Chapter 204
Chapter 204
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.46 – Everyone Has a Plan (1)
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No matter how luxurious or sprawling a mansion or building might be, it can never be entirely flawless.
Why?
Because you can never completely eliminate things like dust or tiny insects.
Especially in areas untouched by sunlight or any rays of light, grimy elements were bound to accumulate even more.
That was why treating cleaning lightly was a mistake, and why hiring expensive cleaning services wasn't a waste of money.
Even if you thought you'd cleaned meticulously yourself, you could never predict where or how new filth might creep in.
In that sense...
"It's hard to believe it's been over thirteen years since I graduated from the Royal Academy."
"Were you an Academy graduate, then?"
"Top of my class in the Swordsmanship Department."
"...Must not have been a talented year."
"Captain!?"
"Just kidding."
In a place as vast as the Royal Academy, there were inevitably more of those 'sneaky filthy pests,' so to speak—rat-like intruders.
The eastern sector of the Academy, reminiscent of a sprawling city.
It was an area thick with overgrown foliage, rich in rare herbs and timber, a place rarely visited by anyone outside the Alchemy or Magic Departments.
Especially on a day like today, when entrance exams were underway, it saw even fewer people—perfect for outsiders to slip in unnoticed.
...However, even if someone entered the woods, they would never sense the presence of humans.
And that was because...
"No one around here would notice divine arts, right?"
"The nuns in the infirmary have some skill, but not enough to detect our divine arts."
Woooong.
Divine arts.
Holy spells that only those serving the light—like priests and nuns—could wield.
Some called them sacred magic, and with good reason; there were countless varieties.
And using them was as good as openly declaring they were from the Temple.
A divine art specialized in concealment, utterly erasing the caster's form and presence.
The fact that they were using it even while hidden in the forest showed just how meticulously they prepared for any contingency.
And only two groups within the Temple wielded such divine arts with such proficiency.
One was the heresy inquisitors, known as the Temple's hunting dogs, who operated in the shadows.
The other was the holy knights who shone in the light, clad in white plate armor, basking in more glory and honor than any knight order.
Just looking at their armor made it easy to identify their affiliation.
The white plate armor bore the emblem of a swan.
They were the Temple's knights, masters of both fighting techniques and divine arts.
"Captain, do we really have to go this far?"
"What's wrong? Wounded pride?"
"...I'd be lying if I said it didn't sting."
"Put that pride aside for now. Reclaiming the Temple's glory outweighs personal honor."
"Is this really going to work?"
"You think it won't?"
"I get the plan itself. But fooling Duke Galahad—that's the real hurdle, isn't it?"
"It'll... probably work."
"?"
"Trust me."
"You don't sound all that confident. Not like you..."
"...Quiet."
The captain didn't elaborate.
Not even to his own knights could he reveal every classified detail.
...Though skipping the details also spared him the hassle of dealing with backlash.
But for the unaware knights...
"This is too much, really."
...they couldn't help feeling miffed.
Victor, the three-meter-tall holy knight, grumbled.
He respected the captain, but all this secrecy left him frustrated and slighted every time.
"Victor, watch your tone with the captain."
"Why pick on me only? Tch."
"You little...!"
The two knights growled at each other, but the captain let it slide.
Even without words, it was clear these holy knights weren't thrilled about babysitting one woman.
The captain felt the same discontent, of course...
'If it weren't the patriarch's orders, I wouldn't be here either.'
It was laughable, when he thought about it.
'The Saintess Creation Plan...'
Ridiculous.
For mortals to artificially birth a holy being called the child of god?
He honestly thought it was absurd.
Not to mention...
"—You planned to get a woman carrying Duke Blake's genes close to him, then announce from the Temple that 'Hayes Roze is actually your daughter.'"
"......"
Holy Knight Order Captain Erhin de Loengrin widened his eyes at the third voice echoing through the woods.
The sudden appearance wasn't surprising.
What shocked Erhin was how the intruder recited the Temple's plan as if peering into his very soul.
But the voice's owner continued, as if not done yet.
"What a hilarious plan. Even so, Duke Blake isn't some pushover, and he won't just swallow whatever 'evidence' the Temple trots out. ...But if the woman claiming to be his daughter wields the power of a 'dream demon,' then yeah, the plan has a shot. The power of [Mystery] would work even on him, if only just a little."
Step, step.
The man strolled casually into the woods, unarmored, with a single sword at his side and an axe slung across his back.
Despite the Dark Veil Divine Art that should have rendered them invisible, he stared straight in their direction as if he could see them plainly.
"...This is just my guess from here on, but the Temple bastards probably need three things. First, Hayes Roze successfully infiltrating Galahad. Second, using dream demon powers to gradually implant 'suggestions' in Duke Blake until he sees her as his real daughter. Third, leveraging Galahad's influence to crown Hayes Roze as the 'Saintess.' ...And if they snag the demon sword's power as a bonus, perfect."
"......"
"What a load of nonsense. ...No, less a plan and more a gamble. But hey, gambling and investing are separated by a hair's breadth, so clinging to 'it just might work!' makes sense. Now I see—these Temple pricks are born hustlers?"
"...Can you see us?"
"Gambling's always fifty-fifty, right? Sigh. Thinking about it, it's kinda impressive? Pulling off this insane scheme, with elite personnel no less... Are madmen the ones who rule the world?"
"He can't see us."
The man just kept yapping, ignoring Erhin's question entirely.
Proof that the Dark Veil Divine Art—soundproofed and all—was working perfectly.
So...
"Victor, take him out."
"Kill?"
"What else?"
"...You're thorough, Captain."
Victor grumbled but dropped all complaints the instant the order came, hefting his mace.
'Mace Holy Knight' Victor Volb.
The strongest in raw power—not just among holy knights, but arguably in the entire kingdom—channeled his divine art.
Kraaaack!
This divine art boosted physical abilities by ten to twenty times and granted explosive bursts of power.
Moreover, he was a proper knight versed in fighting techniques, not just divine arts.
No one could block his mace—not without exaggeration—and he'd once caved in an ogre's skull in one blow.
Fwooooosh!
To make matters worse, the Dark Veil hid his attack from sight and sound—impossible to defend against.
Victor's mace flashed toward the man's head with devastating force...
Splat!
"......?"
For a moment, Victor couldn't comprehend what happened.
Because...
'Wh-why is my arm bent like this?'
He'd clearly been the attacker, so why was his arm dangling limp?
As he stared in confusion...
"In Overgeared terms, you're the guy who dumped everything into Strength but ignored Technique and Intelligence."
Thud.
"Gahk!"
Victor's body flipped through the air.
"To explain simply: I turned your own strength against you. How? Newton's third law—action and reaction."
"Gaaaaah!"
"What's the point of brute force when your brain's just for show?"
Krunch!
Victor never wanted to know.
That his three-meter frame could be lifted so effortlessly, his spine bent like a shrimp.
He'd often heard he lacked flexibility, but no one would say that after seeing him now.
Victor was broken so thoroughly, and then—
Crack!
—his spine and vertebrae shattered.
Utterly irreparable, pathetically.
Victor Volb.
The mace holy knight renowned even among his order met a pathetic end, crippled from the waist down.
"V-Victor!"
"Damn it!"
"How dare you touch a holy knight...!"
The stunned holy knights exploded in rage, charging at the intruder.
They wouldn't let the one who harmed their comrade get away.
"Stop!"
But Erhin sensed danger and tried to halt them.
Instinct screamed not to move rashly; they needed to stay calm.
However, reining in excited knights was no easy task.
Over ten of them rushed in, and then—
"Why are there so many [trash] mobs?"
Rooooar!
Lee Han had the perfect three-meter 'weapon' in hand.
'Nice and flexible.'
And he swung it like a whip with tremendous force.
That day, the holy knights learned something they never wanted to know.
That a human body could be used as a weapon—and tougher than most actual ones.
......A fact they could have happily lived without.