NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 53
Chapter 53: Port City of Ehrenfer – 2
—–CROW—–
“Access Code! Air Striker!”
Perhaps due to his excitement, Luther shouted a little louder than intended, but he didn’t mind.
His entire mind was focused on the vehicle before him.
“Oh…!”
A pure white machine created by the fusion of the Chain X’s body, the drone, the backpack, and the shield.
Overall, it resembled a long motorcycle, but where the wheels should have been were propulsion units for hovering and circular propellers.
“It looks like something out of sci-fi.”
More specifically, it resembled a speeder bike from Star Wars.
The long, slender body gave it that exact feeling.
“[Do you like it?]”
“I like it. Oh, I like it. I like it a lot.”
As Luther smiled brightly like a child who had received a toy, Integra smiled pleasantly as well.
“[Then try it out.]”
“O-okay.”
Luther had always been interested in this kind of vehicle, even in reality.
Unconsciously breathing heavily, Luther carefully mounted the Air Striker.
“Air Striker, I… will breathe life into you.”
“[What?]”
“Nothing, just something like that.”
“[I’ll respect your tastes, but it’s a bit… much.]”
“[And Master, this is also me, you know?]”
“[Since it’s our first time, please be gentle. Okay?]”
As usual, Integra acted cutely to fluster Luther, but this time his reaction was different.
He nodded with a very serious expression.
“Okay, Integra. Leave it to me.”
“[Huh?]”
Integra asked back in surprise, but Luther, either unwilling to answer or intending to show her through action, started the Air Striker.
*Vroom!*
“Good.”
Grinning at the engine sound, Luther, despite never having been taught how to operate it, began to move the Air Striker as naturally as if he rode it every day.
“I think I get it. It’s similar to a motorcycle. No, more like a jet ski?”
“[M-Master?]”
The atmosphere was different from Luther’s usual demeanor.
His muttering, his gaze, his concentration – it was all different.
It was like watching an expert in a particular field.
And at that moment…
“Let’s go! Air Striker!”
“[Eek?!]”
The Air Striker suddenly accelerated and soared high into the sky.
“[M-Master! It’s dangerous!]”
“[Reduce your speed! And altitude!]”
But it was no use.
Luther continued to fly through the sky at top speed.
“[Master!]”
This was dangerous.
Even in a seemingly empty sky, there were air currents.
If he flew recklessly at nearly 170 km/h like this, there would definitely be a problem—
“[—Not?]”
That’s right.
Despite flying at top speed, she couldn’t feel any sense of danger.
It felt natural.
Like the flow of water.
As if Luther was the Air Striker, and the Air Striker was Luther.
“[W-wait. Wasn’t this your first time today?]”
“[Why, why are you so good?!]”
No, it was beyond just being good; he was proficient.
It was no exaggeration to call it the skill of a master.
Seeing Luther perfectly execute precise maneuvers he had never been taught was almost mesmerizing.
And his face behind the visor…
Luther’s gaze, more serious than usual, made Integra’s heart pound.
But only for a moment.
Staring blankly at Luther, Integra suddenly cried out.
“[Master! Stop!]”
“[Further flight is impossible!]”
“[We’re running out of energy!]”
They had only flown for about three minutes, but it was a clear fact.
So Luther, once again with surprising naturalness, decreased altitude and speed, landing smoothly on the ground.
“Phew—”
As Luther took off his visor like a motorcycle helmet and exhaled, Integra unconsciously closed her mouth and watched him.
He looked strangely cool today.
“[No, this isn’t the time to be admiring him.]”
Now that they were on the ground, she had to warn him about the dangerous flight—
“[—But it wasn’t really that dangerous…?]”
There was a clear difference in danger between a sports car traveling at 170 km/h and a motorcycle traveling at the same speed.
So she had to warn him not to do it again, but Luther’s flight had been too perfect to scold him.
“[Master, how did you do that?]”
“[Was there an Air Striker in Star Savior?]”
At Integra’s question, Luther smiled gently and shook his head slightly.
“No, not really. It’s just that if it’s a vehicle, there are some commonalities. All roads lead to Rome, so to speak.”
“[That’s a comment that makes me curious about Master’s past profession.]”
“[Were you some kind of professional racer?]”
“Well, more importantly, Integra, isn’t the flight time too short?”
Only three minutes.
At Luther’s point, Integra frowned deeply and replied.
“[That’s Master’s fault.]”
“[If you keep flying at top speed, the energy consumption will be incredibly high, won’t it?]”
“[At normal cruising speed, you could have easily flown for at least 30 minutes.]”
“That’s still short.”
Only 30 minutes even at cruising speed.
“[Sigh, but it can’t be helped.]”
“[Master is too big and heavy for frail little me to support.]”
Luther was close to 190 cm tall, and thanks to the various bracelets containing nanoparticles, his usual weight was well over 100 kg.
Considering the weight of the Air Striker itself, it was close to 150 kg, so Integra wasn’t exaggerating.
“[Currently, I can only use Astra’s Dragon Heart for the Air Striker.]”
“[If you get another Dragonkin’s Dragon Heart, I can use Twin Drive, which will allow for much longer operation.]”
“[The Buster Cannon’s power will also increase.]”
“Hmm.”
It was a tempting proposition.
A Dragonkin’s Dragon Heart.
He was already expecting more Dragonkin and powerful Dragon Lords to appear in the Southern arc than in the Western arc.
‘But talking about it like this makes it sound villainous.’
Hunting Dragonkin and stealing their Dragon Hearts.
‘Well… it’s better than trembling in fear of Hecatonchires’ Dragonkin.’
And it wasn’t like he could just hunt them whenever he wanted.
Hecatonchires’ Dragonkin were not weak.
If he let his guard down, he would be the one hunted.
“[Anyway, thanks to Master, we were able to travel quickly.]”
“[I think we’ll arrive at the wharf soon.]”
It had only been about three minutes of flight, but thanks to consistently flying at 170 km/h, they had covered a considerable distance.
Moreover, since it was a straight-line flight through the air, they had saved both time and distance compared to traveling on foot.
Luther separated the Air Striker, deactivated his nanosuit, and started walking towards the wharf.
“[If we use the Agnes River waterway, we should arrive at the port city of Ehrenfer, located at the southern end of the West, within two days.]”
“[You said that the port city of Ehrenfer is where ‘Paladin Ash,’ the protagonist of the Southern arc, first appears, right?]”
“Yes, on a ship, to be precise.”
The first scene of the Southern arc was Ash standing on the deck of a ship bound for the Malkuth Kingdom, gazing at the blue sea.
“[What kind of person is Ash?]”
At Integra’s question, Luther stopped walking for a moment and searched his memories.
Unlike Annerose, a bright and cheerful girl who reminded him of the sun, Ash, as her name “remaining ashes” suggested, was a somewhat dark and stern woman.
“First…”
“[First?]”
“She’s beautiful.”
“[Yes, yes, of course.]”
“[She’s the protagonist, after all.]”
As Integra pouted and replied in a sullen voice, Luther chuckled and stroked the drone attached to his right arm like a watch.
“I’m kidding. Although it’s true that Ash is beautiful.”
Unlike Annerose, who had bright blonde hair reminiscent of the sun, Ash had very dark hair.
Similar to Karen’s, perhaps?
“She has a calm and composed personality. She doesn’t show her emotions much.”
“[Is she bad-tempered?]”
“No, she’s actually very kind. You know, the type who seems tough on the outside but is warm on the inside…”
“[I think I understand.]”
A calm, cool beauty character.
Since Annerose was a cheerful girl, it was a fitting contrast.
“Oh, and there’s also a setting where she was raised in a monastery until she was 17, so she’s a bit naive about the world.”
“[You said her occupation is a paladin?]”
“Yeah, so she usually wears a nun’s habit. And… although it’s not revealed early in the Southern arc, she’s actually one of the fourteen Executors, the secret weapons of the ‘Seven Gods’ Church. She possesses a ‘Stigma.'”
“[A Stigma?]”
“It’s, uh, one of the settings from Dragon Hunter Origin. Those with Stigmas can use powerful holy powers, and Ash was born with one. That’s why she became an Executor at such a young age.”
“[Then she must be very strong?]”
“[Is she a carry character?]”
“No, not really… She’s not that strong right now.”
Ash had only been an Executor for a year.
Moreover, she became an Executor due to her highly regarded Stigma, so one couldn’t expect tremendous combat power from her immediately.
“Still, as befits the protagonist of the Southern arc, she has immense potential and grows very quickly.”
“[Hmm, I see.]”
“[I think we should set aside some time to hear about the setting.]”
“[Master, we’ve arrived at the wharf.]”
Indeed, the smell of water was strong.
A large wharf where the Agnes River, as wide as the sea, and relatively small boats gathered.
And several buildings built to accommodate the people coming and going.
At a glance, there were dozens of people walking around the wharf.
“Let’s check the boat schedule.”
“[It looks like there’s a ticket office over there.]”
In the original story, the wharf had been destroyed along with the West, so it was a place where corpses littered the ground, not people. But now, the situation was completely different.
Inside the building, accessed through saloon-style doors like something out of a Western movie, was a clean ticket office and a wide platform where people waiting for the boat were gathered.
“[Let’s get the tickets first.]”
As Integra suggested, Luther approached the ticket office and purchased tickets for the boat heading to the port city of Ehrenfer.
“[The waiting time is two hours.]”
“[By the way, Master, I have a question.]”
Judging by her tone, it seemed like she wasn’t genuinely curious but just wanted to chat to pass the time.
So Luther asked lightly,
“What is it?”
“[It’s about Ash.]”
“[How did Annerose and Ash become friends in the original story?]”
“[Based on what you’ve said, their personalities seem quite different, so it wouldn’t have been easy.]”
“Well… as you saw, Annerose has a really good personality, right? She’s very friendly. So Annerose kept talking to her… and they became friends.”
“[It seems like you’ve omitted a lot of the process?]”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
“[That’s true, but?]”
At Integra’s prompting, Luther furrowed his brow hesitantly, then said with a resigned expression,
“Actually, it wasn’t properly explained in the original story either.”
“[What?]”
“It’s, how should I put it… The scene where Annerose talks to Ash is shown, but after that, it just says, ‘They talked for hours. They seem to have become close,’ and glosses over it…”
Trailing off, Luther glanced at mini-Integra sitting on his shoulder. As expected, Integra’s eyes turned cold as she said,
“[Truly a crappy game.]”
“[It’s a crappy game.]”
“[Why did Master have to play such a cra—]”
That was all.
Suddenly stopping mid-sentence, Integra spoke in a low voice.
“[Master, look at the platform.]”
Following Integra’s voice, Luther’s eyes widened.
An unexpected person was sitting on the platform.
“Ash?”
Yes.
It was none other than Paladin Ash, the protagonist of the Southern arc and one of the Seven Gods’ Church’s Executors, sitting at the corner of the platform, looking down at a Go board.
“[We’ve encountered Ash, whom we expected to meet in Ehrenfer.]”
“[Judging from the circumstances, it’s highly likely she’s also headed to Ehrenfer.]”
Luther nodded at Integra’s words but didn’t approach Ash immediately.
Considering Ash’s personality, he thought it would be unwise to approach her rashly.
‘I need at least one topic of conversation.’
Something that Ash would be interested in, something they could talk about for a while, even if not for hours like with Annerose.
Luther crossed his arms and fell into thought.
He felt like he could come up with a good topic if he thought about the story of Dragon Hunter Origin.
‘Wait a minute.’
Looking back at the platform where Ash was sitting, Luther focused not on Ash in her black nun’s habit, but on the Go board in front of her.
Ash was playing Go alone, without an opponent, and her gaze at the board was very serious.
‘Ash likes Go.’
There was a setting where Ash, who had grown up in a monastery with little entertainment for 17 years, naturally became interested in Go, a game favored by the elderly monks.
‘It was emphasized several times in the original story.’
However, since neither Annerose nor the protagonists of the Eastern and Northern arcs, Radian and Reinhardt, knew how to play Go, there weren’t many scenes of actually playing the game.
‘But there were quite a few minor scenes related to it.’
Ash buying a book of Go records at a bookstore, or Ash happily talking about famous Go players while drunk.
‘Go. Yes, Go. Can I use Go somehow?’
But no matter how much he thought about it, it seemed impossible.
All Luther knew about Go were the basic rules: that it was played with black and white stones, and the player who made more territory won.
So the plan of becoming friends with Ash through Go was—
‘Wait.’
Go.
Go.
Go?
“[Master?]”
Support AI Integra.
AI.
AI.
AI and Go.
“[Master, why are you smiling so mischievously?]”
“[M… Master?]”
Integra frowned and tilted her head, but Luther’s mischievous smile didn’t fade.
With a smile plastered across his face, he looked back at Ash.
—–CROW—–
#Only READ at DarkstarTranslations