi had said, a seemingly endless line of weapons, starting from Rare and Unique up until Mythology and Ancient grade.

“Eh…we have to go in here?”

“W-Wow….”

“Hey, what’s with your reactions?”

Shin was perplexed by Tiera and Kotone’s reactions. For him, the room where he stored his items and gear was nothing more than that, just a storeroom, thus he didn’t view it as a dangerous place at all.

Such a reaction, however, was unique to him: being used to the place, he had not noticed the heavy aura outburst that had come from inside as the doors opened.

At the same time, the magic power enveloping the weapons started to leak out too.

It wasn’t something visible to the naked eye, nor did it have any particular effects. But after feeling it, Tiera and Kotone’s expressions warped all too clearly.

“To be able to act so nonchalantly in the middle of this aura…is something to be expected from you, I should say.”

Kuchinashi had felt it too, and couldn’t help but laughing wryly at how little Shin’s behavior had changed.

“I can feel the presence of weapons just like us…”

“They’re not part of the Five Supreme Blades, but…long swords, spears, there must be several of them.”

Kunitsuna and Mitsuyo felt the presence of weapons that, like them, had turned into human form during events.

“Shin, is this place really safe!? Is it!?”

Tiera, sensitive to magic as usual, had felt the dense magic power filling the room and quickly moved behind Shin’s back. She must have felt in danger, as she grabbed his sleeve and wouldn’t let go.

“It’s alright, honestly. When we were in Bayreuth, Yuzuha came inside here too, you know. Her tails’ fur stood straight up though.”

“I-If so, I guess it’s okay…h-hey, don’t just walk away without saying a word!!”

Thinking that he couldn’t convince them just talking, Shin walked deeper into the room.

He had moved without saying anything, so Tiera -who was still grabbing his sleeve- almost fell forward.

Mitsuyo followed Shin without a word.

“Uuh…I feel chills down my spine…”

“The name den of monsters wasn’t so wrong after all.”

“You just need to not pay any mind to it, and it’ll be ok. Kuchinashi, everyone, what will you do? It won’t take a long time though.”

“I think I’ll take on your invitation. Come on, let’s go, Kotone.”

“Eh! L-lady Kuchinashi!”

Kotone seemed to be still unsure, but Kuchinashi stepped in without the least concern. Together with Kunitsuna, she ignored all defensive gear and accessories and went to look at weapons such as sacred swords and spears.

As for Shin, he picked up gear and accessories that Tiera could equip and turned them into cards. Taking advantage of the occasion, he also took some useful tools and items and chucked them into the item box.

“OK, I got what I was looking for. Anything caught your interest, Tiera?”

“Ehm, actually, this one here.”

Tiera was pointing towards a ring with a 1-cemel pale green amber embedded within.

The amber emitted a clear glow, very close to a gemstone. In its center, was a seed of some plant.

“I see, the 『Celadon Amber Ring』.”

Celadon Amber was an item obtained when refining amber via alchemy. The resin used for celadon amber was extracted from the World Tree.The source of this ᴄontent ɪs Novᴇ(l)ꜰɪre .ɴᴇt

It was an item perfectly fit for a World Tree priestess such as Tiera.

“Anything else? I think there are some more items related to the World Tree.”

“Anything else…no, nothing in particular. I wasn’t actually looking, but I just had a feeling about this.”

“I see. So let’s put that among the candidates too, then do the rest outside. Kuchinashi, it’s time to…wait, what are you looking at?”

When Shin turned to look at Kuchinashi, he found her staring intently in a certain direction.

She was looking at gear used for offense; swords, katana, lances, gauntlets, etc.

In the storeroom all items were separated by category, but only here different types of weapons were gathered together, so they stood out.

“Shin, let me ask one thing, these weapons are for sealing, right?”

“Yes, exactly. I don’t actually need them, it’s more of a collection than anything.”

Saying so, Shin took in hand one of the katana Kuchinashi was looking at.

Its official name was Sealing Blade 『Kusabimaru』.

Kusabimaru, a katana 60-cemels long, was completely white. Its blade, hilt, handle and sheath were all the color of snow.

One other thing made it differ from normal katana: transparent spheres were set on both edges of its hilt. It was a characteristic typical of sealing weapons, and was present in all of them.

The material used to forge these weapons was an alloy; Magic Steel mixed with a small quantity of Orichalcum and Mithril. A particular forging technique would then be used to create the pure white katana 『Kusabimaru』.

Shin called it a collection because these weapons only found their use in specific events and were normally not useful.

If they were used against normal enemies, 3 slashes against a level 100 Golem would reduce their durability to 0, thus there was no point in using them.

“Was something the matter?”

“Ahaha, well, you see? I wanted to talk to you about something concerning sealing weapons, and here I find a whole collection of them, so I was just thinking, look how things happen…”

Kuchinashi’s expression was an indescribable blend of relief and disbelief.

“Something concerning sealing weapons? These ones are for exclusive use in that event, you don’t mean to say that it appeared?”

“Yes, exactly. But, I don’t mean to say that something has to be done right now. I wanted to tell you everything after Tiera’s business was over, but will you listen to me first?”

“I prefer to hear the bad news first, so that’d be better for me. What do you say, Tiera?”

“I agree. Since I have new equipment to choose from, I don’t want to do it while worrying about what might happen next.”

Tiera also said she wanted to listen to Kuchinashi’s story first, so they all went to the living room for the moment.

On their way, Mitsuyo pulled on Shin’s sleeve.

“Wh-”

“Sssh. Shin, it looks like she’s going to say something really important, but is it OK for me and Kunitsuna to be there too? We can’t normally move from Fuji, so I doubt we can be of any help, you know?”

Shin turned around to talk, but Mitsuyo put her index finger over his mouth and whispered.

“No problem, I’m sure. Kuchinashi knows about the Five Supreme Blades, and I explained too. She would have talked at another time if she didn’t want you to hear. Besides, I already have an idea what she’s going to say, and I think it’s something you should hear too.”

“Really? Well, if you say so.”

The group arrived in the living room as this exchange ended.

Tiera served tea for all and, after a moment’s rest, Kuchinashi started talking.

“Well then…Shin probably guessed already, but what I’m going to talk about now is one of the game’s large-scale quests, ‘Seven Deadly Sins’.”

“So that was really it…this is going to be a pain in the neck.”

The “Seven Deadly Sins” quest Kuchinashi mentioned consisted in discovering and sealing, within a set time period, 7 darkness-colored orbs that appeared all over the world.

The orbs fused with monsters in the field or dungeons, forming bosses related to the seven deadly sins. The fusing was limited to animal monsters with a connection to each of the sins.

Once the bosses were defeated the orb would appear; stabbing it with a sealing weapon would count as sealing it.

The weapon used to seal the orb would then signal the general location of the other orbs, so if a player managed to find one, finding the others was only a matter of time.

Players who found many orbs would receive rare items from the game’s management, so many players participated in this regularly held quest.

“Do you mean to say that a monster fused with an orb has been found?”

“That’s right. They lost sight of it afterward though.”

The monster had been found by a former player who had participated in the quest in the past, so there should be no mistake, Kuchinashi added.

“Does the adventurers’ guild know about this?”

“Of course I told them. Adventures ranked C and above should have been notified already. The discovered monster is called Ursine Sloth, level 115, apparently.”

“Sloth, is it. When was it found, more or less?”

“About one year ago. I don’t know exactly how the situation is now, that monster’s only talent is hiding, after all. Even when it was found, it ran off somewhere and they lost it right away.”

The monsters governing the seven sins would get gradually stronger over time.

When the monster reaches the level limit, the deadly sins-compatible monsters increase by one, and all monsters’ level grows by 100.

Finally, if the monsters reach level 700, they will transform into devils*. (T/N: the word used here is 悪魔, which generally means demon/devil; I (tentatively) used devil because the word we translate as demon (瘴魔) is different, using the kanji for miasma and monster)

Devils, differently from demons, lived in all sorts of ways and did not necessarily attack players or inhabited areas. Their fighting prowess was, however, very high; if the seven devils gathered, then, they would cease acting independently and start attacking people all together.

If that happens, the only way to overcome them is for guilds to collaborate in fighting them.

“In this world there are no ranks or anything after all. Even if they knew that the seals are broken, no one would just go hunt the monsters.”

The seal on the orbs would break one by one.

If the fused monsters were found quickly, even low and mid-level players had a chance of placing in the higher ranks, so whenever this quest appeared players rushed to search for the monsters and the orbs, which led to a quick resolution.

Because of these reasons, in the game era monsters had turned into devils in very few occasions.

“I’ve only participated the first few times, so I don’t really know it well. Do you remember how often the orbs’ seals broke?”

“I don’t know that either, actually. In the game, it was one or two weeks, but I have no idea if that still applies here.”

If the frequency was the same as the one Kuchinashi recalled, all seals would be long broken, but there were no signs of devils attacking. Kuchinashi thus did not know how much time remained before the next seal broke.

“We can’t just stay still without preparing any countermeasure, so I wanted to ask you to make us some sealing weapons, to be ready whenever one of those monsters was found. We’re researching them too, but skills can’t be obtained as easily as before now and raising them takes a long time too, so results are hard to produce.”

“I see. In that case, I’ll forge some for you. I have the recipes and materials after all.”

Shin would have to give them many weapons made by himself, but sealing weapons could not be used normally anyway, so there was no risk involved even if they were to leak. Forging them was not complicated either.

“Aah…I know that I should be glad that you’re going to help us, but if things proceed so smoothly, I can’t help being afraid that something bad is going to happen…”

“The deadly sins are an unknown for me too after all. I know more or less how they fight, but I have never actually faced one. If we can do something to prepare before the actual fighting begins, we should definitely do it.”

It would be difficult to assist in the search for the orbs. But, unlike the game era, Shin could not just treat the matter as something unrelated to him and move on.

In the current world, the number of casualties would become the number of deceased. A number which could include people Shin knows. The enemy being an unknown existence in Shin’s eyes was just a small part of the reason why he would help.

“This all I wanted to ask of you. I’m sorry for taking your time.”

“No, I’m glad you told us about that. After all, there are still plenty of things I don’t know about this world. I’ll be grateful if you let me know about any such dangers emerging in the future too. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to help though.”

“For me, just having a connection with you is more than enough.”

After conversing a bit more, Kuchinashi left with Kotone.

“OK then, next we just have to choose Tiera’s equipment. Mitsuyo, Kunitsuna, will you stay with us?”

“Yes. That’s the reason why I tagged along in the first place, I’m curious to see what equipment will fit her.”

“If that is alright with you, I would like to stay too, yes.”

Kunitsuna’s business with Kotone had already finished, it seems.

Tiera, concerned about the dangers implied by what Kuchinashi told Shin, made a different proposition.

“Er, before my equipment, I think we should tell Master and the others…”

“I’ll explain later, don’t worry. Besides even if I didn’t, if Schnee and the others found a deadly sin monster they’d go and defeat it right away.”

During the game era Schnee and the others had hunted the deadly sin monsters too, so they were aware of the threat they represented. If they found one, they surely wouldn’t let it escape.

Except for Schnee and Yuzuha, everyone was inside the “Black Priestess Shrine” domain, so there were very little chances of encountering one now.

Just in case, Shin contacted Schnee via Mind Chat.

“OK then, back on topic, let’s do this equipment selection. I tried picking up the highest quality gear between what Tiera can equip with her current stats. The equipment belonging to a gear set will make your appearance change completely, remember. In some cases the resulting appearance is a bit…peculiar, but…well, try them on. ”

Saying so, Shin handed the cards to Tiera.

“OK, I’ll try them one by one then.”

As Tiera took the cards in hand and concentrated, a blue light enveloped her figure, and the next instant her attire was completely different.

It had happened with Barlux too; when the inhabitants of this world use this equipping shortcut, this phenomenon happened.

“Aaah! Hey!? W-what’s this??”

As soon as she took a look at her new clothes, Tiera blushed and tried to cover her chest with her arms to hide it from the others’ eyes.

Her current attire included a blue feathered decoration on her head and only a patterned tube top on her upper body. On her lower body, she was wearing light brown bikini pants and a pareo that barely covered her hips.

In addition, she was wearing sandals made of animal leather and a golden ring as an armband. Two daggers rested at her waist, as well as a bow and quiver on her back.

“That’s the Forest Maiden gear set. They also call it the Amazoness series. It’s got good stats and effects, but looking like that, I thought you wouldn’t wear it.”

“I-I didn’t know it looked like this!!”

Tiera was pulling on the pareo with all her might, trying to hide her exposed skin as much as possible.

The skimpy pareo, however, could barely hide her bikini pants. That attempt at hiding thus only increased the sensuality of her current looks.

“Wait a second now, the gear’s design is displayed on the item cards’ front, right?”

As Shin said, the other not-materialized cards clearly displayed how the items would look on their front sides.

This feature was present not only for equipment, but items and materials as well.

“Uuh, why is something like this here…I can’t wear it in public, can I…?”

“Well, it’s the 2nd best set among the ones I picked, and I did tell you about the appearance thing.”

“That’s true, but…”

Tiera was probably still shocked, or maybe had not picked up on Shin mentioning that some sets could have “peculiar appearances”. He hadn’t said anything about skin exposure though.

Having focused mainly on stats and effects, Shin ended up picking sets with flashy or risque appearances too.

“So…what are you people doing?”

Shin and Tiera’s exchange was continuing under Mitsuyo’s cold gaze.

“My, could it be that we are in the way?”

On the other hand, Kunitsuna was grinning, thoroughly enjoying the situation.

“Hey, wait. This was just something unexpected, I didn’t have any weird intentions.”

“Really now…that’s not how it looked to me…”

Mitsuyo spoke with a perfectly flat tone. Her eyes were not filled with anticipation as moments ago.

“Well, putting looks aside, even I can see that it’s really high-quality equipment.”

“M-Mitsuyo! Please don’t pull on my clothes!”

“Just a little bit. It feels like fabric to the touch, but even if I pull it as hard as this it doesn’t even look like it’ll rip…isn’t this too tough for Legend-grade equipment…? Kh, look how big they are anyway…I can’t believe it…!”

“Eh?”

Mitsuyo was supposed to be admiring the equipment, but Shin felt that her last comment was directed at something else. She had been pulling on Tiera’s tube top, but then her eyes seemed to lose all traces of light.

“My my, looks like a weird switch was flipped here.”

Kunitsuna chuckled apologetically, but still smiled. She had no intention of stopping Mitsuyo, it seemed.

“Y-you’re going to take it off! It’s really coming off!?”

“Er, first of all Tiera, let’s go back to your previous equipment. Mitsuyo, you calm down now.”

Shin had regained his composure while the two were bickering and told Tiera how to solve the situation.

As Tiera’s equipment turned back the way it was before, Mitsuyo’s hands now grabbed thin air.

“Eh!? What did I do!?”

“Did it concern you that much?”

“…..you wouldn’t understand, Shin. I can’t expect to grow physically and when I go back to my main body I’ll turn back into my smaller form! Let me dream a little, at least now!!”

Mitsuyo’s emotions were still fluctuating violently.

“I guess…I can’t understand that, yeah.”

Looking at what Mitsuyo was staring at, Shin understood what her concern was. But Shin, as a man, could not comprehend a woman’s feelings concerning chest size.

“Anyway, let’s see the next one.”

Feeling that delving further into the topic would just lead to danger, Shin urged Tiera to try the next equipment set.

“O-OK. I’ll take a good look at the design first this time.”

Tiera checked the design displayed on the card’s front side, then changed her equipment.

The new equipment set was a red hairpin, a deep green shirt and mantle, which concealed her whole body, black pants and boots: as far as skin exposure was concerned, it was the complete opposite as the Forest Maiden set.

This “Heat Haze” gear series, once completed, granted the added bonus of making it more difficult to be found by the enemy. Its appearance allowed the wearer to blend in with the surroundings, working a bit as optical camouflage.

As weaponry, it included a Kukri knife on the left side and a knife case with 4 throwing knives on the right.

“That’s a strange blade. I do not see a bow, though.”

“Because this set is made to sneak close to the enemy and attack by surprise. You can hide right away and run easily when needed. You can equip a bow with it too, I think.”

Shin explained in response to Kunitsuna’s comment.

Tiera moved her arms and legs a bit, to see how easy it was to move with that equipment.

“This is pretty good. I’ll keep it as a possible choice.”

After trying some more sets, Tiera decided to pick two and use them alternatively depending on the situation.

One was the first she picked as a possible choice, the Heat Haze set. She chose it because its plain appearance would make it easy to conceal herself and, against powerful enemies, she could hide and avoid being targeted.

The second was a set called “Bow Princess”, focused on sharpshooting. It contained a silver circlet, armor fully covering the chest and gauntlets protecting the arms; on the lower body, armor resembling a mixture between a skirt and leg armor and knee-high boots.

The weapon was the 『Emerald Dazzle Bow』. It was an exquisitely crafted item, which combined usability with decorations meant to represent wind and wings.

The set’s greatest characteristic, however, were the 4 long rhombus-shaped half-transparent shields that extended over the wearer’s back. They were a bonus granted when the Bow Princess set was completed and parried enemy attacks autonomously.

This defense was a countermeasure meant to cover the fact that equipping the Bow Princess set meant not being able to equip close combat weapons

“Why does this Bow Princess set change your hairdo too?”

“The Bow Princess set is said to be based on the equipment a person called Bow Princess actually used. If she had her hair like that, maybe it changes automatically?”

After equipping the Bow Princess set, Tiera’s hair had been tied in multiple braids behind her head. Her normally waist-length hair now barely reached her shoulders.

“I’ve thought this time and again after joining you, but what’s with your weapon crafting abilities, Shin? This is something beyond what humans can do…”

“Mitsuyo, I’m telling you this because I think you have memories of the world before, but I’ve been living since before the “Dusk of Majesty”. I had obtained these techniques and knowledge then. The people alive before the “Dusk of Majesty” call that period “Game Era”.”

“I suppose that if you hone your skills that long….you can reach these levels?”

Mitsuyo was recalling her memories of that era deep within her trembling pupils.

Memories of the game era were still alive within her. She hadn’t remembered about Shin until Tanetsugu pointed it out, but she had absolutely not forgotten.

“….I see, now I remember. A samurai who used magic and wielded weapons with incredibly high quality…that was you, lord Shin.”

Kunitsuna, who had been listening to Shin and Mitsuyo’s conversation, nodded in understanding.

“The former world was filled with such techniques…I’m kind of envious of Shin and the others.”

“We couldn’t act as freely as we can now though.”

What Shin used, in a way, was a hidden technique.

“A while ago, I was in pretty much the same situation too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was afflicted by something called “Cursed Gift”, and couldn’t go outside the Tsuki no Hokora.”

Tiera explained briefly about her former circumstances.

“Something like that happened…so that’s why you travel together now.”

“Now I understand too.”

Mitsuyo and Kunitsuna seemed to think that Tiera traveled with Shin because of the gratitude she owed him.

The next moment, taking advantage of the situation, Kunitsuna whispered something to Tiera, making sure Shin couldn’t hear.

“Considering the situation, Shin would be the prince that came to rescue you? What do you say about that?”

“Eh!? Ah, well, that…I’m, not fit for him, I mean..there’s the master, and…”

Kunitsuna’s whisper had Tiera completely confused. Shin could have listened to what they were saying if he wanted, but he felt the mood wasn’t right and did not activate the 【Listen】 skill.

“How about being his number 2 from the start, then? I’m not completely ignorant about this world either. There is no rule stating that it has to be only one person, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

Kunitsuna did not state clearly what did not have to be only one.

For Tiera, though, she was being clear enough. Tiera, struggling to find words to answer, turned beet red.

“If you keep whispering in front of me, I can’t help but become curious…”

“It’s a conversation between women. Men should be quiet and wait.”

Mitsuyo had no intention of allowing Shin to join in.

Shin continued just looking at them, wondering about the situation. He wasn’t sure when they had become friends, but now they all spoke to each other with familiarity.

Maybe thinking that it would be bad to make Shin wait too long, Tiera and the others finished their conversation after a few minutes. Tiera’s face was bright red up to her ears.

Kunitsuna was smiling, warmly watching over Tiera, but Mitsuyo was looking at her with some envy.

“Mitsuyo, we did what we had to, it’s time for us to go. We have to let these two spend time alone now.”

“….yes, I know that already.”

Mitsuyo sighed and nodded to Kunitsuna’s words. Her expression, though, clearly showed her discontent.

“Even if you say so, we did what we had to do too…”

They had listened to what Kuchinashi had to say and selected Tiera’s equipment, so there was no more reason to be in Tsuki no Hokora. Saying so, Shin looked towards Tiera, who was looking at Shin too, like she had something to say.

“Look, Tiera has something to tell you. You better listen to her well!”

“H-Hey!”

Mitsuyo slapped Shin’s back and left Tsuki no Hokora, dragging Kunitsuna behind her.

“They went away for our sake…”

“Hmm, Mitsuyo did look different from the usual.”

Shin spoke while looking at the door Mitsuyo closed as she went out. He thought he heard someone shouting “I’m such an idiot!!” beyond the door.

“…so, you have something to tell me? What is it?”

“Yes…it’s something personal, so I didn’t say it when Master and the others were present too. Shin, do you remember what happened when we purified 『Dojigiri Yasutsuna』?”

“Yes, of course…do you mean, if I saw anything then?”

The voice he heard. The scenery he saw. Shin thought that she had to be referring to that.

“So you saw something too. I’ll say it too, so could you tell me what you saw?”

“OK. I saw someone collapsed in a forest, and a woman shouting something next to them. I don’t know if the collapsed person was a man or a woman, but I’m pretty sure that the person shouting was a woman. I couldn’t make out what she was saying though.”

He had no reason to hide anything, so Shin stated everything he saw. It was not a lot of information, either.

“I see…so you saw something different from me.”

Tiera nodded in understanding.

“What you saw is probably what happened when I was exiled from the village. The person collapsed was…my mother.”

Mother. When Tiera pronounced this word, her eyes became tinged with sadness.

What Shin had seen was Tiera’s past.

“It’s my turn, then.”

Tiera felt that the mood was turning dark, and spoke in a bright tone to change it.

What Tiera saw was a woman lying on the ground and a man embracing her, in some sort of back alley.

The scene ended when the man embracing the woman was about to cut down another man with his katana.

Unlike Shin, she had not seen fragments of the scene; it had been displayed rather clearly to her eyes.

“His mouth was moving, so I think he said something. But I couldn’t hear the words, or any other sound, so I don’t know what he said.”

As Tiera finished to talk, she suddenly mumbled. She looked down, hesitation in her expression.

Shin guessed what Tiera was not sure if she should say or not, so he decided to say it himself.

“The man you saw was me, right?”

“….yes. But I don’t know if it was really you. Because… that Shin, looked like a completely different person.”

Tiera’s voice was trembling slightly. Even if it was just a vision, it had made her feel something.

“I see. I kind of expected it, but you saw that moment then.”

The scene was when Shin had lost his beloved.

It was also the moment when the player called God of Death was born.

“I can’t forget that. I suppose we saw each other’s most painful memory, then.”

“Yes…I think you’re right.”

The memory of losing an irreplaceable person. It was branded in his memory so vividly that just hearing some details about the situation made him recall it very clearly.

“…listen, Shin. Are you… alright?”

“Alright? What do you mean?”

Tiera spoke without changing her worried look.

Shin didn’t know what emotion had prompted Tiera’s inquiry.

“When we accepted that escort mission, we were attacked by ruffians, right? Do you remember that, er, I hugged you after we defeated them?”

“Oh, that. Well… I couldn’t forget an experience like that.”

Shin replied while scratching his cheek to the blushing Tiera.

Since it happened just after the battle ended, it had left an impression on him. He couldn’t forget the softness of Tiera’s breasts either.

“Don’t try to remember it in detail!! You just need to remember it a little!”

Tiera, getting even redder, shouted to Shin as he was relishing the memories. Her blushing was back in full force, reaching again up to her ears.

“What I want to say is the reason why I did that!”

“What reason was there?”

Shin remembered that Tsubaki too, who was with them at the time, thought it strange. Since he couldn’t talk about something like that with Gaien around, he had left the topic for another time, then forgot about it.

“…. T… That time, the aura around you was really scary. Not as much as what I saw during the purification, but I felt that it was not good for you to release that kind of aura. So I took what I thought was the best course of action at the time…I was really embarrassed, you know.”

After taking a small deep breath, Tiera explained the reason why she hugged Shin at that time.

Holding her right hand over her mouth in embarrassment, she looked up towards Shin with slight irritation. Maybe because she was still red, she looked more adorable than scary.

“I see, so that’s how it was. Thinking about it, I get the feeling that I had returned to my old self a bit that time.”

Thinking back about that moment, Shin spoke while staring at the living room’s ceiling.

“That was the first time I killed someone after coming here. Maybe that triggered it.”

“The first time… after coming here?”

Tiera showed concern and confusion because of the words Shin uttered so casually.

Something in how the words sounded told her that he didn’t mean that it was the first time he killed someone after coming to Bayreuth.

Shin had literally come from another world; that had been his first killing in this world.

“Yes, now that I think about it…of all the members now, you’re probably the only one who doesn’t know. You told me your secret too, and I think it’s the right timing to talk about myself. Yuzuha is still a child mentally, so I’ll tell her another time, though.”

“What… what are you talking about?”

“The reason why you felt something fearful from me. Imagine that Schnee, in order to crush the people related to this reason, didn’t tell me any information about my former companions, prepared to take any punishment for it.”

“M-Master did something like that!?”

Tiera couldn’t hide her shock after hearing Shin’s words.

Schnee, who never concealed her affection towards Shin, deliberately hid information important for him? Tiera couldn’t believe it.

“….hey, is that really something alright for me to know?”

“I’ll let you decide whether to listen or not. It’s something in the past anyway. In the end, what Schnee feared would happen to me after knowing that didn’t happen either.”

Shin replied with a calm tone.

His past sensations didn’t disappear completely. As Tiera had felt, the emotions of the time when he was called God of Death still remained within Shin.

There was nothing to worry about now, however, just because he reminisced a bit about the past. Something that could influence him would only be meeting with the enemy who murdered Marino, nothing else.

“……”

The decision was up to Tiera. She was silent for a few moments. Her eyes closed, she seemed to be deep in thought.

Her silence continued for a few more seconds.

Looking straight into Shin’s eyes, Tiera answered.

“…please tell me. I want to know more about you.”

“Got it. It’ll be a bit of a long story, but please listen.”

Shin nodded to Tiera’s answer and started telling the story.

—-The story of the conquest of many dungeons.

—-The story of the death of many PKs.

—-The story of he who was called both Hero and God of Death.

—-The story of one man.