novelraw Chapter 152 : Chapter 152
Chapter 152 : Chapter 152
152
The situation was complicated.
A single griffon had flown in.
It was a dull, oppressive creature, its feathers dyed pitch black down to the last plume—so ominous that merely looking at it felt burdensome.
An elite griffon used by an Inquisitor.
And yet, its appearance was deeply strange.
Clenched in its beak was a gemstone that looked unmistakably ominous, and upon its back, instead of an Inquisitor, it carried a single person who had been reduced to a battered wreck.
Gripped in its talons was a sword that appeared to belong to that man, and even at a glance, its edge was extraordinary.
A report was filed, and Ganemia, who had come down to verify the situation, recognized the man.
“Cassian?”
The Holy Kingdom collected the items brought by the griffon and immediately began an investigation.
By chance, they possessed someone who knew demons exceedingly well.
Yuria, the prospective Saintess.
Thanks to her testimony, they learned that the object the griffon had brought back was a “Fantasy” containing demonic power, and that the teacher named Cassian who had arrived among them was a genius who had recently created a renowned form of Aura.
Immediately afterward, the Holy Kingdom was torn apart.
“It is a tool containing the power of demons! It must be purified and erased at once! You say it is not a single tool? Then the sword the griffon brought back also contains a tool, so that must be destroyed as well!”
“What nonsense is this! Unlike the existence of demons, that power is said to originate from neither demon nor god! Those were the words of the prospective Saintess herself! Then should we not use that power to spread the will of God?”
“All of those items belong to another person. How can we dare to consume them ourselves? We must not display such petty conduct!”
“We fully acknowledge that the man carried here strove to eradicate demons. We also know that he created Aura and contributed to the advancement of humanity. But did not our brother Seris contribute just as much? More importantly, our brother has already returned to God’s side!”
“Exactly! We have healed Cassian’s wounds completely, so is it not only natural that we receive the Fantasy as compensation?”
The Holy Kingdom of Hersia was a theocratic state.
Under the Holy Emperor, who served God most closely, authority was exercised by Archbishops and Saintesses.
Beneath the Archbishops were High Priestesses endowed with exceptional Holy Power, and beneath the Saintesses were Priestesses who could become candidates for future Saintesses.
In other words, the Holy Kingdom was not a place where everyone acted in perfect unity beneath God.
It was a place where people of many differing intentions were intermingled.
As though they had seized upon a pretext, they raised their voices for their own benefit.
The loudest voices belonged to two factions.
One was the group of priests under the Archbishops, who insisted that the demonic power must be confiscated from Cassian.
The other consisted of Priestesses under the Saintesses, who argued that Cassian should be protected and that the demonic power should be returned to him.
In terms of sheer volume, the voices under the Archbishops were far louder.
Even among the priests, opinions were divided and contentious.
However, the problem lay with those voicing the opposition.
Saintess Ganemia.
And the prospective Saintess, Yuria.
Both of them vouched for Cassian and insisted that his power be returned to him.
Ganemia’s voice could be somewhat diminished.
Yuria, however, was another matter entirely.
She had been appointed a Saintess despite the previous Saintess still being alive.
She was expected to possess unprecedented power and was a talent destined to lead the Holy Kingdom for decades to come.
Moreover, she had received revelations of the future from God, possessed profound knowledge of demons, and was regarded as a leader who would guide the kingdom through the disasters yet to come.
And now, such a person was shielding Cassian.
If they clumsily attempted to covet Cassian’s possessions, there was a high chance they would be pushed out of the Holy Kingdom’s political arena in an instant.
“Damn it. To think we are being held hostage by the voice of that little girl!”
In one corner of the Holy Kingdom, voices condemning Ganemia and the Saintess arose whenever high-ranking clergy gathered.
One bloated cleric scowled viciously as he wiped the sweat running down his head.
“Demonic power, they say! If it produces power beyond common sense, then naturally it should be managed by us priests!”
“They say demons will continue to appear. And that demons appearing in the Holy Kingdom will even block Holy Power. Should we not actively gather demonic power in order to defend against that?”
“Exactly! We are the ones truly concerned for the future of the Holy Kingdom, and yet they call us petty and vile!”
“They have gone outside the kingdom and swallowed too much foreign water, it seems. Tsk, tsk.”
Their gazes turned in one direction.
Seated at the innermost place of honor was a single cleric who had been silently listening to their discussion.
Unlike the others, he wore a mantle embroidered with scriptural verses in golden tassels upon his shoulders.
One who stood closer to God and lived by receiving His voice.
A High Priest.
“Sir, have there been no further words from those above?”
“They are noisy as well. Whenever they gather, they click their tongues, saying they cannot understand what those foolish women are doing.”
“At times like this, should not the High Priests persuade the Archbishop?”
“For now, rest easy. We have our own plan.”
“Oh? And what plan would that be?”
The High Priest’s eyes flashed.
It was a gaze so insidious that it scarcely seemed befitting of a priest.
“In the end, is it not His Holiness the Holy Emperor who makes the final decision? That is why persuading His Holiness is what truly matters.”
“Do you have a method?”
“We will use the Holy Knights.”
An exclamation rippled through those gathered.
“In the end, all we have to do is prove that they cannot handle demonic power, is it not? People tend to overcomplicate things!”
“Indeed, if it is the Holy Knights, it should be more than possible!”
“It is demonic power, after all! Naturally, humans cannot handle it, and only those with Holy Power should!”
“That Aura of his is a mere human technique. There is no way it can pierce divine power!”
The priests exchanged smug remarks as they shared opinions.
Everyone possessed a plan that seemed plausible—
even if it was the plan of those who had lived half their lives within a very small world, confined entirely to the Holy Kingdom.
***
“Are you feeling a bit more conscious now?”
“……Yuria?”
When I came to my senses in an unfamiliar space, the disciple who had once left was standing before me.
The child who had gone to meet God.
“Am I dead?”
“We had five of our people collapse from exhaustion trying to save you, and you ask whether you are dead? That is a bit much.”
“I am sorry.”
“Unfortunately, you survived.”
Unfortunately.
That was a joke I had never expected to hear from Yuria.
I stared at her intently.
Her face, usually devoid of expression, looked the same as ever.
But if one looked closely, the shadows beneath her eyes had faded somewhat, and her eyes, once dull, seemed to carry a bit more vitality.
“How is this place? Is it good?”
That was why I asked.
“There is not much difference from the Academy. It is livable.”
Yuria answered.
It was a rather pleasant response.
“I know you two are having a tender moment, but before that, there is quite a lot we need to deal with.”
Ganemia shattered the atmosphere as she spoke.
“Yuria mentioned earlier that five people collapsed, did she not? I was one of them, you know. So it is fine to interrupt this emotional reunion, right?”
“I did not realize you were here.”
“You did not realize? My goodness. Do you know that after Yuria, I spent the most time nursing you? Not just anyone, but a Saintess, a Saintess! Two Saintesses diligently caring for one man—if this gets out beyond the Holy Kingdom, it will be a scandal.”
“Thank you.”
The Saintess was right.
There were countless people suffering in the streets who could not meet even a single cleric, let alone a Saintess.
And yet, who was I to receive the treatment of not one, but two Saintesses?
No, to be precise, five of them.
I tried to sit up, but Yuria’s hand immediately pressed me back down.
“You must remain lying down a bit longer. Your Road has only just begun to recover.”
By Road, she meant my Mana Road, right?
That worked out well.
After Yuria and the Saintesses had left, there had been no one who truly understood my physical condition, which had been frustrating.
At my question, Ganemia smiled wryly, as though she understood.
“It is a miracle that you are alive at all, Instructor.”
“……Have I already used up my entire lifespan?”
It was Ganemia who had first told me that I was living on borrowed time.
“You should have. You really should have. But honestly, I have no idea what that Necromancer and that practitioner of shamanic curses did to your body.”
“You mean Ulf and Berlis.”
“Our Holy Power healing is not ordinary treatment. It is closer to touching something more fundamental—tampering with the unconscious deep within the brain.”
“Is that different?”
“Your Mana Road moves according to your will, does it not? That means the Mana Road is not merely a passage for exerting your power, but something connected to a more fundamental layer.”
“And what does that have to do with my unconscious…….”
“Do you know the term ‘retroactive application’?”
It sounded like something I had heard once while studying long ago.
Ganemia continued, assuming I might not know.
“Retroactive application refers to applying an effect not only to the present, but also retroactively to the past. Let me give you an example.”
In the past, a boy bullied a beggar girl.
Naturally, he was never punished.
But later, that beggar girl became a Saintess.
As a result, the boy who had bullied the Saintess was summoned and punished.
“A happy ending, right? That is retroactive application.”
“……That example feels somewhat twisted. Is that perhaps from personal experience?”
Ganemia ignored the question and continued explaining my condition.
“We can form one hypothesis. Your body being shattered into pieces in the present is because you left your past behind due to a powerful shock.”
She seemed to be referring to the incident where my life’s trajectory had been altered after encountering violence.
“Aura is said to be the Sword Intent—establishing one’s will. Will is inherently tied to one’s life, so you can only grow stronger by affirming and accepting your past self.”
“That sounds rather philosophical.”
“Oh, please. You are the one who turned the sword into philosophy. In any case, there was a project to restore and affirm your past like that, and as a result, your body is in much better shape now.”
Of the nine lines, all five that had been severed were now fully reconnected.
Only four lines remained blocked, clogged by impurities and other obstructions.
And those four—
“You could probably open them using Ocean Hall’s Fantasy. That was what you were aiming for when you came here, was it not?”
I smiled at Yuria’s conjecture.
She was correct.
Rozalin had focused only on using this Fantasy to strengthen Aura itself.
But what I had envisioned was something more fundamental.
A dam that was completely blocked could be broken through with a powerful current.
If one could control external mana and flow, then perhaps the four blocked lines could be opened and all nine Mana Roads restored to normal.
Seen that way, coming to the Holy Kingdom had been fortunate.
If anything went wrong, there were people here who could heal me.
“Unfortunately, that is impossible for now.”
“Did many people use Holy Power while I was unconscious? Then waiting another day or two would be—”
“No. It is something more fundamental than that. You do not have the Fantasy right now.”
“……?”
Surely I had not left Ocean Hall’s Fantasy at the bottom of the sea when I collapsed?
No.
I vaguely recalled the griffon picking it up……
“Our Holy Kingdom has confiscated the byproducts of the demon.”
Hearing the words “byproducts of the demon,” I could roughly grasp what had happened.
Even Berlis had reacted excessively to such things; there was no way they would leave a genuine demonic byproduct untouched.
What now?
As I pondered that, Ganemia stepped closer and leaned her face toward mine.
“So, Instructor. I would like to ask you for a favor.”
“Yes?”
“You are good with a sword, are you not? Could you fight once or twice for us? If you do, we will give you the Fantasy and immediately handle the dispatch of priests to Akarind, as you requested.”