Chapter 29: Concealment

The warrior’s village was reduced to ashes, and there was nothing left to investigate further.

“We can’t stay here any longer…”

There was only one survivor.

Even that person was not of sound mind and needed to be fed, so in reality the warrior’s village was as good as destroyed.

However.

It was not as if there were no results at all.

“Lilies.”

“You called, Saintess.”

“Let’s talk for a moment.”

“T-Two…?”

Lilies licked her lips and looked around the empty space, while Saintess Jan shook her head and snapped her fingers.

“Don’t have any strange thoughts about me.”

“Then can you do whatever you want with other people?”

“Anyone but me and the goddess.”

“Yes, Saintess.”

Sararak.

The surrounding space was instantly dyed in blue light.

Lilies clicked her tongue as if she was disappointed, and Saint Jan whispered quietly so that the others could not hear.

“There are three survivors.”

Three spheres began to float in front of Jan’s face.

“One is the young man we saved. I thought he was an important person because the Death Knights came to kill him, but he wasn’t. He was just a survivor who survived.”

Young Nertio. He was just someone who was lucky to survive.

“What should we do? If we leave him alone, others can take him.”

“If we leave him alone…”

Lilies nodded to those who had set up camp elsewhere.

“They will definitely investigate him somewhere else.”

Just like the Moon Goddess Church, all sorts of forces that had noticed the power of the Holy Sword were stationed everywhere.

The Moon Goddess Church hid the existence of the young survivor, Nertio. If there was an organization that had the most information about the village, it would definitely be the Moon Goddess Church.

“We can’t spread any more information about you, warrior. We have a monopoly on the information.”

“It’s an excellent choice, Saint. We can’t spread it around and cause more confusion. Then, as for that young man…”

“First, let’s make him wear a robe to hide his identity. Then, let’s take him to the church and tell the Pope to deal with it.”

“The Pope would deal with it appropriately… No, dealing with it would be a bit much.”

“Well, what’s the difference? We’ll make him a believer of the Changwol Goddess Church.”

Saint Jan yawned loudly.

“I’ll let him off easy if he’s a good person, but I can’t look kindly on someone who tried to rape someone else, right?”

“…I’ll make sure to tell the paladins next to you. Make sure they don’t do anything stupid on the way back.”

“Please.”

The disposal of survivor Nertio was complete. No one knew what he would talk about with the Pope at the Changwol Goddess Church’s Vatican, but his future was good in any case.

What mattered was the ‘past’ he had mentioned. Through his testimony, the Church of the Goddess of the Moon was able to confirm three things.

One. The woman, Droniel, was alive.

“We must find Droniel.”

Just before the knights of death raided the village, a noble family’s knights came and took a woman away.

“The possibility of using the name Droniel as it is is low, but let’s look for it. They must be knights from around here, and even if they say no, they must be near a nearby territory.”

The brown-haired woman who was supposedly loved by a young man named Nertio-although he claims she was his fiancée-left the village. Her name is Droniel, but since she left in time for the hero’s awakening, there must be something. If you think about it positively, she chased the hero, and if you think about it negatively, you can really think of all possible scenarios. We must find the name Droniel.

Two. “Arthur Lucius.”

Nertio didn’t want to mention it, but after questioning him, he finally found out the name.

“You know that name, right?”

“Yes. They didn’t seem to have any intention of hiding it.”

“The man we encountered, right?”

“That’s right. He was the disciple of a witch named Bell, who called herself the Crimson Magician.”

“Yes. He was also a survivor of this village. He said he left this village before Droniel left.”

A survivor named Arthur Lucius was born in this village, and left this village as soon as the Holy Sword Incident broke out. A young man who grew up in this village? The puzzle was so simple.

Three. “Crimson Magician, Bell.”

“…Ssup.”

Lilies swallowed as soon as the name was mentioned.

“Lilies.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Concentrate….She was not a resident of this village, but a foreigner. And as soon as she appeared, goblins attacked this village. Now, can you see the picture?”

Jan pointed to the village with a confident face.

“Witch Bell brought goblins and attacked the village, Arthur Lucius awakened the Holy Sword, and Witch Bell pretended not to know and approached them to become the hero’s comrade!”

“…I don’t think so at all.”

Lilies directly contradicted Jan’s opinion.

“Why? Isn’t this almost perfect?”

“That’s assuming that the witch Bell is a bad woman. That’s a mistake. The saintess is wrong,”

“Me?”

“Isn’t it because the saint hates the witch Belle?”

“Huh, what do you mean? She’s the first woman you’ve met.”

“You fell in love with Arthur Lucius?”

!!”

Jan’s face instantly turned red.

“It’s because the man you fell in love with at first sight only focused his gaze on the witch and not you, isn’t it?”

Lilies nodded with an expression of understanding.

“It’s okay. She was the very definition of a handsome man and a beautiful woman. It’s perfectly acceptable to fall in love.”

“I’m not like that!”

“No. I fell in love. So you came to that conclusion because you were jealous of the witch Belle?”

“…”

Jan couldn’t refute.

For some reason, he felt that Lilies’ words were true, so he couldn’t open his mouth.

“I… jumped to a conclusion based on personal feelings and said it?”

“That’s possible. Ah, is this youth? But Saint, even if you’re jealous, you should make a clear judgment.”

“…. learned another lesson today. If Ms. Belle is listening, I apologize. I was too hasty.”

“She’ll understand.”

The person in question was diligently repeating the up and down movement elsewhere, but the two apologized and tied up their knots.

“But why does Lilies think of her so favorably?”

“Because…”

Lilies gave a thumbs up with a confident face.

“There’s no way a woman with such pretty and pure eyes could be a bad person.”

“… What?”

“Bell is not a bad person.”

Yan’s expression darkened at Lilies’ words.

“Here’s my opinion. The magician Bell came to find the owner of the holy sword that had been asleep for a long time, and Arthur Lucius is the chosen warrior. The young man over there is angry that he was not chosen, and the two we saw hid their true identities.”

“Because you don’t trust the saintess of the Moon Goddess Church and the Knights of the Holy Knights?”

“Because it’s the Holy Sword of the Wind. Moreover, if you look at the traces of the battle left in the village, you can tell it’s that holy sword.”

Lilies pointed to the wound on the dirt floor. There was a dark mark that looked like a giant monster had scratched it with its claws.

“It’s the Holy Sword of Wind that appeared after 500 years. It’s not strange to be careful.”

“That’s why it’s even stranger. The Holy Sword of Wind awakening after 500 years is an emergency, but it’s ridiculous that they’re hiding themselves. The Hero of the Holy Sword.”

“Well, the magician must have something else in mind. However.”

Lilies raised the shield on her arm. The white shield, shaped like a three-dimensional diamond, had a blue moon-shaped circular gem set in the center, and as soon as Lilies touched it, light leaked out from the circular gem.

“It doesn’t seem like they have any intention of hiding its location. It seems like they still have what I gave them.”

Lilies gave the holy relic to the witch Belle. It was a location tracker that Lilies could use to identify the location of the holy relic using divine power.

“Based on the map and the location, it seems like they’re in Normans. What do you want to do, Saint?”

“Lilies. Please lead the Knights Templar and head to the Vatican.”

“What about the saint?”

“I will go to Normans alone.”

Saaaa. Yan’s hair changed in an instant. The long, flowing hair became short hair that reached her shoulders, and Yan adjusted the length of her hair by lengthening and shortening it.

“I think this will do.”

“…Is that really all you can disguise yourself with?”

“People won’t know I’m a saint anyway.”

“Are you going to join the hero’s party?”

“Join? No.”

The corners of Yan’s mouth slightly went up.

“It’s natural for a saint to assist the hero. As a saint of the Changwol Goddess Church, I will serve the hero.”

“Then what about Lady Belle…?”

“That woman.”

Yan placed a hand on Lilies’ shoulder and patted it.

“You will persuade me well. Okay?”

“……Do you not have to be picky about the means and methods?”

“Yes.”

“…”

Churp. Lilies Caesarcross nodded vigorously, rubbing her clasped hands together.

“After I visit the Vatican, I will join the saintess’s party. Until then…”

Lilies smiled and saluted the saintess.

“Please take good care of the witch.”

***

“Phuetchui”

“!! Master! Do you have a cold?!”

“What kind of cold is an undead?”

The weather is chilly.

I closed the window that let in the night air and checked my body condition.

“Oh my. A cough all of a sudden.”

“Let’s stop now, Master. I’ll do the rest by myself.”

“I still have three more sets. Or am I too heavy?”

Presently.

I’m sitting on Lucius’s back doing push-ups, acting as a counterweight.

I’m sitting cross-legged on top of his spine, increasing the intensity of the exercise.

“Down with the Demon King on one, up with two. One, two.”

“Down with the Demon King!”

“That’s amazing, Lucius. Doing 100 in a row at once.”

“If it’s now, I can do it all day, all day..!!”

For some reason, Lucius’s voice began to gain strength.

Although he said he could do it all day, it was for physical training, not torture.

But since he wants it, let’s try it once until it works out and then put him to sleep.

“One,… huh?”

The sound of footsteps approaching from afar.

I pointed outside to Lucius at the familiar footsteps.

“Lucius. Your guest.”

“… My guest?”

“I can tell even without looking,”

Heh heh.

I clapped my hands and pointed to the entrance to our room for Lucius.

“Go open it for me.”

“Understood.”

For some reason, Lucius expression didn’t look good.

Squeak.

On the other side of the door.

“Ah, Arthur! Th-”

“What’s going on?”

The silver-haired elf stood there frozen at the sight of Lucius, who was sweating profusely with his upper body naked.