Chapter 141: Hero? – 3

Chapter 141: Hero? – 3

“…Therefore, as the Saintess’s faith and integrity are doubted, I shall have her confined first.”

The Pope’s sudden condemnation of the Saintess.

Even more, the reason was that the Saintess seemed to be a fake.

Among the cardinals of the Holy Kingdom, there was no one who didn’t know the Saintess was a fake.

Even some of those below them roughly knew that the Saintess was a fake.

But then, the Pope suddenly made a fuss, claiming he wanted to excommunicate the Saintess for a reason everyone knew.

“However, the Saintess has recently inspired the faith of believers, so to doubt her integrity is…”

“God, pitying us who were so deceived, whispered even into the ears of a foolish man like me. That her appearance is a fake.”

At those words, the rebelling cardinals fell silent, but they couldn’t help but question.

Why would God, who had always condoned the existence of Saintesses or Saints, sometimes even sending positive signals, suddenly do this?

Moreover, the atmosphere in the Holy Kingdom was extremely ominous, with even the Holy Sword of the Hero disappearing recently. Why now?

The God observed by the high-ranking officials of the church had always been a being who condoned any action, provided that the number of believers increased?

However, no cardinal voiced such numerous questions.

In the first place, if they were such a person, their head would have been cut off long ago, or they would have been ‘Archbishop’d.’

And so, under the Pope’s name, the Saintess’s confinement proceeded, and the Hero, who had been close to the Saintess and had recently lost the Holy Sword, looking quite ridiculous, was also disciplined.

The Holy Kingdom was becoming increasingly chaotic and confused, and with the threat of monsters seemingly at their doorstep, the Empire sent subtle hints, but there was nothing to be done.

***

“……What a mess. At this rate, humanity will really be annihilated.”

“Do you think it’s that bad?”

“Yes. The Holy Kingdom, which should be the most professional in dealing with monsters, is in such a state internally.”

“The Empire’s knight commander and nobles are also strangely calculating only their own interests that might be lost in the process, rather than focusing on the monsters.”

No matter how much I thought about it, it recently felt like God’s desire was not the victory of humanity.

Even uniting humanity would be difficult, yet they are confining the Saintess, a key figure of the Holy Kingdom, and disciplining the Hero.

Moreover, the Empire is also preoccupied with internal power struggles.

My father, the Duke, is somehow managing to coordinate things well, but if the Holy Kingdom is in such a state, there’s bound to be trouble.

“Did you say there’s a mercenary making a name for herself in another region recently? We should seriously consider recruiting her now.”

“Ah, are you talking about Melini?”

“You know her? I heard she was a normal adventurer until recently, but her talent seems to have bloomed lately, and she became the leader of the renowned mercenary group. Her influence seems significant.”

“I briefly investigated her when she was an adventurer who used to get Lucia’s potions during my time as the defense captain.”

“Is that so? If she has a connection with that child who strangely earns the favor of those around her, recruitment should be easy.”

At those words, I suddenly thought about Lucia.

……Indeed, Lucia has a unique, captivating quality.

I felt it, and seeing how the Saintess acted towards Lucia, it seemed similar, so that person probably wouldn’t be much different.

“…That child must be quite troubled now. With the Saintess she was close to ending up like that.”

“Since the Holy Kingdom doesn’t know of any direct connection, wouldn’t there be little danger?”

“It’s not just that problem. That child was probably reforming the Holy Kingdom through the Saintess. Of course, it wouldn’t be without the Saintess’s will, but the decisive catalyst would be that child.”

I don’t know if I unconsciously collected solid evidence or if it was just a hunch, but my father’s words were filled with conviction.

Indeed, my father had thoroughly investigated Lucia.

It was a bit uncomfortable for me, but since he was also serving the role of preventing strange fellows from clinging to Lucia while investigating, I couldn’t say anything.

“Moreover, she was even holding the Holy Sword recently.”

“……? Huh? Lucia, the Holy Sword? The one the Hero can’t even use?”

“It might be a strangely similar sword, but judging by the fact that the child who originally carried the sword I gifted her is still carrying it.

And… if you really think about it, doesn’t that child, who directly influences the Holy Kingdom, seem more like the Hero than the Hero who hasn’t done anything?”

“Well… that’s true.”

When you think about it, all the individuals connected to Lucia are extraordinary.

The Hero and the Saintess, of course, but also me, the Duchess, and my father, the Duke, and though not at the time, now even Melini, who has strong influence among adventurers.

Additionally, if she wished, she could interfere with the Empire’s situation through me and my father, and the Holy Kingdom is already being influenced through the Saintess.

Given Lucia’s personality, she wouldn’t want to see humanity annihilated or anything like that, so she might actually play the role of the Hero.

‘…Everything’s good, but she seems to live too dangerously, which makes me feel a bit uneasy.’

By the way, what is Lucia doing right now?

***

“……Tsk, this is difficult.”

*Still, I strongly recommend making it. It could really be dangerous now, you know?*

……To understand why I was making potions again, I needed to recall what had just happened.

Immediately after hearing the news that the Saintess had been excommunicated, or more precisely, confined, I was about to head straight to the Holy Kingdom.

A countermeasure? If that petty God intervened, there was no solution other than physically rescuing the Saintess.

In fact, if I follow the branch, my ultimate goal will probably be to kick that God’s ass, and then I’d have to fight the Holy Kingdom anyway, so I don’t have much aversion to it.

…What stopped me from rushing out was Ria and the Holy Sword.

*’Calm down. Are you going without any preparation? I don’t doubt your abilities, but you’re too hasty!’*

*……The system also concluded that it’s excessively dangerous. Calm down.*

At those words, I was about to argue about what more I needed to prepare here, but I could only quietly shut my mouth at the subsequent system notification window.

Because it contained words I had never expected when I first came here, no, words I still didn’t expect.

*Notification

-> The system has determined that your actions have effectively exceeded the scope of what the system can protect.

-> However, in the ‘contract’ between the system and the user, the system has an obligation to actively support the user’s ‘narrative’ that they wish to create, and to protect the user from unreasonable threats that arise in that process.

=> It has been determined that support through conventional methods is impossible, and it is deemed appropriate to reorganize and support your abilities and potion crafting methods, even at a loss.

=> If the user accepts, unnecessary abilities possessed by the user will be deleted, and new abilities that replace or upgrade them will be provided.

*

“…Is this for real?”

*Yes. The loss will be immense, but… still, we judged it to be worth it. Well, it’s half a gamble.*

“You’re not going to make me throw it all up later, are you?”

*We wouldn’t do that… Anyway, considering the path you’ve walked so far, the choice you make in the end will be more beneficial to us than it is now.*

“……Then, I accept.”

It’s true that I’ll have to fight God, or a being equivalent to God, in the future, and my current state is deemed insufficient.

The system probably advised this because it knew that too.

Therefore… even though it’s a suspicious system, I decided to trust it for now.

And so, the system flickered for a moment, and my consciousness flickered with it.

Memories of my time in this world flashed through my mind, and information about new abilities entered my head.

It might seem grand, but it felt more like an upgrade patch.

And so, when my consciousness became clear again, my changed status window floated before my eyes.

*Status Window

-> Traits: System-Enhanced Body, Correction, Demonic Charm (Derived Skill: Allure), Holy Sword-style Divine Resistance (Resistance greatly increases further with Holy Sword’s assistance), Master Alchemist, Otherworldly Protection, Fate Weaver

-> Skills: Potion Crafting, Alchemist’s Treasury, Potion Mass Production, Christie-style Greatsword Mastery, Potion Enchantment, Ability Potionization

+> List of potions stored in Alchemist’s Treasury: ‘Warp Potion’, ‘Flame Barrier Potion’, ‘Blazing Potion’, ‘Meteor Potion (Degraded)’, ‘Ice Barrier Potion’, ‘Rapid Freeze Potion’, ‘Glacier Potion (Degraded)’

‘Electric Barrier Potion’, ‘Flash Potion’, ‘Divine Punishment Potion (Degraded)’ / Additionally, all ‘failed’ potions made so far have been stored in the Alchemist’s Treasury. The side effect of all stored failed potions is ‘Explosion’.

+> List of other craftable potions: Wish Potion, Miracle Potion, Resistance-Boosting Potion, Recovery Potion (Fatigue Recovery Specialized), Recovery Potion (General), Solution Potion

+> ‘Ability Potionization’ has been enhanced. You can now degrade the abilities of opponents you face and immediately register them as potions in the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’. You can also copy an opponent’s abilities into potions during combat.

+> For Potion Crafting, abilities related to crafting methods have been deleted and integrated due to the existence of ‘Ability Potionization’. / For potion crafting ingredients, most ingredients will now be provided by the system, so they have been deleted.

+> Other existing traits and skills have been deleted, and instead, ‘Master Alchemist’, which grants mastery in potion crafting and use, and ‘Otherworldly Protection’, which defends against direct attacks from God, have been added.

Furthermore, in recognition of your actions so far, the ‘Fate Weaver’ trait has been added. The fate you have changed will no longer be restored according to God’s will.

*

A status window with a dazzling array of changes.

…It seemed like some traits and skills that were more numerous had disappeared, but since I didn’t heavily rely on them in combat, except for the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’ and Christie’s swordsmanship, it didn’t particularly bother me.

Rather… I was happy that the problem of potion crafting not increasing in variety because the recipes were never revealed was solved, and the annoying situation of not having ingredients when I wanted to make something was also resolved.

……In the midst of that, it seemed like there were some strange things mixed in the list of traits and craftable potions, but let’s just move on for now.

*This status window now includes everything that was only mentioned before but not displayed. You like it, right?*

“I guess I really have lived a spectacular life? A lot of strange new traits have appeared?”

*Well, something like that. By the way, since the ingredient problem is solved, shouldn’t you go make some?*

“……Ah. ‘Preparation,’ you don’t mean…?”

*Of course! You can now make things like ‘Miracle Potion’ and ‘Wish Potion’ even without the system’s assistance, can’t you?*

At those words, Ria’s message was displayed very refreshingly.

…Why isn’t there a physical manifestation among the newly acquired abilities?

Even though I got an upgrade, I don’t feel grateful to the system.