Chapter 8 - Meeting The Protagonist

In the original story, Levia falls from grace.

While adventuring as part of the hero's party, she fell from grace towards the end and ended up confronting the protagonist. Seeing that version of Levia made my heart ache.

Levia has a strong sense of responsibility.

She was by no means an evil person. Anyone would consider her a good person. And because of that, Levia was structurally very easy to corrupt.

Levia was born with considerable holy power. Although she was working as a nun in this frontier town for political reasons now, she was born with the qualities of a saint. Because of this, she underwent harsh training and considered it normal.

She lived thinking that being born as a saint and protecting and helping others was the reason for her existence.

She always sought power.

That was why she constantly craved power. To fulfill her responsibilities as a saint and save more people, she didn't hesitate to undergo grueling training to increase her holy power. Her fondness for money also had similar reasons behind it.

She suffered a lot.

However, it was inevitably painful. No matter how hard one tried, it was impossible to save everyone. Whenever Levia managed to save someone, she inevitably saw others she couldn't save.

This might be unavoidable for humans with limitations, but in such situations, Levia always wondered what if she had a little more power.

And then the evil god appeared on top of that.

In that situation, to make matters worse, the evil god constantly whispered to her. She was loved by both the goddess and the evil god. The evil god whispered to her that if she would only follow him, he would create a world where no one suffered.

She had always lived hearing such temptations. Of course, she always refused.

She probably knew. That following the evil god's words might create a world where no one got hurt, but it surely wouldn't be a normal world. So she refused, but...

Being drawn to the evil god was her unavoidable instinct. Levia, feeling great despair after her sister's death, eventually surrendered herself to the evil god. And she fell from grace.

Her sister's death has deep meaning.

Therefore, her sister's death could be seen as very significant. The once bright and warm-smiling Levia no longer smiled like before. Because of her sister's death, the current Levia became a cold saint who moved only by faith and responsibility.

I should prevent that.

I intend to prevent that. I had a strong desire to help her if possible.

Originally I was planning to intervene at a different time.

This wasn't actually my original plan. No matter how much of a favorite character she was, I didn't intend to save her or anything like that. I didn't have the confidence to meddle with such a major storyline, and besides being my favorite character, there was no reason to save her.

She wasn't worth saving enough to risk messing up the story by interfering unnecessarily. But now it was different. I was in a position of having received kindness from Levia.

Although it had become a kind of transaction now under the name of donations, initially Levia tried to help me, and her help was indeed significant.

I should repay the kindness I received.

That was why I was trying to help her. I should return as much help as I received. As I was walking with that purpose in mind...

[Why don't you just eliminate it?]

A voice echoed in my head. It was the Spirit Sword's voice.

"Eliminate? What do you mean?"

[Weren't you thinking about the magic beast just now? If you're worried, why don't you just eliminate it yourself?]

The Spirit Sword seemed to already know what I was thinking. It told me to just blast away the magic beast. The Spirit Sword spoke as if it was no big deal.

"Let's do that."

[Oh.]

I was thinking of doing that even without being told. I agreed with those words.

[What? I was going to scold you if you didn't act despite having the power.]

"Hmm..."

[Let's quickly eliminate something like a magic beast, it shouldn't be too difficult.]

My master told me I should obviously eliminate it. I thought it was an extremely heroic thing to say. But it was quite annoying that it was the Spirit Sword saying this.

"But aren't you only interested in the value of the sword, not in grand causes?"

[...Umm...]

Of course, the Spirit Sword saying such things wasn't for any grand cause, but purely for its own benefit. The Spirit Sword's goal was to maximize its own value. When I hit the nail on the head, the Spirit Sword couldn't give a proper response.

[Let's hurry and go eliminate the magic beast...!!]

It hastily changed the subject. I chuckled and headed towards the mountain to find the magical beast.

***

I entered deep into the mountains once again.

By the way, if I eliminate the magic beast, what will happen to the protagonist?

But I had some concerns. I would eliminate the magic beast, but there was a problem with that. It was that the protagonist's role would disappear.

It wasn’t like the protagonist had tremendous growth from defeating the magic beast, but still, wasn't this the much-anticipated first episode? If I eliminate the magic beast, it was obvious that this would affect the protagonist.

Hmm...

That was why I couldn't help but worry deeply. I was thinking about what I should do when...

Wait, isn't that the protagonist?

I saw a girl with an appearance that shone like a pearl in the mud, although she was covered in dirt, probably from sword training. Although she was a bit far away, I could immediately sense who she was.

Her name was Tigna. She was the protagonist of the novel and the one who later became the hero.

Why is she here?

I was surprised by the sudden appearance of the protagonist. I hurriedly hid myself. Although I was somewhat puzzled as to why the protagonist appeared here...

Ah... right. She was supposed to be training around here.

Actually, thinking about it calmly, it wasn't that strange. She was said to be training in this village for a while. I didn't think I'd meet her because I didn't know the exact location and this mountain was quite large, but it seemed I had accidentally discovered her.

I should just pretend I didn't see her and pass by, right? Of course, I had no intention of meeting the protagonist now. I was about to quietly leave this place when...

Huh? She's with bandits?

The atmosphere seemed to be turning quite ominous.

"Hehehe, miss. Why don't you come over here and play with us?"

A group of about a dozen bandits were surrounding Tigna and snickering.

It wasn’t particularly unusual. There were always men who hit on Tigna because of her appearance.

Of course, all such men were mercilessly cut down by Tigna.

"Such trash."

Tigna drew her sword while looking at the bandits. In an instant, sharp sword strikes whirled around.

"Argh!!!"

The bandits fell to the ground without even time to scream. She subdued all the bandits with just a few simple movements.

As expected of the protagonist.

To think I'd actually see the protagonist fighting. I was feeling somewhat impressed when...

"Who are you?"

Huh? Did she notice me? 

The protagonist discovered me and slowly walked over.

"...Ah. I wasn't trying to watch or anything? You see, I..."

To think I'd face the protagonist, what should I do in this situation? It was something I hadn't expected. I was about to slowly greet the protagonist first.

"Are you also with these guys?"

"Huh?"

But it seemed there was a bit of a misunderstanding. After fighting with the bandits, she seemed to have perceived me as one of their group. Of course, my clothes were different from theirs, but I was currently holding the Spirit Sword, and ordinary people didn't carry swords around.

It was enough of a situation to be mistaken as an enemy.

"No need for words."

Suddenly, a murderous aura enveloped her body. Immediately, a flashing sword strike flew towards me. It was fast and accurate.

A sword strike without a moment's hesitation, filled with strong will to take down the opponent. It was indeed befitting of the novel's protagonist.

Of course, it was still clumsy.

"Huh?"

The protagonist who had rushed at me was instead thrown back. Rolling on the ground, she had a blank expression, not knowing what had just happened.