novelraw Chapter 166
Chapter 166
Ch.166 Should We Bring Giovanni Back Now?
Leah and Cecilia left Giovanni’s house.
The moment they stepped onto the street, they began brawling.
“WHAT?! MY MASTER IS GAY?!”
Leah, furious at her own delusions, grabbed Cecilia’s collar and shook her.
“Kyaa! W-why are you doing this?!”
“Don’t you know why?!”
Leah raised her fist—Cecilia screamed:
“It’s not true! Just drop it!”
“Are you kidding me?! You read BL novels, right?!”
Leah knew Cecilia loved BL manga.
“BL… novels?!”
Cecilia stammered.
“T-they’re ‘art’!”
Leah’s head throbbed.
The Saint… called ‘BL’ art?!
“Hey! You’re a Saint, right?!”
“Yes…?”
Leah scowled.
“Don’t you feel shame before God? Reading that? What kind of god picks a Saint like you?!”
“Hehe… it must be the gods’ deep wisdom.”
Cecilia grinned.
Leah pounded her chest.
“I’m gonna get excommunicated before I die.”
“Why? What did I do?”
Leah shouted:
“The Pope’s doctrine forbids homosexuality, don’t you know?!”
Yes.
The Holy Scripture commanded: ‘Men and women must unite to fulfill life’s purpose.’
And here was a Saint… reading gay romance.
“What would the Pope say if he found out?”
Probably collapse, clutching his neck.
“So what? I just read books!”
“Ugh… I give up.”
“Hehe… but it’s good, right? Now we know Hans only likes women.”
Cecilia smiled brightly.
But Leah knew—how much mental torment it had taken to reach this ‘obvious’ conclusion.
At least loving women was understandable.
She knew men who kept harems.
But loving ‘both’ equally?
It was a concept she’d never heard before.
Hans.
The Hero Party.
Giovanni.
Just imagining it made Leah’s face twist.
‘This is the worst.’
She seriously, seriously considered giving up on Hans.
And it was all Cecilia’s fault.
‘Let the King of the Dead die already.’
Leah was already drafting a protest letter to the Papacy.
“Leah, what are you doing?”
Cecilia walked ahead, leaving Leah behind.
‘How can she be this shameless?!’
The Saint who’d caused this disaster was unbearable.
“Fly.”
Leah took to the sky with magic.
Cecilia panicked.
“Wait! Take me with you!”
“You walked here—walk back!”
“Ahh! Why?!”
And with that, Leah shot toward Hans’s mansion like a comet.
***
Roy had come to meet his army.
The once-proud force that had marched beside him was now broken.
Armor was dented, stained with blood.
Weapons were chipped, dulled.
Some soldiers still had limbs.
Many did not.
The glorious army he’d led—gone.
In its place: a rabble of corpses.
Roy forced a bitter smile.
“You’ve suffered. All because of my weakness.”
He owed them.
They had fought to the death beside him—even after betrayal.
But he used their hollow shells as puppets.
Deep inside, Roy felt guilt.
Had he captured the Dragon, had he kept Altarion’s Staff…
They would’ve returned as heroes, not husks.
“But thanks to you… only one Seal Stone remains.”
They were dead.
No soul remained.
But Roy still spoke to them as if they were alive.
He knew it meant nothing.
Yet… it was his conscience.
They had given him infinite loyalty.
As their lord, he owed them this.
He gazed at his army.
“But I was too weak. I had to summon you here. But…”
Roy closed his eyes briefly, face grim.
He knew the path to the last Seal Stone would be hell.
Narrow paths.
Traps.
Powerful enemies.
Last time, Hans had collapsed the entrance—
Roy would’ve died.
This time, they wouldn’t leave the Stone lightly.
And they had no summons left.
“But… only one step remains. One last Seal Stone. Break it—and we gain immortality.”
How much had he suffered?
His kingdom fell when Selena was possessed.
Even after that, nothing went smoothly.
But now… only one Stone.
How many deaths had he endured?
Hundreds.
If he won… he’d meet his family again.
His beloved wife. His daughter.
Roy followed the God of Death for only one reason:
To see them again.
“Come, my soldiers! Forward!”
***
The Hero Party had been staying for about two weeks.
“Master! Help me!”
Leah burst into my study.
“Hm? What do you need?”
She scratched her cheek sheepishly.
“It’s the magic Icira made. It’s harder to aim than I thought.”
“Huh? Really?”
Why would aiming be hard?
“Is it because the projectile is slow?”
She nodded.
“It’s slow… and if I move, the reaction delays. It’s incredibly hard to hit.”
“I think I need practice.”
I nodded.
It was a simple problem.
“Then practice. I don’t see how I can help.”
“Ugh! If I shoot at trees, they catch fire! And I can hit stationary targets easily!”
“So what do you want?”
She said it like it was nothing.
“Be my target.”
“…What?”
Was I hallucinating?
Did she just say…?
“Be my target.”
I stared at her.
“You… say that like it’s nothing?”
“It’s not a big deal!”
Leah’s expression was bored.
“Wait—you’re human! Fire touches your skin, you get burned!”
“But you have the Arbiter’s Armor! You won’t get hurt!”
“…Oh.”
I’d forgotten.
The armor prevented HP loss and status effects.
…Right.
“Oh. You’re smart.”
“Of course. Who’s your disciple?”
I signed the last document on my desk.
“Finish this, then we’ll go.”
“By the way… Master, why did you let Giovanni take a vacation?”
I smiled bitterly.
“You really know me well.”
“Of course.”
We’d lived together too long.
“Giovanni wanted a break. So I have to work. What else can I do?”
If he just quit, I’d be buried in paperwork.
I had to bear it.
I signed the next document.
Scratch.
“Tell everyone I’m outside.”
Leah nodded.
We arrived at the open field near the mansion.
Leah pulled Altarion’s Staff from her spatial bag.
“Initiating: Flame Bind.”
A ring of flame rose slowly.
“Isn’t this too slow?”
The projectile was sluggish. Hard to hit.
“Hehe… when that happens, do this!”
Leah grinned wickedly.
“Fireball!”
She hurled a burning orb at me.
I sidestepped as it flew—
WHOOSH!
Heat blasted my back.
The ring of fire had already reached my front.
But it was too slow.
I slipped sideways—avoided it.
“This won’t work in real combat.”
I’d heard it was powerful—but this slow?
Even a child could dodge it.
“Hehe… there’s always a way!”
She attacked me with multiple spells.
Other spells flew faster.
“What’s your trick? You’ll miss a hundred times.”
She was linking spells—using misdirection to land Icira’s magic.
But with something this slow?
The flaming ring glowed ominously.
Would I even be able to dodge it?
As I prepared to evade—
“Ice Well!”
A wall of ice formed behind me.
“Huh?”
Startled, I turned—
The binding ring had already reached my side.
I punched the ice wall—
CRACK-SHATTER!
I shattered it and dodged sideways.
“Eek!”
Leah used magic to herd me, trapped me with ice, and locked me in the binding ring?
It was shallow.
But… if executed perfectly?
It might work.
“Hmph. This won’t work.”
“Wait—it only failed because of the ice!”
I drew Levi’s Dagger.
“Bone Well.”
A wall of bone erupted instantly.
“Maybe this’ll work?”
Or…
“Bone Prison!”
Sharp bone spikes burst from the ground, forming a cage.
“If you trap me like this… maybe it’ll hold?”
“Hm… that’s plausible. I’ll think about it.”
Leah’s serious expression made me gently pat her head.
“Good job. Keep practicing.”
“Yeah!”
She beamed.
***
I finished my work and collapsed onto the sofa.
“Haa… I haven’t worked in so long… it’s unbearable.”
Once I started relaxing, work felt impossible.
I’d begun managing Pisa as a lord—but when urgent tasks were done, I handed everything to Giovanni.
Then I just… drifted.
I couldn’t stop myself.
Tasks that used to take half a day now dragged until evening.
Honestly? My workload wasn’t even heavy.
Before, I ran the Pisa Trading Company—
Processing reports from across the empire took hours.
Now?
No company. Just one barony.
Sure, guilds and merchants made things busier than other baronies…
But I could still handle it.
“Should we bring Giovanni back now?”
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