#083 Trust
#083 Trust
After the battle, I returned to the village, entered the magician's house of my own accord, and gathered the key figures in the village.
Lucius. Rosemas.
Black Lotus. Knight Rapid.
And Liliez.
As for the villagers, there was no need for me to mention them, and I sent them away on the grounds that if they found out, the village could suffer greater harm.
-No, we have a right to know too!
-I will listen and inform you!
-No, no matter how much of a knight you are, we are residents of this village!
-I am the knight who administers your village! Count Odron appointed me as the knight of this place!
-Ah, aah.
-I will listen and judge, so you all wait quietly!
There were some who voiced complaints, but thanks to Knight Rapid revealing his identity—that he was a knight of the County of Odron—it passed easily.
And now.
The ten eyes full of questions were naturally demanding an explanation from me, and I had an obligation to answer their questions.
So I explained.
"In the beginning...."
"Master."
"All right, all right."
They were so focused that I tried to mess with them, but Lucius stopped me immediately.
It was a shame, but there would be another chance, so the story of the world's origin....
'Don't I have to do it anyway?'
If I was going to talk about the Spirit Machine, I couldn't avoid it.
But starting with that right away would make their heads hurt, so I decided to build up the story's credibility step by step.
"First, I should formally introduce myself. Hello, everyone. I am called Bel, the Crimson Mage. Five hundred years ago, I was the one who helped the Heroes awaken their Holy Swords and fought against the Great Demon King."
"By Great Demon King, you mean...."
"I have no particular problem saying the name, but other people seem a bit reluctant. Is it all right?"
"It is all right."
Lucius spoke up in my defense.
"Didn't you ultimately defeat that Demon King, Master?"
"Well, going that far is a little... Anyway, I am a witch who worked quite hard to defeat the Great Demon King Belphegor."
The moment they heard the name Belphegor, everyone's expressions hardened.
Even Lucius, the very one who had told me to speak, gulped.
'How much must they have heard from childhood that he was a terrifying existence.'
For the fear of Belphegor to be this overwhelming.
If I had been a Demonfolk who fed on fear, I probably would have regained my power the moment I came to the Middle Realm.
"Well... since you all seem a bit reluctant, I'll call him the 'Great Demon King.' The Great Demon King was defeated by a Hero five hundred years ago. The Holy Sword that defeated the Great Demon King was the Wind Holy Sword, and although my 'last' party included a Hero who wielded the Wind Holy Sword, I am also well acquainted with the Holy Swords of the other Heroes."
"That is...."
"I am the guide of the Holy Swords who awakened the other Heroes. I am someone who can awaken the true power of the Holy Swords, the true power that can be drawn through the Holy Swords. That is why, five hundred years ago as well, I guided the Heroes and fought the Great Demon King."
It was a lie.
Bel had no connection to the other Holy Swords.
If there was any connection, it was only that I made all the Holy Swords other than the Wind Holy Sword my own and then explained them one by one as spoils of war.
Bel did not exist in this world.
The only true part was that Witch Bel had heard about the Holy Swords from the Great Demon King.
"Five hundred years ago, after the Great Demon King was defeated, I sealed myself. So that if the Great Demon King's mana appeared again, or if the Great Demon King himself reappeared, I could awaken from the seal."
"Does that mean... the Great Demon King has been resurrected?"
"I don't know. That's what I'm looking into right now."
Acedia.
"The most likely possibility is that the remnants of the Demon King Army, Acedia, summoned the Great Demon King again. I don't know whether they think simply summoning the Great Demon King will turn the Middle Realm into a world ruled by Demonfolk again, but I sensed traces of the Great Demon King and released my seal."
"Then the Holy Sword Village, perhaps...."
"Sir Rapid, can you handle it?"
"Pardon?"
"The reason I sent the villagers away is because they could not handle it if they heard the truth. But you are different. No, you may already know, but...."
"...I don't know the details, but I have a rough idea. Still, guessing and knowing the truth are different, aren't they?"
"So what is your guess?"
"That Sir Arthur Lucius is the Hero who wields the Wind Holy Sword."
"Correct."
When I turned my gaze toward Black Lotus, she was also staring at Rapid with a shocked expression.
'Pass.'
That was not something acting alone could fake.
Her eyes were agitated, as if asking, 'How did you know that?'
Can I read a person's heart from their eyes alone?
It's possible because it's me.
"...I was pretending not to know in case it caused trouble."
"But now you know. Since you have seen it with your own eyes, you will have to report it as well."
Now to the main point.
"Its name is the 'Spirit Machine.' It is a vessel that can use the mana of each attribute dwelling within a Holy Sword. The Holy Sword is the key and summoning device that calls it forth, and the Spirit Machine is the object that can produce even greater output."
Liliez's ears perked up.
"I cannot explain in detail. It may have been tens of thousands, no, hundreds of millions of years ago. I do not know its origin well either, but they are probably objects created by lost technology."
Magitech weapons created by an ancient civilization.
Explaining it that way would have been the easiest to understand.
In any case, when Holy Sword Heroes reach the ultimate stage, they comprehend all principles and keep their mouths firmly shut on their own.
"As in this incident, Holy Sword Heroes gain the power to summon a Spirit Machine when they reach a certain level. That applies to you too, Lucius."
"Master, that is...."
"It's easier to declare it openly to the people here anyway. That you are the Wind Hero."
Guesswork. Jumping to conclusions.
That had now become 'official.'
"I cannot know what they were made so enormous to confront. But the Spirit Machine is a powerful force, and at the same time, a force that should not be used."
That is how power is by nature.
"To be precise, it is a force that should not be relied upon. What the ancients used is for the ancients to use, and humanity must advance in the way humanity has grown."
"You're saying not to use such a powerful force when it exists?"
"I'm not saying not to use it. I'm saying not to rely on it."
I lowered my voice.
"Five hundred years ago, do you think not a single Holy Sword Hero used a Spirit Machine? Do you think the Great Demon King never faced a Spirit Machine?"
"!!"
Look at them being surprised.
'Now do you have some sense of my power?'
The Great Demon King Belphegor.
The Heroes he 'officially' defeated numbered five in total.
Excluding the 'Light Hero' he unofficially defeated, every Holy Sword Hero was defeated by the Great Demon King.
"At the time, just before the 'Great Battle.' Except for the Wind Holy Sword, whose whereabouts were still unknown, and the Light Holy Sword, whose wielder headed for the Demon King's castle but then went silent—except for the Heroes of those two Holy Swords, all were defeated by the Great Demon King. I have confirmed that it is no longer in the records, but among them, those who used a Spirit Machine to oppose the Great Demon King numbered no less than two—no, three."
"This is the first... I've heard of it."
"Because the Spirit Machines themselves are things that should not be spoken of carelessly."
But the reason I brought it up?
To conserve my mana.
And....
'Whether the Middle Realm falls into chaos is none of my business.'
Who might be the ones who would be thrown into upheaval by the existence of the Spirit Machine?
One would be the establishment, and another would be Acedia.
The Goddess Church would also be in an uproar, but that is not my concern.
'Later, when I recover my dragon body and return to the Demon Realm, whether they erase it from history then, or start a war among the Spirit Machines and destroy the Middle Realm, that's for them to handle.'
Whether they erase the Great Demon King's deeds and the Spirit Machines from history or not, it is irrelevant to me.
"But having power and not using it is a foolish act. As for me, I cannot understand why the Spirit Machines were deliberately hidden for five hundred years. If I had to guess...."
Heh.
"...Right now, perhaps the most powerful nation is controlling them?"
"......Are you referring to the Steel Empire?"
"Oh my, I never specifically named anyone?"
The publicly known Holy Sword Heroes.
Among them were those whose imperial families passed down the Holy Swords through generations.
"I don't know the details, but there's no need to. In any case, now that the Spirit Machine has been brought out here, someone will try to make contact."
I pointed at Liliez.
"The Goddess Church has now gained a new power. It is clearly different from before, but it is a natural force that is ambiguous to call Divine Power. Is this heresy?"
"...If the 'Holy' Sword is the goddess's grace, then it is not heresy."
"Hehe, that's right."
It was truly ironic.
Because it is a 'Holy' Sword, even though it uses natural mana, there is no problem with it becoming a power of the Goddess Church.
What if it had been a 'Demon' Sword?
Then the story would have been different.
"Power is only power. If you think of the Spirit Machine as a powerful weapon, then it simply exists beyond conventional common sense. The most important thing is...."
I pointed at my solar plexus with my thumb.
"Human strength. The Great Demon King who defeated Spirit Machines ultimately fell before a single 'human.' If they had fought using a Spirit Machine, could they have defeated the Great Demon King? No. Though far too small compared to the Great Demon King, they won because they swung the Holy Sword with the indomitable human spirit."
One grows strong as an individual.
As the Great Demon King Belphegor demonstrated, in the end, nothing can be achieved unless the individual grows strong.
"Lucius, and Liliez. Believe in your own potential. You are people of outstanding talent and skill who could defeat a Demon King even without the power of a Holy Sword. I am certain of it."
Liliez was already a complete Hero.
Her title as commander of the Goddess Church's Holy Knight Order was not for show.
Moreover, there was Lucius....
'I'm personally raising him, so of course he'll grow strong.'
Lucius was the so-called 'joker card' I had been raising with even the worst-case scenario in mind.
The worst-case scenario.
"So that you can defeat the Great Demon King without the help of a Spirit Machine, I will help you from your side. Both Liliez and Lucius. Even if it means sacrificing my own body."
Ahh.
It would be a waste to discard the dragon body, but if that dragon body was violated by Zepar, then I do not want to return to it.
"So believe. In human strength."
In the end.
"Because the one who defeated the Great Demon King Belphegor was a single human."