Chapter 344
Chapter 344: Suggestion and Revelation
“Kaito… he helped us…! His remains… they emitted a holy light…!”
Isabella spoke through tears.
To be honest, I was just thinking, (I don’t know… what is that… scary…).
Edgar was staring at me with a shocked expression, Isabella was crying uncontrollably, and Nina had just woken up, shocked by Officia’s betrayal—or rather, her true nature. It was total chaos.
“Surely, your master’s love has brought forth a miracle…! Kaito is a truly admirable man…!”
Despite my confusion, I could only praise Kaito. With no prior knowledge of magic or miracles, Isabella seemed convinced it was a “miracle,” but Edgar…
While this was happening, the Holy Church’s support troops arrived, and a search of the apartment complex began. There might still be some Night Elf spies hiding around.
Honestly, I thought the capital’s spies were wiped out, but there could be Night Elves in Officia’s house that I didn’t know about… I couldn’t let my guard down.
As a result of the search, it was discovered that this warehouse and apartment complex had stockpiled a large amount of oil and fabric belonging to the Cortera Trading Company.
“They might have been planning to set the capital on fire…”
Edgar muttered bitterly, and I completely agreed.
—With the rooms soaked in blood, the windows completely blown out, Isabella and Nina were temporarily placed under the protection of the Holy Church as important witnesses.
‘It’s all your fault.’
Yeah, I broke the window. It’s fine now, but if the Cortera Trading Company were to be dismantled like this, what would happen to Isabella and Nina…?
The Holy Church wasn’t kind enough to hire them just because I put in a word. Staff members at related facilities and monks were appointed through fair evaluations. Allowing members to facilitate recruitment would lead to favoritism, and the organization would rot away in no time. The Holy Church prioritized fighting against humanity’s enemies and distanced itself from worldly interests, so they were strict about such matters.
At least it was somewhat comforting that Isabella was a master at spinning yarn and could somewhat support herself…
However, the Cortera Trading Company was also facing a forced investigation, and it seemed that personnel involved in the capital were being awakened and detained. Most of them likely didn’t know anything, but there was still a possibility of collaborators hiding around. The outer walls of the capital were on high alert, catching even the smallest ant.
—And that was bad news for me.
Now that I had wiped out Officia and her crew, there was no reason for me to stay in the capital Todomarl—it was only a matter of time before I drew more attention. I wanted to leave quickly.
“So, about those remains… what’s going on with that?”
Edgar was clearly curious as we headed back to the Todomarl Cathedral to pick up Leila.
By the way, Edgar knew that I was hiding my necromancy from everyone, so he didn’t say anything careless in front of Isabella and the others. He had that much sense.
“I don’t know.”
I answered honestly. Because I really didn’t know.
“When undead come into contact with holy attributes, they burn, right? That’s common knowledge.”
“That’s true, but…”
Edgar made a strange face as if to say, “Are you really saying that now?”
What puzzled me was that when I investigated the scene in Isabella’s room earlier, Kaito’s remains were just laying on the floor normally.
According to Isabella’s testimony, the remains which had been stored in a cupboard flew out on their own and emitted a holy light. I had not sealed Kaito’s soul into anything, yet it behaved like an undead but didn’t turn to ash…
It was truly nothing short of a miracle.
“I only gave Isabella ordinary remains… there wasn’t any special magic or miracle involved.”
“But the fact that you handed over the remains means that you were asked to do so by the spirit of the fallen soldier, right?”
…….
“Your expression says you’re wondering how I knew… but it’s obvious if you think about it. Kaito, that was his name, right? If you were acquainted with him, you would have called out to him when it was revealed that he had been killed, and if you were a complete stranger, there would be no obligation for you to deliver his remains. The moment you went out of your way to deliver his remains to his wife and daughter, it indicates that you had a relationship with that soldier, thus you must have summoned the soul. Since you know his true name.”
You got me there. If I did summon that soul, then where did it go? It would be reasonable to conclude it resided within the remains. And if that light of holy attribute manifested in a pinch for his wife and daughter, then it would make sense to assume I had set something up to overturn common sense…
“Unfortunately, Kaito’s soul—”
I was about to say it had disappeared.
But then I suddenly recalled.
Come to think of it—the souls of the fallen soldiers didn’t vanish even when they touched holy attributes…
Well, they ultimately did disappear, but rather than evaporating instantly like when you strike down a ghost, they seemed to regain their consciousness clearly. At that time, I was a novice in necromancy and focused mainly on apologizing, so I wasn’t fully aware of it, but thinking back calmly, it contradicts the basic rules of holy attributes and undead.
Speaking of which.
The remains of the soldiers I had stashed away in the inn’s backpack—those should possess the souls of seasoned soldiers.
And even after merging with Adamas, turning into a spear with holy attributes, I had used them plenty.
Those bones didn’t turn to ash—
“Is there something there?”
Edgar was observing me with deep interest as I got lost in thought.
“Well… I mean, I realized that I don’t know anything.”
“What do you mean?”
“Until now, I thought holy attributes were something that erases the undead, so I had been taking extra care while using necromancy. Think about it, if I summoned my comrade’s soul and it got burnt by my own holy attribute, causing it to disappear, how would that make me feel?”
“…………”
Edgar made a really bad face.
“That’s what I’m saying. So… I have no experience or data on this. That said, conducting experiments is also… much to consider.”
“Humm…”
“And like I was saying, Kaito’s soul said, ‘Please watch over my wife and daughter,’ and then it disappeared. So… I really don’t have a clue about what’s going on.”
“I see.”
For a moment, we walked in silence, mourning the death of a man.
“Was he… a soldier? Not a hero?”
“He was an ordinary soldier.”
“I see. So he couldn’t use holy attributes while he was alive… But what about the possibility that he awakened as a hero right before death or after death? What do you think?”
“I don’t know… it’s possible? I thought that, but compared to the undead using holy attributes—”
“That could still be a possibility.”
We looked up at the elongated night sky cut out by the alley.
“Even in death, he protects his wife and child. After all, I think Kaito’s way of being is worthy of being called a hero.”
“I agree.”
The only sound was the clattering of our boots echoing.
“But still, can a hero awaken after the fact?”
“I don’t know why I’m asking this, but is that even possible?”
Edgar smiled wryly at my fundamental question.
“Awakening to holy attributes without undergoing the Coming of Age ceremony… now that I think about it, that wouldn’t be so impossible.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Ever since you shared the true nature of holy attributes, I’ve felt that if it’s a boon from the gods, it should awaken only during the Coming of Age ceremony. That much was mysterious to me.”
Edgar kept a calm face, looking ahead.
“But—if it’s magic born from human will… then perhaps such things could happen.”
Now that I think about it.
In the Evaroti Autonomous District, Claire mentioned that there were users of holy attributes among the victims of the Manticore…
I initially thought there were heroes or priests hiding among ordinary soldiers, but could the case of heroes awakening after the fact also be possible?
“So, do heroes only awaken during the Coming of Age ceremony?”
Hmmm. At least, I’ve never heard stories of someone suddenly being able to use holy attributes while fighting.
“Then, it seems likely that rituals are the key to manifesting abilities. That could be some kind of setup or curse.”
Interesting?
“…I wonder what would happen if I tried the Coming of Age ceremony on an adult.”
I muttered.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I mean, we didn’t just wake up after having holy water sprinkled on us or anything.”
“Oh… I see what you’re getting at. Even if one couldn’t become a hero in their first Coming of Age ceremony, it wouldn’t be unusual for a true hero like Kaito to awaken to holy attributes late.”
“People change on the battlefield. Besides, there aren’t nearly enough heroes or priests at the front lines.”
“No doubt…”
We both gazed off into the distance.
“However, as for holy attributes—no, let’s call it holy silver magic, its source stems from the collective consciousness of humanity. If too many heroes or priests emerge, it’ll diminish the magic power supplied to each individual and lead to weakening. In fact, the higher-ups in the Holy Church might be intentionally keeping that in check.”
Even so, I think it’d be better than allowing the frontline to break down and the country to fall, drastically reducing the source population. If the higher-ups understood the mechanics of holy silver magic, they’d likely find reasons to cultivate late-blooming heroes anyway.
“Hmm, there’s something to that…”
Antendeixis also pondered.
I can’t claim to be any better, but it might be a blind spot that I never considered possible—heroes awakening after the fact.
“Hmm. It seems worth trying out various things. Quite intriguing.”
Edgar said, unable to hide his curiosity.
“Yeah. I might have glimpsed some issues.”
“If Isabella’s story is true, then something that shouldn’t have been possible actually occurred. If Alex is truly on break, why don’t you join me in exploring this mystery?”
“Ha, ha, ha…”
I laughed it off.
“……..”
A gaze—!!
Desperately pretending I didn’t notice, Edgar shook his head in exasperation.
“…Regardless of everything else, the innocent mother and daughter have escaped the hands of the dark ones. Both Nina and Isabella are doing well now. Isn’t that something to be grateful for, Alex?”
“…Yeah, I suppose.”
In the end, they both survived. That really was a blessing. But…
“Nina must have… been really shocked.”
I mean, she was put in danger by someone she thought was her benefactor, and worse, she witnessed her mother nearly get killed right before her eyes…
“…That’s true.”
Edgar, who had been staring at me, sighed and turned to look ahead.
Across the street—the front of the Todomarl Cathedral.
I could see Leila anxiously standing at the entrance, looking around.
“Alex!!”
Once Leila spotted me, she rushed over, her feet pattering on the ground.
“Um—how did it go? The Holy Church has been in quite a stir since earlier.”
“We somehow managed to save both of them.”
“Ah! Thank goodness…!”
Leila sighed in relief. Sorry for leaving you behind.
“Alex, what’s our next move?”
“I’m going back to the inn. I’m pretty worn out after today.”
In response to Edgar’s question, I stifled a yawn.
“I see. Well, you really did great today, so I’m sure the bishops will want to hear all about it from you… but for now, you’ve certainly earned your right to rest.”
Edgar shrugged.
“I’ll cover the accommodation fees as promised.”
“Haha, then maybe I’ll upgrade to the finest room.”
I joked, and Edgar laughed, saying, “That I’ll have to decline.”
“Let’s put off any more serious discussions until tomorrow. I’ll handle things on my end.”
“Thanks, Edgar. …Well then.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
Waving his hand, I watched Edgar head into the cathedral.
…For the time being, it seems I can dodge the issue.
Sorry, but by tomorrow morning, we won’t be here anymore.
Once I’ve wrapped up what I need to do at the inn, I plan to leave.
