Chapter 121: 120. Thank You for Your Devotion
1.
“...”
Knock, knock.
Seren raised her head at the sound of knocking.
"Lady Seren. Sir Richard has entered the capital."
"Ah, yeah. Thanks..."
After confirming that the attendant’s footsteps had faded away, Seren...
"Ugh..."
Threw herself into her chair and let out a long, heavy sigh.
‘He’s here already.’
Richard, the Imperial Princess’s guard knight.
Seren, the Imperial Prince’s guard knight.
Though they served different people, they were in the same position in that they received the Imperial Family’s support.
And support usually came with obligations.
If you acquired new equipment with the Imperial Family’s backing, you had to demonstrate it personally before the royals and prove its utility.
In other words... you had to put on a showcase of exactly what you had bought.
The people who had funded it needed to know what, exactly, they had paid for, didn’t they?
And today was the day Richard was doing that.
"Ah... which dungeon was it again?"
She had heard he had cleared some dungeon and obtained four-star gauntlets. It was good news, but...
Since Seren would soon have to do her own showcase, all she could think about was being compared to him.
‘Seren, where is your new equipment?’
She could already hear the question.
Seren looked at the appraisal sheet sitting in one corner of her room.
Perhaps because so much time had passed, the sheet had faded somewhat.
─────────────────
[Watcher] [★★★★☆]
[Unique Equipment]
─────────────────
『Where you stand guard, your lord’s tomorrow shall lie.』
─────────────────
In the end, it was equipment that had met its final end just as the Origin Script had foretold.
Rub, rub.
Seren stroked the name with a wistful expression.
Ordinarily, she would have somehow repaired it and worn it, but... that was impossible.
Nothing appeared even when she placed it on an appraisal device.
If equipment was damaged so badly that it could not even be appraised... then it was utterly destroyed.
It meant it could no longer be repaired anywhere.
In the end, she had sent the destroyed armor to Cristiano Workshop...
She had tacked all sorts of demands onto the request for her new armor, but honestly, she was not expecting much.
"Please, even just three stars..."
That would be enough. More than enough to make up for it.
And if she were being honest...
Seren did have rather high hopes for the bikini, too...
"Ahem, ahem."
This was not the time to think about that.
She hurriedly got dressed and was just about to leave her room when...
Ding.
"Hm?"
An alert suddenly appeared from the Tower system.
[Cristiano]: The crafting is finished.
"What?"
Seren froze halfway through putting on her clothes.
"...Already?"
She hurriedly checked the date, but only a month and a half had passed.
[Cristiano]: Would you like to receive it right away?
"Yes, yes...! Please send it...!"
Tap tap tap.
Seren hurriedly typed out her reply.
[Cristiano]: I’ll include the instruction manual as well.
[Cristiano]: There are too many functions, so I’ll first send only the most essential parts, then send additional details by this afternoon.
Her heart suddenly began to race.
Even though he had said two months, she had expected it to take at least three.
But it was already finished?
She thought she had not been expecting much...
But now that she was about to receive it, the corners of her lips kept twitching upward.
[Your item has arrived.]
"Receive!"
The moment she pressed the button...
Thud.
A wooden stand dropped out of thin air.
And upon that stand...
“...”
Hung a suit of armor that shimmered softly in gold and silver.
Flutter.
“...”
Behind the motionless Seren, a sheet of paper belatedly drifted down onto the bed.
She knew it was the instruction manual.
But Seren’s gaze was fixed on the gleaming armor, unable to move.
“...”
When a knight chooses armor, what is the first and foremost thing they look at?
There were many styles of knight, so everyone’s criteria would differ, but...
For a knight like Seren, who wore heavy armor, the first thing to check was whether there were any gaps.
Put simply, its defense. Could it truly stop an attack?
Then what about this armor, which seemed to brighten the entire room merely by existing?
Seren immediately began running simulations in her mind.
Suppose an opponent comparable to, or stronger than, herself was wearing this armor.
For example...
Yes, Cordelia Rosenfeld, the number-one-ranked climber and her eternal rival.
Taking their respective skills and compatibility into account, the odds were roughly... four to six.
Seren... four.
If that Cordelia wore this armor and fought her to the death...
‘Where the hell am I supposed to stab her?’
The neck? The shoulders?
No. Not there either.
There were no gaps in sight.
Where, exactly, was the weak point?
It was hopeless.
The more she imagined it... the more an abyss with no solution opened before her.
And at the end of that imagination...
Was Cordelia, wearing impenetrable armor and disregarding defense entirely, cutting off Seren’s head with a sword strike.
Tremble...
Without realizing it, Seren took a step back.
‘I want to stop.’
Or rather...
‘I hate this. So much.’
Just imagining a fight to the death made her legs shake.
The thought that she never wanted to fight anyone wearing that armor took over her mind...
And just as the urge to flee somewhere consumed her thoughts...
Ding!
"Ah...!"
[Cristiano]: Please leave a review.
“...”
Seren stared blankly at the armor.
Right. Of course.
This...
"It’s mine... isn’t it?"
Seren immediately reached for the armor, lifted it up, and was about to call an attendant to help her change.
But...
Whoosh!
"?! I-It’s light."
The armor lifted effortlessly.
She could not determine the precise weight, but...
Compared to the armor she had worn before, it seemed to weigh at least a quarter as much.
In other words, it felt as though seventy-five percent of its weight had vanished.
It was even far easier to put on...
"I won’t need to call anyone."
She could put it on by herself. All by herself.
Seren immediately put on the underclothes meant to be worn beneath armor and approached it, but...
"H-How do I...?"
She had no idea how she was supposed to wear it.
There were no straps, no clasps.
Tap tap tap.
Desperate with impatience, Seren only stamped her feet as she circled around the armor.
In the end, she could not find an answer.
"Ah."
The instruction manual.
Scurry!
She darted over to the manual that had fallen onto the bed and picked up the paper, but...
"How to put it on..."
She was overwhelmed by the opening section.
─────────────────
[Elevert: Paladion] [★★★★✦]
[Unique Equipment]
─────────────────
『The knight clad in fortress walls has raised their sword.』
『Bring down the citadel before that knight descends.』
『The time granted to you is no more than that very instant.』
─────────────────
『Meeting you must be the greatest luck of that child’s life, wouldn’t it?』
- Serendipity, Goddess of Fortune -
『...The obsession and meticulousness are beyond comprehension. The very idea of harmonizing seven thousand pieces into one.』
『You are more perverse than any being I have ever seen.』
- Harmone, Harmonizer of All Things -
─────────────────
“...”
One, two, three, four, and one extra adorable little star.
Four and a half stars.
There was even a stamp in the lower-right corner of the appraisal sheet certifying it as an authentic appraisal.
Even after rubbing her eyes, it remained the same.
Four and a half stars was itself an unfamiliar rating, but this was the first time Seren had ever seen a blacksmith create equipment above four stars.
She had thought three stars, even just three stars, would be enough.
And as she lowered her gaze further, a familiar name in the Origin Script came into view.
"Lady Serendipity..."
The god Seren served as an apostle.
Someone might ask why a knight who wore heavy armor and wielded a greatsword served the Goddess of Fortune, but that was the reason Seren had been able to grow strong all this time.
And this was the first time in her life she had seen equipment that had received a comment directly from a god.
‘The greatest luck of her life.’
"I-Is that really true...?"
Tremble...
Holding the appraisal sheet in trembling hands, Seren lowered her head.
"W-Wait a moment."
Seren collapsed onto the bed.
She was dizzy.
So many impossible, dreamlike things were happening one after another that she did not know where to begin processing them.
Seren blinked as she adjusted the focus of her vision.
Then came the next lines.
[Everything above is the appraisal result.]
[This equipment differs greatly from ordinary armor in the way it is worn and operated.]
[Please read from the beginning, in order.]
[And please message me if you have any questions.]
"Y-Yes! Understood."
From this moment on, Seren became a devotee of Cristiano Workshop.
If he told her to do something, she would do it.
This was unbelievable.
[How to Wear It]
[1. While naked or wearing only minimal underwear, approach it from behind.]
[2. Say, "Equip."]
[3. Step fully inside and say, "Fasten."]
[4. To remove it, say, "Disassemble."]
"...?"
What was that supposed to mean...?
Was it saying the equipment heard her voice and moved accordingly, like a summoned creature?
The problem was that this was the end of the explanation for putting it on.
Naked or in underwear...
"...Elise, don’t let anyone come near my room."
"Yes, Lady Seren."
First, she gave her attendant instructions.
Being naked was a bit much, so she would at least wear underwear.
"...For now."
If he told her to do it, she would do it.
Seren gave up on thinking.
Scurry!
Seren immediately moved behind the armor...
Then needlessly checked once that the door was securely shut.
"E-Equip!"
I-It’s embarrassing...
What if it doesn’t wor—
Then, at that moment...
Click-click-click-click...
“...!”
Her eyes flew wide open.
The seamless backplate split wide down the middle.
The armor behind its shoulders folded apart to either side, and the sections encasing the waist and pelvis opened in turn.
Shhhk...
All the way down the backs of the legs.
The armor opened wide enough for Seren to step inside.
“...”
She needed to feel it.
This equipment belonged to a realm that Seren’s common sense could never comprehend.
When you hear a beautiful song or encounter a magnificent work of art, do you try to understand it?
No.
You simply feel it.
Without hesitation, Seren slid her feet inside first.
After planting the soles of her feet firmly, she leaned forward and slipped in both arms.
Now, all it needed was for the back to close.
"Fasten."
The moment she spoke with greater confidence than before...
Click-click-click...
As Seren flinched, the separated pieces along her thighs and pelvis began to close in.
"Hngh..."
The sense of constriction she had learned to expect from her old armor.
Assuming it would tighten around her, she took a sharp breath, but...
Click... click...
It gently enclosed her waist, arms, and thighs...
In particular, it did not forcibly press down her breasts... nor did it squeeze her pelvis tight.
Even against bare skin, it wrapped around her body with incredible softness.
Click...
When the gauntlets finished closing, she realized every part of the armor had sealed shut.
"...Am I..."
Actually wearing something?
If she fell asleep and woke up like this, she felt as though she would forget she was wearing armor and walk straight into a bathhouse.
It did not feel like she was wearing anything at all.
“...”
Seren stood in that pose for a while...
Swoosh.
Carefully, she raised an arm—above her shoulder, even all the way behind her head.
"...Ah."
It doesn’t dig in...
There was none of the pressure that had always constricted Seren’s body.
Swish.
She lightly moved her arms and twisted her waist.
Could she try a little more?
Swish...
She even tried poses she could never have imagined in her previous armor.
She bent deeply and even bent her knees.
Hop.
She tried a light jump, too.
Seren realized something.
"I..."
Think I’ve fallen in love.
This was unbelievable.
Still wearing the armor, Seren walked to her bed.
Her steps felt so light.
Then she twisted her body and lowered her head to grab the paper on the bed, only to realize...
There was no need to do that, so she simply sat on the bed.
She had sat on a bed while wearing armor...
“...”
The discomforts of everyday life had disappeared.
To the point where all she could do was laugh now.
What she had read so far concerned how to wear it.
But the mention of its ‘different operating method’ from earlier kept nagging at her.
So Seren moved her eyes and continued reading.
[Operation Method]
[This changes the armor’s form. I’ll explain simply.]
[Stand up and say, "Second Form, Activate."]
Activate the Second Form...?
She had no more doubts.
The manual ended with those words.
Spring.
Seren rose to her feet...
"Second Form, Activate!"
Shrrrraaaak...!
"?!"
The armor surrounding her body suddenly felt as if it had lifted away from her.
Click-click-click...
The thickly layered pauldrons split apart and moved behind her shoulders.
Armor plating slid back from the breastplate and her sides as well.
"W-Wait, what?"
And yet, no bare skin was exposed.
The armor that encased her body remained in place.
Seren spread both arms, at a loss for what to do, but...
Click... click...
The transformation ended sooner than she expected.
“...”
It felt much slimmer...
But then...
Shhhk...
Something unfurled behind her back.
Seren turned her head to look, but she could not believe what she saw and hurried to the mirror.
"Wings...?"
To describe the figure before the mirror...
The armor was much slimmer than its original form, and the curve running from her chest to her waist was subtly visible.
Flutter.
Wings that fluttered along with her when she moved.
Taking all of that in, there was only one conclusion Seren could reach.
"...It’s pretty."
Pretty.
Not merely pretty for armor... it was simply breathtakingly beautiful.
She spread her arms in front of the mirror, then needlessly turned to the side and swept the hair from her shoulder back behind her.
She had always lived utterly disconnected from elegant-looking equipment.
"W-What do I do...?"
She felt like she was going to cry.
Someone might call her dramatic, but Seren had endured for a very long time.
Knight, shield of the Imperial Palace, whatever people called her—Seren was still a woman in the end.
She had worn armor two or three times the size of her body, gone into battle, and swallowed down the hurt of people calling her masculine.
But a woman naturally wanted more than anything to look pretty.
What, being sturdy was enough? It was equipment meant to protect her, so what more could she want?
"I’m allowed to want it too..."
Among the Dawn Apostles, nobody wore uglier equipment than Seren...
Everyone else got to wear beautiful things.
Every vacation, she would choose a pretty swimsuit and go to an empty beach. That was an expression of the same desire.
Her dream... had come true.
Then...
Ding.
A message arrived.
Like a puppy whose owner had returned home, Seren immediately opened it.
[Cristiano]: Did you activate the Second Form by any chance?
[Seren de Lumiere]: Yesyesyesyes!!!!!!!
[Cristiano]: I’m glad you seem to like it.
At first, she had thought his way of speaking was a little cold.
...Maybe she was wearing rose-colored glasses now, but it simply made him seem like a professional craftsman.
He had even asked whether she liked it.
[Cristiano]: Also, the phrase "Second Form, Activate" is only what I chose.
[Cristiano]: If you think of the number two and designate a new activation phrase you want, you can change it. Pick whatever is comfortable.
Seren nodded.
[Cristiano]: The equipment has a lot of functions. I couldn’t write all of them down, so I’ll send the details by the end of today. Including your old equipment as well.
"...More?"
There were still more functions?
[Cristiano]: Oh, and...
[Cristiano]: Try jumping.
"?"
Jump?
She had jumped earlier, though...
Even as she questioned it internally, Seren was already bending her knees.
Hop.
Obviously...
After hopping, she should have landed on the ground with a thump.
Float...
"...Huh?"
She did not come down.
Seren’s body was not falling through the air.
Even for long enough that she could wiggle her toes in midair, she continued bobbing there.
“...”
Riiing...
When she came to her senses, Seren had already placed a call through voice messenger.
Click.
It was rejected.
"Ah."
[Cristiano]: That startled me;
[Cristiano]: I won’t take calls.
[Seren de Lumiere]: I did it without thinking;;; I’m sorry;;
[Seren de Lumiere]: But what is this?? I’m flying in the sky. I’m not joking, I really am.
[Cristiano]: It’s a basic function of the Second Form, Valkyrie.
That was a basic function?
[Cristiano]: And do you remember what I said last time? A gift for you, Lady Seren.
"Ah..."
She knew what he meant.
When the armor arrived, there had been no separate swimsuit, so she had been disappointed for a moment.
Of course, after putting on the armor, she had forgotten all about it.
He was probably going to say he had not been able to make it, right?
That was fine. The schedule had been tight, and the equipment alone was more than enough.
[Cristiano]: Is there no one around you?
Hm? Around her?
There was no one.
"Yes..."
[Seren de Lumiere]: Yes, I’m alone.
Seren replied at once.
And just in case...
Swish, swish.
Floating in the air, she moved her limbs as though swimming, made her way to the door, and locked it firmly.
So she could move like this too.
[Cristiano]: Good. First, think about descending to the floor.
"Descending..."
Hummm...
Her body slowly began to descend toward the ground.
Tap.
The instant her feet touched the floor, the next message arrived.
[Cristiano]: "Third Form, Activate."
[Cristiano]: Try it.
There was a third form too?
With anticipation swelling in her chest, Seren...
"Third Form... Activate!"
This time, confidently.
And then...
Shrrrrrrk...
The wings behind her back unfurled, and the armor surrounding her body moved swiftly.
"?"
Then, suddenly feeling a cool breeze against her bare skin...
Seren squeezed her eyes shut without realizing it.
How much time passed?
Pop!
Something fluttered lightly over her shoulders.
Something was even touching her bare skin.
Seren cautiously opened her eyes and looked into the mirror.
There...
Stood Seren wearing a golden bikini and a sheer cardigan.
"Ah..."
Seren covered her mouth with a hand.
She was awestruck not because her armor had turned into a swimsuit, but by the swimsuit’s appearance.
"It’s so... pretty..."
Then a message arrived.
[Cristiano]: Thank you for your devotion to the Empire.
[Cristiano]: Thank you for your devotion.
Standing before the mirror, Seren contemplated those two lines for a long time.
"...Thank you. Truly."
After looking at the message floating in the air, she too lowered her head, brought a hand to her chest, and gracefully returned her thanks.
Her body and heart both felt as though they were melting warmly.
She could not remember the last time she had felt such soft, swelling emotions.
Or the last time she had felt so strongly that she was respected and treated with consideration.
Seren lightly pinched the end of her cardigan between her fingers.
Flutter...
It was so beautiful.
On her next vacation, she would wear this.
Just thinking about it kept lifting the corners of her lips.
"...I’m happy."
Insanely so.
At this moment, she could think of nothing but that feeling.
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