Chapter 41: Clue (2)
Leonel's pupils constricted. To his side, Aina tensed up. It was only then he registered that this person had spoken in English.
"… Who are you?"
"Me?" The old man replied. "I'm a nobody. Just a curious old man. I guess it's not very polite to ask a question without answering one first, so do you mind answering mine now?"
Leonel's gaze narrowed. Something was wrong with this place. He didn't quite understand it, but Force was far more dense here than it should be. In the 1400's, the amount of Fourth Dimensional Force should have been minuscule.
But this wasn't even close to the most important point. Who was this person and how the hell did he know his and Aina's true identity?
The old man sighed. "There's no need to be so tense. Us three will be here together for a long time. Isn't it best if we get to know each other…? I spent all that effort learning that ugly… English, they call it. I'd like for it to not be useless, if possible."
The gray-robed old man slowly stood, pushing a chair that seemed it might collapse at any moment back and grabbing a bulbous wooden cane head.
When he turned to face them, his slumped back straightened with a crack. It was like his formerly frail appearance was just an act. Such a simple action caused the air around him to speed up before settling back down.
The lower half of his face was covered in a gray mustache and beard that swept over his collar bone. However, his upper half wasn't as wrinkled as one might expect. It seemed that if he took the effort to shave, he would look no different from a normal 40 year old man. Even Leonel's own father only seemed to be a bit younger than that.
"I guess we got off on the wrong foot. I believe my name is pronounced … Nicholas, in your English. I can't say I hate this tone of address, though, I prefer the original Nicolas. I'm sure you've heard of me."
Leonel inwardly cocked an eyebrow, though he remained deadpan. There probably were famous Nicolas's in history, but Leonel would be lying if he said he knew who this person was. Was he supposed to know?
Nicolas stretched his limbs. It seemed the cane he held in his hand was just for show.
"… You want to keep us here?"
"Of course. I can't have you ruining my plans."
"Your plans?"
"I might decide to tell you after you can no longer interfere. Won't be long. I'd say, uh…" Nicolas stared at blank space for a while. "… about a month. Probably two just to be safe."
Leonel frowned. He didn't understand, what could possibly be done in two months.
It would probably take at least that long before Charles was officially crowned, but so what? According to the true timeline, that was meant to happen.
Wait, maybe he was thinking about this all wrong. According to history, Paris wasn't captured either. But, it was their hidden quest to reverse that course. In fact, they would be greatly rewarded for it. So maybe the measure they should be measuring their success against is how much they did change as opposed to how much they kept the same?
Leonel's brain spun, he couldn't grapple with the conclusion he needed.
Was it really Charles coronation this Nicolas wanted to ensure?
Just as Leonel's ability was working in overdrive, a subtle shadow appeared by Nicolas' side. However, no matter how subtle it was, Leonel was too alert at this point to miss it. His senses latched onto it instantaneously.
'Huh? Isn't that Joan's ability?'
"Ah, Pierre. You shouldn't be here, if you're gone for too long it could be a problem." Nicolas said casually.
"These Invaders are a danger to you, Sire. I cannot leave them to you alone."
'There was another of them? So it wasn't Joan's ability at all, but rather someone else this whole time…'
Leonel sent a gaze toward Aina. She seemed to look this calm all the time now, he hadn't seen her shy expression for a while. But once again, it seemed that his one sided decisions had put them in danger again.
Nicolas sighed. "You're always too overzealous, Pierre."
"Sire by the hand of God gave me strength. I am simply doing what I can to return what should be returned."
Suddenly, something clicked for Leonel.
'The weird concentration of Force… The month timeline he set… His words to this Pierre…'
Leonel's eyes widened. "Aina, my spear!"
Aina reacted quickly, pulling an impossibly long spear from and impossibly small pocket. Even as she threw it to Leonel in a swift motion, she pulled out two smaller battle axes. Her main ax couldn't fit, however, in order to pretend as though they hadn't taken their weapons with them, she had had no choice but to leave it behind.
"Tsk…" Nicolas frowned. "… How unexpected."
Leonel finally understood what was happening.
A year from now is when Joan's fabulous reign would finally come to close. This concentration of Force was no different from the concentration of the future Earth's. Then, Nicolas warned Pierre that he couldn't come here or else he might be gone for too long.
Leonel was certain. This place no longer had a ten to one time dilation and a month was exactly what would need to pass in order for a year to go by outside! And, he was sure that if he turned around now to attempt to open the wooden door, he might not even find it, let alone open it.
Did this make Joan an ally? No. Leonel had already settled his heart into killing her.
This might confuse others. A month was about the time it would take a year to pass in the world outside that latched wooden door. And, a year would be what it took for Joan to be captured by the English and then executed. So, why was Leonel in such a hurry? If he planned to kill her anyway, why was he in such a rush?
It was because Leonel had realized something. What mattered in these Zone quests wasn't the end results, but rather the process.
Why were there side quests to kill such-and-such number of enemies? Why was the main quest to kill a woman who had already been killed later anyway? Why was the hidden quest to recapture a city France would eventually recapture in the future? Everyone knew that Paris had been a part of France up until the 21st century, so obviously they had taken it back at some point…
It was then it all clicked for Leonel. It wasn't just what they did that mattered, but when they did it as well. These Sub-Dimensional Zones were ticking time bombs!
"Don't hold anything back." Leonel said with a fierce light in his eyes. "Go all out."
Leonel flashed forward, taking control of the vanguard with Aina holding her twin axes to his back. All he had on his mind was taking them down and escaping this place before Joan could leave to lay siege to Paris for the first time.
Whatever it was that happened during that first siege which ended in her first failure, had set in motion a history that was detrimental to their future.
The hidden quest wasn't just a completion addicts dream… Just like Leonel thought, this wasn't a game. Everything had a purpose. The hidden quest was a clue!