Chapter 412


    “U-umm… Kurono-kun… I…”


    Nell came jumping in front of me . I haven’t seen her since Asbell vige .


    However, now she felt more like the time when I visited her at night during that thunder storm rather than that time after the Fenril subjugation . No, maybe even worse than that .


    The corners of her eyes were dark . Even her blue eyes looking straight at me seemed like they lost their radiance .


    “… . . Nell, I am happy, we got to meet before parting . ”


    That clears my regret . While feeling relieved, I got off Merry once again .


    And when I actually stood in front of her, she looked even more depressed . As if she might break with just a touch .


    “I heard from Lily . You’re returning to Avalon, aren’t you?”


    “–?!”


    It is true that it didn’t turn into a rumor inside the school yet but one can easily understand the reasons behind it with a little thinking . No, maybe no one even bothered making it the topic since it was too obvious .


    No matter if they are the Wing Lord, Nell and Nero are the royalty of another country . There’s no way they would have the leeway to participate in Spada’s wars .


    “It will be lonely without you but I am d . You will surely be safe if you go to Avalon . ”


    She will certainly be safe there . However, I don’t know how we would meet again . If she returns to Avalon, chances are high that she will just remain there .


    It is difficult to say that Spada’s situation is stable now that a war is breaking out . Daidaros was also an opposing country but it has already been 10 years since thest war with them .


    Spada is literally the front line in the war between the city-state alliance at the center of the Pandora continent and the invading army . It’s hard to think that she will be allowed to study in a country like this again .


    Moreover, since she won’t be another student of the academy, there would be no chances for us to meet since I am just an adventurer .


    Even before Lily told mest night, I saw iting .


    “That’s not… I-I, no matter how dangerous the situation, I wanted to be with you, Kurono-kun!”


    We might not be able to meet ever again . It seems I didn’t even need to confirm that . She must have been holding it back . The tears came flowing down her cheeks .


    This is my 3rd time seeing her tears . How many times do I have to make her cry?


    “Thank you . You saying that is enough for me . ”


    “I am sorry… I, can’t do anything…”


    Nell even came with us to Iskia to protect her allies . Even when she knew the risk, she didn’t hesitate .


    “… . . Kurono-kun . . at the very least… could you, at least, ept this…?”


    Her tears showed no signs of stopping as she held out her trembling hand, on which lied one white feather . It was a beautiful white feather, giving out a dim and faint light . But I had seen it before .


    “This is… Area Guard Feather?”


    “Yes… The one I gave you before was made from my inexperienced divine protection but this is aplete artifact, made by the head shrine maiden of Avalon . ”


    Now that she mentions it, it does give off a stronger magic presence than the previous one . But the size and appearance is simr and Nell’s one was also quite good .


    “But, is that okay? Isn’t this something you should be keeping—”


    “I am, fine . I want you to have it, Kurono-kun… This will surely protect you again . . ”


    I nearly escaped death before because of the charm Nell gave before . This is possibly the best blessing .


    “Thank you, Nell . ”


    If Ie back alive, I will go return this . Although I don’t know if I can give it to her personally once she goes goes back to the princess status . Even so, it will work as hope to definitely make it back alive .


    And so, I obediently took the true Area Guard Feather from Nell and put it in the chest pocket like before .


    “Ah, right, in return… well, I don’t think I will ever be able repay you for all the things you did for me but, I would like you to ept something as well . ”


    I held out my arm and used Shadow Gate to bring out Nell’s present from my cuffs .


    Normally, Hitsugi would lead the deposits and withdrawals by dimension but for some reason she didn’t react this time . She might reading the atmosphere . It has been a while since I selected something of my own will .


    And then, from the shadows, a pinball sized gem came rolling onto my hand . At first nce, its radiance looks simr to ck Opal . Inside the shining sphere, one could see jet ck and crimson color flickering like a me . But it was cold to the touch .


    The red light which kept flickering without maintaining a form looked like it was made from magic .


    “Eh, no way… this is…”


    “I don’t know if it’s an artifact or not, though . ”


    I said with a bitter smile .


    This is a gem I bought while preparing for the war alone before Lily and Fiona returned .


    Although I returned from Asbell vige desperately, after learning the details from Will, I got more than enough time and room to calm down . And that’s when I bought it as a present for Nell but who would have thought it would be as a parting gift?


    Ever since Lily told me Nell would be returning to her country, I wanted to give this to her by all means and fortunately am blessed with a chance like this .


    “You see, it seems they couldn’t understand its name nor effect even after an appraisal . But, since it’s a treasure excavated from an ancient ruin in Avalon, there’s no mistake that it’s a gem and has value . ”


    It’s not like I am being stingy about buying a normal gem . Since it’s glowing and has magic inside, there’s no mistaking that it has value as a gem and a magic stone .


    But still, since the details are unclear, it isn’t evenparable to the artifact gem Lily has .


    There are several patterns when the effect can’t be understood even after an appraisal . The mostmon one is that there’s no effect . The next mostmon one is that the effect is so low that magic can’t detect it . Andstly, the effect is so enormously big that appraisal magic can’t measure it .


    Such arge effect is called an ancient since it deviates from the model system and it only manifests in ces with extremely strong monsters . As such, there’s a very low chance of something like that going around the market—a chance even lower than winning a lottery .


    And if I were to add, I bought this from Mordred weapons’ shop and not a gem/magic stone shop so that tells me that the chances are high that it’s not that valuable . But it was on the excavated product corner and Mordred president also rmended it so the chances are not zero either .


    “But if you have it with you, Nell, I feel like it might show some amazing effect . And so it might have a value high enough to even surprise the Avalon’s royalty—that’s what I am hoping . ”