Volume 5 - CH 15.2

“Haruto, you’re done already… Huh?”

“Haruto, good work and… What?”

Liebert and Ilmina came out of the cathedral, their voices trailing off as they saw the restored structure. They were completely frozen. The knights and nuns, who came out to see what was happening, had the same reaction. After a few minutes, they seemed to finally understand the situation, and Liebert and Ilmina spoke.

“Haruto, was the cathedral always this divine and white…?”

“Haruto, what exactly did you do?”

I nervously answered their questions, sweat beading on my forehead.

“I might have… overdone it a little. I was just trying to clean the dirty parts and patch up some small scratches, but it ended up like this…”

Hearing my words, both of them winced.

“Even so, it does look incredibly divine, doesn’t it?”

“Ilmina’s right. It’s not just white, there’s something else, isn’t there? What’s going on?”

Ilmina and Liebert seemed to have noticed something. I intended to explain it to them later, but I decided to do so now and asked them to follow me. We went to the room in the cathedral where I had stayed the night before. And I showed them something on the table.

“Actually, I created a magical tool that can activate a barrier to protect the cathedral in case something like this happens again. It might be the reason it looks so divine.”

“A barrier, you say…?”

Both of them seemed unsure. I picked up the actual magical tool and showed it to them while explaining. The tool looked like an ordinary cup, golden in color, with water inside. Without the Appraisal skill, one wouldn’t recognize it as a magical device.

“This is it. Though it’s stationary, by using it, you can deploy an anti-magic and physical barrier.”

When I handed it to Ilmina, she examined it hesitantly. Liebert, who was standing next to her, did the same. I continued with my explanation.

“This is called the [Chalice of Guardianship]. As long as magical power flows through it, it can create an anti-magic and physical barrier that covers the entire cathedral. Do you see the water inside the cup right now?”

Upon hearing my words, Ilmina and Liebert both nodded. The liquid inside was actually highly concentrated magical power. By pouring magical power into the chalice, it generates the water – magical water – from the bottom and fills up the chalice. This magical water is used to activate and maintain the barrier. When it runs out, the barrier disappears and the chalice turns silver. The barrier also has the effect of repelling monsters and demons below a certain level, so perhaps the divine appearance is due to that effect.

After explaining everything, both Ilmina and Liebert were stunned. But after a while, they seemingly accepted it but still asked hesitantly.

“Are we really allowed to accept such a thing?”

“Yes, it’s such a valuable item.”

High-performance magical tools were naturally valuable. That’s probably why they were hesitant to accept it. However…

“I can make another one if I want to and I don’t need it myself, so I want you to have it. Besides, it can only create a barrier for this cathedral.”

“Really? Then, did you make this, Haruto…?”

Ilmina asked in astonishment, and I nodded.

“Yeah, but please keep it a secret that I can make such artifacts.”

“U-Understood. In that case, we gratefully accept.”

Ilmina said this and bowed deeply along with Liebert.

“So, Haruto, how much magical power do we need to pour into this chalice to fill it? And if we don’t replenish it, how long will it last?”

“Well, for me, it was a small amount, but…”

Honestly, I think an ordinary person would need a considerable amount of magical power to fill it. Ellis, what’s the actual situation?

<<Assuming your mana is 1000, the average magical power of a person who hasn’t trained it is about 1, perhaps 2 for someone with a little more. It requires about 50 mana to fill the chalice. Also, when filled, the barrier can be maintained for thirty days.>>

So I had that much magical power… well, I guess it makes sense. Anyway, with one person’s entire magical power, the barrier can be maintained for about half a day. Considering the amount of magical power needed to activate a barrier of this scale, it’s quite cost-effective. I explained this to Ilmina and Liebert in an easy-to-understand manner.

“To fill it from the bottom, around fifty people should pour all their magical power into it. If nothing is done once it’s full, the barrier will last for thirty days. If you have multiple people regularly pouring in their magical power, you shouldn’t have to worry about it running out.”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Then, I took out another sword I made.

“And this too.”

“What is this?”

Ilmina asked as she looked at the silver short sword she received from me.

“That’s the [Magic Sword of Restoration]. It’s a sword-shaped item that grants automatic repair capabilities to any building it’s stabbed into. However, once the sword is pulled out, it turns to sand and vanishes, so you can’t stab it again. Choose the location to stab it carefully.”

“I see. Understood.”

“As for where to stab it, I’ll leave that up to you, Ilmina.”

“Yes, thank you. I was thinking of discussing it with my father…”

Upon receiving Ilmina’s gaze, Liebert quietly nodded. It seemed that they had already decided on a location.

“I was thinking of stabbing the sword in the center-front of the chapel, covering it with the altar, and placing the chalice on top.”

“Oh, that sounds good. It’s easy to understand, and it should make replenishing the chalice with magic power easier as well.”

As I nodded in agreement, Liebert stared at me with a serious expression.

“Haruto, thank you very much for even providing us with something like this.”

“No, don’t worry about it. The restoration isn’t finished yet, after all… Well, I’ll head over to the place where everyone is still working.”

“Thank you for everything.”

Liebert expressed his gratitude, and both he and Ilmina saw me off at the entrance of the cathedral.

Now, quite some time has passed, but it’s still too early for the day to end. I decided to head to the building where the demon summoning had taken place, where Finne had gone. On my way, various people in the city called out to me.

“Thank you for saving the capital!”

“You’re a hero of this country!”

Perhaps people who saw my face at the cathedral garden yesterday had spread the word about my appearance and clothing. The words spoken to me were all expressions of gratitude, and I didn’t feel bad at all… In fact, I felt happy. So, I waved back at everyone.

As I walked for a while, I could see the remains of the building I had infiltrated yesterday. Many buildings around it had also collapsed. There, Finne, Iris, Suzuno, Ephyr, and Asha were working hard on the restoration. A little further away, I could see residents and carpenters.

“Everyone, good job!”

Upon hearing my voice, Finne turned around, and Iris and the others stopped their work and came over.

“Haruto, is the cathedral restoration already finished?”

“Yeah, I fixed it to perfection and made some additional modifications.”

“You… made additional modifications?”

Finne’s words felt somewhat awkward, or was it just my imagination?

“Haruto, what exactly did you do?”

“Well, I didn’t do anything that big.”

I replied to Iris’s question.

“It’s definitely ‘something big,’ isn’t it?”

“It must be, because it’s Haruto.”

“Suzuno and Ephyr are right.”

Suzuno, Ephyr, and even Asha started saying that. Am I really that untrustworthy…? I was a little hurt, but I was aware that it was due to my daily behavior, so I couldn’t argue. Feeling the silent pressure from Finne and the others to talk quickly, I decided to honestly tell them. It would be exposed sooner or later anyway.

“The truth is—”

I explained to everyone what I did to the cathedral while fixing it. Then…

“A barrier, huh? You’re always up to something absurd.”

“Like Finne said, creating a magical tool that can cover the entirety of the huge cathedral with a barrier is just outrageous!”

“Isn’t it a bit too much?”

“And it even has automatic restoration…”

“I can just imagine the dumbfounded faces of His Holiness and Lady Ilmina.”

Finne, Iris, Suzuno, Ephyr, and Asha all say this in unison.

Feeling uncomfortable, I decided to change the subject.

“Anyway, let’s start working on this quickly!”

“Isn’t that a bit too obvious?” Suzuno muttered under her breath, but I pretended not to hear her.

“You’re right about that. But even though we’ve moved the debris out of the way to make it easier to work, there’s no disposal site and the construction materials haven’t arrived yet.”

Finne said that, glancing at the collapsed building.

But with this level of damage, we can manage somehow… or rather, it was good that there was debris left due to the skill constraints.

Since it’s only a matter of going back in time, if the original materials weren’t in place, we can’t predict what will happen. Well, if it comes to that, we’ll just acquire another construction-related skill.

“Don’t worry, leave it to me. With the skill I learnt earlier, I should be able to repair all the buildings in the divine city, including this one, by sunset.”

“In just a few hours?”

“Yep.”

I nodded confidently, and after moving everyone away, I started working immediately.

I targeted the collapsed buildings and activated the [Reconstruction] skill, starting each one right after the last.

Upon witnessing the scene, Finne and the others let out exasperated noises.

“I thought so when I first heard about it… but you’re still incredibly unreasonable.”

“Seriously.”

Everyone nodded in agreement with Finne and Iris’s conversation.

The residents, too, had their eyes glued at the unbelievable scene, their mouths half-open, mesmerized by the unbelievable scene before their eyes.

The work proceeded smoothly, and before the sun began to set, the entire Holy City was beautifully restored.

With their homes back in order, the residents returned to their normal lives.

Along the way, we met up with Zero and Kuzel, who had been working in other areas, and waved goodbye to the residents.

“Did we… not really do anything after all?”

Finne murmured after everything was done.

I wish she hadn’t said that.

“Weren’t you all taking care of various things while I was asleep? Everyone was grateful, right?”

“…Yes, that’s true.”

Finne and the others nodded honestly.

When we returned to the cathedral, Ilmina and Liebert were waiting for us.

“Please, come this way.”

We were led to a room, and when we took our seats, Ilmina and Liebert suddenly bowed their heads.

“Once again, thank you for everything. As the pope governing this country, and as a representative of the people, I sincerely thank you all from the bottom of my heart.”

“Haruto, thank you.”

“You don’t have to keep saying it, really.”

“No. No amount of gratitude is enough. We are all that grateful to you, Haruto.”

With that, I decided to accept their thanks gracefully.

“The residents of the Holy City may still be inwardly shaken, but from tomorrow onwards, they’ll be able to return to their normal, everyday lives.”

“Ah, that’s also thanks to Finne and the others’ help.”

“Yes, everyone, thank you very much.”

Then a nun came to report that dinner was ready.

“Dinner seems to be prepared. How about continuing our conversation over a meal?”

“Sounds great. I’m sure everyone else is okay with that too, right?”

I asked Finne and the others, and no one objected.

We were guided to the dining hall, where a long table with chairs and an array of dishes were waiting.

As soon as we took our seats, we began discussing stories from the Holy City that Finne and the others heard from the residents, the strange magic tools I had made, and other topics.

In the midst of it all, I decided to reveal my true identity to Liebert and Ilmina after clearing out the room. I had missed the chance to inform them last night, as I couldn’t find the right timing.

To be honest, I thought that since I was a person from another world who would eventually return to my original world, my engagement to Ilmina might be considered void. However…

“I don’t care that Haruto is a person summoned from another world. I don’t need any reasons to like him,” Ilmina said with a smile.

“Truly saintly…” Suzuno murmured beside me.

I couldn’t agree more. It felt as if I could see a halo behind her, like an illusion.

“Aah, rather, now I understand why Haruto is so strong. I can trust you with my daughter,” Liebert said with a grin.

At that moment, Iris unexpectedly asked, “Haruto, are we departing tomorrow or the day after?”

“Um, honestly, either is fine. Is there something going on?” I replied, noticing Ilmina’s slightly wistful expression.

Then, Iris turned to Liebert.

“Your Holiness, may we allow Ilmina to go out with Haruto alone tomorrow? I believe we won’t be able to return here for quite a while after we leave this country.”

Ilmina’s eyes widened at her words. “Iris!? What are you saying!?”

“Would that be fine with you, Finne and the others?” Iris continued, disregarding Ilmina’s outburst and seeking confirmation from Finne, Suzuno, and Ephyr.

“I think it’s a good idea for them to go out alone,” Finne agreed.

“I feel the same as Finne. It’ll be lonely not seeing each other for a while,” Suzuno added.

“I agree with Iris as well,” Ephyr concurred.

The three of them nodded in agreement with Iris’s proposal. It seemed like there were no objections, and in fact, they all seemed to think that it was a good idea. Iris then turned to Liebert and asked him, looking at Ilmina.

When Iris asked Liebert, he looked at Ilmina. “What do you want to do, Ilmina?”

“I…” Ilmina looked down for a moment before raising her head and staring at me. “It’s true that I’ll be lonely if I can’t see Haruto. So, just as Iris suggested, or rather, personally, I want to go out with Haruto tomorrow!”

Liebert nodded quietly. 

“In that case, enjoy yourselves tomorrow. Haruto, I will entrust my daughter, Ilmina, to you for tomorrow.”

“Sure, you can count on me. Ilmina, let’s make the most of our day together tomorrow,” I said.

“Yes!” Ilmina replied with a beaming smile.