I Obtained the Final Boss' Power

Elf Village (1)

The Saint mentioned in the prophecy was an unparalleled hope for both the Imperial Court and the Holy Nation.

Naturally, the Saint, called the hope of the entire continent, held deep religious significance.

Thus, it was only natural that the Holy Nation, as a religious state, was desperate to find the Saint.

The Imperial Court had long acknowledged this point.

At least in religious matters, the Holy Nation completely surpassed the empire.

Thanks to that, the Holy Nation had always been fully prepared to receive the Saint.

Everything needed to care for the Saint upon their arrival was already in place within the holy church.

Refusing the hospitality painstakingly prepared by the holy church would be tantamount to disregarding their sincerity.

Since there was no reason to refuse, no one stopped Pram from going to the holy church.

However, before departing, Pram stopped by a certain village.

"It's really been a long time since I came here."

"I was shocked too when I heard it was rebuilt."

Pram walked around the village with Louis.

The place that stirred such nostalgia in them was the Seifert domain.

It was the hometown of Louis and the squad members, once destroyed by bandit attacks.

"I'm sure it all burned down back then, so how was it rebuilt?"

Victor, following behind, spoke, feeling a swirl of emotions. Rozen, Simon, and Rio, walking alongside, were also curious.

"I heard there were survivors left in the village. They gathered the people and rebuilt it."

Louis had done some investigation before coming.

Naturally, the news of the village's reconstruction had shocked him.

"I never expected they'd really rebuild the village, either."

In truth, it was hard to call it 'rebuilt'. The village was still incomplete.

Even in terms of size, it was pitifully small compared to the original Seifert domain.

The facilities were outdated, and above all, traces of the fire that burned the village black four years ago still remained.

"Those bandit guys are awful. How could they have even burned the mountain?"

Simon remarked as he gazed at a mountain around the domain, which still showed blackened scars from the fire.

"Don't even mention it. Weren't those bastards close aides of that vile Crown Prince Orbel?"

"Exactly. If they're that kind of scum, of course people wouldn't be enough—they'd ruin nature, too."

Rozen and Victor were bad-mouthing, but in truth, the bandits hadn't burned that mountain.

"That's true. Truly terrible bandits,"

Louis said with feigned calm, turning his head away.

The bandits did burn the village, but the one who burned the mountain was Louis himself.

In addition, Louis had been the one to kill or devour those bandit scum.

"Hey, you over there... Are you Pram by any chance?"

Just then, an elderly man working on a building ran over to the squad members.

Seeing Pram, the old man rubbed his eyes in disbelief, and Pram was equally shocked.

"Are you the old serf who lived near my house?"

"So it is you, Pram! You managed to survive, huh?!"

The old man exclaimed with joy, hugging Pram tightly.

Despite his age, he was so strong that Pram nearly suffocated.

"Grandpa... your strength is just as fearsome as ever...!"

"Everyone! We've got a familiar face here!"

At his shout, other villagers gathered around.

Many recognized Pram and greeted her warmly.

"You really are Pram!"

"It's been ages!"

Now that he thought about it, Pram had been famous even to Louis's parents, the lord and lady of the domain.

She was a troublemaker, often scolded by others, but after a severe scolding from the young master, she calmed down.

"You've really changed since we last saw you!"

"You've become a mature lady. Such a beauty."

"A beauty?"

At the compliment, Pram looked slightly bashful. She was moved to see the domain citizens recognize her again.

"No way—I'm not a beauty, you're making me blush."

Though she said that, her shoulders rose with pride. Seeing this, Rio looked awkwardly at Pram.

"Wait a minute. Are you Rio?"

A villager recognized Rio.

"And that must be Rozen... and Victor..."

The citizens could identify all the squad members.

Like Pram, they had been well-known children in the domain. And then...

"Wait... Could this boy be...?"

Suddenly, seeing Louis, the villagers' expressions stiffened.

The warm atmosphere turned cold for a moment. Then, one villager knelt before Louis.

"Young master... young master Louis, is that really you!"

"Young master Louis... you're alive!"

The people were moved by the fact that the once-kind lord's son had returned alive.

Afterward, Louis and the others spoke with the old man, the village representative.

Louis heard of how the village had been rebuilt and what was happening.

"After the lord and lady passed, the future looked hopeless, but it felt too wasteful to simply give up."

The cherished Seifert domain wasn't something to just let die out.

Many survivors felt the same, but there were too few of them to rebuild alone.

"We thought about hiring help from outside, but we were just too weak..."

Then a miracle occurred—some people secretly offered to help with the reconstruction.

"It turns out, they too had once been in Lord Seifert's debt. Thanks to that, after the downfall of the Bisted family and the Crown Prince's expulsion from the throne, we were finally able to devote our strength to the village's revival."

Though the domain was now small, the kindness of Lord Seifert had reached many.

If not for the Crown Prince and the Bisted family, people would have rushed to help Seifert much sooner.

"By the way, young master, how have you been? I heard you were dragged off to the 7th Legion, but how...?"

The old man had explained his side; now it was Louis's turn. He explained, leaving out any classified information.

"You've become an officer in the 7th Legion? Not only you, but all the others as well?"

"Yes. Turns out, we all have a knack for that kind of work."

An officer in the 7th Legion? That was true.

The special task force within the 7th Legion even wielded authority beyond the regular officers.

"So you managed to take a vacation."

"Unbelievable. They say the 7th Legion isn't a place where you survive on talent alone, but in any case, I'm truly glad you're safe!"

The old man, eyes glistening with tears, grasped Louis's hand.

They were rough and worn from rebuilding the village.

"By the way, young master, there's somewhere I'd like to go."

Once the conversation had wound down, Pram made a request to Louis.

She wanted to visit the house where she had lived in the village—or rather, where it had been.

The whole place had burned down, and so none of the old traces remained.

Where Pram's home had once been, a completely new building now stood.

Before its unfamiliar form, Pram stood quietly.

"Mom, dad. I finally avenged the domain citizens. The Crown Prince and Bisted trash will never breathe the same air again. And I... I'll soon be leaving for the Holy Nation. This might be my last time here..."

Louis watched Pram's monologue from afar. Others could not hear, but Louis picked up every word.

"The food here is surprisingly good. If I get the chance, I'd like to come again."

At that moment, Silia approached Louis, munching on a skewer.

Because the place was related to her squad members, Silia had come along as well.

"Besides the food, the people here are great too."

Silia began praising other aspects of the village beyond its cuisine.

"I'm not sure what your domain used to be like, but your parents, the lord and lady, must have been good people."

Silia had heard from the squad members that their hometown had been run by a fine lord.

Coming here herself, she too could feel it.

"That's what's strange. How could nobility be so different from the others?"

In this foreboding world, where monsters from the demon realm could overflow at any time, the Seifert nobles had uniquely upheld their kindness.

"That's right. They were incredibly kind to a fault."

In this world, people would sacrifice the weak as offerings just to survive.

Even His Majesty the Emperor tolerated suicide troops like the 7th Legion for the sake of averting greater disaster.

It was a world that could not endure without the necessary evil.

Yet Lord Seifert was a man who abandoned even such minor evils.

"That's why they died so pointlessly."

Though it was uncomfortable to say as their biological son, Louis admitted it wasn't wrong.

In a world where to survive you had to kill something, they had not killed even once, and this was the result.

"They never had a ruthless side. Elder Sister, you know if they had, they couldn't have lived long."

"You're right. Still, how did your parents manage to establish a domain and live for so long in such a world?"

It was nearly impossible to rise as a noble through goodness alone.

Even Louis had no idea how his parents managed it.

But he did know why they had to found a domain here.

"I'm not exactly sure, but do you remember what I said four years ago?"

"What?"

"The tutorial village."

At these words, Silia's eyes widened as she recalled.

At the time, it had seemed nonsensical, but looking back, it fit perfectly.

"For 'main characters' with talent to thrive, you need the right environment. You can't set the starting point in a bad place, right?"

That was why Lord Seifert was a good person.

The main game followed the classic cliche of starting in a peaceful village.

"In other words, my parents existed for those kids' sake."

Louis pointed to Pram, who was standing in front of a building, seemingly talking to her parents' spirits about her deeds in the 7th Legion.

Suddenly, Rio appeared from behind and began exposing Pram's embarrassing past.

When Rio claimed, "Pram once washed her face with the soldiers' urine,"

Pram, flabbergasted that this was being said in front of her parents, grabbed Rio's hair.

That had actually happened.

Exhausted after a tough training, Pram washed her face in what she thought was rainwater, only to realize it was the soldiers' urine—and shrieked in horror.

As Rio tried to reveal another embarrassing episode, the confrontation nearly led to a fight, with Pram trying to shut her up.

"If my parents existed for those kids, then it's obvious what I have to do," said Louis.

With that, Louis approached Pram and Rio, who were bickering.

As Rio tried to get the upper hand, Louis mediated by giving them both a little flick to the head.

Taking care of these 'main characters'—that was Louis's role now. He led the two somewhere.

"Where are we going now?"

Silia asked, following behind.

"To where my parents are."

Louis arrived at a mansion, now just burned remains.

Pram and Rio stopped fighting when they saw it; two gravestones stood in front of the ruins.