Chapter 143: Prelude – 1

Chapter 143: Prelude – 1

“…What are you planning to do now?”

“As I said, I believe I can’t do anything more with this Holy Kingdom. So, we have to change it. But, unlike before, with slightly more radical methods.”

“Anyone can see you’re planning a rebellion, and you call that ‘slightly’ radical?”

“……It’s just… I can’t really bring myself to call it a rebellion or a revolution, can I?”

…Indeed, those words don’t quite suit our gentle Saintess.

They’re more fitting for Melini, who’s probably rolling around somewhere. Now that I think about it, her hair color is red, so…

“Anyway, the important thing now is to make allies.”

“…The Empire will probably be happy to help. Not for the Holy Kingdom’s sake, of course.”

“Even that kind of help is necessary. The problem is the people within the Holy Kingdom…”

“Since it means not following God’s will, will it be difficult?”

“There’s a high possibility. There are people who believe it’s the destiny of a believer to watch and follow, even if it breaks their heart, if God desires blood and war.”

That’s true. The Saintess changed her mind because she felt God’s will wasn’t for humanity, but something impure, but the others aren’t like that.

They would truly revere war as a trial and believe that God would ultimately act for humanity’s sake.

The best way would be to prove that God’s will is impure… but that’s impossible when even I don’t know the full story, and I don’t know what that God wants.

And there’s no way anyone in this world would know God’s true intentions.

……No, Elena might know, but it’s also questionable whether God would have told Elena all of their intentions.

“Ultimately, we need to show that God is not the ideal God that the devout clergy and believers of the church imagine…”

“There’s no way such evidence exists. If God controls the world, they could naturally manipulate such evidence.”

So, the Saintess and I racked our brains as much as possible, but no answer came.

The questions only increased, and no decisive method to ultimately solve this problem was found.

As the two of us continued to ponder without an answer, someone kicked the door open and entered.

“You, you, you!!”

“Hmm, what’s up with our Hero again?”

“What the hell are you doing?! No, more importantly, why are you actually holding the Holy Sword?”

“Ah, the Holy Sword. …Um, I’m sorry, but I think I’ll need to borrow it a little longer.”

“What? Is the Holy Sword a book in a library? To borrow it whenever you want?”

After that, the Hero poured out all the slights she had suffered due to not having the Holy Sword.

…She must have been very upset, as every word was filled with genuine emotion.

However……

*’She’s just getting the treatment she should have received long ago, what a crybaby.’*

“Huh? No, Holy Sword-nim? You shouldn’t say that, should you?”

*’Tsk. You pathetic fool. I need to be used for something important right now, so give up. Even if this child hands me over, I’ll just come back.’*

“…That’s strange. Am I not the Hero?”

*’I hate to see you whining so pathetically, so I want to tell you the situation, but I’ll remain silent because you’re so clumsy you’d probably spill information everywhere.’*

The Holy Sword mercilessly roasted the Hero.

No, of course, I need the Holy Sword because I’m impersonating the Hero in front of the Demon King, but isn’t that a bit too much?

Her mental state is completely shattered, isn’t it?

“……It’s because I’m pretending to be the Hero in front of the Demon King.”

*’Is it really okay to tell that foolish fellow? She’s the type to blab information everywhere, isn’t she?’*

“You can only blab information if there’s someone next to you. Who would try to get information from the Hero, who has no friends and is being ignored by the church?”

“…You’re the worst. Seriously.”

So I told her the reason, but her mental state seemed even more shattered than before.

Well… even if she looks like that, she’s still the Hero, so she’ll probably recover on her own.

As the Hero disappeared, saying she didn’t even have the energy to get angry and that I should just deal with the Demon King myself, the Saintess sent a strange gaze after her.

“……She wasn’t like that before, but it seems she becomes utterly pathetic in front of Lucia and Holy Sword-nim.”

“Someone was confined under false accusations, so it’s understandable if she whines about her treatment getting a little worse.”

“Ahahaha, Lucia is really merciless at times like this. By the way, isn’t it dangerous to impersonate the Hero in front of the Demon King?”

“We can’t send that foolish fellow to negotiate as the Hero, can we?”

“…That’s true.”

If the Hero had seen this, she would have shouted, asking if even the Saintess was doing this, but even the Saintess agreed that the Hero seemed a bit lacking.

More importantly, putting aside the problem of the Hero and the Demon King, who suddenly appeared and ruined the mood, we need to find a solution again…

Wait, ……now that I think about it, wouldn’t the Demon King, or even a Demon God, know about God’s purpose and wickedness?

“Wouldn’t the Demon King know a lot about God?”

“The Demon King…?”

“Anyway, to prevent another war from breaking out, we need to persuade the Demon King and show that war is unnecessary. In that case, couldn’t we ask for information that the Demon God or the Demon King themselves possess?”

“That’s… true. Though it’s quite unsettling.”

“The bigger problem lies in persuading the Demon King. The Demon King is absolutely eager to fight. And we know nothing about the Demon King.”

“Records about the past Great War and the previous Demon King are said to be in certain ruins… The problem is that access to those ruins has been unnaturally blocked for a long time.”

“Access is blocked?”

“There are areas with very high divine power, where no living creature can enter, as if to prevent them from entering, and no magic or sorcery can penetrate. Records about the Great War are there.

Recently, it’s not entirely impossible to enter, but it’s said to have become a very dangerous area where you might die a sudden, violent death if you’re not careful.”

At a glance, it’s a place where it’s obvious God has played tricks because they don’t want their creations to enter.

In that case… we’ll have no choice but to go there.

Confidence that the information there will be helpful? …Well, I don’t have any, but if not that, then there’s nothing we can do……

*System Notification

-> Highly valuable information has been detected in certain ruins. Strongly recommend going.

=> However, it is very dangerous if the user goes alone, so it is recommended to be accompanied by someone specialized in exploration.

*

……Correction. I just gained confidence.

Whatever information is in those ruins, it will be powerful enough to sway even the Demon King, who has no intention of being persuaded.

By the way, being told to be accompanied by someone specialized in exploration… isn’t that too overtly telling me to go with a certain main character?

Well, I guess. I haven’t seen her for quite a while.

***

“…Leader, what are you doing?”

“Can’t you tell by looking? I’m checking my equipment.”

“A letter came for you, Leader. It’s urgent.”

“Burn it. Send a reply saying we’re not taking any requests.”

After surviving the vampires, I left the capital and traveled through various regions, as the girl who saved my life that day had told me.

In that process, I almost died… and truly met a lifelong mentor, just as the girl had prophesied.

And so, taking requests, and even when not taking them, constantly pushing myself into life-threatening situations and beating down monsters, at some point, I became a legendary adventurer.

Others praised, envied, and admired my achievements, but I ignored all those voices.

…Still, when I fell asleep at night, I remembered myself, dying from the vampires, and the girl who saved me from them.

‘Lucia… What a well-chosen name. Because she became a person like light, like brightness.’

And so, because of those weak past memories that lingered in my dreams every day, I moved ceaselessly.

The process of accumulating fame and wealth was… dangerous, but also fun. So much so that I felt my true nature was indeed that of an adventurer.

As a result, one by one, people gathered around me, and before I knew it, a mercenary group was formed, and I became its leader.

The problem was… perhaps because too much fame had accumulated, an excessive number of requests came in, trying to use me and my mercenary group politically.

There was even one absurd request to stand at the border of an enemy nation and threaten their army.

After experiencing such requests, I planned to not take any requests for a while and instead spend time hunting high-risk monsters in various regions with my squad members.

Thanks to meeting my mentor and having various experiences, my swordsmanship and flames had certainly grown stronger… but there was still the problem of me getting hurt myself.

Additionally, there was the problem of my sword constantly burning due to the flames.

Anyway, the important point was that I had no intention of taking requests right now, and had said I wouldn’t, but someone tactlessly sent a letter. And an urgent one at that.

It could be a general letter, but… it’s stranger for a mercenary like me, who has no family, to receive a private letter.

“Alright. Then, what should we do with this item that came with it?”

“Item? Is it the request fee?”

“Yes. But it doesn’t seem like an ordinary item. Its appearance is quite unique…”

“What, what does it look like?”

At those words, I took my eyes off the weapon I was cleaning and looked at the letter and the ‘request fee’ the squad member brought.

……It was a glass bottle of a very familiar shape.

“W-wait. That, that, give it to me!”

“Huh? O-okay, calm down! Why are you so excited, it’s not like you?”

“Because there’s a reason, the letter too, quickly!”

The letter contained little content.

It simply… stated that she needed me again, and it was time to help.

And also, that if I told her my location, she would come directly.

“…Well, if she finally says she needs me like this, I have no choice but to prepare, do I?”

“Huh? Didn’t you just say you weren’t taking requests and to burn it?”

“The client is… a very special person, to me.”

The red glowing potion shimmering in my hand was truly radiant.