Ch.552Why can’t I do this?

Crossing the border of the Holy State, back to the Empire.

The high-ranking paladin guarding the border was visibly flustered, completely opposite from when we had entered.

He might not know that I had become a saint of his church, but even Lacy, whom he had subtly looked down upon, had built a position incomparable to when we first entered.

To be frank, if Lacy wanted to kill him, she could quietly bury him in some corner of the border and leave, and no one would be able to say anything. Though neither of us had such a personality.

The air of the Empire that I was tasting after a long time… honestly, I didn’t feel anything special. The air where people live is all similar.

If there was any difference from the Holy State, it was perhaps that due to the vast territory, public safety couldn’t be properly secured.

Perhaps they still hadn’t recovered from the losses suffered during the civil war and the Great Invasion. Bandits swarmed the secluded mountain paths, and monster attacks were also frequent. Even small mountain villages had built crude palisades and organized vigilante groups to prepare for attacks.

I doubted those would stop bandit attacks or monster descents… but I suppose it was better than nothing.

Anyway, thanks to this, the journey was filled with bloodshed for everyone in our party.

I also actively wielded my sword when dealing with attacking bandits. Since capturing mere bandits wouldn’t help accumulate Karma for someone of our skill level, there was no reason to yield to the others in our group.

So rather than wasting time watching blankly, it was better to use the bandits as dummies to practice new techniques.

– Slash!

A horizontal Vacuum Blade. The transparent blade that shot out like a beam of light simultaneously severed the heads of three bandits who were trying to flee at the sight of my face.

Their bodies, spurting fountains of blood, danced and collapsed entangled with each other.

What do they call that again? Sworn brotherhood?

Judging by how the middle one was called “big brother,” they might not have been born on the same day, but at least they died together.

“Wait, now you’re cutting them down without even getting close? How did you do that?”

Leonore’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“I use the power of Karma to create a vacuum and shoot it out. Like this.”

I smiled at her face and swung my sword again, vertically slicing a distant enemy.

Though he was wearing armor, so I couldn’t cut through below his collarbone, it was enough to end his life. His split brain was oozing out between his cracked skull.

“See? Simple, right?”

“How is that possible without magic…?”

Leonore tried to imitate me, swinging her sword in the air several times, but only produced a pitiful whooshing sound with no vacuum blade emerging.

“No, why can’t I do this? You just do it like this, like this, right?”

I couldn’t help but snicker at this rare opportunity to tease Leonore, happily harvesting the bandits’ necks.

Using Vacuum Blade on mere bandits was an extravagant waste of power, but since my energy would recover in a day anyway, there was nothing to hold back.

The other members of our party were also using the bandits like sandbags to get accustomed to their new weapons.

– Crackle!

A lightning-infused spear pierced through a bandit, burning him, before returning to its owner’s hand. Nigel repeatedly shot and retrieved Everon’s holy spear like a fisherman’s harpoon, laughing.

“This is more fun than I expected. I understand why nobles enjoy hunting.”

The bandit’s body, skewered on the spear shaft, flew back with a whoosh, then fell in a parabolic arc near Nigel as the spear was pulled out. He was truly like a fisherman catching people.

“Aaaaargh! My body! There’s wood in my boooody!”

“It itches! Help meee! Please take this off meee!”

On the opposite side, Millia was implementing an eco-friendly policy using the bandits’ bodies. Each time the bowstring of the Divine Tree bow lightly twanged, seedlings grew into small forests, feeding on blood and flesh.

“Maybe I should have chosen a weapon too…”

Leonore looked at Nigel and Millia with envious eyes.

Though Saint Leila’s earrings she had chosen were also decent holy artifacts, defensive items did seem more modest compared to weapons.

“What are you worrying about? Just shoot vacuum blades like me. Look, like this. You don’t even need Durandal, see?”

Of course, for me, this was just the perfect reaction to tease her. I picked up an iron sword dropped by a bandit and unleashed another Vacuum Blade.

– Crash!

The sword I picked up was ordinary steel, so it shattered under the pressure as I swung it, but the vacuum blade itself shot out intact, slicing through two or three bandits.

“Ta-da.”

“……”

Leonore silently glared at me with a terrifying gaze. It was almost as intense as Ophelia’s when she looked at Claire.

…I shouldn’t tease her anymore.

Fearing future consequences, I quietly sheathed Durandal and backed away. I could almost feel Leonore’s gaze stabbing the back of my head.

[Even if your throat gets cut in your sleep, you’ll know it was coming.]

…No, surely Leonore wouldn’t go that far. Though she does seem a bit upset.

—-

At the back of the carriage, Hush was helping Lena with her training.

He had torn off a bandit’s limbs and brought him over, making cuts that Lena would then heal. Bethania was beside them, offering tips on healing techniques.

Since our party rarely got injured these days, this seemed to be a makeshift solution…

“Aaaaargh! Just kill me! Kill me instead!!”

…I’m not sure if this is okay. It doesn’t seem like good emotional education.

“Please wait a little longer. After all your comrades are gone, I’ll send you after them.”

Hmm… she seems fine. Doesn’t appear to be traumatized.

Perhaps Lena has become accustomed to seeing people killed after traveling with us.

“You damn little brat!”

“How dare you speak to my sister that way.”

I picked up a dagger and cut out the tongue of the bandit who was cursing. He’d be healed anyway, but this was to teach him to watch his mouth.

“Grrweeeeek!”

The bandit whose tongue had been completely cut off let out a strange cry, blood pouring from his wide-open mouth.

“Ah, sister! You said you were testing a new technique, are you done already?”

“Not really, but Leonore was looking at me with such envy. You should have seen how intensely she was staring. As her lord, I need to be considerate of my subordinate’s feelings, right?”

I gently stroked Lena’s head while gesturing toward Leonore, who was venting her frustration by butchering the bandits’ bodies.

[That’s not consideration, it’s deception. Even Amin didn’t deceive his subordinates to that extent. I’m truly impressed.]

‘How can you say such harsh things?’

Surely I’m a thousand times better than Amin, no matter how you look at it.

—-

These pastoral days of slaughter didn’t last long. Unlike the border regions, the areas near the capital maintained strict public order.

In truth, even in the border regions, the areas around nobles’ castles were probably peaceful.

We had traveled only through sparsely populated routes to avoid the hassle that would come if our visit became known, but around cities and castles, nobles would maintain order using their private armies.

Anyway, we had our fill of hunting monsters and bandits. We also got to confirm the abilities of the unicorn Cascador.

Occasionally, when there was a female bandit among them, he would suddenly charge and impale them with his horn.

And not just a simple charge—he would kick them into the air and then stab them vertically. Hush was absolutely terrified.

Naturally, the other bandits would swing their weapons in surprise, but Cascador would use his horn like a sword-spear to block their attacks and stab them to death, while kicking approaching bandits from the sides or behind with his hind legs, rupturing all their internal organs.

Perhaps because he was a mythical beast, despite being a horse, his skills surpassed those of ordinary knights.

After traveling like this for about ten more days, we finally reached the capital. The season had changed, with winter giving way to the warmth of spring. We had left in winter and returned in spring.

—-

Upon our arrival in Extrashafel, we were greeted by Leopold’s messenger requesting our immediate presence at the palace.

He hadn’t summoned our entire party, only me and Lacy as the leaders, but since we were all in the same carriage, everyone ended up heading to the imperial palace.

The imperial palace, which I visited after a long time, had been rebuilt after collapsing during the winter. Though it hadn’t regained its past splendor, it had recovered enough to look worthy of an emperor’s residence.

It seemed Leopold had also started residing in the main palace rather than his separate palace, as the knight who greeted us at the entrance guided us toward the main building.

We met Leopold after several dozen minutes. Since we all looked terrible from the long journey, we had to bathe before the audience.

The imperial bathhouse. While this was normal for Lacy and me, it must have been quite luxurious for the others. Except for Leonore, it was an experience they might never have again in their lives.

“The mansion was better…?”

Or maybe not.

Seeing the main palace’s grand bath, Millia tilted her head slightly and muttered quietly, as if somewhat disappointed.

…Well, Isabella’s mansion was the epitome of luxury, so it was indeed on a different level compared to the newly completed imperial bathhouse.

Anyway, after bathing, our companions were guided to a reception room by the waiting maids who had been refused bath attendance, while Lacy and I went to meet Leopold.

—-

“…You’re later than I expected. To think you’d return when spring has almost arrived.”

Leopold, whom we were meeting after several months, greeted us while half-sitting on his throne in the office, lightly brushing up his luxuriant golden hair.

…Luxuriant?

What’s this? Has the Empire finally developed magic to revive dead hair follicles?

[That’s a wig. Has he reached the point where he can’t manage without one… how pitiful and sad.]

It was actually the opposite. He had lost so many follicles that he needed to wear a wig to cover it. If he took it off, wouldn’t he shine as brightly as Carlos?

That image overlapped so vividly in my mind that I had to use all my strength to hold back my laughter.