Chapter : 155

‘Heh heh heh heh. It is done!’

Magician Yagielt, who had been lying in wait for the perfect chance, wore a victor’s smile.

The powerful cursed mystique he had been secretly preparing in the back was complete.

“Be careful! Magic…!”

The magician called the Great Sage noticed and shouted too late.

Once it activated, the cursed mystique Magician Yagielt had created could never be stopped.

It took a long time to prepare, but once it triggered, its destructive power was the greatest of cursed magic!

If there was no mystical protection, the Margrave of Bellua’s life would end here.

‘Die miserably, crushed to pieces like this! Keh heh heh heh.’

That was why Magician Yagielt swung his staff with a more wicked grin than ever.

-Jiiiiiiiiing!

From the tip of the staff, a beam shot upward with a dark crimson flash.

A ruinous ray!

“Ugh?!”

The Margrave of Bellua noticed too late and tried to twist his body, but it was too late.

The cursed mystique would soon shoot like an arrow and pierce his body!

Or so I thought….

In that moment—

-Piiiiiiing!

Suddenly, the sword at the Margrave of Bellua’s waist trembled with a loud sound—

-Clang!

It drew itself from its scabbard, poured out a brilliant light, and cut across the air.

“?!?!”

“!!!”

—

-Paaaat!

The sword that had suddenly been drawn floated in midair and surged up in front of me.

The mysterious light that began from the blade wrapped around me as if protecting me, pushing away the vile cursed mystique before my eyes.

-Zzzztzzzt!

The ruinous cursed mystique, as if nothing had happened, met the blade’s light and faded away.

‘It is warm.’

Feeling the energy enveloping my body, I thought that.

Soft, warm.

And at the same time, comforting.

It was a feeling I was quite familiar with.

It was exactly like when I met the Goddess of Destiny in the temple the Pix tribe had tainted back then.

‘Was it… a sword carrying a god’s blessing?’

I clearly remembered it having lost all its power as a holy sword, but that was not the case.

And it seemed that this sacred power affected the surroundings as well.

Not only me, but everyone around me stared blankly at the sword, their faces mixed with awe and reverence.

And then—

“Grab it!”

Magician Agpiel shouted urgently from my side.

“Grab the sword now! We cannot let that magician cast another spell.”

“Ah!”

Only then did I snap back to my senses and hurriedly seize the sword floating in the air.

-Paaaat!

-Chrrrrrring!

The sword trembled and began to pour out an even stronger holy light. It was so white, it was as if the sun had risen inside this mansion.

“W-What is this?!”

Seeing that, Magician Yagielt screamed.

Something this absurd.

A sword that cleaved curses.

A sword that moved on its own and flew through the air.

He had never heard of it, never seen it, in all his life.

They called him the Knight of Miracles—had he truly performed a miracle?

The problem was, why did he have to do it to him, of all people?

“D-Damn it. Dieee!”

Shoving aside his lament, Magician Yagielt howled, pulled up his staff again, and swung it with all his might. He meant to inflict damage no matter what.

There was still a fair distance.

Unless that Margrave was a monster, he would not close that distance in an instant—

“?!”

-Paat!

But as always, this insane Margrave defied common sense.

He closed that long distance in a single bound—

-SWISHHHH!

-THUNK!

And in the blink of an eye, he severed his neck.

“H-How….”

He was speaking right up until the moment his head fell, that was how fast it had been.

-THUD!

—

“Whew, that was dangerous.”

It felt like I had just surpassed some limit. Even to me, it felt as if I had folded space at an absurd speed.

Was that why?

Standing before the fallen magician, my body creaked as if demanding rest at once.

A fierce pain in my muscles and an extreme exhaustion.

I should have been brimming with vitality from the blessing the Goddess of Life had given me, but I felt like I could close my eyes at any moment.

‘Of course, I can’t.’

There was still something to finish.

I forced myself to plant the sword into the floor and lean on it, then spoke to the man before me—Sir Andrea Bardi.

“Do you still think you are innocent?”

“Uh, ah, uhh….”

Called out like that, Sir Andrea Bardi flailed, unable to speak properly.

No matter how he thought about what had just happened, he could not understand it.

A sword suddenly flew, pouring out light, then appeared in an instant and cleanly took off the head of the magician he had trusted.

Everything had happened so quickly that his mind still could not judge it, and he had gone rigidly pale.

“Why? Is it not so? Then raise your sword. You should prove your innocence before God, just as you wanted.”

As I watched Sir Andrea Bardi, I lifted the sword I had been leaning on back onto my shoulder.

As if I would cut his neck off at any moment.

Only then did Sir Andrea Bardi finally calm down, and he cried out in a rush.

“N-No, Your Grace! I… I am a sinner. I will admit all my sins.”

After what he had just witnessed, how could he possibly accept a trial by duel.

That was madness.

So Sir Andrea Bardi shouted with more desperation than ever.

“Hah. Did you hear that? He says he will admit his crimes.”

Hearing that, I looked around and said it.

A confession made before everyone would also be clear evidence.

Then I drew my sword and shouted loudly.

“Andrea Bardi. For the crime of colluding with an evil magician and throwing the city’s order into chaos! By the authority of the Sacred Guardian entrusted by The Holy See, I hereby pronounce excommunication!”

—

The knights and soldiers Sir Andrea Bardi had summoned arrived late, but once they heard what had happened, they surrendered immediately.

As someone who had thoroughly prepared an army in case of the worst, I felt a bit deflated.

Still, it might not have been a bad result for Baron Pierre.

A large-scale bloodbath inside the city, as always, never won the love of the city’s citizens, no matter how justified it was.

Having it end quietly like this, internally and on its own, was not a bad thing.

And moreover—

-Without caring about any faction, I will appoint and use anyone as long as they are capable. From now on, I will cover up all the disputes and old grudges of the past.

Baron Pierre, who had newly seized power in the House of Viscount Bardi, immediately issued this proclamation to the people within the family.

It was to unify a house that had been severely divided.

Thanks to that, the turmoil both outside the city and within the House of Viscount Bardi began to be settled very quickly.

Baron Pierre met the powerful figures of the family and received their support, backing, and oaths of loyalty again, and Magician Agpiel and Azuela and I went around the epidemic-stricken city, devoting ourselves to treatment.

The aftermath of the power struggle—far fiercer than expected—was being wrapped up at remarkable speed.

“What will you do with Sir Andrea Bardi?”

“I plan to strip him of the family name and send him to a monastery in the eastern part of the continent. He will have to live his entire life reflecting on what he has done.”

“Huh, that sounds painful.”

At the surprisingly mild treatment, I replied with a snicker.

Honestly, I thought he would publicly announce the charges and execute Sir Andrea Bardi on the guillotine.

“That is because if what he did becomes known to the city’s citizens, it will be a disaster.”

“True. People would think the Bardi family did it, not that Sir Andrea Bardi did it.”

In many ways, it would damage their prestige. And it could also hand needless leverage to rival families in the city.

Handling it quietly under the table might be the better long-term choice.

“Then the conflict is truly over now, isn’t it? It seems you won’t need my help anymore.”

“That is right. Thank you truly for helping us, my lord.”

At my words, Baron Pierre bowed deeply. I waved my hand at the sight.

“There is no need for that. You know, don’t you? About our relationship.”

“Um. You mean a give-and-take relationship?”

“Yes. Give-and-take. I do not want the virtue of loyalty from you. No, I do not want one-sided loyalty from people. I want a relationship that helps each other, like now. Give-and-take. This time I helped you, so….”

“Next time, it will be my turn to help you. Whenever you say the word, I will mobilize all my capabilities to assist you.”

“As if you wouldn’t.”

I said that with a snicker.

It seemed my business here was finished. All that remained was to end this brief leisure and go to The Holy See to talk.

“By the way. My lord?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“About… the bishop.”

“Ah, you mean Bishop Marco?”

“Yes, the goat beastman bishop….”

Baron Pierre wore a very troubled expression.

Did that damn goat beastman cause trouble again?

A nameless anxiety rose in me. Come to think of it, that shining sword incident was the kind of thing that was perfect for being packaged as yet another miracle…?

Surely he wasn’t going around insisting on and preaching such nonsense before we even reached The Holy See.

It would only make things difficult for people.

But sure enough.

“That Bishop Marco is shouting about miracles while selling you out, my lord. Is this really okay?”

It seemed that damned goat beastman was selling me out again. Still, maybe he had matured a bit after what he had heard from me so far. At least I wasn’t hearing that he was extorting money.

“…Does it look okay to you?”

“Um…. Well. Of course not…. And there is an even more serious problem.”

“What is it?”

“He gathered people and gave speeches, selling you out while taking donations.”

“…….”

Right.

Of course.

A dog doesn’t stop eating shit.

Seriously, I really needed to break that goat beastman’s legs at least once.

—

-Waaaaah! Please go safely.

-Holy Margrave of Bellua! Please come again.

-Praise the Performer of Miracles!

For the first time in a long while, I was able to leave the city amid grand cheers.

There were words in those shouts that made my blood boil, but what could I do.

Some loudmouthed, money-grubbing goat beastman had already spread rumors everywhere.

In the end, I sighed and hoped The Holy See would not pay any particular attention to it.

But damn it.

“Your Grace! I heard you performed another miracle!”

As if that was ever going to happen.

Sigh….

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