Ch.3Hero Agency (3)

I received a new identity in exchange for being forcibly renamed. Thanks to that, I was able to successfully sign the contract this time.

“Great, welcome to our office. My name is Leo and I’m a mage.”

“A mage? But the Goddess clearly said you were the Holy Sword Hero.”

“I’m a mage no matter what anyone says.”

Suddenly, anxiety washes over me.

What if the Holy Sword Hero has switched to being a mage and no longer uses the Holy Sword?

“…How long has it been since you last used the Holy Sword?”

“I stopped right after defeating the Demon King… so about 5 years now.”

“Then do you have any plans to use the Holy Sword again?”

“Why would I use a Holy Sword when I have magic?”

My anxious predictions always hit the mark.

Still, convincing him to use the Holy Sword shouldn’t be too difficult, so maybe it’ll be okay.

“But isn’t the Holy Sword better than magic…?”

Suddenly, a terrifying pressure emanated from Leo, so intense I could barely breathe.

“You weren’t about to suggest that a mere brainless weapon is better than the culmination of human intellectual history, were you?”

I was so overwhelmed by Leo’s pressure that I could barely keep my body upright.

Is this what it would feel like to face the Demon King?

“Anyway, my name is Leo. And my profession is ‘mage.'”

As Leo finished speaking, the pressure crushing me disappeared. But I still found it difficult to breathe.

This was just his reaction to being slightly annoyed. What would happen if he truly got angry?

I made a mental note to be extremely careful when discussing anything magic-related with Leo.

Anyway, thanks to Leo’s emphasis on being a mage, I realized one important fact.

The Holy Sword Hero had abandoned the Holy Sword and chosen magic instead.

The thought briefly crossed my mind that a world with only mint chocolate might be better than this one, but it quickly vanished.

No matter what, this world still has much more hope than that one.

“Rebecca, introduce yourself too.”

The woman in nun’s clothing looked at me and spoke. Is she Rebecca?

“Nice to meet you, I’m Rebecca. My profession is Holy Maiden.”

“What exactly does a Holy Maiden do?”

In my mind, a Holy Maiden is close to a support role who casts buffs or heals, but my mental images can’t be trusted.

Perhaps she’s called a Holy Maiden but actually fights on the front lines with a greatsword.

“It’s a profession that only those chosen by the Goddess can have…”

“I’m guessing they just grab anyone overflowing with divine power and insist they’re a Holy Maiden.”

“You still deny the Goddess’s existence even after hearing the Oracle directly?”

“That wasn’t an Oracle, just an auditory hallucination from exhaustion.”

“Does it make sense that three people would hear the exact same hallucination simultaneously?”

A Holy Maiden chosen by the Goddess is desperately denying the Goddess’s existence. I hope that doesn’t affect her performance in battle.

“Anyway, just think of me as someone who heals from the back.”

My mental image was correct for once. I guess even a broken clock is right twice a day.

“And I can also create a bow and arrows from light to shoot.”

…Of course the broken clock would be like that.

Still, the situation is much better than with the Hero. At least she’s not doing something strange and penalizing herself.

Plus, convincing the Holy Maiden seems much easier. At least she doesn’t have a peculiar personality like Leo or seem unhinged like the Holy Knight.

“And this is Agath. Her profession is Holy Knight, and her position in the clergy is right below the Holy Maiden.”

Leo pointed to a woman who was tied to a chair and unconscious.

“Is it okay for someone of such high position to live like this?”

If she’s right below the Holy Maiden, her position must be quite high. Is it acceptable for someone of such high status to live so devoted to their desires?

Honestly, even though high-ranking people secretly take bribes and such, they at least don’t behave like this in public.

“Despite appearances, she follows the doctrine well.”

“Is it really okay to live however you want as long as you follow the doctrine?”

“I don’t know much about the church, so I’m not sure. Rebecca would know.”

When Leo looked at Rebecca and spoke, Rebecca replied with a puzzled expression.

“But is it really okay to trust this person?”

“We heard the Oracle, and the lie detection worked fine. So we should just trust her.”

“What if someone manipulated her memories to make her think she reincarnated from another world?”

Rebecca was talking nonsense, but I couldn’t refute it.

I definitely reincarnated to save this world at the Goddess’s request.

But all I brought from my past life was my memories. Everything else is new.

Even the memories that could serve as evidence can’t be proven real.

It’s absolutely impossible, but what if I didn’t actually reincarnate?

Fortunately, before such thoughts could fill my mind, Leo provided evidence of my reincarnation.

“You saw her being summoned from another world yourself, and the Archbishop also received an Oracle saying she would come to this world. How do you explain that?”

“It could all be an act. The hallucination was passed off as an Oracle, and the summoning was just teleportation magic…”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

Leo cut off Rebecca’s words with a suddenly harsh voice.

It’s probably not about religious devotion… Is he doing this to help me in my difficult situation?

“This absolutely cannot be explained by magic. There wasn’t even a mana reaction, and the formula is completely different. The basic formula for teleportation is…”

Leo suddenly started explaining the principles of teleportation.

His interruption of Rebecca wasn’t for some noble reason like helping me. He just thought magic was being insulted.

Still, I’m somewhat grateful since he’s proving that I came from another world.

***

Three hours had passed since Leo began explaining teleportation. And Rebecca was desperately shouting.

“I understand, I believe you! So please stop now…”

“Magic isn’t something you can define by belief like divine power! It’s all composed of meticulous formulas and circuits, so you need to understand it.”

“I was wrong, so please…”

“Just listen for now. Anyway, in the teleportation formula, the flow of mana…”

Rebecca pleaded desperately with a tearful face, but the explanation showed no signs of stopping.

And I have to continue listening to this tedious explanation against my will.

Grateful for his help? That feeling disappeared two hours ago. Now I just want this to end quickly.

***

After seven hours, the explanation about teleportation finally ended.

Do I understand what teleportation is? Of course not. How could I understand incomprehensible terms that only experts would know?

Instead, I could clearly see that teleportation involves very complex principles.

“That’s the basic formula. Now if we move on to the advanced material…”

He says that everything he’s been talking about for seven hours was just the basic explanation. If I had to listen to the advanced course…

I must prevent that situation at all costs.

“Wait a moment!”

“What is it?”

“Since I lack knowledge about magic, I don’t think I’ll understand the advanced part. So maybe we can cover that another time…”

“I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll explain it in a way that you can understand even without basic knowledge of magic. But it will take a bit longer.”

Who is the most dangerous person here?

The Holy Knight who tried to pounce on me? The Holy Maiden who denied my existence? Those are all fake. The truly insane person is right in front of me.

This is real madness.

***

Fortunately, the advanced theory was stopped in less than 20 minutes.

That was thanks to our noble Holy Knight who regained consciousness.

“Untie me.”

“I’ll untie you as soon as I finish the explanation.”

“Bathroom.”

“…”

Leo stopped his explanation and untied Agath. But even after being freed, Agath didn’t move anywhere.

“Aren’t you going to the bathroom?”

“I don’t really need to go.”

“Then why did you say bathroom?”

“Well… because it’s fun.”

“…Anyway, let me continue the explanation.”

Although Agath had interrupted the flow, the explanation didn’t stop.

Until now, I could tune it out because I didn’t understand anything, but now I’m starting to grasp the content and it’s making me dizzy.

If I listen to more of this, my head might actually explode…

“What explanation? If it’s about how to train this girl, I’m passionate about listening.”

“…”

“It’s okay, it’s natural to get turned on when you see something like this. So don’t be embarrassed.”

“…Could you just shut up?”

“If this boring explanation ends, I’ll be quiet too.”

Agath seemed to put her words into practice, interrupting every time Leo showed signs of starting his explanation again.

Finally, Leo couldn’t take it anymore and surrendered.

“I give up. Happy now?”

“The loser should now be ravished by the winner…”

“You can’t touch her anyway because of the doctrine.”

“…Why do you keep hitting where it hurts?”

Thanks to our reliable and noble Holy Knight, this terrible explanation finally came to an end.

Although she tried to pounce on me before and said a lot of strange things about me, she seems more reliable than anyone else here.

“Anyway, she’s going to work at our office now. So let’s exchange brief greetings.”

The reliable Holy Knight approached me.

“Hello? My name is Agath and I’m a Holy Knight. Can I pounce on you?”

…Let me correct myself. A psychopathic Holy Knight approached me.

“Absolutely not.”

“I’ll make you really happy, trust me.”

“It’s almost quitting time, so stop talking nonsense and let’s pack up and go.”

The sun had already set, and the moon was shining yellow in the sky.

The contract clearly stated that lodging and meals would be provided free of charge, so I don’t need to worry about where to stay.

“Where is the dormitory?”

“Since all four of us have to use the same dormitory anyway, just follow us.”

Something feels uneasy. Things are suddenly going smoothly… well, not really.

Anyway, Rebecca seems the most normal, so should I try convincing her first?

Agath might be the easiest to persuade, but I instinctively feel repulsed, so that seems impossible.

If I were on the offensive side, I might be able to accept it, but I absolutely refuse to be on the defensive side.

Although my body has changed to female, my mind is still completely male. The thought of my noble mind being defiled makes my skin crawl.

And Leo… I don’t think I can persuade him at all. I just can’t understand him as a person.

With these thoughts, I followed my colleagues to the dormitory.