novelraw Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
Chapter 153 : Chapter 153
153
“The Holy Knights are warriors who fight using Holy Power as their foundation.”
“So they are not much different from the Inquisitors.”
“The Inquisitors place greater emphasis on Holy Power itself. The Holy Knights place their emphasis on the sword. It is not simply a matter of using Holy Power or swordsmanship.”
I pictured Seris fighting.
I had never seen him fight directly, but I could infer enough from the way he had collapsed at the end, and from the corpses scattered around him.
‘They use Holy Power like a sword.’
The enemies of the Inquisitors were heretics.
And those the Holy Kingdom labeled as heretics were usually people with warped beliefs or faith—
demon worshipers, Necromancers, and the like.
Against such foes, Holy Power itself would be the most effective weapon.
‘The way they use it is similar to Aura.’
Ganemia had said that the Holy Knights placed more emphasis on the sword than on Holy Power itself.
Then was it similar to Yuria’s method?
Using fundamental swordsmanship while reinforcing physical ability with Holy Power.
‘If that is the case.’
It would be far easier to respond than fighting someone who relied purely on Holy Power.
At the very least, it meant the opponent was also fighting with a sword.
Then it was simply a matter of clashing blade against blade.
“That is a fine stance. It will be quite the stimulus for our knights as well.”
Listening more closely, Ganemia almost sounded as if she wanted the Holy Knights to lose.
“You are not wrong. I truly do hope they lose. A crushing defeat would be even better.”
“Why is that?”
At my question, Ganemia lightly brought a hand to her cheek, looking troubled.
“If our side has produced the next Saintess, then their side will grow desperate. Political struggles work like that.”
There was a peculiar distance in her tone.
She sounded as though she were explaining, yet she kept circling the point without saying anything outright.
A sore spot she did not wish to expose.
I decided to change the subject.
“Then if I fight them, I obtain the Fantasy?”
“Yes. So once a venue is prepared—”
“I do not feel like it.”
“Instructor, what did you say?”
Ganemia blinked in surprise mid-sentence.
“I said I do not feel like it.”
“Then the Fantasy will be taken from you.”
That was fine.
I fought Ocean Hall for growth.
That Fantasy might be able to heal my body, but that did not mean I had to cling to treatment.
Even if it was not this Fantasy, there were others like Sacer’s Fantasy.
When the time came, my body would be healed one way or another.
And there was also a debt I could not ignore.
“Seris healed me, did he not?”
This victory had been built upon Seris’s sacrifice.
Without the griffon.
Without the Elixir.
And without his prayers.
I would not be here now.
“More than anything, I do not want to be dragged around.”
I had made that decision when I fought Avril.
I would never again allow myself to be dragged around by the plans and lives of others.
My teacher had died amid people trying to use me.
Avril’s whereabouts were unknown, and more people might yet be sacrificed because of his schemes.
And now I was expected to fight because of political reasons I could not even be properly told about?
I was not going to become a clown over a mere Fantasy.
After hearing me out, Ganemia stopped her slightly scatterbrained manner and stared at me intently.
Almost at the same time, Yuria stepped to my side and tightly grasped my hand while looking at Ganemia.
It was a tableau of Ganemia pressing me and Yuria protecting me.
“You have changed, even in just these few days.”
“I believe it is a change that will help my students more.”
If a teacher wavered and lacked conviction, students would not trust them.
A teacher had to stand firm, believe that what they taught was right.
They had to convince their students that the path they walked was the correct one, and that a bright future lay at its end.
“I agree that Instructor’s change is a positive one.”
“Oh my. Our youngest runs away from home, then suddenly gets completely taken in by a man……”
Ganemia clicked her tongue and stood up.
“I understand your thoughts well. They differ from ours. We will need to think this through, so I will return after the meeting.”
With that, Ganemia left the room.
A meeting—despite being a Saintess, she did not decide everything on her own?
At my question, Yuria answered.
“The Holy Kingdom’s politics are decided by coordinating the opinions of the Saintess and the Archbishop.”
“Not by the Holy Emperor?”
“The Holy Emperor is a priest who conveys God’s voice, so he cannot involve himself in political matters. If he were to meddle in worldly affairs, his divinity could be corrupted or tainted.”
“I see. Then…… ah. I get it. There are effectively two Saintesses in the Holy Kingdom right now. The Archbishop’s faction feels politically cornered, so they are making a forceful move. And that force is demons, is it not?”
Yuria nodded.
“Exactly. You are as perceptive as ever.”
“It was a simple deduction.”
Yuria knew demons well.
Before the regression, she had stood on the front lines fighting them, and even after the regression, she had continued battling powerful demons at Akarind Academy.
Now that she had returned to the Holy Kingdom, she would naturally be pouring out information to prepare for demonic threats.
Two Saintesses were already a burden, and now she was also taking the initiative on matters that would determine humanity’s future.
They wanted to weaken her influence by discrediting demonic power—and Aura, which could fight demons.
“So that is why it is the Holy Knights.”
The Holy Knights were those who used Holy Power in pursuit of manifesting God’s word through the sword.
If they defeated me—the developer of Aura—in a spar, their prestige would naturally rise.
“And afterward, they would say it. That demonic power cannot be entrusted to the weak.”
“And they would gain justification to confiscate the Fantasy.”
It was indeed a dead end.
Provided they could win.
To be honest—
“……That will not be easy.”
I could now objectively assess my own strength.
I was quite skilled with the sword.
With my body recovered, winning a few bouts was not difficult.
And had not the Saintess herself said she would back me?
Recovering mid-fight would not be difficult, either.
Could they really win?
“They will choose a way that does not lose.”
“Not lose?”
“You have seen me fight. I recover repeatedly while being supplied with infinite Holy Power. Moreover, within the Holy Kingdom, the blessings upon the Holy Knights are more than twice as strong.”
“They will not fall. No— they will not die.”
Under those conditions, agreeing to a spar itself was a trap.
“They intend to force such a spar?”
“They believed that you would cut through even those conditions.”
For a moment, an odd sense of discomfort prickled at the back of my head.
How did she know?
I had never told Yuria that I could cut abstract concepts or conditions themselves.
She could not know about my growth after fighting General Fantasy, either—
nor about the realizations I had gained from Hollians or the Wolf King.
Something felt off.
“So that is why we prepared for a spar.”
Yet as Yuria continued speaking, that earlier discomfort vanished completely.
I pushed the unease aside and checked my limbs as I rose.
Throughout our conversation, I had been subtly moving my will and testing my body.
No problems.
If anything, perhaps thanks to the efforts of five high-ranking priests—including a Saintess—my body felt lighter than usual.
“Regardless of how Ganemia’s meeting turns out, I need to return quickly. The students must be waiting…… Wait. Did you contact the Academy?”
“No.”
Yuria shook her head as though it were obvious.
Truly, people who knew nothing of the world beyond themselves.
I pressed a hand to my head and shook it.
“If anyone has a Goldline Scroll, use it to contact Rozalin, Hati, or anyone at all and tell them I am safe. They will be worried.”
“Understood.”
They were probably exterminating monsters in the Kingdom of Namress without knowing what had happened to me.
If I did not hurry and tell them I was safe……
Just imagining it was terrifying.
Rozalin and the others would surely give me an earful.
“I should go.”
Rather than getting entangled in political struggles like this, it was better to simply leave.
A mere Fantasy— they could have it.
Thinking that, I looked for my belongings.
My sword was nowhere to be seen.
“Hm? Have you seen my sword?”
“That, too, was confiscated by the Holy Knights.”
“……Why?”
“Because it has the Fantasy of Giant-Block embedded in it.”
I blinked.
That was not what we agreed on.
“But that sword has nothing to do with the Holy Kingdom. Our Academy handled that case, and we obtained the sword directly from the Empire.”
“But it is demonic.”
That illogical reasoning.
The same familiar obstinacy I had often felt from Yuria in the past.
This was infuriating.
I had been willing to let Ocean Hall’s Fantasy go because of Seris.
But taking credit and spoils that belonged to my students and others was something I would not tolerate.
“Yuria. Get me a sword.”
“Are you going to spar?”
“No.”
A spar meant being dragged along by their intentions.
What I intended now was to cause a scene—and fight.
“In a spar, it ends when you lose. In a fight, it ends when someone gets a nosebleed.”
At my words, Yuria smiled faintly.
It was an expression I would once have found hard to imagine.
“Understood. I will help.”
“Are you sure?”
“Everything shall be as you wish, Instructor.”
Yuria left the room and soon returned with a sword.
At a glance, it looked just as high-grade as the one I normally used.
Both the scabbard and hilt were white, adorned with purple tassels, and a gentle Holy Power emanated from within.
I accepted the sword and drew it once.
As the blade was revealed, the Holy Power intensified.
“It is a Holy Sword.”
……?
I nearly dropped it.
“Wait. Is it really all right to just take something like this?”
“The Saintess has traditionally overseen the Holy Sword. Before using it, even the Holy Knight Commander must receive permission from the Saintess.”
“You are not a Saintess yet.”
“I am the next Saintess.”
Yuria’s expression was completely untroubled.
Looking at her, one might truly believe it was fine.
The next Saintess telling me to wreak havoc in the Holy Kingdom with a Holy Sword.
‘Is this really okay?’
I had told her to recover her composure after returning to the Holy Kingdom, but had she gone the other way instead?
As I examined Yuria carefully, she—
“Let us go.”
—stepped forward with an oddly excited air.