Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: The Next Day
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The next day.
The next day.
Naturally, the empire was thrown into an uproar.
The footage from White Spirit Lake lingered for quite some time.
As a result, far too many citizens had witnessed it.
The horrific sight of the Church of the Lord God's priests offering up believers as sacrifices spread uncontrollably.
The decisive blow came from the paladins present at the scene.
Having witnessed the church's dirty secrets, they fell into deep confusion.
Some remained silent, but others could not overcome their pangs of conscience and confessed the truth to their comrades.
In the meantime, the letter and journal from Alain that Halibal and Cecilia had obtained arrived alongside Adelin's report in Luft, and were submitted to the imperial palace.
A decree stamped with the Pope's seal. It revealed that the Church of the Lord God—one of the empire's pillars—was rotten from the top down.
The palace promptly held a hearing, and for the first time in ages, the imperial faction and noble faction aligned their wills.
However, they all knew.
This was, after all, a matter from the distant past.
Thus, the agenda was limited to the church's recent actions in trying to cover up its shame.
The Pope of Erandar appeared in person at the hearing, expressing his apologies to the imperial family by claiming it was the独断 of some cardinals, including Romus.
Romus and his faction, named as the ringleaders, were immediately purged, and a significant number of paladins under their command were punished as well.
Of course, no one was unaware that the Pope had pulled strings in this affair.
There simply wasn't enough evidence to put him on trial.
Under the pretext of not further unsettling the believers, the incident was thus appropriately wrapped up.
However, the demand that the White Spirit Party collect the evidence was not accepted.
The imperial family declared that all evidence would be stored in the imperial vault.
Along with a silent threat that they would pull out this card if the Pope's faction ever regained power.
In this way, the Pope's faction—which had boasted the second-greatest influence after the imperial family—lost its power overnight, and the nobles filled the vacancy.
But there was one name conspicuously absent from the entire affair.
'Razen... There is no priest in our Church of the Lord God by that name.'
Meanwhile, as the Doll Dungeon was cleared, new dungeons appeared around Erandar.
The imperial family immediately dispatched troops to investigate the dungeons while the names of the conquerors rose to the surface.
'This time, the conqueror is the Dirge Sword again?!'
'If it's the second one, that's a whole different story.'
'And the second daughter of the Ren family who was with him... She's not lacking at all to be called the next Sword Princess.'
The two's fame skyrocketed.
Among the nobles and the imperial family.
And within the academy as well.
⁎⁎⁎
Meanwhile, in one of the high-level dungeons, the Orc Dungeon.
Excluding the Doll Dungeon, it was the dungeon with the highest difficulty.
The massive body of the boss, the Orc General, had been cleanly bisected.
The woman who did it caught her breath atop a wide wooden stump.
Leaning on her greatsword, Senia Ren emanated a chilling aura. She bore not a single wound.
In her hand was a newspaper containing the news that Halibal and Cecilia had conquered the Doll Dungeon.
Her eyes lingered on the words "Next Sword Princess" next to Cecilia's name.
From the moment she first heard about the Doll Dungeon, she had inwardly known it would come to this.
But she still didn't want to lose to Halibal. Nor to her little sister Cecilia.
So, swallowing her pride, she had once proposed it to her follower first.
That they challenge the Doll Dungeon too.
But her follower had dismissed the suggestion.
'...What the hell is that bitch thinking?'
Where Senia turned, Luna Grace was methodically burning the monster corpses.
Luna's prowess against the Orc General had exceeded her expectations.
To the point where even Senia herself couldn't guarantee a certain victory based on skill alone.
But that was it.
She was already an unpleasant woman whenever Senia saw her, and after the proposal was rejected, her hatred only grew.
Especially this time.
Right after conquering the dungeon, Cecilia had returned to the dormitory and lain bedridden for five straight days.
It was due to the side effects of overdosing on Sedative Herb, combined with fatigue from successive fierce battles exploding all at once.
'If I had gone in, Cecil wouldn't have ended up like that.'
Watching her most precious little sister suffer, Senia's resentment turned not toward Halibal, but toward Luna who had blocked her.
On the other hand, Luna was utterly serene.
She too held a newspaper in her hand.
Gazing at the newspaper, Luna murmured softly.
A gentle smile playing on her lips.
"This should... be enough."
Seeing that, Senia was on the verge of exploding with frustration.
Luna was always like that.
As if looking down on the world from some distant place, murmuring incomprehensible words.
And it wasn't limited to Senia.
From the month Senia had forcibly stuck around her to figure her out, Luna was similar in one way.
She treated all humans consistently.
The difference was that while Senia harbored hatred toward Luna, Luna held no emotions whatsoever toward Senia.
That made it all the more infuriating.
'...She doesn't listen to reason.'
The follower class would end this week anyway.
No more need to exchange words with that unpleasant woman.
She leaned against her greatsword once more.
Gazing at the gem Halibal had given her not long ago.
The 'Eye of Winter'.
⁎⁎⁎
"Here."
"Ah! Thanks for looking out for me."
Aren lightly caught the canteen Lan tossed her.
At their feet lay a massive centipede monster, its carapace crushed and its body covered in sword wounds.
Abyss Centipede. It was the boss of the Centipede Dungeon that Aren and Lan had toppled after a grueling battle.
Only two teams had conquered harder dungeons than theirs. And one of those had a penalty, making their feat essentially on par with first place.
Yet impatience sprouted in Aren’s heart.
She too had heard the news of Halibal and Cecilia conquering the Doll Dungeon.
Of course, not for the same reason as Senia.
It was a more fundamental one.
'The one who will bring the Sun of the Empire... Is that... really me?'
Aren knew Jin Nosa's prophecy.
'The boy who harbors the Heavenly Apex God will become the last disciple of the Extreme God Sword and illuminate the world's light.'
From the moment she heard the prophecy, she had known.
That she did not fit it.
No matter how much her master and parents had raised her as a boy, she was undeniably a woman.
She had parts that went in where they should and came out a bit more where they should.
But Aren had striven harder than anyone to fulfill the prophecy.
Because the prophecy was her life itself.
Yet first the first Abyss, now the second.
The conqueror was Halibal Belder, that boy.
Strictly speaking, Aren still held the advantage.
She harbored the Heavenly Apex God and had learned the Extreme God Sword.
But with results like that, even Aren was at a loss.
When Halibal first entered her dormitory, embarrassment had taken precedence.
But after hearing about this dungeon conquest, thinking of him inexplicably weighed down her heart.
An emotion she had never felt in her life.
She couldn't even grasp what to call it.
"Lan. Could you possibly help me train until the follower class ends?"
"Anytime."
"Thanks so much. I'll repay you next time for sure."
So she made a decision.
In the next follower class, no matter what, she would become Halibal's follower.
She would watch him closest to see what made him different from her.
If she couldn't.
'...I'll conquer the third Evil God's Abyss on my own.'
⁎⁎⁎
"Is that really true? You've built a friendship with that Dirge Sword?"
"Yes, Father."
"Kahaha! Well done! So you do have some redeeming qualities!"
Richard Dain was reporting to his father, Count Dain, Colin Dain.
With the Doll Dungeon conquest, the noble faction checking the imperial family had solidified its position more than ever.
Thus, right now, all the noble faction's attention was on Halibal, who had toppled the Pope's faction.
Colin had summoned Richard precisely to order him to befriend Halibal somehow.
Fortunately, Richard had maintained a decent relationship through dealings with Halibal, and he reported that to his father.
In response, the praise he had craved his whole life came.
Along with the recognition Richard could never earn no matter how hard he tried.
"Throw as much money at him as needed. Just pull him to our side. That's all you need to think about."
"I'll keep it in mind."
"Good. That's what the heir to the Dain family should do. Finally, raising you is paying off."
Colin's praise continued, but for some reason, Richard's heart was uneasy.
It was strange.
His father, who had never acknowledged him despite a lifetime of devotion to the family, had flipped his attitude like a pancake over one mention of friendship with Halibal.
'Is this... the recognition I wanted?'
At that moment, Halibal's words from the tram echoed in his mind.
'I rate your skills pretty highly, Richard.'
Yet the family's command was absolute.
"...I will continue to strive forward."
He could only bow his head to his father with a bitter expression.
Meanwhile, at the mansion of Count Raygal, the number one noble faction figure, the exact opposite scene unfolded.
"No."
"...Why?"
"Because Halibal Belder is not someone I should befriend, but someone I should break."
Leaving those words, Eugene Raygal left the room without the slightest hesitation.
He headed to the training grounds in the mansion.
Eugene quickly changed into training clothes and began with basic physical conditioning.
'I lost this time.'
At one side of the training grounds, countless shattered shields and bent rapiers lay piled like a mountain.
Among them peeked a well-worn newspaper. The one with Halibal and Cecilia's names.
'But next sparring exam, I will definitely break you.'
For a time, only rough breaths echoed through the mansion.
⁎⁎⁎
Work Workshop.
'Th-this guy... Wh-what the hell is she doing here?'
Elieor unconsciously swallowed dryly at the woman before him.
She had appeared without warning just as the workshop was about to close.
"You're that famous Elieor Work, huh."
"Ah... Y-yes! But why has Her Highness the Princess...?"
The woman clad head to toe in red was one of the empire's most renowned figures.
Princess Alicia Cyrus.
For some reason, she was at the Work Workshop.
"Don't call me Princess—call me Chairwoman. Aren't you a student at Louidel too?"
"Y-yes!"
Elieor's heart pounded.
He had a hunch.
'Is it because of the Alicia Machine...?!'
The shard converter Halibal had asked him to make, naming it the bizarre "Alicia Machine" using the princess's name. Its development was illegal.
Moreover, naming the shard converter after Alicia had been Elieor's own decision.
'No way, is she here to reprimand me for that?'
But Alicia's gaze was not on Elieor, but on the middle-aged man silently hammering behind him.
"Enedor Work."
He was Elieor's father and the workshop master of the empire's top workshop, the Work Workshop, Enedor Work.
As if he had been waiting, Enedor stopped hammering and stepped forward.
"You've come, Your Highness."
"Yes. Is the item I entrusted ready?"
'Ready...?'
Enedor disappeared into the workshop and emerged with a small box.
"Yes. Perfectly prepared."
"I see. As expected, fast work."
When Alicia opened the box, a red-coated Abyss Core revealed itself.
It was the Abyss Core Alicia had earlier entrusted for maintenance—her own.
Unable to trust the palace artisans, she had given the heart-like core to the finest craftsman she knew.
Taking the core, Alicia paid and turned to leave.
Enedor stopped her.
"But Your Highness. Why take it earlier than planned?"
"No particular reason."
As he said, Alicia had originally planned to retrieve the core at the start of the second semester.
The current Louidel Academy was paradise for first-years.
Second semester would bring back upperclassmen dispatched to the front lines.
The reason Alicia had to retrieve her core ahead of schedule was simple.
Due to the second Abyss conquest, the academy board had made a new decision.
A first-year newcomer who could bolt anywhere, now rising as the empire's hero— the gray-haired boy.
Halibal Belder.
For that boy alone, exceptionally, from the second follower class onward, a special rule would apply.
'For Halibal Belder only, from the second follower class, proceed in teams of three with upperclassmen.'
"It's just that the time to take the stage came a bit sooner."