Chapter 392: The All-Talented Edelweiss!
The first round of the Seven Star Sword Art Festival came to an end.
Luke did not watch the remaining matches because he spent the entire time walking around with Edelweiss.
Once it grew late, the two found somewhere to eat dinner before returning to the hotel.
After reaching their room, Edelweiss immediately entered the bathroom.
She wanted to wash away the fatigue of the day, as well as clean up after all the earlier commotion.
Although she had gradually gotten used to it throughout the day, she still felt uncomfortable. Edelweiss had always cared deeply about cleanliness.
The hotel had a public indoor hot spring specifically for competitors, which should have been the best choice for relieving fatigue.
However, neither Luke nor Edelweiss planned to use it.
Although the bathroom inside their room was small, it offered far more privacy than the public hot spring. Luke followed Edelweiss inside without hesitation. The two of them bathed together, taking their time to wash away the fatigue of the day.
...
After some time, the two finally finished washing and lay on the bed, chatting together.
After talking casually for a while, Edelweiss suddenly looked at Luke with some hesitation.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing that she wanted to say something but held back, Luke pulled her into his arms and asked softly.
"…A-Actually, I wanted to talk about Amane. Shinomiya Amane."
Edelweiss had thought about it for a long time.
Naturally, she had heard the phone call Kiriko made to Luke earlier that day.
Luke had made no attempt to hide it, so Edelweiss, who had been holding his hand and leaning against him, heard every word.
Although they had not spent that much time together, Edelweiss had already gained a general understanding of her lover's personality.
If Shinomiya Amane's actions had truly angered him, she had no doubt Luke might kill Amane with a single strike during tomorrow's match.
The Seven Star Sword Art Festival allowed competitors to die during matches. This rule was public knowledge.
Even if Luke killed Amane, he would not be punished. Even though the public did not know Amane belonged to Rebellion, they could not condemn Luke for what happened in the arena.
Edelweiss did not know whether Luke was angry, but she hoped he could spare Amane.
Because…
"Back then… I was the one who introduced him to Rebellion."
Edelweiss's words greatly surprised Luke.
He did not care much about Shinomiya Amane, but he was surprised that Edelweiss had personally introduced someone to Rebellion.
"I thought you didn't particularly like that organization."
"I truly don't like that criminal organization."
Edelweiss herself sounded somewhat helpless.
"Even though I dislike it, I have to admit that such organization needs to exist."
"Many people in Rebellion were forced to join. It is the only place in the world capable of giving them somewhere to belong."
"Even when the entire world was pursuing me, Rebellion helped me find places where I could live without being disturbed."
"I dislike the organization's goals, methods, and many of its members, but I can't deny that it has helped many people who had nowhere else to go."
"Alice was one of them, and so was Amane."
When she mentioned Amane, Edelweiss could not help sighing.
Nameless Glory was a terrifying ability capable of easily destroying a person's life.
And among the people whose lives it had destroyed was Amane himself.
"I only met Amane by chance, and at the time… he could no longer live in ordinary society."
"I couldn't change him or save him, so I had no choice but to introduce him to Rebellion."
"At the very least, it gave him somewhere to stay."
Although Edelweiss had rich experiences and a firm will, she rarely interacted with people and did not know how to guide someone emotionally.
There were still people in Rebellion who retained some kindness, so Edelweiss could only leave Amane in their care.
"Don't you possess the power of a Desperado?"
"Shinomiya Amane's ability is certainly impressive, but a Desperado's ability to interfere with fate and causality should surpass his."
Luke looked at Edelweiss in confusion.
He had no interest in Amane's past, but he was interested in Edelweiss's.
Since she was willing to speak, Luke was naturally willing to listen.
However, he still needed to voice what puzzled him.
"A Desperado who has reached your current level should theoretically be capable of achieving something similar to his ability."
"In fact, the nature of your power should be even greater."
"If his power caused his tragedy, wouldn't destroying that power be the simplest solution?"
"If I had done that, it might have caused even more serious consequences."
Edelweiss let out a faint sigh.
She buried her head against Luke's chest and continued in a muffled voice.
"If I used a similar power to defeat his ability, it might only make him believe even more strongly that his ability is invincible."
Edelweiss rarely encountered things she was powerless to resolve.
She was a true all-round genius.
Luke's talents reached the absolute peak in certain areas while varying greatly in others, but Edelweiss's talents were evenly extraordinary in every field.
Her talent in swordsmanship was immense, but even if she had trained with a staff instead, she would still have become just as powerful as she was now.
It was not limited to combat.
Mana control, the Desperado realm, physical fitness, baking desserts, cooking, cleaning, singing, or dancing—if she wanted to learn something, nothing could stop her from reaching the peak.
Even her ability, Contract, was the same.
If she had bothered to develop it more deeply, she could have achieved countless unbelievable things with it.
Even her mana capacity was exceptional.
Although it was far beneath Stella's, it still greatly surpassed the standards of an ordinary A-rank.
Someone like Edelweiss rarely found herself without a solution.
The words 'I can't do it' had almost never appeared throughout her life.
However, she could not resolve the problem of Shinomiya Amane.
Without using her Desperado power, even Edelweiss could not ignore the threat posed by his ability.
Yet once she used that power, defeating him would become meaningless.
Unless Amane realized that the ability which ruined his life was not all-powerful, it would be impossible to pull his broken heart back from the abyss.
Ordinary people could not do it.
Blazers could not do it.
Even Desperados could not do it.
However, Edelweiss knew there was one person who could.
Luke Ashburn—the man whom even Edelweiss, a Desperado standing at the summit of the world, could not easily influence when she wielded the power of fate.
The two had already tested a battle involving Desperado power while living together on Sword Peak.
That was when they discovered that causality and fate could not easily interfere with Luke.
…
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