Ch.236Show me what you have seen!

# Chapter 236: Show Me What You’ve Seen!

“T-This is no time for delay…! A grave crisis has befallen the universe, this very universe!”

The moment I appeared, the Holy Maiden spoke to me with an extremely urgent voice, as if squeezing the words from deep within herself.

The problem was that our Eternia Holy Maiden’s current state was very, very, very, veeeeeery bad.

Her peculiar floating garment showed remarkable ability in covering her vital areas.

However, the exposed snow-white skin that the garment failed to cover was riddled with various wounds, leaking blood and a blue energy called “Ether.”

Even though it was hidden by her clothing, she seemed to have suffered a rather deep penetrating wound in her abdomen.

The dirt floor of the imperial garden where the Holy Maiden stood was on the verge of forming a puddle from the massive amount of blood flowing from her body.

And on that blood-soaked ground, our Holy Maiden, seemingly unconcerned about her bleeding condition, approached me with an unsteady gait on bare feet instead of floating in the air as usual, and said such things to me.

“Even now, you must quickly use your authority to unite the nations of the galaxy!”

She showed such toughness, disregarding the numerous wounds and the blood mixed with blue ether streaming from her abdomen with every word.

‘Is this how all Ether Dragons behave?’

Looking at the Holy Maiden, who now resembled nothing short of a zombie, I was caught in the dilemma of how to respond to this situation.

[Time Pause]

Of course, whenever I faced such dilemmas, I activated time pause.

Fortunately, I already had a rough idea of what I needed to do in this situation.

‘Hmm… event message.’

[Event: Protection of the Fallen Dragon]

[An Eternian royal has fallen in dragon form in the garden of the Holy Sebelli Empire’s palace.]

[It would be best to take care of her as soon as possible and prepare for any potential situations.]

[Option 1: Good idea, it would be best to protect whoever it is. (Linked event progression, increased probability of positive events)]

[Option 2: We’re supposed to protect a dragon…? (Linked event progression, increased probability of negative events)]

This choice event was what helped me understand what I should do.

‘Who knew such an obvious event would be helpful this way.’

Unlike usual, it even included explanations about what was good and bad.

After a moment’s consideration, I immediately chose option 1.

[Option 1: Good idea, it would be best to protect whoever it is. (Linked event progression, increased probability of positive events)] <Selected>

‘First, I need to calm our Holy Maiden down.’

Now that I had organized my thoughts and decided on a plan, I released the time pause and tried to naturally calm the Holy Maiden.

[Time Pause Released]

“First, Holy Maiden, please calm do—GACK!”

“The universe is in danger!”

The problem was our Holy Maiden, true to her Ether Dragon nature, despite bleeding profusely, grabbed my clothes and shook me violently. My frail body couldn’t withstand her strength and was being tossed around like a reed.

The issue was, as mentioned earlier, our Holy Maiden had some kind of massive wound in her abdomen.

“W-Wait, please calm do—OOOWN!!!”

“Crisis!!!”

Amidst the spine-rattling shaking, I realized one thing.

‘Ah, this isn’t toughness—she’s confused from blood loss.’

Fortunately, I was able to avoid having my spine and waist damaged by the sub-160cm Holy Maiden who was suffering from excessive bleeding and an abdominal wound(?), though not through my own efforts.

“Now, Holy Maiden, please calm down, take a deep breath, and look into my eyes.”

“Ugh… huff… huff…”

“That’s right, look at my eyes, get better.”

Thanks to Riel and the imperial guards who were standing by nearby rushing in to quickly “stabilize” the Holy Maiden.

Though my impression of her toughness wasn’t entirely mistaken, it seems.

To subdue the Holy Maiden who was nearly at death’s door, more than 50 imperial guards with psionic abilities were mobilized.

Riel and other guards rushed in, each grabbing a limb, creating a very bizarre scene…

Even then, they couldn’t subdue her, and I personally understood why option 2 had appeared in the event message.

But no matter how confused the Holy Maiden was due to excessive blood loss, if she was causing such a commotion in the imperial palace, the center of the Holy Sebelli Empire, naturally, the Emperor, the master of the palace, wouldn’t just stand by and watch.

“What on earth is all this commotion… hmm?”

Soon after, thanks to Artraia’s appearance, the Holy Maiden’s rampage was finally subdued.

—————————————–

A little while later.

After Artraia used her imperial authority to completely cut off the imperial garden from outside contact, the Holy Maiden, having received emergency treatment with the help of the imperial medical officers, was sitting with a much calmer demeanor.

Beside her, I, Riel, and Artraia sat with complex expressions.

One curious thing, though…

Artraia was sitting on an elegant chair brought by the imperial guards.

Riel and I were perched on stones near a flowerbed.

Yet the Holy Maiden, who could be considered the most noble among us, was simply sitting on the dirt floor of the imperial garden.

Moreover, since Eternian royalty wore nothing but that peculiar garment, she was essentially sitting on the bare ground with no undergarments.

Naturally, Riel, Artraia, and I were looking at the Holy Maiden with quite complex expressions.

And sensing our gazes, the Holy Maiden…

Seemingly bothered by the hose connected to the IV and special blood replenishment equipment—anyway, the medical equipment—that the medical officers had set up, she casually pushed it aside with one arm and spoke calmly.

“Do not worry too much. Wounds of this degree will heal in a week… no, with nanomachines, they’ll heal in just a day.”

“Ah… is that so, Holy Maiden?”

While that might not have been Artraia’s concern, it certainly wasn’t what I was worried about.

But I had no intention of committing the insane act of asking the Holy Maiden, “That’s not my concern, how does it feel to sit on dirt with no underwear?” in this situation.

So I simply nodded lightly at her words.

As Riel and I responded lightly, trying to ease the atmosphere, Artraia, making an effort to soften her serious expression, addressed the Holy Maiden.

“…First of all, welcome to the Empire, but what exactly happened for you to suffer such serious injuries?”

At Artraia’s words, the Holy Maiden’s expression immediately darkened.

Then, from her cross-legged sitting position, she leaned forward, wiggled her toes, and remained silent for a while…

Eventually, as if having made up her mind, the Holy Maiden nodded, stood up from the ground, and addressed Artraia and me.

“The story might be quite long, is that alright?”

As a pressure-filled aura emanated from her that made it hard to believe she was injured, both Artraia and I were about to nod with our hair standing on end, but Riel interjected.

“No, I think you can just explain it briefly.”

As the humanoid who couldn’t read the room pushed for factual directness, the Holy Maiden stared at Riel intently…

After a moment.

-Pfft.

“Hehehe, you’re the child who revealed that those two did such things last time.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“A truly bold action, but if you say so, it must be necessary.”

The Holy Maiden, who burst into laughter at Riel’s words, straightened the medical equipment lines that had become slightly tangled when she stood up, and began to speak.

“Then I shall explain briefly. Your former emperor has taken control of Eternia’s capital planetary system, and as a result, the dimensional split bomb stored there has fallen into his hands.”

Upon hearing those words, I could only respond with one thing.

“…What?”