Chapter 93
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Lesson 20. Familiars Get Copied? - 3
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As Light had been born the first prince of the most prosperous kingdom in his own dimension.
"A prince, huh."
"Why, why?! Is it that weird that I'm a prince?"
"No, go on."
There was a legend passed down in the kingdom.
During a time when his dimension was thrown into chaos by an invasion from another world, a single man had risen with a sword forged from a star that fell to the earth. He drove them out and founded a holy kingdom.
In fact, the holy sword was preserved in the kingdom, and along with it came the tale that when another invasion from beyond came again, the descendant of the founding king would take up the holy sword once more and repel them.
But in truth, it had been revealed long ago that this was a lie.
Invasions from other worlds had been occurring for over a hundred years, yet no successor to the holy sword had appeared.
"And that's when you were chosen?"
"Right, but listen quietly."
As Light had received the holy sword's choice when he was eight years old.
More precisely, it was at that age that he heard the voice of the holy spirit from the necklace passed down through generations to the firstborn prince alongside the holy sword.
"......"
"Why are you making that face and keeping your mouth shut?"
"You told me to listen quietly."
The holy spirit was none other than the holy sword's ego.
As an arrangement by the founding king, who worried for his descendants, the sword's ego had been separately preserved—not only to make it easier to find the successor when they appeared, but also to protect the descendant with the spirit's power even if they couldn't wield the sword.
"Holy spirit...... A holy spirit, right?"
"Yeah. Legends say that great divine weapons have egos dwelling within them. Not artificially implanted like yours......"
"And that holy spirit protected you."
"Not just me—it protected our kingdom for generations. ......Impressive, right?"
"......"
As Light's life changed dramatically once he was chosen as the successor.
He had to wear clothes he never wore before, and at a young age, endure grueling training.
But with the holy spirit's blessing always guarding him, both his body and mind grew stronger by the day. By the time he was thirteen, he was standing on the battlefield, holy sword in hand.
His dimension faced repeated battles against invading monsters, refugees from other worlds, and dimension pirates. As Light grew continuously through those fights.
He realized he had changed in a way he could never revert when he was sixteen.
"I thought it was because of the endless battles. There were times I didn't let go of my sword for nearly ten days straight...... I couldn't even imagine myself without the holy sword in hand."
"That sounds like too much."
"At some point, I just thought: my reason for existing is solely to be the holy sword's master."
He had lived with the holy sword in hand since he was eight.
So naturally, he felt he couldn't do anything without it.
It was inevitable that he came to believe the "real" him was the one wielding the holy sword.
"At least in the kingdom, I had no value without the holy sword. That's probably why I threw myself into battle even more. By then, no one needed to force me to go to the front lines......"
And so he fought another year.
A year of no change, just getting better at wielding the holy sword.
When he turned seventeen, he received the call from Union Academy.
With the holy sword in hand, he took the academy entrance exam to protect his own dimension.
"You must have come here fully prepared to let go of that holy sword."
At this point, it was impressive how he could even consider abandoning it.
As Light scowled bitterly at those words.
"On the battlefield, I wasn't a commander—I was just a beast rampaging drunk on the holy sword's power. Back then, that was enough. But in the tower...... it wasn't."
The whole team suffering damage because of him, and ultimately retiring, was what first made him resolve to let go of the holy sword.
But he, who had never found any worth in himself without the holy sword to begin with, felt the gap with the other ability users even more keenly once he picked up another weapon. His negative thoughts deepened......
"The holy spirit keeps getting angry, telling me not to do useless things. It didn't react this strongly when we were in our dimension. The necklace...... for a brief moment, I could even take it off my body. But now I can't. So maybe it's better to just give up and take the holy sword again."
"As Light, let me be honest with you. That sounds like a total curse."
"......"
As Light couldn't deny it right away.
Instead, the necklace around his neck reacted violently.
"Guh!"
"As Light!"
"I-I'm fine. I figured it would get mad if I told you......"
Ban Yu-won hurriedly activated several language magics.
Perhaps thanks to his recent experiences, the pain relief and protection spells he quickly wove applied to As Light, suppressing his pain.
"Thanks, Ban......!"
Ban Yu-won had to pound his own head with his fist to resist the urge to hug him—his teary-eyed, forced smile was just too cute.
That's when he realized.
Hadn't he just cast language magic that affects the body directly on As Light?
Was it because his magic had grown? Or had As Light grown accustomed to his mana while using the talismans he made, instinctively accepting it?
'Hang on, if this works, doesn't that mean I could solve As Light's problem directly......?'
But the moment he reached out to As Light with that thought, the necklace around his neck began sparking threateningly, so he couldn't push further for now.
Of course, he wasn't giving up.
He now knew roughly what influence the necklace had on As Light and how to handle the holy sword.
If he slowly accustomed As Light to his mana and authority, eventually he could try bolder methods.
"As Light, let's get closer from now on."
"Y-Yeah?! You too......!"
"No, not that, idiot."
Ban Yu-won flicked As Light's forehead for the needless misunderstanding again.
Honestly, there had been more than a few times he'd nearly fallen for this guy's charm, but now wasn't the time.
"My abilities might help find a way to assist you. So just keep working at it like this."
"But at this rate, I'll just be a burden in explorations. Maybe I should endure the side effects and take the holy sword after all."
"As Light, you're misunderstanding something."
No helping it.
To keep As Light from getting arrogant, Dokgo Yeon had no choice but to say what she'd been holding back.
"Did you forget because you've held it too long? You don't exist because of the holy sword. It chose you because you had the talent. The fact that you're its master proves your talent more than anything else."
This wasn't the first time Ban Yu-won had said this.
Hadn't As Light himself said something similar before?
But apparently, his self-deprecation had grown in the meantime.
"What if that talent is specialized only for wielding the holy sword? What if, as a descendant of His Majesty the founding king, I can wield it, but have no other talent at all?!"
"As Light, if you were the holy sword."
"I'm not the holy sword......"
Ban Yu-won glared at As Light to silence him and continued.
"If you were the holy sword, what criteria would you use to choose your master? When picking wrong could doom the dimension."
"Well...... the strongest, wisest, most outstanding in qualities."
"There you go."
There was no such thing as 'talent specialized only for wielding the holy sword.'
If it were just inherited by bloodline, a master would have appeared long before As Light.
If As Light lacked the talent, the holy sword never would have responded to him.
"So think the opposite from now on. You can wield it because you're you. Your spear skills are improving ridiculously fast too, so don't mope around. And stop comparing yourself to others and getting down."
"......"
"No, and you placed 6th in the comprehensive evaluation spar without your holy sword. Are you kidding? Should everyone below that die? I was 8th."
"But......"
Of course, if Ban Yu-won hadn't unluckily run into Dokgo Yeon midway, he might have placed higher too—but hypotheticals like that were pointless.
How could anyone underestimate As Light's potential? He'd switched to spear as his main weapon not long ago, adapted quickly, and even grew rapidly during the evaluation spar to secure a single-digit rank.
"If you're convinced, get up now. Even if we rest this week, we go back into the tower next week. No time to brood."
"Yeah......"
Not fully, but he seemed convinced for now.
As Light nodded faintly and took Ban Yu-won's outstretched hand.
"Ban, you said no earlier."
"Huh?"
"That was a lie. I don't mind. ......Just saying."
"Yeah, thanks."
His heart skipped, but he played it cool.
Probably not on purpose.
If he were sly enough to say such things deliberately, he wouldn't have let his identity slip in the first place.
......Yeah, if he had that kind of instinct, he wouldn't be in this situation to begin with.
'The criteria for the holy sword choosing its master.'
Ban Yu-won had acknowledged As Light's idea as the answer, but it was actually different.
The spirit surely had one condition more important than anything else.
Being naive enough to fool easily.
'There are two spirits in that necklace.'
Holy spirit or demon spirit—he didn't know which was which yet.
The one As Light thought was the holy spirit probably wasn't the real one.
If it were simply divided into holy and demonic good and evil, he'd purge the demon spirit immediately. But that didn't fit, given that the sword As Light wielded while communicating with it clearly emanated holy power.
So was the real one the demon spirit?
Or was the demon spirit merely suppressing the holy spirit through some means and controlling the holy sword in its place?
'Ugh, better not touch it yet. Can't anyway.'
He sighed.
Busy enough growing himself, yet so many people to look after.
If possible, he'd split into five bodies—but division was a concept humans couldn't possess, which was truly regrettable.
"By the way."
"Yeah?"
As Light, who had no intention of standing and just held his hand while sitting there, suddenly spoke up.
"So, what happened with that Mira woman in the end?"
"Huh?"
"Come on."
"Ow?!"
As Light yanked him hard.
Ban Yu-won couldn't resist the strength and flopped back onto the floor.
"You jerk!"
"You said friends don't hide things from each other. I told you mine, so tell me yours."
"Ha, you're unreasonably persistent to the end."
Setting conditions himself then pretending not to know.
And all while still hiding his own gender—how brazen.
Ban Yu-won was exasperated, but since he'd already decided to endure the unreasonableness, he went along with it.
"Privacy issues, so I can't tell you everything."
"What?! That's cheating!"
"You really need to reflect on yourself."
In the end, they chatted about this and that until late, so by the time the two returned to the dorm, dinner time had passed.