Ch.151151. A World Where No One Gets Hurt

I’ll take the place of Lilith.

It wasn’t exactly a welcome solution, but thinking about it, it was probably the best option available right now.

The current rumors were greatly enhancing Lilith’s standing, and the plan was to suddenly shift the focus to me instead.

To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure how this would work. Clearly I was meant to be at the center of this operation, yet the three women were having their strategy meeting without me.

“Nobody’s going to criticize Lilith for being weak at this point anyway. If anything, her current level of activity seems unnatural. Don’t you agree, Alkine?”

“That’s true. Until just the day before yesterday, Lilith was a first-year student… at best, she was at a second-year level.”

“Um… I thought the same thing, which is why I brought this up, but it hurts when you say it so bluntly. Could you be a little more tactful?”

From what I gathered, I was supposed to be some kind of hidden saint handler, and while the saint had merely observed these recent incidents, I was actually at the center of everything.

I suppose that makes more sense than Lilith suddenly being too powerful at this point.

In reality, all Lilith had publicly shown was beating up three Elnos Association grunts.

A world where no one gets hurt can be created if I just sacrifice myself a little.

Or maybe not. Many people have already been hurt by the heretics and the Elnos Association.

Whatever the case, it seemed inevitable that I’d be taking the blame for everything. Since that’s how it is, I should make sure to get what I want.

“Lilith.”

“What?”

“The Holy Sword you created today. Can you make it again?”

“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”

“So I can lift it in front of everyone.”

Since I’m going to do this anyway, I wanted to fulfill the fantasy I couldn’t achieve earlier.

If I’m going to pretend, I might as well fulfill that desire.

It would also make things more convincing for the audience.

If we add a pillar of light with golden splendor, everyone will truly believe I did it all.

I’ll become extremely famous, but well, that would have less impact than the saint Lilith becoming famous.

But that seemed to be a very troublesome request for Lilith.

“Um… can’t we do something else instead?”

“Why?”

“I kind of have a feel for creating things now, but…”

Lilith sighed as if struggling to explain, then continued.

“Simply put, I don’t know what I can create. I don’t decide what to make—it just forms on its own. So… I can only give you whatever gets created at that moment.”

That was disappointing. I wanted to be widely known as something like the Holy Sword Warrior.

I guess being a hero only suits the protagonist.

…More importantly, I hope it won’t be another K-2 rifle. Holding that in front of everyone would give me PTSD before any honor.

Though I was anxious, I couldn’t force her to do the impossible, so I accepted it.

“We’ll be leaving now.”

“Let’s do that.”

“Good luck, Vattier.”

Meanwhile, the four elders had become just one.

Everyone except Vattier had decided to leave.

They weren’t just leaving, though. They all agreed to spread the word about an important announcement on their way back to gather people.

Being influential figures, they could attract quite a crowd with just a few words.

And Vattier… decided to participate as a bishop in this matter. It wasn’t his own will, but somehow it turned out that way.

“I never thought I’d live to tell such a lie.”

“Don’t think of it so negatively. After all, we’re doing this for Lilith… the saint’s future.”

They didn’t force him to do it without explanation. They had explained everything beforehand.

If Lilith became too famous at this point, it would cause various problems, so they were doing this to prevent that. Cooperating with this plan was for the saint’s benefit, so please think of it positively.

Vattier understood and accepted this, but he still seemed reluctant to attribute the saint’s achievements to some commoner.

Well, it can’t be worse than my sudden promotion to sainthood or whatever.

With that thought, I decided not to comfort him.

Afterward, after wrapping up the conversation, Lilith and I put on the clothes Vattier had brought.

Lilith was in her familiar nun’s outfit, but wow, I never thought I’d be wearing this.

“Uh, um…”

Seeing me like this, Lilith seemed unable to find the right words and just mumbled.

“Do I look strange?”

“No, not at all. On the contrary, completely…”

Completely… what?

Just as I was about to ask Lilith what she meant, Celia interrupted.

“Shall we head out now? Quite a crowd has gathered already.”

“Already? How many people are there?”

“Well, about five times more than Ludion is thinking.”

How would you know how many I was thinking of?

Five times is too many. There’s no way that many people gathered in the short time it took to change clothes.

I could hear some commotion outside after what Celia said, but when we actually go out, there will probably just be a few people. Five times more? She must be joking.

But since there was nothing more to do here, I agreed to leave, and we all exited the cathedral.

Since people had been asked to gather at the cathedral, we could see the crowd as soon as we stepped outside… what in the world?

Celia’s words were true.

“Leumann said everyone who heard about the rumors should gather, so I came. There are quite a lot of people.”

“Indeed. Though most of them are our people.”

“They’re believers of the saint, so naturally they’d be interested.”

“That’s part of it, but Iser said this wasn’t the saint’s achievement. We came to hear the story before making any judgments. Everyone here thinks the same.”

“Iser said that? There must be something to this.”

A truly massive crowd had gathered and was buzzing with conversation.

It was because Iser’s faction—essentially a fanatical group that worshipped the saint—had shown up in force, despite usually keeping a low profile.

Iser, who had worked with the previous saint, commanded an enormous saint faction.

How could they spread the news, make their judgments, and gather in such numbers in such a short time?

And people were still arriving. I could clearly see more people heading this way from a distance.

Those who gathered quickly were just the beginning. Among the growing crowd were ordinary Ritten residents, travelers, and quite a number of nobles hoping to gain some advantage.

When everyone had gathered, Celia’s “five times more” comment seemed like an understatement.

“I just came because I saw people gathering. What’s going on?”

“They’re going to talk about the rumors that spread today.”

“Does that mean we’ll get to see the saint?”

I thought at most there would be several dozen people, but this is ridiculous.

The last time I saw this many people gathered was at the academy entrance ceremony, but even then, it only seemed like a lot because everyone was crammed into one space.

But this… wow…

Anyone would think the emperor was making a street procession.

“Ugh. Ludion. I don’t feel so good.”

…Right. There might not be an emperor, but there was a princess beside me.

And she doesn’t like crowds much. But they didn’t come to see her anyway.

“If you’re struggling, you can go back inside.”

“No. I need to see what Ludion is doing.”

I decided to leave the struggling but stubborn Celia with Alkine, and approached Lilith who was talking with Vattier.

“If public opinion turns negative, I’ll step in.”

“If you could do that… Oh, Ludion. We’re done talking here. Let’s proceed, and if the atmosphere gets strange, Bishop Vattier will help.”

“Ho ho… Given how things have turned out, I’ll do what I can.”

After finalizing how we would proceed, Lilith and I stood before the crowd.

“Is that the saint?”

“She’s so young.”

“Saint!”

“Thank you for saving Ritten, Saint!”

“Wait, but who’s that man next to her?”

At first, all attention was on Lilith, but soon some of it began to spill over to me standing right beside her.

Who is that man?

As that question spread, Lilith carefully opened her mouth… then looked at me hesitantly.

“What are you doing? Hurry up.”

“Don’t tease me later.”

“I won’t, I promise.”

It’s just a script, why is she so embarrassed?

After our brief exchange, Lilith finally spoke.

With Celia’s help, her voice carried far and wide.

“Greetings. I am Lilith, the current generation’s saint.”

Though it was a simple self-introduction, Lilith’s naturally beautiful voice resonating widely gave it a truly sacred feeling.

Perhaps because of this, some people in the crowd had already started to shed tears.

Lilith continued.

“First, I apologize for taking your valuable time. I’ve arranged this gathering because there are things I need to say about the many events that occurred today and the rumors that followed.”

It was clearly a humble statement beginning with an apology.

Yet Lilith’s voice had the power to make people reverent even with such humility.

I didn’t really get it, but that’s how people were reacting.

In that atmosphere, my turn began.

“I won’t explain at length. The pillar of light and the Elnos Association incidents were all done not by me, but by this person.”

“Pleased to meet you. I am Ludion, assigned to assist and support the current saint.”

My voice carried just as far as Lilith’s had.

Hmm. The reaction didn’t seem as positive as it had been for Lilith.

So I proceeded quickly.

“I won’t explain at length either. It will be faster to show you directly.”

Saying that, I took a stance. Of course, no divine power would come from me, but from this point on, it was Lilith’s one-person show.

-“You want me to pretend Ludion is handling divine power?”

-“Yes. That’s necessary to make the new rumor credible.”

-“Is that possible? Divine power is unique, and there are many people sensitive to this sort of thing who might notice.”

-“About that… they won’t notice.”

-“Why?”

-“It’s more surprising they haven’t noticed already. Right now, Lilith’s divine power is so pure that it’s impossible to tell whose it is. People just assume it’s Lilith’s because she’s the one who can use divine power.”

If I act like someone who can handle divine power, Lilith will do everything to match.

When I extend my hand appropriately, something emerges from there, and as I wave it around, it spreads out magnificently.

The storm of divine power gradually grows larger and more spectacular, and people begin to focus on it.

But that didn’t last long.

Voices of doubt began to grow louder.

They acknowledged that I was handling sacred power, but questioned how that proved I was the one who had been active, not the saint.

This wasn’t coming from ordinary people, but from Iser’s saint faction members.

Reading the atmosphere, Vattier was about to step forward, but I stopped him and quietly called to Lilith.

“Lilith.”

“Yes.”

At my call, Lilith brought out Lina, who had been waiting, and placed her in front of me.

Unlike earlier when she had been tied with rope, she appeared free, but she still couldn’t resist. This was because Celia was suppressing her with mana.

Showing her to the people, I continued.

“Everyone, please look. This person is the head of the Elnos Association. I moved to capture her, and at the saint’s request to observe the process, we came to Ritten together.”

Lina, who hadn’t participated in our scheme discussion, looked at me as if to say “what nonsense is this,” but I didn’t need to worry about someone who was about to be taken away.

“In this process, it is welcome that the saint’s name has spread widely. However!”

I spoke a bit louder for emphasis, but due to the voice amplification, the sound reverberated almost painfully.

Some sensitive individuals were visibly wincing. I’m really sorry about that. It wasn’t intentional.

But I knew that if I showed hesitation now, the atmosphere would become strange again. So I delivered my final lines with feigned confidence.

“I am certain that stories spread in this manner will not be beneficial. Therefore, I will end this misunderstanding here.”

Then I raised both hands to the sky, as if lifting a sword.

Hoping for a Holy Sword to be created there.

The divine power rippling around me carefully gathered, converging between my raised hands. I could feel something like a handle forming, which seemed promising.

This is… a Holy Sword.

If I show myself defeating Lina with this, it will be the perfect conclusion.

With that thought, I looked around at the reactions… but the atmosphere seemed strange.

Everyone was looking at me—no, at whatever I was holding—with expressions that suggested they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Pfft.”

I heard Lilith laughing behind me.

Why is she laughing? Isn’t it a sword?

I had no idea what had appeared to make everyone react this way.

I was trying not to look at what had formed, thinking it might make me look bad, but at this point I decided I needed to check, so I looked up.

What was there was…

“What on earth is this?”

A very cute heart-shaped magic wand.