Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 166

After things had roughly settled down, I trained with Gerda.

Originally, I should have returned to Offenbach to continue my instructor duties, but my body had weakened considerably from lying in bed for a month.

My muscles had atrophied and with no practical experience, my senses had dulled and I’d gotten much slower… or so I thought.

“Ugh…”

Gerda’s center of gravity wavered as I caught her wooden sword.

I didn’t miss that opening and lightly tripped her leg to knock her down.

“Are you still going easy on me because I was a patient?”

I asked while grabbing Gerda’s hand to help her up.

Somehow her attacks seemed a bit slow and lacking in power.

“W-well, maybe… but I wasn’t being that gentle.”

Gerda seemed rather bewildered instead.

“If anything, Brother seems to have gotten stronger.”

“Me? That can’t be…”

Or could it?

The curse that Red Hood had spread like radiation at that mountain peak must still be affecting my body somehow.

In Blue Paper Moon, Red Hood’s Mark slightly increased the player’s speed and strength, and above all transformed the [Acceleration] skill into a skill called [Bullet Time].

[Bullet Time] was one of the particularly powerful skills even in Blue Paper Moon – when used, it had the effect of slowing down time around the user.

According to the lore, it enhanced the user’s speed and perception abilities to make things appear slower, and while simple, it dramatically improved evasion capabilities to the point of lowering the game’s overall difficulty.

However, by the time you could get Red Hood’s Mark, you were already near the end of the game, and unlike other Marks it couldn’t turn Beasts into allies, so it wasn’t quite game-breaking.

Anyway, if I received something similar to that Mark, I might have gotten a bit faster and stronger, even if not to the level of [Bullet Time].

…But it doesn’t feel good.

This is the power of a Beast after all.

The Heresy Inquisition officer’s words keep echoing in my head.

Am I human?

Where do you draw the line between human and not?

If I really become a Beast…

“…Brother?”

“Huh? No, just thinking about something. Anyway, let’s continue.”

Though my speed and strength had increased, I could clearly feel that I had gotten weaker.

Even if I was slightly winning against Gerda, my technique had dulled too much.

My timing sense kept being off and I was barely covering for it with physical abilities.

…Isn’t this that bad habit that Sephira and Hilde supposedly have?

“More importantly… your skills have improved quite a bit.”

“Hehe…”

Gerda’s abilities had definitely improved.

I’d been unconscious for a month – there’s no way someone with exceptional talent like Gerda would still be at the same level as before.

Though it’s quite regrettable that I couldn’t watch her growth from the sidelines…

“Oh right, who trained you while I was gone?”

“Ms. Pieta.”

“Man, I really owe her one.”

Since Pieta uses dual swords as her main weapon like Gerda, she would be able to teach her better than anyone.

But she’s a mid-ranked hunter so she must have been quite busy – I’m impressed she made time.

“…Not really that much.”

“Hm?”

“Since Ms. Pieta is busy, she couldn’t come that often…”

“Then?”

“I mostly trained by myself.”

“What?! That’s impossible! Did the Order just neglect you?!”

How could that be??

Having a gap in training and education for someone with exceptional talent is unthinkable!

Even with Hilde, though it was during a more relaxed period, higher-ranked hunters took turns teaching her!

When the person in charge becomes vegetative, they should assign someone new…

“…Hm?”

Wait.

This is really, no, extremely strange.

Sir Crowty just neglected Gerda like that?

That’s impossible.

“There must be some misunderstanding here. I should go ask later…”

“N-no!”

Gerda shouted loudly.

“…?”

Her voice was so urgent that I flinched unconsciously.

“I-I’m really fine…”

“But…”

“Instead! Instead, you can just teach me more seriously from now on, right?”

“Even so…”

“Don’t tell me…”

Gerda’s eyes suddenly grew moist.

“You’re not planning to leave me alone again…?”

“Huh?! Ah, no! That’s impossible. I’ll just have to teach you more diligently.”

Was I too insensitive?

Come to think of it, from Gerda’s perspective, me suddenly lying unconscious for a month must have been quite… no, extremely shocking.

Moreover, in Offenbach I did some terrible things trying to get her to escape.

I knocked Gerda out unilaterally twice.

Even if it was to protect her, the sense of betrayal she must have felt…

…Ah.

Oh no.

I wasn’t just insensitive – I’m a complete trash.

I hadn’t thought at all about how she must have felt.

While knowing better than anyone how miserable it feels to be saved unilaterally.

I really am a selfish bastard.

“Yeah. I’ll work harder.”

That’s all I could say to Gerda who was starting to tear up.

“Thank you, Brother!”

Gerda smiled brightly as if she had never been about to cry.

Such a bright smile as if it had all been an act from the start, really…

Really…?

Something about the atmosphere changed too suddenly?

Huh?

“Brother, I was wondering about that part from earlier…”

Gerda interrupted my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, right. What were you curious about?”

*    *    *

“That’s all? Something seems suspicious.”

Crowty frowned while reading Pieta’s report.

“But it’s true! I’m the one who’s frustrated to death here.”

The report contained detailed records of where Sephira had been and what she had done.

Since each higher-ranked hunter was essentially a strategic weapon, monitoring and managing them was nothing new.

Especially Pieta, who would even volunteer for overtime work when it came to monitoring Sephira.

But normally she wouldn’t record every little detail like this.

“I just don’t understand why Lady Sephira suddenly became like that…”

The reason for such thorough monitoring was that Sephira’s condition had clearly been declining recently.

Not only was she skipping various minor missions she would normally participate in, but even when she did participate, there were constant reports of her seeming distracted or not in a good mood.

“Hmm… sigh, I understand for now. I’ll handle Sephira myself, so you go back to your regular duties.”

“But I should watch Lady Sephira more…”

“I said I’ll handle it. Return to training Gerda… oh, now that Eugene is back I guess that’s done.”

“…This seems sudden, but is Eugene really okay? Though I also owe him a debt, wouldn’t it be better if I took more responsibility for training someone as talented as Gerda?”

“Gerda’s skills improved quite a bit under your training. Since you both use dual swords, you matched well. But Gerda is still young. Especially emotionally unstable.”

“Ah… that’s true. Honestly, she scared me sometimes while teaching her.”

“Scared?”

“Yes. Something felt dangerous? Though she looks like a child, she’s not really that childish. After teaching her up close for almost a month, I got certain feelings. But it would be good if I handled the training while Eugene took care of her.”

Right after Eugene became vegetative, Crowty immediately transferred Gerda’s training to Pieta.

He had heard she was already occasionally helping with swordsmanship, and even to Crowty it seemed like an appropriate assignment.

And in nearly a month under Pieta’s training, Gerda’s skills improved dramatically.

Since she was exceptional talent like Hilde or Sephira to begin with, it was normal for her to become capable of pulling her own weight as a hunter after that period.

“She’s a bit pitiful though. Every day she keeps talking about her brother while her eyes grow more and more fierce…”

“Was it that bad?”

“Yes. To the point where I worried she might cause an incident. Though she seems fine now that Eugene has woken up…”

“Then isn’t that good? Since Eugene is beside her.”

“I wonder… The atmosphere feels like it’s already too late to turn back… maybe…”

“Maybe what?”

“…No, it’s nothing. Anyway, then I’ll go check on Lady Sephira’s condition…”

“I told you to return to your post. For Gerda’s training… Eugene will handle the basics like before, and you can help when you have time.”

“Tch, fine.”

Pieta puffed her cheeks in dissatisfaction.

After leaving Crowty’s office, Pieta sighed.

Did I do the right thing?

What she hadn’t managed to tell Crowty earlier.

The suspicion that Eugene might be the reason why Gerda was becoming too dangerous.

Of course, Pieta had her life saved by him and now understood why that Hilde girl was so devoted to a mere lower-ranked hunter.

Eugene was that good of a person.

But good intentions don’t always lead to good results.

More precisely, she knew well that kindness or love don’t always end well.

Pieta’s parents were a commoner man and a noble woman.

They probably loved each other and that’s why Pieta was born, but their ending was beyond tragic.

No, even their love might just be speculation – perhaps her father, who was called a golddigger, simply wanted to sleep with a noble woman and her mother fell in love one-sidedly.

So she became a heartless woman who could throw away her home, wealth, family, and even her status…

Yet she was calculating enough to make arrangements for Pieta who would be born later.

“…Surely Gerda isn’t…”

Though she diligently followed the training and her skills steadily improved, Pieta didn’t feel achievement as a teacher.

She simply became proficient because of her talent when taught, but showed no signs of truly following her.

The only person Gerda thought about was that hunter.

Pieta wasn’t particularly offended.

For a child born in difficult circumstances and who experienced the tragedy of losing her only family like Gerda, someone like Eugene would be a good guardian, so it wasn’t strange for her to be so attached.

…It shouldn’t be strange.

But the atmosphere Gerda sometimes showed regarding Eugene…

“Hmm…”

A child born in difficult circumstances naturally becomes shrewd and calculating.

Pieta knew that better than anyone.

“It’s a bit pitiful.”

If Gerda was like that too, then Eugene would be the pitiful one.

To have treated her with good intentions and heart, only for that to twist her personality instead.

“No, maybe I’m overthinking.”

But in the end, all of that was just Pieta’s speculation.

Just intuition from someone who knew too well about similar circumstances and cases.

“Then I’ll go look for Lady Sephira…”

Though she was concerned about Gerda and Eugene’s situation, more important was Sephira.

She didn’t care if Crowty told her not to interfere.

Sephira’s face still lingered in Pieta’s mind.

That face that was always noble yet beautiful had become like nothing but a demon then.

She never imagined Sephira could be like that.

“I must find out what happened.”