Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Empire's Normalization
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-Tok. Tok.
"Mm..."
I woke up with the sensation of water droplets falling on my face.
The moment I came to my senses and opened my eyes.
"Kir?"
What entered my vision was... Gu Poison?
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
I wrapped my pillow in holy power at full speed, lifting it like a shield.
I had no idea what was going on, but that centipede bastard was a monster on par with Adel.
I'd just woken up, but first things first—holy power...
-Knock knock knock.
"Brother Is, I heard a noise. Are you awake?"
"!! Lady Jeanne d'Arc!"
I didn't know what had happened, but with the Holy Knight of Humility, Jeanne d'Arc, here, something like Gu Poison was—
"Ah, was taking care of Gu Poison alright with you, by any chance?"
"Yes?"
What was this about?
I shot Gu Poison a look that asked exactly that, and the thing wiggled its hairy legs left and right.
As if it were greeting me.
Feeling like I'd seen something I shouldn't have, I rubbed my eyes and looked at Gu Poison again. It was still waving its front legs at me.
"...Lady Jeanne d'Arc, could you perhaps explain what happened?"
"Of course. May I come in for a smoother explanation?"
"Yes..."
With permission granted, the door opened carefully, and soon an elderly woman with snow-white hair—Jeanne d'Arc—appeared with a kind smile.
She gave a small chuckle at the sight of me facing off against Gu Poison with my pillow shield, then began her explanation.
"Thanks to you, Brother, the Saintess and her companions were all able to survive. If you hadn't held out, the scene before my eyes—arriving just a step too late—would have been a field of fallen stars. Allow me to thank you once more."
She gave me a light bow, then continued.
"Devouring Parasite... He had already been wounded by that member of the Seven Virtues Holy Knights who came with me, so taking his life was no trouble. That left just this child. When it saw Devouring Parasite, it immediately bowed its head to me, so I took it in—it's yet to accumulate any karma."
"...Gu Poison hasn't accumulated karma?"
...
Come to think of it, Gu Poison got completely wrecked by me right from the start?
"It's currently trying to purify its existence by accumulating good deeds... But if it doesn't sit well with you, Brother, I can end its life right away. After all, it did battle you."
"Good deeds..."
I turned my head to meet Gu Poison's eyes.
They were still the creepy eyes of an insect, but they held a desperate plea.
"...If it's accumulating good deeds, then whatever. I don't mind."
Yeah, well, the boss mob had become the pet of Humility's knight. It'd work out somehow.
"Understood. You have a big heart, Brother. As expected of the star I took notice of."
"Pardon? You noticed me... what do you mean?"
"How could I not? Before becoming her direct Holy Knight, you were the rising star who caught the Saintess's eye. The shining star who protected the cathedral's people single-handedly amid the Monster Wave. The North Star who showed the Hero another path. That's you, Brother."
"You're too kind..."
"Hohoho, your humility is a delight to see."
"Hahaha..."
As I chatted with Jeanne d'Arc, something suddenly came to mind, and I asked her.
"By the way, what about the others?"
"Ah, he said he'd keep patrolling for any possible remnants. Such a diligent man."
"Ah, if that's the case..."
There were still plenty of Black Mages hiding in the Empire, so they probably wouldn't all be wiped out from this incident.
Now that I knew where the other Seven Virtues Holy Knight was, I could relax for—
-Kwang!
"Is! You're awake?!"
"Ah, Lady Saintess."
"Always pushing yourself alone...!"
"That's—"
"Even as a direct Holy Knight, that's too much! The flames made from holy power are too alien for you to wield—push too hard, and you could get consumed by the holy power itself!"
"Ah..."
Holy power erosion.
One of the status ailments in this game world. Force holy power beyond its limits, and you can't endure the excess—your brain ends up pickled in it, leading to a 'zealot' state.
The effects... Think drug addict, roughly.
And burning holy power was a technique that pushed it near the limit, so there was a real risk of turning zealot.
'I whipped it up on the spot during that spar with Adel and used it without thinking.'
It was just a spar, but the technique I'd made to show off must have looked perilously unstable in Ariana's eyes.
"I'm sorry. I'll hold back from now on."
"Good. If you try taking it all on alone again, I'll scold you for a full hour, so be ready?"
"Hahaha, that's scary enough to make me behave."
I thought it would end amicably, but then.
-Drip.
"Hm...?"
A drop of black liquid trickled down from Ariana's crown.
Ariana looked up with a puzzled expression.
"Kiruk?"
"Kyaaaaah!!"
Her eyes met Gu Poison's.
'It's been standing there the whole time.'
Seems Ariana gets tunnel vision when focused on me and misses what's around.
Well, in the game, there was a scene where she came worrying about the protagonist, missed the people nearby, and went straight for a kiss.
Recalling that game moment, I couldn't stop smiling.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "I-I am Burning Flame—grrrk..."
The Black Mage of black flames, Burning Flame.
"I-I am Drowning Drown—kyaaaak!"
The Black Mage of raging torrents, Drowning Drown.
"Why are you holding up unscathed?!"
The Black Mage who crushes all, Crushing Crush.
Three Black Mages as infamous as Devouring Parasite met their pathetic ends.
"Tch, these Black Mage bastards charging in so blatantly."
At the hands of a single youth, the Hero Ruin.
After his duel with Is, something had ignited in his heart, driving him to train relentlessly. Ordered by his superiors, he came to the Empire, pretending to carry out his mission diligently before heading back to his lodgings to train.
But for some reason, every alley he patrolled had wounded Black Mages fleeing from something. No matter what, he couldn't ignore the ones right in front of him, so Ruin took the lives of all three.
The damage he took in the process? Just some dirt on his clothes from Crushing Crush suddenly using the alley wall.
He irritably brushed the dirt off his shoulder and headed to another alley.
'Fuck, if another one shows up, I'll beat it to a pulp.'
Even if he'd started training, he fundamentally hated bothersome chores, so he had no desire to encounter more Black Mages.
But it was as if someone was determined to irk him.
"Huff, huff...!"
A middle-aged Black Mage with dark gray hair, eyes, and beard came running straight at Ruin.
"You fucking shit! Stop coming at me! And why the gray?!"
Ever since his duel with Is, the sight of silver-gray hair like his own made Ruin's blood boil. In the blink of an eye, his sword reached the Black Mage.
That instant.
-Pwoof!
"Wh-what?!"
The Black Mage suddenly turned to smoke.
Ruin's sword sliced only formless mist, which passed him by and began to gather behind him.
Reforming into the Black Mage, the sight made Ruin scowl fiercely.
"What a pain-in-the-ass type."
An enemy immune to sword strikes.
For Ruin, who lazily dispatched foes with a single slash, an opponent swordplay couldn't handle was a nuisance.
"What was I supposed to use here... Ah, holy spells are a hassle, so I didn't memorize them..."
He'd been taught various holy spells for such situations, but Ruin paying proper attention was out of the question.
He extended his swordless left hand toward the Black Mage and simply 'released' holy power.
-Shwoooo!
"Kyaaaaah!"
Blinded by the intense light burst, the Black Mage toppled backward, covering his eyes. His arms ignited rapidly.
"Aaaah! This light! Could it be—the H-Hero?!"
"Yeah. The goddamn Hero, you misty fuck."
Ruin approached the Black Mage.
As he raised his sword to strike, a voice whispered in his ear.
"Oh dear, we can't let you touch our messenger."
"!!"
-Whoosh!
He spun quickly, slashing behind him, but what entered his view wasn't a bisected corpse—it was a suited man grotesquely bending backward.
"Oh my, how scary, Hero."
With an infuriatingly flippant tone, the man straightened up. Ruin grimaced again at his face.
"What the hell are you? What's with the mask, you Black Mage shit."
His left half black, right half white— a grinning mask that looked utterly ridiculous.
"Dressing up doesn't make you a gentleman. You're just a filthy, vile Black Mage."
Spitting insults, Ruin provoked him. The masked Black Mage nodded in agreement.
"Quite right. No matter your Hero title, you're just a reckless, immature brat."
"...What?"
As Ruin stared like he'd misheard, the masked Black Mage landed a heavy blow.
"Compared to direct Holy Knight Sir Is."
"You bastard—!"
The battle between the masked Black Mage and the Hero began.