Chapter 132
Chapter 132
The next morning, as if they had heard the news that I had awakened, the Holy King came to see me together with Silvia.
“Only now do I say this, but I never imagined that inviting you just to see the owner of Excalibur would turn out like this.”
“Wasn’t it entirely Your Majesty’s greed? I clearly refused the initial offer.”
Since there were eyes watching, I raised my tone slightly and shrugged my shoulders. He gave a bitter smile, saying there was a barb in my words. At that moment, Silvia, who had been examining my body, nodded and spoke.
“Most of the demonic energy that penetrated your body yesterday has been neutralized. However, the parts that reached deep into the organs, including the heart, are concerning…….”
“Is there a problem?”
When I asked because she trailed off without giving a clear answer, she shook her head.
“Normally, it wouldn’t be strange for the organs to be damaged, but it’s naturally dissipating. Could it be thanks to Excalibur?”
“Then there’s no major issue.”
“Yes. If you rest well for a few more days, you’ll be able to move as before. Ah, you know that wounds inflicted by demonic energy recover slowly no matter how much holy power is used to heal them, right? We’ll need to observe the shoulder a bit longer.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
It was something I had clearly felt ever since waking up yesterday, but there was still discomfort when moving my left shoulder.
Still, considering it as the price for bringing down a powerhouse like Agares, I thought it was a cheap outcome. The momentum of that bastard, who had massively amplified his power using a Demon’s Seed, had been truly terrifying.
‘It bothers me that their strength keeps growing stronger.’
The first time a similar level of power appeared was during the Academy’s first-semester exam, when the Hell Archduke Aloken possessed August’s body.
Of course, if it had been the current me present at that time, I would have defeated Aloken without much difficulty, but back then I had been utterly immature.
And after that, the Demonic Realm Duke Gremory descended into the Middle Realm with power greater than Aloken’s, and by the time it reached Agares, he displayed power greater than the two combined.
I didn’t know how he had seized a paladin’s body and manipulated it at will. The demons of the Demonic Realm all used methods that were grotesque beyond measure.
“By the way, what happened to Agares?”
“Originally, we intended to seal even a portion of his rank, as you did, but the resistance was too intense. There was no choice but to annihilate him.”
The Holy King let out a low sigh, saying he had stayed up all night for that. Still, it was fortunate that things had been concluded like this.
Of course, it couldn’t be said that the Holy Kingdom’s losses were small. As many as four paladins had lost their lives to Agares, and dozens of holy knights and priests had been killed or injured.
But because of this, they gained justification to inform the world about demons and Majin and to intervene.
“Originally, when we spoke of demons and Majin, others scorned and persecuted us, claiming we were lying to inflate our influence. But now that things have come to this, we’ll be able to act more proactively.”
The plots of the Majin being prepared across the continent inevitably demanded the sacrifice of countless lives.
But since the Holy King himself had declared that he would no longer stand idly by, their movements would be checked.
‘Until then, I’ll calmly follow the original story while building up my strength.’
Even if the story had been twisted by my intervention, the broad framework still flowed unchanged. It was probably due to Absolute plausibility, but if the very background progression were altered, would the flow of the original story still remain?
Still, I had no intention of committing the folly of testing that. Rather than twisting the future unnecessarily, it would be better to secure an advantage using the information I already knew.
“Then, I’ll be going now. There’s much to be done from here on.”
The Holy King rose from his seat. Silvia also tried to follow her father out, but at his gesture telling her to stay by my side, she nodded slightly.
“…Thank you for keeping your promise.”
I bowed my head to the Holy King as he headed outside. He stopped in place, glanced at me, scratched his cheek lightly, and said,
“I am not a man who speaks with two mouths.”
With that, he left. Watching his back, Silvia let out a small laugh and said,
“He’s shy. In truth, Father was very worried. He kept saying, what if you were to lose on the Pilgrim’s Path and be unable to give the Goddess’s Tears.”
“The Holy King?”
“Yes. Even though he is the king of the Holy Kingdom, we fundamentally follow the doctrine bestowed by the Goddess. No matter how precious the Goddess’s Tears are, turning away when there are lives that can be saved with them would be no different from denying my faith.”
She said in a low voice that even if I had lost, she expected he would have found another reason to hand over the Goddess’s Tears.
It was a deflating thing to hear for someone who had clenched his teeth and fought desperately, but in any case, Petra’s curse had been resolved, so it didn’t matter.
“By the way, where are the others?”
“Ah, the inter-academy exchange event between the two nations, which had been suspended because of the Pilgrim’s Path, has resumed. Petra unni asked me to pass along a message. She said to leave the rest to her.”
“Ha ha…….”
Since I had been groaning from a curse until yesterday, it would have been fine to leave this exchange event to others, but hearing that she had gone so far as to ask Silvia to relay the message made me smile, thinking it was just like her.
“So that’s why it’s this quiet.”
Normally, she would have stormed into the infirmary at dawn to inspect every inch of my body, but perhaps because of Petra’s actions, everyone seemed to have decided to focus on their own roles.
“…I’m jealous. I wish I had friends like that around me too.”
Silvia whispered quietly with an envious look as she watched me. I waved my hand in response.
“Aren’t you enrolling in the Vatican Academy next year too?”
“That’s true, but…”
Judging by her subtle expression, she seemed to have an idea of how she would be treated even after enrolling in the Academy.
The position of being the Holy King’s granddaughter and the Saintess chosen by the Goddess. There probably wasn’t anyone in the Holy Kingdom who could treat her casually. Stroking my chin, I said,
“If it comes to it, why not cross over to our side?”
“…To Bayern Academy?”
At those words, Silvia’s eyes widened. It seemed completely unexpected. After pondering for a moment, she nodded slightly, saying it wasn’t a bad idea.
“Certainly, going to an Imperial academy doesn’t sound bad. It would be more free than here.”
“If you’re unlucky, you might draw even more attention and have a harder time.”
“In that case, couldn’t you do something about it? And there are others too…….”
Twisting the ends of her hair as she spoke with anticipation, she seemed to have taken a liking to Alice and the rest of the group.
‘The Saintess becoming my junior…….’
Of course, this too was a story that didn’t exist in the original work.
Even excluding her, the lineup of those who would enroll next year was dazzling beyond measure.
Leysias’s younger sibling, descendants who inherited a Hero’s bloodline, the Sword Saint’s granddaughter, the son of some kingdom’s Sword Master.
Most of them were figures who would enter under the protagonist and play major roles as the original story unfolded.
‘It’s not bad.’
If I could draw the Saintess to my side, a direct connection with the Holy Kingdom would be formed. Even now, the relationship wasn’t bad, but the Holy Kingdom’s role would only grow more important in the future. Securing that in advance would help in building my power base.
“There is one thing that concerns me, though…….”
Silvia glanced at me cautiously. Since what concerned her was obvious without her saying it, I grinned and nodded.
“I’ll casually float the idea to the Holy King.”
“Really?! Then you’ll help me!”
She grabbed my hand, shaking it up and down energetically, clearly delighted. Then, saying she still had things to do, she left the infirmary. Humming a tune until she disappeared into the distance, she truly seemed in a good mood.
“Whew…….”
Left alone, I let out a small sigh and leaned back against the wall.
“I wonder if they’re all doing well.”
Unlike the old days when I had to spoon-feed them everything, seeing the group step up on their own to do what needed to be done gave me a different kind of feeling.
“All that’s left now is finding the Majin hiding in the Holy Kingdom.”
Thinking while carefully folding my arms to avoid my aching shoulder, no one in particular came to mind as suspicious.
At first, I had wondered how a Majin, constantly leaking demonic energy, could hide among the clergy, but Agares had been in a possessed state, having seized a paladin’s body.
If that was the case, then other Majin or demons could also be possessing the bodies of clergy.
Thinking that way, everyone except the Holy King and the Saintess became suspect.
‘River, do you have anyone you find suspicious?’
[Hmm, to my eyes, that Grand Archbishop seems a little suspicious.]
‘The Grand Archbishop?’
When I asked River just in case, an unexpectedly big name popped out. When I asked if she had noticed something, she answered in a nonchalant voice.
[There’s no direct evidence. He’s probably suppressing his own demonic energy through some method, like Agares did. Unless there’s direct contact, even I think it would be hard to notice.]
‘Then…?’
[Physiognomy. Physiognomy. That goatee, the sideways-slanted eyes, and that sneaky-looking face—it’s the perfect face for stabbing someone in the back.]
‘…….’
Hearing something like physiognomy come from the mouth of a being revered as a Holy Sword left me speechless.
‘Right, she had an odd personality too.’
As I let out a hollow laugh, thinking I shouldn’t have asked, she continued, bringing up the Grand Archbishop’s face to add weight to her argument.
[…Ah, right.]
‘……?’
Then, as if she had suddenly remembered something, she paused. After that, she continued in a voice tinged with a subtle emotion.
[Earlier, the Saintess said that the demonic energy that penetrated into Master’s body disappeared without damaging the organs.]
‘Ah, yeah. Thanks to you, right? Thanks.’
[…No, that wasn’t me. Agares’s demonic energy was something special, so at best I could only hold it back.]
River’s voice sounded slightly indignant. If she had been visible, I imagined she would have been frowning and swinging her fists around.
‘Then why did that demonic energy disappear?’
I couldn’t help but feel疑問 at her words. Excluding River, my body couldn’t be said to have particularly high resistance to demonic energy.
Of course, having reached Sword Master meant my body was stronger than an ordinary person’s, but that didn’t mean I had strong tolerance to demonic energy.
[It might have been that demonic sword.]
‘…Tyrfing?’
[Yes. People usually call the aura of a demonic sword “demonic energy,” but it’s a little different from that of demons or Majin. It’s not completely different, but it’s not the same either. That demonic sword seems to have absorbed the demonic energy that seeped into Master’s body.]