Chương 43: “The Pug and I (1)”

"Aha." His voice was still gentle.

"Found you, Moon." Celestia wasn't sure she was in danger yet, but she wasn't willing to wait. Most of those who had access to the underground auction were unsavory people. Immediately, she threw out a slap. Noblesse Oblitère. Pah! The slap connected with his cheek, with the sound filling the small interior of the carriage, and Noah's head turned to the side from the impact. But that was all. His face had simply turned and nothing else happened. Her S-rank skill had left nothing but a faint red mark on his face.

'It didn't work?!' Noah turned his head back to face her, "My," he said.

"Aren't you quite a feisty one?" Celestia's pulse spiked. She opened her mouth toward the front of the carriage where the driver sat.

"Hel—!" However, Noah moved forward and his hand closed over her mouth before she could finish. His palm pressed firmly against her lips and jaw, fingers curling around the side of her face, sealing the sound inside. With his other hand, he braced against the seat beside her to keep his balance in the swaying carriage. In retaliation, Celestia bit down and her teeth sank into the flesh of his hand. Wet iron flooded her mouth and ran warm down her chin.

When she realized that he didn't react, she ground her teeth harder and the taste of blood thickened. Noah didn't pull away. The smile stayed on his face, even as the blood seeped steadily between her teeth and the color drained slightly from his fingers.

"I thought you were enamored by me," he said, his tone no different from when he'd been discussing her injuries minutes ago, "when you didn't let that maid come with us." Celestia glared at him. Her free hand found the fan at her side, and her fingers curled around its base. He continued, "But that wasn't the case from what I could tell during our conversation just now." Celestia pulled the fan free and when Noah saw this, he assumed it to be something akin to an artifact.

He immediately released his hand and tried to pull it away. When Celestia felt him do this, she released her bite. Blood dripped from the wound between his thumb and forefinger. The teeth marks were deep enough that she could see the torn flesh. He sat back against his seat and rested the injured hand on his knee, letting it bleed openly. Celestia's mouth was still dirty with it, smeared across her lips and chin. He looked at his hand for a moment, turning it over once, then looked back at her.

"You need not worry," he said.

"I'm not brave enough to do something to the daughter of Duke Armond von Reingarde yet. There are far too many accounts of my presence here today. Your maid, your staff, and maybe a few witnesses on the street." He tilted his head.

"If anything were to happen to you tonight, it would take the Duke less than a day to behead me." Celestia took out a small napkin and wiped her mouth with it, the blood smeared across the fabric. However, she still kept the fan in her other hand.

"And?" she said.

"What do you plan to do now?" Noah raised his injured hand, turning it so she could see the full extent of the bite.

"I'd consider this a part of the repayment for the debt I've incurred from Duke Reingarde." He lowered it.

"Alongside the elemental egg you took from me, of course."

"Debt?"

"The Reingarde territory started a generous program a few months ago," Noah said, leaning back in his seat.

"A feeding initiative that offered freely to those with nothing. The poorest people in the duchy were the first to benefit. Street children. Beggars. The elderly who had been left to fend for themselves." His eyes returned to hers.

"Many of our flock was saved."

"Then that debt should be paid to me," Celestia said.

"Hm?" Noah tilted his head. He was quiet for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly as he pondered over those words. The carriage swayed as it rounded a bend in the mountain road. Then he snapped his fingers with his uninjured hand.

"Ah!" The sound was bright.

"The rumors were truer than I thought." He leaned forward slightly. The smile that was permanently plastered on his face had somehow changed. It was warmer now, and there was curiosity behind it.

"Fine," he said.

"There's a bit more I need to do to fully repay the debt. What do you require of me, princess?" Celestia first finished cleaning her face. She used the small mirror from her belongings to check, tilting it to make sure she hadn't missed anything. A faint smear near her jaw remained. She wiped it, checked again, and was finally satisfied. She opened the carriage window and threw the bloodied napkin out into the dark. The cold night air rushed in briefly before she pulled the window shut again.

She looked at Noah again. His hand was still bleeding, resting on his knee with no apparent urgency to heal it. His posture was relaxed, his expression pleasant, and his face caught the lamplight in a way that made him look even more alluring than before; it was what Martha had been getting at earlier. Most women would have trouble thinking clearly sitting across from someone like him. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. However, Celestia was not most women.

"Answer a few of my questions," she said. Noah raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm. That's an expensive ask." He held up a single finger with his uninjured hand.

"I'll answer just one before we reach the academy." Celestia's eyes narrowed. One question was far too few for the number of things she needed to know. Noah caught the look and shrugged. His shoulders rose and fell in a motion that said plainly: take it or leave it. She glanced out the window. The mountain road was already thinning as the trees gave way to the approach toward the academy gates. At the pace the carriage was moving, she had minutes at best. He was right.

There was only enough time for one question to be properly answered. She ran through the options in her head. There were too many unknowns and too little information to narrow them down effectively. His connection to the auction. Why Noblesse Oblitère hadn't worked. Each question would open a thread she couldn't follow up on tonight, and a half-answered question was worse than an unanswered one. Celestia settled on one that was extremely basic.

"Who are you?" Noah's expression changed. It was the first time his composure had truly broken. The easy, carefree smile dropped from his face, and what replaced it was one that seemed threatening. His eyes locked onto hers.

"You actually know more than you let on?" His voice sounded low. The interior of the carriage was very quiet for a moment. Then, just as quickly, the tension left Noah's face. The smile returned. He straightened in his seat and cleared his throat twice.

"Ehem. Ehem." He raised his chin slightly.

"I can't bear to break a promise with a fine maiden such as yourself, so I'll tell you." He held up a hand.

"But this is top-secret information that no one outside the upper ranks of the Church of Light knows about. There are serious consequences if you go about spreading—""Stop dragging it out and answer," Celestia said. Noah paused. Then he tilted his head and asked, "Do you know about the Demon Race's prophecy?"

"What do you mean?" Celestia knew about the prophecy, after all she had read it in the original story, but Noah didn't need to know that.

"The attack on Summit a few weeks ago happened because the Demon Race received a prophecy." He paused for a little bit for flair and dramatization."'The Demon King's revival will be thwarted by a hero from the new generation,' is what they received." Celestia said nothing as she let him continue.

"Do you understand now?" Noah asked. She didn't understand at all. What did the prophecy have to do with who he was? Noah watched her face for a moment, which was showing confusion. Then he leaned forward in his seat. His expression changed again. The composed, pleasant mask he had worn all evening gave way to something younger. His eyes widened slightly and a grin spread across his face, the kind that belonged to a child who had been holding onto a secret for far too long and could no longer stand it.

He brought his face close to hers and whispered, "I'm the hero." * The narrative had changed again. Celestia sat on her bed with her hands clutching her head. The carriage had dropped her off at the dormitory just moments ago, and she had walked back to her room in silence. When Noah had left with the carriage, he bowed politely as though the last twenty minutes hadn't happened. —'I'm the hero.' She was confused. The Church of Light and Noah were both things that should never have appeared in the story.

Was Noah a second hero? A fake? They had no presence in the original novel and there weren't any mentions as far as she could recall, and yet here they were, embedded in this world as though they had always existed. Was it because of her? Had she caused this by changing things? The feeding program. The business ventures… which thread had she pulled since arriving in this world that had triggered this? Where? Where had she gone wrong, if that was the case? She pressed her palms against her temples.

The questions looped in her head without answers. A sound from across the room interrupted her. A soft, wet snort, followed by the faint scratch of claws on metal. Celestia lowered her hands and looked at the carrier sitting on the floor near her desk. Sir Ozy was awake. The pug sat upright inside the cage, his enormous eyes fixed on her through the grated door.

"What?" she said. Sir Ozy tilted his head. His bulging eyes blinked once.

"Summoner," he said, "What aileth thee? Is it because of the slap thou gavest that noble priest earlier?" Celestia stared at him. It was a strange thing. Sir Ozy was, funnily enough, the only creature in this world she could confide in. No one else could understand him. His voice, as far as anyone around her was concerned, was nothing but barking and snorting. Anything she said to him stayed between them. But something else in his words had caught her attention. Noble priest?

"Why do you call him a noble?" she said. Sir Ozy's stubby tail twitched.

"Thou art troubled because thy skill did not work on him. Is that not so?" Celestia went still.

"How do you know about that?"

"Is that not because he doth view his station to be above thine own?" Sir Ozy said it plainly, as though stating something obvious. Celestia said nothing. Sir Ozy moved inside the carrier, his claws clicking against the metal floor as he repositioned himself.

"I am well-aware of this so-called status ye hoomans speak of. Numbers and letters and ranks, all manner of foolish measurements." He snorted.

"But wherefore dost thou ground thyself in such things? A noble doth not exert dominion o'er others through numbers. A noble exerteth their existence above others." He paused to let out a yawn.

"Ye hoomans care too much for platitudes and materialistic errs. Thou talliest thy worth upon ledgers and certificates as though the sum of a life could be writ in ink." His voice dropped lower.

"'Tis not so. A noble is one that liveth and breatheth a purpose. Naught more, naught less." Celestia's hands had lowered from her head. She was looking at the pug properly now. Sir Ozy continued.

"A farmer is no less a noble than one who ruleth kingdoms."

"A farmer?" Celestia repeated.

"Ay," Sir Ozy said.

"A farmer doth tend his land as a lord tendeth his domain. He riseth ere the sun and toileth until it setteth. He guardeth the soil that feedeth his people, and when drought or blight doth threaten, he standeth against it with naught but his hands and his will. His land is his charge, his crop is his people's lifeblood, and he doth protect both with everything he hath." The pug lifted his chin.

"Tell me, summoner, how is that not noble?" The room was quiet. Through the dormitory window, the distant sounds of wind drifted in.

"And thou," Sir Ozy said, "summoner who is named Celestia von Reingarde. Thou who dost dwell in thy second life." Celestia's breath felt like it was caught in her throat. How…? Sir Ozy's eyes stared at her through the grated door of the carrier. There was no mockery in them, nor any of the theatrical bluster he usually wore.

"What dost thou live for?" he asked.

"What is thy noble purpose in this world?"