episode_0030

“I don’t know whether to despise you for being so ignorant or praise you for your insight as a guild master.”

“They say that even frogs dance when they are praised. Please praise me, Your Majesty.”

It was late at night, not even a day after the duel between Opershpel and the Saint had ended.

In the king’s office, two figures were once again conversing with each other. As before, they were exchanging rooms with a demeanor that had virtually evaporated from courtesy and formality.

If it were broad daylight, it would be a blasphemous act that would make your neck fly off, but it is possible because it is deep at night.

“In a bet where it is certain that you will lose, wouldn’t you bet everything on the extremely low probability of winning, and have information and evidence that are almost secret about it? I think it is the right thing to do to praise him. Your Majesty.”

“Self-praise is very artistic?”

I want to beat him up. If only he wasn’t the guild master…

The king sighed. In fact, he thought it would be easier to sleep next to the queen or visit the concubines at such times. However, given his position, it was difficult to refuse a secret visit from a man like this.

I wonder if I will be known as a blue-haired man if I continue like this. The king grumbled in his heart and asked again.

“You knew, didn’t you? The saint, no… Milicia Airgrants, would awaken as a saint again and lead the duel to victory.”

“No. I had no idea.”

“What?”

Are you being sarcastic again, you idiot?

The King looked blankly at Guildmaster Rashford. However, Dolores Rashford did not show her characteristically good-natured smile. She did not show a particularly mischievous smile.

With a serious face, he repeats it again.

“I never expected the saintess to awaken so quickly. I only expected her to awaken at a rapid pace. The duel and its consequences didn’t even exist in my head until two months ago. I think most of the events that happened after that were the result of coincidences. I just make the appropriate judgments based on those events.”

“You. Are you anxious to hear Jim swear?”

No way? In his head? Coincidence? Judgment? I clenched my fists involuntarily at this man’s slyness. As a king, I still wanted to maintain a cool and calculating attitude as much as possible, but now I had a desire to carve a red mark on Rashford’s cheek without anyone saying anything.

Seriously, I wasn’t very competent, but I guess…

“Hoo,” the king sighed, pulling himself together and slowly asked a question.

“Okay. I’ll admit that you didn’t assume or assume any responsibility for the ‘duel’. However, the saint’s ‘awakening’, no, ‘reawakening’, is hard to let go of. Last time, the ‘duel’ didn’t show any results, so I just let it go… but I can’t do that this time. If you don’t properly explain how you realized the saint’s ‘reawakening’, you won’t be able to go home today. You’re not married, right? That’s even better. You’ll want to go home. ”

Rashford laughed painfully, as if his words had hit the nail on the head. There is no way the King would not know about Rashford’s extravagant bachelor life.

He had heard that there was a woman who had secret meetings with him every day, if not every month, and spent a splendid night with him. No, most people in the noble society who were interested in the Adventurer’s Guild would know that.

Then, is there only one option? Rashford gave up. Pretending not to know what you know and pretending not to know what you don’t is the basics of diplomacy, but the situation was different now. You have to be honest. After all, hiding it any longer would be of no benefit. Even if you lie, it would obviously be disadvantageous to you if the king himself investigates.

Rashford put his hand into his bosom. For a moment, the King flinched. No, no. There was no way this guy would pull out a weapon like an assassin here. If he was going to do something like that, he would have been dead long ago.

As the King had predicted, the Guildmaster pulled out a bundle of papers. The tightly rolled bundle of papers looked quite worn. No, it looked as if someone had hurriedly brought it from afar and handed it to him.

Unfolding the wad of paper, Rashford scanned its contents and cleared his throat.

“Ahem.”

“Huh?”

“About 17 months ago. The appearance of the ‘Island of the Sea God’ in the southern sea of the continent.”

“What?”

“About 13 months ago. ‘Mass death of migratory birds’ and discovery of relics in the forest of tranquility in the eastern part of the continent.”

“You…”

“About 9 months ago. A large tidal and underwater cave system was discovered on the northern coast of the continent.”

“What kind of information are you suddenly reciting!”

The king, who was losing patience with Rashford, who was casually reciting the strange phenomena around the continent, shouted. Crawford smiled and answered shamelessly.

“You asked me to explain properly, so I am reciting the information I have gathered one by one. This is not all. About 5 months ago, a huge cave was discovered in the western mountain range of the continent that could be inferred to be the ‘Dragon’s Lair’. And a month ago…”

Rashford dragged out his words as if he was doing it on purpose. He glanced at the king with his eyes rolled. The king was suddenly glaring sharply at Rashford, who was listing unfamiliar information.

I know you’re upset, but I think you’ll change your mind after hearing this. Rashford muttered to himself as he read the last piece of information.

“A huge pit discovered near the old Demon King’s Castle in the central part of the continent.”

“Oh, it’s the old Demon King’s Castle in the central part of the continent!”

The King roared as if he was eating a prey. It was the most violent reaction I’ve seen today.

Now, the King has figured out Rashford’s true intentions. The continued manifestation of strange phenomena. And… the reawakening of the saint. This is…

“Yes. All of these phenomena are just like when the Demon King of the Demon Tribe first appeared in the world 300 years ago. As you know, the Demon King went into hiding for several years, and then periodically led numerous monsters and demons to attack the human world and were defeated repeatedly. The recent case of the Demon King’s castle being conquered and the Demon Tribe’s activities being completely ended is virtually the only case. However… the same strange phenomenon as 300 years ago has occurred again. Do you not know the contents written in the old book? ”

Yes, his words were as horrifying as they were painful to the bone. When the leader of the demon tribe first appeared in the world, numerous ancient books and documents described in detail the paranormal phenomena that had occurred all over the world.

It was different from today, but the phenomena were strange and varied, such as a huge storm hitting a specific area and then disappearing, a large number of animals dying in large numbers, or a huge famine hitting a specific area.

And then, as promised, the Demon King of the Demon Tribe showed up after all of those events had occurred. And then, there were two more people who showed up in the world.

“The warrior and the saintess… The warrior is already in this world, so the only one left is the saintess. But the saintess…”

“Yes. As Your Majesty knows, she is no longer a saint as of yesterday, when she turned 20. As all saints were. However, the strange phenomenon… I will call it the ‘Sign of the Demon King’ from now on. After the Sign of the Demon King was discovered, I expected that the saint would definitely appear in the world again. However, the results of the investigation showed that the hero was using his powers without any problems. That gave me a hunch. Could it be that the saint would regain her powers? Or could it be that the saint would not lose her powers? It was revealed that the saint’s powers temporarily disappeared during the duel yesterday, but returned after the duel. It was natural for her to lose her powers. And it was also revealed that she would regain her powers as a saint. ”

“But… how could you have so naturally and naturally concluded that Milicia Airgrants would definitely regain the power of the saint? How could you have been so sure?”

“Your Majesty the King…”

Rashford looked a little strange, as if he was asking the King, ‘How could you not know that?’

Why is Rashford making that face? The King’s memory returned for a moment. He recalled the memory of reading an old book over and over again.

And ah, he exclaimed, a wide smile spreading across Rashford’s lips.

“Yes, Your Majesty. The diary of the first saint. The book of prophecies that was written and passed down to future generations. In that diary, didn’t she say? The moment someone with the name ‘Milli’ becomes a saint, no other saints will appear.”

The King unconsciously touched his forehead. Before he knew it, he had stopped standing and talking to Rashford and was sitting in his office. Dolores Rashford was able to speak powerfully to the shocked King of Alcrea.

“That is, if the power of the saint were to manifest again in this world, it would not have been able to manifest to anyone other than ‘Militia’ from the beginning.”

The king let out a sigh of realization. Yes, all the puzzle pieces had been put together. The prophecies and the many ancient books had foreseen this future. They had warned their descendants that this future would come.

After the defeat of the Demon King, an unprecedented peace came, and everyone forgot. The signs of the prophecy had not appeared at all.

Their struggle is not over yet.

“Then…now there’s only one way left for us.”

“Yes. Numerous signs… We must confirm them with our own eyes and destroy or purify them. To our last saint. Secretly, so that they do not spread to the humans of the continent. ”

The King was left speechless by Rashford’s declaration.

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“It’s a toast to victory!”

“Cheers!”

“Wow! Thanks, Grimes! For giving me all the money for today!”

“Kuhahahahaha! This is all God’s grace, you guys! If this is the result of the request that the six of us received, this is nothing more than a piece of gum. Hahahahaha! Praise us, you guys!”

“Everything is good, Grimes. It’s seven, not six. Don’t forget Glenn.”

“Oops, that’s right! Sorry, Glen.”

The day after the secret commission ended, the guild was holding a grander banquet than usual. More people than ever gathered, sharing drinks, listening to music, singing, and dancing.

Grimes, as usual, shared the fun with the ladies on either side of him, holding a glass of wine. Briwen sat quietly in her seat, sipping her glass and laughing with joy. Montaro had already borrowed the bard’s lute and was playing it. The trio of Tiller, Mennie, and Syca led the atmosphere by dancing a ridiculous dance that was a tradition in their village.

And the most accomplished of these, the senior adventurer Glenn, was sitting in his usual seat, with a book by his side and a glass of wine in his other hand, watching the banquet. He wasn’t the only one who didn’t participate, but the atmosphere was clearly closer to that of an onlooker.

He smiled awkwardly in response to Grimes’ apology.

“Okay, Imma. You guys were the ones who received the bishop’s request, so there are six of you. I received the request directly from the ‘Saint’, so the circumstances are different from yours. ”

“Aha, that’s right… No. Look at this kid, he’s secretly bragging about being close to the saintess!”

“Wow!”

“Deceiver, deceiver!

“Kill him, kill him!”

“Burn it again!”

“I didn’t burn it before!”

Not only Grimes but also the other adventurers reacted with criticism to Glenn’s answer that was slyly boasting about himself. And then, Glenn blew away the criticism.

In the first place, I didn’t take the adventurers’ criticism seriously. On a good day like today, it was appropriate to just ignore it or laugh it off. Well, it was a festival. A festival that would never happen again.

No one can deny that they have accomplished a great feat. Glenn and his six adventurers have faithfully carried out their mission to protect the monks and the saintess while fighting against dozens of Bronkhorst’s vassals.

In particular, the Church of Airgrand thanked them by adding more money to their existing maintenance, since they had collected and provided all the evidence of how the Bronkhorsts had desecrated the sacred duel and what they had done to almost destroy the Basilica of Marcelino in the Church of Airgrand.

The Air Grants Church itself had no difficulty in paying the compensation, for it was certain that it would bring in even more money. Because of the conditions set by the saint, Bronkhorst had no choice but to donate a large amount of assets to the church.

Everything was thanks to the saint’s grace.

“But, Glenn! Then there’s something I can’t help but ask you!”

As Grimes pointed to the hand holding the glass and asked Glenn a question, Glenn, who had been lost in thought, raised his head.

Huh? Why does that kid talk like that? Now that I look at him, his cheeks are a little red because he’s really drunk. You rascal. He got drunk so quickly because he was in a good mood.

Grimes had a tendency to get drunk at different speeds depending on her mood.

“What’s your question?”

“So. What did you do with the saintess!”

“What did you do? You saw it yourself.”

Glenn lifted his glass as he spoke calmly. But Grimes could see Glenn’s relaxed face.

Ah, that’s the face of a happy man. That’s the face of a fool who’s lost himself in happiness. That kid remembered. That dramatic embrace that he and Milicia had shared at that very moment. That unforgettable feeling.

“Shichimi! Stop it! Stop it! You! You! Jealous! Guy! ”

Do you think I can get away with something like this while sober? Grimes put down his glass, clenched his empty hands into fists, and shouted as if he was screaming.

What is this force? Glenn, who was the one who received such a reaction, was dumbfounded. However, the adventurers around him nodded as if they were agreeing with Grimes. Oh, for some reason, these people seemed to be getting closer to Glenn.

Montaro and Briwen. The trio seemed busy dancing. Grimes asked a bewildered Glen a simple question without any long-winded words.

“After you parted ways with us, you brought the saintess to her mansion and came back! Late at night! Where did you go! Tell me right now!”