Ch.1414. The Hearing (1)

“That’s a very well~ done thing.”

After the stormy weekend, on Monday morning, George, who showed his face in the office after a long time, clicked his tongue at me. I had no strength to respond, so I just frowned and waved my hand. The aftermath of the ant nest was still making my entire body ache. George let out a hollow laugh as he looked at my drooping figure.

“I thought you were behaving yourself for a while, but this time you went monster hunting alone and came back with a broken arm. What would you have done if we had to go on an expedition today?”

I let out a deep sigh and gave a weak reply to George’s reproach.

“We’re not going to fight a calamity today. No need to make a fuss over just one broken arm. When have we ever fought without getting injured?”

Of course, the injuries I sustained in the battle with Aragrid weren’t limited to just a broken arm. As if I’d suddenly developed healing abilities, many of my wounds had healed overnight. My broken leg, ribs, deep cuts and stabs. The only remaining injury was my right arm, which had endured the full force of wielding the Holy Sword. I hadn’t heard that opening the Holy Sword had additional effects.

“Back then, it was fine to get injured as much as possible as long as your head wasn’t cut off. That was when Isis was still in this party.”

Hey, what does that make me when you say it like that?

I awkwardly cleared my throat. Come to think of it, when I first possessed this novel’s character and opened my eyes, I was sitting at this desk. George was standing next to me, and Isis was standing right in front of me. She was so angry about something, threatening to leave the party. That flowing golden hair and those sky-blue eyes. Though I only saw her briefly, Isis’s image formed quite vividly in my mind.

Well, with Isis’s abilities, whether an arm was broken, a leg was broken, or internal organs were spilling out, she could heal it with just a few gestures. But now, there was no point in thinking about that. I stroked my heavily bandaged right arm and snorted.

“Do you regret it? Sending Aryen away and letting Isis leave?”

George asked, looking into my face. Though it wasn’t something I had done, I didn’t want to say I regretted it. For some reason, the scene of the original Ilroy regretting it came to mind.

“Regret is useless, isn’t it? It’s already happened. We should do what we can among the things we need to do.”

“Are you saying breaking that arm was something you could do?”

This guy knows how to be sarcastic too. I gave a bitter smile.

“I don’t regret it. If there were things only we could do back then with Isis and Aryen, there must be things only we can do now.”

George chuckled and shook his head.

“Things only we can do now. I wonder what those might be.”

“Someone’s coming right now. Someone who’s with us now, not back then.”

I nodded toward the door. A presence was approaching the office. I could feel George’s gaze looking down at me. It was a gaze with considerably less hostility than when I first possessed this body.

“…Why were you like that before?”

George’s mumble was close to talking to himself. I didn’t answer and just tapped the desk with my fingertips.

“I’m here.”

As the door opened cautiously, matching her personality, a pink-haired head peeked through, then a small, pale hand pushed the door fully open, and Daphne entered.

“Welcome. Did you rest well over the weekend?”

Daphne nodded with a small smile, then turned her eyes to George and blinked in surprise.

“Yes. George is in the office today too?”

“Not really in the office, I just stopped by to deliver something. Since you’re here too, I might as well say it now.”

George reached into the inner lining of his knight’s uniform.

“What, you came because you had something specific to do?”

“Why else would I come to the office in full uniform? I’ll just deliver what I need to and head straight back to the knights. Listen well, Daphne. This concerns you too.”

What George pulled out from his uniform’s inner pocket was a very expensive-looking, stiff paper envelope. As soon as I saw the seal closing it, I immediately realized what George had brought.

“There’s going to be a hearing at the royal palace.”

It was just as Andre Bishop had told me. I took the envelope and stared at its seal for a long time. Two lions facing each other, roaring. It was undoubtedly the royal palace’s seal. Well, I suppose it wasn’t the king of this country who summoned me, but his subordinates.

“They really have nothing better to do.”

“You’ve done plenty to make yourself a political scapegoat. Even as a hero, you won’t be able to avoid this hearing. Isis and the Holy Country, recruiting new party members, your unilateral actions. There are probably many people who have been waiting for this chance.”

I tore open the envelope with a letter opener and skimmed through the contents. The date was this Friday. I would be attending alone. They would ask me various questions, and then the questioners would fight among themselves. My mouth felt dry. I folded the paper and tossed it to the corner of the desk.

“They told me to deliver this to you personally. As you know, I won’t be able to help you.”

“It’s fine. I’d rather go alone anyway.”

As I waved my hand in response, George, who had started to walk away, stopped in front of the desk. His hesitant, frowning appearance made him look just like a father awkwardly trying to talk to his son. George rubbed his angular jaw, then sighed and opened his mouth. He sure had a lot of preparation for saying just one thing.

“I… heard from the Adventurer’s Guild. I didn’t hear the details, but they said you rescued three adventurers from the ant nest and sent them back safely.”

I let out a hollow laugh. I could easily imagine how those three noisy people might have told my story to other adventurers.

“You’re looking at me like you can’t quite believe it.”

“…No. Good job. But I still maintain that you should keep your body intact. At least save that for the next expedition.”

I couldn’t tell if he was worried or impressed. Honestly, I thought it was probably neither, but his way of speaking was as gruff as a father giving praise. After speaking, George shook his head as if getting goosebumps and left the office. I found myself smiling again and turned to Daphne. She was looking at me with somewhat gloomy eyes.

“A hearing…? Why summon Ilroy alone?”

“Don’t worry about me. It’s not like I’m going there to be punished. It might even be an opportunity to filter out those trying to politically interfere with our party.”

That was actually what I was thinking. Getting too deeply entangled would just be a headache. Daphne nodded, but still didn’t shed her gloomy expression. Seeing that Daphne’s gaze was fixed on my right arm, I lifted my broken arm to show her.

“It won’t take long to fully recover. A week, at most ten days? I’m sorry, but we’ll have to postpone your training until then.”

I felt bad for Daphne, but fighting monsters with a broken right arm was too much. It was fortunate that my natural healing had become ridiculously fast, allowing a broken arm to mend in a week. Daphne shook her head and slowly approached me.

“…That’s not what’s important.”

Daphne carefully placed her hand on top of the bandage. I could faintly feel her touch through the bandage. Daphne looked at me as if she had more to say, but she didn’t continue. I let Daphne fiddle with my right arm for a while. The scene overlapped with that of a puppy trying to lick its owner’s wound, which was quite cute.

“Just rest today. I would have been busy preparing for the hearing until it’s over anyway. If you’re going to get injured, now is a good time.”

I said jokingly, but Daphne’s expression didn’t brighten. It didn’t feel right to send her away like this. I picked up a pen that was scattered on the desk and handed it to Daphne.

“Want to doodle?”

At those words, Daphne finally let out a small laugh. Daphne shook her head and pushed the pen away, then gathered blue mana light at the tip of her index finger. Then she playfully wrote letters on my arm. I watched with interest as the letters were engraved on the bandage.

Finally, Daphne removed her finger after completing her doodle. The words ‘Get well soon’ glowed blue on the bandage in a cute handwriting. Daphne rubbed the bandage where the words were engraved, as if rubbing tattooed skin, and smiled like a child who had completed a drawing.

“This way, it will never fade away.”

“…Thank you.”

I didn’t expect her to go this far. I smiled back at Daphne, who was blinking her purple eyes.

“You can go home. There’s not much to do today anyway. Probably nothing until the hearing, so you don’t have to come in until next week.”

“No, I’ll stay and clean up. You come here every day, Ilroy. What if something happens?”

It was an uncharacteristically firm voice for Daphne. Then Daphne got up, saying she would bring cleaning supplies, and quickly left the office. I couldn’t stop her or tell her to do it, and just stared blankly at Daphne’s back as she opened the door and left.

“…She’s gone.”

At my muttering, suddenly a voice echoed in my head.

“[You have an interesting friend. This will be fun to watch.]”

I jumped up from my chair in shock. Then, with a laugh, the voice came again. It was a clean, flawless female voice. Rather than hearing it, it would be more accurate to say the voice was resonating inside my head.

“[Why are you so surprised? We’re not strangers. This isn’t the first time we’ve conversed.]”

Memories gradually came alive in my head. I picked up the Holy Sword that I had leaned against the desk, with a stiff expression. No, wait. I’ve never heard of this. In the original work, I had never heard or read anything about the Holy Sword speaking.

“Could it be, Holy Sword…?”

“[Yes. I am the being you call the Holy Sword. Good to see you’re not completely clueless.]”

The voice came again, in an elegant and refined manner that a high nobleman might use. No, I should say the Holy Sword spoke to me. I blinked rapidly as I looked down at the sword.

“[You were speaking just fine until a moment ago, but have you suddenly gone mute?]”

“…I really didn’t expect this to happen.”

“[Do you think I speak to everyone who wields me? Consider it an honor, hero.]”

“No, why have you been quiet all this time and only now…”

Bang.

As I was about to bombard the Holy Sword with questions, Daphne burst through the door carrying a duster, broom, and dustpan.

“Ilroy, there’s a guest downstairs…”

And then she made eye contact with me as I was holding the Holy Sword with both hands and talking to it. Frozen silence. I silently put the Holy Sword back down beside the desk, and Daphne started dusting the corner of the room with her duster. I looked at the Holy Sword with reproachful eyes.

“[You look like someone caught doing something inappropriate.]”

Shut up, sword.