episode_0259
by fnovelpia“Ah…. I’m tired…. Before that Laguna even does anything, I feel like I’m going to collapse from fatigue first….”
“Y-you’re alright, Hero….”
After the first day of the party came to a close.
As soon as I entered the room, I threw myself onto the soft bed.
Since she was the Saintess, Leviathan, who had been acting with the Pope during the day, was startled and approached me.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not okay. I’m exhausted.”
“Hmm…. Ah! Then shall I heal you?”
“…Can Holy Power even get rid of fatigue?”
“I’ll try!”
Leviathan, answering energetically, pulled up her Holy Power and created a complex magic circle.
Soon, the Holy magic circle that Leviathan created began to ripple with a faint light. As the light flowing out from the Holy magic circle seeped into my body, miraculously, it felt like I was getting a massage, and I felt a strange coolness and refreshment.
“Ooh…. What is this…. Awesome….”
“Hehe….”
Perhaps because she was excited by my praise, Leviathan smiled bashfully and said.
“Please tell me if you want it, Hero. I’ll do it for you anytime.”
“Ooooh…. Good….”
When I think about it, is it right to simply use the Saintess’s Holy Power as a massage substitute? But I felt good, so I decided to just let it go.
And Seol-rin looked at me with a dumbfounded expression, or perhaps a slightly dissatisfied one, and said.
“Still, they were all beauties, right? All those beauties were eager to get your attention. You should be feeling good, so why are you like that?”
“Beauties, my foot…. They’re all similar to you guys or worse anyway….”
“…Really?”
I spoke roughly while receiving the miracle of massage using Leviathan’s Holy Power.
But perhaps because she felt good from my praise, Seol-rin twitched her lips and then turned her head away.
…Such an easy girl to handle.
By the way, Baek-ryeon is here, Seol-rin is here, and Leviathan and Baek-ho are also here, but Lucy is nowhere to be seen.
“Hasn’t Lucy come yet?”
“It seems that is so.”
“Didn’t you make Lucy do something?”
“I had her watch Laguna. I thought she’d be back in the evening…. But it seems that’s not the case.”
At my words, Baek-ho’s tail and tiger ears perked up.
That appearance is subtly cute.
“You entrusted the surveillance of another Hero to that child?”
“She’s the one who can move most secretly among us. Why? Is there anything you’re worried about?”
“It is not that. However, if…, that Hero is really about to do something, wouldn’t that child be in danger?”
“Hmm…. That’s true, but even though she’s mischievous, I definitely trust her skills.”
Answering Baek-ho’s question, I simultaneously gestured to Leviathan as if to say I was okay now and got up.
“Hero?”
“Thanks. I feel a bit better thanks to you. I’m feeling a bit more clear-headed thanks to you. Then I’ll go out for a bit.”
“Yes? Where are you going, Hero?”
At my words, Leviathan tilted her head and asked.
Baek-ryeon also tilted her head because she had seen me collapsing on the bed.
“Young master? Didn’t you say you were tired a moment ago? Where are you going?”
“That’s true. But I can’t send away a visitor who has come to find me because I’m tired.”
“Visitor?”
Knock knock knock
My party members, who didn’t understand my words.
But soon, at the sound of knocking, their eyes widened as they turned their gaze towards the door.
“It’s the Pope.”
Perhaps because she had already caught the sound of the Pope’s party’s footsteps, Baek-ho wasn’t very surprised and wagged her tail.
I walked towards the door and opened it, and there stood the Pope and her party.
“Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope.”
“It’s been a while. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to talk for a bit.”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
“Actually, I thought you’d come yesterday. But you didn’t come.”
Ah….
That’s right. I certainly said something like that.
“I apologize. I was a bit tired…”
“It’s alright. It can happen. You must be quite tired from coming all the way here. I can’t possibly deprive the hero of the world of even the time to relieve their fatigue.”
The Pope smiled gently and then briefly moved her gaze to the party members around me.
Then, the Pope’s gaze stopped at Tamiel.
“You…. You don’t seem to be in good health.”
“Oh my, did you notice?”
“Yes. I can feel the energy in your body being mixed up and weakened.”
“It was a big deal. The Hero used me more harshly than I thought…. My body can’t take it.”
Complaining slightly, Tamiel entrusted her body to the bed as if collapsing.
The people behind the Pope frowned at Tamiel’s appearance, as if they were displeased.
I glanced at that appearance and then shrugged my shoulders and said.
“Well, my party members also need to rest, so I would like to have a conversation in another place.”
“That’s true. I understand. Then let’s go to the room where we’re staying. Saintess Leviathan.”
“Yes, y-yes!….”
“I look forward to working with you in the future.”
At the Pope’s words, Leviathan nodded her head in a daze.
“Then let’s go.”
* * *
The room used by the people of the Holy Kingdom was quite fancy and spacious, no less than the room we were using.
No, if you only look at the size of the room, it was even larger than the room we were using. Is it perhaps because there are so many people?
“Would you like some tea?”
“No. I’m fine.”
“That’s true.”
The Pope nodded her head.
Perhaps thinking that I was tired, she immediately started talking about the main subject.
“As I mentioned briefly earlier…. I feel an indescribable gratitude for you having subjugated all the fragments of the Demon King. You have achieved a great feat that no one has ever achieved before.”
“Thank you.”
Unfortunately, I’ve heard that story quite a bit, so I’m a little tired of it now.
But it doesn’t seem like the Pope specifically brought me here just to tell me this kind of story.
“Saintess Bartori left a prophecy.”
“Is she alright?”
“Yes. She’s actually very energetic. Anyway…. She ended up consuming the blood of the creature that she had been constantly suppressing herself.”
“Ah….”
When the witches’ followers invaded the Holy Kingdom, Saintess Bartori unleashed the power of a Blood Demon that she had been suppressing in order to stop them.
Because of that, she is in a position of being ‘excommunicated’ externally, but…. It seems that they are still interacting.
‘Well, she said nonchalantly that it would be resolved on its own as time passed….’
“…But what about the prophecy?”
“Yes. After defeating all the fragments of the Demon King…. Peace should come, but…. It seems that it won’t be that way.”
“….”
“She prophesied another great battle. So, I came here to tell you this.”
…Indeed.
Unfortunately, it’s something I’ve already anticipated.
“I already know.”
“?!”
At my words, the Pope’s pupils widened slightly.
“You already knew?”
“Yes. To be more precise…. Should I say I was roughly guessing…. Anyway, that’s what it is.”
“Hmm….”
“Besides, I heard an important story after coming here.”
At the words ‘important story’, the Pope’s eyes sharpened.
“What story is it?”
“I’ll tell you because there’s no need to hide it. Princess Emula Roman of the Roman Kingdom here told me…. It seems that Laguna Roman is planning something.”
“Hero Laguna?”
“I don’t know exactly what that is. I had Lucy watch him to find out…. But Lucy hasn’t returned yet.”
At my words, the Pope nodded her head.
“That’s true…. Is Princess Emula’s story true?”
“Well? As I said earlier, I put Lucy on surveillance to check accurately…. But still, speaking as a ‘Hero’s intuition’, I think it’s probably certain. Whether that’s simply an ‘escapade’ that can be treated as ‘human Laguna Roman’. Or if not….”
“Are you trying to say that it could be like the case of Hero Abel?”
To the Pope, who accurately grasped the intention of my words, I nodded my head instead of answering.
The story of Hero Abel being corrupted by a fragment of the Demon King and turning his sword against his fellow Hero is a secret among secrets known only to high-ranking officials of the Holy Kingdom.
In the eyes of the world, it is only known that he challenged the fragment of the Demon King one step ahead in order to save face as a Hero and was martyred.
“…If you said that, then something will definitely happen. Above all, there was also Bartori’s prophecy….”
“Then….”
“Then we have no choice but to prepare in advance. Especially now that dignitaries from various countries have gathered for the celebration commemorating the subjugation of all the fragments of the Demon King. In this situation, if even a massive amount of damage occurs…. I don’t even want to imagine it.”
The Pope shook her head with a dark expression.
“Haa…. Why are the Heroes….”
Various emotions are felt in the Pope’s sigh.
Well, one is a sex monster who lusts after women, one is an incompetent Hero who is full of motivation but whose skills can’t keep up with it, and the last one seems like a normal person, but in reality, he’s so absorbed in power and self-aggrandizement that he’s trying to mess things up. I understand her position to some extent, as she sighs deeply.
“Then call the Holy Knights right away….”
Kwaaaang!!!!
“!!”
“Magical energy?!”
Before the Pope’s words could even finish, a loud roar and vibration, and an explosively soaring aura of evil energy, were felt.
I and the Pope exchanged glances without either of us doing it first.
This moment is the moment of that ‘great battle’ that Bartori spoke of.
In other words….
The moment of the decisive battle has come.
0 Comments