Chapter 34: The First Holy Sword (2)

Signa hugged the sword hilt, forcibly fighting off the sleep that was coming over her.

Physical fatigue, excessive tension, stress, emotional turmoil—the reasons were various. She was in one of the small rooms that branched off from the cave’s main chamber.

It couldn’t be called a luxurious room by any stretch, but the floor had been leveled,

a warm fireplace had been prepared, and it had been cultivated into a place that was at least livable.

‘I hope no poisonous bugs come out…’

The room was, at best, just a cave that had been forcibly decorated, but she really liked the bed placed in the corner.

Filled with cotton, feathers, and soft wood fibers, the bed was as fluffy and comfortable as a modern mattress, if not more so. There was also a faint scent of incense and tree nuts coming from inside, which was clearly the work of the elves.

‘We will soon escort you to a better place.’

The devotees had said that, but Signa was satisfied enough with this place for now.

But the situation was the problem. Clearly, this room was teeming with cultists, led by Manya.

At first glance, it seemed that Gallar and the human devotees were guarding the cave entrance.

The chances of success were too low to attempt an escape recklessly.

Signa’s fighting power consisted of only the holy sword.

Even if it was blunt, the holy sword was still an ordinary blade.

Gallar, who had glimpsed a fragment of Signa’s skills, as well as Manya, would certainly not have been pleased to have the holy sword with her.

However, they couldn’t win against the atmosphere of the elf devotees who insisted that ‘the holy sword must be with its owner.’

‘It doesn’t seem like Manya completely controls the crowd. She seems to be watching their reactions too…?’

She didn’t know how Manya had risen to a position similar to a religious leader, but in terms of magical power alone, she was far inferior to the elves gathered here.

‘How… She pushed Silissa to the forefront and took the vacant position, then probably sold all my information to everyone.’

Since Manya was the one who had made her like this, Manya was also the person who knew her best.

So, this reasoning sounded quite plausible.

Signa gently stroked Puhbannol’s hilt.

The temperature felt from it slowly rose and fell in sync with Signa’s breathing.

As if resonating with the owner’s heartbeat.

…The holy sword seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Signa could tell.

She had been constantly holding, comforting, and coaxing the holy sword, which had been spewing out one-sided affection and finally started wailing.

As she drew the holy sword halfway, it whimpered in a much calmer voice.

[Haa… I smell my Master. I feel my Master’s body temperature… In my Master’s arms… I’m so, so, so happy. It’s been so long…]

The hilt trembled slightly.

[Let’s just stay like this… Please keep doing this. Stay with me…]

‘Hey. There’s something I want to ask you.’

[Eung, please ask me anything. I’ll answer anything. Just promise me that you’ll never leave me again…]

‘…Ah, okay.’

She couldn’t guarantee it, but Signa just made the promise first.

‘First, how did you recognize me?’

[What are you talking about?]

‘I’m in a different body than before, right?’

[Huh? But anyone can see that you’re my Master?]

It was as if she had asked something very strange.

‘No, this is really complicated to explain. I’m… Well… Huh…?’

When that reaction came back, Signa was speechless instead.

Was it okay to tell her everything?

After hesitating for a moment, Signa decided to just tell the truth.

Judging from the holy sword’s condition, it didn’t seem like it would listen even if she denied it.

It seemed like it was about to start crying again… and anyway, no one but she could hear the holy sword’s voice.

Above all, it was just a sword.

‘I should say that I was reborn in another noble family. Something like that.’

[Ah… So, after all, you were in that place…?]

‘Well, yeah. You could say I died. And then I came back.’

[That’s…]

‘I don’t know how something like this is possible.’

[That’s because you’re my Master!!!]

The holy sword shouted with conviction.

‘What are you talking about?’

[My Master was born with the destiny to be loved in this place!]

‘The destiny to be loved…?’

[Yes! To be loved by all good people, and in return, to give love back. You were born with that destiny. Definitely!] ‘Is that a grounded story?’

[No!]

It was a very confident ‘No.’

[But I can feel it? I can feel that there’s ‘love’ filling up here right now! Hmm… It’s a slightly distorted form of love, so it’s a little… but love is love! I don’t discriminate against that! That my Master is being loved by so many people like this! That’s only natural, right? Who could hate you?]

Signa decided to skip over the minor details.

The holy sword was usually like this.

‘But what does that have to do with the fact that I couldn’t die?’

[Hehe, you’re something, Master. Love brings miracles. You know that, right?]

[Really, I emphasized it so much, but you only listened to it with one ear, and just brushed it off as ‘Maybe.’ You muttered proudly, ‘I don’t base my plans on such abstract concepts.’ But do you know now? That I was right after all? That you can be wrong too?]

Yeah. It was this kind of object.

Signa felt like she was becoming stupid for expecting a serious answer.

[If there’s only love, if there’s only love~]

It was a happy cooing sound.

‘Didn’t you notice that my body had changed?’

[No? You’ve just gotten a little younger, right? Other than that, you’re my perfect Master?]

There, the holy sword asked back as if it was a little curious.

[Come to think of it, that’s a little strange. You said you were reborn, but how did you get the same body as before?]

And it added slightly.

[You’ve gotten a little younger, though.]

‘Actually, this time too, I was originally a man’s body, but that magician Manya changed me back into a woman. And she copied my twelve-year-old appearance from my previous life…?’

[Ah, so that’s what it was! You mean that vulgar magician with the black hair?]

‘Yeah. That woman doesn’t know that I’m the real Thermis. She just thought I looked similar, that the atmosphere was similar, so she marked me as a target. Then, in front of others, she’s claiming that I’m the reincarnation of the real Thermis…’

[Wow. I don’t like it… But she really has a good eye, doesn’t she? And as a result, she’s right.]

It was frustrating, but Signa couldn’t deny that fact.

[That’s right, that’s right. By the way, maybe…]

The holy sword whispered, full of anticipation.

[Our identities are a secret between just the two of us, right?]

‘Uh… Yeah. Maybe? That’s how it is now, but.’

[Wow, I like that. A secret that only the two of us share! I’m so happy! It feels like we’re special!]

It wasn’t just ‘like’ a special relationship; when you think about it, it was a special relationship.

Because it was the only relationship.

[Ah… But, so that’s why only that woman can treat you so disrespectfully like that.]

Signa heard a strange word.

‘What do you mean?’

[Don’t be surprised, Master!]

‘I can’t guarantee that.’

[It was when your colleague Silissa was praising and extolling you in front of everyone.]

From Signa’s experience, it was always bad news when the holy sword was excited like this to deliver something.

[I was really depressed for a while after you left, but when she called out your name so loudly in that place… I should say that I also received some kind of emotion. I got a lump in my throat! You know? This feeling?]

‘I don’t know at all.’

[There was really a lot of love in that place… There was so much love that, without realizing it, I ended up using my power for the first time in a long time.]

‘What exactly did you do?’

[It’s nothing! I just made her realize her heart more deeply! Respect, longing… And even feelings of ardor!]

One word that could never be ignored popped out at the end.

‘S-Sexual… Sexual what?’

[A gaze that looks at you sexually!]

In an instant, the holy sword’s voice changed as if it was mocking her.

[Ahahaha! Isn’t that ‘easy woman’ Silissa really funny? She’s always pretended to be so noble, so loyal, but when I just took a peek at the heart of that woman who held me, it was filled with deep and lewd lust under that pretense! She’s been pretending to be a well-behaved dog all this time, but in fact, she’s always been looking at you with those eyes!]

Signa felt like she had just stepped off the edge of a cliff.

[All I did was make her a little more honest, but she was so sincere that she even saw a one-night fantasy that she had never had before. Is this what they call a daydream?]

‘Aaaaaa stop it. Stop. I don’t want to hear even that.’

[But isn’t that also admirable? After all, she loves you that much. Lust is also a form of love. You can’t just deny that it’s dirty.]

[It’s better that way. Unfortunately, I’m just a sword. There’s a limit to satisfying your ‘that.’ Now that I know that easy woman is craving you, you can use her like a toy later! After all, she seems to like that too…]

“I don’t need that consideration!!!”

Signa unconsciously burst out in anger.

“It was all your fault!!!!”

“It’s all because of you! A toy, what toy!”

Two elves guarding the entrance came in because of the shouting.

“Is there anything you need…?”

“We’re sorry to provide you with an uncomfortable sleeping place. We’ll escort you to a better place soon, so…”

They were extremely subservient.

Signa hurriedly waved her hands.

“Aaaaa, no. I must have been talking in my sleep.”

“You said toy, but sorry, right now…”

“Aaaaa, no. It’s really sleep talking. It’s okay. Everything’s okay…”

The two elves bowed and disappeared.

[I couldn’t help it. I was originally made to do that. When the surroundings are so full of love, I unconsciously exert that power. I just did the same thing ‘this time.’]

The holy sword looked at Signa’s face.

[I’m not creating non-existent hearts… I’m just making them a little more honest. So, don’t be mad, Master. If you’re mad, I’m sad too…]

‘Haa…’

Signa couldn’t say anything more to that pitiful voice.

She just hugged the sword and patted it.

She had just managed to soothe it, but if the holy sword pouted again…

Signa didn’t want to imagine how much it would whine this time.

But it was the first time she had heard that the holy sword had such power.

Why is it telling me this now? What does ‘this time’ mean?

Why didn’t she know that it had such power during the Great War?

It was a thought that came to her without thinking, but Signa soon brushed it off casually.

[Anyway… All I awakened was the ‘Thirmis’s’ genuine heart. Manya is so disrespectful to you because she doesn’t know that you’re the real Thirmis.]

‘In other words, the rest of the devotees are half out of their minds.’

‘Love makes everyone crazy!’]

[Well, yeah…]

The holy sword forcibly made a romantic ending.

Whether or not, Signa had just heard a bombshell announcement that one of the knights she trusted and relied on had always been looking at her with impure eyes.

‘She was always looking at me with those eyes..? Her?’

She didn’t know how to accept this.

Was this how an employee felt when they received a surprise confession from their boss?

‘Isn’t it the opposite? I was the boss.’

‘And now I heard it through a third party, not even from her…’

When she thought that far, Silissa seemed a little pitiful.

She couldn’t control her heart, and she had been hiding it well until now, but she was forcibly exposed.

…Exposure?

‘No, come to think of it, she was the one who exposed it. Why did she say it? She’s definitely crazy.’

The sympathy disappeared without a trace.

Why are there so many strange people around her?

She missed Ilesha… Ilesha, who was always trustworthy.

Yukomis too… She was rude and cold, but she was more rational and diligent than anyone else.

‘It’s better to think about this later.’

It was time to return to the main topic.

‘Is there any way to get out of here?’

[I’m sorry. I don’t know either.]

‘I thought so, right…?

[Hmm, you’ve become too weak, and my power is to protect someone, not to harm them… If that’s the case, it’s better to have ‘the other side’…]

‘They’re not people with malice. I don’t want to hurt them.’

[That’s still like you…]

The holy sword murmured a little ecstatically.

‘Except for Manya.’

[Ah, sometimes I really like you when you’re this cold.]

Well, it’s probably just good no matter what.

[I might even understand ‘Silissa’s taste’…]

Signa tried hard to ignore that.

‘Should I just wait for Yukomis to save me?’

[Ah, so she was with you too?]

‘Yeah. We got separated because I was kidnapped here. For now…’

[Did you tell her your identity?] Wow.

‘No. Not yet…’

There were a lot of suspicious things.

Things kept getting tangled up like this, and she was wondering if she should talk about it in some way.

[I see! That’s why you had that forced healing magic cast on you again this time! Only she can use that magic!]

‘…What??’

[Actually, I was the first to notice that? You could say that gave me the conviction that it was you from the start? I can recognize it!]

A spine-chilling word came out.

[That’s strange. But I thought she said she wouldn’t use that magic again…]