Chapter 728 – Reverse Use and the Hero of the Sky

000

After Lila’s explanation was over, the group was silenced for a moment.

Of course, the reason was that it was hard to believe in the absurd plan that the Exiled Church was planning, but as long as Lila says it, it must be true.

And considering the denomination’s actions up to now, one even came to the conclusion that they would be able to do just that.

For them, it was a good place to rule the eastern country along with the kingdom, and if they tried to rebel against it without coming under their control, destroying it was one of the ways.

Therefore, after calming down for a moment, Cleon looked back at Lila quietly and opened his mouth to continue the story.

“… First of all, there are a few things that are still unclear. Why is carrying out a plan the Five Elements? And what is the real plan Mr. Quartz was trying to convey to us?”

After hearing this story, I couldn’t believe that the indiscriminate bombing of Asteris was her plan.

If it’s her, she’s clearly looking for a way to prevent this operation – or she has some idea about how, so it’s better to think that she sent them back.

Lyla also nods her head at Cleon’s point, revealing more of the information about the flying fortress Bajura that was left on her disk.

“First, as you can see, Vajra is a relic of the original world. And in the original world, the operation of machines using magical power was common. The flying fortress Vajra is also such a huge object, but it can fly freely in the sky using a flying device that uses magic power.”

＂Then, it means that magic power is needed for flight. That too, just a little won’t work.”

In the case of flying magic that uses magical power to levitate an object, the larger the volume and mass of the object to be levitated, the more magical power is needed.

If it were an object that operated on the same principle, I had no idea how much magic power the flying fortress would require.

＂Oh, maybe…＂

And then, Kuon opened her mouth as she looked at the flying fortress.

“During the Five Elements Festival, the magic power flowing through the Elemental Cross begins to overflow, so is it possible to use that to fill the magic power needed for the flight of the flying fortress?”

“That’s correct, Kuon. In fact, without that level of magical power, this flying fortress would not be able to rise from the bottom of the sea easily. Normally, you would be consuming magical energy to maintain the barrier to prevent the intrusion of seawater.”

After Lila said that and drew a circle surrounding the flying fortress on the blackboard, Amelia spoke with a dull expression.

“… And one more thing. On the day of the Five Elements Festival, lords and citizens from all over the Eastern countries will gather in Asteris. So, it is the day when people are most concentrated in Asteris.”

“If you did something like a bombing from the air on a day like that…”

When Sasha shrugged her shoulders at Amelia’s words, as if she had just imagined something terrible, Lila nodded her head as if she had the same thoughts.

“In many ways, it’s a golden opportunity. I guess it’s the perfect day.”

Of course, from the perspective of the victim, there is no such thing as the worst of the worst.

“If you think about it simply, the way to stop this would be to destroy the fortress underwater before it can fly. If things were going to be resolved that easily, Mr. Quartz wouldn’t have sent us away on the spot.”

When Cleon speaks as if this pattern is now familiar, Lila shrugs her shoulders and then answers.

“That’s right. The Vajra is said to be a weapon with absolute defensive power not only on the outside but also on the inside. Quartz’s judgment is that it is impossible to destroy Vajra with the means we have.”

The answer was more desperate than expected, and the group except Cleon held their breath, but Cleon thought that Lila might have information about another method – a neutralization method that could replace destruction.

“Don’t worry so much. How did Mr. Quartz know this information? And although it is still unknown what her true identity is, it is certain that there is a way. If they decided to implement the Five Elements Festival, let’s use the Five Elements Festival to ruin their plans.”

And Laila, the operation of the quartz contained in a disk.

If the other party is trying to change the situation by using absurd methods, it seems that the other side also needs to come up with a suitable idea.

Everyone looked surprised when they heard about the trump card she had prepared.

“… What can I say, it’s beyond my imagination…”

When Sasha spoke as if she was surprised, Lila smiled as if she wanted to see that reaction.

“Yes, it should be on this scale. Well, I will devise a detailed method gradually… Kuon!”

Lila speaks while holding up her index finger and pointing at Kuon.

“The most important part of this operation is, of course, Kuon. Do you understand?”

“Well, that’s how much pressure… But I got it! I will work hard!”

Even though Kuon felt the pressure of Lila’s expectations, she clenched both her fists as if she would do everything she could.

“Cleon, please convey this matter to each person. Herti, Miyeom-gong, and – Selena too.”

“… I see, that guy also has to stay in Asteris until the day of the Five Elements Festival… So the Exile Church was planning to use even Selena as a discard.”

When Cleon answers like that, Lila also nods her head.

＂Well, I guess he was thinking of abandoning her when she cooperated with En Lai in the first place.

＂Is it because they got impatient and because their plans kept going awry?

“That means they feel threatened by us too. Hmph, I’ve been plotting things hidden in the dark until now, but now I’m struggling with the foundation that’s starting to be revealed.”

Cleon nodded his head in agreement with her harsh words.

“Once the Five Elements Festival begins, it will get busy. In this case, we all have to cooperate. Because a war is beginning between us and our colleagues who want to protect Asteris and those who want to destroy Asteris.”

001

Just like that, the next morning.

He told Herti about the flying fortress and its solution early in the morning, and then stopped by the royal palace and told the story to Duke Miyeom.

However, in places where there are no subjects, the ears of the exiled church may be found somewhere.

When Cleon first told him about the plan to bomb Asteris using the Exile Church’s Vajra, both Miyeomgong and Herti were taken aback at first, but when they saw Cleon’s calm demeanor, they realized that they had a solution to it. I saw him regain his composure quickly.

Indeed, they thought they were people who ran their own country and business, but after hearing Cleon’s solution to the problem, they were once again taken aback.

Ah, it was just as expected. Thinking this, Cleon smiled bitterly.

But soon, I couldn’t help but be purely grateful for Cleon’s trust in me if he said so.

Because if it were him, he wouldn’t have believed what he said.

However, they do what they can in their own position and support Cleon and his group.

It was a bit too much trust for an adventurer’s party to receive, but it was also true that it made them think they had to respond.

Anyway, there was one more person who had to receive this story from Cleon.

It was the court wizard Selena Regent, the representative of the kingdom’s army currently stationed in the Eastern Kingdom.

Until the Five Elements Emperor, she had to stay in this Eastern country without any action, because she was also a target of their plan.

Roughly speaking, I could just imagine what kind of reaction I would have.

‘This is unforgivable to bomb a city with so many civilians! Villains~!’

And it was clear that he would become furiously angry, as if his eyes were on fire.

After hearing her story, she immediately ran out and walked towards the kingdom’s military camp, pledging herself to be careful not to do anything first.

＂Ah.＂

＂Geng.＂

Cleon looks at the boy holding the parasol, who makes eye contact with Cleon and then changes his expression, and the woman who is smiling and walking under the boy’s parasol.

＂Ah, Cleon~＂

Pamela raises the middle part of her skirt quite subtly, bows, and gives an aristocratic greeting.

It brings tears to my eyes when I remember how I tripped on the hem of her cloak when I first met her.

And, looking at Cleon next to Pamela and not hiding his complicated feelings, is Berlin, her younger brother and one of the Empire’s top executives, one of the Dark Giants.

“… Seeing that you can walk around the city like this in the morning, it seems that the story that there is no problem even if you are caught by the kingdom’s military is true.”

It goes without saying that Pamela’s expression became so bright after Bayerlin’s return, but looking at the way he never left her side, it seemed as if he was trying to protect Pamela.

She was able to confirm once again that the friendship between her siblings was deep.

＂It’s okay, I’ve used a perception-blocking spell so that anyone who doesn’t know me can see me.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

When Pamela obediently exclaims in response to Cleon’s words, Bayerlin speaks with her sigh.

＂Well… I guess they are working that way because there is no real problem.＂

Berlin didn’t seem to have much sympathy for Pamela, but she did.

“I’m really being disingenuous.”

When Pamela said that, it was as if she was looking at an adolescent man, and thanks to her generosity, Cleon smiled as if he was okay with it.

Then, she suddenly thought that it would be okay to ask Beylin a question.

About the flying fortress, Vajra.

If you ask the reason, it is because when the Empire was trying to grow its military power, there was a man in the Empire who was looking for various artifacts and ancient technologies to fight against Adam.

It is I, the Demon Sword Emperor, the worst war criminal on the continent.

If it were an invincible flying fortress, then of course it would have been something he wanted to get so badly that his hands would stick out from his neck.

And of course, if it had been Heukgeoseong, his closest associate who was accompanying him, he would have received an order to find the fortress, or conversely, he would have given orders to his subordinates.

─Thinking like that, Cleon speaks to Berlin.

“Berlin. Do you know about the flying fortress? What is the name ‘Vajra’?”

＂How did you get that… No, where did you get that name?＂

And, as if Cleon’s prediction was correct, Berlin reacts to Cleon while showing a slight surprise.

“Bingo,” Thought Cleon as he explained the whole story, and not only Pamela but also Berlin made surprised faces and covered their foreheads.

And when I looked around, the outdoor seating of a nearby coffee shop caught my eye.

“… Should we sit there for a moment and talk?”

“Good. If you know anything, please let me know.”

When Cleon nods to Berlin’s suggestion, the three sit down around a table.

There was no shade in the outdoor seats, but Berlin used magic to raise the large parasol he was holding to create shade for Pamela.

And, Berlin, who sat down, closed his eyes for a moment as if organizing his thoughts and memories, then opened his eyes and slowly opened his mouth.

“Speaking of the flying fortress Vajra… Obviously, its leader… It was one of the artifacts that the Demon Sword Emperor Kain was looking for. Because there was so little related description, it was unclear whether it actually existed.”

Finding such a relic was not for me, but there was someone better suited to it. Berlin added.

I don’t know if it was someone else among the Black Giants, but it was definitely a more suitable person than Berlin, who was drunk with the power of the time.

“So, the imperial army ultimately failed to find Vajra…”

“Yes, in the end, that’s it. However, I remember being dragged around several times to search and repeatedly saying things like, “After looking into it, I think it’s around here” In vain. Every time, that unlucky guy would say, ‘According to the new facts I found out…'”

Berlin complains that he almost got a scab on his ear.

If he says this, it’s definitely not very productive information.

＂What did you say?＂

That’s what I thought, but when Pamela spoke to her younger brother as if she was curious, Berlin seemed to think about it for a bit and then gave her an obedient answer.

＂Vajra is an object used by Carl Sedoni, Hero of the Sky, to deal with a gigantic monster that tried to cross from the gap in another dimension. Unless it is Fragarach, the holy sword of the firmament that he had, it is a set of two relics designed to not move.”

To be precise, Vajra itself was created to deal with such enemies, but… Berlin added.

When various pieces of information that he didn’t know suddenly pop up, Cleon gets a little embarrassed.

I was thinking, “It was incredibly important information.”

＂The fortress of the sky and the holy sword of the sky…? Certainly, since it is an artifact that cannot be moved unless two people come together, it seems that it was not easy for the empire to collect it.”

When Cleon answered like that, Berlin snorted, ‘Hmph.’

“Still, the captain was the one who couldn’t give up on finding the relic until the end of the war.”

＂Well, I guess so…＂

Even though he was clearly not talking as if he were sniping at himself, Cleon felt uncomfortable somewhere in Berlin’s response as if he was talking at him.

However, what still concerns me is what happened to the hero named ‘Karl Sedoni’ and his companions, and why they were taken over by the Banished Church.

And, if a flying fortress attacks Asteris during the Five Elements Festival, the holy sword that can control that flying fortress – Fragarach – will also be in the hands of the church.

That means-

“… The church either kills Hero Carol or brainwashes her and makes her their subordinate. Are you saying you took over the holy sword and the fortress…?”

If you don’t think like that, things won’t work out right.

Of course, Laila said that Vajra has been active for over 80 years.

It only appears in one line in the history book, and it is a description of ‘a huge flying fortress protected the world by fighting a huge monster that came from a gap in another dimension.’

An artifact that was used to protect the world is now trying to attack innocent people. It was an ironic story, though.

“But, I somehow managed to know such a legend. Even Laila only knew the information recorded in history books.”

When Cleon says that, Berlin speaks in a slightly smug manner.

“The empire at the time had intelligence sources planted all over the continent to collect information. If you were determined and gathered information, you could know most things. For example, the names of all the members of the group were written in the guestbook of the shabby inn where the warrior named Carol actually stayed.”

“That’s… Carol’s hero party.”

When Cleon asks again with interest, he nods his head.

“I remember it because I happened to find it in the area I was in charge of. It was the composition of a standard hero party, two sons and two daughters: Carl, Agate, Jasper… And Quartz. It must have been a name like this.”

At the words of Veirlin, who stretched out his fingers one by one and named him, Cleon’s body flinched and turned to look at him.

＂… Quartz?＂

And, if you ask him back if you heard the name wrong.

Berlin nodded.

“Okay. It would have been called Quartz Windfinder. Is this a name you know?”

“I didn’t know the last name, but if the name is Quartz… I don’t think this is a coincidence…”

Cleon felt that way, feeling the pieces of the puzzle coming together one by one in his head.

What if – on the assumption that the Quartz they know is Quartz himself, who was the hero’s colleague-

Now, if the holy sword to move the flying fortress was there, it seemed like he could guess to some extent what Quartz was talking about, ‘the reason he must remain in this fortress’.

Cleon thinks.

Maybe she’s trying to get it back.

The companions who flew through the sky together when they sacrificed their lives to save the world.

Or – vice versa.

She herself said that she might be trying to put an end to that ending.

Either way, she was lost in thought for a moment, thinking that Quartz had ‘something in mind’.

So deep that you don’t even notice the store clerk coming to take your order.