Divine Sword (2)
Divine Sword (2)
The Divine Sword could heal other people as well.
Even those who had been severely injured were able to get back on their feet before long.
It wasn't as quick as my own recovery, but it was still far more effective than a potion.
It seemed to heal them even faster than the priests and clerics of the Order could.
Once everyone had regained consciousness, we decided to move on.
We couldn't stay in a place that had just been through such chaos.
Taking one last look at the devastated ruins, we entered the forest.
Perhaps because the Monster King had come and gone on a rampage, all the monsters in the vicinity had vanished.
A quiet forest.
Those who had been walking in silence began speaking up one by one.
"That monster... It was the Monster King, right?"
At Knight Axel's question, everyone looked around at one another, as though waiting for someone else to answer first.
"If that wasn't the Monster King, then what on earth would it be?"
As everyone hesitated, Katrin stepped forward and answered Knight Axel's question.
At her words, everyone began to chatter.
"Then did we actually survive the Monster King?"
Everyone was astonished that we had survived the Monster King.
"No, why did the Monster King retreat?"
"Well, Young Lord Alex, whom we thought was dead, appeared and..."
"...Golems appeared and fought the monsters... and after that, he healed you all with the Divine Sword."
Once the Princess and the Grand Archduchess had finished explaining, everyone stared at me.
"It was thanks to the golems and the Divine Sword."
This time, it wasn't a lie. Without the golems and the Divine Sword, I would surely have died.
"But those movements..."
The Princess, who had seen me fight, tried to say something, but I cut her off first.
"It was thanks to the Divine Sword's assistance."
It was impolite of me, but no one scolded me.
The knights looked bewildered, but Katrin and the other team members had expressions that said, 'Of course, that figures.'
I guess they were going to let it slide this time, too.
"More importantly, we should keep this a secret, right?"
At the Grand Archduchess's words, everyone nodded.
"Because this is something that must never be known."
"Not only had many people died, but we also had the Holy Knight's sword."
Everyone was thinking the same thing, but they couldn't bring themselves to name the target aloud.
Partly because of the lives they had lived up to that point, and partly because of the sheer authority it wielded.
"Exactly. If the Order finds out, they won't let it slide."
Balea, though, brought up the Order without hesitation.
"The Purge Squad suffered massive casualties, and you even obtained the blade the Purge Leader called the Evil God's Sword. There's no way the Order will stay quiet."
At Balea's words, the two knights let out a sigh.
Now that the Order had been mentioned, the knights could no longer feign ignorance.
"Then let us all swear to keep everything we saw and experienced here a secret."
Katrin suggested an oath to keep the secret.
It was a method very typical of her, and not a bad one at all.
I wasn't worried about the Princess, the Grand Archduchess, Balea, or Katrin keeping the secret.
The problem lay with the two knights...
From what I'd seen of the two knights so far, I thought a knight's oath would be enough to keep the secret, at least to some extent.
Just as I thought that, Knight Axel offered a different opinion.
"Why don't we make a contract instead?"
Everyone's eyes widened.
A contract was naturally the best way to keep a secret, but contracts could only be made at a temple.
"You're saying we should make a contract at the temple to hide a secret from the Order itself."
Just as Balea said, the idea of making a contract was absurd.
"Does it matter? We can just contract not to speak of anything that happened in the Seal Grounds to anyone else."
Surprisingly, Knight Axel's idea wasn't bad.
"We're all in the same boat, so we should make it official. Isn't that right, Senior Knight?"
At Knight Axel's words, Knight Miro let out a sigh.
Just as Knight Axel said, the two knights were now completely entangled in this.
Their current situation was no different from taking the Princess's side.
After pondering for a moment, Knight Miro stopped walking and looked at the Princess. He seemed to have made a decision.
"As soon as we return, we will go to the temple and make the contract. And once we're back, I will formally pay my respects to you, Your Highness."
As Knight Miro placed his hand over his heart, Knight Axel followed suit.
At the mention of the knights paying their respects, the women's eyes sparkled.
It was a knight's oath of loyalty. It was impossible not to be intrigued.
Although the two knights fell short of the Royal Knights in skill, they were loyal knights who would carry out their duties with their lives on the line.
The Princess knew this from watching them all this time.
The Princess looked at the knights for a moment, then placed her hand over her heart and bowed her head.
"Thank you. Though I am young, I will fulfill my duties as a daughter of the Carlos Royal Family."
Since it wasn't a formal setting, the exchange ended with a simple greeting.
Though it was a simple greeting, it was no simple matter for those involved.
It was the first time the Princess was taking knights other than me into her service, and the two knights would be resigning from the Academy Knights to enter hers.
"Then, should we submit our resignations as soon as we return?"
At Knight Axel's question, Knight Miro looked at the Princess.
The Princess glanced at me, but I said nothing.
This was for the Princess to decide.
"Since you have to attend the Academy until graduation anyway, come after you graduate."
"Understood."
The conversation, which had begun with a plan to hide what they had done, ended with the Princess recruiting the two knights.
It was a somewhat absurd outcome, but not a bad one.
The Princess also needed to have other knights under her command besides me.
Although there were knights directly under the Queen, they were not the Princess's subordinates.
With the King's death and a civil war right around the corner, it was time for the Princess to prepare as well.
"We'll be able to come back here again sometime, right?"
The Grand Archduchess was reluctant to leave the ruins.
She had to leave countless golems behind and simply walk away.
Given her abilities, it was only natural that she felt reluctant.
But returning would not be easy.
There was no telling when we would have a reason to visit the Seal Grounds again.
On top of that, that tattered beast, the Monster King, lurked near the ruins.
Unless we could defeat the Monster King, returning to the ruins was impossible.
Nevertheless, I answered her question.
"Yes, we can return."
We could return, and I fully intended to.
Although I had made the Monster King retreat, it wasn't because I had fought and won, nor was it because the Monster King had fled in fear.
It was more like he'd let us go because he found us too bothersome. I couldn't let things end like that.
The gap between us was immense, of course.
I thought I had finally become one of the Kingdom's top powerhouses, but the gap between me and the Monster King was still vast.
I also had to learn a different way to fight monsters.
While I could still use my existing swordsmanship, I needed a much stronger method of attack.
There was much to do and much to learn, but now that I had a clear goal, I felt energized rather than overwhelmed.
After that conversation came to an end, Knight Axel asked cautiously,
"But is it really all right to keep all this secret and leave it at that?"
At Knight Axel's words, everyone's expressions darkened.
The Order was plundering the ruins of other religions, erasing past faiths, and burying records from before the Great War.
The lack of knowledge about the Old Empire might also be the Order's doing.
All of these were things that would cause an absolute uproar if the world ever found out.
But we couldn't reveal any of it to the world.
The Order's power had long since surpassed that of any single kingdom.
It was an order that had held a monopoly on the continent's faith ever since the Great War.
Even if people didn't believe what the King said, they would believe it if the Order said it.
Spreading the secrets of such a powerful religious order was far too dangerous.
"It's dangerous, and people wouldn't believe it anyway."
It was just as the Grand Archduchess had said.
It was so bad that even Katrin, who was always clamoring for justice, didn't contradict her.
Though Katrin's expression was the darkest of all, she kept walking in silence.
Everyone moved slowly since they weren't fully healed, but the journey back wasn't difficult.
That was all thanks to the rampage the Monster King had caused.
The monsters had all hidden away in their nests, so I only had to navigate around them.
Thus, we were able to return to the 'practical class' without being late.
When we arrived, the practical class had just ended.
Numerous monsters lay scattered across the field, and the exhausted students were sprawled haphazardly on the ground.
It was a sight we had seen last year as well, and after just returning from a grand battle with the Monster King, we regarded the scene with indifference.
Our calm demeanor didn't seem to sit well with them.
While some of the students, the professors, and the Headmaster were delighted that we had returned safely, many of the students turned their backs on us.
Those students seemed to think that we had simply slacked off while they were busy wrestling with the monsters.
If not for the presence of the Princess and the Grand Archduchess, they might have openly expressed their anger.
But we had no energy to spare for worrying about the students' complaints.
I, too, had a lot on my mind because of what I'd heard on the way back.
As we walked, the conversation naturally turned to the newly acquired sword.
The Grand Archduchess was the first to bring it up.
"Young Lord Alex, you've become the master of that sword, right?"
"Ah, I'll show it to you whenever you like."
"Of course. You absolutely must. No, that's not what I mean. If you're the master of that sword, doesn't that make you a new Holy Knight?"
"There's no way. I'm not even a Hero."
"A Holy Knight doesn't necessarily have to be a Hero."
By this point, I thought I understood what the Grand Archduchess was getting at.
"Though the religion might be different, a Holy Knight holds the same status as a representative of the Order—a Bishop. In that case, hasn't Young Lord Alex attained a position similar to a Bishop?"
Up to this point, she wasn't wrong. The problem was what came next.
"Then shouldn't you be conducting rituals, building temples, and doing things like that?"
My eyes narrowed of their own accord.
I was already exhausted to death, and here she was, thinking of piling even more work onto me.
Perhaps noticing my expression, the Grand Archduchess quickly changed her tune.
"Well, since there are no believers, I suppose it doesn't matter."
She brushed it aside like that, but the word 'believer' brought a certain mercenary to mind—the 'Divine Sword Tracker'.
Could it be that he was a 'believer' in that religion, which was why he searched so desperately for the sword?
If so, what was I supposed to do?
I couldn't tell whether it was really all right to simply ignore it.
With all these worries on my mind, the gazes of those around me didn't even register.
Besides, whether one had many worries or many complaints, time flowed just the same.
The sun rose the next day, and we were set to return to the Academy.
The Headmaster stood in the center of the engraved pattern.
At times like this, the Headmaster's face, weary with fatigue, seemed to sparkle with profound wisdom.
The Headmaster apparently found it troublesome too, so he didn't bother with a speech and simply activated his ability.
Mana surged, and we returned to the Academy once again.
Inside the empty building, while everyone else was rejoicing, I stared blankly into the air.
A message window had popped up before my eyes.
<You have successfully overcome the anticipated danger. A great achievement. Your level has increased.>
<Would you like to set a new 'Save Point'?>