Chapter 97: The Apocalypse?
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 97: The Apocalypse?
On the road back to the Prona Kingdom.
Leslie’s mind was completely occupied with thoughts of Shedia.
That girl… she’s more capable than I thought.
Honestly, her first impression of Shedia hadn’t been great. She had a cute face, but her perpetually dazed expression made her seem dim-witted.
That perception was shattered on the first day of their journey, however, when she witnessed Shedia emerge from a shadow.
She didn't know the principle behind it, but the girl could move freely in and out of shadows.
Even to the discerning Leslie, it was an incredibly useful ability. That must have been why not only Katarina but even Cloud seemed to trust her.
Her claim that she could kill me probably wasn’t an empty threat.
If Shedia popped out of a shadow while Leslie’s guard was down and stabbed her, it would be over. For Shedia, it would be an effortless task.
Naturally, Leslie had no intention of leaving such a threat unchecked.
“Um…”
Shedia turned her horse and cautiously approached Leslie. As she drew near, she hesitated, so Leslie spoke first.
“Do you want to see some magic again today?”
To eliminate the potential danger of assassination, Leslie had observed Shedia closely. Thanks to that, she learned that Shedia liked anything strange or beautiful. Leslie had immediately approached Shedia to show off her magic, and the effect was outstanding.
Shedia, who had been wary at first, was soon captivated by the sparkling ice crystals and magnificent ice sculptures.
Seeing Shedia nod with a look of anticipation, Leslie smiled.
“Alright. I’ll show you. In return, I want you to call me ‘unni’ from now on.”
“Huh? O-Okay…?”
“Why so flustered? It’s not a difficult request, is it?”
“Well, no, but…”
Shedia glanced toward the front and hesitated to answer. Knowing she was worried about Katarina, Leslie spoke reassuringly.
“If you’re worried Katarina will get angry, you don’t have to be. This is just companions getting to know each other. Since it’s what Lord Cloud wants, even Katarina can’t say anything about it.”
“I-Is that so?”
“Of course. Just trust me.”
Her confident voice persuaded Shedia. She glanced forward one more time, then squeezed her eyes shut and said.
“U-Unni!”
“Not just unni. Leslie-unni.”
“Leslie-unni!”
“Well done. You’re a good girl, Shedia. And good girls deserve presents.”
A chill swirled in Leslie’s palm, beginning to take shape. In less than a minute, a sculpture of a warhorse made of ice was formed. It was so detailed that even the horse’s mane was perfectly rendered.
“Hee…”
Shedia giggled foolishly as she accepted the sculpture. Leslie said a few more words to her, and Shedia replied with a smile. Katarina watched them with a sullen expression.
“Traitor.”
“It’s not betrayal. We’re just companions getting along. Why don’t you try talking to Leslie a bit, too?”
Her sullen gaze shifted to Cloud.
“What? You want me to get friendly with her so I’ll approve of your marriage? If so, dream on. I have no intention of sharing you with anyone.”
Katarina said firmly, leaning her back against Cloud’s body.
Cloud gave a bitter smile.
“I wonder if you’ll be able to get along with the others like this.”
“The companions you said were waiting in the capital? Don’t worry about them. It’s not like I have no social skills; I’m confident I can get along with them just fine. I just don’t like her because she’s a thieving cat.”
“If you say so, I’m relieved, but…”
“More importantly, who are these three people?”
“Have I not told you about them?”
Katarina nodded.
“You only said your companions were waiting. You never told me anything about them.”
“Really? I must have forgotten. Should I tell you now?”
“Yes. I should know this stuff beforehand. It’ll make it easier to get close to them, right?”
“Alright, then…”
Cloud’s left hand squeezed Katarina’s breast. When she shot him a look that said, What are you doing?, Cloud replied with a shameless expression.
“Why? I’m just touching what’s mine.”
“…You really do love breasts.”
As Katarina shook her head, Cloud chuckled and began to speak about his former companions.
“Eri is an exceptional mage who reached 4-star status at a young age. She can be a bit prickly, but as long as you humor her a little, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“4-star? What’s that?”
“Ah, you might not know. The Magic Tower evaluates mages based on various criteria like spell comprehension and mana depth. The result of that evaluation is their rank. The ranks go from 1-star to 9-star, and the higher, the better.”
“I didn’t know mages had ranks like dancers. So how many 9-star mages are there in the world?”
There were three first-class dancers in the Alitia Kingdom.
So how many 9-star mages, a similar concept, could there be? The continent was vast compared to the kingdom, so surely there were more than three?
Katarina asked out of simple curiosity.
But the answer she received was a little different from what she expected.
“Probably none. Rumor has it the Master of the Imperial Magic Tower is a 7-star. Unless there’s an archmage hiding somewhere on the continent, there likely aren’t any mages 8-star or higher.”
Katarina’s eyes widened slightly.
“Is it that hard to become a 9-star mage? Harder than becoming a first-class dancer?”
“If you said that to another mage, they’d probably try to turn you to ash.”
…But becoming a first-class dancer is already incredibly difficult.
Katarina’s expression soured.
“Uh… I see. So this Eri person is amazing, then? The Master of the Magic Tower is a 7-star, and she’s already a 4-star.”
“I told you, she’s an exceptional mage.”
“If you have such an exceptional mage, then don’t you not need her?”
She pointed behind her with her thumb.
“Leslie is probably at a similar level. And their types of magic are different.”
“Tsk.”
“…Neria is a knight. She uses a shield and a one-handed sword, so she specializes in defense rather than offense. She’s sturdy, so hide behind her if things get dangerous.”
Cloud pretended not to hear Katarina’s click of the tongue and continued.
“Finally, there’s Ophelia. She’s a Saintess chosen by the Goddess. Her main job is to heal wounds and bestow blessings.”
“I see.”
Katarina muttered to herself, trying to memorize what he told her about the three.
“Eri the mage. Neria the knight. Ophelia the Saintess… Huh? Those all sound like female names.”
“That’s because they’re women.”
“…?”
At Cloud’s words, Katarina’s body went rigid.
Just as he was wondering why, her stiff body began to tremble.
“N-No, that can’t be right…?”
Her face was on the verge of tears.
“Yeah, it’s not. Even you wouldn’t do something like that. Right?”
Her voice dripped with desperation.
“Tell me it’s not true. Please. Huh?”
She shook her head frantically.
Cloud had no idea why she was suddenly acting this way. He remained silent for a moment, but Katarina seemed to take his silence as confirmation, and her expression turned to one of despair.
“Why… why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t tell me… it’s true? Is it!?”
Her eyes welled with tears as she grabbed him by the collar.
“You, you, you, you… Were we enemies in a past life or something? Why are you doing this to me? Why?!”
She began to shake him by the collar.
“What on earth are you talking about? What’s not true, and why are you bringing up past lives? What does that have to do with my companions…”
Cloud stopped mid-sentence. Katarina also stopped shaking him. He looked at her tearful yet expectant face and said.
“Don’t tell me you think I had some kind of four-way orgy with them—”
“You son of a bitch!!!”
Katarina shook Cloud with a force that was incomparable to before.
“Stop, stop it! I didn’t have an orgy or anything, so stop shaking me. I’m going to fall off the horse at this rate.”
“Liar!”
“It’s not a lie. I never even held their hands.”
“Of course you didn’t! You grabbed their breasts, not their hands!”
“No, I’m serious! We were just wholesome companions.”
“Then! Then how do you explain your skills in bed? Why are you so good at it?!”
“…Talent?”
“Are you messing with me right now!?”
“Why would I joke about something like this? If you don’t believe me, you can ask them yourself. We’re almost there, anyway. Just over this hill is…”
Cloud’s brow furrowed. He tilted his head as if looking at something strange.
“Wh-What? Changing the subject won’t… huh?”
When Cloud’s body suddenly went still, she grew flustered and followed his gaze. Her eyes widened at the sight before her, and she froze.
“Lord Cloud? What’s wrong? Is there a problem…?”
Leslie, who had followed them, also froze.
Only Shedia let out a sound of admiration. “Wow.”
“…Cloud, is that the capital of the Prona Kingdom?”
“It is, but…”
Cloud scratched his cheek as he stared at the capital.
“I don’t think it is anymore.”
In the city, a giant purple octopus was slowly devouring the royal palace with its countless tentacles.
What the hell are those three doing?
He had left them there to stop exactly this sort of thing.
“Are you certain you’ll be alright without an escort? Of course, no blasphemer would dare harm a Saint Candidate, but just in case…”
“I told you, I’m fine. I can protect myself.”
Ophelia pointed to the mace at her hip. The priest gulped at the sight of the heavy weapon. He had recently seen her wield that very mace with complete freedom.
“I-I see. It seems my worries were unfounded. Please, be careful on your way.”
Leaving the priest’s farewell behind her, Ophelia left the church. Only after she was out of sight of the church building did her smile fade.
This is exhausting.
It had taken over a week just to get permission to go out. And she’d had to argue for a long time to dissuade them from assigning her an escort.
I just can’t get used to this.
It hadn’t been this bad when she was younger.
There was no reason for them to pay so much attention to a mere young nun. But things were different after she became a Saint Candidate. The church tried to monitor her every move.
It was happening even now.
Weren’t there two people tailing her from behind?
This never happened when I was traveling with the Hero.
The moment he was gone, things went right back to this.
This whole Saint Candidate thing… It would have been better if I’d never been chosen.
She sighed and started walking. A short while later, she arrived at a shabby inn. There was only one customer inside, and that one person was who she was looking for.
“You were in the middle of a meal.”
Ophelia approached Eri, who was stuffing sausages into her mouth at a corner table. Even though Ophelia was quite close, Eri just kept eating mechanically.
“Eri?”
“Gah! You scared me! Ophelia? What are you doing, appearing so suddenly? You startled me!”
Eri reflexively lowered the staff she had aimed.
“I spoke as I approached. You were the one who didn’t hear me, Eri.”
“…Did you? Sorry. I’ve been out of it lately.”
“That’s because you don’t sleep at night.”
The skin around Eri’s eyes was dark and her complexion was sallow. There was no life in her eyes. It was the result of staying up for several nights in a row.
“I can’t help it. My research is almost complete. How can I sleep in a situation like this? A mage who sleeps is no mage at all.”
With that, Eri roughly shoved the rest of the sausage into her mouth and stood up from the table.
“I have to get back to my research, so I’m going upstairs.”
Eri headed for the stairs, and Ophelia watched her with eyes full of concern.
“Please, get some sleep at night. You’re going to ruin your health for real.”
“Worry about Neria more than me. I use my head, but she uses her actual body, right?”
Eri shrugged and went up the stairs. Ophelia stared at the staircase for a moment, then sighed deeply and left the inn.
“You’re right… Neria is in more danger…”
After leaving the inn, Ophelia headed for the royal palace’s training grounds. Countless knights were honing their skills there, and Neria was one of them.
“Hah!”
A knight brought his sword down vertically on Neria. She blocked it with her shield, then immediately spun her body to evade another attack.
Block and dodge, block and dodge.
Just doing that seemed to keep her busy enough.
And for good reason—she was currently sparring with eight people at once.
Not just eight ordinary soldiers, but eight knights.
It wasn’t like this at first.
Neria hadn’t started out fighting eight knights simultaneously. She had sparred with them one by one, and only after defeating them all did she begin sparring with two at a time.
As that continued, she eventually reached the point where she could face eight knights at once.
To have grown so much in just over half a year was certainly an incredible feat. But it was also clear that she was overdoing it.
She visited the church almost daily for injuries big and small, and when her injuries were severe, she even came to find Ophelia directly.
Because of that, Ophelia was more worried than proud.
“Ugh!”
Neria pushed the last knight away with her shield and struck his helmet with her wooden sword. Having passed the trial of eight knights, she collapsed weakly.
As she stared at the ground, breathing heavily, a pure white handkerchief appeared before her eyes.
Knowing who it belonged to, Neria let out a small laugh.
“When did you get here?”
“Just a little while ago. You did well. It’s amazing that you won a spar against eight people at once.”
“Thanks.”
Neria took the handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her brow. Ophelia watched her for a moment before speaking cautiously.
“The Hero would think you’re amazing enough as you are now.”
The hand wiping away sweat paused. Her hardened expression soon softened again. Neria gave a bitter smile.
“…Maybe so.”
“Right? The Hero would definitely…”
“But maybe not. He might think that I’m still not good enough.”
“Neria. The Hero didn’t leave on his own because he thought you were lacking.”
“…”
Neria didn’t answer. She just silently wiped away her sweat. Ophelia’s chest felt tight. Eri and Neria both believed that Cloud had left because they weren’t skilled enough, and so they pushed themselves to their limits endlessly.
They’re managing to hold on for now, but…
If they kept this up, they would break down soon.
I have to stop them.
Somehow, she had to restore some peace to their hearts.
Just as Ophelia was trying to figure out what to say to persuade them…
Thump.
Suddenly, her heart clenched violently.
An eerie sensation spread through her entire body, and a cold sweat drenched her back.
Ophelia slowly turned her head.
The royal palace.
An evil aura was flowing out from within the palace. An aura so powerful it pressed down on her, a Saint Candidate. And even this was a suppressed version of it.
She felt as if that suppressed aura was about to explode.
Her lips trembled faintly.
“R…”
“Ophelia?”
“Run! Everyone, get out of the palace right now!!!”
Shouting, Ophelia grabbed Neria’s hand and started running for her life. She could feel the commotion behind her, but there was no time to care. She couldn’t even answer Neria’s questions about what was happening.
She just kept running.
The moment they barely escaped the royal castle…
Rumble.
The royal palace crumbled, and from within, a giant monster with countless tentacles revealed itself.
A malevolent aura enveloped the entire city, and dark clouds obscured the sun.
Rufus, the vibrant capital of the Prona Kingdom.
The Apostle of Apocalypse had arrived.