Chapter 96: Chapter 60: Homecoming (1)

༺ Homecoming (1) ༻

[ Soul Linker ]

Type: Exclusive Equipment

Enchantment: Epic

Fusions: [ ‘Hero Shard’ Fusion ] [ ‘Evil Essence’ Fusion ]

#1

Spirit: Caliban – Guardian, Knight of Dawn

Currently Charged Magic Power Rate: 0%

Current Synchronization Rate: 12%

■ Skill: Image World

#2

Evil Spirit: Valkasus – Forbidden Sorcery User, Last King of Armada

Current Synchronization Rate: 10.00%

■ Skill: Forbidden Sorcery – Basic

At the same time as that window passed before my eyes…

My consciousness was pulled back into the Material Realm.

“…Ugh.”

At first, pain so intense that I couldn’t express it properly with words, struck me. Then, I felt something more otherworldly…

I felt a strangely soft sensation on my head.

“…”

I blinked, trying to figure out what was happening. Beyond my slowly returning vision, someone’s face came into view.

Crimson eyes were looking down at me, as if trying to devour me.

“…!”

Startled, I tensed up involuntarily, making the pain increase several fold, causing me to moan and droop back down.

My whole body was a mess. Back when I defeated the Purifier, I was at least healed instantly, but this time, I didn’t have such a luxury.

“Are you awake?”

“…Eleanor?”

“That’s right. It seems like you haven’t forgotten my face.”

Eleanor seemed several times colder than usual. The chill she exuded was practically dripping onto me.

“…Uh, Eleanor?”

“Hm?”

“Are you angry?”

“I am.”

“…”

Yep. She certainly was.

So, uh, there was a question that became even more important now that I knew she was angry.

“…If you’re so angry, why are you giving me a lap pillow?”

“I’m angry, so I can do whatever I want.”

“…”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yep… Whatever you say…

I let out a wry smile. After a few moments of just breathing, I looked around with great effort.

“What a scene.”

“Indeed.”

The Forbidden Sorcery released from Valkasus’ collapsed body had now completely enveloped the sky.

It was almost as if the heavens had opened up, and the spirits were ascending one after another.

Well, that expression was actually quite close to the truth.

With this, the Armada Kingdom had attained its salvation.

After all, their souls would return to the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn in a new body.

That was the common sense of this world.

Yet Valkasus had spent all those years suffering just to achieve this minimal right for his subjects.

“…”

I raised my arm with difficulty and looked at the amulet hanging from it.

White and black light mixed to emit a grey one from inside.

It was probably because Caliban and Valkasus were both sleeping in there.

‘…I’ll see you later.’

Just like Caliban, Valkasus would likely spend most of his time asleep until I had enough divine power again.

I hoped the time when I could easily wake them up and have a proper conversation with them would come soon.

Just as I had this thought, a stream of messages suddenly appeared before my eyes.

System Notification

[ Main Quest Completed! ]

[ Rewards Received! ]

[ 1 ‘Evil Essence’ Received! ]

[ 1 ‘Hero Shard’ Received! ]

[ 10,000pt Received! ]

System Notification

[ This Quest was subjected to an Emergency Event. Additional Rewards Received! ]

[ Special Interaction with ‘Heretic Inquisition’ Added! ]

[ Feature will be immediately activated upon contact with members of the ‘Heretic Inquisition! ]

My gaze scrolled down the messages until stopping at one particular part.

The rest was good and all, but the last sentence was particularly important.

‘…Hmm…Heretic Inquisition…’

In a survey conducted on Sera users, the ‘group least wanted as an enemy’ category was dominated by the Heretic Inquisition with an uncontested first place.

There were several reasons for that, but the powerful presence of the ‘Companion’ character within that group was the main reason.

‘I’m not gonna go out of my way to look for them.’

I would have to meet them sooner or later, but I’ll try to postpone it for as long as possible.

Right now, I could count the number of humans more directly entangled with the Devils than I was in just one hand.

It was safe to say that there was no chance that the Heretic Inquisition would welcome my existence when they considered ‘Devil Hunting’ as their profession.

‘Well, that’s that.’

There was one more thing I had to remember.

You see, after clearing the Valkasus Boss Battle via the battle route, there was something that was ‘opened’.

System Notification

[ 1 Trigger Condition for Hidden Event ‘???’ Met! (1/3) ]

There we go.

Savior Rising was a surprisingly well-made game, and it even offered special rewards whenever the main scenario was cleared using unconventional methods instead of the ‘orthodox’ way.

The ‘Hidden Event’ mentioned here was one of them. It was a reward that popped up when the main scenario had been thoroughly completed.

And this…

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

I smirked in response to the grumpy Eleanor.

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

This was the only remedy that could alleviate the ‘Madness’ passed down in Eleanor’s household.

This was the first step and I had finally taken it.

“…”

Eleanor, who had been silently observing me, sighed and flicked my nose with her finger.

From her actions, one would think it was just a childish prank, but my head, which took the brunt of it, twisted backwards entirely.

The fuck? How strong exactly was she?

“…What was that for?”

“Stop trying to seduce me. I have a lot of grievances right now.”

“…”

…What? All I did was smile a bit at her.

“That, in itself, is seduction.”

“…Huh? Why is tha—”

“Because I said so.”

“…”

What does she even want from me then…?

As I fell silent with my mouth closed, Eleanor let out a sigh while lifting me up.

“For now, since you were injured to this extent, it would be best to get some treatment first.”

“…”

Well, she was right.

To put it mildly, I was thoroughly fucked. My body was a complete mess.

Given Eleanor’s ‘disposition’, I expected her to lose her shit when she saw me like this, but her reaction was surprisingly calm.

It was to the extent that made me think I could’ve just brought her with me to battle Valkasus.

‘…What changed?’

I did have a guess.

When she used the Descent skill to face the Flesh Tearer, there was a message saying that she had completed her fusion with the fragments.

As far as I knew, that was another trigger for a new event.

It seemed like she was already receiving the influence fro–

“Also, while you receive treatment, You can slowly give an explanation to me.”

“…Huh?”

“Where did you say you were going with Iliya Krisanax?”

“…”

Oh yeah.

I forgot about that part.

“Iliya, welcome back! You didn’t get too hurt right— Wait, why do you look like that?!”

Trisha, Iliya’s worried roommate who had been waiting for her to return to the dorm, screamed in shock upon seeing her enter the room.

Of course, she hadn’t expected Iliya’s day to go smoothly when she was dragged away, but she didn’t anticipate it being this bad.

Dirt and dust covered her whole body and she had various minor injuries. Well, to some extent, that wasn’t a big of a deal, but…

Her face was in utter shambles.

She had swollen eyes, a nose that was obviously worn out from being wiped too much, and a lingering sadness that had yet to leave her face.

“Were you crying? No, seriously, what happened to make you like this…!”

And above all…

The ‘Color of Emotions’ she saw from Iliya greatly concerned her.

If she was just in a bad mood, Trisha wouldn’t have been so shocked.

However, the color she displayed was like she had lost all of her usual ‘vitality’.

“…Um, Trisha.”

Iliya spoke in a hoarse voice.

“…Aren’t I just utterly useless?”

“…”

She didn’t even know what to say after hearing those words.

It was ridiculous to hear such words come from the mouth of the Hero Candidate with the greatest talent on the continent. Moreover, she was still young enough to be called just a girl.

“…D-Do I even deserve to stay next to Teach? I keep receiving his help, but I can’t even properly help in return…”

The girl who was always upright, filled with unwavering determination, and inspired the energy of others was now….

Utterly indecisive. The color of her emotions had not only turned murky, but it also had become an almost gooey and sticky darkness.

And that color was getting stronger by the seconds.

“…”

Trisha was so taken aback that she could only twitch her lips in silence. However, she quickly regained her composure and slapped her own cheeks.

Right now, it wasn’t the time to worry about such things. Iliya’s condition was genuinely alarming.

‘…If I don’t straighten this out right now—!’

As someone who could see the color of other’s emotions, she was well aware that this was a genuine ‘sign of danger’.

If she hesitated to address it now, Iliya’s very nature could change. She couldn’t just stand by and watch that happen to her friend!

‘For now…’

She didn’t exactly know what had happened…

But she knew for sure that this matter involved ‘that person’ again.

And so, she had to make sure of this before anything.

“Iliya, what exactly are your feelings towards that person?”

“That person? Who…?”

“I’m talking about Mr. Dowd Campbell. How do you feel about him? Respect? Do you think of him as a friend?”

“Um, well, I’m not exactly sure…”

“Maybe… Do you like him?”

When the question was posed so directly, Iliya suddenly stopped moving.

Even the color of her emotions seemed to momentarily stop evolving into a deeper shade of black.

“…”

Seeing her reaction, Trisha sighed internally.

Although she was not some love expert, she did have a decent understanding of a relationship’s ‘flow’ thanks to her many observations.

And she could tell that this case was one of those types.

Iliya was halfway in love, but since she had never experienced something like this before, she was uncertain about her feelings.

Seeing how her emotions briefly turned brighter after hearing the question of whether she liked him or not, despite her being unsure of the nature of her feelings, only made Trisha convinced of this theory.

“…Iliya. You said you had a wish ticket or something from that person, right?”

“Y-Yeah.”

“In that case, let’s use it. It can’t be helped.”

“Huh? Use it? On what?”

‘Where else would you use it, you fool…?’

“During vacation. At the Pilgrimage Homecoming Ceremony.”

With that, Trisha quickly stood up from her seat.

Meanwhile, IIliya’s face had turned bright red in an instant.

It seemed as if she was nervous just from imagining it.

Her whole body continued to fidget.

“I-Is it r-really o-okay? W-What if he rejects me? What should I do then?”

“You said it’s a wish ticket. If he doesn’t grant it, then argue or complain. In the first place, you wanted to use it for this purpose, so why are you getting cold feet now?”

Iliya bit her lips and fell silent at Trisha’s decisive words.

Somehow, her friend appeared several times more mature than usual.

She looked almost dignified in a way.

‘…This alone probably won’t be enough.’

Just like Iliya had assumed, Trisha was racking her brain while maintaining an extraordinarily level-headed manner.

Although she hadn’t always seen it, Elfante’s Student Council President had a terrifying obsession for Dowd Campbell.

Especially considering what the ‘Pilgrimage Homecoming’ was usually used for by students at Elfante, she would definitely not miss Iliya’s intentions.

As such, in order to get the upper hand, Iliya also had to use a very VERY strong card.

“Also, let’s write a letter.”

“…Huh? What? Eh?”

Unable to follow along, Iliya’s eyes were practically spinning as Trisha handed her a pen and placed a piece of paper in front of her.

“Write exactly what I say.”

She then took a deep breath before continuing.

“Recipient. Margrave Kendride.”

Iliya’s jaw dropped.

“Your complexion doesn’t look that great, Dowd.”

Atalante’s voice, filled with concern, came from across the room.

“I heard you had a serious injury not long ago. If you find it difficult to focus, you should rest up more.”

“…No. I’m fine.”

Honestly, there was nothing wrong with my physical body.

It was just… There was another problem that I had.

With a slightly pale complexion, I wiped my face.

I had been thinking about this a lot lately, but my improvisational skills were certainly improving day by day.

I mean, that was probably because unexpected things kept blowing up in my face ever so frequently.

Basically, whenever something unrelated to me popped up, I was getting better at quickly formulating courses of action and guidelines to resolve such surprises.

System Message

[ Target ‘Margrave Kendride’ has started to take an interest in you. ]

[ A related event will be generated soon! ]

But, seriously. Couldn’t they just give me some time to breathe?

Please.

“…”

Margrave Kendride.

Iliya’s foster father. Duke Gideon Tristan’s eternal rival among the high nobility. The strongest Holy Knight of the current generation.

‘What does this guy even want from little old me…?’

“You’ve been through quite a lot this time.”

Atlante, who obviously didn’t have a clue about my feelings, let out a sigh and continued speaking.

“The Empire, the Holy Land, the Tribal Alliance… All three nations had suddenly taken an interest in your whereabouts. Moreover, not soon after such an incident happened, a major terrorist attack fell upon Elfante. I can’t recall such major incidents happening one after another…”

The Headmistress pushed her glasses up.

“Even so, it is way too early to be relieved.”

Her words were dead serious.

“As I mentioned before, the Devil Worshippers will continue to come after you. In my opinion, this incident is also related to that.”

“…”

“All incidents will continue to revolve around you from now on. I think you should assume that something else will happen soon, so stay busy preparing.”

“…I agree.”

Although there had been so many incidents, in reality, I had only finished the second chapter of the game.

There was still a long way to go in the scenario, and resolving the issues with the Devil’s Vessels were far from complete.

In order to survive, I couldn’t stop increasing my strength.

And above all…

That bitch was a problem.

The woman who suddenly popped out and then disappeared. The Prophet. The Leader of the Devil Worshippers.

‘…Was that motherfucker originally a woman?’

I didn’t recall it being so.

Out of all the elements of the scenario that I remembered, only the Prophet existed outside my ‘knowledge’.

In this world, which was built on a game system where everything moved according to my knowledge, her existence was the only one who defied my expectations.

I knew about everyone else…

But, at least for that person, I had no idea what thoughts and intentions she was harboring.

“However!”

Atalante immediately spoke up with a cheerful voice, as if she saw my darkening expression getting lost in my thoughts again.

“A human can’t just keep on working, right? You’ll break down if you push yourself too much, you know?”

“…Huh?”

“Originally, the vacation was supposed to start shortly after the midterms. But due to the recent assault, the entire academy’s functions are temporarily suspended. Since we can’t hold classes, we’re planning to let everyone take a break a little earlier.”

‘So you’re telling me to take a break too?’

The Headmistress winked as she said that.

However…

“…I do want to take a break as well, but…”

The definition of a vacation was to rest, right?

Yeah. It was.

However, for me, there was a low chance of experiencing something as difficult as rest.

“But?”

“But there’s the Pilgrimage Homecoming Ceremony. Do you know about it, Headmistress?”

“Of course, I know about it…?”

The Headmistress cocked her head in perplexion.

After all, it was one of the main ‘romance’ events in the game.

During the vacation, students would make arrangements and visit each other’s hometowns.

But, among the nobility within the Empire… How should I explain this…

Honestly, it was basically treated as a date trip between students.

Although it was not an officially organized event by the academy, it was a long-standing tradition among students. As such, there was even dedicated personnel to manage it.

“…”

I handed the documents I received from such personnel to Atalante.

The contents were something I absolutely didn’t want to do. I would rather die. Really. Seriously. Truly.

Because it seemed as if they would either kill me or commit suicide, I was unable to reject either side in the past. The result of that was now laid in those documents.

“…This is a joke, right?”

Atalante let out a bitter laugh.

“Iliya Krisanax. Eleanor Elinalise La Tristan.”

“…”

“The Hero Candidate and the Lady of the Tristan Duchy. With just one of these two, most territories would be turned upside down.”

“…”

“…But you’re going to go to your hometown… With both of them? To ‘Baron’ Campbell’s territory?”

“…”

I wish it was a joke too.

I really do.

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