The Hero Party Couldn’t Kill Me

Chapter 9: The Two Saints (2)

Meanwhile, the Etoiles were in an emergency situation.

First of all, in order to prevent Edmund’s attack, the vigilance of the temple was further strengthened, and a meeting was held by convening the chief priests every day. Grand Duke Charles and the Duke of Valois, as well as the magicians of the Noir Magic Tower, also attended.

“The reason Orcus-sama came is because he has some good news, right?”

And in today’s meeting, Orcus finally attended the meeting himself. Because he was reluctant to go outside the Noir Tower, everyone had unspoken expectations.

“… I’m here to tell you about Mark at the banquet.”

Orcus lowered his voice and said.

Mark’s communication was temporarily cut off after the banquet, and he returned to the Mage Tower that evening. He asked him about the banquet, but he did not remember anything about it even though he was there at the time.

No, to be more precise, it would be more accurate to say that I was gritting my teeth and trying to say something and then suddenly forgot.

“Unfortunately, it failed to restore Mark’s memory.”

“Did even Orcus-sama’s magic fail?”

“Perhaps the contract was signed and the penalty was amnesia. Then there really is no way.”

“… Still, the fact that he made a contract means that someone attacked him.”

“In addition to this, when I looked at his wounds, there were faint scars on his head from Mina’s shadow magic.”

Here, Orcus gave physical evidence. Of course, Edmund’s side was no fool either, so he had Raphaella heal all of Mark’s wounds.

It’s just that Orcus was much sharper than they expected.

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Because I’ve dealt with his shadow summoner many times. Looking at the scars left behind, it looks like it was hit by a golem.”

“… Then, as expected, there was an attack by Mina.”

“Yes. However, the question here is when the attack occurred, but if you think about it common sense, it would be correct to attack him before the banquet so that he could roam freely. At the time, Mark was the only person in the banquet hall who could properly detect Mina’s shadow teleportation.”

“But Marc escorted Iris.”

The saintess tilted her head. Archduke Charles and the Duke of Valois also saw him clearly. In response, Orcus continued his words without changing a single expression.

“Then there are two possibilities here. The first is that my earlier hypothesis was wrong. So, it means that Mark attacked after the banquet was over. But isn’t this a bit odd? If I had the confidence to avoid Mark’s eyes, there would be no reason to attack him, and conversely, if I was not confident to avoid Mark’s eyes, it is unlikely that I would have taken that risk and carried out the operation.”

“… So what is the second possibility?”

“Right… The mark in the banquet hall was fake.”

“Are you saying you used transformation magic?”

“If it’s a simple transformation magic, it doesn’t make sense that no one there noticed. At the banquet that day, there was also a mage from the Mage Tower, but they couldn’t possibly be so stupid that they wouldn’t recognize it. But… If it is an absolute mask, it can be explained.”

The absolute mask was something that the saintess, the other chief priests, and even the Duke of Valois had heard of. So when Orcus said that, everyone murmured.

“By the way, isn’t that absolute mask an artifact in the royal treasure house?”

The Duke of Valois was the first to speak. Orcus nodded his head.

“I know you well.”

“Then, this must be conclusive proof that the princess is helping Edmund behind her back!”

The saintess spoke uncharacteristically excitedly. However, Orcus said with a sardonic smile.

“It’s still too early to cheer. After all, there is no physical proof that he never wore a mask. In fact, the attack on Mark could have been the individual act of one Mina. Even the fact that she didn’t kill her and freed her is like her.”

“Still, if I do this, I might be able to pressurize the princess enough to ask her whereabouts of the absolute mask.”

The saintess said. The Duke of Valois also sighed in relief. At least with this, he succeeded in getting a shot to counterattack the princess.

“But I still wonder, what kind of trick did Edmund use?”

At this time, Archduke Charles asked a question. Again, silence reigned in the meeting room.

The most potent trick is to use a humanoid summon and make it visible only to Iris, which would mean that all the wizards in it couldn’t see through the stealth magic.

Thus, the wizards who disapprove of this claim that he must have used some other hallucinatory series or a new magic they don’t know about.

“… In the end, isn’t it that Edmund’s magical ability surpasses that of the Empire’s Mage Tower?”

“I can’t say for certain. We were taken by surprise….”

“To be honest, didn’t everyone guess that Edmund was going to do something that day? What good is that kind of excuse! We must admit what we must admit! We cannot catch him in this state!”

Archduke Charles raised his voice. Then the saintess spoke softly.

“Don’t worry too much. Once Edmund was told that he had an absolute mask, he pressured the princess and at the same time got a clue to catch Edmund.”

“… ….”

“Yes, don’t worry. In the end, the goddess is on our side. You will definitely protect us. Certainly… ….”

The saintess’ words sounded like self-hypnosis. When Archduke Charles saw her saintess’s eyes, he felt a sense of wonder.

There was an indescribable madness in her eyes.

***

The next day. I infiltrated the Great Hall of Etoile wearing a mask. Today, I brought Raphaella with me. She also uses a copy of the absolute mask to disguise her identity.

“… Then, are we going to work at the construction site today too?”

“That’s the plan. At the same time, he will overhear the conversations of priests and paladins. I want to know what the Etoile Church is doing to reinforce the Great War.”

“If you use magic, you will be suspicious, right?”

“I guess that’s the case.”

I glanced at Rafaela. Now that she’s disguised as an old woman, she probably won’t be doing anything wrong.

“… What is this?”

“Ahh!! It hurts!!”

As I was waiting in line to enter the Great Hall of Etoile, I heard people’s screams in front of me.

Looking closely, the paladins were grabbing the face of the person entering the temple and pulling it.

No way….

From noble mtl dot com

“Looks like you’re checking to see if you’re wearing a mask?”

I think I came to think that maybe I could have worn a mask. After all, was it a mistake to export the mark as it is? No, was it wrong to disguise it as him?

I sneakily touched the mask on my face. Because of the effect of the absolute mask, even the masked part feels like skin.

But anyway, a mask is a mask, so if you openly pull it like that, it has no choice but to come off.

I laughed out loud. Are you trying to catch me by doing such a bizarre thing?

“… Are we okay?”

Rafaela asked quietly. I looked at the situation in moderation. Also, some people who felt sorry for the paladin’s bizarre behavior went back as it was.

“Let’s go back as well.”

I said as I left the line. And I was lost in thought for a while.

“… Not at a construction site, but at regular religious gatherings, wouldn’t you?”

“Maybe.”

“Haa… I wanted to know how they do reinforcement work.”

I took out the card Swann had given me in the subspace.

The Thunderstruck Tower. A card that symbolizes the future of the saintess.

I thought so too. Is this really literally supposed to strike a thunderbolt instead? Could it be that this is the future that the saintess fears so much?

‘Could you pretend to be crazy and use lightning magic?’

I thought about it for a while. But to be honest, I wasn’t sure yet. Is this really the right strategy?

Besides, it’s hard to destroy a single building with the firepower of my lightning magic. So, I decided to hold off on this method.

“Edmund, what are you going to do now?”

“Well, it can’t be helped that this happened. Let’s just go around downtown Solaum and gather information.”

When things got this way, I turned to plan B.

“Well then, can I change that makeup? Disguised as an old woman, I think my back hurts for no reason.”

“Do whatever you want.”

In the absence of people for a while, Rafaela changed her appearance from an old woman to a young girl. In the eyes of other people, they would definitely look like her father and daughter, so I thought it was a decent makeup.

That’s how we started walking around Solaum with changed appearances.

***

That afternoon.

Joan was shopping at the market as usual.

Her orphanage, where she works, is originally sponsored by the Etoile Church, but this month, her sponsorship amount has decreased significantly, which worries her.

However, Joan’s mind was so complicated that these concerns were nothing.

‘Find Edmund.’

With her dazed expression on her face, she thought back to the dream she had last night. Clearly, it was the voice of the Goddess.

So, was she really chosen as a saint?

But if that’s true, why the hell did the Goddess tell me to find Edmund? Didn’t the saintess surely say that he would be a great threat to the Empire, especially the Etoile Church?

“aaa! I don’t know!!”

Joan sat down and screamed. People passing by looked at her strangely.

‘Goddess. I don’t know Why the hell am I having this dream?’

Like that or not, Joan sat down and thought about her. But no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t come to a conclusion. No, the more she thought about it, the more dangerous thoughts came to her.

The idea that she should drive out her current saintess right away and become a saint herself.

‘I can’t do that. I was kicked out of my position as a paladin, so I’m having bad thoughts for no reason.’

Joan struggled to suppress her evil thoughts and got up from her seat. And she was about to go back to see her chapter as quickly as possible.

“Hick!”

But on the way out of the market, she was startled and collapsed.

Because I could clearly see the backs of the man and young girl I had seen in my dream from afar.