Even though they’re called “Hero Candidates,” there are only fifteen of them in the entire world.
In the very center of the academy stands a rock with the Holy Sword of the Hero who defeated the Demon King 200 years ago, still embedded in it.
No one knows who actually stuck the sword into the rock—after all, the Hero died after slaying the Demon King.
However, it’s said to be the genuine Holy Sword, as the only surviving member of the Hero’s party personally confirmed its authenticity.
After the entrance ceremony, the Hero Candidates each take turns trying to pull out the sword in front of all the other academy members and the nobles of the Empire.
Of course, since the sword has remained stuck there for 200 years, not a single person has ever succeeded in pulling it out.
A sword that obviously won’t budge.
A sacred sword that no one can use.
That’s exactly why the “Hero Candidates” are treated with such reverence.
Because no one can actually pull the sword out anyway.
They may all be just candidates, but they each possess powerful abilities and can burn away evil using sacred relics.
The reason no one can pull out the Holy Sword just yet is simply because the Demon King hasn’t resurrected—because the world hasn’t yet faced a threat great enough to require a true hero.
That’s the Empire’s stance, and thus their judgment on who the true Hero is remains suspended.
Only the Church appoints certain clergy members who exhibit similar traits to Hero Candidates as Saints or Holy Maidens.
So really, the line between Saints, Holy Maidens, and Hero Candidates is blurry.
It all comes down to personal choice and where one decides to align themselves.
If they join the Church, they’re a Saint or Holy Maiden.
If not, they’re a Hero Candidate. Simple, right?
Still, even if none of those chosen can draw the Holy Sword, preparations must be made.
After all, the Demon King has resurrected multiple times in the past.
A Hero is someone who must step forward and fight in place of countless others in times like that. Naturally, they are invaluable.
And I was one of them.
By the way, this year’s Hero Candidate class is the largest in history.
“There are even fake Heroes mixed in among them.”
Siwoo told me this during our strategy meeting before leaving the village.
Yes—since this peaceful era has lasted longer than ever before, stagnation and corruption have begun to seep into parts of the Empire.
That’s the setting, apparently.
Seriously, I don’t know what I would’ve done without Siwoo.
I was the lowest-ranking Hero Candidate, and to be honest, just getting accepted into the academy with my scores was a miracle.
If I hadn’t had this cheat-code-level best friend by my side, my life at the academy would’ve been absolutely miserable.
Who knows—I might’ve tried to cling to some other Hero Candidate by playing up the fact that I’m a girl.
And then I’d end up missing out on someone truly decent, crashing and burning in the end.
Anyway, back to the point.
There are only fifteen Hero Candidates across the entire Empire—no, even counting nearby nations.
Even if I’m fifteenth, I’m still a valuable asset.
Just the fact that I can use sacred relics means even low-level monsters can be taken down with a single strike.
The lord of this territory might not think the Demon King is going to suddenly rise and invade, but he can’t just sit by while low-level monsters like goblins roam around threatening the merchants on the roads.
“So, what you’re saying is, the reason you gave us the best room in such a nice inn for free was because you wanted us to clear out the goblin nest without going through the Adventurers’ Guild, right?”
I couldn’t take it anymore and threw a straight pitch at the lord, who had been dancing around the subject in seven different circles during the dinner banquet.
Siwoo, who had just taken a bite of steak, started coughing like he’d choked, but I kept my eyes fixed squarely on the lord.
He had quite a strict-looking face.
Gaunt and bony, with slightly protruding buck teeth.
His blond hair was parted exactly down the middle and slicked down with either pomade or oil.
I feel kind of bad saying it, but honestly, he looked like one of those side characters who tries to pull a fast one on the protagonist and gets taught a harsh lesson.
“That is correct.”
Apparently realizing it would be hard to keep up the act under my stare while I chewed my meat and glared at him, Lord Cloren answered quickly.
Well, at least he’s good at reading the room.
“We’ll spare no support on our end either. As it happens, our domain’s grand cathedral houses Saint Nicol’s ring finger, so we’ll offer that to you.”
“…His ring finger?”
“Yes. It’s a sacred relic. Even after a Saint passes away, their body retains divine energy for a very long time. To pass down the goddess’s grace to future generations, Saints donate their bodies to the church before they die, and… Is something wrong?”
Lord Cloren tilted his head in confusion, as if surprised that I didn’t know.
Uh… wait a second.
Then… the piece of cloth I grabbed so boldly to prove I was a Hero Candidate—what was under that…?
My head creaked as I turned toward Siwoo, but he quickly avoided my eyes.
No, no.
This isn’t Siwoo’s fault.
He did try to stop me at the time, in his own way.
Yeah…
It was just a lack of communication.
Right!
As an adventurer working through the Adventurers’ Guild, I had plenty of experience slicing through the flesh and bone of low-ranking demons.
So, just a piece of bone like that—
“Even if I carry it on me, it’s not like it’s some incredibly precious… no, not “precious person”… whatever, the point is, I feel like something terrible would happen if a country bumpkin like me carried around a holy relic like that, so I’ll just assess the situation first and decide later.”
—Are you kidding me?
No matter how genuinely divine it is, who in their right mind would carry around a charm made from a part of someone’s body?
What if it showed up in my dreams?
Like, “Give me back my finger…”
It wouldn’t actually be the real saint, but my brain would 100% make up that nightmare on its own.
“I see. My apologies. This is my first time making a direct request without going through the guild, so I’m unfamiliar with the proper procedures. I got a bit ahead of myself. I’m sorry.”
“No worries. Neither of us is really an expert in this kind of thing.”
I gave a polite nod, as respectfully as I could manage.
“So… whose body part was that relic I picked up earlier, exactly?”
Back in our inn room, I asked Siwoo while perched on the edge of the bed.
He was sitting on the edge of his own bed, facing me, but had a hard time meeting my gaze.
Still, he answered properly.
“…The tongue!?”
“The incorruptible tongue of Saintess Laurent.”
I shot to my feet, horrified.
“Did you just say—tongue?!”
“The tongue of a saint is considered an especially holy organ, used to convey the will of the goddess and guide the people—”
Siwoo started explaining mechanically, seeing me in full-on meltdown mode, but I cut him off.
“…It’s all dried up, right? I mean, it’s been a long time since she died, so it’s probably like, a little mummified or something, right? Right?”
“…Siwoo?”
“…Incorruptible.”
“Right, it was kind of damp and soft.
Now I get it.
I thought it was just a humidity-controlled relic to prevent damage over time… damn.
Does that mean the ring finger part is the same?”
“Probably just looks like a regular human finger, though it’d be an old person’s finger.”
“I’m never taking that out of here.”
“Still, even in our world, there were times when the remains of saints were kept as holy relics. If you think of it that way, it’s not that bad, right?”
I guess because he’s the straightforward type, he was judging it through a cultural relativism lens.
“But that holy relic wouldn’t just be incorruptible, right?”
“True.”
…I knew it.
Honestly, I would’ve been fine if it was just some bone dust or something.
But slicing up a person’s remains and scattering it around the church…
That’s a pretty morbid taste.
Even so, I still had to visit the cathedral.
Paying a small fee for a blessing would make fighting a lot easier.
I was told this wasn’t a feature implemented in the system of the game.
It probably only existed in the setting or was naturally developed as part of the culture of the world, even if it wasn’t specifically implemented.
In games or fantasy novels, they don’t usually bother describing little things like “the bathroom of this world is…,” right?
In a game, if you wanted that kind of “buff,” you just included a priest character in your party setup.
Even if they weren’t a priest, many characters could give buffs or have buff skills themselves.
By the way, I didn’t get any of that.
“It might just be that the setting was implemented in the system. Even if you try to power up in real life, you don’t actually get stronger, right? They probably just implemented character traits or emotions as small skills.”
At that time, Siwoo tried to comfort me, but the fact that I was a 1-star character by birth didn’t change.
Well, anyway.
Even though Siwoo and I were confident that we could easily handle goblins, I didn’t let my guard down.
I made sure to prepare everything I could.
That’s the most important mindset an adventurer should have.
And when we arrived at the cathedral…
“Why can’t we do it!?!”
A sharp female voice rang out.
It was the voice of a young woman, not too old.
She was probably around our age.
“Our village is being plagued by a goblin horde! Last night, three of our cows were killed!”
“Even so, no one’s died yet, have they?”
“But if this goes on, people will definitely—”
“Don’t worry too much. The lord has thought of everything.”
“You’ve been repeating the same thing for weeks now!”Surprisingly, the girl shouting like that was wearing a regular nun’s habit.
As expected from her voice, she was probably around my age, maybe a bit younger.
She was slightly shorter than me, with long, sky-blue hair that reached her back.
That color was quite common in this world. In fact, black hair was rare.
It was surprising that there weren’t many people with black hair.
One such “nun” was challenging the bishop, who appeared to be the highest-ranking person in the cathedral.
“You’re saying that, but isn’t the goblin horde’s den far from the village? We should deal with the den first.”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying! If you give me the holy relic, I can go take care of it—”
“Enough.”
The bishop raised his hand to silence the bickering nun.
He seemed to have noticed us looking.
“Since we have distinguished guests, let’s continue this discussion after they leave.”
The young nun, grinding her teeth, reluctantly stepped back.
I exchanged a glance with Siwoo.
I wondered if she might be a named character from the game.
Siwoo slightly furrowed his brow, so I couldn’t tell if she was a character from the game or not.
Still, given that she didn’t look completely confused, there was a possibility she could be a character.
Maybe I should ask later when we have time.
“I apologize for making you come to such a humble place. If you had told me beforehand, I would’ve sent a carriage for you.”
Despite his words, the cathedral didn’t look humble at all.
It was a religious building, so the feeling was different, but in some ways, it was even more splendid than the one we stayed in.
“No, it’s quite close. It was less troublesome to walk here.”
In fact, it only took less than ten minutes on foot.
“Thank you for understanding with such a generous heart. As for the holy relic—”
When the holy relic was mentioned, I couldn’t help but notice the nun’s eyes widened. I shook my head subtly.
“No, the holy relic isn’t necessary.”
“Pardon?”
The bishop looked at me in surprise.
“There’s no need to bring such a precious item just to deal with a lowly goblin horde. Since it’s a valuable relic, wouldn’t it be better to only use it in truly dire circumstances?”
Upon hearing this, the bishop glanced at the young nun beside him.
The nun was still staring at me with wide eyes.
“As I thought, you’re a person with deep faith. However, even so, I believe there is still help we can offer. If there is anything you need, please feel free to ask.”
“Then, could we ask for your blessing? As for the offering—”
“I can’t accept an offering from such distinguished guests just to bestow a blessing. Would that be enough for you?”
“Of course.”
I confidently replied, and the bishop nodded with a smile on his lips.
Phew.
At least I didn’t have to walk out with a human finger tied to my waist.
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