“The Hall of Heroes?”
Altes seemed slightly surprised.
“You wish to meet the heroic soul of Selina?”
“Yes. Lately I have been lost… I feel as though I’ve strayed from my path.”
Sophie used the excuse she had prepared in advance.
“Lady Selina’s deeds have always inspired me. She defeated the evil Demon King, ended the war between demonkin and humanity, and brought precious peace to our world. She is one of the reasons I keep moving forward. If I could speak with her heroic soul, perhaps my confusion would clear.”
“…Very well.”
Altes granted Sophie’s request.
“Your recent performance has been most satisfactory, Sophie. If the heroic souls guide you, you may advance even faster—and become saintess all the sooner.”
“Thank you for your permission, Your Holiness.”
“You may go. I will have someone deliver the pass for the Hall of Heroes to you shortly.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
Sophie bowed and left the hall.
“…”
Altes watched her retreating back and sank into thought.
He glanced downward.
A cleric who had been waiting in the shadows stepped forward.
“Your Holiness, do you have orders?”
“Have you found any trace of ‘that man’?”
“Not… not yet, Your Holiness.” The cleric lowered his head.
“It has been many years since Sylvia’s death, and still nothing?”
“We are deeply sorry, Your Holiness. Despite the assistance of the Saint Luo Empire, there has been no news at all. It is as though he… vanished completely from this world.” The cleric hesitated, then asked, “Your Holiness, could he be dead?”
“Dead? Impossible.”
Altes’s gaze turned ice-cold.
Where was the kindly elder now?
That look made even the cleric shiver—as if the Pope truly wielded the absolute authority of God.
“‘That man’ would never die so easily. As long as his children remain in our Holy Land, he will appear again sooner or later.”
“You are right. This subordinate was foolish.”
“If all else fails… summon Morn.”
“Lord Morn?” The cleric sounded worried. “Is that wise? I have heard that Lord Morn has been conducting rather… strange activities within the Holy Land—”
“Enough. In the entire Holy Land, Morn is the only one I trust. I am burdened with too many duties to act freely. Perhaps the task of finding ‘that man’ should be handed to him.”
Altes cut the cleric off.
He had thought long and hard before making this decision.
Dark currents swirled beneath the surface of the Holy Land. Many coveted his seat. It was far less united than the outside world believed.
“Understood, Your Holiness. I will inform Lord Morn.”
…
…
“Halt! Beyond this point lies the Hall of Heroes. None may approach without His Holiness’s personal writ!”
The clerics guarding the hall raised their weapons, blocking Sophie’s path.
“Here is His Holiness’s writ. He has permitted me to enter the Hall of Heroes.”
Sophie presented the papal decree and the official pass.
“Indeed… this is His Holiness’s seal. Forgive our earlier rudeness, Lady Sophie.”
After verification, the guards’ attitudes softened immediately and allowed her through.
Sophie did not take offense. She simply nodded and stepped through the gates into the Hall of Heroes.
From the outside, the building looked ancient and elegant, yet the interior was impossibly vast—like an enormous plaza.
Spatial-folding magic had been employed.
“So these are the heroic souls of humanity…”
Sophie walked among countless statues.
Almost all of them depicted human heroes.
The Holy Land possessed a unique sacred art that could be placed within a person’s body.
Should that person die, the Holy Land could activate a grand sacred array and guide their soul back to the human world.
Throughout history, many heroes who sacrificed themselves for humanity had, with the Holy Land’s help, returned to the mortal realm to find peace.
When humanity needed them, their lingering heroic souls could be awakened from long slumber to offer guidance to the living.
The Hall of Heroes was the sacred resting place of those souls.
Thanks to this hall, humanity never lacked for heroes.
Even though humans were considered unremarkable among the many races, they possessed the strength to stand against outsiders.
“I found it.”
Sophie stopped before one particular statue.
A young woman stood with the Silver Sword in hand, clad in silver armor, radiating awe-inspiring majesty.
It seemed there was nothing in this world her blade could not cut.
This was the hero who had slain the Demon King, ended the war between demonkin and humanity, and brought peace to the human world—Selina, the Silver Sword Princess.
“Lady Selina…”
Sophie quickly read the inscription, learning the publicly known story of Selina’s life.
Selina had been an ordinary girl of humble origins, raised in an orphanage.
Because she displayed extraordinary talent with the sword, she caught a noble’s eye, received sponsorship, and began formal training.
She became an adventurer and rapidly rose to prominence.
Avalon Academy later extended a personal invitation. She accepted and was nurtured there.
During a beast tide disaster, she defeated an abyss-corrupted magical beast and saved countless innocents.
The imperial family of the Saint Luo Empire summoned and rewarded her, and from then on her name resounded throughout the human realms.
Her growth was so meteoric that many believed she would become a legendary Sword God.
When war broke out between demonkin and humanity, and Demon King Ville invaded the human world, Selina stepped forward as humanity’s champion.
In the final decisive battle, she sacrificed her own life to defeat Ville and end the war, bringing peace to humanity.
Using the grand sacred array, the Holy Land guided Selina’s soul back, allowing this great hero—who had given everything for peace—to continue watching over humanity’s future.
These were the universally accepted facts.
Yet for some reason Sophie felt a powerful sense of unreality, as though the truth was not what the world believed, and everyone else, believed.
As though Selina was not the flawless hero history claimed.
Even if others would call it disrespect toward a hero, the red-haired girl still faced the statue and asked aloud:
“Lady Selina… did you truly sacrifice yourself for peace?”