Chapter 121: Hero-nim? – 3

Chapter 121: Hero-nim? – 3

The Hero, directly struck by the Holy Sword, fell straight to the ground.

…Unlike someone who was currently in hell, she was unconscious and shocked, but looked quite peaceful.

It was truly infuriating.

“Alright, anyway… don’t you have anything to say to me?”

*’…Ahem.’*

“First of all, if you’re going to make me fight the Hero, shouldn’t the Hero and I have an equal level of strength? I just almost died, you know?”

Actually, this level of mortal danger is something I’ve grown accustomed to by now.

I didn’t pass out, nor did I enter a near-death state. I didn’t even practically die and come back to life like last time.

Looking at the state of my body, it seems I took quite a hit, but… for now, I think I can still walk and talk normally.

Of course, with my mana and stamina at rock bottom, any further combat would be absolutely impossible.

But there’s no need for me to explicitly state these facts.

*’First, I apologize, Silly. I had no intention of putting you in danger, now or in the future! However…’*

“However?”

*’……The problem is that the lightning you dropped from the sky was far stronger than I anticipated, capable of inflicting quite serious damage to the Hero’s body.

I am, after all, the Holy Sword, and in a position to protect that child, so if an attack above a certain level came in, I, too, had no choice but to forcibly use my power!’*

……Hmm, this is certainly an unexpected situation.

I never imagined my potion would threaten the Hero, even if it was just her main body without the Holy Sword’s power, as a normal Hero shouldn’t be threatened by it. That just means the Hero is ridiculously weak.

Moreover, if this is happening even when I only used one type of potion, not a mix of several, then there could really be problems when fighting monsters.

For the Hero to be defeated by a potion made by someone like me, it’s something that shouldn’t happen.

“There certainly seems to be a problem. For the Hero to be on the verge of taking significant damage from a potion made by someone like me.”

*’It seems there’s some misunderstanding, so let me correct two things.

First, it’s not just ‘significant damage’; my power is forcibly activated only when there’s an injury severe enough to require a long recovery period.’*

“Then isn’t that an even bigger problem?”

*’……Secondly, you seem to be severely unaware of how much power you possess, so let me tell you: you are now among the strong in this world.

It’s not a power comparable to some ordinary knight or passing adventurer; you are a strong individual, even if at the lower end, comparable to or slightly below a knight commander in the Empire!’*

…It seems the Holy Sword is truly terrible at judging people.

All I can do is throw a few potions and beat up anyone close with a greatsword, so how am I one of the strong in the world?

Honestly, I’m not at a level where I’d get beaten up everywhere, but I’m also not at a level where I can proudly call myself strong everywhere.

Right…? It’s probably like that.

*Unfortunately, everything the Holy Sword says is true, you know?*

“…That’s ridiculous. I know that the power of the newly made potions is on par with a high-level mage. But that’s about it, isn’t it?

There are probably plenty of mages who can use magic at my level, right?”

*’While not common, they can be found. Of course, most of them belong to some faction.

However, they can’t use their ultimate magic, a sure-kill technique that pours all their mana, at any desired timing, without any preparation, can they?’*

I had forgotten, and hadn’t realized it because I hadn’t met a proper mage yet, but in this world, using magic required a certain amount of preparation time.

Gathering mana, weaving spells, and casting them—mages essentially served as long-range artillery.

While there were cases of close-range combat equipment, that was merely self-defense to prevent a pointless death, not for standing on the front lines and taking down knights and other close-combat personnel.

They were the kind of beings often seen in novels with this background: they needed to be protected, but when protected, they unleashed powerful firepower.

……Now that I think about it, for me, simply throwing a potion is the end of preparation, so I don’t specifically prepare magic, and I just beat up any approaching enemies with my greatsword.

Because of this, I engage the enemy alone without an escort, and if the distance widens, I blast them with potions again.

And if they get close? I use various barrier-type potions that I’ve recently acquired to create distance, or I switch to using magic for support and fight with my greatsword skills.

…Looking at it this way, I had a hunch that I might be much stronger than a typical mage.

*’It is true that that child, as a Hero, is quite lacking in training. But even without my power, she is a child who can contend with the strongest, including a nation’s knight commander, several times.

With my power, her strength increases to a level where she can contend with them.’*

*Objectively speaking, even a Hero without the Holy Sword’s power is by no means a weak enemy, right? And you beat her.*

“……What’s the reason for suddenly hyping me up like this?”

*Well, obviously for more difficult quests and branches, right? You’ve been overcoming death after death, so it seems you haven’t quite realized your own level.*

*’While it’s not good to be overly intoxicated with power, it’s also a problem not to be aware of your own strength, like you.’*

“…So, you two conspired to make the Hero and me fight, is that it?”

No answer came from either the Holy Sword or Ria, but that itself was the answer.

The Holy Sword, to give the Hero a chance to regain her senses; Ria, to inform me of my current strength and that the enemies I would face in the future had also grown stronger.

Since their respective interests aligned, we must have suddenly ended up fighting in this back alley.

Of course, that’s that, and this is this, and it’s none of my business.

*’And… I apologize for asking in this situation, but how exactly did you do that last part?’*

“Well, I used a potion to move the Holy Sword’s position and…”

*’Not that… the question is how you, not the Hero, wielded the Holy Sword. By rights, only the Hero should be able to wield the Holy Sword, but……’*

“You’d better ask someone else about that, not me? Because I don’t know either.”

Normally, I would have used honorifics out of respect for the Holy Sword, but right now, it’s just ‘System-like Guy #1’.

Naturally, there are no honorifics.

No, wait, the more I think about it, the angrier I get! The Holy Sword is one thing, but these system bastards are pulling this kind of stunt on me again without a word?

*

Skill – Potionization has been activated!

-> You struggled against the Hero, greatly enhanced by the Holy Sword’s power, and won!

-> Upon winning against the Hero, one of the skills used by the Hero will be made into a potion!

=> The potion provided is ‘Berserker Potion’!

=> If consumed, as a side effect, your personality will temporarily be replaced by another, but all abilities will be greatly enhanced, just like the Hero empowered by the Holy Sword!

*

Perhaps my complaints scared them, or perhaps Ria just picked a ridiculously perfect timing, but a system notification window, which I hadn’t seen in a long time, popped up before my eyes.

…It said that a skill I obtained from beating up the inquisitor commander, which was now a thing of the past, had been activated.

Indeed, one of the potions I’ve been using effectively now, and those damn annoying chains, were also potions obtained through this skill.

But, aren’t the side effects a bit too gruesome…?

*’More importantly, it would be good to move to another location. Attention will start to gather soon.’*

“…Can’t you see what a mess I am? In this state, I’m supposed to move the Hero, who’s even taller than me? Fat chance.”

*’Don’t worry about that. I’ve forcibly moved her body and made her train while she was sleeping, so as long as there’s a place, moving her won’t be a big problem.’*

……A Holy Sword that forcibly moves its owner’s body to train her while she’s asleep because she doesn’t train properly.

I truly don’t know whether to call it amazing or terrifying.

In any case, the destination was decided.

Although getting involved with the Holy Kingdom never brought anything good… it was, of course, my shop.

***

“Ugh, ugh……”

‘Have you woken up?’

“My whole body aches, what in the world… Ah.”

An unfamiliar ceiling, the Holy Sword in my hand, and memories on the verge of breaking.

It began to become clear what I had been doing to end up in this state.

…Along with the fact that the Holy Sword had suddenly given me power.

“I didn’t expect you to suddenly give me power… that heretic must have been stronger than I thought?”

‘Yes, she was strong. However, there’s one thing I must correct.’

“Huh? Correct? By the way, did that heretic escape? Since Holy Sword-nim gave me power, I couldn’t have lost, so she must have run away, right?”

However, at that moment, an utterly unexpected impact resonated in my head.

…It wasn’t just a hit to the head; I was hit so hard that a genuine scream almost escaped me for a moment.

“You keep calling me a heretic, heretic… do you need to be hit a little more to come to your senses?”

‘…That’s why I told you to listen to the end.’

…What was that? Was it a dream?