Chapter 132 : Chapter 132
Chapter 132
‘Ah.’
At that moment, a glimmering object slipped out of my pocket on its own.
The Rosary of Grace invokes a miracle.
The World Tree begins to absorb Stellar Force in abundance.
The holy relic of Cosmos and the World Tree resonated!
The boundless Stellar Force emanating from the relic was being drawn into the sapling World Tree.
Through me!
‘Incredible…’
This was… the flow of power.
The true power of the Rosary of Grace…!
Just maintaining this state increased my control over Stellar Force, filling me with an ecstatic sensation as if I were approaching the truth.
“Ah, ahh…!”
The Fairy Queen knelt.
Look at her.
A person enveloped in radiant light, shining beautifully.
Belonging solely to goodness, without a trace of darkness.
No one could deny it.
No matter what anyone said, that man was an apostle sent by the divine, the guardian of the World Tree, a hero!
***
The golden hair tied in a ponytail swayed.
Knight Lina wiped her sword clean after slaying a beast and sheathed it.
“Be careful, Your Highness. Not a single drop of their blood must touch your skin.”
“Got it.”
Some people preferred being alone, while others felt more at ease with company.
Lina was the latter.
Raised from birth to be the guardian knight of Crown Prince Gilbert, she felt unease whenever his presence faded from her sight, hearing, or sense of smell.
“Your Highness, the Crown Prince.”
“Yes?”
Since Gilbert and Lina were operating incognito, they shared a unique bond when alone.
“Why did you decide to help Cadet Martin with his conquest?”
“You were curious about that?”
“Yes. If the Imperium Empire were still intact, he’s someone we’d have locked up without hesitation.”
As a descendant of the Ivlin Family, which had served as the Cosmos Imperial Guard for generations, Lina couldn’t view Martin favorably.
Even though he’d shown a markedly different demeanor since returning, that didn’t absolve him.
“Your Highness, recall his actions at the start of the semester.”
Early in the term, he’d led the bullying against Gilbert, entangled himself with illegal cartels to amass money, and even attempted to purchase drugs.
During the Vistavern Marquis incident and the Cadet Duel Assessment, he’d fought with lethal intent.
‘Of course…’
Whenever something significant happened, they’d relied on his help.
Especially at Dr. Keren’s laboratory—if he hadn’t been there, she might not be standing here now.
“I’m concerned that Your Highness is treating Cadet Martin too leniently…”
“I don’t think so, Lina. That’s not something to worry about.”
“Why not?”
Gilbert crouched by a flowing stream, filling a bottle with water.
“If Martin truly had malicious intent, he’d have had plenty of chances to take revenge on us.”
Mary and Bord had gone through several group assignments with Martin.
His actions as a teammate were so exemplary that they felt they’d benefited from him.
Especially with Elisha—Martin had conquered actual Time Chaos Dungeons and ruins alongside her.
In the slippery slime dungeon, when Elisha fell or was paralyzed by trauma, Martin could’ve abandoned her… or even finished her off himself.
“He might be biding his time for revenge.”
Plop, Gilbert took out a purification stone and placed it in the bottle.
The poison and impurities in the water vanished like smoke.
Gilbert gulped down the water in one go and began refilling the bottle with the purification stone still inside.
“Lina.”
“Yes?”
“He’s a Peacemaker. I’m certain. He wouldn’t do anything unjust.”
Recently, rumors had spread like wildfire that Martin was the “Black Knight of the Princess,” but that wasn’t important.
What mattered was that he was a Peacemaker.
“…But the Imperium Empire fell.”
Lina regretted her words immediately, but they needed to be said.
“That makes him even more dangerous. Is he still loyal to the Empire? I doubt it. Didn’t the Princesses say so themselves?”
The term “Princesses” referred to Gilbert’s mother and grandmother.
The reason being, they’d decided the imperial crown would only be worn again after the Empire’s restoration.
“Shamefully, the Empire’s end… was utterly disgraceful and humiliating, they said. Only loyal heads were severed, while deceitful tongues remained to mislead the Imperial Family. Peacemakers were those who, disillusioned with the Imperial Family and the Church, raised the banner of revolution.”
That’s why Lina had even considered secretly killing Martin for Gilbert’s sake.
If he hadn’t been so crucial at Dr. Keren’s laboratory, or if Gilbert hadn’t owed him during the Vistavern Marquis incident, she might have.
But now, Martin’s rising prominence was beyond her reach.
He was becoming indispensable to the world.
“The Princesses even warned us to be cautious if we met a Peacemaker.”
“They did.”
Gilbert stored the bottle and looked at Lina.
“But I trust the Peacemaker. I’m different from my predecessors. I won’t become the tyrant who led the Empire to ruin. If the Peacemaker organization, as my mother and grandmother said, truly rose for justice and is led by the great hero, the Star Child… then I must meet them. Regardless of any resentment toward the Empire, it’s my duty as the legitimate heir to bear it.”
Gilbert believed Martin, being part of that group, couldn’t be that bad.
“That’s too reckless.”
“Is it?”
“I’m your only guard, yet you act as if an army has your back.”
Gilbert smiled.
“Sorry.”
He was truly a protagonist.
“Just indulge my complaints one more time.”
Lina subtly puffed out her cheeks.
He was an infuriatingly honest Crown Prince.
“…You don’t need my permission. I only advised you… I’ll always follow the path Your Highness chooses.”
***
The Fairy Queen fluttered around my head.
“You’re amazing, Hero.”
“I’m not a hero.”
“If not a hero, then what? A warrior?”
“Either way, no.”
I let out a deep sigh, and giggles came from beside me.
Even the Fairy Queen’s laughter felt noble.
She was the complete opposite of Princess Adela.
“Fairy Queen, you seem delighted?”
“How could I not be? The Hero has visited us.”
“I feel like I’m being teased.”
The World Tree absolutely refused to let me go.
My coming out here was only because the Fairy Queen persuaded the sapling World Tree, saying I needed to eat.
‘Hmm. It’s a bit worrying.’
The sapling World Tree was voraciously consuming the Rosary’s infinite power to overcome its malnutrition.
…The Star Child said the Rosary’s Stellar Force must always be maintained, but… I think it needs to be done now, before the great calamity.
The World Tree will be a tremendous asset.
‘Anyway, I don’t know how to use it well…’
Though chosen by the Rosary of Grace, my usage was rudimentary at best.
Compare how the Star Child fought Brahmus with it to how I did—you’d see the difference.
“Hero~ Hero~.”
“Hah… I told you not to call me that, but you’ll keep doing it, won’t you?”
“Of course.”
The Fairy Queen… liked me a lot, despite knowing me for less than a day.
Why? Probably because I protected the World Tree well.
“Hah, you keep calling me a hero when I’m not.”
…Honestly, I didn’t mind it.
Who didn’t dream of being a hero as a child?
I did too… I wanted to be a hero.
That fanciful dream led me to novels, and to the path of a novelist.
Even if a brutal failure awaited me in the end.
I couldn’t staunchly refuse the small joy of someone calling me a hero.
“You like the word ‘hero,’ don’t you?”
“…No, I don’t.”
“You’re kind of cute when you’re embarrassed.”
“…!”
My face turned beet red as I glared at the Fairy Queen.
She was definitely teasing me!
Enjoying it!
This sly fox!
“…Hero.”
The Fairy Queen looked down at me with the maturity of an elder.
“Being a hero isn’t about being someone special.”
“…?”
She gently flew and perched on my shoulder.
A refreshing scent wafted over.
“Sacrifice for a greater cause.”
…That’s a cliché line.
As a novelist, I’d seen it often—one of those trite phrases villains use to justify massacring a village for the “greater good.”
“Those who fear sacrifice for a greater cause are ordinary people.”
“….”
“Those who force sacrifice for a greater cause are villains.”
“….”
“Those who willingly sacrifice for a greater cause—that’s what makes a hero.”
“….”
She was right.
So right I couldn’t argue.
“I haven’t sacrificed anything.”
“Your resolve to come here, the time it took, the effort in the process, even offering the relic of a great being to the World Tree—all of those are your sacrifices.”
What kind of sacrifice was that?
I did it to survive.
The Rosary would recover over time anyway.
“If you put it that way, who isn’t a hero?”
“Of course, everyone born into this world has the chance to be a hero.”
The Fairy Queen raised her tiny hand.
“There are those who become heroes and those who don’t.”
She patted my head gently.
“Heroes don’t realize they’re heroes.”
A breeze blew in.
It was clear and warm air, flowing from the World Tree’s cradle.
“The World Tree is calling for you to come quickly.”
“…Let’s eat first.”
***
“Bweeeeeng!”
“Ah, d-don’t cry! Ugh, come on!”
Elisha cradled a wailing fairy.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”
“Bweeeeeng!”
Feeling her clothes get soiled by the fairy’s tears and snot, Elisha carefully soothed it.
“Why are you crying so much?”
She’d rescued a fairy bound by a giant vine plant, losing its vitality, yet instead of rejoicing, it was crying as if the sky had fallen.
“In the name of the Harmadun Family, I’ll help you. Tell me.”
“…Really?”
The crying stopped as if by magic.
‘The fairies are full of mischief, aren’t they!’
The fairy chattered on Elisha’s palm about what had happened.
One day, a demon suddenly invaded, targeting the World Tree’s seed and corrupting the island.
While fleeing to their hideout, some, including this fairy, had been left behind.
The fairy begged Elisha to save its captured kin.
It was no different from being saved from a river and then asked to hand over a bundle.
“Sure!”
Elisha agreed readily.
‘It’s probably the main storyline of the Time Chaos Dungeon!’
Look at Martin, who prepared antidotes, purification stones, and detection stones.
He must have anticipated everything.
He probably even predicted her behavior.
‘If he thought I’d be a burden or couldn’t survive, he’d have pushed me out at the Dive Tunnel.’
Martin was that kind of person.
Surprisingly meticulous.
Following the fairy’s guidance, she headed to the island’s western coast.
She had to be cautious—the demon had nested at the far end of the western coast, so she shouldn’t get too close.
Soon, she found another fairy.
With a few arrows, she killed a beast, cut the vines, and freed the fairy.