“Yeah. I blocked it magnificently.”
The Holy Sword confirmed the kill.
“No, that doesn’t make sense. Maybe if it was the Holy Sword, but a saintess defeating Pector? Really?”
It was Eugene, the Hero.
What was his problem this time? He even seemed to harbor an inferiority complex toward me, Olivia.
“Perhaps it’s because the roots are different from those of a Hero lounging around somewhere, playing around.”
“Holy Sword, let me remind you again that I am not weak. It’s that the mage, Noah, is unnecessarily strong.”
‘And how is that my fault?’ I thought.
“Even so, isn’t it true that while the mage self-destructed along with the Demon King, the so-called Hero failed against one of the Four Heavenly Kings and missed the opportunity to cut down Pector?”
If it were me, I’d have stopped him at that moment.
In the end, the Hero only got in the way.
He couldn’t even buy us enough time.
“I’ve only been active as a Hero for a few years. Even if I was chosen by the Holy Sword, how could I, in such a short time, match up against the Four Heavenly Kings who’ve spent decades on the battlefield? Think about it rationally.”
As much as I disliked him whining, he wasn’t completely wrong.
The starting points of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Hero were indeed different.
To the Four Heavenly Kings, the Hero likely seemed like nothing more than a brash young pup.
The problem is that those chosen by the Holy Sword grow quickly.
Had he spent five years properly training, he’d at least have been able to overpower me physically by now.
“To begin with, Noah is abnormal. That lunatic single-handedly wiped out all the Four Heavenly Kings, so now people mistakenly think the Hero’s party is strong.”
‘That’s your fault,’ I thought.
I wanted to argue about everything he said, but decided to give up—it felt too futile.
“Let’s stop here. Thanks to the mage ultimately defeating the Demon King, the Four Heavenly Kings are now our only remaining enemies.”
The atmosphere had grown heavy, so Claire intervened.
Since I was involved, Claire also seemed upset.
“But if you think about it, isn’t it also true that because of that, the Four Heavenly Kings went berserk and started attacking indiscriminately?”
‘Well… I don’t have much to say about that.’
The Holy Sword glanced at me oddly.
The Hero had been the one talking, so why was he looking at me? I didn’t know anything about it.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. Anyway, I’ve seen it for myself, so let’s leave it at that. Now, we’ll split the soldiers. One group will stay stationed in Karchem to ensure security, while the rest will march back to Ashtar.
The leadership of the participating battlefield will be entrusted to the Seven Stars.
With the arrival of the Holy Sword, the leadership of the Ashtar forces, which had been under the young lady who is not yet the next head, will naturally transfer to the Holy Sword.
As for me—”
“Young lady, may I have a word with you before departure?”
“Uh, wait, hold on.”
***
Claire pulled me aside.
‘Would I end up in the same situation as Syria?’
“Young lady, why did you do such a dangerous thing? You are a noble, and not just any noble—you are the young lady of the Ashtar family. Do you not know what that means? The Ashtar family is so prominent that it’s called the Second Imperial House. And yet you risked your life to save the Crown Prince?”
Claire grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me.
“It wasn’t because of him! Besides, weren’t you the one who said we shouldn’t abandon the Crown Prince?”
‘What, are you changing your tune now?’
‘I hadn’t seen Claire like this before—talking out of both sides of her mouth.’
“We shouldn’t abandon him, true. But there’s such a thing as moderation. At least make it look like you’re trying. All you need is for people to see that Ashtar made an effort.”
‘So, she meant it didn’t really matter whether I saved him or not, as long as we gave the impression we tried.’
“Ashtar did its best.” That’s all she wanted to solidify.
“Young lady, regardless, there must not be a repeat of this in the future.”
‘My right arm was already wrecked from using the lightning spear. If she finds out, it’ll be trouble.’
Pain suddenly surged through me.
Even with my body attuned to mana fusion, what I did with the clouds was insane.
And it wasn’t just ordinary lightning either.
“Alright, alright, I get it. Now stop.”
Claire finally sighed and softened her expression after lecturing me for ages.
“Still, you have a reliable subordinate.”
“Subordinate?”
‘I don’t have any subordinates, though?’
Even my younger sister, whom I’d worked like a dog, escaped from the Land of Ruin.
“I mean Lady Syria. I didn’t expect her to endure torture at Ashtar’s hands and keep her mouth shut. She even told me in the end, ‘I choose death!'”
“Oh, really?”
‘Could it be… Syria of all people, showing loyalty?’
No, it had to be something else.
She wouldn’t listen to me that well unless she was after something.
“When did you even build such a strong rapport with her? Considering your time at the academy, it doesn’t seem like you’ve known her for long.”
‘Does it all have to connect back to that?’
‘I shouldn’t forget that Claire was one of my mother’s most loyal agents. Assassins excel at gathering information.’
Syria’s relationship with Noah couldn’t be explained through Syria and Olivia’s ties.
“Oh, haha. It just sort of happened. You know, they say women’s friendships are strong. We exchanged letters frequently too.”
It was better to come up with some excuse here.
“There’s no such thing. Women’s friendships are fragile, especially among noble young ladies.”
She said it so bluntly.
“Well, if you looked at Elana and Syria, it did seem that way.”
“Those two kept fighting after agreeing to share the Hero.”
“Noble young ladies cut off contact with each other as soon as their families were in danger.”
“I heard that even Olivia the First lost all her followers after breaking her engagement with Aslan.”
“Anyway, it’s something like that.”
“Young lady, you must have your reasons. Regardless, please ensure such incidents don’t happen again.”
Claire eventually withdrew.
“Alright, I got it.”
“I’ll stop here. Lady Syria has already taken the brunt of it.”
‘What exactly did they do to Syria?’
I heard that Ashtar’s interrogation techniques grew more brutal after absorbing the Assassin’s Guild.
“By the way, if I get anxious or lie, do I tend to rub my wrist?”
‘Everyone has their quirks, but could it be Olivia has one?’
Right now, I was aware of it, so I wasn’t rubbing my wrist. But just in case…
‘I wonder what Olivia’s habit is.’
“You don’t have any such habit, young lady.”
“What?”
‘I don’t?’
“Anyway, I’ll go prepare the carriage now. I’ll leave this item here for you. The preparation won’t take long, so you should come out soon. The knights will take care of everything.”
Claire left the room, leaving the slumped-over Syria behind.
***
‘Did the Holy Sword figure something out about me?’
‘Or was it just trying to provoke me?’
Either way, it left me feeling uneasy.
It would’ve been better to carry Syria out unconscious, but curiosity got the better of me.
I shook her gently.
“Syria, are you alright?”
“Ugh… Mother, Father… I can see them.”
‘This isn’t good. Syria doesn’t have parents anymore.’
‘Could it be an illusion? Or is she seeing her deceased parents?’
“You don’t have parents! Snap out of it!”
I said while slapping her cheek.
Slap!
The satisfying sound of the slap seemed to bring her back to her senses.
“Wow, that really woke me up.”
“Seeing things that don’t exist isn’t normal.”
‘Parents who’ve passed away suddenly appearing, or corpses resurrecting… such things don’t happen.’
Even black magic doesn’t truly resurrect someone—it just creates something that looks like them.
“No, that’s not it. Hah… Never mind. But it’s hard to stand. Could you help me up?”
“You’re not just acting weak, are you?”
I tried to help Syria up, but she couldn’t stand and collapsed again.
“Do you know what that Claire woman did to me? She toyed with my body. It was horrifying.”
“Alright, I’ll carry you.”
‘How could I refuse her?’
I carried Syria on my back.
Even though I was smaller after my transformation into the first generation, carrying Syria wasn’t hard.
“Oh, are you alright? My chest must be heavy.”
“The weight of your chest doesn’t matter to me. It can be inconvenient in battle, but carrying you doesn’t pose any problems.”
‘If I wanted to, I could shrink my chest. It’s not like I pay much attention to my body. Still, swordsmanship combat does have its inconveniences.’
“Oh, that’s a relief. By the way, could you help me when getting on and off the carriage too?”
“You sure are demanding.”
“But why do you look so serious?”
‘I nearly forgot.’
“The Holy Sword mentioned something about my habit.”
“A habit?”
‘I wasn’t sure if it even qualified as a habit, but if anyone knew, it might be Syria.’
“Apparently, I rub my wrist when I lie.”
“Oh, so the Holy Sword knows about that?”
Syria looked impressed.
“What are you talking about? Claire said I don’t have that habit.”
“Then what does that mean? The Holy Sword must know something about Noah’s habits.”
‘It knows my habits?’
‘Did I really have a habit like that?’
‘Even if I did, it’s strange for Syria, who’s naturally mischievous, to know about it, let alone the Seven Stars. Could the Holy Sword have just guessed?’
“How many times have they seen it?”
“You’ve interacted with each other quite a lot, haven’t you?”
“Have I?”
I had the most contact with the Seven Stars among the group, but I didn’t think I was that close to the Holy Sword.
Come to think of it, we did exchange information about the training methods of the Imperial and Royal armies.
“Well, I wouldn’t know much about the Seven Stars. That’s for you to figure out, Olivia.”
“Wait, normally people don’t reveal each other’s habits unless they’re close—”
“The Holy Sword’s a bit of a weirdo. Or maybe it likes Noah. Did you know the Holy Sword hasn’t shown interest in any man so far?”
Syria was getting unnecessarily excited.
‘Now that I think about it, women do tend to enjoy these topics.’
“You really are a woman, Syria. The nonsense you talk proves it.”
‘It’s probably something the Holy Sword noticed during training. It’s just that simple.’
Through interactions, people naturally get to know each other.
“Aren’t you curious, Olivia?”
“Why would I be? I was the subject of the conversation—what’s there to be curious about?”
‘What ridiculous nonsense.’
Still…
The Holy Sword seemed to know my secret.
That’s not something I can just brush aside.
Even earlier, when the Four Heavenly Kings were being discussed, it made deliberate eye contact with me.
“Anyway, the Holy Sword definitely knows.”
‘Yeah. That must be it. It’s not like we’re enemies. At least it’s level-headed enough to assess situations objectively.’
The comments it made earlier to Eugene and Claire weren’t out of malice.
“I’ll think about the Holy Sword later. For now—”
“But what about the Crown Prince and his party?”
“Oh, the Holy Sword brought them along.”
Aslan, Raileur, and Sharial had been transported to the Ashtar camp by Karchem’s guards under the Holy Sword’s command.
They were lounging about without a care in the world.
“Oh, you just handed them over to the Holy Sword?”
“Do you think I would’ve done that?”
‘She still doesn’t understand me.’
As I carried Syria to the carriage, I explained what had happened in Karchem—especially how I had beaten up Aslan in detail.