Trails with Cuddle-Cuddle Osbon

Translator: Tsukii

Editor: Helen

Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 061 – Fufufu, Son. Let’s start investigating [B]

And so, Rean and Claire began their search from the sky. 

Just as he was about to speculate that the culprit who attacked Rosine might perhaps be in the singularity, Rean’s red eyes dissolved into jet black, and Eryn’s pendant once again overflowed with so much power of ogre that it began to crack.

Rean didn’t notice that Claire was looking at him with a mix of fear, nostalgia, and bitterness.

Rean remained calm, and Claire, who prioritized resolving the situation first, suppressed her emotions and provided support.

While stimulating the spiritual veins in each district to see if any fluctuations occurred, Rean discovered a fluctuation in the spiritual particles in Garnier District.

“Claire-san, there’s a reaction in the Garnier District. Has the military police reported anything unusual there?” 

As Valimar flew, Rean checked with Claire, who was crouching next to him. 

Claire had contacted everyone to confirm, and they searched the Garnier district and the area around it after Rean mentioned it, but they were unable to find any abnormalities.

Rean also went to check personally, but the fluctuation had already disappeared before he was able to find anything.

As they pulled themselves together and continued their investigation, Rean’s group discovered that there were multiple fluctuations.

In addition to the Heimdallr Port, Sankt District, and Garnier District he had mentioned earlier, Rean also saw fluctuations on Vainqueur Street, which they had just checked earlier.

“What on earth is going on? Four singularities occurring spontaneously……?”

“………Rean-kun, can you display the map of the Imperial Capital and the fluctuation points on the monitor?”

“I’ve never done it before, but…… Valimar, can you do it?”

{“No problem.”}

Following Claire’s instructions, Valimar brought up a map of the Imperial Capital on the main monitor, and began displaying the fluctuation points observed on it. 

Rean had never confirmed it before, but it seemed that Valimar also had observation capabilities.

Claire stared intently at those points and quickly listed something on the notepad she had taken out.

Glancing at it from the side, Rean saw various notes written there, including the information Claire had received from him.

Claire alternated between checking the map and her notes.

Seeing her overly serious expression, Rean did not know what to say and instead only watched Claire.

What is Claire-san doing……?

[“Fufufu, son. Miss Claire is probably using her synesthesia senses to select and discard information at the moment. It would be best not to interrupt her.”] 1 

Synesthesia……? You mean the phenomenon where voices or sounds appear to one as color?

Rean thought Elliot had something similar to that. 

It wasn’t as obvious, but he did seem to have his own overlapping senses.

“Rean-kun.” 

“Ah, yes.”

“I’d like to check the information a little more deeply, so could you please do a search in the area I specifically point to?”

“Got it!”

Feeling a strange sense of pressure in the air, Rean followed Claire’s instructions and released his power of ogre, stimulating the spiritual veins. 

But aside from Claire’s instructions, Rean sensed some kind of power coming from the direction of the Imperial Castle.

……My heart is throbbing, somehow…… this sensation, is it a reaction with the power of ogre? Or is it Valimar?

It wasn’t a fluctuation, but more of a lynchpin…… a mass of power fixed from deep underground…… That was what Rean felt.

Curious, Rean was about to send Valimar towards the Valflame Palace, but Claire stopped him.

“Rean-kun, it’s just a guess, but…… perhaps the fluctuation you sensed is a crack in the singularity?”

“Crack?”

“Yes. The terrorists probably can’t control the singularity either. With Rean-kun stimulating it from the outside, the singularity can no longer maintain the concealment of its existence, which made hiding itself meaningless……In other words, what Rean-kun intended as a search, is now essentially bombing those bases.”

“Err…… then what will happen?”

“It depends on the scale, but the hidden singularities had appeared in the skies above the Imperial Capital…… to the point where the areas have spread too fast to be sealed off. At this rate……”

[“Fufufu, son. I have a good idea.”]

Really? Then I’m counting on you!

[“That said, it’s Vali-kun who will actually do it.”]

{“I’ll hear it out, Osbon.”}

Rean, who was fully focused on adopting-the-plan stance listened to the plan together with Valimar.

Claire realised that Rean was lost in thought, so she just watched over him without interrupting his thought process.

After hearing the plan, Rean prepared to begin the operation, but Osbon stopped him.

[“But son, if we use this method, it will be impossible to bring the Divine Knight into the singularity.”] 

Why?

[“This is because the Divine Knight is the boundary between this dimension and the singularity. In other words, it is the lynchpin that breaks down the singularity and prevents it from appearing in the Imperial Capital. Conversely, it means that fixing the singularity in place is also possible.”]

If not knowing where it will appear is its strength, then the first thing to resolve it is to seal it, huh.

[“Fufufu, this is probably a coincidence that you brought upon yourself.”]

Since he wasn’t doing reconnaissance but reconnaissance in force, through his use of blunt searching actions, they coincidentally discovered this possibility, and Rean had an expression where he didn’t know what to say. 

Still, having decided what he needed to do, Rean told Claire about it.

“And so, I’m going to enter the singularity now. As for Claire-san——”

“No, I’ll come along too. The Princess has requested that I support you.”

“But……”

“Besides, I can’t just leave my junior, who acts in a dangerous manner, to go in there by himself.”

“Junior?”

“Fufu, I’m also a graduate of Thors Military Academy. I am among the 216th year graduates, so I’m your senior, about five years older than your cohort, Rean-kun.”

“Is that so……”

“If it’s a thief stealing from my alma mater, then I have every reason to cooperate. Besides, investigating and suppressing terrorists is part of my job anyway.”

“I understand. Then I’ll be counting on you, senpai.”

Claire nodded, but it seemed like there was something bothering her. 

When Rean asked why, she pointed again to the map on the monitor.

“I’m a little concerned about the difference in the magnitude of the fluctuations.” 

“Magnitude?”

“The output of Rean-kun’s search was consistent. Despite this, there are fluctuations of varying sizes…… I hope it’s just a coincidence.”

“We won’t know until we see it in person, so let’s not worry about it for now.”

“I guess, you’re right. I’m sorry for making you feel uneasy.”

“No, I’ll be counting on you.”

“Okay, you can rely on me.”

With the preparations completed, Rean approached the nearest fluctuation on Vainqueur Street. 

After having Valimar wait beside him in invisible mode, Rean reached his hand out towards the fluctuation.

“Come, Power of Ashen——Loa Valimar!”

What he summoned was a giant white shadow. 

Claire had an expression that seemed to say “guessed it” as Rean pulled out yet another hidden card.

“Valimar, please.” 

{“Oh!”}

In response to Rean’s call, Loa Valimar disintegrated its body and created a bridge to the singularity, creating a path. 

It appeared to be a movement method known as Spirit Path, and Loa Valimar used itself as a medium to become the relay point between the singularity and their dimension.

But this meant that neither the Divine Knight nor Power of Ashen could be used within the singularity.

Nevertheless, Rean, together with his collaborator, Claire, was determined to capture the terrorist hiding within this singularity and clear Rosine of her false accusation.

“Let’s go, Claire-san!” 

“Yes, I’ll leave the intrusion to you.”

Rean and Claire’s bodies were enveloped in light and they were transported from within the Divine Knight to the singularity. 

The two of them passed through the Spirit Path and entered the singularity, and soon afterwards, they were greeted by an unexpected sight.

First of all, the inside of the singularity was an utter replica of Vainqueur Street.

Not only were the surrounding scenery identical, but even the details of the buildings were.

But the crucial difference was that there were no people around and there was an eerie miasma-like atmosphere in the air.

Rean and Claire tightened their stomachs and continued on through the place that seemed to be the Alternate Imperial Capital.

When they finally reached the location where Valflame Palace was supposed to be, an even more amazing sight awaited them.

It was a scene of numerous monsters…… nay, creatures that appeared to be cryptids, exposing their corpses, and retreating from this dimension.

The person they could speculate to have caused this could be seen.

It was a bearded old man standing in the middle of the disappearing cryptids.

The old man was holding a cross spear that was taller than he was and dressed like a priest.

Without noticing Rean’s group, he glanced at the Alternate Imperial Capital and headed in that direction.

“Could it be, the Gralsritter——moreover, I have seen his face in the Intelligence Bureau’s file——”

 

Claire said something.

But as soon as Rean heard that the old priest before him was a Gralsritter, he sprinted towards him.

“Rean-kun?!” 

“Since he is a Gralsritter, then that old man might have a clue as to who the culprit is!”

Hearing this, Claire frantically tried to chase after Rean, but her movement was hindered by the cryptids that appeared nearby once again. 

She immediately pulled out her orbal gun and fired wildly, but that wasn’t enough to make the cryptids disappear.

“Claire-san!” 

Rean saw the cryptids gathering around Claire and was about to stop and help ber, but he was stopped by none other than Claire. 

“I’ll be fine here! If you think he has clues, then please chase after him and ask!” 

“……I understand, I’ll be leaving this place to you!”

“I might need some time to take care of this side,” with Claire’s urging, Rean unleashed his power of ogre, finally reaching the old priest.

The old priest stopped in his tracks as Rean ostentatiously exuded power.

Upon seeing the old priest turned around, Rean intuitively understood.

His opponent was stronger than he was.

He wasn’t like Aurelia who possessed master-class skill, or a supernatural being like McBurn…… although the weapon they wielded was different, the old priest was like a superior version of Rean.

Without Divine Knight and Loa Valimar, Rean was even more cautious in the face of such strength. However, Rean’s head went blank when the old priest spoke up.

“That uniform is from Thors Military Academy…… Is Rosine doing well?”

“————————————You bastard.”

 

Before he knew it, Rean had unsheathed his tachi and was swinging it at the old priest.

His power of ogre was tapped into an even greater depth, his fiery eyes consumed by darkness and the blade of his tachi was dyed black by the demonic aura.

The tachi filled with demonic aura was blocked by the cross spear held by the old priest, and the ground beneath him cracked to form patterns in a spider web.

Even so, the old priest’s movements were unwavering.

The old priest’s eyes shone with some kind of power.

“What a hot-blooded youngster. What makes you so angry?” 

“What nonsense are you uttering after framing her for a false accusation……!”

“Uhn? ……Ah, I see. Damn Thomas, it seems he didn’t explain things properly.”

The old priest brandished his cross spear, putting some distance between himself and Rean. 

The shackle of Rean’s emotions had loosened due to Demon Unchained, but faced with the strength of his opponent, Rean didn’t make any careless attacks.

“There seems to have been a misunderstanding, but you don’t seem to be willing to listen to me explain at this moment. It may not mean much to you right now, but I believe there are meanings to the name, so I will tell you mine.” 

The old priest was impressed by Rean’s ability to maintain his composure in battle despite the flame of rages firing up within him, and for the first time, aimed his cross spear at him. 

“I am the Eighth Dominion of Gralsritter of the Septian Church, Barkhorn of Roaring Lion —— allow me to assess your power, boy.”


Author Note:

The Imperial Capital Arc has already gone way off the rail, so I’ll just go with the style of adding more original plotlines.
And so, the Church Faction, Priest Barkhorn appeared.

Not only was he the master of Wallace and Gaius’s spearmanship, he is on active duty as Dominion at this period of time, with his skill exceeding that of Wallace and he still has the Stigma, which he would later passed to Gaius, so he is a cheat ojii-chan.

I think he is on par with Old Master Yun, but that would put him on the same level as Victor, so one could imagine much of the demonic realm of Zemuria, where strong people pop up all over the place…

I thought of the dialogue with Claire-san being a little subdued, so my apologies to those who were expecting it to be the kind of interactions with Emma or Duvalie.


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