Chapter 26
The next day.
Beneath the warm spring sunshine.
For the first time, Arien Academy’s main gate was open to outsiders. Crystals throughout the academy glowed, announcing the day’s event.
[The Hero’s examination will be held at the academy’s central training ground starting at noon.]
[Under the auspices of the great Sun God, please witness the examination with reverent hearts.]
The three kingdoms of the southern continent had been preparing ever since news broke that a new Sacred Sword had been discovered. To hear the results of this Hero’s examination, they had dispatched nearby vassals and observers.
Thanks to that, the academy was more crowded than usual.
Perhaps even more so than during the Sun Sabbath festival….
Most people were merely astonished by the strange rumor and the examination. The story was so dreamlike that it didn’t feel real.
“A Hero’s examination…! Is this for real?”
“No way. After five hundred years, now?”
“How old is this story about the Sacred Sword, anyway?”
“Arien the Hero was a legend…. But the world no longer needs the Sacred Sword. His mana techniques have all become knightly techniques and advanced since then.”
“The Hero of the Sacred Sword is a relic of the past.”
“And a relic too precious for a commoner to wield.”
Some people scoffed. They pondered the meaning behind this political spectacle.
“The Holy Theocracy must be desperate. Showing off its influence with such a pointless performance….”
“Are they going to bring out some commoner nobody and put on a strongman show?”
“They’re attaching far too much significance to a kid who merely awakened an artifact.”
“Just some commoner nobody.”
“What could he possibly do?”
People no longer attached much significance to the Sacred Sword.
Five hundred years since Arien’s death,
a whole five hundred years.
That was long enough for myth to become an ordinary hero’s tale. They left the Sacred Sword’s radiance to the childish dreams of boys and girls, and studied only the truths behind the myths.
-The Hero’s movements were muscle activation through mana!
Arien’s mythic, heroic movements had been thoroughly analyzed as ‘mana manipulation techniques.’ Those with talent could now reach the stage of ‘Flow’ and perform similar movements.
-The Hero’s swordsmanship was an image projected through mana!
The flames that had blazed from the tip of Arien’s sword became the goal of many as ‘mana swordsmanship.’ Now, renowned swordsmen could reach the stage of ‘Ignition’ and demonstrate mana swordsmanship.
-The Hero’s shining sword was the ultimate realm!
The realm of ‘Aurora.’
It was surely permitted only to a tiny handful of geniuses.
But.
Some could reach it even without the Sacred Sword.
The Hero had stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship,
but he wasn’t an unreachable sky.
Many Sword Masters had appeared even after Arien’s death.
If so….
What did it mean to be a Hero, after all?
Why had the Sacred Sword appeared again?
People wondered.
*
-Waaaaah—!
The training ground, which usually echoed only with Instructor Zach’s shouts, was deafeningly loud. It felt as if the whole world had gathered there.
Lydia let half the noise wash over her.
‘…Well, most of it is probably cheers from academy students excited that most classes were canceled, and people from the shopping district who came for the spectacle.’
Lydia stood comfortably, leaning beside the entrance to the waiting room.
Unlike usual, she wasn’t dressed in training clothes.
She wore her academy uniform, along with a cloak bearing the emblem of the Department of Swordsmanship. It was the full formal attire cadets were expected to wear for occasions like this.
Her golden hair shone brilliantly against the cloak’s blend of white and blue.
‘Normally, I’d only have worn this for graduation, the coming-of-age ceremony, or a festival…. But since we’ve moved this event up, I may end up wearing it often.’
“….”
Beside her, Morgan and Mave stood with their arms crossed, dressed similarly. None of them seemed accustomed to this atmosphere; their faces were stiff.
“….”
“….”
Inside the waiting room.
In the space originally set aside for putting on and taking off protective gear….
Arti was sitting there all alone.
Arti wore simple clothes. Over his plain training outfit, he had only a cloth cuirass and leather protective gear. With his head bowed, he kept clenching and unclenching his fists.
The gauntlets on his hands felt stiff.
‘Maybe because I just bought them with the money we earned the other day, they still don’t feel familiar.’
“….”
He clenched his fist with all his strength.
Squeeze—
It didn’t feel real. He felt as if he were floating, like he was throwing a punch in a dream.
Perhaps….
It was because the whole situation still didn’t feel real.
‘Am I really a Hero? Maybe I’m just some country bumpkin who happened to pick up a sword, met some incredible people, and got the wrong idea. Maybe the Saintess was mistaken and was only nice to me because of that.’
“….”
He couldn’t be sure.
So Arti spoke to the golden-haired girl standing outside the waiting room. She always guided him calmly, like the North Star.
“Lydia.”
“I’m here.”
“….”
Her voice was low for a woman.
Hearing that voice calmed him.
“….”
She was a strange girl.
She had a feminine figure and delicate features, yet she seemed so incredibly strong that people wanted to follow her. And when he remembered her status, a belated shiver ran through him.
‘She really is terrifyingly strong, too….’
With that thought,
reverence had taken root before first love.
Good heavens,
were all Gallian royals like this?
She was the first true knight he’d met, someone like a mentor.
‘…That’s why I never saw her as a woman in the first place. She’s a hundred times more beautiful than those pretty tavern girls the village boys used to talk about.’
Arti asked Lydia,
“Lydia, am I a Hero?”
“Hmm.”
But the reply he got was an unexpected question.
“Do you not want to be a Hero?”
“?”
Arti raised his head at the unexpected answer.
But Lydia continued with her questions. The back of the girl, dressed more formally than ever, looked utterly noble.
“Arti. Do you resent being thrust in front of all these people just because you picked up a sword, and being put through grueling training at the command of some strange woman?”
“….”
“Are you resentful that simply because you took up a sword, you’re now someone who has to protect others instead of being protected?”
“….”
Arti shook his head.
“No. I still don’t know exactly what I’m supposed to fight as a Hero… but at least, I don’t regret walking this path.”
“Why?”
“Because I’ve gained so much. I enjoy learning from you, Lydia. I’ve come to want to become a Sword Master. And even though I’m a commoner, I’ve managed to fit in at the academy….”
And.
Arti smiled faintly.
“…Because I met the Saintess.”
“If you returned to being an ordinary village boy, you might have to give all of that up.”
“….”
“Do you want to give these things up?”
“No.”
Never.
Arti clenched his fist tight. The gauntlet felt more familiar now.
Lydia said,
“If this path had not been right for you, that night in the forest, you would have thrown away the Sacred Sword I found and pretended not to hear me. Then I would have given up, too.”
“….”
“If this path had not been right for you, you would have abandoned the training that felt like it was killing you every day and run away. You already knew I wouldn’t punish you for it.”
“….”
“If this path had not been right for you…”
Lydia smiled.
“You wouldn’t have awakened the Sacred Sword to protect people from the Bone Rider.”
“!”
“Arti, you’re already a Hero. So asking yourself whether you’re really a Hero is as ridiculous as me asking whether I’m really a royal. It’s so obvious that it’s an embarrassing question to ask a friend—one that leaves them awkwardly nodding.”
“I see.”
“So let’s change the question.”
“?”
Arti stood up.
He saw Lydia beyond the waiting room door.
Lydia faced him.
“Do you have the confidence to keep showing up and training every dawn, just as you’ve done until now?”
“….”
“Do you have the confidence to take responsibility for protecting Aria, the Sacred Sword, and the people, instead of leaving it to others?”
Arti clenched his fist with all his strength. Now the leather of his gauntlet was soaked with sweat, and no longer felt unfamiliar.
Squeeze—!
He answered.
“Yes!”
“Then go prove it.”
Lydia spoke with her usual conviction.
“I’ll be watching.”
“…Yes!”
Arti headed out of the waiting room, a little tense.
Mave gave him a tap on the shoulder. She was dressed more femininely than ever, but wore the same expression she had during their dawn training.
“Do your best, country bumpkin. If you really are a Hero, somehow I don’t mind. It means I can get stronger by your side.”
“Yeah.”
Morgan glanced at Arti, then stepped beside Lydia and spoke with an aloof air. She couldn’t simply ignore Arti as he was mocked for being a commoner.
“Do your best, runt. The one who can overcome that kind of mockery is the one who wins.”
“…Yeah.”
Leaving the girls behind,
Arti walked forward.
Toward the brightly shining exit beyond the dim corridor….
-Waaaaah—!
“….”
And.
Toward the testing ground where she was watching….
“….”
‘Saintess, please watch over me from there.’
I can’t give up now. I’ve learned, experienced, and felt too much. So I’ll dare to prove it.
“…I will become a Hero.”
-Waaaaah—!
“….”
Arti’s voice still couldn’t be heard over the cheers. So he continued forward in silence.
Just before noon,
into the arena beneath the blazing sun.
*
“Waaaaah!”
The crowd cheered.
In the center of the arena stood a white altar.
A large emblem of the Sun God was carefully placed atop the white altar. Beside it stood the Inquisitor and the Prayer Priest, side by side with solemn expressions.
The Prayer Priest solemnly declared,
-Hero candidate, come forward to the altar!
And the beautiful silver-haired girl—the Saintess Aria—sat in a splendid chair beside the altar, watching everything in an elegant white dress.
“….”
It was a scene that looked as if the central chapel of the Holy Theocracy had been transported here.
The spectators watched and talked among themselves.
“Now that I see it, it really does look sacred.”
“Good heavens, even the renowned Inquisitor is taking part? Isn’t he a hero of the Holy Theocracy? And the esteemed Prayer Priest, the doctrinaire theologian, is here too.”
“The Theocracy seems to be taking this examination very seriously.”
“It really feels like we’re watching an incredible ceremony.”
“Hmph, they’ve certainly put effort into the appearance. Was the Saintess appointed just to attend occasions like this…?”
The path to the altar was solemn as well. Dozens of Holy Knights who had accompanied Raul and Adrian stood in formation on either side.
The commoner boy being tested as a Hero candidate walked down that path.
Each time he took a step,
the Holy Knights standing beside him opened the way.
As if he could proceed not by his own will,
but only with the Theocracy’s permission.
Step!
Step!
Step!
“….”
Arti walked silently up to the altar.
The Prayer Priest stood before him. Unlike the old-tree-like figure he’d seen at dawn the day before, today he looked so intense that Arti could almost imagine flames burning in his deep-set eyes.
‘What a frightening man…. It’s like standing before a representative of God.’
His eyes met those of the Inquisitor beside him, too.
He greeted him with a gentle smile.
“…Heh. Pleased to meet you. I’ve heard a great deal about your diligence from the Saintess. You seem to be quite the hardworking boy. It’s the first time I’ve heard the Saintess talk about someone else so much.”
“….”
Somehow, it wasn’t a very welcome greeting.
He felt an urge to turn and look at Aria far away to check whether it was true. But she was too far off for him to see her expression clearly.
Just as Arti was about to say something,
the Prayer Priest declared in his solemn voice once more.
“Before the first test, I will verify whether your Sacred Sword is an object that does not oppose the Sun God’s will, and whether it contains the Sun God’s flame.”
“…Yes.”
“Place your right hand, marked with the emblem, upon this altar.”
“….”
Arti silently placed his hand on the altar.
Flash—!
As soon as he placed his hand on the white altar,
the emblem on Arti’s hand glowed white.
Then the Prayer Priest declared,
“This Sacred Sword is genuine. Therefore, the examination will now begin.”
“!”
“The first test is the ‘Path of Proof.’ We must determine here whether you possess a body and mind strong enough to uphold your duty as a Hero even in unfair circumstances. You will prove your qualifications by sparring against ten Holy Knights!”
The crowd cheered at the declaration.
-Waaaaah—!
Ten of the Holy Knights standing in formation drew their swords all at once. They moved almost simultaneously. Their swords gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.
Shing—!
Arti swallowed.
“….”
‘Every one of them is at the Flow stage.’
To spar against ten people like this….