I Will Believe in You
In the dim living room of the dormitory annex, Arty tossed and turned before finally sitting up. With the exception of Morgan, who had her own room, all the girls were sleeping in Lydia’s quarters. That left Arty alone on the sofa, covered by a single blanket.
“Hoo…”
He glanced out the window. The sky was beginning to tint a deep indigo. …I always wake up around this time and head to the clearing. Dawn was approaching. The final test was almost here. In the end, he hadn’t slept a wink.
“…”
It would have been strange to sleep soundly in a situation like this. Being the only guy in a place full of girls… the pressure is no joke. Normally we’d finish dinner and part ways by evening at the latest.
The events of last night replayed in his mind. He had eaten the dinner Aria and Lydia prepared, then sparred lightly with Mave after she changed into comfortable clothes. He had also gotten a rough idea of how Morgan usually lived in Lydia’s annex. That red-haired girl really does live with a book glued to her face even at home.
After watching everyone change into their nightclothes and disappear into the bedroom, he had washed up modestly and tried to sleep.
…Tried being the operative word.
“…”
Arty tilted his head. Why were there suddenly so many women in his memories? The realization felt strangely off. One of them was even royalty, and another was the Saintess. How did things end up like this? He was just a commoner. Though he was about to become the Hero.
…But isn’t the Hero supposed to just fight monsters?
Hmm. Something about that… something…
“This feels weird…?”
“What feels weird?”
“!”
It was Lydia’s voice. Arty whipped his head around.
“Ah, Lydi…?!”
It was as if a golden candle had been lit in the dark living room. Lydia stood there in a thin nightgown. The soft fabric clung to her body, clearly outlining every curve. The overwhelming swell of that, rising and falling like powerful waves, struck Arty’s eyes directly.
“Hup—?!”
Arty squeezed his eyes shut. He bit down hard on his lip and desperately pictured the sacred form of the Sun God. He thought of his memories with Aria and all the things he wanted to say to her after the Hero’s trial. A-ah… O great Sun God, I saw nothing. In my heart, there is only the Saintess.
Pure thoughts. Holy thoughts. Beautiful thoughts.
But damn, they really are huge up close…
Arty bit his tongue, intending to punish himself for his insolence.
“Nngh—?!”
Lydia watched Arty desperately twisting his body and spoke. She hadn’t planned to say anything, but the way he was panicking all by himself was rather amusing.
“Enough. You may open your eyes. During training you carried me on your back and saw everything anyway… You’re making far too much of a fuss.”
“B-but…! It’s way too thin…!”
“We will only talk for a moment. If you focus solely on the conversation, I will not blame you. It is only natural for the eyes to be drawn to large breasts. I can understand that much.”
“U-ugh…!”
Arty clutched his head. In the end, he kept his eyes closed and held out the blanket he had been using.
“Just… cover yourself with this, please.”
“Hm. Very well.”
Lydia accepted the blanket with a calm expression and wrapped it around herself. The mountain range that had tormented Arty disappeared from view. The suggestive silhouette vanished, replaced by the solemn figure of a prophet.
“Can you concentrate now?”
“…Yes.”
“Good. Let us step out into the courtyard for a moment.”
“Yes.”
The two of them walked out into the courtyard as dawn began to break. The warm late-spring breeze cleared their minds. Lydia spoke first.
“Things will become hectic from now on, so I will say this beforehand.”
“?”
“Arty, do you remember what I told you on the night I found the Holy Sword?”
“!”
Of course he remembered. How could he forget the day he first received the Holy Sword Danan? Arty answered.
“You said the Holy Sword was my destiny, and that you would make me strong enough to be ready for it.”
“Correct.”
“And you really did make me stronger.”
“You still have a long way to go. At the very least, you must reach the realm of Radiance that Hero Arjen attained before you can protect yourself without relying on the Holy Sword. Right now, you are merely proving that you are worthy of being called the Hero.”
“…”
It was an extraordinary standard. Calling Sword Master the minimum requirement? There are only four in the entire southern continent and two in Gallia…
Lydia continued without concern.
“And do you remember when I said I would make you my ‘sword’?”
“Yes… You told me to become a subordinate who can judge with my own pride and discernment…”
“Are you ready to answer that now?”
“…”
Arty nodded carefully.
“…Yes.”
“Even though you still don’t know what I am fighting against?”
“Because I know you, Lady Lydia.”
A noble, cool-headed, and beautiful mentor. The certainty that the path she walked could never be corrupt.
“I can at least tell that the path you walk, Lady Lydia, is not some pathetic one where you hurt others to gain power or torment the weak to become rich.”
“I see.”
“Then the path a noble person like you walks must surely be one that those ‘pathetic people’ would hate.”
“Are you prepared to fight those ‘pathetic people’?”
“…Yes.”
Arty spoke with firm resolve.
“If that is the reason I must become stronger… then I will gladly walk that path and become your ‘sword.’ And while walking that path, I want to become someone who can stand proudly before the Saintess as well.”
“Well said.”
“Is it?”
“…To Aria.”
“Yes?”
Lydia didn’t answer. Instead, she looked toward the front door of the annex. A silver-haired girl was peeking out from the half-open doorway with a pouty expression. Their eyes met. Arty’s face turned bright red.
“Huk—?!”
“…”
Aria walked over briskly, still wrapped in her blanket. Then she lightly tapped Arty’s stomach with her fist. It was a playful, almost affectionate gesture.
Thud—!
“Ugh, kuh, kehek…?!”
“…Just once.”
“W-what…?”
“The chest.”
“I’m sorry.”
Aria turned to Lydia.
“So Lady Lydia wanted to make the Hero her ‘pet sword’? To help people? …I misunderstood without knowing any of that.”
“Pet sword? What are you talking about?”
“You trained the Hero like a pet, didn’t you?”
“…”
Lydia pinched her brow slightly.
“…Aria, the word ‘sword’ is simply a metaphor for a direct subordinate or a trustworthy knight. It does not mean raising something like a dog or cat as a pet.”
“…”
Aria spoke casually, but her ears were burning red.
“I knew that. I just used a rural Holy Theocracy expression because I’m from a commoner background.”
“The southern continent uses Gallian as the common language, but there was no such bizarre dialect. At least not in the royal archives.”
“…”
Aria lowered her head. But what surprised Arty was something else entirely.
“Huh? S-Saintess, you’re a commoner…?”
“?”
“?”
Lydia said, “You didn’t know?”
“N-not at all.”
“You really are quite bold. I thought you stayed close to her without hesitation because you knew she was a commoner-born Saintess. You mean you approached her while believing she was a noblewoman of the Theocracy?”
“…”
This time it was Arty who lowered his head. His ears were also flushed red.
“The nobles of the Theocracy treated her with such reverence… so I assumed the Saintess must be nobility too…”
“In the Theocracy, religious authority is recognized above one’s original social status.”
“…I didn’t know that.”
“Hm.”
Goodness… In the adult game, these kinds of misunderstandings were usually resolved with casual early-game favorability conversations. But now that it’s reality, asking about each other’s backgrounds feels twice as burdensome, so this kind of comedy happens instead.
Still looking down, Aria gave Arty’s arm—who was also looking down—a light tap. It was the shy gesture of an embarrassed girl.
Thump—!
“Kuh…?! Wait, Saintess, why so hard…?”
“I already knew.”
“You did?”
“That you, Hero, are a commoner. I knew.”
“…”
“So you should know about me too.”
“…Yes.”
Lydia watched the scene with satisfaction. Only now were Arty and Aria truly seeing each other for the first time. This was probably their way of expressing the slight resentment that had built up from their belated mutual recognition.
“…”
Before they knew it, dawn had fully broken. The dark night passed, and the time for the final test drew near.
“We should prepare.”
“!”
“!”
Arty and Aria answered in unison.
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Lydia continued inwardly. Because those pathetic people will be making their move soon.
The stairs leading up to the Academy’s chapel were quiet. Normally, students from the Theology Department would be climbing them for morning prayers. But today, only two people ascended the steps.
Arty and Aria.
They wore their Academy uniforms. They were not dressed in sacred ceremonial robes, nor in elegant armor with formal cloaks. They simply climbed the stairs in ordinary attire. At the end of that path lay the final test for the Hero and the Saintess—and the first step toward the future.
“…”
“…”
Below the chapel, Instructor Jacques, the training assistants, and the Holy Knights stood blocking the way. Everyone except the Prayer Priest—who was the witness for the final test—watched them ascend in complete silence.
The final test would now take place up there.
“…”
“…”
“…”
In the heavy silence, the chapel doors opened with a low groan.
Guuuung—
The ritual is ready. Please enter.
At the Prayer Priest’s words, the Hero and the Saintess stepped inside.
Edrian looked at them and spoke.
“Originally, either I or the Heresy Inquisitor was supposed to oversee this test. However, at the Saintess’s will as the divine representative, she will be the one to administer the test and receive the Hero candidate’s oath.”
Aria nodded.
“Yes, that is correct.”
“…Therefore, I will participate as a witness from the side.”
“Understood.”
“Then let us begin.”
Arty and Aria looked forward. The sacred altar was glowing. The pattern shaped like the light of the sun and the holy statue of the Sun God emitted a soft radiance. Any false oath or power from the dark realm would be exposed here.
“…”
“…”
But neither of them felt anxious. They had both come with sincere hearts.
Aria walked to the front of the altar and spoke.
“Hero candidate, please step forward.”
“Yes, Saintess.”
“Kneel beneath the sacred sun.”
“Yes, Saintess.”
Arty knelt before her. It was not a knee of surrender, but a knee to prove himself.
Aria hesitated for a moment.
“…”
Originally, she was supposed to say: Do not harm the nation or the nobility, but respect them. Submit beneath the flag and authority of the Holy Theocracy.
…But.
I am the divine representative. I have the right to ensure that neither the nation nor power stands in his way.
So she spoke a little differently.
“Hero candidate, swear that you will not abandon your own pride and convictions.”
“I swear I will not abandon my own pride and convictions.”
The light from the altar grew stronger. It meant his heart was true.
“Hero candidate, swear that you will not run from the voices of the unjustly wronged or from the conscience within you.”
“I swear I will not run from the voices of the unjustly wronged or from the conscience within me.”
Aria asked,
“Do you swear to believe in the light of the Sun God?”
“Yes, I swear it.”
Arty answered.
“…And.”
“?”
“I will believe in you.”
“!”
With trembling hands, Aria reached out to take Arty’s hand. Just as their fingers were about to touch—
The chapel doors burst open violently.
Kwaaang—!
“?!”
“?!”
When they turned their heads, they saw a figure standing against the early dawn light, completely shrouded in shadow. Edrian spoke gravely.
“Heresy Inquisitor, this is during the test. You must not interfere with—”
“…Shut up.”
Raoul slowly pointed a finger at Aria and Arty. From within his shadow, eyes glowing red could be seen.
“You two are heretics.”
“What…?”
“I hereby designate you as heretics who defy the Sun God’s fate.”
From behind him came a tremendous scream.
—KYAAAAH?!
—Monsters! Monsters have appeared—!
—Monsters have appeared in the shopping district and the Academy!
Raoul drew his sword, ignoring the screams behind him.
Srrrng—
“As the Heresy Inquisitor… it is my duty to correct what is wrong.”