The Banished Villainous Noble Son Who Was Used as a Stepping Stone in the Original Work Awakens to Combat and Destroys the Laws of the World - Episode 60: Further Beyond

Episode 60: Further Beyond

――The morning light quietly shone in through the window.

Inside the inn room… the wooden floor was cold. And the air was a little dry. It should have been a morning no different from usual. Yet, inside me, something had surely changed.

Yesterday, through the skill “Resonance Oath”, I absorbed the abnormal skills “Dense Fog” and “Inscript.” Perhaps it was the effect of gaining skills that should have belonged only to enemies. Or perhaps it was because “Constant Activity” had reached Lv.5.

“…My senses have changed.”

The words slipped out in a murmur.

Only when spoken aloud did I realize their weight. A strange sensation… something I could only call strange. The more time passed, the clearer the sensation became. It made it impossible to call it anything but odd.

Even so, I had no choice but to accept it all.

I finished dressing, equipped my gear, and went downstairs. On the first floor of the inn, the usual morning air was already drifting about.

The innkeeper’s lively voice, the smell of breakfast, the adventurers’ chatter.

(This place is “unchanged.”)

That was why I walked step by step. As if to confirm it with my own feet.

After preparing, I left the inn.

I took the usual road――the guild was a little busy with morning preparations. Adventurers lined up in front of the reception. New requests were being posted on the board.

I had bought a huge amount of potions to raise “Constant Activity” to Lv.5. So my funds were running low. Since I’d reached a good stopping point, I decided to take on a request and earn some money.

As usual, I walked straight to the counter where a receptionist was standing and spoke.

“Good morning.”

The one who looked up was the usual receptionist. After looking at me with slightly surprised eyes, she straightened her posture just a little and answered.

“Ah… good morning, Alphonse-san.”

Businesslike, but somehow stiff.

(Did her attitude change a little?)

But it wasn’t something worth pointing out. I nodded silently.

“Um, actually… there’s a message from the guild master. She wishes to officially speak with you regarding your ‘promotion.’”

She spoke with a faint trace of nervousness. I waited for her to continue.

“It seems she’s busy this morning… would tomorrow morning work for you?”

“Understood. Tomorrow morning, then.”

I accepted with just that. And I moved on to the request process.

There were plenty of requests. But now, to get used to this “strange sensation,” a light request would be enough.

I chose a nearby monster subjugation request. A common type.

“I’ll take this one.”

When I submitted it, the receptionist paused for just an instant before nodding.

“This one, understood――please be careful.”

Listening carefully, I caught the faint trace of “something” in her voice.

Was it respect? Caution? Fear? I didn’t know… but.

(Well, either is fine.)

I gave her a small bow and left the guild.

The sky was clear. That alone was enough.

◆

After leaving the guild, I walked along the stone wall surrounding the town. It eventually headed to a deserted forest on the outskirts.

The chosen request was to subjugate small monsters called “Jumpblade Bees.” They had poisonous stingers and attacked by leaping. They were insect-type monsters that weren’t too dangerous alone. But they were troublesome in groups.

But for me now, they were just the right opponents.

Not to “fight.” To “test.”

Reaching Lv.5 in “Constant Activity” had clearly changed something within me.

“…As I thought, something’s wrong.”

At the entrance of the forest where no one else was, I muttered. Even that voice, before reaching my ears, felt as though it had been “aligned.”

As if thought and body were linked by one pipe. It flowed without waste.

The muscles’ movements were followed by my unconscious. The body followed the heart’s decisions. Everything came together as if I were “one unified being.”

Until now, most of my movements were determined by will, with skills assisting.

But now it was different. It felt as though the assistance came “first.” The supporting actions ran ahead of thought.

And yet, it felt “natural.”

(This skill… is it optimizing my “activity” itself?)

Breathing, heartbeat, focus of vision――all were being unconsciously adjusted to remain in the “proper state.”

If so――

(This might mean… something is functioning apart from my own “will.”)

It felt eerie. But more than that――excitement won.

(…Interesting, isn’t it?)

I stepped into the forest. I pressed down on the grass. My movements were light. My shoulders were relaxed. My gaze naturally caught my surroundings.

I didn’t know where the enemies were. But I “knew” I wasn’t overlooking them. This was already beyond the realm of combat technique.

“Constant Activity.” This skill was beginning to affect my very “existence.”

Then――the moment my left ear grew faintly warm, I reflexively ducked.

With the sound of wind splitting, a poison stinger grazed over my head. The next instant, Jumpblade Bees burst out from all around.

Small wingbeats. Sharp leaps. The group was fast, and fairly numerous.

“Fuh… nice.”

Even their “pressure” didn’t pierce my heart. On the contrary, my breathing matched. My pulse danced.

Seeing the incoming stingers, my body moved first. Not dodging. Flowing. Deflecting. Moving in the shortest way, stopping in the shortest way.

Even against multiple foes, whether thanks to “Evasion Boost” or accumulating combat experience… I could see every single one of their moves.

Before I knew it, I was standing in the midst of monsters. It was without a single “wasted motion.”

Like a dance performance, I moved my body. My shoulders relaxed, elbows bent naturally. The strain in my thighs, the sensation of kicking off the ground――everything was “in sync.”

My body was already――

(This skill has “optimized” me.)

“Constant Activity: Lv.5.”

It raised the efficiency of all actions called “activity.”

Not just combat. Breathing, thinking, muscle coordination, vision management, body temperature control… it sharpened the very act of “being alive.”

One strike. I pierced a Jumpblade Bee. Spun and slashed upward. Another one down. Swung my left arm diagonally behind me into a combo. Thrust at another without turning back.

The skill was “guiding” my body. I did not resist. No, the thought of resisting didn’t even exist.

Rather, this might be exactly the “ideal activity” I had sought.

As I savored that sensation――after a while, when all targets were down, I quietly exhaled in the forest.

“…I can’t go back anymore.”

Not to that clumsy version of me. Not to the me who once wasted power.

“Constant Activity” had changed me. No, not just that――all the skills and experiences I never had as a noble. Combat accuracy, reaction speed, concentration.

The me now was able to draw it all out “naturally.” It was no longer the me of the past. I savored that sensation along with the strangeness.

(Maybe, from here on――)

As I thought that, a streak of cold ran down my spine. Where would this power lead? When this skill advanced “further,” what would happen?

I didn’t yet know… but.

“When that time comes, I’ll look forward to it.”

Murmuring so, I gathered materials and left the forest.

◆

――The moment I opened the guild’s door, the usual bustle entered my ears.

Adventurers’ voices, the clash of metal gear, and the receptionists’ responses. Being in that space, strangely, a part of me felt calm.

The usual receptionist had been waiting at the counter. She noticed me. She quickly finished sorting something, and then――

“Good work, Alphonse-san. Request completion, right?”

“Yes, here.”

As we exchanged words, the reward was handed to me. The weight of the pouch, the faint metallic sound. They told of certain accomplishment.

“…Um.”

The receptionist hesitated slightly. Her gaze was as if weighing something.

“…No matter. Please come tomorrow morning, as planned.”

“Understood. See you then.”

She hesitated for a moment. But well, no point in worrying about that.

I ended it as usual and left the guild. The laughter and conversations behind me felt just a little distant.

◆

I walked through the evening city. The sky dyed orange. The stone-paved streets shone golden.

Quietly, I turned my focus inward. The skill that had reached a new stage influenced not only surface-level stamina recovery, but also my mind and concentration.

My awareness switched faster. My thoughts sharpened one step further. The boundary between rest and action――was blurred to the point of seamlessness.

But at the same time――

(If I drop my guard, I won’t be able to stop.)

This overly comfortable state of “Constant Activity.” The heat of battle, the thrill of training, the uplift of thought… all of it might continue endlessly.

Those things mixed together. It could only be explained as a strange sensation. That state kept on continuing.

Dangerous… but, even so.

“It doesn’t matter.”

While walking like that, I came close to the front of the inn.

And then, suddenly――that figure entered my sight.

It was Linea. She was standing near the entrance of the inn. Looking up at the sky as if lost in thought.

……That moment.

At the edge of my vision, a faint “distortion” ran. It wasn’t the wind, nor the reflection of light. It was the presence of magic power.

(――……?)

Instinctively, I activated “Magic Power Vision.” Inside the vision dyed in pale blue, her outline appeared.

And then, I saw it.

Cold like thin ice, clear magic power. So faint that one had to focus carefully to even notice it. And within it was the hidden “ice magic power.”

That magic power was so quiet, so delicate. It was completely different from any I had seen before…

(Why… did I not notice until now?)

I had already obtained “Magic Power Vision”. I should have had chances to approach Linea several times.

But, at that time, there had been no “distortion.” Linea had probably――either intentionally, or unconsciously――ensured that her magic power did not leak outside.

That was why I couldn’t see it. Only now, in this one moment, I “saw” it faintly. If that was the case, then she possessed a level of magic power control that could be called unmatched.

Was it unease, hesitation, or perhaps… a stirring of emotion?

In any case, the existence of the ice magic power that person had spoken of was truly there.

For a while, I gazed at her back. Since she was facing away from me, she would not notice.

I did not call out. I quietly released the “Magic Power Vision”, and let out one breath.

Before long, Linea entered the inn, not knowing anything.

I only watched her back as she went inside.

(Note: There are two Interludes after this chapter that you can buy with coins.)

Original Author’s Comment:

――――――――――――

To those who gave me gifts, truly, thank you very much…!

And to everyone who has read up to the end of Chapter 2, thank you as well…!!

After this, there will be two interludes before Chapter 3 begins!

In the next chapter, not only battles with monsters, but also battles with people will gradually increase――I would be happy if you look forward to it!!!

(Here’s the link if you want to support the Author: https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818622176303375188.)