Chapter 125: Reform or Chaos – 2

Chapter 125: Reform or Chaos – 2

After the Hero, the Saintess, and I decided to go to the Holy Kingdom, nothing much… happened.

It was because the Saintess, who was originally going to stay here for a while, dragged the Hero back to the Holy Kingdom to show her the situation there.

……In the midst of all that, this idiotic Hero left the Holy Sword behind, so I ended up having to keep it temporarily.

*’Now that I see it, you are an interesting being too, aren’t you?’*

“What is it now? Are you trying to scam me again?”

*’……Didn’t I say I was deeply sorry for that!

Anyway, isn’t it clearly not normal that you’re not only receiving the Saintess’s attention, but also know about the Holy Kingdom’s corruption that even the Hero and Saintess, who are key figures of the Holy Kingdom, didn’t know about?’*

“I have no intention of answering questions about that.”

There was no reason for me to explain what kind of being I was, or that this world was originally from a novel to me.

In the first place, it was difficult to explain the existence of Ria and the System.

The Holy Sword also seemed aware of Ria’s existence, but didn’t know exactly what kind of being she was.

*’No, apart from that, there’s something else I want to talk about.’*

“You have something else to talk about?”

*’……Surely, back then, when you fought that Hero bastard, you held and used me for a moment. Isn’t that right?’*

“I did, didn’t I?”

I vividly remember hitting the Holy Sword with a Warp Potion and setting the warp destination to be in my hand.

And I also remember smashing the Hero’s head with it.

In other words, I definitely held and swung the Holy Sword before.

*’Originally, those not recognized by God, that is, those who are not the Hero, cannot even touch me, let alone wield me. How did you do it?’*

“……That’s how it was?”

*’You didn’t even know it in the first place… I somewhat expected it, but it’s certainly peculiar.

It should be a law that applies unconditionally to all beings belonging to this world and created by God. It seems you are exempt from that law for some reason.’*

……The moment it said that, I immediately understood why.

The Holy Sword clearly said it belonged to this world and was a ‘being created by God’.

And I, originally, am not a person of this world, and naturally, I was not created by God who seems to truly exist in this world.

In my original world, even if religious beliefs existed, God did not, and countless people were irreligious, claiming only science existed.

In other words, I have absolutely no connection to the God of this world.

…Unless the System was actually the God of this world! Or some other crazy development like that.

*Unfortunately, we have no connection whatsoever with the God of this world. Oh, well, there is a connection in a bad way.*

‘……What the hell is the System doing?’

*Well… honestly, it’s more accurate to say this is that God’s problem rather than ours… anyway.*

Something was causing a strong sense of unease, but according to Ria, that wasn’t the case.

In other words, I am free from the laws that the beings of this world are supposed to be bound by.

…Well, my potions themselves are already quite detached from the concepts and laws of this world, so.

*’Anyway, there’s only one reason I’m telling you this. Because if you can ignore even a few of the laws that exist in this world, it will be a sufficient help.’*

“For example?”

*’There would be the law that only those chosen by God can wield divine power.’*

“…Haven’t I already shown you that with potions?”

*’It’s a concept separate from potions, meaning you might have a power related to divine power itself, in addition to mana.

Of course, since the source of power is God, it would be impossible to use magic with divine power, but instead, you could create a constitution that is completely immune to divine power.’*

A constitution immune to divine power. Just hearing it, and considering the impending conflict with the Church that I foresee, it sounds good, but I need to be cautious.

Divine power is the most widely used, and practically the only, medical technique in this world.

Naturally, if divine power doesn’t work on me, it means I can’t receive such healing…

……But I don’t get healed by divine power anyway; I just drink stamina potions or miracle potions, don’t I?

‘…It might be a less significant penalty than I thought.’

*Well, there’s also the problem that you can’t receive various buffs made with divine power, but you can just make those yourself.*

It would normally be a fatal penalty. Without potions, it means I wouldn’t be able to receive the most common and immediate healing in this world, and all injury recovery would have to rely on natural healing.

Furthermore, considering that divine power is generally used to support rather than attack opponents, it means I wouldn’t receive such support either.

The problem is, I have potions.

……Potions that are cheaper, easier, and faster than any healing received through divine power.

“But why are you suddenly telling me this and informing me of such things?”

*’……Although I never intended to, I ended up deceiving you in the previous battle, and just before the Saintess arrived, didn’t I promise to compensate you accordingly?’*

“It’s good that you’re quick… I guess. Anyway, so what about that constitution immune to divine power?”

*’You don’t need to do anything. I will do it. To perform such work on your body, which can use divine power but doesn’t possess it, requires precise control of divine power anyway.

Even if you tried, you wouldn’t achieve any significant results.’*

“I see. ……But this isn’t another scam, is it……”

*’What on earth do you take me for, the former Hero and Holy Sword?!

Of course, the current Hero is lazy and useless, and the Church seems half-crippled, but that’s now, and it wasn’t like that in my time!’*

“……Tsk, just by looking at how you immediately try to scam without any thought, it doesn’t seem like it…”

*’Hey!!!’*

It seemed the Holy Sword was genuinely pissed off. Well, it must have been the first time the Holy Sword was treated like this.

During its time as the Hero, it was revered as the Hero, and the Holy Sword was revered as holy; who would treat it like a scammer?

…Me? Well, I’m an exception to the laws of the world, so I might be an exception in this regard too.

By the way, the Holy Sword’s blade was getting hotter and hotter on its own, as if it had used fire magic or something.

“…A fire’s going to break out here soon. Did someone cast magic?”

*’Yes, someone cast magic. On you, the magic of rage!!’*

The Holy Sword, which had been ranting for a while, quieted down after Lily and I plunged it into ice water.

Holy Sword or not, my branch target is the current Hero, not the Holy Sword.

And that Hero… well, she’s the kind of person whose mouth would curve into a triumphant smile if she knew the Holy Sword suffered like this.

I did feel a little bad for the Holy Sword… but well, if it was going to be like that, it shouldn’t have almost killed me.

……Of course, after that, I did apologize because I felt sorry for the Holy Sword, which was plunged into ice water, frozen, and screaming apologies, losing all its dignity.

***

So, while the true Holy Sword was somehow making me immune to divine power, I couldn’t just rest… and was making potions.

Especially since it was time to hand over proper potions to Christie.

Still, I had made many high-difficulty potions, and now that several bottles of potion came out each time I made one, it didn’t take too long.

Well, the sun, which was clearly high in the sky, was rising again from the east instead of setting in the west, but even so, it was finished quickly.

*’……How wondrous.’*

“What is?”

*’You clearly use mana, but the substances you create are absolutely not of this world. They never existed in the first place, and never would have.’*

“I-Is that… right?”

*’At this point, I’m starting to think it wouldn’t be bad if you became the Hero instead.

There might be a slight problem with divine power, but I can help with that. And that lazy bastard somewhere would probably be happier that way too.’*

“Can you handle my temper, though?”

At that, the Holy Sword fell silent for a moment.

We had both apologized, but somehow, it seemed to have left a bit of trauma on the Holy Sword.

No matter how great a former Hero it was, as the Holy Sword now, it seemed afraid of its blade being damaged.

It said that only the God in this world could destroy or damage it, but when I plunged it into ice water, its blade started to freeze little by little, which terrified it.

Well, thanks to that, it calmed down, and we both regained ‘respect’ for each other.

Indeed, respect truly begins from the point where others can harm you.

*’……My fate is truly tragic. One is a lazy, good-for-nothing bastard, and the other is someone who will break me if things go wrong.’*

“Enough with the nonsense. So, as the former Hero-nim, what kind of bastards were the Demon King and the Demon God you fought?”

*’They were wicked bastards. However… no. It’s information even I can’t be certain of, so it’s better not to speak of it.

In the first place, your companion seems much more knowledgeable than I am. A few of my lifelong questions have been resolved by the words she casually throws out from time to time.’*

A strong question arose in my mind: what the hell are the Systems? But it seemed I didn’t have time to think about it.

For some unknown reason, our Knight Commander seemed to have come to visit.

“You’re Lucia?!”

……It seemed I had acquired another troublesome thing.