Chapter 185 – Airship Endeavor

Up on the deck of the airship.
Roxy and Myne were standing next to me.
They seemed to also have something to say to Libra.

[I proudly welcome you all to my airship, Endeavor!]

Libra spreaded his arms, welcoming us with a smile.
But I bet his inner thoughts remained the same.

[Myne, it’s been a long time. Do you still remember me?]

[Naturally. But I thought you’re dead… how come you’re still alive]

[Thanks to you, I was gravely injured. I’ve been treating my wounds all this time… right, it really surprisingly took that long]

[Really?]

[I can’t lie. Regardless of what I did, I’m still someone who directly received God’s grace. Don’t you already know that, Myne? Ah… how preposterous to think that I would lie.]

Myne and Libra seemed to share an acquaintance.
Granted, she had lived for a long time, and was a mortal sin skill holder.
Naturally, she’d clash with Libra at least once or twice.

Myne then turned away and ignored Libra.

[Arara, so you still hate me. Nothing changes at all…]

Libra seemed to have ascertained that he would not get anything else from Myne.
So he now turned to Roxy who was still in Angel Mode.

[If it isn’t Roxy Heart. Congratulations on being able to fuse with Snow. I can certainly say that if not for you, the sacred beast Aquarius wouldn’t have been sunken. It was truly a miscalculation on my part.]

[I suppose I can take that as a compliment?]

[Of course. Remaining so innocent while having the holy sword factor… truly a wonderful specimen, you are.]

[Factor?]

[Oho? Haven’t Eris told you already? You and your kinds, the Holy Knights, are the descendants of the people we, the Sacred Beastkin, granted with a small part of our power.]

[Power of the Sacred Beastkin?]

[Yes, that’s right. You see, our number wasn’t that many. So we need people to work as our extra limbs. These people were the first of the Holy Knights. Although, due to being exposed to our power, their mental state became unstable.]

[Was that why the Holy Knights tend to act cruel…? No way…]

Roxy was horrified by the revelation.

[A piece of our inner thoughts leaked into them when they were granted our power. That was a failure on our part. The first few batches of the Holy Knights were insolent brutes.]

Libra said with a troubled look, then sighed.

[But seeing you was a relief. Over the years, the power has become more stable it seems. Do tell me if you want to serve under me after this battle.]

[No, thank you. I have something I want to protect already.]

[Ahh, what a shame. Such a waste for a good specimen like you.]

Libra’s eyes flickered as he looked at Roxy.
Back then he didn’t even give a damn about her.
Perhaps being in Angel Mode had escalated her position in Libra’s eyes.

It’s as if he only regarded Roxy because she may be useful to him.

[You said you want us to work with you, and yet you already cause frictions with us?]

[Ahaha, pardon me. I constantly look for good specimens. Especially if it’s a Holy Knight.]

Libra seemed to be particularly interested in Holy Knights.
Even more so, when one managed to adapt to the fusion with a Sacred Beastkin.

[So, are we going now? Or perhaps you’d like to take a break for a bit?]

[Let’s depart already.]

[I thought so. Let’s go then.]

The airship was idling in the air until now.
But it suddenly turned 180 degrees following Libra’s words.

[Who’s driving this airship?]

[It is I. It reads my intentions and moves accordingly.]

[Eh… is that really possible?]

At the moment it’s only us standing around the deck.
I tried searching for signs of other people, but found nothing.
Which means, Libra was telling the truth.

[If something were to happen to me, this airship would crash. So be careful. Well, not that the collision will kill you all.]

Libra turned away from us.

[We’ll arrive at Gallia tomorrow morning. Until then, it’s best if you guys take some rest. I’ll be in the captain’s room. Come visit me if you feel like it. The rest, I’ll leave it to Eris.]

That said, Libra disappeared into the ship.
Leaving Eris alone on the deck.

[Oi, Eris! Get a hold of yourself!]

I tried shaking her shoulders, but there’s no reaction.
It’s as if her mind was completely closed off.

[Myne, is there anything we can do?]

[U～n, nothing I can think of. This Ero was originally a doll. She just goes back to how she was before being freed by Kairos… look at that side]

Myne pointed at Eris’ neck.
There was a collar-like tattoo around her neck now.

[Unless you can dispel that, it’s impossible.]

[Then how do we dispel it?]

[Like I said, I don’t know. All I know is that only Kairos… and Libra himself who’re capable of dispelling that seal.]

Kairos…
I haven’t met him again since Myne’s dream world.
Since Luna passed away, I’m no longer able to visit the spiritual world.
If I could, I’d like to meet him again… but it’s not possible for me at the moment.

Before we parted, he said that [I’m inside you] while pointing at my chest.
If he’s telling the truth, then we’ll probably meet again. One day.

This time, it was Roxy who tried to shake Eris’ shoulders.

[Eris-sama, please wake up.]

Still no reaction.
For now, should we just follow Libra’s words and treat her like a maid?

[Can you guide us to our rooms?]

[…..Yes. I have received your order.]

I see now. She only reacts as per Libra’s command.
Perhaps, the command blocked off anything else that doesn’t involve guiding us to our room.

[This way.]

Eris guided us with such a graceful manner.
Eeehhh, you aren’t supposed to act like this! She acted like a totally different person that I want to snap at her so much.

She guided us into the ship through a different entrance than the one Libra took.

[The interior looks surprisingly soft.]

[Yes, the interior was created mostly from wood. It is because the exterior was fully made from metal and looks dull.]

I was expecting a pure white space like the Gallian laboratory.
But instead, I found myself in a calming place.
Looks like the decoration of a holy knight mansion.

A red carpet was laid on the floor, becoming the highlight with the wooden wall around.

[There are many guest rooms here, feel free to use them all you like. If you need anything else, please push the call button installed in every room.]

[Eris, wait!]

As soon as she finished guiding us in, Eris immediately walked away.
I ended up looking around the doors from the aisle.
Roxy was doing the same.

[So what do we do about the room?]

Myne replied quite immediately.

[I’ll pick the same room as yours.]

[I will do that as well.]

[Alright then.]

If we took separate rooms, it might become hard for us to discuss the future plans.
If something happened, a rendezvous would also take a while.
So we looked through the rooms one by one, and settled with the largest.

[Let’s pick this room. This one also has four beds. So we still have one extra.]

[In that case, I’ll go to sleep now.]

It seemed that Myne was about to sleep already.
Nothing less from a battle prodigy like her. She could take a rest at any given time.
Though it is indeed important for a warrior. Even Aaron had nothing but praise for Myne.

Myne leaned Sloth against the wall, then immediately jumped to bed.
In less than 3 seconds, she already fell asleep.
Even I was amazed by this.
She fell asleep even faster than when we were travelling together!

Roxy was stunned as well, but she looked impressed.

[It is amazing.]

[It’s nice to be able to sleep. Waking up is the worst.]

[Then how about a small talk?]

[U～n, sure why not.]

It’s Myne. even if she’s sleeping, she’ll wake up immediately upon emergencies.
Besides, I also want to have some alone time with Roxy.
Following behind her, we went back the way we came from towards the deck.