NOVEL NEXT Chapter 219
Bride Ship.
Unlike other girls, Liriez was assigned a separate room far away and quietly lay down on the bed after finishing her shower.
“Huh.”
He was strong.
Lucius was incredibly strong.
Though she believed she had sharpened her martial skills as the leader of the Holy Knight Order, Lucius’s abilities exceeded her imagination.
If it were just a clash of swords, without the holy swords involved, could Liriez even guarantee a victory against him?
Not at all.
Liriez was outmatched by Lucius.
She fell short of him in every aspect.
Unwilling to accept that, she challenged Lucius, but ended up losing cleanly.
Now she admitted it.
Admitting it made her feel pitiful and clumsy.
Since she couldn’t surpass Lucius on her own, she resorted to asking for help from someone other than herself—the ‘Witch.’
No matter how much Lucius was above her.
“Lucius, you seem to have more than enough strength for one person. From now on, I will be Liriez’s master.”
“Master?!”
“Don’t call me that. You’ve graduated. From now on, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the Witch or the Sage, but the title of Master is off-limits. That one belongs to Liriez.”
*
Liriez buried her face in the pillow.
The bed was the softest and most luxurious she had ever experienced, and it felt reminiscent of the Witch’s skin when she had once climbed atop a Spirit Device.
“I know.”
Liriez was aware that she was being strange.
But precisely because she was strange, she could state it boldly.
So what if it was unusual!
If you were a hero or even just a person, anyone who had experienced a Witch would find it rather odd not to be enchanted by her!!
If someone could resist the allure of a Witch, they were surely either already married or in love with a man.
Witches wield a magical charm.
There is something from which one cannot escape.
So much so that Liriez herself pondered, ‘I wouldn’t mind being under brainwashing magic.’
“Truly, Witch…”
Knock, knock, knock.
[Liriez?]
The knocking sound came from outside.
And standing beyond the door was the ‘Purple’ Witch.
“…Huh?”
It was a familiar face, yet somehow strange.
She was definitely the Purple Witch, but there was an alien feeling to her.
[Can I come in?]
“Of course! Please enter.”
[You have to open the door to get in, you know.]
“Ah, understood.”
Liriez opened the door to her private room and welcomed Belerze.
“Ugh…”
And Liriez could only swallow her words.
“…Strange?”
Belerze, right in front of her, had grown to the point where her gaze reached Liriez’s chest.
Once trapped in a doll-like body, like a jointed doll, Belerze had now completely transformed into a proper girl.
“Witch, what happened…?”
“Marin. It’s similar to a homunculus. Just like the orange and green ones, I’ve switched forms too.”
“Switched forms, you say…?”
“I’m not a doll; more like an anthropoid.”
Belerze extended her hand toward Liriez.
“Want to touch it?”
“…Please, come in first.”
“Alright.”
Clang.
The door closed.
Liriez suddenly found herself at a loss for how to react to the intruding Belerze—
“Whoa. This bed is nice.”
Belerze plopped herself onto the bed where Liriez had just been lying, almost causing her brain to short-circuit.
“W-Witch.”
“Come here.”
Tap, tap.
Belerze lightly patted the space beside her, and Liriez sat down next to Belerze as if entranced.
“I heard the story. You faced Lucius and lost.”
“…I was purely outmatched by skill.”
“They say if you learn from me, you’ll be able to win?”
“Well, that’s…”
Slick.
Belerze’s finger found its way to Liriez’s lips.
“Shh.”
Although Liriez didn’t fully grasp what ‘Marin’ or ‘homunculus’ meant, she felt a shiver throughout her body from the warmth conveyed through their lips.
“Liriez.”
“A-Aren’t you supposed to stop?”
“What do you mean by ‘stop’? What are you thinking?”
“Um, that is…”
Why was it?
As the leader of the Holy Knight Order.
As the Hero of the Holy Sword.
She couldn’t escape the delicate touch of this fragile girl who seemed like she could crumble if she reached out.
“Don’t worry. Just like before, you can trust your body to me.”
“I can’t… This is something I decided to do directly with the Witch…”
“But I’m a Witch too!”
“That…!”
“Be quiet.”
Liriez was laid back onto the bed.
The warm sensation from Belerze, who had climbed on top of her, felt as if it might whisk her consciousness away.
“Think simply. This is practice.”
“P-Practice…?”
“That’s right. Practice for the real thing. Before facing a true Witch someday, you need to practice with a clone first…”
Slick.
“And later, you’ll have the real one.”
Belerze’s face descended beside Liriez’s, and she whispered as her breath tickled Liriez’s ear.
“Understood?”
“W-Witch…”
“Don’t call me that.”
Belerze gently stroked Liriez’s cheek.
“Call me sister.”
“……!!”
Slowly, she began to cover Liriez.
*
Find the Hero’s Master!
Then you shall obtain the Holy Sword!
It was true that many were lured by this saying and began searching for the Holy Sword, or rather, for the Hero’s master, the Witch.
However, not everyone in the world craved the Holy Sword.
“I don’t need the Holy Sword, I need a country that will protect my family!”
The Holy Sword is undeniably a shortcut to wealth and glory.
But how many out of a hundred would absolutely insist on finding the Holy Sword or obtaining it?
If 70 set out to search for the Holy Sword, then the remaining 30 would probably want to gain a sense of security from the Holy Sword’s wielder.
Safety from the numerous monsters still spread throughout the continent.
The restoration of the broken system and the revival of the Empire.
Or perhaps the birth of a new nation.
In any form, humans are inclined to seek safety, and living in a tent is not a sustainable solution when your house has just collapsed.
“Lucius! Please save us!”
Still, humanity placed all their hopes on the Hero.
Whether that was humanity itself or just the people of the Empire is uncertain, but at least those who had lost their homes overnight could do nothing but wish for the Hero’s salvation.
Even if the Moon Goddess performed miracles, she wouldn’t magically rebuild homes.
And so.
“I will restore the system.”
We were somewhat shocked by Lucius’s words.
“Using the Holy Sword of the Earth, I can surely restore the system to its original state. What do you think?”
“That’s possible.”
Belerze was not here right now.
She was blocking Liriez from leaving her room at Lucius’s request.
“Blue Master. May I check the room?”
“Are you suggesting we review the CCTV? That doesn’t seem very educational for you.”
“If showing it is too much, just give me a rough idea of the situation.”
After briefly checking the footage, we reached a conclusion.
“We can prevent her from coming out until lunchtime today.”
“That works. As for the other three….”
Lucius furrowed his brow for a moment and pointed at us.
“Can I create a clone too?”
“There’s no reason you can’t.”
“Exactly. There’s nothing impossible for the Hero of the Holy Sword.”
“It’s ridiculous that the Hero of the Wind can’t use that. Can I borrow a Holy Sword for a moment?”
Lucius willingly lent us the Holy Sword.
“It would be easy with the main body, but since it’s a clone, all three of us need to combine our powers. I hope for your understanding.”
“That’s fine. Please show us quickly.”
“Then… ‘Mirror Image’!”
Pow.
Behind us, winds of each color swirled, and soon magical clones resembling us appeared.
“How is it? It’s an illusion using the wind’s power. You should be able to replicate it just fine after seeing it once.”
“If it doesn’t work the first time, we can try multiple times… Hmph, so you’re planning to create exactly three clones?”
“If they’re clones with specific purposes, making more will be easier. Now, hurry up and try.”
We canceled the mirror image and immediately handed the Holy Sword back to Lucius.
“…Mirror Image.”
Pow.
Three Luciuses appeared behind Lucius.
Though they had blonde hair, their eye colors were all different.
“Lucius Terbertion. Lucius Odrone. Lucius Diere.”
They all had blonde hair, but their eye colors matched someone else’s.
“Let’s go.”
The clones of Lucius licked their lips and departed.
Very soon, shrieks would likely ripple through the rooms on the lower floor.
“…So, Lucius. What exactly do you want while you buy time making sure the people of the Bride Ship are disoriented?”
“With the help of my masters, I want to use the three Holy Swords temporarily as their master.”
Lucius revealed his true intentions.
“Fire, Earth, and Darkness—all three?”
“Yes. I’m merely using them temporarily.”
Temporarily.
Would that be a significant issue…?
“Where do you plan to use them?”
“Mainly to avoid anyone tampering with the three Holy Swords, and also because I’d like to give my masters a bit more magic, and I want to use the Bride Ship as a magic outflow device.”
The purpose was perfect.
There was no way for us to argue against it for any reason.
Holy Swords are, after all, tools.
Unused tools are merely ornaments, or just garbage taking up space.
“And.”
“And?”
“…Although it’s a bit embarrassing, I want to help rebuild the homes of the people in the system.”
Lucius scratched his cheek, pointing at the collapsed system.
“If we use the Holy Sword of the Earth, won’t we be able to construct homes in a different way?”
“…That’s true.”
“Wait a moment. Are you building them for free?”
“Isn’t that just getting taken advantage of? Are you sure about this?”
“Of course.”
Lucius had a brighter smile than ever.
“Building homes. I have that experience, after all.”
“…….”
Indeed.
Lucius was certainly a hero in every sense.
“O fire.”
“O earth.”
“O darkness.”
“””Grand Cross…!!”””
Thus, Lucius became a Hero using one main Holy Sword and (temporarily) three sub Holy Swords.