The Fragment of the Holy Sword (2)
The information about the Hero that circulated among the common folk was remarkably scarce.
As mentioned multiple times before, the Hero first appeared in history during the Demon King's invasion a thousand years ago.
Before that, the Hero had been regarded as nothing more than a fictional character from fairy tales.
Well, even the Demon King was like that.
In other words, throughout the long history of the continent, numerous heroes had been born, yet not a single one among them had ever been acknowledged as a Hero.
That raised one question here.
What made the First Hero different enough for everyone to recognize him as the Hero?
Radiant personality?
The academy's founding story alone provided a rough estimate of what kind of human the First Hero was. (In fact, every country's historical records except for the Empire recorded at least one incident of his rampage.)
Overflowing power?
The First Hero's strength could be called unrivaled across eras and ages, but mere power alone would not have sufficed to earn recognition as a Hero.
Divine approval?
Of course, this was a major factor in the First Hero being acknowledged as the Hero, but it was not the whole story.
The one who made the First Hero into the Hero.
The evidence of the Hero.
"That's right here—the Holy Sword!"
Kruse declared, raising the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword' held in her hand high.
And as if agreeing to her declaration, the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword' sparkled, filling the room with its radiant light.
Aiolet sat with arms crossed, watching the swirling mass of light before her with a displeased frown, chin propped on one hand.
"What kind of place is this where that's called a holy sword? If it's a holy sword, it should at least have a sword shape, right?"
That was exactly what it was.
No matter how much Aiolet conceded, the thing in Kruse's hand could never be mistaken for a sword.
No, beyond that, there was even doubt whether it could be dismissed as mere object at all.
To the eye, it looked like nothing more than a light mass inside a necklace.
"Ah... yes. Actually, the Holy Sword originally isn't a physical object."
In response to Aiolet's question, Kruse glanced down at the necklace in her hand and continued.
"The Holy Sword is a lump of divine power granted by the Goddess of Light to the First Hero in the distant past as a token of the Hero. It never had a fixed shape from the beginning."
Pointing at the flickering light mass within the necklace, Kruse poured out her words with passion.
"No matter what the owner desires, it reacts to the owner's heart and changes shape freely... It's a universal weapon, you see! According to legend, the First Hero used this power to transform into a spear, a shield, and countless other weapons as needed, bringing down his enemies."
Indeed. The Holy Sword wasn't a sword at all!
When the First Hero carried it, it had maintained a certain form, but after his disappearance, it lost its shape and became nothing more than a mass of light.
Of course, even in that state it contained immense power, so the Church had kept it under strict guard. Kruse had simply used her Saintess authority to pull a fragment out from it.
"Then why is it called the Holy Sword?"
Aiolet's question was perfectly reasonable.
First, it didn't even look like a sword. And the First Hero hadn't used only swords, but had transformed it into various weapons. Why would anyone call it the Holy Sword?
"That's because the weapon the First Hero used to defeat the Demon King was a sword."
The one who answered Aiolet's question was Gladia.
"What? That's it? Just because it was a sword shape when he killed the Demon King, its name is 'Holy Sword'?"
Aiolet let out a bewildered laugh at that. But Gladia spoke as if she had anticipated her reaction.
"Well, to the people at the time, that form must have been the most memorable. After all, it was the moment their long war had ended."
In Gladia's mind, the opening cutscene from the game 'Saintess and Hero' flashed by.
Beneath the sky of a continent on the brink of destruction.
The First Hero raising his radiant sword and slicing off the Demon King's neck.
The cutscene that always appeared at the start of 'Saintess and Hero'—it was still vividly etched in her memory.
So, while outwardly explaining calmly,
Thump. Thump.
Gladia felt the steady heartbeat deep within her own body.
'Fragment of the Holy Sword'—how on earth had she brought something that only appeared in the late-game of the game here?
Since the moment Kruse first pulled out the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword', Gladia's heart had been racing as if reuniting with a long-lost child.
The Hero's Blood flowing through her body felt like it was jumping around going 'Hey! That's mine!'
Had the Hero's Blood reacted to the Holy Sword fragment...?
Honestly, there was no other explanation that fit. Gladia forced her expression to remain calm and steady.
She judged that revealing her connection to the First Hero now was not a good idea.
'How troublesome the Hero is!'
The Hero's name alone could sound cool and impressive.
But in reality, it was entirely different.
The moment his identity was revealed, he became the top target for assassination by the Demon King's followers. Constant raids became the norm. Royal courts and churches of every nation often issued forced quests he could not refuse, demanding that he fulfill the Hero's responsibilities.
On top of that, the Empire's imperial family—whose members had even tied a noose around their necks in imitation of the Hero—added their own watch.
Unless one possessed the power to disregard all that like the First Hero, becoming a Hero was no different from drinking from a poisoned chalice.
Even in the game, players who chose to become Heroes had faced countless forced quests that could not be skipped, severely limiting their freedom.
For that reason, Gladia—who had absolutely no intention of becoming a Hero—forced herself to ignore the reaction sent by the Hero's Blood.
Meanwhile, Aiolet, who had no idea of Gladia's near-panic, looked back toward Kruse.
Kruse had already sat down and was listening to Gladia's explanation, nodding with a look of "I see~".
'No way, even a quack didn't know why it was called the Holy Sword?'
Gladia was already overthinking things. She had reacted oddly since earlier, and the Saintess was clueless, leaving Gladia thinking far too much.
Although she had helped Kruse under the pretense of wanting to assist and only received a little sincerity, spending time with Kruse had made her think way too much.
'Can I really entrust a mission like searching for the Hero to this person...'
"So."
"...Huh? What do you mean?"
Kruse asked in confusion.
Aiolet let out a helpless laugh at that.
"I'm talking about the Holy Sword fragment or whatever that can find the Hero. So what now?"
"Ah!"
Only then did Kruse seem to snap to her senses. She pushed her chair back and stood up abruptly.
"It's simple! The Holy Sword was specially designed by the Goddess for a Hero. That's why it has the property of always returning to the Hero."
In fact, war records against the Demon King's army recorded that the Holy Sword the First Hero dropped had moved on its own and returned to his hand.
Kruse, who had confirmed the record, thought, 'This is it!'
She gazed at the writhing fragment in her palm and continued.
"So right now, it's just sitting here quietly... but why is it moving?!"
On Kruse's palm, the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword', which should have been emitting nothing but light, was acting like a mad thing.
Clang! Clatter clatter!
The necklace vibrated as if it would shatter, and the light mass inside it began thrashing about as if it would burst out of its shell at any moment.
"Hey, hey! Why is that doing that?!"
"I-I don't know!"
"What the heck do you know?!"
Aiolet and Kruse were panicking in confusion.
Gladia was no different; she was equally flustered.
'It's crazy, crazy! Pay attention! Do it right!'
Gladia realized the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword' had detected the Hero's Blood.
If this continued, she would be forcibly transferred from maid to Hero.
'My master's scent is everywhere!'
Her panic was so intense that it felt like she was hearing the Holy Sword's voice she shouldn't have heard.
'That's not allowed!'
Whether she understood the owner's heart or not, the Hero's Blood inside Gladia's body pounded as if reacting to the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword'.
The 'Holy Sword' and 'Hero's Blood' were in an emotional reunion situation.
It was the moment when she really thought they should just draw a sword and cut that monster (？) down.
[Stop]
A voice Gladia had heard before echoed in her mind.
A neutral voice that was hard to tell whether male or female.
'...First Hero?'
It was the First Hero's voice from the core room of the dungeon they had visited with Aiolet earlier!
But that eerie voice seemed to reach only Gladia's ears. Aiolet and Kruse were still staring at the writhing fragment in front of them, baffled.
"Hey, hey! Stop it! It's getting more and more agitated!"
"How do I stop this thing?!"
"Damn, you really are a quack!!"
"I am not a quack!!!!"
Aiolet shouted with an ugly face, and in the middle of Kruse's teary voice, Gladia's mind heard the First Hero's words once more.
[That's the 'other thing'. So... wait.]
And the moment those words ended, the necklace that had been shaking as if it would leap out fell silent like a lie.
At the same time, the Hero's Blood that had been boiling fiercely inside Gladia's body also settled.
"...Huh?"
"...What. It stopped?"
The fragment, which had been twitching until just moments ago, fell silent. Aiolet and Kruse's bickering abruptly ceased.
Aiolet let out a bewildered laugh at the absurd sudden start and stop.
"What? You were so confident until just now and now you've brought something broken?"
"Ah, no! Broken? There's no way this could be...?"
Kruse examined the now-quiet necklace with a look of injustice.
It had been a thousand years since the Church had managed it. Ever since the First Hero had disappeared, not once had it shown any reaction to anyone.
The Church had tried every possible means to harness this massive lump of power, but it hadn't even budged like a stone...
That's why the Church had tentatively concluded that the Holy Sword reacted only to the Hero.
Then, could it be...?
A single possibility flashed through Kruse's mind.
'Is there a Hero inside this?!'
Kruse's head tilted with a creak.
This private room was completely sealed off from the outside. Only three people were present in this space: herself, the candidate, and Aiolet.
Excluding herself as the Saintess, there were only two candidates.
Kruse's trembling gaze turned toward the Dunaris siblings, who were ignoring her and chatting.
"What's with this defective product? They've been startling people since morning!"
"Yeah. They might have made us choke on our breakfast."
"I'm telling you! I was so startled my appetite vanished! What are we supposed to do with all this leftover food?"
While saying that, Aiolet poked her fork at the plate in front of her and looked at Kruse.
The plate held nothing but the crumbs of bread Aiolet had left behind, but that was irrelevant to the two of them.
All they used the excuse for was to make Kruse pay for the breakfast they had eaten here.
Although the two didn't lack money, it was best to extract what they could when they could.
Even though the situation had arisen so suddenly, their minds were exactly aligned.
It was like snatching the fox's liver, but they had meant it sincerely.
After watching the two naturally extend their receipts to her, Kruse looked down at the 'Fragment of the Holy Sword' in her hand once more.
'...What now. Maybe it's broken.'
Kruse could not accept that there could be a Hero among these people.