*
The Phoenix is a Spirit born from ashes, returning to flames once again.
Like how a person transforms passionately in love, only to fade away later.
That fleeting existence, like smoke, is weak but leaves a stronger mark than anyone.
‘…That was the setup, huh. Quite the thing.’
If Nex were to take Schartines as a wife, it’s true that it would be dangerous.
Spirit magicians are sensitive to emotions. Just a little abnormality, and they’re down for the count.
Thus, creating a harem to prevent weaknesses in advance isn’t entirely wrong.
In fact, many players have done just that.
While the original and sequel versions of Nex went insane with personality, he was strong enough to rival players.
But is the current Nex strong? No matter how much the Phoenix has grown into a Holy Relic.
“Ha… I knew this would happen. Just when I thought I might finally be recognized…”
He still hasn’t fixed the unique weakness of a Spirit magician. What is the right move here?
‘Without his specialty in spear techniques, there’s a weakness.’
I temporarily moved to the garden. Nex was beside me, messing up his hair and making a troubled face.
“….”
Honestly, it’d be better if I met that pillar brother instead.
If Nex had learned Northern spear techniques in advance, the situation might have been different.
Time flows by aimlessly, without a solution in sight.
Looking up at the sky, a bright moon was rising.
Someone’s eyes came to mind. Those slightly sparkling, pretty wolf eyes.
“Senior, do you know anything about my father…?”
I sighed deeply, struggling to find an answer, and finally spoke to the purple-haired man.
Ultimately, it’s a problem he needs to solve himself, not some third party like me.
I wondered if he might know something, anyway.
“That person… Frey Aureus, right? My father.”
He nodded wordlessly. Because that was right. Instead of answering, I took action.
He was the purple-haired man who appears when the player starts the DLC, a character whose name and appearance cannot be changed.
Nex’s mother, Asha, would’ve hidden it as much as she could. After all, he was a servant who became a husband.
“What kind of person was my father, Junior?”
“Well, I believe he cared a lot for Lady Asha… but I’ve never seen him myself.”
I only mentioned what I had read in the afterword.
He was someone who worked hard to restore the color of the owner’s hair.
Gradually introducing emotions to Asha, who knew nothing of love, he succeeded in awakening the Phoenix.
“…Then I’m not an illegitimate child of the family. Why did everyone keep this hidden…?”
Nex’s voice trembled. It sounded like he was about to cry at any moment.
There were details he couldn’t possibly know.
The class system.
It was also why I had negatively thought about the marriage with Pina. No matter how relaxed medieval times might be.
‘A Duke marrying a servant…’
Wasn’t something that could happen unless there were ulterior motives?
Though a poor nobleman might marry for money, they’d rarely marry for love. At least, not in the eyes of the public.
Love, that common miracle, may not come to just anyone.
“Senior, the reason the Aureus family is called the living sun is… because of the Phoenix Spirit.”
I decided to start a pitiful excuse. I recited what I had seen in the setting book.
“That’s right. A family that ruled absolutely in the Land of Fire.”
That was the Aureus family.
Even if Asha had turned gray and holed up in a corner, the essence was different.
Noble blue blood. A precious lineage that’s not easily looked down upon like a third-rate romance novel.
Well, if one had enough power to ignore that, that’d be different. Or maybe they were good at love affairs, just like that pillar brother.
“…Nex, Senior. This is quite shocking, but can I share it?”
My mouth felt dry.
Is it really right for me to speak of the secret of his birth?
“What’s that? You’re already a hero chosen by Akasha, the God of Wisdom, right?”
“Cast a soundproof magic, please, Senior.”
“Got it, but is it really that important?”
Hiding my mouth with the visor of my helmet, I thought about the possibility of being overheard again after that encounter with the Magic Hat.
“I need to tell you a story from the past.”
Someone might overhear us. Since the last time I should’ve been careful.
“Your father, Frey Aureus, was a servant who had been close to Lady Asha since childhood.”
Then, I enumerated the secrets of Nex’s parents.
At this point, he couldn’t know the truth. It would come to light after the DLC was released.
“Wait, is that even possible? A servant and a Duke? But the last name is Aureus…?”
Nex’s poker face broke, and he looked completely stunned.
“To be precise, they were of the same age. A servant who served Lady Asha, who didn’t have Spirits like you.”
I shared about Nex’s unique traits too.
“There was no Spirit like mine… Honestly, I don’t believe it, Junior. Is that really true?”
He suffered until he met Schartines when his Spirit hadn’t awakened.
In fact, it was a genetic issue. The blood of the Ten Heroes tends to be intense. Traits, both strengths and weaknesses, are often inherited.
“Do I need to tell you one more thing for you to believe me?”
There was something in the DLC introductory PV I had seen.
“Your grandparents, Senior Nex, died in a tragic accident.”
It was an accident that happened on the way back to the mansion. If only misfortune had passed them by for just a moment.
“…Right. Junior.”
There were no survivors from the carriage that rolled over the slope. Except for one person.
“After that, young Lady Asha’s hair turned gray, and she became a recluse.”
Her heart shattered and turned to ashes, causing the emotion-driven Phoenix to kick in.
“What fixed that was… our father.”
Nex seemed relieved instead.
I thought he would collapse from the shock of learning about his birth secret. Gladly, that wasn’t the case.
He might’ve been worried he wasn’t the biological child of the family for a long time.
“That’s right. Fate can be a strange thing.”
What if I hadn’t been there?
After Schartines fell into the clutches of the Hero Church, he might have developed a disgust for his family and Spirits as well.
“Strange indeed… Junior. If the first Saintess were alive, would she have sided with Schartines?”
“Probably so.”
Even with a Saintess with wolf ears and a tail in the world.
“…A Saintess is someone with a pure, transient heart.”
When Asha mentioned anything about the Saintess, she nearly lost control of her emotions in anger.
Who started the rumor that a Saintess couldn’t marry?
“I like that answer. Junior.”
Nex and I were from similar backgrounds. We were reformed individuals who lived reckless lives.
His expression as he patted my shoulder was filled with recognition.
“But why did Mother hide our father’s true identity? After all, isn’t that a rise in status for her?”
A sudden question came from Nex, as a doubt arose in his mind. There was something that just didn’t make sense.
“…No. I thought the same too.”
I shook my head and responded to the question.
In truth, a Duke marrying a servant wouldn’t be welcomed in aristocratic society. That was the problem.
Marriage to a poor servant would be seen as a disgrace, while the opposite might not be so disreputable.
Thus, Asha must’ve had to put in work to hide Frey’s identity, and a gap would inevitably form.
“…With the war, the Demon King targeted the Spirited partner.”
“The Demon God War. Could it be… then…”
For the Demon King, it must’ve been a simple and easy method. Spirits are conceived through emotions, after all.
“Yes, that’s why Lady Asha was called ‘the living sun.’”
He assumed that removing the cause would render her combat ineffective.
But the result was the complete opposite. There are always exceptions in the world.
“The battle, like clashing suns, melted all the monsters the Demon King unleashed…”
“Was the day you passed away, Frey?”
Upon hearing the news of her beloved husband’s passing, she grew even stronger as a Spirit.
Creating a massive sun as a Phoenix, sweeping through the battlefield. She even protected all of the North with her wings, wasn’t that only natural?
“…So everything went awry from that point.”
No matter how hard one tried, the outcome of a doomed love couldn’t be escaped. This game company was wicked like that.
“Yes, having thought it all was her fault, Asha wiped all information about Father from the world…”
So, Asha may have projected herself onto Nex.
Since I couldn’t do it, you can’t either.
What if she had built a harem, would the Spirits have become stronger? Or if she had married a noble rather than a servant like her, then perhaps…
Endless self-blame would have gnawed at her.
Ultimately, people tend to blame themselves when there’s no one else to hold responsible.
“The library where you mentioned you kept it in is…? No wonder Mother only stayed there…”
But that’s a wrong thing to do. Everyone is different, and people can change.
“That’s a common, cliché, tragic love story. I dislike it.”
I clenched my teeth and spoke. This was also the reason I talked badly about Asha during my first meeting with Nex.
What kind of harem is worth it? She just wants to be a pure lover.
“…So, do you have any good methods?”
“Well… Even if I try to persuade her, the way…”
I rested my chin on my hand. I wondered what Pina would do in this situation.
“…Let’s clash our sincerity, Senior.”
If it had been that helpless person, I’m sure she would have said this.
I nodded slightly in response. After all, if you don’t speak, people won’t know.
Let alone parents, it’s the same for them. Everyone has room for improvement.
“Yes, if you speak from the heart, I believe Mother will…”
As we prepared to return to the social club,
─ crash!
A glass breaking sound ringing from afar caught my attention. Could it be…?
“Schartines…?”
Nex glanced around anxiously and began to run, kicking the ground.
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