Golden Light (2)
I told the princesses I would rest, but there was no way I could truly relax when I had no idea what had become of my body. I closed my eyes and examined the divine power now residing within me. The holy power I had gained through the holy relic was rampaging energetically inside my body. Watching these aggressive, lively things, I couldn’t help but feel they were far too alien to truly call them ‘mine.’
‘It’s already amazing that I can use these abilities without any issues even though they’re so different from my own.’
I had heard that the holy relic had chosen me, but just imagining what this divine power might have done to my body if it hadn’t was enough to make my head spin. ‘Well, that part is certainly a relief…’
The problem was how to hide something so overwhelmingly radiant. I had no idea where to even begin, and the uncertainty left me frustrated. ‘If only these things could talk…’
Of course divine power couldn’t talk. Moreover, even though it now lived inside my body, it wasn’t truly my divine power. I saw it as the holy energy that had been sleeping within the relic simply choosing a new vessel called Arthur. That was probably why the jar-shaped relic had vanished.
‘What if one day these things decide to leave on their own? What could I possibly do about it?’
Since I hadn’t willingly accepted this power, I had no real say in the matter. That was also why I had felt so ambivalent when they said I had the qualifications to become a saint. This wasn’t something I had earned through effort; it could disappear at any moment.
‘Huh?’
As I continued scanning my body, I suddenly sensed a tiny presence of divine power tucked away in one corner. This wasn’t from the relic—it was my own, the power I had originally accumulated. It seemed that while the relic’s overwhelming energy had previously filled every space, the small opening created after I used my power had allowed it to quickly claim a spot.
‘So my divine power hasn’t been completely replaced by the relic’s. The two different natures are coexisting…’
It would be perfect if I could fill exactly half with the relic’s power and half with my own, using each according to the situation. ‘Is that even possible?’
Mixing the two was an option, but my weaker divine power would surely be overwhelmed by the relic’s. In reality, my own power had been unable to push the relic’s aside until space had opened up. To turn my theory into reality, I would need to use a significant amount of the relic’s power. But expending half of what seemed like an infinite supply wouldn’t be easy.
‘Maybe I should go do some volunteer work.’
No, that would draw too much attention. It would be the same as announcing that something strange had happened to me. I needed to find a way to use this power without others noticing…
Of course, I wasn’t complaining about my transformed body. I had always believed my divine power was above average, but now I had surpassed common sense entirely. There was no way I could dislike that.
“Are you not sleeping?”
“!!”
Sister Melody must have noticed I was lost in thought, because she suddenly spoke.
“I must have rested too long earlier. Sleep won’t come.”
“When your mind is noisy, sleep tends to flee.”
“Please understand that some thoughts refuse to be ignored. Since lying here with my eyes closed clearly isn’t helping me sleep, could you tell me more about what’s happening outside? I’m curious about what occurred after I collapsed.”
“Learning about external matters will only complicate your mind. You must focus entirely on recovering. It would be problematic if unnecessary thoughts prevent you from concentrating on healing.”
“Is the situation that bad?”
The fact that she believed outside worries would stop me from focusing on recovery meant the circumstances were indeed that concerning.
“…It is true that Her Highness Princess Reciel’s situation is not good.”
“Why?”
Simply reporting what we had discovered should have earned us significant recognition. Hearing that Reciel’s situation was bad left me utterly bewildered.
“Currently, Princess Reciel stands accused of murdering the labyrinth exploration team members sent by Prince Loras.”
“…So Loras has pulled another dirty trick.”
“All the assassins who came after us were officially registered adventurers under Prince Loras’s command. And we killed them.”
“Isn’t that actually good? Those people were heretics.”
Until now, we had lacked concrete evidence that Loras was handling heretics, which prevented us from cornering him. But the heretics we fought had been registered as his subordinates. The fact that Loras was employing heretics was proof he had betrayed the Sun God. This was both a crisis and an opportunity.
“We should use the hostages we saved and brought out as evidence to counterattack!”
“Of course. Princess Reciel is not one to be easily defeated.”
“Why would Loras take such a reckless gamble? And I can’t understand why the Deltrack Emperor would tolerate such actions.”
Had he thought that after faking a failed labyrinth subjugation as a success, he could keep benefiting from lies forever?
“That part is thanks to Princess Reciel’s clever scheme.”
“A scheme?”
“Yes. She secretly hid one of the captured assassins. She said that even though he sent assassins, we returned safely, so Loras would surely react. The surviving assassin would serve as crucial evidence to pressure him later.”
Perhaps she wanted to save that decisive card rather than use the assassins immediately to pressure Loras.
“Then Loras accused the princess. Just as she predicted.”
So Loras believed all the assassins were dead?
“But how did he make the accusation? All the assassins who attacked us are in our hands. There’s no way he could make a one-sided claim without evidence.”
“He created a witness. The man claims he was attacked by us, nearly killed, and barely managed to escape. Since there are records of him entering the labyrinth, it appears he either fabricated evidence or deliberately arranged it.”
“He planned this from the beginning. If the assassins succeeded, he could stay silent. If we survived, he would frame us like this to eliminate Princess Reciel no matter what. So what is the current situation?”
“For now, she went along peacefully since she had intended to return anyway.”
I felt a pang of regret, thinking it might not have been bad if she had resisted. But Princess Reciel wouldn’t have followed obediently without understanding the risks. Besides, didn’t she possess that? The extremely important item capable of waking Princess Canaby.
“What about the other team members?”
Wait—if Reciel had been taken, what about the team? They couldn’t possibly escape the false charges Loras had fabricated.
“They were all taken together.”
“Ah… so is that why the princess went along quietly?”
To my question, Sister Melody shrugged and answered briefly, “Perhaps.”
The fortunate thing was that they hadn’t taken the team members whose conditions were critical. No, they probably couldn’t. The aura of the Evil God had been threatening the surroundings, so they wouldn’t have dared. The same would have applied to the two of us. In the Deltrack Empire, laying a hand on priests would shatter the already precarious relationship between the two nations.
“I hope we can corner Loras with this incident.”
Loras’s move this time was a self-inflicted wound. The scheme he came up with would return as his weakness. Princess Reciel was not someone who would be easily defeated. Moreover, she held in her arms an item that could save Princess Canaby. Having finally reached the point where she could achieve her goal, only to be interfered with like this, her already intense hatred for Loras must have grown even fiercer.
“Is there anything I can do to help the princess?”
“We have already reported to the Holy Empire. Once they confirm the situation, it will naturally create favorable conditions for Princess Reciel.”
If there was something Loras hadn’t anticipated, it was underestimating the skills of our team members and me, and the fact that Princess Reciel had formed close ties with the Holy Empire. Since we had clearly confirmed that he was commanding heretics, the Holy Empire would no longer stand by. It meant the Holy Empire would now step forward in earnest to stop Loras, who had dared to employ heretics.
The conference hall was in an uproar. The Pope quietly listened to the priests’ heated discussion before subtly shifting his gaze to one corner. A man sat there in an unmistakably sloppy, slouched posture. Yet no one dared point it out. The only ones who could—Cardinals of equal standing or the Pope himself—were deliberately overlooking his insolence.
“It seems we must apprehend Prince Loras, but it is uncertain whether the Deltrack Empire will cooperate. What do you think, Cardinal Saul?”
At that moment, the Pope—who naturally held the loudest voice in the room—spoke. The noisy hall fell silent in an instant, and every eye turned toward the man the Pope had addressed: Cardinal Saul.