The Hope They Left Behind (Premium)

by Sakon Kaidou

  “That leaves only the other two senior Superiors. The King of Beasts is the epitome of solo strength — an absolute powerhouse that needs no price or preparation. However, she’s a tad too strong, which makes it likely that she will damage the ruins if she goes there. She has a track record of doing just that. By contrast, Logan needs to pay a price, but he can prepare an army instantly and adjust it easily. If you just give him a sacrifice, he will surely agree. And that’s what makes Logan the optimal Superior to hire in this situation. That’s my assumption, anyway.”

  “...Goodness.”

  Looking lifeless the whole time, Gifted had fluently spoken pretty much everything Nobrome was thinking in regards to this.

  Though the man was a field marshal at his young age for reasons other than his eye for strategy, there was no denying that he was an excellent army man, as proven by his conjecture.

  “Heh heh,” the Prime Minister chuckled. “If you know that much, then I don’t think I have to tell you anything more.”

  “Then I will immediately arrange a meeting with Logan.”

  “Excellent. Thank you very much, Field Marshal.”

  Nobrome extended his hand for a handshake, and Gifted responded, his eyes lifeless still.

  “I must say, you evidently have the skill to do it yourself, so why do you leave the army management to your subordinates?” Nobrome asked.

  “I still don’t understand why I’m the field marshal. I’m just a soldier. I’m not fit to lead people.”

  “Ho ho ho!” Nobrome laughed heartily. “I sometimes question why I am the prime minister, as well. After all, we were simply the most influential of the few military and civil officials who sided with the one who became the imperator.”

  Upon hearing those words, Gifted showed emotion for the first time — it came out as a heavy sigh.

  “Too many people died during the imperator selection and the chaos that followed.”

  “Indeed. But I am truly glad that you, I, and your subordinates remained.”

  “As am I.”

  People liked to say that the imperium was split into three forces: Prime Minister Vigoma’s, Field Marshal Barbaros’s, and the current imperator’s. That wasn’t false in any way.

  Even though the imperator, the highest authority, occasionally participated in politics from the shadows, he spent most of his time messing with machines, training, and other affections. And those left in charge, Vigoma and Barbaros, had different ideas about what was best for the imperium.

  That didn’t mean they were antagonistic to each other. Though they had different approaches, they shared two common goals: to bring about the best result for the imperium, and to fulfill the will of the imperator. Thus, they had no reservations about cooperating whenever it was best to do so, as in the current matter.

  They were no monolith, but they were facing in the same direction.

  “Prime Minister,” Gifted spoke up. “May I ask something?”

  “Yes?”

  “You said that the ruins are in the Quartierlatin County?”

  “...Yes.”

  “I see. Then I shall send a special soldier.”

  “A special soldier? But they are... wait! Do you mean...?”

  “There’s no better person for the job. Wouldn’t you agree?”

  And so, their flexibility and coordination birthed a nightmare scenario for the kingdom — the dispatching of a Superior and another powerful force.

  ◇◆◇

  Thus, the kingdom’s and the imperium’s intentions intertwined, setting the stage for a new incident surrounding the ruins at the Quartierlatin County.

  However, there was another faction making a move, too. It was a group that no one, tian or Master, could anticipate or understand.

  ◇◆◇

  ————

  “Pre-ancient civilization ruins were discovered in the kingdom, point A05.”

  “Reallyyy?”

  “A change in the crust exposed it to the surface. Tians and Masters went on to find it.”

  “Well, the Earth recently started lots of earthquakes therrre. But it didn’t appear on the ruin search, did iiit?”

  “Apparently, this one is a facility from the later period. It used highly advanced anti-discovery technology. It’s somewhat like the Red King’s gaol.”

  “Then I guess we should worry about what’s insiiide.”

  “There won’t be a problem if it’s your average ruin, but there’s no guarantee that it doesn’t hold weaponry that exceeds Prism Dragons or the throne. If either the kingdom or the imperium uses something like that in their war, the already-shaky balance might completely collapse.”

  “It’d be much easier if the Masters were the only ones breaking balaaance... I should say that to Jabberwock, too. Anyway... All right, I’ll go investigaaate. Such chores are part of my job, after aaall.”

  “We’ll leave it to you.”

  “Oh, and I’ll ask for permission to use the original, just in case.”

  “I’ll ask, too.”

  “Please dooo.”

  “Be careful.”

  “Sure. All right, I’m offff.”

  Chapter One: Change of Clothing — Dark Edition

  Paladin, Ray Starling

  “Hmm...” Sitting on the coachman’s seat of the carriage, I made an audibly perplexed groan.

  The reason for it was the transparent mantle that became black when worn, “Black Warcoat, Monochrome.”

  It was the day after the deathly struggle against the Void of the Black Sky, Monochrome, and we were heading back to the capital in B3’s carriage, drawn by my Silver.

  On the way, I considered testing the Black Warcoat, just like I’d done with the Miasmaflame Bracers and the Grudge-Soaked Greaves. After all, special rewards were often, well, “special” in how they functioned, so using them without the proper testing was somewhat scary.

  They weren’t like Nemesis, whose new skills somehow always provided the desired results shortly after we got them.

  Anyway, the reason for my groaning were the specs of my new special reward:

  Black Warcoat, Monochrome

  Ancient Legendary Item

  An ancient legendary item embodying the concepts surrounding the false star that consumed light, shrouded itself in darkness, and devastated its targets with searing light.

  It has the power to consume light that touches it, gather it within, then fire it.

  This item cannot be transferred or traded. No level limit.

  Equipment bonuses: None.

  Equipment skills:

  Light Absorption

  Shining Despair

  Yes — the Black Warcoat didn’t give any stat bonuses. I’d been told that the higher tier special rewards were generally greater in that regard, so I felt a bit disappointed about that. (I’d also found out that the +100% to STR on Gardranda was actually a jackpot of a bonus.)

  Anyway, I didn’t know if it was to make up for it, but the Light Absorption skill it had was completely passive — as in, constantly active.

  Its effect was “Absorbs 100% of the light damage it takes.” That sounded pretty strong. After all, though limited to a single element, it negated all damage.

  However, according to B3, “For example, if you were attacked by a sword or anything else covered in light, it would prevent the light damage, yes, but you would still get the damage from the sword itself,” which basically meant that Figaro’s Fang of Gloria would still make short work of me.

  I then asked her how it would work against enemies who used light itself, such as yesterday’s Monochrome, and she said, “The coat would prevent that, yes, but until light attacks hit, they often carry heat, so, when dealing with beams like the ones from yesterday, you would negate their light damage, but still end up being burned by the heated air they bring. The coat would need to have something like ‘Heat Absorption’ as well, to prevent that.”

  And in case it wasn’t obvious, Light Absorption di
d nothing against fires such as the ones from Purgatorial Flames.

  Having heard her explanations, I now realized that enemies who attacked using light were extremely rare to begin with. The only ones I’d ever fought were the RSK and Monochrome.

  That was the reason for my groaning — it seemed like a really difficult skill to use. And as for the other, Shining Despair... well, I could only hope that time would make it clear.

  “I must say,” Nemesis commented, “a coat of darkness that absorbs light is far from ‘Paladin-like.’ I would even argue that it’s quite the opposite.”

  “Wow, rude,” I replied. “I’m a proper Paladin... even if I don’t have Grand Cross yet.”

  Killing Monochrome made me reach the job’s max level, though, I thought. Liliana’s Paladin level is lower than mine, and she has it... am I missing something?

  I raised the question to B3.

  “Grand Cross?” She raised an eyebrow. “You can only increase the chance of getting it by helping people through Paladin quests.”

  I see, so I need to help... eh?

  “This isn’t bragging or anything, but I’m quite sure I’ve done a lot of quests where I helped people,” I said.

  “You always run head-first into the most troublesome matters, after all,” Nemesis commented.

  Well... you’re not wrong.

  “I’m aware,” B3 said. “I’m saying that the only people who count are the ones you help in Paladin job quests.”

  “...Paladin job quests?”

  “Yes. Grand Cross has a ‘number of people helped in Paladin job quests’ times 0.5% chance to be acquired when leveling up.”

  I began, “Is that on the...?”

  “No, you won’t find it on the wiki. It’s a conjecture The Lunar Society made, based on their data.”

  “Ohh...”

  Then that was most likely true. Though I didn’t trust them as an organization one bit, I did trust them to have more reliable info than the wiki.

  Anyway... job quests, eh?

  I’d almost forgotten that, in addition to random event quests and adventurers’ guild quests, there were also quests exclusive to certain jobs, managed by the relevant guilds.

  While we were still at the capital, Rook had leveled himself through Pimp job quests, and ended up getting Marilyn.

  I, on the other hand, had become a Paladin after skipping the relevant low-rank jobs, so I’d figured I didn’t have the power most would expect from your usual Paladin, and thus avoided the job quests... only to end up here, with the job maxed-out without me having taken any of them.

  “But I can’t get any more levels,” I said.

  “No need to worry,” said B3. “You can still learn it as long as you keep Paladin as a sub-job. You won’t be barred from taking job quests, either.”

  “What a relief...”

  Then I’ll be able to get Grand Cross without any problems. I guess I should thank B3, the Paladins, and even the eldritch abomination for this.

  Suddenly, a certain thought came to mind. “Hm?” The fact that The Lunar Society had data on this meant that a significant number of them were Paladins.

  Switching to the job required you to fulfill three conditions: to defeat a boss monster (and be responsible for a decent part of the damage dealt), to donate to the church, and to get a recommendation from someone in the knight order. The first two wouldn’t be hard for The Lunar Society, considering they had their own churches, but how did their members get the recommendations?

  Curious, I asked B3 about that.

  “The Lunar Society gets recommendations for free,” she said.

  “Why?!”

  “It’s the result of a deal.”

  According to her, it all went back to the previous war with Dryfe.

  Needless to say, it had been a crushing defeat for Altar. The knight orders had returned completely devastated.

  Many of them, including the venerable commander, had lost their lives. Survivors had been heavily wounded, with some of their lives at risk, others facing a future of living with heavy disabilities even if they made it. If that had happened, many of the knight orders would have simply collapsed.

  That was when the aberration, as though waiting for this, had offered to help them. “If you promise to write recommendations for any Lunar Society members who want knight-related jobs, I’ll heal alllll of you.”

  It was a deal the knights simply couldn’t have refused. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

  Thus, the first princess and the knight representative, Liliana, had accepted the deal.

  Ever since then, the knights, having had their lives saved by the aberration, had had no choice but to write recommendations for any Lunar Society members who wanted them.

  That’s probably a small price to pay to keep their lives, but man, Miss Eldritch sure likes employing dirty methods, I thought. Well, she’s still saving lives, though, so it’s definitely more good than bad.

  “Back to the jobs,” B3 spoke up again. “What job are you planning to take next?”

  “I still haven’t decided, actually.”

  If I took Priest, like Liliana, I’d improve the power of my healing magic. If I wanted to get skills that were useful in the general sense, I’d take jobs from the thief or adventurer groupings.

  Simply picking Knight to learn the relevant sword skills was pretty sound, too.

  Regardless, it would be my second job, so it was time I started taking my build into consideration.

  “Oh, then use this,” B3 said as she reached into her inventory and took something out with a curious flourish. “The Suitable Job Diagnostics Catalog.”

  I’d seen that type of presentation before. It reminded me of Shu taking the same item out.

  Is there some sort of rule that makes it necessary to mimic Doraemon whenever taking these Catalogs out?

  “Well, that’s definitely a useful thing whenever you’re not sure what job to take next,” I said. “I’ll gladly use it.”

  “Do go ahead.”

  I still had the Catalog I’d borrowed from Shu, but since she’d taken hers out, I might as well use hers. Just like the first time, I began answering the questions and diagnosing myself. I was done in about ten minutes, and the job I got suggested was... the low-rank job called “Prism Rider.”

  It was definitely a job I hadn’t considered.

  Also...

  “Did this page even exist before?”

  I could’ve sworn it hadn’t been there when I’d been casually checking the Catalog about two weeks ago.

  “I don’t know it, either,” admitted B3.

  “Not even you know it?”

  That meant it was a job alien even to her... a person with access to The Lunar Society’s database, significantly more knowledgeable than the average player.

  Anyway, I figured I might as well look at the conditions to see what kind of job it was like.

  This was what it said:

  Conditions:

  Possession of a Prism Beast (any kind)

  Horse Riding or Riding skill level 5 or above

  Just like you’d expect from a “Rider” job, it involved, well, Riding. And then there was the other condition, which implied that it was related to Prism Steeds, like Silver. Though it said Prism “Beasts,” so there were probably more than steeds.

  “For a low-rank job, the skill condition is quite harsh,” I said.

  “It’s not unheard of for low-rank jobs to be difficult to acquire,” B3 explained. “Such jobs are quite rare, though. The stats they give aren’t that much different from other low-rank jobs, but they often give unique skills.”

  I see. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of such jobs.

  “Whatever the case, neither of us know enough about it,” said B3. “Let’s log out and check the wiki... no, we’re close to the capital, so let’s see if the DIN knows anything.”

  “All right.”

  And so, we soon arrived at Altea and made
our way to the city’s DIN office.

  They actually had information about the Prism Rider job.

  Or, rather, they’d just gotten it.

  Apparently, the job had been discovered only two days ago, Dendro time — right as I’d been making my way to Torne.

  According to the DIN, ruins of the pre-ancient civilization had been discovered to the north of the capital, in an area called the “Quartierlatin County.”

  When touched by a Master exploring the ruins, a giant crystal there had displayed the conditions to switch to the Prism Rider job.

  The discoverer hadn’t owned a Prism Beast, but one of the other Masters exploring the ruins had, and he’d been able to become a Prism Rider.

  What the job actually did was yet to be verified, but apparently, it had skills that improved the Prism Beasts you were riding.

  “So they discovered a lost job,” said B3.

  The term “lost job” was used for jobs that not a single person had at this point in time, and the conditions for which were lost. Regardless of whether they were low or high-rank, lost jobs didn’t appear on the Catalog.

  The concept of version updates didn’t exist in Infinite Dendrogram — the whole world was already complete as it was. There were probably still many jobs, Superior or otherwise, that had yet to be discovered.

  “Just as you would expect from the conditions, it appears that Prism Rider really is a job focused on Prism Beasts,” B3 said. “And it seems that both originals and replicas work for it.”

  “Originals and replicas?” I raised an eyebrow.