## Chapter 1105 – Krasheim

Anyway, I had a pleasant conversation with Elise while hunting miscellaneous monsters and grilling them whole for a meal. The taste was shit, but I was just eating to fill my stomach, so I didn’t really care.

When you run at super speed and consume mana like crazy, you need a lot of food. When I eat a lot, I can consume more than ten times what an average person eats in a day.

“Now, let’s go somewhere else.”
“Let’s.”

After finishing our meal, I immediately put Elise on my shoulder and headed to another location.

It was originally supposed to be a long journey, but because I ran so hard, I was able to reach our destinations quickly.

The places we visited were all locations where the cultists had set up bases or were performing some kind of evil magic.

These cultist bastards had been creating undead or completing evil spells somewhere in the unexplored areas near Krasheim, causing all sorts of mayhem.

Of course, it was difficult to guess their purpose.

In any case, the Holy Light Cross Society had discovered and destroyed many of these sites. This was a good result, but if we couldn’t find a clue to their main base, it wouldn’t mean much.

“Hmm.”

I wondered if there might be something hidden in these facilities, so I secretly collaborated with Andro, without Elise knowing.

“Is there anything here?”
“Nothing… I don’t sense anything.”

It didn’t seem like there was anything there.

“Shit.”

It was only natural.

These places were untouched by human hands.

If there was anything, the cultists would have already taken it all.

The lack of any reaction was perfectly understandable. It’s hard to touch things inside cities like Isvant, but if it’s out here, they can easily take everything.

“Sir Saint? What did you say?”

Elise suddenly approached.

“Huh? Oh, nothing.”

I immediately put Vugal back into its scabbard.

“I was just frustrated, so I cursed a little.”
“Is that so? Still, Sir Saint, it’s not good to overuse vulgar language. Of course, insulting and denouncing evil beings is a good thing, encouraged more than a hundred times a day, but I think it’s better to refrain from it normally.”

That’s some very priest-like advice.

“Actually, you’re right. But it’s become a habit.”
“It would be good to correct bad habits. It would be more beneficial to save up your curses and unleash them when you encounter evil beings.”
“Hehehe, I’ll try.”

It’s Elise’s advice, so I want to follow it as much as possible, but the curses are already stuck to my mouth, so I can’t help it. But I don’t really need to fix it. Who would be offended if the Heavenly Demon cursed a little? They’d get their ass kicked if they were.

“Anyway, it seems like these bastards must have a headquarters somewhere.”
“Haa… It’s frustrating that we can’t find it.”

When I changed the subject, Elise sighed.

“All the facilities discovered so far have been small. Even if we destroy these small ones, it might not matter much to them.”
“You might be right. It seems like their power is considerable.”

The Lich’s headquarters, somewhere… It would be equipped with a large number of cultists and all sorts of facilities. And the Lich would be there too.

Nevertheless, the fact that they keep trying to create bases like this means that there’s something there. Some of them might have been created because they really needed a base, but it’s likely that others were trying to unearth sealed beings.

Then that means the facilities are useless, so it wouldn’t matter much if they were destroyed. From the start, that Lich bastard must have a lot of cultists under his command. So it wouldn’t matter if a few of them died.

There’s no reason why a guy who can produce Death Knights in units of dozens wouldn’t be able to mass-produce cultists.

Maybe they’re securing manpower through human trafficking or kidnapping… using them as materials to create undead, or using them as test subjects, or brainwashing them to make them their subordinates.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s anything here. Let’s go to the next place.”
“Understood! Ah, the next place we’re going to is the most recently discovered location! The place we destroyed right before the demon incident!”
“Is that so?”

I immediately sprinted in that direction.

* * *

“This is the place.”
“Hmm. This is…”

It was a place with a collapsed entrance and rubble.

Elise said that the cultists were performing black magic using human sacrifices here, so they destroyed it completely.

“Elise, wait here for a moment.”
“Understood.”

I had Elise stand still for a moment, then pretended to examine the rubble while speaking very quietly to Andro.

“Is there anything here?”
“Ugh… faint, but I can sense traces of power. This is the energy of Pandemonium, but… I sense something else too.”

With all the training, he also speaks quietly.

“Where?”
“Under the ground.”
“Good. Then be quiet again.”
“Understood.”

Andro immediately shut his mouth, and I naturally approached Elise.

“There might be some clues left, so let’s do some construction.”
“Yes!”

ㅡPapapapap!

I immediately drew mana from my entire body and deployed sword flames, digging through the collapsed rubble. With that tremendous force, a buried underground facility soon appeared.

Elise said that the human sacrifices were carried out here.

“More than that… as expected. It’s an amazing power. It reminds me of the exploration team days.”
“Hehehe. It’s easier than that. Then let’s dig a little more here.”
“Yes? The site we raided is right here.”
“There might be something more underground. Just wait and see.”

Andro said he sensed traces of some kind of power, so there’s 100% something there. I immediately broke the stone floor and dug into the ground like a drill.

ㅡKukung.

Soon, an empty space appeared.

“See? A secret space, right?”
“Huh! I never thought there would be something like this…! It’s buried quite deep! How did you find this place!”
“I have similar experience. Let’s go down.”

I immediately went down into the underground with Elise.

ㅡPaaat.

Elise used a divine spell to create light.

“But even if there was something…”

The small underground space was empty.

It seems like there was something, but it’s not here now.
There were also traces of the ceiling being pierced once.

“It seems like they’ve already taken everything.”
“It seems so… Could it be that the other places we found have something like this too!”
“There’s a possibility. Just keep it in mind. There won’t be anything anyway.”
“I’ll report it. If it’s considered important, I think they’ll take action.”

That’s right.

“Good, Elise. Then let’s go look at all the remaining places.”
“Understood!”

And so, I conducted a survey with Elise until evening.

* * *

“Haa. It’s over now.”

As the sun began to set.

With the orange sunset swallowing the sky, the survey work was over. I checked the final report and then put Elise on my shoulder and returned to Krasheim.

ㅡSeureuk.

As I entered the city, the sky was completely dark.

“Sir Saint. Are you leaving now?”

As soon as I put her down, Elise said that.

“I have to. I have things to do. It’s time to go up to the capital, submit a detailed report, and come up with countermeasures.”
“…I’m very sad.”
“Me too.”

It’s been a while since I saw Elise, but now it’s time to part again. Thinking about that made me very sad.

But it’s okay.

I can always see her again. Kim Gatteu doesn’t doubt that. No matter how wide the kingdom’s land is, we can keep seeing each other.

“Still, I’m very happy that I was able to go around to so many places with you today, Sir Saint. It’s always so much fun to be with you that I lose track of time.”
“Hehehe, me too.”
“I wish… today wouldn’t end.”

Today.

“That would have been nice too.”

Elise said that with a smiling face.

“As expected, fun times pass quickly.”
“No, are you that sad?”
“We can see each other again, but it will still take some time. You’re going up to the capital, aren’t you? For me, you’re the only Divine Friend, so parting is always sad.”
“Elise… I’m about to cry.”

Seeing Elise looking so sad made me feel like tears were about to fall.

“Waaah! A lamentation filled with sorrow!”

I sat down and wailed like a child.

“No! Don’t cry! You can’t cry here! And who in this world wails like that!”
“That’s right… I can’t cry.”
“Are you that sad that you’re crying?”

I wiped away my tears and stood up, answering.

“Of course. As Elise said, parting with the only Divine Friend is sad. Aren’t you crying, Elise?”
“Yes?”
“No way!!! You’re really not crying!!!”

I scolded Elise loudly.

“N-No! Why are you saying that! Of course I’m sad enough to cry too!”
“Then why aren’t you crying!”
“Do you want to see my tears, Sir Saint! If you’re serious, I don’t think I can hide this bizarre and embarrassing feeling!”
“Are you saying that I really want your tears!”
“Ah! This conversation is over!”

Elise, who shouted, crossed her arms and turned away from me.

“I won’t respond to that strange remark anymore!”

She’s slippery like a loach.

Elise wasn’t as easy to deal with as she used to be.

“Okay, okay. I’ll stop now.”
“Your jokes are very mischievous, Sir Saint.”
“If I don’t do this.”

I was serious.

“I’m going to cry.”

When I said that while looking at the night sky.

“Don’t create a strange atmosphere! And don’t sit down and wail like a child!”
“Oops.”

Elise wouldn’t even let me do that.

“Hehehe, ah. Anyway, I’m just kidding. Elise. We’re going to keep seeing each other anyway. Of course, we can’t see each other right now, but we’re going to keep meeting. So rest assured.”
“I definitely think so too.”
“Don’t doubt it.”

I nodded.

“And… maybe if a little more time passes, we’ll meet more often.”
“What’s the reason?”
“You know that the situation in this remote area is unusual, right?”

The Lich and his atrocities.

“Elise. I sense a great war. A war on an even larger scale than this demon incident. Maybe the Idol War will be reborn.”

Hundreds of years since the end of the war.

I was sensing it.

I had a feeling that the Second Idol War might break out.

Returning to Isvant and Krasheim, defeating Andromalius, and encountering the Lich, I felt it.

Can human power really overcome the Idol War?

Let’s imagine that a being like Coltarahen is released and rampages. An ordinary territory would be completely destroyed.

“…Are you thinking that far ahead, Sir Saint? Certainly. It’s true that I’ve been feeling that way recently.”
“Yeah. I’m going to prepare for that time. You should too, Elise.”
“Of course, Sir Saint!”

Elise shouted energetically.

“Good. The next time I reunite with you, Sir Saint. I’ll show you my changed self.”
“Changed self?”
“I felt it greatly while meeting you and others.”

The influence of the hero.

“I’ll come back to you even stronger. And I’ll become a Divine Friend worthy of you, the hero! I’m already on the verge of becoming a Senior Nun!”
“Oh! Is that so!”

This is great.

“I’m looking forward to the day we meet again!”
“Please look forward to it! I’ll work hard to become not only stronger, but also the inhuman beauty you mentioned, Sir Saint! To become a Divine Friend worthy of you!”
“No, even a beauty?”

An inhuman beauty.

“Yes! A beauty! A-And I’ll be a little older too! Well then, Sir Saint! If I delay the farewell, the regret will only grow, so I’ll be going now!”

Elise, who declared that, suddenly turned her body and started walking quickly.

“Oh! Elise! I’ll look forward to it!”

Elise simply raised her hand and waved. As Elise moved forward, her figure was swallowed by the darkness and disappeared.

After watching that until the end, I also swallowed my regret and turned my body.

Then shall I return to Isvant.