The Incompetent Hero and the Holy Sword Awakening (5)
I've never seen this one before…
Lucy Wenlertera.
At least in the original success story of the Incompetent Hero that I'd played, no nun by that name had ever appeared.
Of course, my current progress had diverged so far from the original that comparing anything to it at this point was almost laughable…
…A nun I've never seen before.
Come to think of it, the phrase "a nun I've never seen" stirred something in my memory.
"Back then your face was covered, so I couldn't get a good look… but seeing you now, I think I know. This isn't our first meeting, is it?"
"Oh my, you remember?"
"You were a member of Hero Abel's party, if I recall. So why are you here? Did Hero Abel come to this place?"
At my question she tilted her head, then smiled sweetly.
"Didn't you hear from the Queen of Jo? I came here alone."
"…What business does a member of a hero's party have coming alone somewhere this remote?"
"That is… well, because of you, of course."
"…Me?"
Because of me? When I frowned and looked at her, she smiled as though something about this amused her greatly.
"Really now… what business could bring a hero all the way out to a place this far… Do you know what's been happening on the Central Continent?"
"Doesn't seem like any of my business."
"But you are a hero, after all. The whole world is hoping you'll take a little more interest."
A soft, gentle voice that somehow left an indescribable, unsettling impression. I found it oddly charming, and at the same time it put me off.
Something… something about something. There was something I wasn't picking up on…
"…So, in other words, you came all the way here to find me after I suddenly disappeared?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Why would you be the one doing that? You're part of Hero Abel's party. I had a priestess in my own party too — if anyone was going to look for me, shouldn't it be them?"
Of course, those girls had probably gone over to Abel's party by now — but either way, their original party had been mine. So if I'd disappeared, the ones who should be searching for me were the ones who'd originally been with me. Not a member of some other party.
"…Well, it's not as though it's a secret. The truth is, the Saintess made a prophecy."
"The Saintess… a prophecy?"
I knew of the Saintess. She never appeared directly in the game of the Incompetent Hero's Success Story — she only existed in the lore — but…
That Saintess had made a prophecy?
"Yes. Our Saint— the prophecy the Saintess made goes like this: Guided by the Goddess, a new hero's soul shall appear from another world. My children, welcome the new hero."
"!"
Shing!
"!"
"Oh my… how dangerous."
Without thinking, I had drawn my sword and leveled it at her throat. But she didn't seem particularly surprised — she merely glanced at the blade tip resting against her neck and let out a flat, unimpressed little exclamation.
"What are you?"
"Judging by that reaction, it seems I was right after all. How long has it been since you arrived in this world? Did you come looking for us before vanishing from the Central Continent?"
"I asked you a question. What are you? And what exactly are you people? Do you know why I came here?"
"It must be the Goddess's guidance."
Watching Lucy clasp her hands together as if in prayer, I couldn't help but frown.
"You think that makes any sense right now?"
"Even if you say that, we don't know either? It would be nice if you simply thought of it as us working to find the new hero's soul according to the prophecy the Saintess received from the Goddess… To that end, we replaced all the priests who'd been dispatched to Hero Roman and Hero Abel with our own people."
"We…?"
"Yes. Priestess Noren was originally scheduled to be replaced as well… but you disappeared before that could happen, so we've been working hard to find you."
See? Thanks to that, even my skin's gotten all dry and flaky, she said, stroking her pale white skin. I stared at her in pure disbelief, and she pouted her lips and grumbled,
"You're no fun. I shouldn't have bothered coming to look for you."
"…"
"Even if you look at me like that, I don't have much else to say. Once we found you, we planned to bring you to the Holy City… but looking at the situation, taking you there doesn't seem feasible either."
Watching Lucy smile playfully as she spoke, I sighed and sheathed my sword for the time being. At that, color returned to her face.
"Oh my, are you finally dropping your suspicions?"
"As if."
Still, according to what she'd said, if I went to the Holy City I might learn why I'd come to this place. Once things in the Yeom Kingdom were settled and I returned to the Central Continent, I'd need to pay the Holy City a visit.
"So? I heard you're protecting one of the Four Sacred Beasts of the Eastern Continent. Is she doing all right?"
"I don't know. I heard her vessel is broken. Whether that vessel can be repaired is what decides whether Baekho lives or dies."
"Hmm, a sacred beast's vessel broken… That's quite a dangerous situation."
"You're a priestess, aren't you? Can't you heal her? I heard you saved the Queen of Jo when she was being assassinated."
At my words she spoke with the proud air of some middle-aged man bragging about his military service.
"Of course — without me, the Queen of Jo would have gone straight to heaven. Thanks to that, Her Majesty even said she'd look favorably on the doctrines of our Holy City. Doesn't that earn me about a hundred years of vacation?"
"In a hundred years you'd be dead of old age, lady."
Deciding to end this fruitless conversation, I started walking back toward the palace — and she followed after me.
"Why are you following me?"
"Because I'm a benefactor who saved the Queen of Jo's life, and an honored guest who came as an envoy of the Holy City."
"Ah…"
Right. So we were headed to the same place after all.
The next day.
Sleeping not on a hard floor but in bedding covered with soft blankets for the first time in a long while left my body feeling thoroughly refreshed. And it seemed I wasn't the only one — Seollin looked refreshed as well.
"The bath was nice too."
"Yeah? Did you end up going in with the queen?"
"Th-there's no way that happened! I went with Baekryeon. I bathed separately."
Seollin flushed red and shouted at my question. Come on — why not deepen the relationship a little? If she had, the Emperor of Yeom probably would have been happy about it.
"Speaking of which, where's Baekryeon? Didn't she sleep with you?"
"Baekryeon woke up early and went to the royal infirmary where Lady Baekho is. She's still terribly worried, as you'd expect."
"There's still no guarantee she can fully recover, after all."
Since we were on the subject, we headed toward the royal infirmary to meet Baekryeon as well. Finding the way wasn't hard once we asked for directions — though the palace grounds were so vast that getting there took time.
"Oh my, Hero. Fancy meeting you here."
Of all times, that was when we ran into Lucy. I looked at her like I'd just seen something I wished I hadn't, but she paid no mind at all and approached us with a bright smile. Seeing that, Seollin tilted her head and looked at me.
"…Who's that?"
"The other guest the queen mentioned yesterday, besides us."
"Someone you know?"
"I'm a hero, remember? Back in that part of the world, there's nobody who doesn't know me."
Of course, they probably didn't know me in a good way. No need to say the rest out loud, so I swallowed it and looked at Lucy instead.
"What are you doing here?"
"Does a nun of the Goddess need a reason to come see the Goddess's sword — that is, a hero?"
"…"
Talk all you want. Whether Lucy was there or not, what we had to do didn't change, so we headed to the royal infirmary with our unwelcome companion in tow.
And there, more people than expected —
"What on earth is that supposed to mean?!"
— Baekryeon's voice rang out first thing in the morning, shouting at the top of her lungs. At that intensely emotional cry, Seollin and I exchanged looks.
When we headed into the infirmary, we found Baekryeon, the Queen of Jo, and a physician sweating profusely as he tried to explain.
"You cannot treat her?! What is that supposed to mean?!"
"Calm yourself, Baekryeon."
"But—!"
"I said calm yourself."
The queen raised a hand to settle the thoroughly agitated Baekryeon, then turned her gaze to the physician.
"Royal Physician Jeong. Explain calmly."
"Y-yes, Your Majesty. First of all, Lady Baekho's condition is not good. Her vessel is broken, and no matter how much we treat her, all of her life force is draining out through the broken places. And to repair the vessel, we need things like fine elixirs."
"I already know that much from last night's report. Get to the point. I ordered you to heal her even if it meant opening the royal vaults — so on what grounds are you saying it is impossible?"
"Y-yes… I examined the elixirs of the Yeom Kingdom that Lady Baekryeon has been administering so far. Those were, without a doubt… the finest of elixirs. They would not pale even when compared to the various elixirs in the royal treasury."
Having said that much, the physician wiped away cold sweat. At the same time, the queen and I both understood what he was trying to say.
"In the end, even if we use every elixir here, it would still only be a temporary measure — the same as pouring water into a broken vessel."
"Exactly so, Your Majesty."
"Th-that can't be…"
As if struck by the blow, Baekryeon trembled. And seeing that scene, Lucy casually dropped a line.
"Just as I thought."
"You anticipated this situation?"
"More or less."
Lucy said it with a mischievous smile. When I glared at her for a moment, she flushed slightly and shook her head.
"…"
"Please don't make that face. It makes my heart race."
"…That woman is weird."
I think so too.
"There is a way to save Baekho."
"!"
"What?!"
Seollin and I both turned to Lucy in shock at the same time.
"How are you supposed to save her?!"
"Well, our Holy City specializes in spiritual healing, after all. Of course… what I'm going to do isn't that."
"…Then what are you going to do?"
"Actually, I… am a vampire."
……What?
When I looked at her with an expression that said is this a joke?, she only smiled sweetly and continued.
"If I take Baekho's blood and make her one of my kin, she can survive. Guaranteed."
And so she said,