Chapter 3. Were they such a high-ranking person? (11)
Chapter 3. Were they such a high-ranking person? (11)
Naturally, since it was a letter from the Parish Deputy, the content was quite long. There were various aristocratic flowery phrases scattered throughout, and parts about the Goddess this and that. Excluding all those useless parts and roughly extracting only the most important passages, the content was like this.
[The number of monsters observed in the Principality has not been high until now. The Artena Principality was the spearhead and gateway of the Ancient Empire. It was the place that first faced the Demon Army. It is deeply concerning that the Demon Army has suddenly appeared in such a place.]
Was that the setting?
No, it was at the edge of the Empire, so it was indeed the first place encountered when the Kingdom advanced. It was the setting that the Saintess visited here first for that reason, and it was also the reason why the Hero rescued the kidnapped Saintess and sought to completely annihilate this region.
There was some personal grudge involved, but if they didn't trample it down completely, there was almost no way for the Kingdom to cross into the Empire. You can't exactly lead a massive army across the mountain range, can you?
[Furthermore, the magic power imbued in the sword you sent with the envoy was extraordinary. The type of magic power could not simply be called that of a goblin. You sent it well. Considering you sent it secretly, I understand that you wish for it not to be widely known yet. I can understand your heart. I will investigate it as soon as possible with those I trust most and send you the results.]
Uh, no, wait, this girl has never made such a request?
I just wanted to ask for some holy water, that's all!
Why make such a choice for something that would have ended if you just gave me a little holy water?
No, more than that, did that sword have such a function? A function to absorb external magic power? I never once asked my father to put such a soul-eater-like function into this sword when I asked him to make it in my childhood. Besides, even if it absorbed the monster's magic power, shouldn't the type be the same?
.......
Could it be my magic power?
That...... what should I call it.
In that game, wasn't Rosalyn von Artena actually quite an important character? Not ending as an early gatekeeper, but actually reviving from behind, or maybe the Rosalyn the Hero faced was a fake....... No, of course, I played from Rosalyn's perspective, so there's almost no possibility it was a fake.
Was she actually scheduled to truly revive?
My fingertips are trembling. You know, what if the very, very small amount of dragon blood flowing in my body caused some problem? Like, only now that blood is condensing and taking on some much more monster-like characteristics.
Nah, no way.
[However, the value of this sword seems very high, even to someone like me who is ignorant in this field. If I am to keep such a valuable sword, it would be right for me to entrust collateral of equal value on this side as well.]
And that collateral was the Holy Sword.
No, I don't need it.
Of course, it would be very good to have the Holy Sword to deal with monsters. Since Holy Power is usually the opposite of magic power. The magic power used by mages is refined so that the human body doesn't break, so its purity is a bit lower, but the magic power of the Demon King and the monsters led by the Demon King has a different kind of purity. It was stated in the game description that if it touches the Holy Power of the Holy Sword, it almost explodes.......
......Explosion.
Come to think of it, the Holy Power of the Holy Sword did seem to deal tremendous damage to Rosalyn.
"......Ah."
And I suddenly realized.
That's right. As I felt while cutting down those goblins last time, perhaps Rosalyn wasn't corrupted by some special event, but maybe she was just born with that kind of personality and was just living as she pleased.
......And if she didn't 'separately' become corrupted.
Actually, maybe she just didn't think to train until now, but she actually knew how to handle that 'magic power similar to the Demon King' from the very beginning?
"Hieek!?"
"Rosalyn-nim!?"
As I clutched my head and screamed, Frida quickly ran over and supported me.
What if I swing the Holy Sword wrong and die? Like, all the blood vessels in my body burst?
"I-I'm fine."
I somehow held onto my sanity and gently pushed Frida away. When I stood upright on my two feet, Frida stepped back, looking a bit worried.
Phew, okay.
Let's calm down.
First, let's calm down and organize this situation.
So.......
What on earth is happening?
Ah, of course, I know that the Parish Deputy is a fairly high-ranking person. So, interpreting it in modern society terms, isn't it like a local district assemblyman? Or maybe a provincial governor...... someone like that.
But can such a person write a letter directly to the Saintess?
Isn't that like a provincial governor requesting the use of a strategic weapon? And to the strategic weapon herself, no less?
"......No, is it not?"
Maybe not.
Usually, strategic weapons don't have separate intelligence. So they would request it from someone who has the authority to handle it. Setting aside whether people like provincial governors would have that authority or not.
The Saintess is just a person. She's in a position like the nun with the highest Holy Power, who has a fairly wide range of choices as to where she wanders. Although she was set as the Hero's lover for a nun, perhaps that was only described because it was from the Hero's perspective, and in reality, it might have been a platonic relationship or a secret one.
Actually, I don't even know the Hero's face. No, in fact, in most cases, I barely remember the name. It was a game where the face couldn't be described in the first place, and only the skeleton was barely set up.
"......."
Ah, is that so.
It's not a 'wartime situation' yet.
That means there's no reason for the Saintess to be treated as a 'weapon'. Rather than being evaluated as the person closest to the Goddess...... she's just the nun with the highest Holy Power selected every generation under that pretext.
Although she has the right to wander around freely in her own way, that just means to go around the world doing volunteer work, not to stand on the front lines and fight. Naturally, there's no reason for such a 'Saintess' to be treated as the ultimate weapon to end this war.
So, a petition to come here was something that could be done at the Parish Deputy level.
Everything happened because of the gap between 'those who have knowledge' and 'those who know nothing'.
......If Parish Deputy Arno had heard my story and known the future to some extent, would his reaction have been different? Or would he have tried to destroy me, treating me as someone already corrupted?
Thud.
I threw my body onto the sofa.
"Ro, Rosalyn-nim?"
Frida called out to me cautiously as I collapsed like a corpse with my face down.
"Please leave me alone for a moment."
I mumbled with my face buried in the sofa.
Because my head is so terribly complicated that I don't think I can handle it.
If anyone touches me, I feel like I'll explode.
And my, Rosalyn von Artena's, emotional explosion would lead to bad results in many ways.
"......Understood."
Frida answered quietly and withdrew. Soon I heard the sound of the door closing, and I let out a small sigh.
*
Erna, who had already traveled a long way and then went out and returned again on my orders, was on the verge of collapsing, but she still completed her mission excellently.
She somehow managed to catch that 'knight' who had rushed out first.
She didn't take the letter away. No matter what, I couldn't cancel what the Parish Deputy had ordered.
But before that, there was one thing I wanted to check in advance.
I cleared my throat a few times in front of the knight, adjusted my breathing a few more times, and then barely opened my mouth.
"You...... are you by any chance the Hero?"
I had asked as calmly and gently as I could.
But the knight showed a slightly bewildered expression.
I don't really know what that expression exactly is. In the first place, I've lived a life where I didn't need to read people's expressions.
No, come to think of it, it seems I've never heard the expression 'Hero' in this world.
Unless it's a fairy tale.
The face of the knight standing in front of me looked quite handsome, but if you asked me if it was a face that could really be a protagonist...... I don't know. The appearance of humans in this world is generally pretty good-looking, whoever they are.
"If you mean the Hero...... are you perhaps talking about those who appear in old stories?"
Although I had abruptly blocked his mission, he asked cautiously, as if trying to be polite since he was in front of the Duke.
"That is correct. Is it perhaps you?"
"No, Your Excellency."
I see.
However, I'm not sure if I should be relieved or not.
Rosalyn kidnapped the Saintess and used her as a seedbed. Rumor has it that she grafted this and that to give birth to monsters that could withstand Holy Power.
Anyway, she did 'kidnap' her, but I'm not sure if this is the point in time.
Is there a man the Saintess has feelings for at this point in time?
Or, if they 'met' due to 'some incident', and they have been growing love in their hearts since then.
Could that event be 'now'?
Okay.
I brought him here for now.
What now?
Should I send this human to the Saintess, or not?
Watching the knight's expression gradually stiffen in front of me, I pondered seriously.