Chapter 613: Plunge (2)
Having tea time with Pope Basel proved to be inevitable.
I couldn’t pull back from it anymore, and I had to explain what was happening.
I roughly made some excuses about the Holy Sword and Gareth, the child soldier whom the heretical interrogators were currently investigating. I was able to take off his charges and return him to his daily routine.
After spending time with the pope, I took a quick nap and started working right away. I finished the Garden of Terror version, synthesized the demon Salit’s core with the monkfish’s catalyst, and began working on the Tutorial Dungeon version.
I was a little tired, but that didn’t mean I could take a break. It was because fatigue remained in my mind that I made no major achievement.
Of course, that didn’t mean I gained nothing.
The Holy Sword was once again in place, and I became closer to the people of the Holy See.
However…
‘If only the incident didn’t break out…’
I unknowingly thought of it.
After rejecting Jung Hayan’s suggestion to sleep a bit more, I kept working without breaks. In the meantime, the spokesman for the Holy sector, Jaina, then proceeded with an appropriate excuse for what happened.
After that, the system was activated in earnest, and as a result, the test of the Holy Sword resumed, as per the interest of many people. It was a much smoother flow than I thought.
However, unlike other people, I didn’t pay much attention to the tests that were taking place.
I literally couldn’t afford to, after all.
Of course, when the ones I chose were about to be tested, I watched them through the Goddess’s Mirror, but I didn’t have to luxury to watch them all day long.
Above all, the idea that it wouldn’t choose a holy warrior immediately was already on my mind.
That reasoning was based on the conversations I had with the Holy Sword previously. That was why I was a little disconcerted when Jung Hayan called for me out loud.
“O-Oppa! It’s going out! It’s about to go out! Looks like the holy warrior has appeared. I-I-I think he’s pulling out the sword right now.”
“Huh?”
“C-Come quickly. The warrior appeared. The holy warrior!”
I immediately left the Tutorial Dungeon version behind and rushed to the Goddess’ Mirror.
The guy on the screen was really pulling out the sword.
Wasn’t the effect different from those who had been eliminated?
The figure of the guy standing among them was comparable to the main character in any narrative.
I could guess that he just turned 20 years old. The warrior had a youthful face and seemed to me like it was still a boy. He struggled with a gray light in front of him.
Was it worth mentioning that it was the way I thought it would be?
The warrior was pulling out the sword while numerous people were watching him.
He looked as if he had realized the weight of responsibilities that would come with pulling out the sword as he was receiving the radiant light. The priests prayed, looking at what was happening before them, and the State people kept crying out for the name of Benignore.
Everything was part of the scene I was picturing in my head.
-The Holy Sword… The Holy Sword is being pulled out. The Holy Sword is being pulled out.
-He is the warrior chosen by Benignore!
-Whoooooaaaaaaaaaa!!
-W-who’s… that? Who the hell is he?
-It’s the warrior. The holy warrior…
Even the voices of the public heard through the Goddess’s Mirror perfectly complimented the event.
‘This is going to cause an unconditional soar. There wasn’t going to be room for a plunge. It’s going to skyrocket without fail!’
It was sudden, but how could I be in a bad mood?
It was the situation I wished and longed for… I also liked his young and innocent face, and I liked his appearance that didn’t seem to be out of date.
Most of all, it solved my worries regarding difficult situations.
I was really relieved.
‘Whew… It made up its mind. It was a stroke of genius that I went there. It definitely was. All we had to do was talk it out. With good communication, our Holy Sword finally did what it had to do.’
I didn’t know why it changed its mind, but the fact that my persuasion worked also made me feel better.
However, it only lasted for a moment.
After checking his stats with my Mind’s Eyes, I bit down on my lips tightly out of habit.
[Checking Raphael’s status window.]
[Name: Raphael]
[Title: Last Survivor of the Order.]
‘Sigh… Fuck…’
Needless to say, it was a trap card.
It really happened in an instant…
It was the plunge of the Holy Sword Coin.
It wasn’t just a plunge, but the imaginary graph before my eyes drew a vertical line going downwards.
“Really… Really, fuck… Why are you doing this to me?”
‘The last survivor of the Order?’
What was he doing there…?
Of course, I remembered.
How could I forget the dirty demon contractor who had destroyed the 5th District?
I believed that I had done the job well, but there were still some dirty reactionaries left.
He wasn’t just a survivor. He was the chosen warrior.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to clear my throat upon realizing the absurdity of it.
I started to think of all kinds of things, leaving Jung Hayan, Max, and Han Sora behind at the Goddess’s Mirror.
‘This dirty magic sword bastard… You did this on purpose, didn’t you?’
The product of pitch-black darkness, emitting ugly and disgusting magical power, was now causing trouble.
It was clear that it wasn’t silently accepting my will, but was instead trying to screw me over at any cost.
How could I not notice what kind of ego it had?
It was correct to assume that it chose Raphael, knowing full well what would happen if it did.
I didn’t know if it’s simply trying to protest in earnest, but…
It was undeniable that the current situation was disadvantageous for me.
-Ah… Ah. We will deliver the birth of the chosen warrior to the entire continent. It must be a familiar face to you. May I ask for a self-introduction?
-First… I sincerely thank the Honorary Cardinal and Pope Basel for giving me this opportunity. This situation is a bit embarrassing and too sudden, but… I will do my best not to disappoint anyone.
-…
-My name is… Raphael. I’m ignorant… of sword skills, but… I got used to it while taking this test…
In the meantime, an interview began, and, in everyone’s attention, the demon contractor succeeded in getting into the heart of the Holy See.
Watching all of it unfold in an instant, it was so ridiculous that laughter burst out of me.
When I laughed, I noticed Jung Hayan and Han Sora Han looking at me.
“…”
“…”
“Er… Vice Guild Master. Are you not going to the Holy sector? I got a message asking you to come quickly…”
“…”
“…”
“Sigh… Please inform them that I’m leaving soon, but that I’ll be a little late. Hayan, get ready to come with me.”
“Yes, yes… yes.”
“Ah, and please make sure to contact Hyunsung as well. No… rather, convene all the guild members.”
“Okay.”
‘That’s ridiculous… really ridiculous.’
After I rationalized the situation to some extent, I got really mad.
The more I thought about it, the more I felt enraged.
I didn’t know if it’s because the memories of the hardships I had gone through so far passed by, but I felt like I wanted to turn everything upside down.
‘What should I do?’
I couldn’t help but wonder about that, considering I had to open up many possibilities.
Nothing had been decided exactly yet, hadn’t it?
First, I was most interested in the reason that the demon contractor came directly to us.
Of course, it was obvious what his motive would be.
He might’ve had come to find a new life after repenting, but the odds were low.
Why would someone who really wanted to turn a new leaf come to our side of the world and take the test like a fool?
No matter how I thought about it, it wouldn’t be wrong to judge that it would have been because he had a solid goal.
And that goal was…
‘It must be revenge.’
It had to be.
He was standing there to avenge his colleagues, complete the mission his colleagues couldn’t, and fulfill their aspirations.
In short, he had come to threaten the light.
‘Is it dangerous?’
I could be certain that it wasn’t dangerous right at that moment, at least.
Although the Holy Sword chose him, he still wasn’t ready to wield it.
Perhaps he would try to target my throat when he’s closest to me. He could also try to use traps and schemes.
He might’ve had a plan to announce the fabricated data, or he could talk about the world needing to know the truth.
What if I didn’t learn that he was a reactionary bastard?
‘It would’ve been terrible…’
I could be sure that there would be some big scars on my back if that happened.
Maybe I would’ve even died. Raphael currently wasn’t a reactionary bastard but the chosen warrior, after all.
‘How do I solve this?’
Of course, the solution was simple.
‘I can kill him.’
I just had to stop him from existing.
My reputation might’ve had to take a bit of a blow, and gossips would probably spread, but there’s no better solution than killing him.
Wouldn’t it be a hundred times better to kill a future threat than to let him be?
Honestly, I couldn’t deny that it was an attractive option.
I could solve the problem in one
There were, of course, other options.
‘Should I accept the Holy Sword in his place?’
That wasn’t a bad option either, but it’s not that I had the right to decide that.
The last option was…
‘To raise him…’
Rather than keeping my distance, perhaps I should become closer to him.
All the information created by the reactionaries could be made known as fake information.
I could make him believe that everything was just a misunderstanding, and I could just put him in the frame of being a victim who they brainwashed.
I wouldn’t be able to tell him directly, but there were enough ways to do so indirectly.
Wouldn’t he change his mind if he watched the Honorary Cardinal, who was respected and loved by everyone, up close?
After that, I could deploy him to the frontlines and get rid of him.
I thought about it a bit, but all three felt like a good option.
The third one attracted me the most, though…
It wasn’t a matter that I could decide on right away.
The most important matter was to determine what kind of person he exactly was.
As soon as I finished preparations while thinking, Jung Hayan immediately began to chant a spell. As if she noticed that I wasn’t in a good mood, she glanced at me but didn’t stop the cast. Max and Han Sora also looked anxious.
I definitely was smiling, but it seemed that it wasn’t enough to make them believe I was happy.
Once again, tapping my thighs, I put the usual business smile on my face.
Immediately after Jung Hayan activated the spell, my vision changed, and I spoke with a smile to the person in front of me.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Kiyoung.”
“I… I’m Raphael.”