333 – The Owner of the Holy Sword -1-

In front of the temple where the holy sword sleeps.

Standing on the corpse of the heretic guarding the entrance of the temple, I nodded as I looked at Rowen and Yuria following behind.

“It seems to be roughly sorted out.”

“Quick.”

“I thought at least one apostle would be guarding the door, but since there wasn’t, we could finish quickly.”

“I think so too.”

“…You’re very stingy with compliments.”

“That’s right.”

“…It seems all the archbishops have retreated, and the apostles are inside, so shall we go in too?”

Rowen, nodding his head, glanced at me and said.

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“I couldn’t point it out earlier because I was in a hurry.”

“Yes…”

“What did you say to my daughter?”

As Rowen’s piercing eyes turned towards me, I scratched my head with an awkward smile.

“The moon… is beautifully up.”

“…”

“…”

“Let’s move on for now.”

I almost died.

Having escaped the unintended danger, I cleared my throat once and slowly began to talk about the plan.

“As I mentioned before, we will enter the temple in two teams.”

“…”

“Mikhail and I will be one team. And Yuria and Rowen will be the other team.”

“…Understood.”

“The reason is….”

“Isn’t it because splitting into two teams will allow us to find the Holy Sword faster? And the reason for accompanying Yuria and Mikhail is to have a variable in case we don’t qualify for the Holy Sword.”

“…That’s right.”

I gave an awkward smile as I looked at Rowen, who had accurately grasped the intention.

“How did you know?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“You’re sharp.”

Rowen let out a hollow laugh and nodded.

“Then shall we start moving? It would be troublesome if they find it first.”

“That’s true.”

I nodded with a small smile. Then I stopped walking at the fork leading to the underground temple.

“We will go to the right.”

“Then I’ll go to the left.”

-Click.

“Stay alive.”

“You too. Oh, and Yuria!”

Yuria, who was extremely nervous, turned around in surprise at my call.

“…What!?”

I smiled at Yuria and said,

“I’m sorry I can’t go with you.”

“Oh… no, it’s okay!”

“The captain of the knights is stronger than me. Don’t be too nervous and stay strong.”

Yuria clenched her fist and nodded.

“Yes…!”

-Click. Click.

“Shall we go too?”

I spoke to Mikhail as I watched Yuria and Rowen disappear down the forked path, and Mikhail nodded vigorously, clenching his fist.

“Yes…!”

The echo of our steps in the temple reverberated down to the underground.

The structure of the temple was incredibly complex and vast. Much more than what was described in the novel.

Old, tarnished armors were displayed on every wall of the underground temple, and the knights in platinum armor all held swords in their hands.

‘Even just taking one of these would fetch a high price, but I’d probably get caught if I stole one.’

As I glanced at the armor with a longing look, I threw a blunt joke at Mikhail, who was fidgeting with his fingers.

“They look expensive.”

“…What?”

“I mean those armors. They all seem to be made of platinum… Should we steal one on our way back?”

“…Should we?”

Mikhail, who was looking at me with doubtful eyes, nodded as if he would agree to anything I said.

“Hahaha!!! Just kidding. If we take those, we’ll be cursed.”

“…Oh. Then we should refrain.”

“Of course. If we take them, ghosts might appear in our dreams and cause trouble.”

“…Right.”

I lightly greeted Mikhail, who was chewing his lips. I couldn’t talk to him earlier because I was too busy.

“Have you been well?”

“What…? Oh… yes. I’ve been well.”

“That’s a relief.”

“And… has Ricardo been well too?”

“Yes, I have been well as usual.”

I smiled slightly at Mikhail’s awkward reply, as he was always shy and still seemed unsure of how to interact with me.

Since there was plenty of time left until we reached the place where the holy sword was resting, I started some small talk to pass the time quickly.

“This is the first time since that day, right?”

“…Yes.”

“We were supposed to meet for swordsmanship lessons, but meeting like this feels a bit awkward.”

“…”

I glanced around the spacious area and then subtly asked Mikhail.

“Mikhail.”

“…”

“Do you prefer to be called Misa or Mikhail?”

“…Ah.”

“I’ve been curious about it for a while. Since we’ve introduced ourselves, I wondered which name you’d like to be called.”

Mikhail hesitated for a moment before finally speaking.

“I…’

“Yes.”

“I’d like to be called Misa.”

“Is that so?”

“Ah… that! That…!”

Mikhail waved his hands frantically as if something had broken, then lowered his head and let out a hot sigh.

“I’d like to be called Misa only when we’re alone. Others don’t know that I’m a girl….”

Oh…

I laughed as I watched Mikhail’s face turn red. I wondered how embarrassed he must be to turn that red. Thinking that teasing him a bit more might make steam come out, I chuckled and nodded.

“Then, Misa.”

“…Yes.”

“I’ll call you ‘Misa’ when we’re alone, as you said.”

“Good…”

We continued our small talk as we slowly made our way deeper underground.

We shared stories we didn’t know about each other, like how we ended up as Desmond Olivia’s butler and how we came to the academy, easing the tension.

“So… Olivia saved you?”

“That’s right.”

“…”

“Even if it doesn’t seem like it, the young lady is my lifesaver.”

“Lifesaver…”

“Sometimes she has a bad temper and throws tantrums often, but she’s a good person. You don’t believe it, do you?”

“…No.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Honestly, I can’t believe it. That Olivia is a good person… Honestly.”

“Puhaha!! I understand that feeling too. If I hadn’t seen her from the beginning, I wouldn’t have known either.”

I changed the subject of the conversation and asked Mikhail another question. We were getting closer to the location of the holy sword.

Judging by the waves I felt, it seemed that no heretics had come near. They must be wandering around the maze of the complex temple.

If they tried to force their way through.

-Swish.

The displayed armors wouldn’t have stayed still.

I stretched once and asked Mikhail. As if asking for his thoughts before becoming the owner of the holy sword.

“A sudden question, but…”

“Yes.”

“Who do you think will pull out the holy sword, Miss Misa?”

“…The holy sword?”

“Yes, since we came to the temple where the holy sword is sleeping, I thought I’d make a fuss.”

Mikhail looked at me silently and spoke shyly.

“I think… Ikminhyuk…”

“Just call me Ricardo.”

“Yes… I think… Ricardo will be the owner of the holy sword.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. There’s no one as kind and righteous as Ricardo.”

“It seems like your judgment of people is quite off?”

Objectively speaking, it was strange for me, the owner of the cursed sword, to become the owner of the holy sword. Besides, it was already hard enough to tame Tyrving, and taming the holy sword, which was its polar opposite, would be an unwelcome fortune.

Mikhail, seeing my reluctant reaction, asked shyly with a smile.

“Then who do you think will be the owner, Ricardo? Do you think the kind-hearted Yuria? Or do you think the knight commander will be the owner of the holy sword?”

“Hmm… I guess so.”

I looked at Mikhail and said.

“I don’t think there’s anyone who can be the owner other than Misa.”

“…What? Me?”

Mikhail, startled, looked at me with trembling eyes and denied it.

“No way. How could I possibly…”

“No, really. Where can you find someone as kind as Misa? Giving away like a pushover.”

“…”

“Getting beaten like a drum.”

“…”

“Getting scammed by con artists.”

“…Stop!”

“Ha ha ha! Just kidding.”

I looked at the tattered Mikhail with a subtle smile.

It was funny to see the owner of the holy sword showing such lack of confidence. Without revealing my true feelings, I smiled gently and said to Mikhail.

“Honestly, both the captain of the knights and I are people who have been tainted to the core. Our hands are stained with blood, and we’ve wielded our swords for selfish desires.”

“…No, you are both amazing people.”

“Come on… It’s a tragedy when you see it up close.”

“…”

“Personally, I don’t think there’s anyone as kind as Misa. When you look at it from a human-to-human perspective, excluding all past emotions.”

“…”

“If Misa becomes the owner of the holy sword, I think she’ll use it well and not for strange purposes. The holy sword would want that too, wouldn’t it?”

Blushing from the repeated compliments, Mikhail lowered his head and didn’t know what to do.

I patted Mikhail’s head and moved forward.

Imagining the scene from the novel in my mind. And thinking about the hardships Mikhail would face.

“No matter what happens, you must not waver.”

I moved forward.

*

At the same time.

Deep underground in the temple, three apostles were moving silently.

The long, trailing linen was getting dirty as it dragged on the floor, but the ‘swish swish’ sound only made their silence more ominous.

“…”

“…”

“…”

The Apostle of Temperance, who had been keeping silent, spoke heavily.

“Apostle of Compassion.”

“…”

“Do you enjoy the life of an apostle?”

The Apostle of Compassion clicked her tongue in displeasure at the human language whispering in her ear.

“A taciturn woman.”

“…”

“For someone so taciturn, you seem quite useless.”

Irritated by the sarcastic remark, the Apostle of Compassion stopped walking and spoke.

“Shut up, human.”

“…Whoa, whoa. Calm down.”

“We’re only working together for the greater good. I’m not holding hands with a filthy human.”

“Of course. But it’s hard to give a good evaluation to a failure who couldn’t inflict any damage on the enemy forces.”

The Apostle of Temperance smiled slightly and looked at Elicia, who had her lips closed.

“Isn’t that right, Onyu?”

“…”

“No one handles tasks as thoroughly as the Apostle of Onyu. It’s a shame. Although there was a recent unfortunate failure, if we only look at the results, there’s a lot to learn from her. As if her life depended on it. Haha!!”

“…”

The Apostle of Temperance’s words were laced with a warning. Be faithful to your duties.

Elicia responded without even glancing at the Apostle of Temperance’s sarcasm.

“Focus on finding the Holy Sword, Temperance.”

“…”

“It seems the intruders have entered the premises.”

“…”

The Apostle of Temperance let out a long sigh and spoke in a low voice.

“We should split up and move.”

The Apostle of Temperance fiddled with the watch in his pocket, keeping his guard up.

The variable that Alicia possessed.

And then.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

Rowen and Yuria came face to face with the Apostle.