The Silver-Haired Sword Saint
“……The Emperor knew?”
A ripple of agitation spread among the robed figures. A low, murmuring buzz began to swell. It was the Emperor himself they were talking about.
Could he have truly noticed? Since when?
As such questions began to circulate, cracks started to form within the group that had appeared so tightly knit just moments before.
“W-who leaked the information?”
“To even hand over the appearance of the ‘Mark’… This is apostasy! We must find the traitor and burn them at the stake immediately!”
“Apostasy, my foot.”
Adela clicked her tongue at the sight of them bickering among themselves. Was it not typical of them to believe their own faith was the only righteous truth?
“Hey, mister over there. You’re a beastman yourself, yet you’re planning to use your own kind as a sacrifice? Doesn’t your conscience prick you at all?”
“……It was a necessary sacrifice.”
“Ha.”
The wandering Sword Saint’s brow furrowed elegantly.
“……What are you going to do! The Imperial Knight is destroying everything here!”
“Brother, please calm down. This, too, is all a trial.”
“K-kill her! We just have to kill her!”
“Sister! Our opponent is a Sword Master! Even if everyone here rushed her at once, we wouldn’t be able to leave a single scratch!”
Good grief.
Adela watched them silently, wondering just how long they intended to keep this up.
“It’s because of that weak-minded, indecisive attitude that we got caught like this!”
“I’m going crazy. Then what do you suggest we do?”
“If necessary, we should offer all of us as a burnt offering! We must punish those who interfered with our ritual— Argh, gack.”
The woman who had been shrieking suddenly cut off. *Thud.* A lump of flesh fell to the floor. It was the woman’s tongue.
“……”
Silence descended upon the room.
Adela, who had casually raised her blade imbued with a chilling, murderous intent, spoke indifferently.
“Did you think I’d just stand by and watch?”
A technique that precisely sliced only the target’s tongue amidst a crowd of people.
That alone was enough to make the heretics lose their will to fight in an instant.
“……I didn’t know there was a Sword Saint in the Imperial Capital.”
From the beginning, Adela had lived strictly as Elizabeth’s bodyguard.
What was known to the outside world was not Adela, but only the name of Sir Alto—her identity when she cross-dressed.
To the heretics, it was no different than a strategic weapon appearing out of nowhere.
Even if they were to offer their bodies as sacrifices as the shrieking woman had suggested……
Could they really inflict any damage on that monster of a woman?
“The only reason your heads are still attached to your necks right now is purely because His Majesty ordered you to be brought in alive.”
Adela’s sword plunged into the floor.
Her long, tied-back ponytail swayed softly. Even though the slender female knight was just standing there, those present felt a suffocating pressure bearing down on them.
To the heretics who worshipped an outer god, Adela felt like an apostle of the apocalypse from a prophecy.
A wall of despair that could never be overcome by human strength alone.
‘It would be faster for that woman’s sword to blow our heads off than to offer our bodies to our god.’
One Sword.
With a single strike, Adela had completely seized control of the situation.
This was a Sword Master.
One who walks the ultimate path of the blade.
*Gulp.* The middle-aged man swallowed hard, his nerves frayed.
“Sword Saint. I would like to ask your name.”
“I have no name to share with the likes of you.”
“In that case… I shall call you the Sword Saint of Silver, after the aura that shines with a blue light.”
“Who gave you permission?”
Adela’s expression twisted.
The middle-aged man continued regardless.
“Sword Saint of Silver. It is not good for us to be at odds like this. If you think we are the only ones lurking in the capital waiting for an opportunity, you are making a grave mistake.”
As the saying goes, one only sees what one wants to see.
The heretics hiding in the capital were aware that demons were also hiding here, working in the shadows.
This was a form of desperation.
They judged that now that they had been exposed, it was no longer appropriate to remain in hiding, and the demons would surely cause an incident immediately.
If they were lucky, they might be able to escape in the chaos.
And even if they were unlucky, they might at least get to see the distorted face of the monster-like Sword Saint before them—.
“Ah, demons?”
They froze.
“H-how did you…?”
The middle-aged man stammered in panic. Not only had their own identities been discovered, but the demons’ as well? Was the Empire’s intelligence network truly that formidable?
Watching them stiffen, Adela chuckled.
“You lot. You act like fanatics, yet you compromise when it suits you. You’re even joining hands with demons?”
“……It was a necessary action!”
“Right, I didn’t think I’d be able to have a rational conversation with you.”
“……You! What makes you so relaxed? If you know the demons are hiding, you must also know that it wouldn’t be strange if something happened at any moment!”
The troublesome thing about dealing with demons is that the demonic energy they use is lethal to ordinary people.
Furthermore, they deliberately plant it and lie in wait, only to trigger a rampage later.
From the perspective of a knight tasked with protecting this city, one should be flustered at the mention of hidden demons.
Yet, Adela was incredibly calm.
The wandering Sword Saint lifted the sword she had plunged into the floor and said,
“You should consider yourselves lucky that you met me instead.”
After all, His Majesty didn’t come here in person.
The moment those words were spoken—
—BOOM!!
A roar that shook the heavens erupted from far away.
***
After settling the situation.
I sat at the head of the table in the conference room and watched the high-ranking officials who were dripping with sweat.
“I was the one who discovered that spies had infiltrated the capital.”
“……”
“I was the one who found out they were split into groups and handled the personnel deployment.”
“……Y-Your Majesty.”
“I even personally stepped in to deal with the demons.”
“…………Please, just kill us.”
No.
Well, it’s not to that extent.
I just found it amusing to see these old men flustered, so I decided to tease them a little.
“Since the Empire’s greatest assassin and informant is my subordinate, it is only natural that I receive information faster than you do.”
“……”
Lily looked at me with a mysterious expression. Naturally, that was a lie, as the information hadn’t come from Lily.
I ignored Lily’s gaze and continued.
“The situation was urgent, so it is not strange that I, who possessed the information, took the lead in personnel deployment. Or do you think I should have stayed out of it?”
“H-how could we ever think such a thing.”
Minister of Finance, your face is very pale.
I wonder if this old man is going to collapse.
I should make sure to provide him with some health tonics later.
“Lastly. Dealing with demons is a task best suited for me, so I simply stepped forward. Do not take it to heart.”
This was an undeniable fact, so even if the officials were wary of me, they all seemed to accept it.
Why do I have to be the one to deal with demons?
“However, Your Majesty, are you truly alright? You absorbed all the demonic energy the demons had hidden in the capital.”
“Do I look like I’m not alright?”
“……You look perfectly fine.”
That is because demonic energy cannot affect my body at all.
It is the same as how there are extremely few medicinal herbs or poisons that affect me.
Demonic energy is like a type of poison.
No, given that the properties of aura and energy are similar, demonic energy is actually more compatible with me than poison.
It simply gets devoured by my own aura.
“So, what have you done with the ones I captured?”
“We have locked them away after fitting them with sealing devices.”
“Heretics worshipping an outer god and demons… The capital was almost in grave danger.”
The Minister of Finance muttered to himself.
In the original work, if you were careless during this event, the capital would indeed collapse.
It could be considered a massive disaster that would deal a heavy blow to the already crumbling Empire.
In that scenario, even if Khalid were ousted and Theodore became Emperor, it would not be easy to manage the ruined Empire.
No, it would almost certainly be a Bad Ending.
Anyway, I’ve stopped it for now, so that won’t happen anymore.
“……Shall we try to dig out their backers through interrogation?”
“Do you think those fanatics will spill information just because you interrogate them?”
“Hmm……”
Go ahead and torture them all you want. See if those crazy bastards reveal their backers.
The same goes for the demons. Demons are under a magical binding, after all.
“Couldn’t we use an item that dispels the binding?”
“Why bother?”
Why waste such a precious item?
Of course, I say ‘precious,’ but the Imperial Palace is overflowing with such goods.
“I don’t need to use it because I can obtain the necessary information anyway, so forget it.”
“But Your Majesty, you said yourself that because of the binding, we couldn’t obtain any information.”
That just means I can’t hear it directly from their mouths.
“You all need not worry.”
I have other methods.
.
.
.
In the underground prison where the demons were restrained.
“Kuaaaagh! Khalid!”
“This bastard, how dare you speak His Majesty’s name!”
“Stop, stop.”
I sent away the jailer who looked somewhat angry.
I looked down at the restrained demon.
“Name?”
“Do you think I’d tell you!”
Hmm.
Ash-colored hair, blue eyes.
Tall, with a fierce impression. A martial-arts-type demon, then.
“Olga.”
“……!”
I guessed right.
“Who sent you?”
“……I don’t know how you found out my name, but do you think I’ll say anything else? Just kill me already……!”
Hmm.
I stroked my chin, deep in thought.
Who were the high-ranking demons who could command Olga, a martial-arts-type demon?
“Zereka, Diamu, Belial, Baalzad……”
“Y-you…?”
As I reeled off the names that came to mind, Olga’s eyes widened.
Especially.
“Belial.”
“…….”
The reaction was distinct.
The seal engraved on Olga’s forehead began to glow. The demonic energy of the master who had leaked the information seemed to be trying to dispose of the tool.
“Ugh, kgh. Ugh……”
Olga groaned. At this rate, she would die within seconds.
I placed my palm on her forehead.
And.
“Ugh, ugh, ……uh?”
Olga, who had been groaning in pain, soon looked up at me with surprised eyes.
“T-the seal is gone. You bastard, what did you do?”
What did I do? I just absorbed a bit of demonic energy.
I still have things to ask, after all.
“I-it’s impossible. How can a human handle demonic energy so freely……”
Olga’s pupils trembled.