Chapter 1: Saintly Sword Selection
Translator: Skythewood
Editor: Hiiro
In the center of the Continent of Asgard , lies the Royal Capital ──Pendragon.
The Royal Military Academy was established here, and I had decided to skip lessons to take a nap in the courtyard on campus.
It had been two years since I enrolled in the Royal Military Academy, and I had lost all my drive.
To be frank, I couldn"t keep up with both the cla.s.s and training.
My horsemanship was the only thing that was adequate, while everything else was below average.
It would be hard to face my adopted father who somehow managed to foot my school fees, but I wasn"t suited for this Academy.
And I was afraid of getting commissioned as a Military Officer after I graduate.
In that case, I felt it would be better to skip lessons and get expelled from school.
So I skipped today"s lesson too.
「Crow! Can you at least be serious today?」
A female student yelled at me.
However, she wasn"t wearing a brown uniform like the other students, but a bright blue tailcoat and white tight pants.
Her blue hair glistened in the sun, and matched her clear blue eyes.
Her skin was white and her height was rather tall for a girl.
She was worlds apart from the mediocre me, and had angelic good looks.
A beauty who was out of this world.
「… Oh, it"s just Iris…」
「What do you mean by just Iris! Get up!」
「Huh? Is something happening today?」
「The entire student body will be going through the Holy Sword selection today.」
「Ohh～ I see, it"s that… something completely unrelated to me.」
「You won"t know if you don"t try!」
「Yes yes, I get it. Hmmp.」
I sat up from the gra.s.s in the courtyard, and stood up as I scratched my head.
The Holy Sword selection was an activity that was held periodically in this Academy.
The purpose was to find the person suited for the Holy Sword… officially known as the wielder of the Holy Sword Excalibur.
The truth was, the humans in this world were in danger of getting wiped out several times throughout history.
It wasn"t clear what the details were, but a demon king that wants to wipe out the humans suddenly showed up.
But whenever a Demon King appears with enough power to push humanity to the brink, humanity still persevere.
Because the Demon King, would in turn be defeated by the Hero that would be born suddenly.
However, no matter how many times the Demon King gets defeated, it would revive after a long period of time.
And the revived Demon King would get defeated by a new hero.
The weapon used by these past heroes, was the Holy Sword──Excalibur.
The Royal Military Academy was founded by the first hero who defeated the Demon King 500 years ago, who was also the first King of the current monarchy ruling over this land.
Its purpose was to hand the Holy Sword to the next hero when he was born.
I thought about the fairy tale-like history everyone in this world knew, and walked with Iris in the campus.
By the way, Iris was so good in her studies that she was the top student in my school year.
The talented beauty was talking to me, who had the worst result in my school year. This scene should look strange to the other students.
But I know──
Iris didn"t approach me because she likes me.
I enrolled together with Iris, and were a.s.signed to the same cla.s.s for the past two years.
So by observing her actions, I could understand her character.
Iris had an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) that was off the rails.
Despite her top results, outstanding physical abilities and great looks, she forces herself to treat everyone gently and kindly.
And Iris would force other students to do the same.
Take cla.s.ses seriously, train and better oneself, and to be warm and gentle to cla.s.smates.
She would force everyone to meet her standards.
Iris would sternly admonish all who wasn"t serious in their studies or bully others. If they ignored her, she would punish them with her iron fists.
I have seen with my own eyes how a n.o.ble who made other students his lackey got beaten half to death by Iris.
Carnage would break out if she saw any bullying.
She went so far that it was beyond just being OCD, she was the avatar of justice herself.
Normally, someone like Iris would get ostracized by the other students, but she could counter any dissidents with her outstanding abilities.
「… What is the criteria used by the Saintly Swords to choose its master?」
I asked as I looked at the sword hanging on Iris" waist.
Iris possessed a Saintly Sword.
However, that wasn"t the Holy Sword.
These seemed to be sister swords of the Holy Sword, one of the twelve Saintly Swords.
If I recall correctly, it was the Sword of Frost.
「Who knows. I was recognized as a wielder when I enrolled, but none of the Saintly Sword wielders knew the reason they got chosen.」
「You are a typical honor student, but some people who definitely didn"t fit the bill got chosen too.」
「Who are you referring too?」
「Prince Heath.」
「Oh…… Well, I have no comments.」
Prince Heath was one of the sons of the reigning King, and a cla.s.smate of Iris and me. He was also the boss of the group who uses their position to bully others.
He was also the student who clashes the most often with Iris.
Despite all that, Heath was recognized as a wielder of a Saintly Sword.
「Anyway, all the students have to touch the Holy Sword today, so you have to attend too.」
「I already touched that Saintly Sword plenty of times, and never got a reaction from it. There"s no point for me to attend, right?」
「Something unexpected might happen, that"s why this activity is held periodically.」
「Something unexpected… The chance of that is near zero…」
「Uwah…」
All the male students had gathered in the Royal Military Academy"s Chapel, and the Holy Sword Excalibur was brought here.
The Royal family would keep a tight watch over the Holy Sword, and would be sent to this Chapel several times a year, so the students in the entire academy would get the chance to touch it.
The goal was for the Holy Sword to choose the hero it deem worthy from the students.
The other twelve Saintly Sword wielders were determined this way too.
The twelve Saintly Swords possess great prowess, and turn its wielder into a warrior that could best a thousand men.
In other words, those who wield the Saintly Swords like Iris and Prince Heath had prowess far better than the other students.
And could do as they pleased on campus.
By the way, as the person with the worst academic results and completely ignores the antics of the both of them, I was infamous in a negative sense.
I yawned as I watched the students lined up to touch the Holy Sword.
I would never get selected, so I wasn"t interested in this activity.
It was said that the strongest Saintly Sword──Holy Sword Excalibur possess more power than the other twelve swords added together.
The wielder would become the perfect hero.
There was no way such a powerful sword would choose me, who had the worst result in the Military Academy.
If I was really chosen, then this sword must have really poor taste.
If it had to choose, it should choose someone like Iris who treats others with kindness.
「… By the way, why aren"t the girls partic.i.p.ating in the Holy Sword selection?」
As the Holy Sword selection progressed, I was so bored that I couldn"t help asking while I stifled a yawn.
「… You enrolled in this Academy without even knowing that?」
At this moment, a male student besides me with his arms crossed looked at me with a stupefied face.
He was wearing a yellow tailcoat and white pants, had a slender built, and a jerka.s.s pretty face with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Chosen by one of the Saintly Swords── wielder of the Sword of Thunder, Prince Heath.
When the other male students saw Prince Heath took a seat in the Chapel, they left the seats beside him empty. As for me, I sat down after seeing that there was a vacant seat.
When the students saw me sat down beside Prince Heath, they all shunned away for some reason.
「The Holy Sword is different from the other sister swords, and had only chosen a male wielder so far. The past vanquishers of the Demon Kings… the hero had always been a man.」
「That"s true… But why don"t you try touching the Holy Sword?」
「… There had never been anyone who had been acknowledged as the wielders of multiple Saintly Sword. Since the Sword of Thunder chose me, I won"t be chosen to wield the Holy Sword.」
「Huh? Then why do you and Iris partic.i.p.ate in the Holy Sword selection every time?」
「By tradition, those chosen to wield the Saintly Swords had to a.s.sist the hero. We can"t miss the moment that the hero gets chosen.」
「Why do we have to touch the swords so many times, even though it didn"t react to us previously?」
「… Because as you abilities grow in this Academy, you might get chosen.」
Prince Heath was dumbfounded, and his face was saying 「You are only asking this now?」
I just wasn"t interested because the Holy Sword never reacted before.
「Next will be Crow.」
As I was thinking about all that, the red head instructor standing beside the Holy Sword called out to me.
「Hurry on over. It"s meaningless, but something unexpected might happen.」
When the red head instructor said that, the entire Chapel roared with laughter.
The instructor was a pet.i.te girl that was a head shorter than me.
And despite being quite a bit older than me, she had a face of a child.
Her name was Cattlea.
Chosen by the one of the Saintly Swords── wielder of the Sword of Flame.
Of all the instructors, she was the only one wearing a unique red tailcoat and white tight pants.
Iris and Heath"s uniform had different colors, and were actually the formal wear for the wielder of the Saintly Swords.
Anyway, this uniform had nothing to do with me, a normal student.
I walked up the stage to touch the Holy Sword.
And glance at instructor Cattlea.
Vermillion hair, crimson eyes, baby face and a pet.i.te stature.
And also──
「What? Crow, why are you looking down at me? You are forbidden from doing so, I feel p.i.s.sed when you look down at me from above.」
Her words were not mature at all.
Whenever I see this instructor, I would get confused on the standards the Saintly Swords used to choose their wielder.
Never mind, it"s thanks to this instructor in the Military Academy, that peace and order was kept on campus.
She might have a sharp tongue, but her character was as n.o.ble as Iris, and would stop any fights or bullying amongst students.
The only Saintly Sword wielders I knew were Iris, Heath and Instructor Cattlea, and the only three Saintly Swords I saw in action belonged to them.
Hence, I have no idea how powerful the other nine Saintly Swords were, but from my observations, aside from the Holy Sword, the power of the other Saintly Sword wielders were about the same.
With both Instructor Cattlea and Iris having the same mindset, Prince Heath was kept in check and couldn"t do as he pleased.
「Here, hurry up and touch the Holy Sword.」
「……」
I carefully observed the Holy Sword on the stage.
At the end of its hilt was a silver orb, and the entire sword was shining faintly.
This Saintly Sword that looked like a silver cross didn"t look like an ancient artifact at all.
The blade was in pristine condition, without any signs of rust at all.
If not for this chance, I would never get the chance to see such a valuable treasure. The sword did have a holy aura of a weapon that saved the world multiple times from the threat of Demon Kings.
「……」
The Holy Sword selection was held several times a year, so I have already touched it multiple times.
It seems that when the hero touches the Holy Sword, it would shine like the sun.
I held the hilt of the Holy Sword that the other students had touched, and tried lifting it.
「……」
The Holy Sword didn"t shine at all.
No reaction.
I sighed.
No matter how many times I experienced that, I would still feel disappointed.
Since I was young, I had always bore a faint admiration for the hero that saves the world from the Demon King.
Although all boys would feel that way to some extent.
So I would have some expectations whenever I hold the hilt of the Holy Sword, and think that it might shine──
「…… It"s no good.」
The Holy Sword didn"t glow.
There was no way the Saintly Sword used by the heroes of legends would choose me.
Such a thing would…
〈Sigh…〉
A voice came from the Holy Sword.
「Ugh!」
I was dumbfounded, and dropped the Holy Sword onto the floor.
〈Uwah! Be careful… Really now… You are just a mob.〉
「Woah! The sword, the sword spoke! Instructor! This sword is speaking!」
〈… Huh?〉
As I was panicking──
「Huh? What are you talking about?」
Instructor Cattlea tilted her head cutely.
「No, even if you ask me… The sword has been talking all this while!」
「… Are you… Tired?」
「What!」
「You looked fine even after the entire student body calls you r.e.t.a.r.ded, so I thought you are an impressive guy in some way. But actually, you will cry when you are alone, right?」
「What are you saying!」
「Ehh, even if you ask me… It"s because you just said the sword is talking.」
「Huh? Instructor, you can"t hear the voice of this sword?」
「I"m not sick, so I can"t hear it.」
「I"m not sick!」
Be it the boys who had touched the Holy Sword or the ones preparing to do so after me, they were all staring at me baffled, saying 「Get off the stage!」, 「It"s my turn.」
「Shut up!」
〈You…〉
When I replied on stage, the voice from the Holy Sword asked timidly:
〈Can you … hear my voice?〉
「Huh? Yeah, right! I can hear you!」
〈What"s going on… I don"t believe it… What"s your name?〉
「Crow, my name is Crow.」
〈Crow, huh… I"m…〉
At this moment, Instructor Cattlea came over worriedly. For some reason, even Iris was here.
「Erm, hey, Crow… are you really okay?」
「Crow… You have been talking to yourself…」
They said to me.
「You are noisy! I"m talking with that sword right now, shut up for a minute!」
When I said that, the two of them started to doubt my sanity.
「Instructor, I will send Crow to the infirmary, and will use force if I have to.」
「Yes, he"s really dangerous right now.」
Iris teleported to my back the next instant and chopped my neck.
I fainted from that blow, but before I completely lose conscious──
〈Crow… If you really can hear my voice… Please come see me again… I have something I want to tell you when no one else is around…〉
That was the last time I heard.
After that.
I was talking to myself during the Holy Sword selection, and got knocked out by Iris. I even started doubting my mental state.
I suddenly start talking with a sword in front of the entire student body.
Thinking about it calmly, I was the one who caused the problem.
I already heard that when the hero holds the Holy Sword Excalibur, the sword would shine brightly.
However, I never heard of a sword suddenly talking.
「……」
I stared at the ceiling in the infirmary, and fell into deep thought as I laid on my bed.
I was the only one who could hear the voice from the Holy Sword.
That"s right, just me.
In such a situation, there were two possibilities.
I"m the wielder of the Holy Sword── the hero.
I was hearing things because of mental issues.
「…… It"s the latter.」
I reached a conclusion immediately.
No matter what, I couldn"t imagine myself being the hero.
I had read about the exploits of past heroes many times in history lessons.
According to records, all the heroes were literally legendary talent that comes along every few hundred years.
And their adventures were the stuff of fairy tales.
Every one of the heroes chosen by the Holy Sword overcame the turbulent obstacles they faced and succeeded in saving the world from the Demon King.
Compared to them, I was too ordinary.
And to be frank, I was useless.
I was aware of that, so I think the chance of me being a hero was zero.
「… Okay! I was just hearing things, let"s forget all that!」
With that settled, I decided to forget about the voice from the Holy Sword, and return to my regular student life.
However……
〈Crow～Crow～〉
「……」
〈Crow～Crow～〉
The day after the Holy Sword selection, I started hearing things everywhere.
〈Crow～ please answer me～Crow～〉
「……」
〈Crow～Crow～Cr～ow～〉
This was bad.
Absolutely terrible.
I kept hearing my name being called.
Be it in cla.s.s, during meals, or when I"m sleeping.
〈Crow～Crow～Crow～〉
In just a week, I started showing signs of insanity.
I couldn"t even attend cla.s.s properly, and laid down in my dorm room.
Well, I didn"t intend to attend cla.s.s properly in the first place.
As the Royal Military Academy policy was for all students to board in their dormitory, the campus was comparable to the size of a small castle town.
The dormitory was huge too, but not big enough for all the students to have their own room.
In my dormitory, four students share a room.
There were hundreds of such single bedrooms, which had two bunk beds squeezed inside.
But cla.s.s was in session, so I was alone in the dormitory.
「……」
For the past few days, I had been troubled by phantom voices.
I might skip lessons often, but it was troubling since it affected my daily life to such an extent.
I wasn"t interested in attending cla.s.s, but it was a pain to hear things when I was eating and sleeping too.
What should I do now?
I started thinking about it seriously.
At this moment─
〈Cr～ow～〉
I heard the usual phantom voices, at the same time──
〈I finally found you～〉
A silver haired girl pa.s.s through the dorm walls and appeared before me.
「Kyaaaa!」
I screamed.
She didn"t enter through the door or windows, but through the walls and to the top bunk of my bed.
Normally, one would relate that to spirits or devils.
〈Ughhh…… Bleah……〉
And the silver haired girl was very pale and seemed to be in pain, which made it even scarier.
On a closer look, she was a beauty with a thin waist and big bust. She was wearing revealing armour that exposed her belly, which made me wonder whether it increased or decreased her defences.
She was undoubtedly a beauty, but──
〈Bleargh! I"m too far away from my main body… I"m dying...…!〉
As I laid on my bed, the silver haired girl straddled over my body, and look ready to puke.
「Eeekkk!」
I wasn"t just hearing things this time, and had started seeing things too.
I screamed in the deserted dormitory.
〈P-Please… come to the chapel… I will wait for you there...〉
「Huh?」
〈Here… is too far from my main body… it hurts… please hurry to the chapel…〉
「N-No, but…」
〈If you don"t come over… I will let you experience something even scarier… Bleaaghhh!〉
「Nooooo!」
The things e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.n.g. from the silver haired girl"s mouth sprayed all over my face.
「……」
I followed the instructions, and went from the dormitory to the chapel in the center of the Royal Military Academy.
Despite all the things e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed on my face, there wasn"t any stain on smell on me.
Which means, that girl was just an illusion.
However, I didn"t have the guts to ignore her demands.
I entered the empty chapel alone.
One week ago, the entire student body entered to touch the Holy Sword for the Holy Sword selection, and now, it was completely deserted.
The chapel that could hold a thousand students was silent, unlike that time when we held the Holy Sword selection.
「Ehh!」
There were many benches in the quiet chapel, and that silver haired girl from earlier──
Was sitting on one of them.
〈You are finally here, I have been waiting for you.〉
She looked much better now, and seemed to be feeling better too.
Looking at her calmly, this silver haired girl was a great beauty.
She filled out her strange exposed armour with her thicc figure, and her skin was exceptionally pale.
The light shining through the chapel"s colored gla.s.s illuminated her pale skin and silver hair, bringing out her extraordinary beauty.
「……」
How strange.
For a delusion conjured by my messed up mind, the quality was too high>
I tried painting and sculpting during art cla.s.s, but it was plain from my creation that I didn"t have any talent for the arts.
Even if I have awakened my magic powers to give form to my delusion of a beauty, it wouldn"t be someone like her.
Which means, this girl and the phantom voice I had been hearing wasn"t just my delusion?
「Are you the one who had been calling out to me recently?」
〈Yes, that"s right.〉
「What exactly are you?」
〈I will explain that properly. But it will take quite a while, so please take a seat.〉
The silver haired girl said as she tapped the bench she was sitting on.
She wanted me to sit beside her.
I timidly sat down by the silver haired girl"s side.
At that moment, the girl suddenly floated into the air, and hovered right before me.
「……!」
This wasn"t something possible for a human, only a spirit could manage that.
〈I"m the will residing within the Holy Sword Excalibur── The Sprite of the Sword Holly.〉
「Huh? By Holy Sword, you mean… That Holy Sword?」
〈Correct.〉
「The Holy Sword touched by the entire student body one week ago?」
〈That"s right. To seek out, nurture, and guide the one fit to wield me, so he could grow and become the hero to defeat the Demon King. That"s the purpose of the Holy Sword. That"s why the Holy Sword needs to be sentient.〉
「That"s true……」
〈If the Holy Sword is just a powerful weapon, the wielder won"t be able to draw out the full potential of the Saintly Sword. So think of me as something like a user manual or guide.〉
「……?」
〈However, the ones who could speak with me throughout the ages were the wielder of the Holy Sword. So the hero of every generation were weirdos who often talk to themselves.〉
「Hmm?」
〈── Which means, only the hero is able to perceive me.〉
I was listening timidly to her the entire time, and was shocked by this revelation.
This girl was the will residing within the Holy Sword, and only the wielder of the Holy Sword could see and hear her.
In other words, only the hero could see this girl.
I gulped, and couldn"t help leaning forward.
「Huh? Ehh? Wait, since I can see you, that means I-I-I"m the hero?」
〈No.〉
「She said no!」
I somehow managed the dexterous move of slipping off the bench in the chapel
「Then what? Why am I able to speak with you?」
〈G.o.d knows.〉
「Ehh, you don"t know… But I can see you and speak with you, right? And only the hero can see you. Therefore. I"m the hero, correct?」
〈No.〉
「…… Why are you refuting that so firmly?」
〈I couldn"t sense the qualities of a Holy Sword wielder from you at all. When that Holy Sword selection something was held, the wielder of the Saintly Swords all possessed some of this quality, but I don"t sense anything from you.〉
「……」
〈I can confidently say that of all the students in this Academy, you possess the least quality of a hero.〉
「Oh, is that so!? I"m so sorry for not being the hero!」
〈You are not in the wrong, since most humans have roughly the same level of quality as you.〉
「… And so? What do you want with me? You just want to declare how lacking I am?」
〈No way, I have something more pressing.〉
Holly averted her gaze from me, and showed the troubled face, like a nun praying in the chapel.
〈As the sprite residing within the Holy Sword, I have existed for a long time. Despite how long it has been, I"m not conscious all the time.〉
「So there are times when you sleep?」
〈Indeed. Please think about it. I can only converse with the wielder of the Holy Sword… And a hero is born after several hundred years. Who can spend such a long time awake?〉
「If the hero is not around, you can"t speak with anyone…」
〈So I will wake up when the hero is born, and fall into a deep slumber when the hero pa.s.ses on.〉
「I see. Since you are awake, then the hero has been born?」
Holly returned her gaze to me and stared right into my eyes.
〈That"s right, but you are not the hero.〉
「… I have already gotten over that misunderstanding, so please go on…」
She nonchalantly hurt me with her words.
〈About ten years ago, I could sense that the hero had been born to the east. After that, the presence of the hero kept coming from the east.〉
「In other words, the new hero is to the east, and is about ten years old.」
〈Yes.〉
「If you are awake ten years ago, that means you are conscious when I first enrolled. I already touched the Holy Sword several times, so why wasn"t there any reaction?」
〈Several times… You mean the periodic Holy Sword selection held in this Academy?〉
「Yes, that"s it, it had been held several times after I enrolled.」
〈There is no point in performing that routine. Letting new students try it might make sense, but students who already tried and failed would have no chance at all.〉
Holly kicked the bench I"m sitting on.
〈Since the hero isn"t in this Academy, I will stay inside the sword during the Holy Sword selection. I planned to continue doing so before the hero comes to me.〉
「Right now, everyone in this country will enroll in the Royal Military Academy when they reach 15, so if you wait five more years, that hero will be here.」
〈But there"s no time.〉
「No time? What do you mean?」
〈The Demon King is going to revive.〉
I was dumbstruck.
The revival of the Demon King.
The King of the Demons that wants to exterminate humanity and destroy the world.
To the residents of this world, he was the symbol of fear and horror.
The undying king that will keep reviving, despite the efforts of the previous heroes that defeated him.
That Demon King──
〈In another five years, the Demon King will revive.
── Will be reviving soon.
During my lifetime.
That Demon King bent on world destruction.
However, he had not pulled that off before.
A persistent existence, the Demon King will revive no matter how many times he was defeated, and get subjugated by a hero again.
Hence, the end of the world was averted.
However, before the hero could defeat the Demon King, there would be monsters much stronger than humans rampaging through the continent of Asgard .
The hero or warriors who reached a certain standard could defeat the monsters.
For example, the wielder of the Saintly Swords could deal with several hundred monsters easily.
But that wasn"t true for normal citizens.
Most of them would get killed without even putting up a fight.
According to historical records, there were times when humanity was pushed to the brink of extinction before the hero defeated the Demon King through much effort.
Everyone in this world sincerely wishes for one thing.
（That the Demon King won"t revive during my lifetime.）
「……」
I broke out in a cold sweat, and lowered my head without a word.
If anyone said the Demon King was going to revive, I would not believe them.
There was no fixed pattern for the Demon King"s revival.
No one knew when the Demon King would revive.
No, maybe there would be a rough estimate if they account for all the time that the Demon King appeared.
But no one would do that.
Even if they knew when the Demon King would revive, the hero was still the only one who could defeat him. And there was no way to stop the Demon King from reviving.
So I never believed anyone who told me that the Demon King was going to revive.
However, this was the Holy Sword used by the heroes of lore to defeat the Demon King.
In other words, the one who said this was the weapon used by countless people to subjugate the Demon King.
The Demon King will revive in five years.
I wasn"t optimistic enough to doubt her words.
「… So… there is a chance the Demon King will revive before the hero even enrol in this Academy?」
〈That"s right, and I doubt if the hero will attend this Academy in the first place. I have been listening to the conversation between the students and instructors on campus, and it seems not all citizens above 15 will enrol here, correct?〉
「That"s true… Because the impoverished citizens can"t afford the school fees…」
〈So if the hero is one of them, then he won"t enroll here.〉
「Oh my G.o.d…」
〈What a tragedy. When the previous hero established this Academy 500 years ago, his goal was to let all the children touch the Holy Sword once. By doing so, we can find the chosen one. The Academy has deviated from the purpose of its establishment.〉
When I heard that, I raised my head and stared at Holly.
「Huh? Did you call me here, because you want me to bring the hero to you?」
〈… I"m glad you caught on so quickly.〉
「I see I see! I just need to bring the hero here!」
〈And I can train that hero for the next five years.〉
「Then he can defeat the Demon King five years later!」
〈By that time, the hero would be 15 and at his prime. Maybe he can take down the Demon King quickly like his predecessor.〉
「Yes! I get it! I just need to let you meet the hero!」
〈That"s right.〉
I stood up energetically.
It was disappointing to learn that I"m not the hero, but on second thought, it might be a blessing in disguise.
The hero had to take on the Demon King which was capable of destroying the world, and defeat him.
And failure meant the extinction of mankind.
For a mere mortal like me, that was too heavy a burden.
However, if I became the envoy that brought the hero to the Saintly Sword, then a mortal like me would become an important person that protected the world, wouldn"t that be glorious?
「Holly, I get it. I will bring the hero here!」
〈Thank you.〉
「So, who is the hero? Which city is he in? What"s his name?」
〈I don"t know.〉
「…… Huh?」
I was full of drive earlier, but had turned stiff.
「Ehh? What did you just say?」
〈I said I don"t know. Because I have never met him.〉
「What? Then how do I find him?」
〈Just bring over all the children in the east that are about ten years old.〉
「There are too many! Do you know the population count is right now!?」
〈How many?〉
「The Continent of Asgard have 30 million people! There are tens of thousands of kids to the east of the capital!」
〈Huh! Are you serious?〉
「If you don"t tell me the right location, you won"t meet the hero no matter how many years I search…」
〈… d.a.m.n it… It"s all because those mobs keep making babies that things got so complicated…〉
「Huh?」
〈They had to count on me to survive the Demon King crisis, but those maggots will do those unsightly things when peace comes…〉
「Wait…」
〈If I knew this would happen, I should have taken down the Demon King slower last time, and thin their numbers…〉
「Hey! You went too far there! That"s not something that the Sprite of the Sword that saved the world countless times should say!」
〈By the way, Crow. You are a student of this Royal Military Academy, so you are either a royal or a n.o.ble?〉
「Hmm? No, I"m just a commoner.」
〈… Do you have the authority or power to mobilize the ma.s.ses?〉
「That"s impossible.」
〈Just my luck that I"m talking to this useless mob character…〉
「You are just being mean now!」
〈Then can you tell the other humans about our conversation, and ask them to gather all the ten years old children in the east?〉
「… No, that won"t work. Even on a good day, I can"t really say that I"m trusted by the people around me, since my results are the worst in school. When I first talked with you, others treated me as a dangerous person who was hearing things.」
〈… Tch! This garbage is useless…〉
「… Hey, can you stop demeaning me? That really hurts…」
〈… Oh! Sorry, Crow. Because I"m a sprite, so I can"t use pleasantries. I can only transmit whatever I am thinking.〉
「That"s not being sorry! That means you really mean everything you just said!」
〈I"m really sorry, all this while, I have only spoke with the hero… men who are genius and hotties. I"m not used to talking to sc.u.m like you who had neither talent nor looks.〉
「That"s not apologizing! You are just talking bad about me!」
〈I beg your pardon. From just now, I had been feeling strong displeasure from talking to a useless human. This is a first for me, so please bear with it.〉
「… Enough, I get it. I don"t care what you think of me, anyway…」
I rest my chin on my hand.
Only Holly could sense the hero that was in the east.
In other words, the problem could be solved by bringing Holly closer to the hero.
「Hey, Holly.」
〈Huh? This squid dares to yell my name so casually? Know your place, plebeian.〉
「……Holly-san.」
〈Address me as sama, r.e.t.a.r.d.〉
「…Holly-sama, can you head to the east and bring the hero here? Just like how you woke me from my sleep just now.」
〈I would have already done that if it was possible. I can"t leave the Saintly Sword itself, are you stupid?〉
「……」
Veins were popping up in my temple, and I could feel a slight headache, but I endured it.
「You didn"t look well just now. So it"s painful for you to be too far from the Saintly Sword?」
〈That"s correct. If the hero is near the Saintly Sword, I can move quite far away, but right now, ten or so metres is my limit. When I went to get you just now, I surpa.s.sed my limits and…〉
I frowned as I recalled her e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.n.g. all that vomit onto my face.
「… Hmm? That means the Holy Sword is in the vicinity? Shouldn"t it be under the close watch of the Royal family?」
〈Well, the Holy Sword is usually kept in the bas.e.m.e.nt of the Chapel. Declaring that it is kept in the palace is a lie to prevent theft, since it will be dangerous to move the Holy Sword whenever there is a Holy Sword selection.〉
「Is that so… Alright then, since you can"t move too far away from the Holy Sword, another way will be to bring the sword to the hero. However, we can"t take the closely guarded sword away either…」
〈That"s it!〉
Holly suddenly pointed at me with a brilliant smile.
〈You just have to bring the Holy Sword to the hero! The closer I am to the hero, the more accurate I can pinpoint his location, and I can confirm his ident.i.ty with just a glance.〉
「No, I can"t do it. A mere student like me can"t take the Holy Sword away, and I don"t think the Royal family will grant me permission either.」
〈You don"t need permission from anyone, since I permit you to take the Holy Sword with you.〉
「… You know, no one else can see you. So it"s pointless even if you grant me permission. To others, They will just think a student with brain problems has stolen the Holy Sword.」
〈It"s not theft, you are just taking it without their permission.〉
「To humans, that"s the definition of theft!」
〈But there is no other way. Please, Crow.〉
「If they found out that I stole the Holy Sword, I won"t be surprised if they sentence me to death.」
〈… If I can meet the hero, I don"t care if a guy like him gets executed. But if he finds out that I don"t care if he dies, that idiot will throw a fit. There"s no choice, I will have to seduce him with my charms…〉
「Your thoughts have been leaking out all this while… And I heard all of it…」
I sighed heavily.
But even so, I already resolved myself at this stage.
If I don"t do anything, all of humanity, including me, will die in five years.
I might be able to convince the approachable Instructor Cattlea and Iris after several years, but from what happened last time, I would just be treated as a lunatic.
In that case, despite the risks, the only human who understood the situation── which was me, had to steal the Holy Sword, and deliver it to the hero.
And the sooner, the better.
「… It"s not easy for mere mortals to contribute in the subjugation of the Demon King…」
Holly suddenly looked up at me as I was talking to myself.
〈Erm, Crow. Actually, I feel that you… Ahh, I can"t do it. It"s physiologically impossible for me. But if I don"t seduce him, he won"t take action… I-I-I like you… If you bring me to the hero… I will serve… serve… I can"t do it, I can"t tell him that.〉
「You don"t have to seduce me… Alright then, I will bring you to the hero.」
〈Really? This r.e.t.a.r.d sure is easy, I got him hooked with just that.〉
「……」
I endured it.
Holly was really p.i.s.sing me off, but I suppressed my anger.