Chapter 182: Opening Ceremony (1)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 182: Opening Ceremony (1)
And so, a party consisting of myself, the "Key" (aka the Princess), and twelve Heresy Inquisitors charged into the dungeon beneath the Academy library.
Since I had already retrieved all the golems and disarmed the traps previously, the descent to our destination was quite pleasant.
However, shortly after our arrival, most of the party ended up sprawled on the floor.
"Why are brats these days so eager to jump down someone's throat the moment they see them?"
"Probably because you aren't exactly a 'person,' sir."
"Ah, right!"
Of course, it was death by natural causes. By which I mean, the moment they saw a Lich, the Inquisitors' eyes flipped back in their heads and they lunged at Altear, only to get utterly thrashed.
Well, they didn't actually die. They were just beaten to the point of losing consciousness.
"Then again, if I’d seen a Lich back when I was alive, I probably would’ve thrown the first punch too."
The silver lining was their intent—perhaps they wanted to save their strength for the sealed Great Demon, or maybe they were just that confident in their own divine power. Either way, I was glad they hadn't used their Holy Water yet.
"Still, you got here faster than I expected."
"The Empire is surprisingly efficient when it wants to be."
"Right. I remember now. The Empire was always fast. It was fast to go from a kingdom to an empire. Fast at fighting wars of conquest. Fast at gathering talent. It was so fast at causing trouble that I thought it’d be fast to collapse, too."
He added that he was glad it hadn't collapsed yet. Instead, Dark Mages were respawning at a record pace, and now even the Demon Tribe was popping up left and right. Well, I suppose that couldn't be helped.
"Anyway, this is from the Imperial Family."
"Oh... so this is the latest magic!"
If he had eyeballs, I bet they would have been sparkling. Altear accepted the magic books as I pulled them out of my subspace.
"...Wait, I didn't ask for this many."
His hands—or rather, his bones—trembled as the books kept coming.
"I haven't even taken out half of them yet."
"Did you rob a library or something...?"
"It just shows how much your descendants care about you."
"Well, that's nice to hear."
After Altear grunted and groaned while hauling dozens of books into a corner, he shared some good news.
"The Saintess's Holy Water is more effective than I thought."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. There's a noticeable change. Want to go see?"
Judging by how he said seeing it would be better than an explanation, there must have been a visible transformation. However...
"I think we should wait for those people to wake up first."
"Hmm. I made sure they wouldn't wake up for a while because they were annoying."
Since we had to check the state of the Demon anyway, we had no choice but to wait for the sleeping Inquisitors to stir.
"Seriously, why is something like this under the Academy...?"
Before the Inquisitors woke up, I took the "Key"—my junior—to the sealed chamber for some light work. Naturally, she asked a question that showed she had zero RoFan sensibility.
"Didn't you come here before?"
"I stayed upstairs back then to sweep up Luke's inheritance."
"Ha. While some of us were working our tails off to deal with a Demon..."
"That's just how royals are. They rake in the gold while the commoners do the heavy lifting."
"......"
She glared at me with an expression that said she had a lot to say but was holding back because of Altear. I wasn't scared at all. What's a princess in hiding going to do?
"...But seriously, why is this here?"
Knowing she couldn't do anything, she just gritted her teeth and asked again.
"Ah. You don't know?"
"I'm asking because I don't."
"The reason a Great Demon is under the Academy is..."
"Is...?"
"Because your ancestors built the Academy right on top of where the Great Demon was."
"Hahaha. My bad about that."
"......"
Altear laughed sheepishly while Princess Nea looked utterly dumbfounded, but this wasn't a joke—it was a fact. It wasn't that the Dark Mages had hidden a Great Demon under the Academy. It was simply that the Empire had kicked out the Black Dragon guarding the seal, built their capital nearby, and then plopped the Academy right on top.
"But Luke was the one who insisted on building the capital Academy here, so it's not really my fault."
"What can us 'commoners' do, right?"
"Exactly! You really get it. Unlike certain royals who have zero empathy."
"......"
Seeing Princess Nea's face turn red with indignation, we immediately got to work. My instincts told me that if we poked her any further, this high-and-mighty lady might actually start a sword dance.
"......Sigh."
Altear prepared the "blood transfusion," and I poured the Holy Water into the water he had prepared to dilute it.
"But the concentration seems weaker than last time. Will it be okay?"
"High concentration can be a problem, but low concentration is fine. The effect will be slower, sure, but the goal is to weaken it continuously."
"You say that, but it doesn't look any different. What exactly changed?"
To the naked eye, the Demon looked exactly the same as before. When I asked Altear, who had told me I'd understand once I saw it...
"Good heavens, can't you see this incredible change?"
"No?"
Altear looked at me in shock as he plunged a massive needle into the Demon.
"It got shorter."
"......?"
At those words, I looked up at the massive Demon. It was still a gargantuan figure, easily dozens of meters tall.
"That thing?"
"Yes. It shrank by a whopping 15 centimeters."
"......"
Fifteen centimeters. By human standards, that was a massive achievement. In my previous life, how many people were called "losers" over a mere 5-centimeter difference? In that context, 15 centimeters would indeed be a miraculous change.
...If the subject were human, that is.
"At this rate, if we do this ten more times, it'll shrink by a whole 1.5 meters."
"Exactly."
"And if we do it a hundred times, we can shave off 15 meters."
"Precisely."
"Wow. And after two hundred times, it'll theoretically be completely erased!"
"Right!"
"......How many years is that going to take?"
"Well, time is the one thing I have plenty of."
"We don't have plenty of Holy Water, though."
"True."
The Holy Water we had invested so far was the amount I'd squeezed out of Daisy over nearly half a year. To think we'd need to do this at least a hundred more times to see a meaningful result...
"Is there even a point in continuing this?"
"Isn't it better than doing nothing?"
"I suppose, but..."
Of course, the fact that it shrank by 15cm meant its mana had decreased by that much. Since it was right under the Academy, I agreed it was better to weaken something that was bound to resurrect eventually.
"It's just a waste of money."
"......Is that the problem?"
Who was going to take responsibility for the cost of the Holy Water invested here?
"Just get it from her."
"Me?!"
In response to my question, Altear told me to fleece my junior.
"This is all Luke's fault anyway. Shouldn't the Empire take responsibility?"
"That's true, but..."
"Besides, I gave her a hefty sum last time..."
"That's also true...!"
My junior, you really took a lot last time, didn't you? In that case, I didn't need to feel any pangs of conscience.
"That man! Aside from that, he's already fleecing the Empire for an astronomical amount!"
Or so I thought, but it seemed our junior had checked the amount I'd taken.
"That's all performance bonuses."
"What kind of crazy place gives performance bonuses to an agent from another country?!"
"The place your father runs."
"I know that!"
Ah, so she knew. It seemed my attempt to fleece her twice was a failure.
"My goodness..."
After that minor commotion, the Inquisitors woke up. I barely managed to stop them from attempting another "Altear Raid" and led them further into the basement. There, they were struck with awe as they felt the powerful demonic energy emanating from the massive figure.
"According to our analysis, we've discovered that we can weaken this creature using Holy Water."
"...I'm the one who discovered that."
"I'm doing sales here. Be quiet."
I silenced the Lich, who was trying to claim sole credit, and unleashed my "Talk-no-Jutsu" on the Inquisitors.
"Look at this size. This mana. Think about it. What would happen if this thing were unleashed upon the world? But, if we have enough Holy Water! We can weaken it to a level where it can actually be subjugated."
"Is that really possible?"
"It is. To that end, look at Lord Altear, who went from being a hero of the Empire to a cursed Lich. For the sake of that hero's eternal rest, shouldn't we eliminate this Demon?"
"Rest..."
Marian, the Inquisitor, turned her gaze toward Altear.
"If this thing is gone... do you intend to pass on?"
At her serious question, Altear scratched the back of his head and replied.
"Well, yeah. It's not like I'm living forever because I want to."
If they didn't know the reason was that he lost a game of rock-paper-scissors, he looked exactly like a hero out of a legend. Fortunately, the only people here who knew the truth were me and my junior.
And so...
"...I cannot give you a definitive answer. The management of Holy Water does not fall under the jurisdiction of the Heresy Inquisitors. However..."
With a grim expression, Marian looked back and forth between the Great Demon and Altear before speaking.
"To eliminate an impure existence, we will do whatever it takes. That is the duty of us Inquisitors."
Marian—no, the resolve of all the Inquisitors behind her—looked so noble that no one would dare doubt them. However...
"We need Holy Water! How much? As much as possible! Every drop of stock left in the Holy Kingdom! What do you mean 'no'?! Hey! Who's your superior?! Do you have any idea who I am?!"
...Watching the process, I couldn't help but think that an Inquisitor is, after all, an Inquisitor.
Violet - What on earth are they doing...
Finally, the start of the semester was just around the corner. It was time to return to the Academy and experience all that madness once again.
"Can't you just stay?"
The Pope clung to me with a tearful face, making me want to shout, "Let's just drop out!" But...
"Where there is a meeting, there must be a parting."
I could only offer some profound-sounding words and promise a future meeting.
"You'll... come back, right?"
"Of course."
Through this trip to the Holy Kingdom, I had realized something. The reason the Holy Kingdom was full of hardships was that, as expected of a RoFan or a fantasy novel, the religion was rotten to the core. And the reason it was previously full of hardship and pain was that Daisy had gone off the rails to fix it!
Of course, as a result, the "normalization" of the Holy Kingdom had happened rapidly. Now, all that was left was to reap the sweet rewards in a functional Holy Kingdom.
"Next time I come, it'll be winter. Shall we build a snowman?"
"Yes!"
I patted the teary-eyed Pope, promising to build a snowman next time, and made my exit.
And then...
"Lady Violet, we have been waiting for you."
I was met by the Cardinals of the Holy Kingdom.
"The Pope is now..."
I was about to tell them I'd finished comforting the Pope and they could go to her, but...
"It is you we were waiting for, Lady Violet."
"Pardon?"
At those unexpected words, all sorts of scenarios flashed through my mind. What was it? Were they going to kidnap me because the Pope showed me too much affection? Or were they actually serious about that nonsense of making me a Cardinal? Or maybe!
"......What is this?"
I had imagined countless scenarios, but this wasn't one of them. Because...
"It is Holy Water."
"I can see that, but..."
"There was a strong demand from the personnel dispatched to the Academy. Furthermore..."
From what I could gather, my "boss" had told them that since I had a subspace pouch, they should pack as much Holy Water as possible for me to carry back.
"I mean..."
The amount of Holy Water being packed away steadily filled my subspace pouch. When that wasn't enough, it began to fill the subspace pouches of the other RoFan male leads (which had become something of a mandatory accessory for everyone by now).
"What kind of crazy stunt are they planning this time...?"
Even I, who knew the original work inside out, couldn't help but feel a sense of dread at the sheer volume of Holy Water. I had no idea what they were up to.
"Shall we go then?"
Whether she knew my heart or not, Daisy, looking cheerful, took my hand and led me toward the carriage heading back to the Empire.
