Chapter 20
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: A Sword Fit for Him
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[...Thank you. Truly....]
The banshee smiled. For a ghost, she seemed to be tearing up slightly.
Not real tears, of course, but something like a faint, shimmering afterimage.
[Before I died, and after I died, this is the first time... I've ever received such a gift.]
It was a cheap gift given on a whim, but she seemed so grateful that I felt a bit awkward.
“By the way, what’s your name? You must have had one originally.”
It felt strange to keep calling her Banshee.
It seemed we’d be stuck together for a while, after all.
[......]
The banshee fell silent.
Seeing her troubled expression, Chris realized his mistake.
‘She’s a ghost, so she probably doesn’t want to recall the past.’
Ghosts were beings who couldn't pass on to the afterlife because of lingering regrets.
The stronger the regret, the more powerful the ghost.
And the maid banshee before him was a high-ranking entity among ghosts. Conversely, that meant she harbored an equally deep grudge.
[That is...]
“No, it’s fine. What does your old name matter?”
Chris quickly tried to smooth things over.
“You’re my subordinate now, so I’ll give you a new name.”
[A name... for me?]
“Yes. Hmm, how about Mari?”
It was a name without any particular meaning.
It just reminded him of the maids he’d met in various mansions in his past life, who had a high probability of being named Mari.
‘Just as dogs are often named Happy, butlers are Sebastian, and servants are Hanson, maids are often Mari.’
Though it was such a thoughtlessly chosen name, the banshee looked moved once again.
[Mari... Mari... It’s a beautiful name. Thank you, Master.]
Without Chris realizing it, his title had changed.
From Young Master, to Master (Lord).
She had truly accepted him as her master.
[With this gratitude in my heart... from now on... I will prepare even more delicious virgin’s blood juice for you.]
“I told you I don’t drink virgin’s blood juice.”
[But the strawberry juice the Young Master has been drinking... had virgin’s blood mixed in as a topping?]
“Could you not make such horrible jokes?”
The banshee, Mari, giggled.
Chris boarded the carriage with a discontented look.
His business was done; it was time to return to the estate.
‘But... I feel like I forgot something? What is it?’
Chris tilted his head in confusion.
* * *
“Brother!!!!!”
‘Ah.’ Chris remembered what he’d forgotten.
It was TERN.
The next day, he came to confront Chris, his face flushed red.
“Why did you abandon me?!”
From what he said, it sounded like he’d gone through a terrible ordeal.
Unable to reveal his identity for fear of tarnishing the family’s honor, he had no money and was on the verge of being sold into slavery when someone coincidentally recognized him, allowing him to escape.
Feeling slightly sorry, I apologized.
“Sorry, I forgot.”
“Wh-What did you say?”
“By the way, your form of address is a little off, isn’t it? Didn’t we make a bet yesterday? That from now on, you’d call me ‘Respected King Emperor Majesty Older Brother’.”
“......!”
Chris spoke in the voice of a friendly older brother.
“Now, my dear brother. Why don’t you say it?”
“......”
TERN’s tightly clenched fists trembled.
“R-Respected Older Brother.”
“Be precise.”
“...Respected King Emperor Majesty Older Brother.”
“Yes, that’s right! From now on, you should also do well, with a heart full of respect for this older brother.”
“!!”
TERN, his face beet red, spun around and shouted.
“S-Someday, I’ll show you what’s what! You just wait!!”
Watching TERN flee as if escaping, Chris chuckled.
‘Why is he so cute?’
It was hard to believe that this adorable kid would be the one to cause this body’s death in the original history.
‘It was probably because of that bastard Eshid.’
Chris’s gaze hardened.
Eshid.
The legitimate heir of the family. And... the one who was hostile to him.
In truth, Chris didn't hold much of a grudge against Eshid. After all, he wasn't ‘Christian’.
But.
‘Still, I’ll have to crush him.’
He was an opponent Chris had to step on to achieve his goal.
‘To do that, the upcoming duel with Melin is important.’
No matter how much of a genius he was, he couldn't seize control of a Dark Magic House on his own.
He needed people to help him.
Chris planned to use this duel to make Melin his ally.
‘To do that, I need to be able to use this Grunade.’
Chris looked at the old, antique-looking Grunade.
‘A holy sword used by a fallen hero.’
Grunade was a very special holy sword.
It continued to be used as a holy sword even after its master, the hero, sold his soul to a demon and became corrupted.
In other words, this holy sword had the unique history of being wielded by a Majin.
‘That’s why so many Majin coveted Grunade. A holy sword is like a natural enemy to them.’
Who were the main enemies of the Majin?
Naturally, it was the Light Faction, the ‘Crusade Alliance’.
But fights with the Alliance didn't happen often.
The opponents Majin fought most frequently were other Majin.
‘Though they’re collectively called the Magitech Empire, if you look inside, it’s divided into many factions.’
At the very top was the number one Demon King, the Demon Emperor.
The territory directly ruled by the Demon Emperor was at the very center of the Magitech Empire.
And to the east, west, south, and north, there were four Demonic Nations.
Each of those four nations was ruled by a different Demon King, and the Dark Magic House Chris belonged to was part of the Southern Demonic Nation.
‘The Demon Emperor is like an emperor, and the Demon Kings below are like monarchs of kingdoms serving that emperor, I suppose.’
For reference, the ‘Demon King of Bloodletting’, who would later start the Great War, was the ruler of the Eastern Demonic Nation.
‘Not yet, though. Right now, she’s probably the Grand Princess of the Blood Sword House.’
The Blood Sword House.
One of the Twelve Noble Families of the Demonic Path, a noble house under the Eastern Demonic Nation.
The Twelve Noble Families were scattered across the four Demonic Nations of east, west, south, and north.
In any case, as these relationships showed, the Majin fought endlessly among themselves.
That was why a holy sword was an incredibly coveted weapon, even for Majin.
It was the easiest way to inflict a fatal wound on an opponent.
‘And there’s the romance of it. The romance of subjugating a detestable holy sword.’
A holy sword is the symbol of a hero.
How satisfying would it be to subjugate such a sword?
That’s why countless Majin had challenged themselves to subdue Grunade.
‘But they all failed.’
It was because of the rejection.
The moment a Majin grasped the holy sword, Grunade would sense the demonic energy and react with violent rejection.
The only Majin who could wield the holy sword Grunade was its original owner, the fallen hero.
Thus, the holy sword Grunade became an unwanted burden that no one sought, ending up as an antique in the hands of the merchant lord Grantel.
“Let’s see, shall we? How will it be for me?”
Chris gripped the holy sword Grunade.
So far, so good.
The powerful restraints sealing its holy power were suppressing Grunade’s strength.
But in this state, the holy sword couldn’t exert any of its power.
He released the restraints.
And then,
“!!”
*Crackle!*
A searing heat, as if he had grabbed a red-hot iron poker with his bare hand, made him quickly let go.
It was rejecting Chris’s demonic energy.
Fortunately, he avoided getting burned, but if he had been even a moment later, his hand would have melted.
‘As expected, it won’t work.’
But Chris wasn't fazed.
He had expected this.
He had acquired the holy sword despite this because he was confident he could wield it.
“A holy sword is still just a weapon. An artifact engraved with magic that allows the use of holy power, ‘Radiant Mana’.”
The meaning of his words was clear.
If he could analyze the principles within the artifact engraved on the holy sword that caused it to reject demonic energy, he might be able to find a weakness in the sword.
Of course, this was only possible in theory; no one had ever dared to try.
There were several reasons.
Even if one found a weakness in the holy sword, there was no guarantee it would be a convenient one that anyone could exploit.
If such a weakness existed, it would be a tiny crack, like the eye of a needle. A momentary lapse could lead to failure.
Moreover, it was dangerous.
The slightest mistake, and the holy sword would instantly incinerate the user’s body.
But Chris thought.
‘This holy sword definitely has a flaw. That must be how the fallen hero was able to use it. I have to find that weakness.’
And he had a feeling.
‘For some reason, I feel like I can do it.’
His intuition was usually very accurate.
Chris took something out of the sack he had brought from the castle.
It was an artifact hammer imbued with demonic energy.
Chris raised the hammer and brought it down on the holy sword.
*Clang!*
A loud noise rang out, and holy power crackled from the sword.
Chris seared the pattern into his mind—specifically, the pattern of the mana circuit through which the holy power manifested in reaction to demonic energy—and repeated the action.
*Clang! Clang!!*
The hammer mercilessly beat down on the holy sword.
Each time, the sword seemed to protest, crackling with holy power. It was as if it was telling him to stop.
‘Don’t want to.’
Eventually, the hammer couldn't withstand the holy power and crumbled into pieces.
The holy sword crackled, as if to ask, ‘How about that?’ It almost seemed to be gloating.
But Chris just smirked.
He emptied the sack, and a pile of demonic tools tumbled out.
Saws, knives, chisels, mallets, a furnace, and more. There were countless of them.
All were demonic tools imbued with demonic energy, intended for beating the holy sword.
Was it just his imagination?
The holy sword seemed to fall silent.
“Then let’s get started for real.”
Chris said with a mischievous tone.
“If you don’t like it, you can just hurry up and submit to me.”
* * *
How many days had passed?
Chris shut himself in his room all day, tormenting the holy sword.
If the sword had a consciousness, it would have been a cruel torment that would have made it beg to do whatever he commanded.
‘Hmm, not easy.’
Looking at the numerous shattered demonic tools next to the holy sword, Chris crossed his arms.
A holy sword was a holy sword, after all.
Even for Chris, figuring out the sword’s artifact pattern was no simple task.
But.
“Still, I think I get it.”
Chris grinned.
He’d figured out the holy sword’s weakness?!
It was an astounding claim.
‘It was possible because the holy sword was broken. Many of its security spells were damaged.’
Otherwise, even Chris wouldn't have been able to do it in such a short time.
‘The problem is using this weakness to wield the sword.’
Here was a question.
Is it possible that the Majin who had previously attempted to wield Grunade had failed to find the weakness Chris discovered?
Probably not.
The reason they failed to subdue Grunade despite that was because it was impossible to exploit that weakness.
‘A holy sword created by a Constellation wouldn’t be designed so carelessly.’
Chris faced the same dilemma.
But.
“I think I can do it.”
It was an unbelievable statement.
Majin of incredible renown must have challenged Grunade.
Yet he claimed to be able to do what all those Majin had failed to accomplish?
‘Even a high-ranking Majin would find it impossible to wield Grunade, but I can.’
To be precise.
Only Chris could do it.
‘This sword is an item meant for me.’
Just as he was thinking that.
The door opened.
“Are you ready?”
A woman with a brilliant smile.
“The promised time has come, Young Master.”
Melin’s blue eyes glinted with anticipation.