Chapter 77
The original story of <The Holy Sword Hero Chronicles>.
The kidnapping incident, which occurs as a side event rather than as part of Carla’s corruption into a demon worshipper, is ultimately revealed to have been the work of someone inside the Republic.
They were the Arcana monarchist restorationists.
They were a faction that argued absolute monarchy should be restored, rather than rule by noble politics or votes from the upper classes.
The restorationists had kidnapped Lady Carla of House Driagh, the embodiment of the Republic’s identity, intending to send her to the Kingdom of Gallia. Their goal was to deliberately bring down the Republic amid endless chaos.
They said.
-It can’t be helped; it’s a necessary sacrifice. So that we may become one again beneath the Great Mana…!
Sacrifice for the greater cause.
In reality, it was deception driven by greed and chaos.
It was hypocrisy wrapped in fine-sounding words.
The protagonist, Arti, learned the truth and was furious.
『Arti: What are you hoping to gain by doing this? In the chaos of the country’s dissolution, what do you think you can restore? Don’t you know that if the Kingdom and the Republic go to war, it’s ordinary, defenseless people who’ll be sacrificed? 』
『Monarchist Restorationist: This too is unavoidable for the greater cause…! For the restoration of the great dynasty that will soon rise again, blood must gladly be shed. Even if we’re drenched in blood, we’ll shoulder that original sin and turn things back.』
『Arti: You’re insane. That’s the kind of thing lunatics think. Do you think the blood of people actually living means nothing?』
『Monarchist Restorationist: It is meaningless before the greater cause.』
The greater cause.
The greater cause.
The greater cause.
They repeated nothing else.
Because ‘the greater cause’ alone defined their worldview.
The end of peace.
Endless chaos.
The sacrifice of people.
They didn’t care about any of that. That was why Arti, for the first time in the story, showed a cold attitude toward people other than those of the Black Temple.
『Arti: …There’s no reasoning with these guys.』
And the battle began in an instant.
Of course, since it was a side-quest branch,
it ended after a few ordinary battles.
The cutscene skipped ahead in an instant, and it didn’t take long to storm their base and wipe them all out. Even the final boss boasted pathetic combat ability.
But their obsession wasn’t pathetic.
Despite being a mere trash-mob-type boss,
he had the honor of delivering a special line.
『Monarchist Restorationist: For the great dynasty…!』
Even Arti got a special line during combat, despite usually keeping his mouth shut. It was the only time in the story Arti ever swore.
『Arti: You crazy bastards, what a load of bullshit.』
Even after seeing the demons’ ‘malice’ toward the human world and the monsters’ ‘hostility,’ what drew a curse out of Arti was humanity’s ‘madness.’
*
Lydia thought in the alley.
“….”
‘That slimy insistence on dragging innocent people into this and getting them killed… The ‘Carla corruption event’ branching off Morgan’s main heroine route is practically cleaner by comparison.’
If they were simply possessed by demon worshippers, she could understand it.
Just because they were crazy,
because they were villainous young ladies,
because they were true to their own desires.
It made for a neat story,
and even if what they did was evil, it was understandable.
But to be driven by that kind of madness purely by one ideology…
‘It’s impossible to understand. And disturbingly realistic, too.’
Though it was a side quest,
it had an unease to it on par with an NTR event.
But then.
That unsettling event had returned, several times worse.
‘Now, with the demon worshippers and the Kingdom of Gallia in league with them.’
The information from the unconscious men hadn’t revealed where Lady Carla was being held. Unlike the ‘kidnapping squad,’ they said their job was simply to spread rumors and sow confusion at the academy.
Ignorant men with convictions.
They’d even divided up the roles now.
“….”
‘In the original, they were no more than shoddy bandits. But if the Kingdom and the Black Temple have gotten involved, they must have become a much more troublesome force.’
Then where on earth had they hidden Lady Carla?
“….”
She had no idea.
Lydia let out a low groan.
Morgan spoke beside her. By now, she’d bound the fallen restorationists with thorn magic.
“So, what are you going to do now?”
“Stop them.”
“How? Wouldn’t it be better to just run away like this?”
“….”
It was irresponsible to say so,
but there was a cold truth packed into those words. Lydia was nothing more than a princess with no backing, and the moment war began, the Kingdom of Gallia would have the easiest time making use of her.
They could trade her as a prisoner,
marry her off,
or at the very least use her for political propaganda.
Even if she rejected all of that, the things Lydia had been hiding would inevitably come to light. The truth that she was a Swordmaster, and even that she was fighting against demon worshippers.
Either way,
a time would come when she couldn’t maneuver behind the scenes as she was doing now.
Because a war would be raging out in the open.
“That’s why I’ll stop it.”
“….”
Morgan sighed.
“In the end, it’s because of those demon worshippers, right? We don’t know how far they’re involved, so we have to wait until we can figure out who they all are behind the scenes.”
“That’s right.”
“If it were a real war, you could reveal that you’re a Swordmaster and charge in at the front. But then you’d be worried about what they might do behind your back.”
“That’s right.”
“Front and back. You’re tangled up with all these weird people and have to take the inefficient route. Knowing your temperament, you could just slip around behind them and cut them all down.”
“That’s right.”
“…?”
Morgan’s eyes widened.
‘W-wait… I didn’t think she’d agree this much.’
As always,
-This is something I must do.
…was what she’d expected Lydia to say with inflexible earnestness.
But what came out of Lydia’s mouth was a much more honest, natural sentiment. It was also a thought she’d kept buried deep in her heart, accompanied by a deep sigh.
“Sometimes I want to just do it without thinking. The Gallian king, the royal family, all of them—if I just slit their throats while they sleep, wouldn’t the world become peaceful…?”
“….”
Coming from a princess,
those were excessively violent words.
‘If someone reports her, won’t she be accused of treason…?’
There was no one in the alley who mattered but Morgan, anyway.
It was enough to make Morgan think that without meaning to.
But Lydia continued.
“If I took care of everything, then you, Arti, Aria, Mave, and Morgan… could all enjoy an ordinary school life, graduate at the right time, and return to your respective places.”
“….”
“Arti and Aria might even get married. Mave might unexpectedly rise through the ranks amid the Kingdom’s turmoil, and you, Morgan, would be putting your wisdom to use somewhere.”
“….”
“But I can’t do that.”
Lydia let out another deep sigh.
“This world is so simple and yet so complicated. People who have changed in strange ways appear from places even I never expected. If I stop paying attention to something, it comes back as a fatal blow.”
“…Is that so?”
“That’s right.”
For the first time,
Morgan saw a weary smile.
“That’s really… exhausting. Who could have known that so few people would think even a little about balance, when everyone only thinks about their own power and greed?”
“….”
Morgan struggled for words.
Lydia’s sincerity, which Morgan had suddenly heard, was surprisingly easy to empathize with. That in itself was surprising. And so was how genuinely Lydia seemed to want Arti and the others to be happy.
And the fact that Lydia included Morgan in that.
‘She acts like not even a drop of blood would come out if you stabbed her, but she has a surprisingly human side.’
Well…
When Lydia had been caught wearing the bunny outfit,
Morgan had already confirmed she was capable of embarrassment.
‘Though it was a strange sort of embarrassment—not about how revealing the outfit was, but about being unable to explain why she was wearing it.’
Anyway.
Lydia was human, too.
“….”
Just…
Morgan had been reminded of that.
So she was a little happy.
“….”
Though she had no intention of showing it.
“…Hmph.”
Morgan gripped the branch-shaped staff tightly. Now wasn’t the time to nod in sympathy with Lydia’s troubles. As her personal mage, she needed to do something useful instead.
“Those nobodies. They probably haven’t moved yet.”
“Why?”
Morgan prodded the fallen restorationists with the tip of her staff. Even while unconscious and bound, they groaned, “Uhh…”
“These nobodies bothered disguising themselves as merchants. They only got away with it because things were so strange, but if unfamiliar faces started spreading odd rumors in the shopping district, they’d be exposed.”
“….”
“If they really wanted to disguise themselves, they’d have posed as coachmen or porters. The academy’s full of carriages, and students are always moving dorms. They could spread rumors easily just by chatting in a tavern.”
“I see.”
Lydia’s eyes lit up. She already understood what Morgan was getting at.
“Even so, if they specifically chose ‘merchants,’ then this must be a plan that would only work if they were merchants.”
“Yeah. It’s an ‘essential’ part, even if it means taking the risk of getting caught.”
The most important part of this plan.
It was…
“Sneaking Lady Carla out of the academy.”
“Exactly. If they don’t get past that step, there won’t be a war, or even a schoolyard brawl.”
“Then the place where merchants would be best hidden…!”
“The Western Merchant Company.”
Morgan jerked her chin toward somewhere in the distance.
“When we visited, the Western Merchant Company was headed this way. They should be arriving soon.”
“…!”
They’d deliberately disguised themselves as merchants.
They were preparing to escape by blending in with the Western Merchant Company.
Then…
Lady Carla was still somewhere on academy grounds.
‘It’s not completely random. If they were heading toward the Western Merchant Company’s route, that’s where Arti and the others would’ve searched…’
Lydia and Morgan looked at each other and nodded.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah. The hero crew must’ve come up empty a while ago. They’ll keep changing locations.”
“But things are different now. If we put the clues together, we can track their movements more closely. With the mind of a genius mage, that should be easy.”
“Hmph. Obviously.”
*
The forest near the academy.
Instructor Zack, directing the teaching assistants as they searched, kept his mouth firmly shut. He could feel a viscous killing intent among the trees shifting in the wind.
‘Is this where they’re hiding Carla?’
Not yet.
He couldn’t be sure.
But they’d reacted.
So he’d prodded them.
“Come out already.”
-….
“I know you’re there. Three of you are hiding in that tree, posed like you’re mating with it; one’s under the bushes, and five are in the pit. All of you, come out.”
-….
-….
-….
As soon as he finished,
a large group of people in black robes appeared.
A rush of movement—!
Black Knight Zack put on his black helmet.
His eyes flashed beneath the helmet.
“…Let the ones who want to die first come out.”