漫画大王

Chapter 192

I had pleaded earnestly for her help, and I could tell just by looking into her eyes that she would do everything in her power to help me. Someone who might come across as frivolous, but could always be serious when needed—that was Olivia Lanche.

Most students probably wouldn’t have known, but the Temple was in a state of turmoil. I wanted to discuss this sensitive issue outside the Temple, but it was impossible to take the cursed Tiamata outside the Temple. Even disguised as a training sword, it would obviously get caught at the exit.

Now that this Demon God Relic, shaped like a sword, had disappeared, it would look suspicious to walk around with a sword hanging from my waist. Therefore, we went to a secluded park in front of the dormitories instead, where I gave a brief explanation of what had happened.

I recounted all that had happened in the Dark Land, the cursed sword, and how I had brought it back to the Temple to find out more about it through the ritual performed by Dettomorian. I also explained how it was actually a cursed sword, suspected to be a Demon God Relic, and how it kept inexplicably coming back to me.

I confessed that I might be suspected of being an apostle of the demon god if things continued like this. If Olivia Lanche reported this to the teachers or the church, my life would be effectively over.

However, I believed Olivia Lanche wouldn’t do that.

After hearing the entire story, Olivia furrowed her brow.

“Every single thing is hard to believe...”

Quite some time had passed, since it had been a long story. Olivia was silent for a moment, seemingly going over my story from the start.

“Yeah... You couldn’t have told anyone. If the Order finds out, they’d try to kill you, whether or not you came into possession of the sword willingly or not. There wouldn’t even be a trial.”

Having served in the Order, she knew how the priests and inquisitors of the Ouen Order operated.

This was the relic of corruption that stood in antithesis to Ouen, as well as I, who had been chosen as its master.

“They’ll believe the very fact that you were chosen by that relic means that you are a corrupt being. They’ll use that logic to justify killing you.”

Olivia Lanche, who had once served Ouen, knew exactly how they would react to someone chosen by such an unholy power.

“But... I don’t know how to help with this...”

Though she was shocked by the mention of a Demon God Relic, Olivia couldn’t figure out how to assist someone chosen by such a relic, no matter how hard she thought about it.

However, I had already prepared what I was going to say to her.

“Senior, this is just my speculation, but I don’t think this is a Demon God Relic.”

“... What?”

Olivia Lanche seemed startled. The whole saga had been laid out before her, all of it implying that this could only be a Demon God Relic. Yet now, she was being told that it might not be.

“So, what...? You think it’s not a relic but just an evil item?”

I shook my head. “I don’t believe there is such a thing as a Demon God Relic in the first place.”

Her surprise deepened. “You don’t believe in the existence of Demon God Relics?”

“At least that’s what I think.”

To me, the idea of a Demon God Relic didn’t exist.

“Then what do you think it is?”

“My guess is that it’s Tiamata, the holy sword of Ouen. I think it’s a corrupted version of it.”

“... That’s ridiculous.”

Naturally, Olivia rejected my absurd hypothesis. It could have been plausible if it were any other relic, but the nature of Tiamata, the holy sword, was the complete opposite of this curse sword.

“I don’t have conclusive evidence, but once I heard the assumption that the sword was a Demon God Relic, I researched the relics of the Five Great Gods. They’ve consistently appeared over thousands of years. People have used them, and their histories are well-documented.”

“... That’s true. I know that better than you do.”

Olivia Lanche had more extensive knowledge of the relics of the Five Great Gods compared to my own cursory understanding, and she had an in-depth understanding of the events and histories surrounding these sacred items.

The whereabouts of the relics of the Five Great Gods could not be constantly traced throughout history. However, there was plenty recorded in history of individuals accomplishing great deeds with those relics throughout the years.

“Despite all this, a Demon God Relic has never appeared even once in this long history of humanity.”

“... That’s true.”

There were no known tales or even any information regarding the existence of such Demon God Relics.

Dettomorian’s testimony, the fact that the sword was cursed and immensely powerful, with its ability to resurrect corpses as undead, and the fact that it had been found in the Dark Land—all of these led to the speculation that the sword might be a Demon God Relic. Though the Temple’s experts had surmised that it could be a relic of Kier, the god of corruption, even they couldn’t assert that with full certainty.

Olivia accepted the premise that the cursed sword I possessed was indeed a relic. However, I was arguing that it couldn’t be a Demon God Relic precisely because no such relic had ever appeared before.

“The last known sighting of Tiamata was about three hundred years ago. It’s said that demon god worshippers who killed Ouen’s last champion stole Tiamata and fled to the Dark Land.”

Olivia nodded at my words.

“Right. After Ouen’s last champion, Laigorn, was killed by the demon worshippers, they fled to the Dark Land... with Ouen’s holy sword...” she said.

She recounted the history that she knew well, but started slowing down once she realized that I had discovered this sword in the Dark Land.

“Could it be that the demon worshippers back then cursed Tiamata and turned it into what it is now?” she asked.

“For now, that’s my assumption.”

“It’s too far-fetched. Believing that a holy sword could be turned into something like that is just too much.”

It was hard to convince Olivia with my words alone. Even if she had abandoned her faith, it didn’t mean that she rejected Ouen entirely.

The idea that a relic of purity could be corrupted in such a way that it exhibited such contrary powers was too speculative. This debate would go nowhere unless I could convince her that the demon god Kier and the great god Ouen were essentially the same being, but that was something I couldn’t explain.

Denying the existence of a demon god meant knowing the truth about demonic faith, and just the idea that I was aware of that truth put me in a precarious position. It didn’t make sense for me to claim I knew the reality of the demonic faith. Therefore, I couldn’t share the truth about the demon god worshippers.

The idea that the Holy Sword Tiamata, known for destroying the undead, could turn into a cursed blade that controlled the undead sounded absurd, even to me. Even Eleris, who knew the reality of the demonic faith, wouldn’t believe it if I told her about this situation.

Olivia couldn’t accept my claim that this accursed relic that had been found in the Dark Land was Ouen’s holy sword, especially since the holy sword had disappeared into the Dark Land.

“Maybe the reason a Demon God Relic has never been discovered is that they’ve remained hidden in the Dark Land all along? It could have been kept among the demons who worshiped the demon gods,” Olivia said.

Olivia’s conjecture was quite reasonable.

Just as the Holy Relics of the Five Great Gods existed in the human world, perhaps the relics of the Five Demon Gods existed in the Dark Land, unknown to humans. And by chance, I had discovered one of them.

However, I had a counterargument to this. “What about the Great War? If such relics existed, a Demon God Relic would have been wielded by one of the demons for sure. Yet, the allied armies killed the Demon King and looted all the treasures from the Demon King’s castle without stumbling across or making any reports of any Demon God Relics. If such relics existed, news would have spread by now.”

“... That’s true. Even if I didn’t participate in the battles, I was deployed in the Great War to provide medical support. I’ve never heard of anything about a Demon God Relic.”

If these Demon God Relics were real, they would surely have been used in the all-encompassing war between humans and demons.

Olivia had actually participated in the Great War, providing medical support for the wounded, so she knew more about the events of that time. There were no stories of demons using powerful Demon God Relics.

The victorious human army had looted vast treasures and magical items from the Demon King’s castle, but there was never any mention of anyone finding a Demon God Relic. Olivia knew more about this than I did. If powerful Demon God Relics had existed in the Dark Land, they would have been used in the Great War.

Now, I had claimed that such Demon God Relics never existed in the first place, and Olivia seemed increasingly unsure herself.

This was a conclusion I had decided upon before beginning my speculation: there are no Demon God Relics. Therefore, the cursed sword could not be a Demon God Relic. Consequently, there was only one conclusion—it was a Holy Relic of the Five Great Gods.

But how could a relic of the Five Great Gods have turned out like this? Tiamata had been carried into the Dark Land by demon god worshippers. After that, the demon worshippers had to have done something to the relic. That was my conjecture of how things came to be.

“For now, that’s what I think. The sudden appearance of a Demon God Relic is too out of the blue. But if it isn’t a relic, it wouldn’t possess such powerful strength and energy. So I believe it is a relic of the Five Great Gods that has somehow been cursed.”

If my words were true, me being labeled as the owner of a non-existent Demon God Relic was all a misunderstanding. In fact, it was just the Holy Relic Tiamata, which had been influenced by something unholy.

“I understand what you’re saying. If this was the past, I wouldn’t have believed a word you said...”

Back when she had been a devout believer, mentioning something like this would have been a grave blasphemy against Ouen.

But she no longer served Ouen. Setting aside whether or not Ouen’s relic could be corrupted, she at least wasn’t angered by me bringing up the subject.

“If what you’re saying is true, it makes me even more disillusioned with the gods.”

She continued, “Let me take a look at that item. I can’t guarantee that I can purify it, but I can at least try.”

This theory was something no priest of Ouen would believe, nor was this action one that any priest would have any reason to attempt. This was about believing that this cursed sword was actually Tiamata, and then trying to restore it to its original state.

However, Olivia Lanche was willing to attempt it without any resistance.

***

The Demon God Relic had disappeared, and although neither Reinhart nor Ellen had it in their possession and it was now a matter for the teachers to handle, Ellen still felt uneasy.

Reinhart would typically try to do something in such situations, and Ellen was worried that he might do something unnecessary on his own, leading to even bigger trouble. She wanted to keep him occupied in the training grounds to prevent him from getting into any mischief today.

After breakfast, however, Reinhart had rushed off somewhere. Surely, he was off to do something unnecessary again. Determined to find him and drag him back if need be, Ellen was waiting in the lobby, unsure of where he had gone.

—You promise to only look around my room, right?

—Of course. Do you think I would do anything else?

—Oh, please, stop saying things like that.

Just as Ellen’s anxiety was about to peak, she noticed something that completely erased her worries.

Olivia Lanche, a fifth-year student that she occasionally encountered, entered the first-year Class A dormitory, clinging to Reinhart’s arm. She was latched tightly onto his right arm.

Ellen hadn’t seen her often. She was just a senior who acted in an overly friendly manner with Reinhart when they were together—that was the extent of her awareness of Olivia.

—Why do you keep trying to get into my room? What’s there to see?

—Hmm. I wonder why?

—If you try anything weird, I’ll scream.

—Oh my, what are you thinking? So you’re a man after all, huh?

Reinhart’s disgusted expression contrasted sharply with that of the senior girl clinging to his arm, who was smiling brightly.

“...”

Ellen realized she was worrying needlessly. A senior girl was insisting on entering Reinhart’s room for some reason, and it seemed he had reluctantly agreed.

Reinhart made eye contact with Ellen, but passed by without acknowledging her properly.

—Do you have any snacks or tea in your room?

—No, I don’t. What do you expect from me?

Although Ellen had felt anxious, she now watched quietly as Reinhart was dragged away. She had worried that he was going to cause some trouble, but it seemed that her concern was unfounded. It seemed like he was just having an ordinary weekend.

However...

“...”

An unfamiliar emotion started to stir within Ellen. It was a strange feeling, something she had never experienced before in her life.

—Give me some space!

—Why? I know you like it too.

—I don’t! I really don’t!

—Oh my, you’re speaking to me informally now? Hmm? Do you want to get scolded, young man?

—Ugh... this is so annoying...

It felt like something was pressing down on Ellen’s chest, constricting it. It felt as if insects were crawling through her heart and mind.

It was a strange, unpleasant emotion.