Holy Relic

The inn we arrived at, after I'd handed a few copper coins to the kid who'd earnestly guided us as pocket money, was a building that hadn't been in our memories, just as I'd expected.

A large, four-story inn on a scale that wouldn't have looked out of place smack in the middle of the Imperial capital was supposedly a high-end establishment that had recently been built. It was almost unbelievable that such a luxurious building had gone up in Ogwen, which was nothing more than a backwater frontier village.

"I'm realizing this all over again, but the Human Race really does seem to change quickly."

For once, I fully agreed with Asilie's opinion. As we stepped inside, a hall so immaculate that the word 'luxury' didn't feel like an exaggeration welcomed us.

At first, I wondered if it was a place where nobles or merchants on something like a vacation stayed, but surprisingly, most of the people looked like adventurers.

"Welcome, honored guests. May I ask what business brings you here today?"

We passed people sitting in chairs placed throughout the hall, sipping tea or coffee as if they were nobility, and approached the counter. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠A male employee, spouting a line on a completely different level from a typical inn, greeted us with a perfect, businesslike smile.

"An acquaintance told us they would be here. Could you tell us if they are still lodging here?"

"Because our guests' arrivals and departures are recorded in the register, it's easily verifiable. Would you give me the name of the guest you believe is staying here?"

"Ah... I don't know the surname, but the given name is Seneran. It should be a long-term stay, but I wasn't told exactly how long she'd be staying, so I don't know."

The employee, who finished with the words 'Please wait a moment' and opened a thick ledger to check the entries, had a tidiness about him that you'd only typically see in the Empire, where the modern influence was particularly strong.

I didn't mean to discriminate between nations, but there was no helping it. I wasn't sure if it was because they'd consistently summoned heroes from other worlds and had a history of collaborating with them, but the Empire's infrastructure was truly exceptional. It wasn't quite the feeling of a lone over-technology, but right then, comparing the Western Kingdom region to the Imperial capital revealed a gap nearly as wide as that between the 10th-century Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

The fact that the West was a total mess from fighting amongst themselves practically every other day played a part, but among Human Race ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nations, the Empire was probably the most cutting-edge, without a doubt.

"Ah, here she is. The Golden Mage, Lady Seneran. She happens to be in, and moreover... she left a separate request asking to be guided to her if anyone came looking for her. Would you be Eldmia Ega?"

I gave a light nod, and he called over a bellboy-like employee who'd been standing against the wall and asked him to act as my guide.

"Isn't this remarkably unique? I've never seen an inn like this before."

"It does oddly feel Imperial."

"Now that you mention it... maybe it does?"

Maybe he'd received professional training, because even as he guided us, the employee simply continued to lead the way, quiet and polite, like someone who couldn't hear a thing. The fourth floor we climbed up to, unlike the second and third floors we'd briefly passed by, revealed itself to be a kind of VIP area through the luxurious doors spaced at very wide intervals.

Maybe six rooms at most? I figured each one was roughly the size of two or three rooms on the lower floors combined. The door we arrived at was marked 4-3, framed with elegant trim. The employee gave a light bow as if to say his duty was done, then walked away. I exchanged a glance with Asilie, shrugged my shoulders, and knocked on the door.

"Seneran. Are you in there?"

-CRASH!

Violent noise erupted, along with the sound of something collapsing and papers scattering, and I even heard someone rolling across the floor. At first listen, it was enough to make me think she'd been ambushed, but since I could also hear footsteps rushing hurriedly toward the door, I was able to calmly wait until it opened.

"What took you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so long!"

Sure enough, the door flew open with a jolt, revealing the ever-familiar Seneran. She hurriedly ushered me and Asilie into the room, slammed the door shut just as loudly as she'd opened it, and then waded through the sea of paperwork.

"There was more to investigate than I expected, so I've hired some people and even set up a camp. Widra is near the Demon God Temple, and we rotate taking rests with the hired hands."

Seneran's quarters were as spacious as I'd predicted, and a bigger mess than I could have ever imagined.

The countless stacks of documents and books scattered everywhere were such that I couldn't guess what she'd uncovered and discovered so much of in that forgotten Demon God Temple to create this state, and her eyes shining beyond her glasses were deeply hollow and bloodshot.

"Taking rests, you say? Have you looked in a mirror?"

"That's just because I pulled an all-nighter last night, Eldmia. I didn't know you'd come so suddenly."

Seneran deflected the blame onto me, then committed the atrocity of sweeping her arm across the table, sending the books piled on top of it crashing down. She then pulled out the magic stone teapot and teacups I'd seen in Duke Lesrom's study and started brewing coffee.

"Anyway! Let me tell you beforehand—don't be surprised, okay? Because we discovered something seriously incredible! This isn't because Widra was incompetent, but because I'm highly capable!"

Then, she pounded her chest in extreme self-satisfaction and invited us to sit... But I had a strong feeling it was connected to what Water Buffalo Horn had been blabbing about, so I decided to preempt her.

"Did you find traces of something like a holy relic?"

"I found something even Widra couldn't..."

And by making a face like she'd lost her entire country, Seneran personally proved that my guess was more or less right on the mark.

◈

"It cost me a bit of money to reach certainty, since I'm a mage... but it was definitely something that was once a holy relic..."

After I'd calmed down Seneran, who was throwing a tantrum unbecoming of her age like some tragic supporting character whose few moments of glory had been edited out, the story I heard provided content that gave credibility to the hypothesis Water Buffalo Horn had mentioned. Though her voice, unlike before, was as deflated as a balloon losing air.

"Can that be resolved with money?"

"Well, of course. When a problem can't be solved, it's usually just a lack of money."

That might be true for magic tools, I thought, but to even be able to identify Divine Power—just as I was about to marvel at the greatness of the academic discipline of magic, Seneran revealed she'd solved the problem in a completely different way.

"At the Demon God Temple, there are priests of the Demon God who crossed the border, people I hired."

"...Excuse me?"

While both I and Asilie were left unable to even react properly to the bombshell statement we'd never expected, Seneran leisurely sipped her coffee and continued.

"I told you before, didn't I? My time living in the Demonfolk Territory was rather long, so I have many connections of one sort or another. Most of the goods I import from there were made possible thanks to their help. The magic tools have just been replaced by people."

"No, that's not the issue! In this current climate, you helped people from Demonfolk Territory cross the border?"

She couldn't have done this work alone. For starters, she was rotating shifts with Teacher. How could he not know? Her words were no different from saying the two of them had conspired to aid Demonfolk in illegally entering the country.

"Why? It's not like you hold a grudge against Demonfolk."

"That's the problem? If the kingdom catches them, they're all headed to the gallows?"

To the kingdom, anyone with horns was an enemy. Let alone the people who helped them set foot on kingdom soil. I couldn't understand at all what the hell she was doing, pushing such an insane forced march all for the sake of that damn research, but Seneran simply shrugged her shoulders as if it were really no big deal.

"We just don't get caught."

Ah, fuck. I had no words.

I rubbed my face with my hand without realizing it, and Seneran added an explanation, looking ever so slightly self-conscious.

"It was a matter Widra agreed to as well, naturally. Though he didn't agree to the 'we just don't get caught' part, of course. He agreed based on the judgment that if we could uncover something tied to the Demon God Temple, it would benefit the kingdom too."

Of course, until now, we hadn't even known the reason why the Demon King's Army had wiped out our village, so if we could at least learn the cause, we could probably infer what they were plotting.

But it was hard to say that was valuable enough to justify participating in a shocking felony like aiding wartime illegal border crossings.

Not only did we have to figure it out using only traces left from years ago, but even if we miraculously succeeded, it merely created a small chance we might salvage something, and if we failed, it was all for nothing. How was I supposed to take that as a good thing?

The only consolation, if it was one, was that the reason they were acting like this now was because they actually had salvaged something.

"And as a result, you found something."

"That's right. This holy relic they took... it seems like a truly amazing object, so much so I can't understand why it was even here in the first place."

Once we got into the main topic, the playfulness completely drained from Seneran, and as she answered seriously, I straightened my back and listened intently.

"According to the priests... there's a possibility it was a holy relic containing Divine Power so powerful, it could even be called a fragment of the Demon God. At least, they said they've never seen such an object in their entire lives."

"...What effect does it have?"

"Who knows? At that level, wouldn't it be faster to ask what effect it doesn't have? A cleric who was once part of the Imperial Divine Council before being excommunicated added a comment on that, saying..."

"No, you dragged in someone like that too?"

I knew she was filthy rich, but isn't she playing this way too dangerously? I recoiled in disbelief without meaning to, but Seneran ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠just scrunched her nose bridge and waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah, that's not what's important right now. That person roughly guessed what might be possible if the object was at the level the Demon God Church's priests were describing."

This time, I didn't even need to wait. Given that the Imperial Divine Council and a relic of immense Divine Power had come up, there was only one most famous miracle that could be achieved with divinity.

"A Hero?"

Seneran calmly nodded at my question and answered.

"Right. If one had that... it just might be possible to forcibly designate a Hero."