NOVEL NEXT Chapter 29
The Hero’s Village was devastated, and there was nothing more to discover.
“I can’t just stay here…”
There was only one survivor.
Considering that this person was not even in a sound state of mind and needed help eating, it could be said that the Hero’s Village was effectively annihilated.
However,
It wasn’t without its fruits.
“Liriez.”
“Did you call for me, Saintess?”
“Let’s talk for a moment, just the two of us.”
“T-two of us…?”
Liriez licked her lips and scanned the area for any signs of people, while Saintess Yan shook her head and snapped her fingers.
“Don’t get any strange ideas about me.”
“Then is it okay to have those kinds of thoughts about others?”
“Anyone except me and the Goddess.”
“Understood, Saintess.”
Swoosh.
In an instant, the surrounding area was bathed in blue light.
Liriez clicked her tongue in disappointment, and Saintess Yan leaned closer to whisper quietly so others wouldn’t hear.
“There are three survivors.”
Three orbs began to float in front of Yan’s face.
“One is that young man we saved over there. I thought he was important because the Death Knights came to kill him, but he wasn’t. He was merely a survivor.”
Young Man Nerthio.
He was just a lucky person who happened to survive.
“What should we do? If we leave him be, others might come and take him away.”
“If we leave him be…”
Liriez gestured towards those who had set up camp elsewhere.
“Surely they’ll come to investigate him.”
Several factions had gathered around, all having sensed the Power of the Holy Sword, just like the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.
The Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess concealed the existence of Survivor Young Man Nerthio.
If there was an organization with the most information about the village, it was certainly the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.
“We cannot spread any more information about the Hero. We will keep this information to ourselves.”
“That’s an excellent choice, Saintess. We should refrain from spreading it unnecessarily to avoid further chaos. Then what about that young man…”
“First, let’s dress him in a robe to hide his identity. Then we’ll take him to the Order and leave it to the Pope to handle it.”
“If it’s the Pope, he will handle it properly… no, saying ‘handle it’ feels a bit off.”
“Well, what’s the difference? We’re making him a follower of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess.”
Saintess Yan yawned widely.
“If he’s a good person, I’d let it slide, but I can’t look the other way for someone who tried to assault another.”
“…I’ll inform the Holy Knights beside him to keep him in check. So he doesn’t do anything foolish on the way.”
“Please.”
The fate of Survivor Nerthio had been decided.
No one knew what kind of conversation he would have with the Pope at the Papal Office, but his future looked bleak given the current circumstances.
What mattered was the ‘past’ he spoke of.
Through his testimony, the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess could confirm three things.
One.
The survival of a woman, Droniel.
“We must find Droniel.”
Before the Death Knights raided the village, knights from a noble household had come to take a woman away.
“There’s a small chance she might still use the name Droniel, but let’s search anyway. They must be knights from nearby, and even if not, they’ll be close to a nearby territory.”
A woman with brown hair, whom the young man Nerthio is presumed to have liked—he claims she’s his fiancée—left the village.
Her name was Droniel, and considering she left in accordance with the Hero’s awakening, it seems something is up.
Thinking positively, she might have followed the Hero, and negatively, well, there are endless possibilities.
We must find the name Droniel.
Two.
“Arthur Lucius.”
Nerthio didn’t want to mention it, but after some prodding, I extracted the name from him.
“You recognize it, right?”
“Yes. They didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it.”
“The man we encountered, right?”
“That’s right. He was the disciple of the Sorceress Bel, who referred to herself as the Sorceress of Crimson Lotus.”
“I see. He was also a survivor of this village. He left before Droniel departed.”
The survivor named Arthur Lucius was born in this village and left as soon as the Holy Sword incident began.
Could he really have been a young man raised in this village?
The puzzle was too simple.
Three.
“The Sorceress of Crimson Lotus, Bel.”
“…Hmm.”
Liriez swallowed her saliva as soon as the name was mentioned.
“Liriez.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Focus. …She wasn’t a resident of this village; she was an outsider. And with her appearance, the goblins raided the village. Can’t you see the picture forming?”
Yan pointed at the village with a confident expression.
“The Sorceress Bel brought the goblins to invade the village, and Arthur Lucius awakened the Holy Sword, while the Sorceress Bel pretended to be a friend and became a companion to the Hero!”
“I don’t think so at all.”
Liriez directly countered Yan’s opinion.
“Why not? Isn’t this almost perfect?”
“That assumes the Sorceress Bel is a bad woman. That’s an error. You’re wrong, Saintess.”
“Me?”
“I think you dislike the Sorceress Bel, don’t you?”
“What does that mean? I just met her.”
“You fell for Arthur Lucius, didn’t you?”
“!!”
Yan’s face turned red in an instant.
“That man who fell in love at first sight only gave his attention to that sorceress, not to you, didn’t he?”
Liriez nodded as if she understood.
“It’s fine. They were the epitome of a beautiful couple. It’s understandable to fall for him.”
“I—I did not!”
“No. You did. So you concluded that because you were jealous of the Sorceress Bel.”
“…….”
Yan was rendered speechless.
For some reason, Liriez’s words felt true, and she couldn’t muster the strength to reply.
“Did I… come to a conclusion out of selfish feelings?”
“There’s a possibility. Ah, is this youthfulness? But, Saintess, even if you’re jealous, you must make your judgment clear.”
“……I’m learning something today too. If Bel hears this, I apologize. I was too hasty.”
“I’m sure she will understand.”
While the person in question was diligently working out elsewhere, the two made their apologies and wrapped it up by themselves.
“By the way, why do you think so highly of her?”
“Because….”
Liriez confidently gave a thumbs up.
“A woman with such beautiful and innocent eyes can’t possibly be a bad person.”
“…What did you say?”
“Bel isn’t a bad person.”
At Liriez’s words, Yan’s expression became a grimace.
“My opinion is this: Sorceress Bel came to find the Master of the Holy Sword that had been slumbering for a long time, and Arthur Lucius recognized that he was the chosen Hero. The young man over there is envious of not being chosen, and the two we saw were hiding their identities.”
“Was it because they couldn’t trust the Saintess and the Holy Knight Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess?”
“Because of the Holy Wind Sword. Moreover, if we look at the traces of the battle that remains in the village, we can tell it’s that sword.”
Liriez pointed to a wound on the dirt floor.
It was a deep mark, as if a giant monster had clawed at it with its nails.
“It’s the Holy Wind Sword that appeared after 500 years. It’s no wonder if someone is cautious.”
“…So that makes it weirder. It’s already an extreme emergency that the Holy Wind Sword awakened after 500 years, and the fact that they are hiding is just absurd. The Hero of the Holy Sword.”
“Well, perhaps the Sorceress has some other plans. But.”
Liriez raised the shield fastened on her arm.
In the center of the white, diamond-shaped shield was a circular gemstone shaped like a blue moon, and as soon as Liriez began fiddling with it, light began to seep from the gemstone.
“It seems they don’t plan to hide their location. It seems they still have what I gave them.”
Liriez gifted a sacred artifact to Sorceress Bel.
It was a tracking device that allowed her to locate a sacred artifact using divine power.
“Based on the map and location, they seem to be in the Normans. What do you plan to do, Saintess?”
“…Liriez. Please lead the Holy Knight Order to the Papal Office.”
“And you, Saintess?”
“I will go to the Normans alone.”
Swish.
Yan’s hair changed instantly.
The long flowing hair was transformed into a bob that reached her shoulders, and Yan adjusted the length by tugging at her hair.
“This should do.”
“…Will that little disguise really suffice?”
“People won’t recognize me as the Saintess anyway.”
“Are you going to join the Hero’s party?”
“Join? No.”
The corners of Yan’s lips curled up slightly.
“Of course, serving the Hero is the Saintess’s duty. As the Saintess of the Order of the Crescent Moon Goddess, I will serve the Hero.”
“Then what about Lady Bel…?”
“That woman.”
Yan placed her hand on Liriez’s shoulder and patted it.
“You need to persuade her well. Got it?”
“……Do we need to use any means necessary?”
“Yes.”
“…….”
Sluuurp.
Liriez Cesarcross rubbed her intertwined hands together and nodded vigorously.
“After returning from the Papal Office, I will join you, Saintess. Until then….”
Liriez saluted the Saintess with a smile.
“I’ll take good care of the Witch.”
*
“Ugh.”
“!! Master! Are you sick?!”
“What does an Undead know about colds?”
The weather was chilly.
I closed the window letting in the night air and checked my condition.
“Seriously. Coughing out of nowhere.”
“Please stop, Master. I can handle the rest by myself.”
“I need to do three more sets. Or is it because I’m too heavy?”
Currently,
I was sitting on Lucius’s back while he was doing push-ups, serving as a weight.
I was sitting cross-legged precisely on the middle of his spine, intensifying the exercise.
“One down, while taking down the Demon King, two up. One, two.”
“Demon King down!”
“Impressive, Lucius. To do 100 in a row.”
“If it’s now, I could do this all day…!!”
Somehow, Lucius’s voice began to grow more vigorous.
Even if he said he could do it all day, this was for physical training, not torture.
Still, since he wanted to, let’s do it until he can’t anymore and then let him rest.
“One, …huh?”
The sound of footsteps approaching from afar.
Recognizing the familiar steps, I pointed towards the outside to Lucius.
“Lucius. It’s your guest.”
“…My guest?”
“No need to even look.”
Clap clap.
I clapped my hands and pointed to the entrance of our room.
“Go and open it.”
“Understood.”
Somehow, Lucius did not look delighted.
Creeeak.
Beyond the door was—
“Ah, Arthur! That—”
“What is it?”
A silver-haired elf stood frozen, staring at Lucius, who was half undressed and drenched in sweat.