Antagonist Protection Service

Following my request, Ina blinked.

"...Huh? O-oh, wait, it's that kind of Holy Sword...? Really??"

"Yes. That's why I wanted you to teach me earlier."

That actually wasn't the reason at all.

Previously, I just wanted to gather some knowledge that might become useful to me in the future, but now that I had revealed an intent to wield the Holy Sword to my family, I thought it might be worth consulting an expert on how exactly it worked.

Throughout the entire time in Drakon-Rasa, I never used it once; despite carrying it around with me everywhere I went, I was just as clueless in how to use it as when I first acquired it.

If there was one thing that was fortunate about this situation, it was that Ina worked as a professional scriptwriter, so she knew a whole lot about stories and fictional writing.

Not only that, but she also held a whole wealth of knowledge regarding various forms of storytelling that I had no experience with, and used her obsession with it as an excuse to further her own writing skill by absorbing inspiration through consumption.

Disregarding everything else, she was good at her job, and for that, I had to give her at least a little credit.

Although, considering how much of a degen she was, I might have to take that credit back immediately.

Maybe I'll give it back if she can use that degeneracy to help me out.

"You know a lot about this kind of stuff, so I thought you could help me."

"Uh, I can't speak for 'knowing a lot about it', but I can definitely try to help you figure some things out, if that's what you need...?"

That would probably be good enough.

I didn't think I'd be using the Holy Sword that much anyway―since the Villainous Blade had anti-Protagonist properties, it would be infinitely more useful in Contracts now that it had obtained the form of a proper sword. That is, if I ever find found myself in a situation where I needed a sword over a gun.

The only use I could really imagine for the Holy Sword was if I ever encountered something like an undead opponent, or if I ever needed a back-up weapon that wasn't the Villainous Blade.

Anyway, as for what 'needed figuring out' in relation to the Holy Sword, there wasn't a whole lot I was personally concerned about to be honest.

If I could wield it without an issue in battle, then whenever I learn to use a sword in the future, that's probably all the 'figuring out' I'll need.

It was, at the end of a day, a sword.

To figure that much out, all you need to do is swing it around and you get the idea.

Of course, whether or not it possessed any hidden abilities would undoubtedly be preferable to find out earlier on, and if I recalled the description of the Holy Sword, there was one thing in particular that stood out to me.

"―Apparently it's got some kind of Spirit sealed inside it. Do you know what that means?"

Asking that nonchalantly, I looked over to Ina.

"Oh! Wait, are you sayin' it's an Ego Item?"

"Hm? How'd you guess that?"

"Ah, really?!"

"..."

We both seemed to widen our eyes at each other before convening our gazes on the Holy Sword in my hand.

Her abundance of knowledge was really something impressive, but I couldn't tell if that was a good or a bad thing.

Well, considering that it was related to my job, I guess I shouldn't complain too much.

❖─────☆☆☆☆☆─────❖

With the Holy Sword placed down on the dinner table over a cloth, Ina pointed at the dull jewel in the core of the blade.

"You see this jewel in the base here, above the hilt? This must be where the Spirit is sealed."

"Right. And how'd you know that?"

"I don't. But you aren't lying about it, are you? If it's real, the Spirit is probably an ancient Hero's soul or something. Anyway, once the Spirit is awakened, it should also unlock new abilities for you as the wielder."

"Oh, such as?"

"Such as, uhh... well, being able to telepathically communicate with the Spirit living in the sword, for starters? There are a ton of different things it might be able to do, so predicting what kinds of abilities will be acquired is impossible."

Her level of knowledge was, to a layman like me, astounding. In fact, if decadence was the battlefield, could she even be beat? For a moment, I seriously wondered about such a thing.

Either way, it was absolutely a plus to find out that awakening the Sealed Spirit might also make me stronger too. I wasn't so sure about the 'communicating with the Spirit' part, but that was something I could deal with when the time came.

"Oh, are you finally realising just how unequivocally wonderful of a sister I am?"

"Now hold on, I don't know about that."

Seeing my unspoken contemplation, perhaps Ina thought I was speechless at her expertise, and to be honest, such presumptuousness wasn't totally wrong. It's good to see that not all of her socially frowned upon activities are completely wasteful.

...Admittedly, she wasn't nearly as bad as I keep making her out to be.

I would never say that to her face, though. Her excessive ego needs to be kept in check somehow, so it can only be blamed on herself.

"But, thanks. It's a bit helpful."

"Ahaha, really...? Well, it's only natural for a big sister to help her precious little bro out, right...? I've got lots more stored in this big ol' noggin of mine, okay? So you can keep on thanking me~"

Hearing but a single word of gratitude seemed to be enough to melt her brain, making her laugh abashedly and knock her head a couple times.

Unfortunately, her usefulness quickly proved itself limited.

"Do you know how to awaken the Spirit?"

"Oh, that...? Pft, yeah, sure. Easy, actually. So, first of all, you have to, uh. Well... Y-yeah, I know it...? I can... possibly, figure it out... with some time."

"So you don't know."

"Ehh, you don't know that..."

"..."

"...I don't know."

Seeing her immediately concede, I laughed.

"You folded so quickly."

"It's difficult, okay! There are so many different ways that sleeping or sealed Spirits could be awakened, it's impossible to just know exactly what to do for this specific one!"

"That's fine. I don't expect you to have the answer to everything. I just wanted to ask in case you might know."

It can't be denied that she lifted my expectations with her previous display of knowledge on the subject, but I still wasn't disappointed that she didn't know.

Even if it's Ina, it's not good to just assume that she'll know the answer to all of my questio--

"No, no! Look here! Here! I'm sure these engravings have something to do with it! Is this a language that even exists? If it is, and we can translate it, then it might be possible to figure out what we need to do to awaken the Spirit! Ah ah, that's right! Y'see? The engravings and the jewel, which are connected to each other, are both dimmer than the rest of the blade! Right?! So it follows that if we can figure these engravings out, everything will light up with a big flash, and the Spirit will awaken...! Do you get it?!"

Tracing her finger lightly over the mysterious engravings in the blade, Ina yelled both at me and seemingly herself, almost without end.

When she finally did stop, a sigh could be heard from elsewhere in the room.

"Ina, my god, shut up will you? Your brother isn't the only one who's hearing will go if you keep on yapping so loud like that."

"Ah... sorry."

'You tell her.'

"...Anyway, I think I get it."

Setting aside the admonishment from Dad, her argument certainly seemed logically sound to me.

However, in the end, it did come to the same conclusion that the most important part―that is, the awakening of the Sealed Spirit―was not something we had any clue of how to go about accomplishing.

After all, the runic language on the blade was not a language originating from Earth, and I could assert that with certainty. Ina seemed to note that, too.

Needless to say, the Librarian also had no more of an idea than she did all those months ago. Thus, as we had no starting point and no clues to go off, I decided to just push this matter aside for now.

'Since it's a Spirit, I wonder if it has something to do with the Spiritual Synergism thing...'

Either way, whenever I figured something out, I could always return to it later.

Thereafter, while I was doing my best to absorb as much information and knowledge regarding the fantasy genre from Ina as possible, enough time had passed for another family arrival.

Walking through the front door, he entered my sight: A kid with dark hair, streaks of dirt blonde interlaced throughout, and jade green eyes just like my own.

"Welcome home, Gil~"

"Hey, Gilly! Look who's home today~!"

Sporting a smart, blue school uniform and an indistinct expression on his face, Gil 'The Youngest' Valentine walked through the front door. Being immediately met with a cheery welcome from Ina, his eyes visibly widened upon landing a gaze on my figure, giving a rather awkward greeting thereafter.

"Oh...! H-hi..."

Seeing my little brother for the first time in almost an entire half-year, I flashed a smile.

"Been a while, right? How you doing?"

Before he even had a chance to respond to my question of genuine concern, however, the eldest interjected.

"Oi, Gilly, check this out―this cocky brother of ours is going to Antarctica, yeah? Heh. He thinks he's all big and strong now, but little does he know... Do you wanna make bets on how long it'll take for him to wimp out and scurry back home?"

"Want me to drag you there with me?"

"...What?"

Watching Ina pat my shoulder roughly and abruptly spit out something like that, Gil turned his puzzled gaze to me as if asking for an explanation.

"Ah, I've Awakened, Gil. Look. Sword."

Putting it as candidly as possible, I raised the Holy Sword in one hand so he could see.

Once again, his brows shot up, and his eyes widened even further than before.

And, once again, elaboration was given.