Ch.9230. That’s Why I’m Doing This. (3)

“As you said, I want to ask before I die.”

[…….]

“You said you gave me everything. Everything? What does that mean? Techniques? Methods?”

And.

“Why didn’t Grandeus show his true strength in the final battle with my father?”

[Is that how it appeared? But how would you know that? You speak as if you witnessed it yourself.]

“…Because I did see it.”

Though I’m not sure if you’ll believe me.

[You seem to possess such an ability.]

Yet the holy sword calmly continued the conversation.

[Even this conversation between us is an extremely unusual situation. This too must be related to your abilities.]

“This situation?”

This is news to me.

[The answer to that isn’t difficult. Grandeus at that time was bound to lose because he was using me, not Elbat.]

As a fellow holy sword.

[The holy sword wielded by Rueld is unquestionably superior. It’s a sword forged by a god in the form of a holy sword. In other words, a divine sword.]

“……”

What is that supposed to…

[Even if he had wielded Elbat, defeat would have been certain. But at that time, he didn’t even have that.]

“Wait. Aren’t you Elbat?”

[I have never once referred to myself as such.]

“……”

What’s going on here?

If that’s not Elbat, then what is?

-Ask it like this.

“……”

Following the Demon Lord’s instruction, I asked.

“Then why did Grandeus need you? For what purpose?”

[To execute justice. To protect honor. And… what he promised was the eradication of great evil.]

Specifically.

[He said he would give me the right to slay the Great Demon Lord.]

-Now that makes sense. I heard he was particularly intimidated by great evils. The reason is now clear. Though I had my suspicions.

“The Great Demon Lord?”

[If it weren’t for that, why would I allow myself to be wielded by its hands? By someone from the demon realm who defied the natural order.]

“Who defied the natural order?”

[Normally, one should melt away the moment they grasp a holy sword. But that being couldn’t even do that.]

Because it.

[Had no physical body.]

“…?”

Physical body? You mean a body?

-At some point, he started always appearing in full armor. I suspected as much, but he hid it well. Quite skilled at concealment.

The Demon Lord’s additional explanation barely registered in my ears.

“If it had no body, how did it move?”

[It had armor, didn’t it?]

It was.

[Its will was extraordinary. With will alone, it formed and controlled a non-existent body—a monstrous will beyond reason. A single will gaining intelligence and moving with purpose. It’s like a miracle.]

-Such things aren’t uncommon in the demon realm, but usually they’re based on grudges and malice.

Like the strange kind that Grandeus was.

-Not justice or anything like that.

[It was unparalleled in its sense of justice. But excessive righteousness can be like poison.]

That might be someone’s justice, but it’s not the greater good. It’s not benevolence, and malice… even less so.

[If there was one thing he knew, it was that he would eventually fade away.]

But the will must continue.

Even if his justice crumbles and fades.

He yearned for someone to carry on his will.

[But instilling one’s will in another is difficult. It’s a challenging task.]

In the demon realm.

Even after coming to the middle world.

Only he remained steadfast.

Among those influenced by him.

Not one fully inherited his will.

Even if they inherited his techniques.

Their will and methods were used in utterly selfish and individualistic ways.

Rather, by passing them on, his will became tainted.

[He personally reclaimed all of it. Like a sower collecting his misguided harvest.]

But.

Just one remained.

A seed he never expected.

…Growing vigorously.

Developing far beyond his expectations.

Despite teaching it most carelessly and perfunctorily.

[Yet he couldn’t believe it. Grandeus. That thing.]

Grandeus gained insight from a conversation with a traveler.

The traveler said:

Once.

When clothes hanging out to dry disappeared, at first he suspected the people living nearby.

Later, when he saw traces of wild animals tearing at them.

Only then did his suspicions fade.

At the end of suspicion, what he discovered was ultimately himself, the one who was suspicious.

[He stopped doubting himself. But others were a different matter.]

So.

He returned to the demon realm.

And after a long time.

He came back.

To confirm it.

Under the title of a commander in the Demon Lord’s army.

Following the advice of one who became both comrade and lord.

…Thus, he explored how the flower that had sprouted and budded at that time had withered.

If the flower had wilted.

He was willing to fulfill his duty as commander.

However.

“……”

The Black Knight traced the journey of that child.

A young man who struggled to cultivate hope in turbulent times.

Despairing at reality, having lost everything precious even in his homeland.

…The man embraced his last remaining hope and tried to start anew.

There was no glory or honor in it.

Just a modest, small… wish.

The village he had worked so hard to build.

Even that was denied to him.

He could have despaired and blamed the world, blamed the heavens.

But as if even that time was too precious to waste, he was desperate in everything he did.

How, even in such a state, with a weak human body and mind.

…Why doesn’t he give up?

What is it to cherish something?

What does it mean to be able to exert something to protect?

I don’t understand.

And.

When he burned himself out and emptied everything. He was dying.

But because of that, he was able to protect everything.

Grandeus.

…Entering the church building called Cariella’s sanctuary.

Looking at that statue.

Examining the sword left behind.

He glimpsed those memories.

It was the journey of a young man who was pure yet somehow upright.

As time passed, many sought to follow in that man’s footsteps.

The will was passed on.

I see.

You weren’t wrong.

I doubted. I didn’t believe.

The Great Demon Lord said.

I trust everything.

That they will fall into the pit themselves.

That they will agonize over their foolishness and fall!

That their prosperity is momentary, and their fall is equally brief.

…But their suffering and misery will be nearly eternal.

Truly rarely, there might be one or two exceptions.

But exceptions aren’t even worth paying attention to.

Most will fail, will despair.

So we need only believe in that.

Based on that premise.

Whether we rule them, kill them, eliminate them, dispose of them, use them, toy with them, break them, care for them, raise them, look after them.

All of that is up to the hearts of those who possess and have awakened.

So in all the world.

Only your hearts matter.

[He was an exception.]

Therefore.

Grandeus.

Wanted to regard him as both disciple and master.

Therefore.

Although he had taught him.

He inherited anew the will and chivalry he had lost from him.

He devoted himself to protecting the weak.

[That’s why Grandeus came to be known as a knight, not a commander.]

“……”

[You know the source of that reason. That’s why you’re the successor. Those who call themselves the Salvation Knight Order are followers. Knowing he couldn’t save the world alone, he helped them become self-reliant, but he still wasn’t someone who could trust others. He could barely trust himself.]

Nevertheless.

[There wasn’t a lack of potential among them. That’s why Grandeus entrusted them with a few things. And who knows if another miracle might bloom among them.]

And if you are the true successor.

[If they take the wrong path, you too must collect and reclaim that. Following in his footsteps means bearing such a burden.]

“…But it seems I’m about to die soon too?”

A wry smile escapes me.

At the same time, my chest feels heavy.

Grandeus raised Saint Cariel.

But in the end, was it Grandeus himself who was moved by the footsteps he walked?

If.

Saint Cariel had not carried on his will.

…Does that mean Grandeus would have acted as a commander, an ally of the Demon Lord of Wisdom?

[As you suspect. If that were the case… no matter how hard your father, the hero Rueld, tried, it would have been impossible.]

Grandeus was.

[Someone who burned everything with the purpose of slaying the Great Demon Lord from the beginning. He weakened when that Demon Lord disappeared and he lost his purpose… but even the Golden Demon Lord wasn’t someone who could be dealt with carelessly.]

-Why would I fight that guy? Even if I did, I wouldn’t face him head-on. I’m not crazy.

…Seeing the Demon Lord speak like that, his strength must be guaranteed.

In other words, because he was such a being… no matter how many holy swords or relics one wielded.

Plus the fact that he didn’t use his specialty.

For me, it remains a question.

-If Grandeus had been my subordinate, you’re saying even the continental conquest I didn’t want would have succeeded? Then the current continental situation would have developed in a very interesting direction. That might be a bit regrettable?

“……”

-I have no lingering attachment, but anyway, one thing is now certain.

What is?

Could he read my expression?

-The secret arts he entrusted to me were, in a way, preparations made for you. That’s what this means.

“……”

-Yes. He could glimpse the future. But it was very fragmentary. And just now that foolish sword said it. He gave some of it to the Salvation Knight Order? If so. Doesn’t everything he babbled about as prophecy now make sense? It was obvious but not certain, so I kept quiet, but now it’s so obvious that I feel bad staying silent.

[This is all I can tell you. I don’t know the whereabouts of Elbat either. However.]

However?

If you don’t know, you don’t know, so what’s with the “however”?

[Elbat was not complete. That’s why for a long time, Grandeus temporarily borrowed my body.]

“…?”

-Hmm?

What’s this about now?

[Awaken the Black Light Star. At that moment, the constraints of time and space disappear. Everything has already been handed to you. The rest is whether you, as successor and inheritor, awaken it or not. That’s the only question. Do you still intend to only doubt?]

“……”

Is it lecturing me?

Suddenly remembering the earlier conversation, a hollow laugh escaped me.

“Your lecture reminds me of something.”

Cariel, with eyes that had half given up, shared his inner thoughts.

With partial conviction.

He asked, and answered the holy sword’s questions.

And so, they continued their brief dialogue.