Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Valterus's Tears
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A panacea that could heal any disease, any wound.
Valterus's holy water.
"It doesn't make sense..."
The main ingredient for producing the holy water known as the Tears of God was growing near a local mine.
Kallias couldn't wrap his head around it. Even when he entered the mine following Leone's guidance, he hadn't felt much excitement.
It just looked like an ordinary copper mine.
Not iron, not gold, just copper—nothing special about it.
Still, since he was already there, he wandered around the mine and spotted a flower blooming in a place that didn't fit with the surroundings.
"Absurd."
And rightly so. Before his eyes was a flower in exquisite harmony of white and black.
Valterus's Tears had originally been an essential ingredient for the Church's holy water production, but dozens of years ago, they had all burned away in an attack by heretics, completely eradicated.
As a result, the Valterus Church could no longer produce holy water, marking the beginning of the Church's decline in power and reputation.
A Church unable to heal the injured could not inspire faith among the people, and without holy water to turn the tide in wars, the kingdom grew increasingly destitute.
Once a mighty force on the continent, the Valterus Church and the Kingdom of Carpe.
But due to the shortage of holy water, their power waned, leading to their current passive stance.
"And it's here, of all places."
A smile curved the lips of Kallias as he stroked his chin.
The herb that served as the main ingredient for holy water.
Valterus's Tears, right before his eyes.
And Kallias knew the recipe for holy water.
In other words.
‘I can carry holy water with me.’
Of course, to make proper holy water required other key ingredients and facilities to mix them.
But did Kallias need such perfect holy water right now?
‘No. It might be useful in emergencies, but nothing that requires perfection.’
In a world where potions were exceedingly rare, what if he could freely produce ones that healed wounds, even if slightly inferior?
"That would be enough."
Even a fraction of Valterus's holy water—half of half—would suffice.
That level of efficacy would heal most wounds as if they were washed away.
"Leone."
"Yes?"
"Who owns the mine?"
"The owner of Torett territory, me, of course."
"So these flowers are yours too?"
"Yes, of course. Would you like them?"
Heh.
"Leone. You're a truly good child."
Kallias patted Leone's head.
"Th-this is nothing. Hehe."
After thoroughly ruffling Leone's hair, Kallias carefully dug up the blooming Valterus's Tears.
"But what are you going to use it for?"
"It's a secret."
"Ah, I see. Church secrets..."
"Something like that. If the Church finds out this flower's secret got out..."
Kallias drew his hand across his throat.
Leone nodded with grim determination at the chilling gesture.
"Of course!"
"Good. God will watch over you too."
Kallias patted Leone's shoulder and held a bundle of the herbs against the back of his hand, engraved with the stigmata.
Then.
The stigmata faintly shimmered, and whoosh.
The Valterus's Tears vanished.
‘Perfect.’
The herbs were sucked into the stigmata.
He couldn't store overly large items, but herbs could be kept inside the stigmata like an inventory.
‘This way, the Valterus's Tears won't spoil.’
If he found a suitable spot, replanting and cultivating them wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Alright. Let's go."
Torett.
He had felt uneasy at first, but coming here was fortuitous.
Not only had his divine power level risen, but he had acquired a famed sword and now the main ingredient for holy water, Valterus's Tears. Gains beyond monetary measure.
"By the way, Kallias."
"What is it, Leone."
"Are you leaving?"
"You're asking the obvious. I'm a pilgrim."
Pilgrims wander.
Vagabonds who do not stay.
The reason was clear enough.
The pilgrimage ends only when one finds their own sword.
And when they sheath it in the rosary around their neck as a scabbard.
Only then.
"But why do you ask?"
"Ah, well, I heard it back then."
During the duel with Arsando.
He had called out Kallias's family name.
"Kallias von Jerban."
Leone proudly repeated his name.
"You know of Jerban?"
"Of course! The swordsmanship dynasty, conquerors of the north, House Jerban! No kid my age doesn't know of the northern Jerbans!"
Rulers of the North, Jerban.
Carpe's Shield, Jerban.
Swordsmanship Dynasty, Jerban.
Titles proclaiming House Jerban's prestige were endless.
For centuries, House Jerban had guarded the north of the Kingdom of Carpe.
No one in the kingdom was ignorant of their name.
"Are you heading north?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, because..."
Leone looked puzzled, as if it were obvious.
"A man who abandoned his house to devote himself to God."
He didn't want to hear about family matters.
‘If possible, I never want to go back there until I die.’
Going to the Jerban house would trigger related traits, which was troublesome.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I overstepped... Of course. You're a son of God now, Kallias."
Mumbling about divine revelations, Leone bowed repeatedly in his own delusion.
"Let's go. We've seen everything."
"Yes."
Excluding the Valterus's Tears, the mine was ordinary.
But with plentiful copper, trading with a decent merchant group for export would enrich the territory over time.
"Kallias, this mine is Torett's hope."
"Copper's useful in many places. Things will improve."
"Can I really do it...?"
"..."
Leone's upturned eyes were filled with anxiety.
His height reached only Kallias's chest.
His youthful face was still that of a child.
‘He really is young.’
Once word spread that Torett's copper mine was profitable, the vanished retainers would return to leech off it. Greed would grow, and they might even try to kill Leone.
"...I'll write you a letter of introduction."
He had connections to a suitable merchant house for copper distribution.
A well-known merchant family in the Kingdom of Carpe, so handling Torett's copper wouldn't be hard.
‘Helena de Volibian.’
The Volibian Viscount's daughter would take care of it, freeing him from further worry about Torett.
"Don't worry. You'll manage."
Patting Leone's head, Kallias walked ahead.
‘That woman will try to kill me, probably?’
Kallias recalled two years ago.
His ill-fated connection with her.
He smirked wryly.
A few days later.
Clink, clink.
Kallias tossed the gold pouch Leone handed him and tucked it away.
"You didn't need to give me this."
"No, I'm sorry I could only offer this much."
"Kallias, I don't know where you're headed, but be careful on the way to Oliorro."
"Why?"
"There's been a rebellion in Oliorro lately. No telling what might happen there now."
"Oliorro...!?"
"Yes, do you know it?"
The Oliorro rebellion.
In truth, one of the peasant uprisings incited by heretic schemes.
‘But it's too early.’
It should have happened at least three years later.
‘The timeline's advanced.’
No time for leisure, then.
With the heretics' shadow growing darker, he couldn't sit idle.
‘I need to head north.’
To the owner of the spirit sword there.
* * *
A few days later.
Inside the Torett mine.
The spot where Valterus's Tears had been was pristine, as if nothing had ever been there.
A man stared at it sharply, dressed in clean, luxurious clothes out of place in the mine.
Clank.
"Lord Raibun, Kallias left Torett days ago."
"I see. Too late, then. Any word on his destination?"
"Neither the lord of Torett nor the residents know where he went."
"The entire town of Torett is protecting him... Is that the case?"
"Not quite yet..."
Tap, tap.
Heretic Inquisitor Raibun, arms crossed and tapping his finger, soon swept back his hair with a sigh.
Tap, tap.
"It's best not to speak without certainty."
His mouth smiled, but his eyes were sharp as frost.
He was the Iron Heretic Inquisitor Raibun.
A powerful holy knight with grade-3 divine power and a spirit sword.
Before his interrogation, no one could withhold the truth—a terrifying Heretic Inquisitor.
"S-sorry! I'll correct it!"
Raibun passed him with impassive eyes and exited the mine.
Adjusting his glasses, Heretic Inquisitor Raibun muttered.
"Bishop Milliman said a Church relic might be hidden here."
A possibility for the Church.
But Heretic Inquisitor Raibun had confirmed no relic remained.
‘Did Bishop Milliman err?’
Or had someone taken it?
Heretic Inquisitor Raibun leaned toward the latter.
‘Kallias von Jerban.’
The sword dynasty's trash.
A talentless wastrel.
Yet that wastrel had defeated the exceptional swordsman Arsando Mirinae in a duel and vanished.
"Could he have claimed the relic's power?"
Unknown what relic or power, but Church relics were miracles incarnate.
Not impossible.
Entirely plausible.
Even a talentless wretch like Kallias, if monopolizing a relic's miracle.
"Any traces of heretics?"
"We're searching the area, but so far..."
No heretic traces.
Arsando, who discovered the Church possibility, was dead.
The possibility was likely a relic.
A talentless Kallias killed Arsando?
Kallias took the relic's power?
He killed Arsando and fled.
Took the relic's power but didn't report to the Church.
Why not?
He's hiding something.
Then he is?
"A heretic."
Iron Heretic Inquisitor Raibun.
A faint smile spread across his lips.
"Heretics, in God's name."
He would eradicate them.
Ecstasy gleamed in Raibun's impassive eyes.
"Kallias von Jerban is a heretic."
And the Torett residents and lord who sheltered him—heretics too!
"Interrogate them thoroughly."