Chapter 44: Robber

-Whoosh!His figure vanished with a powerful flash of light.Hestia slowly waved her hand at the fading light, speaking in a low voice.”…Please go carefully.”It was unknown if he heard her or not, but she found meaning in the act of saying goodbye itself, and smiled inwardly.Having thus sent off her dearest friend, Hestia quietly drew her Holy Sword.The symbol of the Hero revealed its beautiful form, emitting a dazzling light.-WHOOSH!!!A light far stronger than when she faced the Myers family with Elisha at the academy now resided within the Holy Sword.”…I don’t know who you are, but it’s time to come out.”She extended the light-infused Holy Sword straight out, pointing it at the empty air.The world settled into silence…In an instant, the flow of the area ceased, and space began to rip apart.”I thought I was well hidden… How did you notice?””A hunch.””…How absurd.”Two men emerged from within, staring at her with dumbfounded expressions.-Thump.Her heart rate calmed, and a powerful aura swept through the area.Hestia instinctively realized.Transcendent.She recognized their identities at once, but she didn’t bat an eye, merely gripping her Holy Sword even tighter.Seeing Hestia’s entire body tense, the burly Transcendent raised both hands as if to calm her.”Calm down, Hero. We didn’t come here to fight.””Then you shouldn’t have been spying. Do you know how awful it feels to have a date with a friend ruined?””…Hey, I think we blew our first impression.”Hestia’s Holy Sword sharpened its keen aura.Perhaps sensing the unusual atmosphere, he nudged the other Transcendent beside him.The other man sighed deeply and spoke to Hestia.”I apologize for the brief surveillance, but we truly didn’t come to fight. Rather, we came to seek assistance.””…….”However, despite his calm words, Hestia did not lower her Holy Sword.She simply continued to point it at them in silence.”Huh?”Regardless of their own fault, their pride as Transcendent twitched.He slowly began to release the aura he had suppressed.”Even if you are the Hero, you haven’t shed your mortal body yet… What gives you such confidence? Do you perhaps believe in destiny?”The Transcendent smirked as he said this.The meaning behind his words was a taunt directed at Heroes and Holy Maidens who ascended to Transcendence by relying on a ‘destiny to inevitably transcend,’ but Hestia remained unfazed.Instead, she merely sharpened her Holy Sword even further, matching the aura emanating from the Transcendent.”What kind of output is this…?”Faced with an absurd aura that could never come from a mortal, expressions of bewilderment appeared on the two Transcendent’s faces.Hestia opened her mouth boldly, as if declaring war on the two of them.”Even if I can’t achieve victory… I can render one of you incapacitated for a while.”Her two eyes blazed with golden light.The unique magic possessed by the Hero enveloped her entire body.A powerful aura comparable to that of the Holy Maiden, who was said to have nearly reached Transcendence…Hestia herself was completely unaware, but this was her true power, a talent bloomed through the ‘star’ someone had shown her.Just as one Transcendent, enveloped in a powerful aura, and one mortal were about to clash…!”Enough, enough… Are you children, showing off your strength for no reason?”The burly Transcendent stepped between the two storms of magic.It was a powerful storm that would have shredded any ordinary mortal, yet his body was perfectly fine, without a single scratch.With his back to the displeased Transcendent, he stood before Hestia and introduced himself.”I am Varkan. I hold a position among the Great Pioneers. And what a truly tough Hero you are!”Someone in the past had sarcastically asked if they weren’t ashamed to call themselves great…But it was precisely for that reason that they continued to call themselves great.As if struggling to deny something…”…Great Pioneers…?”Hestia tilted her head, surprised by the unexpected name.It was partly because the name sounded familiar, but also because they belonged to the same organization as the Transcendent who had caused such a stir at the academy.”…I was certain that Paeren, another member, had finished speaking with the Academy Head. What is the meaning of this?””Like I said, we didn’t come to fight… My apologies, this guy is a bit hot-headed.”The burly Transcendent, who introduced himself as Varkan, nudged the other Transcendent, giving him a meaningful look.The other man finally sighed and dispersed the aura surrounding his body.”…I am Krevyn. Also a member of the Great Pioneers.””…….””Please lower your Holy Sword now. As this fellow said, we are not here to fight.”After a moment of thought, Hestia put away her Holy Sword.Although she had confidently stated she could render one incapacitated, she knew it was nearly impossible the moment she heard their names.Even with the Hero’s talent, it would be difficult to withstand two Transcendent and inflict wounds.It was practically impossible, especially if their opponents were Great Pioneers who had obtained nearly mystical powers from tombs.Hestia suppressed the lingering anger within her and spoke to the two Transcendent.”…I’ll listen for now.”Although she still didn’t like them for interrupting her precious time, they hadn’t actually harmed her yet, so she could at least hear them out.‘If I were to truly fight in a place like this… The citizens wouldn’t be safe.’She swept her gaze over the citizens, frozen in their everyday activities.It was a scene like a photograph, as if time had stopped, but Hestia could still sense that all of them were alive.It was simply that everything in the area had fallen under the Transcendent’s control.Ordinary citizens couldn’t even breathe freely without their permission…Hestia could once again truly grasp how high the wall of Transcendence was.”We don’t need to move locations, do we?””We’ll just talk and leave right away, so it doesn’t matter.”Varkan and Krevyn conversed briefly.As if their discussion was over, Krevyn soon tossed a transparent shard of glass to Hestia.Catching it, she tilted her head and asked.”What is this?””It’s history extracted and materialized. If you break it, you can easily absorb the information.””…How can I trust your words?””As a member of the Great Pioneers, I swear. We did not tamper with the item we just gave you.””…….”A vow that essentially staked their honor as Transcendent.Even Hestia, who still found them suspicious due to their poor first impression, found their words somewhat trustworthy.Seeing her lost in thought, wondering how much to trust, Krevyn added an explanation.”Currently, we are requesting assistance from many other Transcendent as well. That information is the item used in negotiations.””I am not a Transcendent.””You’re at a level where it wouldn’t be strange if you ascended at any moment. We need every hand we can get.””…What kind of information is contained within?”Their expressions instantly crumpled.Hestia couldn’t help but be flustered by the unexpected reaction to her genuinely curious question.But soon, both relaxed their expressions and answered her question.”…It contains information related to the most incomprehensible existence in this world.””……?!!””You seem to have realized.”Krevyn spoke with a vexed expression.”All the information we’ve gathered while pursuing him is within that.””Surely, the ‘assistance’ you seek is….””That’s right. We intend to capture him soon.”Information related to ‘him’ was extremely scarce, and his very existence was anomalous, making it highly valuable even to Transcendent.The Great Pioneers were seeking assistance from other Transcendent on the condition of handing over all the information they had accumulated about ‘that existence.’Transcendent would not miss an opportunity to gain valuable information, and perhaps even incur a debt from the Great Pioneers.Hestia’s golden eyes wavered.It was a condition that would ordinarily not tempt her, but to her now, it was quite enticing.Perhaps…It might help him ascend to Transcendence…As she recalled her promise to her friend, she simultaneously thought of the being she would have to face if she accepted this condition.An existence that did not call itself by any epithet.Therefore, in the world, there was an epithet given to him for easy distinction.[The Usurper]It was the most fitting name for the existence that stole all sorts of treasures.