Chapter 143

PHA – Chapter 143 – Stop Talking About the Hero’s Sword and Panties

After some more discussion with Abel, Alice roughly understood the abilities of the taboo known as Aspect Separation.

In general, “concepts” could be categorized into big and small concepts. Examples of big concepts would be “plants” and “rocks.” These concepts had a wide scope, and no normal person could use these concepts as targets for Aspect Separation. Even Heroes and Demon Kings lacked the mana to do so.

Meanwhile, examples of small concepts would be “Hero’s Sword” and “the underwear Filia is wearing.” These concepts would typically point to only one object. Fortunately, while the mana required to use these concepts as targets for Aspect Separation would still be beyond the amount most people possessed, it was still within the capabilities of Heroes and Demon Kings.

However, there was still a limit to Aspect Separation’s abilities, and there was a possibility that its effects might be broken. For example, should Filia suddenly gain some strange fetish and decide to wear 18 pairs of panties one day, her actions would instantly expand the scope of the “the underwear Filia is wearing” concept. When that happened, there was a high chance that Abel’s Aspect Separation would lose effect, and her soul would be expelled out of Filia’s panties.

However, Filia evidently never did such a strange thing, so Abel’s soul remained safe and sound inside Filia’s panties even until now.

“Don’t tell me you really intend on turning the Hero’s Sword into underwear?”

After finishing her discussion with Alice, Abel noticed that Alice was still looking at the Hero’s Sword with a pondering look on her face, so she couldn’t help but grow worried. Although there were many instances of past Heroes opting not to use the Hero’s Sword after awakening as the Hero, it was still too absurd of a notion to attach the concept of “panties” onto the Hero’s Sword. While doing so wouldn’t actually turn the Hero’s Sword into a pair of panties, it would still cause others to think of panties whenever they saw the Hero’s Sword in the future.

This was the power of attaching a “concept” to another “concept.” On the other hand, Abel’s Aspect Separation was considered attaching an “object” to a “concept,” so it wouldn’t have the effect of causing others to think of the Elven Hero whenever they saw Filia’s panties. However, if Alice really went through with her idea, there would be severe consequences.

“Don’t worry. I was just joking,” Alice said, chuckling. She naturally wouldn’t turn the Hero’s Sword into panties. After all, the Hero’s Sword was a Law-grade weapon. It provided much stronger bonuses than the average panties when wielded in her right hand. If she turned the Hero’s Sword’s concept into panties, there was a likely possibility that its stat bonuses might decrease.

Not to mention, if she really added the “panties” concept to the Hero’s Sword, could she even bear to continue using it to fight in the future? After all, everyone would feel as if she were fighting with a pair of panties whenever she wielded the Hero’s Sword in the future—just thinking about such a possibility gave her goosebumps.

Just when Abel was feeling relieved, Alice suddenly asked, “What if I attach the Hero’s Sword’s concept to panties?”

Meanwhile, when Abel heard Alice’s question, the only thought that came to her mind was whether she had made the right decision to explain Aspect Separation’s details to Alice. Why was this new Hero constantly thinking of messing with the Hero’s Sword?

Although Abel no longer had all of her memories and abilities since she was only a remnant soul right now, her thoughts remained unchanged. So, she could still tell that this situation was abnormal.

“You can give panties the Hero’s Sword’s concept, but there’s no point in doing so,” Abel said, sighing. Then, she looked at Alice and wholeheartedly advised, “Simply imparting a concept to an object wouldn’t change the object’s abilities or appearance. Moreover, while others would think of the Hero’s Sword whenever they see panties, the ‘panties’ concept would remain the dominant concept for panties. Aspect Separation will only attach one concept to another, not replace it.”

“That’s true.”

Alice nodded. In reality, what she wanted to know was whether imparting the “Hero’s Sword” concept onto an object would trick her right hand into thinking that said object was the Hero’s Sword. For example, if she attached the “Hero’s Sword” concept to the “the rock Alice is holding” concept, she might be able to gain the Hero’s Sword’s stat bonuses even if she was merely holding a simple rock.

Although the likelihood of success was low, Alice felt that she could give it a try afterward. After all, what if she succeeded?

“Anyway, now you should know why my remnant soul is in Filia’s underwear, right?” Abel asked in a tired voice. She had to repeatedly talk about panties in order to explain to Alice that she wasn’t a pervert. She had talked about panties so much that she could feel her face burning up.

Abel was an elf from nearly two thousand years ago. The internet did not exist yet during that era. She had also never lived in the human realm like Lalu. So, her thoughts were naturally conservative. If she wasn’t afraid that Alice would spread her embarrassing actions to others, she wouldn’t have been willing to discuss such a shameful topic with Alice.

“I understand.” Alice nodded, more or less understanding Abel’s thought process. “In that case, I won’t tell others about you hiding in Filia’s underwear. But in exchange, you can’t tell Filia or anyone else that I snuck into the Nature Shrine, either.”

“That won’t be a problem. I am also a Hero, so I know the importance of learning a large number of taboos for a Hero,” Abel said, readily agreeing to Alice’s request. “But why did you have to sneak into this place? So long as you reveal your identity as the Hero to the village council, they should be more than willing to let you learn the taboos here. The elven village will also get involved if the demons decide to invade the human realm, so there’s no way the council will ignore your request.”

“That’s because the demons have grown smarter,” Alice said, shrugging. “The reason past Heroes dared to expose their identities is because the demons have always underestimated the undeveloped Hero and would only send ordinary demons to assassinate the Hero. By the time the demons notice the severity of the problem, the Hero would’ve already grown up.”