Chapter 104

Relics… should I call them that?

Although they are merely the holy artifacts used by the former Saint, since they came to me after death, it seems right to refer to them as relics.

Anyway, after receiving it, I began to explain to the old man what I originally intended to say.

After all, I came to the Holy Kingdom to undergo trials and to obtain holy relics.

Resting enough in the Holy Kingdom before leaving isn’t too bad, but… given my personality, if there’s something I must do, I want to finish it as soon as possible.

I want to obtain the ancient holy relic as quickly as possible…

So, there’s no need to mention which is more important.

However, even if the other party is Asclyna, the Pope, it didn’t seem wise to tell everything from start to finish.

It would rather be better to present it as if I stumbled upon it. If they realize that I know everything and have made plans, then…

Just imagining that is terrifying.

Anyway, since I couldn’t explain everything, I was going to say that I had a rough place to go.

I judged that just that much explanation would be sufficient.

It was then.

“We are looking for the trial dungeon.”

“…?!”

More than that, Evan stepped forward and brought up the topic of the trial dungeon.

No…

No!

‘Um…’

This is bad.

I quickly observed the Pope’s reaction.

He had never mentioned anything about the trial dungeon until now, so how would he react to such an abrupt statement?

Since it didn’t seem like Asclyna would be unaware of it, I especially didn’t want to bring this story up.

If he knows about it, I could be suspected.

Rather, if I really say I didn’t know, I could claim I discovered it by chance in the library.

I can’t read the letters, but since ancient texts carry a lot of thoughts, I could at least get an idea of their content.

If it were a newly created book, I wouldn’t be able to sense its content since it’s not infused with much thought, but with an ancient tome, it wouldn’t be possible not to know its content.

In fact, there could even be other useful knowledge within the text that I’m unaware of, so I could just say it was a coincidence that I learned about it.

If it comes to worse, I could just casually sell the goddess’s name.

However, if he knows, the situation would change quite a bit.

If I know information that someone like her should know, and he questions how I came to know it, I wouldn’t have any explanation.

Of course, I could also resort to the last method I mentioned, selling the goddess’s name, but I wanted to keep that as a last resort.

“The trial dungeon, huh…”

After hearing Evan’s explanation about the trial dungeon, the old man seemed to think in silence for a while before turning to look at me.

Hiding my racing heart with anxiety, I watched for the old man’s reaction.

Usually, emotions are revealed through the eyes, expressions, and various minor details… fortunately, since I have a disability, I can avoid being discovered through my closed eyes, and I tend to be confident in acting.

What worries me is necessarily the divine sense that Asclyna is pretending to have…

‘It doesn’t seem like she’s planning to activate it…’

Of course, the divine sense posed no real problem for me.

Since I know all the activation conditions and ranges, there is no way my inner thoughts would be revealed.

It’s not something I’ve just started doing; I’ve been deceiving them throughout our time together, so there’s no chance of being found out now.

Unless it’s a surprise attack…

Above all, when the divine sense activates, the overall atmosphere changes, and it’s clear that it has been ‘used.’

So there was no need to worry.

‘As long as the perceived thoughts are fine, there shouldn’t be a major problem, but…’

Actually, I didn’t feel anything.

This made me even more anxious.

I worried about what would happen if they secretly called me later to ask how I knew.

However, I couldn’t retreat now.

After about ten seconds of engaging in this awkward mental standoff, the old man looked around us for a moment and then spoke.

“… Very well. I will assign a guard to you.”

…

Did I get past that?

It seemed he wanted to ask me precisely what the trial dungeon was, but realizing that I had no intention of answering, he stopped asking and seemed to be ready to assign a guard.

Honestly, I was still anxious, but since there was nothing more I could do now, I simply smiled and expressed my gratitude.

—

Asclyna… no, the Pope, wore a complex expression as she looked at Aria’s back.

She never expected that they would know about the existence of the trial dungeon.

‘How did they find out…’

For a moment, she pondered whether she should ask them how they discovered it.

However, Asclyna quickly remembered that it would be meaningless to ask such questions.

In the end, Aria bringing up the story of the trial dungeon and trying to take the Hero of this generation there still meant they intended to defeat the Demon King, who was leading this world to destruction.

But one question did arise.

She herself only barely knew of its existence, and she certainly didn’t know the precise location of the trial dungeon.

If she had known the location, she would have been the first to recommend heading there and would have personally informed them of the place.

Surely, the former Heroes and even those from the distant past must have also been informed about the existence of that dungeon and would have sought to grow stronger there.

The fact that she hadn’t done so was simply due to not knowing where it was.

But, the moment the topic of the trial dungeon was brought up…

‘That necklace…’

A necklace the Hero was wearing appeared to be one she had never seen before.

She couldn’t even guess what it was, but one thing was certain.

That necklace possessed an immense power that even made her tongue tie, and it was imbued with countless powerful yet pure thoughts.

If it was truly an item obtained from the trial dungeon…

‘Perhaps… this Hero party could be the chance to break this vicious cycle…’

The Demon King is powerful.

The level of power he possesses is enough to make one’s mouth ache describing it.

Many Heroes and Saints have existed throughout history, and some have not only defied their fated destinies but have even lost to the overwhelmingly powerful Demon King.

Yet, the world has continued to exist because of the blessings bestowed by the Goddess upon this realm.

She was no exception.

Many Heroes went forth to oppose the Demon King, but most could not go as far as defeating him and merely managed to seal this pure evil that sought to swallow the world.

But…

‘Aria… and the Hero…’

Aria possessed talent that could be deemed the best among all Saints in history.

While it was unclear just how much potential the Hero possesses, having heard that he defeated the End’s Grasp, it was enough to convince her.

Meanwhile, learning of the power contained within the necklace obtained from the trial dungeon…

It could be possible.

There might really be a chance to defeat the Demon King…!

Of course, it wasn’t certain whether they could actually defeat him or not.

But it was different from before.

Even the so-called strongest Hero party, which had been heralded as the saviors, failed to defeat the End’s Grasp… although there had been a Swordmaster and the strongest Grand Magician of the current age among them, they had ultimately not sealed him due to his weakened state after being sealed for many ages.

There was something to be hopeful about now.

‘Aria…’

To the poor girl who couldn’t hear or see, the Goddess has cruelly bestowed the heavy duty of having to defeat the Demon King as a Saint.

Yet, even knowing that this path would be one of asceticism, the girl continued to walk without faltering.

As if it were a duty she must fulfill, one she was destined to carry out.

Asclyna watched Aria and Evan, who were drifting far away, with both hopeful anticipation and sadness at her inability to help, along with the Princess Uriel and the Magician named Stella by their side.

Was it merely her feeling that the figures of those children reminded her of the Hero parties from centuries ago?

Remembering those children she could no longer meet, Asclyna closed her eyes.