Chapter 196
Chapter 196
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: Ecosystem Destruction
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'Wait. Won't this make things complicated?'
The shocking end of someone he thought could become a companion. And her true identity.
On top of that, the blue breathing technique he'd been practicing might not even be the real deal.
Amid the confusion from these compounding factors, Rishir hurriedly pulled himself together.
Thinking it over calmly, he realized the situation might get quite messy.
And for good reason—
Her followers, the brothers of the Gray Hand, had witnessed the entire scene, hadn't they?
Even Charlotte seemed to have some personal connection with her.
'They might think I tricked Malea into a trap with some weird technique...'
Private emotions can cloud reason all too easily.
Rishir pondered how to navigate this tangled mess.
It was then.
"Ah, aaah...!"
One of the Gray Hand brothers.
The young man named Roden, who seemed to hold a fairly high position within the group, trembled at the sight of the fallen Malea.
Rishir recalled the respect he'd shown toward "Apostle Malea" earlier and braced for what was to come.
But all his preparation was for naught as Rishir ended up staring in bewilderment.
"Gray Hand...!"
Roden and the other Gray Hand brothers knelt toward him all at once.
"We finally realize... your will...!"
"...I haven't realized it yet, so could you maybe tell me what my will is—"
"We foolish ones were deceived by that wicked impostor who dared claim to be your apostle, and you couldn't stand by and watch, so you've descended in person!"
"Descended..."
Rishir's expression grew complicated.
'Should I feel relieved by this—'
A misunderstanding had arisen, just as he'd feared.
But who would've thought it'd be a misunderstanding like this.
"Gray Hand...! Please, guide your lost flock...!!!"
"Guide us, please!"
Roden shouted, and the other brothers echoed him.
It was the very picture of a god and his devotees.
Rishir felt the distance growing between himself and the others around him by the second and hurriedly spoke up.
"Everyone, calm down first. I'm not the kind of being you think I am."
"Exactly! No matter what we think, you are greater still!!! We saw the miracle you performed with our own eyes! You healed our disabilities that no one else could cure!!! And not only that—you awakened us from the monster's complete bewitchment!!! If this isn't a miracle, and if you who wield such great power aren't the Gray Hand, then what are you?!!!"
Roden bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"Lady—"
Butler Catherine instinctively pulled the young lady behind her.
At some point, Roden's voice had taken on a manic, venomous edge.
'Denial of reality...!'
Catherine grasped the situation immediately.
And Roden's state as well.
Roden was desperately trying to believe Rishir was the "Gray Hand," the god they worshipped.
If he wasn't—
If he hadn't helped them as their god—
Then they'd been fooled and played by that "monster" all this time.
They'd lose their god and their guide.
Thus, this pure religious group, stripped of faith and purpose in an instant, had devolved into foolish zealots.
What they needed most right now was proof that they hadn't been wrong.
'What do we do—'
Catherine felt troubled, sensing both desperation and madness in Roden's demeanor.
She had dealt with all sorts of people and incidents as a retainer of a great house, but—
This situation.
No method came to mind for calming these reason-lost zealots.
Butler Catherine cautiously checked tutor Rishir's state.
Even with his extraordinary abilities, he was still just a young man the same age as the lady.
Far from persuading zealots in a situation like this, maintaining composure would be challenge enough.
"Gray Hand, please... give us an answer...!"
The voice urging Rishir felt like it was urging her instead.
As Catherine grew anxious and racked her brain for a solution—
Rishir spoke.
"Even if we concede a hundred times over that what I did was a miracle! Think about it rationally. Do I really seem like a god?"
"...No—"
The zealots' momentum faltered for a moment.
Rishir's rational approach was utterly, perfectly rational.
Even after he'd just performed all those irrational feats.
It left them speechless in sheer absurdity.
And their emotions had nowhere to go.
"No, but—"
Roden's mouth opened and closed repeatedly.
–Aren't you the last one who should be talking about rationality?
That was what he desperately wanted to say, but his expression showed he couldn't bring himself to voice it.
Roden and the zealots ultimately couldn't open their mouths again.
Thus, they were forcibly calmed—
And regained their reason.
"..."
Butler Catherine, watching from a short distance away, wore much the same expression as the Gray Hand brothers.
In any case.
Rishir's guidance(?) had been fully effective.
In the process of sorting things out, Roden and his group's condition visibly improved.
"Sir Rishir. I've been thinking... The path we've walked so far doesn't seem entirely meaningless. After all, didn't we meet you at the end of that journey and receive salvation?"
"That's right. You saved yourselves with your own strength. I didn't do anything."
"No, that's not true—you did do something... No, never mind. If you say so, Sir Rishir, then it must be."
Before long, Roden was talking and laughing like a normal young man, no longer a zealot.
It was then that Catherine's voice calling Rishir rang out.
"Sir Rishir!?"
It happened while people had gathered to check Malea's corpse.
Malea's body writhed.
As if something inside was about to burst out.
"Wait, let me check—"
Rishir rushed over and began examining the ancient god follower's corpse.
A moment later.
Malea's body seemed to stabilize—then suddenly began emitting light.
It was the phenomenon of souls, forcibly contained within a vessel, being liberated.
"R-Rishir... Look—"
Someone gasped in surprise and pointed into the air.
The light spewed from Malea's body was taking human form.
They wore attire unseen anywhere on the current continent.
Ancient spirits.
–...
They gazed at Rishir and deeply bowed their heads.
The light from Malea's body formed human shapes, bowed to Rishir, and vanished.
This sequence repeated several times before Malea's body finally stabilized.
At last, it became nothing more than a meaningless husk, and the incident was fully resolved.
"..."
Catherine and the others present were overwhelmed by the astonishing sight for a moment.
"Well, even conceding a hundred times over, you've worked another miracle. Isn't that right?"
Catherine quoted Rishir's earlier words with a straight face.
Rishir replied.
"Ah. This time it wasn't that. The souls seemed lost, so I temporarily became a guardian star and guided them to the starry lands."
"..."
Butler Catherine's expression turned complicated.
'What even is a miracle?'
She felt confused by the sudden question that arose.
The next morning.
Rishir, on his scheduled visit, returned to the Bollard mansion as the family tutor.
"Huh? Heyna?"
And there, he encountered an unexpected person.
Heyna ye Mastien.
Charlotte ye Bollard.
As he opened the door and entered, he saw the two young ladies from great houses sitting across from each other at the table, sipping tea.
"Whoa. It's Rishir 'Tutor'."
As if she'd been waiting for his arrival.
Heyna emphasized the title and giggled.
"What brings you here, Heyna?"
"Guess."
"...Ah! You've come to attend my lessons with Lady Charlotte!"
"Oh, come on."
Heyna snorted and took a sip from her teacup.
"Tutor?"
Charlotte followed with an elegant bow of her head.
"Lady Charlotte."
Rishir politely returned the gesture and spoke.
"..."
Heyna watched the two with her signature jade-green eyes before speaking.
"Rishir. Why am I just Heyna, while she's Lady Charlotte?"
"...Weren't you the one yesterday talking about being friends and telling me to be casual?"
"Was I?"
"You were."
"Whatever. Here and now, call me Lady Heyna."
"Heh, of course. So, Lady Heyna—as I've asked several times—what business do you have here? If you're not planning to attend my class, mind giving us some space? I have work to do."
"You keep making it sound like I'm interrupting your cozy alone time—don't I feel wronged?"
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Why else would I be here? To crash your class and barge in through the front gate just to take over? Obviously, the lady of the house invited me here to meet at this time in this room."
"Huh?"
Come to think of it, yeah.
Rishir finally turned his gaze to Charlotte.
"Lady?"
"Yes, tutor."
"It's about time for class."
"Oh dear. What shall we do? We have a guest. And soon, more guests will arrive—"
The lady elegantly covered her mouth with her gloved hand, feigning surprise.
One corner of her mouth subtly curled upward beyond the glove.
'Time for the returned tutor to lay down the law?'
Rishir immediately caught on to her intent and said.
"Could it be? Are you scared of taking my class—more precisely, since you boldly declared you'd awaken your own partial advance, but now you're having second thoughts?"
Gotcha!
Charlotte flinched at Rishir's words.
She awkwardly averted her gaze and said.
"Well... I have no idea what you mean..."
"It's fine, lady. No need to worry. Now we both know, don't we? That learning 'demon swordsmanship' is impossible— Even if you give up on demon swordsmanship, I—"
"No!"
"?"
Rishir's eyebrow twitched sharply.
The lady's elegant voice had spiked unusually high.
Charlotte's pride properly stung by Rishir's words.
She composed her expression as if nothing had happened.
Her ears turning slightly red and her gaze's awkward shift were inevitable, though.
"Tutor. Surely you don't think that because of what happened yesterday—I've become afraid to learn demon swordsmanship?"
"No, not afraid—shouldn't you give up? Isn't that the natural choice?"
Crunch crunch.
Heyna nodded while popping a cookie into her mouth from the side.
Agreed.
Charlotte flashed an elegant smile as if to show them.
"Then I'm sorry to disappoint. My mind hasn't changed a bit since the beginning. I will absolutely master that technique—without your help, tutor. And I'm steadily progressing with my plan for it?"
"A plan?"
Charlotte revealed her trump card with a triumphant expression.
"Yes. That partial advance power you barely handled while bleeding— I know someone who can wield it far more stably."
"Really!?"
Rishir's eyes widened as he spoke.
Whether misinterpreting his reaction or not, Charlotte's smile grew even more relaxed.
"So, let me warn you ahead of time. Don't be too surprised. Even if, after receiving that person's guidance, I end up handling a higher level of partial advance than you."
"...I'll look forward to it."
The two gazed at each other, each drawing their own smiles.
"Mm..."
Heyna's groan intruded.
"What? So then, Rishir's just a nominal tutor who's not actually doing anything? In that case—..."
"Heyna?"
"I'm seriously thinking of learning something from Rishir."
"Oh, Heyna's interested in demon swordsmanship and partial advance too!?"
Rishir's eyes lit up, but Heyna firmly raised her palm.
"Sorry, but I know the virtue of humility."
"..."
"What? Those eyes."
"Nothing."
"Anyway—"
Slurp.
Heyna took a sip of tea before continuing.
"I'm serious about learning something from you."
"...May I ask what sparked this?"
"Spark? Well, it's coming up soon, right?"
"That? Don't tell me you've challenged someone else at the Magic Tower to a duel?"
"What do you even think I am? No, I mean that. Starbirth Festival."
The greatest heroes on the continent were called stars.
The Starbirth Festival, named after them, was a friendly competition where promising young talents from across the continent gathered to test their potential.
Back in his days shunned by the family.
As a bastard who'd fantasized about winning the Starbirth Festival to make his family notice him, Rishir knew it well.
"Yeah. The Starbirth Festival's coming up soon. I'm planning to enter and do well."
"Not 'hoping to do well,' but 'planning to'? Didn't you just talk about humility?"
"Call it justified confidence?"
Rishir chuckled at Heyna's shrug, then fell into thought.
"Starbirth Festival, huh..."
Rishir suddenly recalled old memories.
Come to think of it, he'd once dreamed of just participating once.
As he smiled reminiscently, he casually suggested.
"Since it came up—shall I enter too?"
"What."
Heyna snorted, and even Charlotte joined in.
"How could you enter that?"
"Huh? Can't I?"
"Obviously not. If kids like you could enter the Starbirth Festival, what would happen to the other participants? Do you think people are idiots? That's why participation is limited to—"
Heyna recalled the Starbirth Festival's entry requirements.
"...Huh?"
Her expression stiffened.
Must be twenty-three or younger.
That was the sole restriction in the Starbirth Festival, which purely tested ability.
"Come to think of it, how old are you again?"
"Nineteen."
"Why?"
"Pardon?"