Chapter 160
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 160
Chapter Title: The Holy Eye
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The Holy Eye met its gaze.
After sending away the servants who had stayed behind in the mansion, insisting it was too dangerous for her brother to remain in the city, and leading her somewhere else,
Chloe had simply decided to follow silently.
His overwhelming experience and power were symbols of safety, of course.
But his calm demeanor as he assessed the chaotic situation without a hint of tension put Chloe's mind at ease as well.
Yet when they arrived at an unfamiliar house on the outskirts of the capital,
and the door opened to reveal her dear friend Rike, who locked eyes with her...
"...???"
For a romance novel enthusiast like Chloe, it sparked far too many assumptions.
Her mind filled with confusion and chaos the likes of which she'd never experienced before.
Rike blinked her violet eyes in surprise as she looked at Chloe,
but after exchanging a single glance and a few simple words without fully grasping the situation,
she hopped into her brother's arms as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
With each cradled in one arm, they leaped onto the rooftops and raced along the streets to the Church.
Once there, left alone with Rike amid the turmoil as an indefinite wait began, Chloe's mind started turning again.
'Just wait here...'
Knowing she would only be in the way, she couldn't insist on going along or throw a tantrum.
She resented her own indecisiveness and feeble strength more than ever.
On one hand, immense anxiety over her absent sister and her brother's well-being after taking a direct hit from magic in her place.
On the other, the unpredictable relationship between Rike and her brother.
Her head was on the verge of exploding, worse than before her dazed thoughts even began.
The outside bustled noisily with the emergency.
Rike, who had been sitting with her on a chair in the corner of the Church to avoid the crowds, took Chloe's hand.
"Chloe."
It was the first time Rike—who normally found even Seria's casual, unconscious touches annoying—reached out first, and Chloe's body stiffened with tension.
"...Y-Yes?!"
Unable to meet her gaze, staring only at the Church's gleaming floor,
Chloe heard Rike's words, not in her usual blank expression matched by a flat, cold voice, but warm with genuine feeling.
"Don't worry."
Those words, laden with so much meaning, stopped Chloe's breath.
"... ."
After that, the moment Rike suggested looking outside and she dramatically reunited with her sister, somewhat calming down,
Chloe and Rike waited hand in hand without exchanging a word.
The faint trembling felt through their skin wasn't hers alone.
They shared the emotion of worry.
Even though Chloe had mountains of questions about their relationship and the situation,
she couldn't bring herself to ask anything personal right now.
And after who knows how long...
-The Saintess has returned...!
-Announce the victory to the Empire!
-Waaaaah!!!
-It's not over yet! Once the barrier formation in the alleys is complete, patrol in groups of five...
····
The clamor from outside reached even the depths of the Church, different from before—murmurs turning to thunderous cheers.
Her sister entered with proud strides, unsupported by anyone,
but unlike her steady gait that showed no issues, Chloe spotted her brother covered head to toe in blood.
The white shirt he'd worn that day was soaked red and torn to shreds.
There was no room for frivolous feelings like shame at glimpsing a man's body without propriety.
Still holding Rike's hand, they both shot up from their seats, and her brother spotted them, smiling brightly.
"You two waited well."
Even with an obviously serious wound, he lifted the corners of his mouth, tearing her heart to shreds.
"Oppa...!"
"B-Brother!"
Amid the congregation's cheers, the girls' sobs erupted.
As Eclair released the taut strings of her emotions and watched Chloe and Rike relax in relief, a positive feeling sprouted within her,
though a headache loomed over the explanations she owed her sister later. She conjured a mana barrier to muffle the rising cries and block the scene.
··
··
"...Brother, a-are you really okay?"
Chloe dabbed her puffy eyes with a handkerchief as she followed, while Eclair soothed her.
"I got treatment before coming here, so no problems at all. I could head to a dessert cafe right now. Want to go together once it's done?"
Rike tugged lightly at the bloodied collar of my shirt and raised an eyebrow at my words.
"Oppa...!"
Even after confirming the truth of my "I'm fine" with a skill, Rike couldn't bring herself to touch my body freely like usual.
At the Church, she'd rushed toward me with Chloe but stopped short, wiping tears streaming down her cheeks.
Now she openly lifted and prodded at my clothes, checking wounds all over.
As I sorted Gleipnir and wiped my hands clean, stroking Rike's hair to reassure her was the best I could do.
"I'm really fine, so don't worry. It's barely a scratch, but the white clothes make it look dramatic. Right?"
I desperately sought Eclair's agreement, but she sighed without giving it.
"Sigh... Get a proper check from the Saintess first. You never know."
Drurk-
The Saintess entered first and sat in the room Mazella had vacated for the examination.
"I'd appreciate it if non-involved parties wait outside."
No one budged at the Saintess's words.
Rike Skadi of the Skadi Marquisate by register, and the Dreitna Countess sisters drawing the Empire's hot attention.
Three women claiming relation to one man followed Mazella inside as she closed the door, making the exam room feel cramped.
'What is this...'
Polygamy was common, so a man with many women was understandable privately.
But Platinum adventurers had a wild vibe, while noble daughters exuded grace—this mix was novel and bewildering to the Saintess.
With such famous women involved, the scene alone could shake the Empire.
Yet in her position, constantly encountering such personal realms,
she knew better than to interfere.
'Just do my job.'
As the Saintess gathered holy power and focused, the piercing stares from the women—intense as a noble mother's fixation on her eldest son, or a lover/family member's worry over grave wounds—drew cold sweat.
Not her first time, so she took deep breaths to refocus, then began her heartfelt prayer with composure regained.
"Goddess who created light and truth, I beseech thee to hear my prayer. Grant me sight to see beyond the veil of illusion, wisdom to discern the righteous and just, courage to rise for the good and true. Let your radiant presence illuminate the darkness and drive away shadows that seek to harm. I pledge loyalty and devotion to you, vowing to honor the sanctity of all life—cleanse my mind's eye."
⟨ Holy Eye ⟩
Her eyes brimmed with holy power, glowing with sacred light,
and a profound silence fell over the room, too solemn even to breathe freely.
The Saintess closed her eyes once, then slowly opened them, focusing on Roman before her.
'External wounds were treated before coming, but no room for complacency...'
High black magic often hid in gaps of mind, mana, or soul, evading easy detection.
She'd heard and witnessed cases where holy knights, victorious over black mages, relaxed only for curses to trigger suddenly, claiming lives.
With the powerful demon seen today, who knew what tricks it might have used.
She had to investigate thoroughly.
"Could you circulate your mana once? Better yet, manifest your aura."
"Understood."
Geeng-!
Clear aura bloomed from his fingers, and her Holy Eye delved into his mana, peering inward.
'Muscles and skeleton aside, this mana purity is absurdly high...'
The rumored Platinum adventurer's body and mana were packed tight without flaws.
Confirming each part meticulously was grueling.
The deeper she probed, the stronger the fatigue from the Holy Eye compared to normal cases.
Even checking one arm—the origin of his aura—took considerable time, let alone the heart.
But with urgency at stake, the Saintess pushed her fatigue aside.
'...It's empty?'
This adventurer uniquely didn't gather and emit mana from his heart.
Such cases existed per cultivation methods, so she moved to probe elsewhere routinely,
but she sensed it.
At his heart's core, something bound without physical form lingered.
Not impure like black magic, but its nature unknown.
'A skill?'
Located at the heart yet not the physical organ, it seemed to shackle and guard his soul.
Like dangling chains, an ugly bondage unfit for beauty.
It craved something from this adventurer but posed no harm.
'Chains... If chains...'
She vividly recalled him using unique chains against the demon.
A Platinum adventurer might possess holy relics unknown to her from various dungeons.
Perhaps akin to the Church's sacred artifacts, something holy.
Could it serve as a barrier against impurities?
The moment she tried approaching with the Holy Eye to identify it,
a voice echoed.