Chapter 116
#Chapter 116: Demonic Sword Forte (18) - Altered Play
The princess of the country that summoned the Demon King.
At that description of the saintess, Pina could not help but be inwardly shocked.
Even Pina, who knew the story of the hero well enough, had never heard anything like this.
However, the saintess’s reaction upon hearing the Sage’s words was far too blatant to dismiss them as baseless accusations.
Her eyes were filled with anxiety as she frantically glanced around.
Seeing her, the Sage snorted.
“You at least seem to know that you did something wrong. A criminal from a fallen kingdom pretending to be a saintess? You’ve got a face thicker than a steel plate!”
“Th-that….”
“Did you think no one would find out? Well, I suppose it’s no wonder! The members of the royal family have either all been slaughtered or are probably serving as the Demon King’s toys by now!”
At the Sage’s repeated accusations, the saintess’s face grew paler and paler, and Pina, unable to bear watching, cautiously intervened.
“Um, Sage? Shouldn’t we at least hear her out?”
“Hear what? She’s probably just going to try some pathetic deception!”
“No, I mean, we should at least hear what the person involved has to say….”
“This whole mess happened because of you people! And you have the nerve to call yourself a saintess—”
What should I do?
This Sage wouldn’t listen.
Troubled, Pina discreetly asked Forte.
‘What should we do, Demonic Sword?’
《Go for his flank.》
Pina drove her elbow into the Sage’s right side.
The Sage let out a strangled sound, collapsed to the floor, and writhed there with convulsions.
“Are you all right? I’m sorry. Our Sage has a foul mouth, a rather prickly personality, and can even be dangerous at times, but he isn’t a bad person.”
“Uh, yes?”
“Could we hear what happened?”
The saintess looked back and forth between Pina and the Sage in confusion, then cautiously nodded.
***
Claire Edelweiss.
Her story, as the former princess of a kingdom that had now fallen into the Demon King’s hands, was predictable in a sense.
A princess who opposed the mad act of summoning a Demon King by offering her own people as sacrifices, despite the country steadily losing the war.
A king who, angered by such a daughter, ordered her imprisoned in a tower seldom visited by anyone.
Yet when the Demon King broke the chains of the contract and seized the royal palace, the security measures holding the princess there collapsed as well, allowing her to escape the disaster somehow.
Feeling guilty for the people suffering because of the war started by the Demon King, the princess traveled around healing people with the power of the blessings she possessed, and the people called her a saintess.
And when the Sage heard this story, he said,
“In short, her family did all the bad things, and she herself did nothing wrong! Well, aren’t you just wonderful!”
“Sage, perhaps you could choose your words a little more carefully….”
“Did I say anything wrong? It’s obvious she’s trying to avoid responsibility somehow! If this woman really intended to take responsibility, she wouldn’t have gone around hiding her identity!”
At the Sage’s criticism, the saintess’s fingertips trembled, but she could not utter a single rebuttal.
Though tears gathered in her eyes, she could not even bring herself to cry out, as if her shame and misery were laid bare.
The sight was so pitiful that Pina cautiously offered words of comfort.
“I-I think you couldn’t help it. If you had revealed your identity, you probably wouldn’t have been able to walk among the people. Then you wouldn’t have been able to heal the injured, either.”
“No, Hero.”
The saintess shook her head with a melancholy expression.
“The Sage is right. If I had truly intended to take responsibility as the princess of a fallen kingdom, I should have revealed my identity and faced that burden openly. I helped people without having the resolve to do that, and felt relieved when they thanked me. I told myself that I was different from my father. That I was helping people as much as I could.”
“Exactly. Truly pathetic hypocrisy and self-satisfaction!”
“Sage?”
Pina quietly gripped the hilt of her sword.
At Pina’s ominous voice, the Sage frowned and slowly turned his head, muttering things like, ‘It’s not as though I’m wrong,’ and, ‘How barbaric, trying to cover up the truth with violence.’
Ignoring the Sage, Pina decided to persuade the saintess.
One of Pina and Forte’s goals was to learn about the events the hero’s party had experienced in the past.
For that reason alone, the saintess was someone they absolutely had to recruit into the party.
“Saintess, we have to defeat the Demon King. Could you please lend us your help?”
“……”
The saintess hesitated, unable to answer easily.
The emotions appearing on her face were incredibly complicated, but somehow, Pina felt as though she could understand them.
A sense of duty to fulfill the responsibility she carried.
But also fear of what she would have to endure to do so.
The hesitation of wanting to nod, knowing it was the right thing to do, yet being unable to see it through—and the self-loathing that followed.
Only then did Pina realize how cruel the words she had just spoken were.
To Pina, defeating the Demon King was nothing more than something that had already happened in the past.
But to the saintess, it was a perilous undertaking whose success was not even certain.
‘Demonic Sword, what should I do? I can’t think of anything to say to persuade her. No, I don’t even know if I should persuade her.’
In answer to Pina’s question, Forte replied simply.
《Then don’t persuade her.》
‘Huh? But the protagonists of the hero’s story are the three of them.’
《History is only history. What you thought was false may be true, and what you thought was the truth may be fiction. The choice is yours. My role is to help you with it.》
It sounded irresponsible at first glance, but at the same time, it was an incredibly reassuring encouragement.
Drawing courage from that encouragement, Pina opened her mouth.
“If you’re troubled, you don’t have to answer right away. No, you can simply refuse. Thinking about it, helping people like this is a wonderful thing in itself.”
The saintess’s eyes widened, and the Sage, who had been silently looking displeased beside her, cried out in alarm.
“What are you saying? You’re just going to let that woman go?”
“Sage, she isn’t a fish you caught, so ‘let her go’ is a slightly odd way to put it….”
“That isn’t the point!”
“You said you didn’t want to accept the saintess as a companion anyway. Then isn’t this for the best?”
The Sage’s face twisted strangely.
He looked annoyed, but seemed unable to come up with a proper rebuttal.
“Hmph, have it your way! I can’t tell whether you intend to defeat the Demon King or not!”
The saintess cautiously asked,
“Are you really sure it’s all right if I don’t come with you?”
“Yes, it’s all right. In fact, I’m sorry for putting unnecessary pressure on you.”
“……”
With relief and self-loathing tangled across her face, the saintess lowered her head.
“Could you give me just a little more time? After that, I promise I’ll give you my answer.”
As the saintess spoke, the surrounding scenery began to distort.
As though ordering the incorrect development to stop, the stage was trying to turn back the curtain.
Of course, Forte did not simply watch it happen.
The energy flowing from Forte’s body forcibly fixed the surrounding scenery in place, then resisted the stage’s pressure.
In the end, unable to break through Forte’s defenses, the stage continued the story as though it had no choice.
At the invitation of the hero and the Sage, the saintess gladly agreed.
“Yes, I understand. If it is to save the world, I too shall gladly dedicate myself.”
The three of them set out on a new journey.
‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐
‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐‐＝≡二三二≡＝‐
In response to the hero and the Sage’s invitation, the saintess answered with her head bowed.
“I’m sorry. It seems too heavy a burden for me, so please give me a little more time to think.”
With no choice, the hero and the Sage left, abandoning the saintess—or rather, an ordinary woman.
Watching the rapidly changing scenery around her, as though key scenes were flashing by during a movie’s plot summary, Pina spoke to Forte inwardly.
‘Did my ancestor originally persuade the saintess here?’
《He probably did. The saintess was wavering at a crossroads just now, and, one way or another, she seemed to feel responsible and guilty about this situation. If he had applied a little more pressure or appealed to her more strongly, she would have eventually joined them.》
They could have said that the Demon King had to be defeated to prevent even greater tragedy and bloodshed, that helping people here would not erase her sins, or that they would reveal her identity to those around her if she refused to cooperate. The means of persuasion would have been endless.
If he had used them, Forte would not have needed to strain himself resisting the stage.
But Forte did not do so.
He knew that Pina did not want it.
‘This is different from the story I heard. The Sage isn’t always a dignified and easygoing advisor, but a grumbling wizard with a nasty disposition. And the saintess isn’t an iron-willed woman armed with unwavering faith and a sense of duty, but an ordinary person who worries and feels afraid.’
《So, are you disappointed?》
‘No. I think it’s even more amazing. They weren’t people who were complete from the very beginning, but people who were somehow lacking and inadequate, and yet they accomplished great deeds. They stood and fought against a terrifying Demon King.’
After saying that, Pina scratched her cheek.
‘Well, even if the stage gives us choices like this, it won’t actually change history, so perhaps it’s meaningless. No, in terms of uncovering the truth of the past, it might even be a step backward.’
《Don’t worry about that. There’s no need to play along when someone has placed people on a stage without their permission and ordered them to dance as they please. Just do what you want.》
At Forte’s nonchalant declaration, Pina smiled bashfully.
As always, the Demonic Sword’s advice was incredibly reassuring and comforting.
Even while the two of them talked, the stage’s story continued to unfold.
They had failed to make the saintess their companion, but the hero and the Sage continued their journey nonetheless.
As the hero’s party confronted the Demon King’s army, they gradually grew stronger, and the Demon King’s army, apparently viewing them as a threat, began sending increasingly powerful forces against them.
No matter how skilled the party was, their abilities were not enough to overcome the difference in numbers.
Just then, messengers from countries suffering under the Demon King’s invasion approached the party and said,
“Ah, brave Hero and wise Sage! We will help you! Let’s defeat the Demon King together!”
“Your great achievements have deeply moved us. Please become the center around which we can unite!”
The Sage eyed the messengers from a neighboring kingdom—or rather, the messengers from neighboring kingdoms—with a crooked posture.
Pina, realizing that she had somehow returned from being an audience member to being an actor, blinked and waited for the other side to continue.
“His Majesty Philip Usid Albaria, the great ruler of the Kingdom of Albaria, wishes to praise your contributions and invite you to our homeland as honored guests.”
“His Excellency Galileo Roth Iperipara, descendant of the great Beast God and rightful ruler of Kirkius, has granted you both the rank of honorary knight! Please join our nation and help us overcome this calamity!”
“Oh! The heroes will visit as honored guests of Albaria!”
“What do you mean? It is practically an insult to tell people who have accomplished such great deeds to come over without offering them even a title!”
“At most, you’re making a show of mere honorary knighthoods! If His Majesty were to meet these people in person, he would grant them positions befitting their achievements. How dare you think only of the present and try to mislead these distinguished people with such absurd nonsense!”
“You’re the ones trying to tempt them with that crude wealth in the wagon!”
“What did you say!?”
Having long since abandoned the hero’s party and begun bickering among themselves, the neighboring countries’ messengers drew a blunt remark from the Sage.
“Hey, you lot.”
“Y-you lot?”
“Ahem, Sage. I have come as the representative of His Excellency Iperipara, so I would appreciate it if you showed some courtesy….”
“Forget manners and all that. So how much are you contributing to the campaign against the Demon King? Will you send tens of thousands of soldiers?”
At the Sage’s words, the messengers’ mouths snapped shut like clams.
Seeing that, the Sage sneered.
“See that, Hero? Even while we’re working our asses off to hold back the Demon King’s advance, these people aren’t offering cooperation—they’re just trying to poach our talent. We ought to let them get hit hard before they learn their lesson. They won’t stop spouting nonsense until the fire reaches their own feet.”