CH 68.1

68.1　Monologue of A Certain Marquis 9

“What a joke. As if something that is made by a child can stand on equal ground with the Saint’s Ornaments.”

His Majesty immediately denied Bates-dono’s claim. His prompt denial relieved me greatly. Furthermore, his denial was not without ground as well. After all, the bracelet was made by a kid. How could it be a Saint Ornament?

“But, it DID cause a MIRACLE. That’s one thing we can’t deny.” Bates-dono insisted on his claim, causing His Majesty to groan.

“That much is something I know after listening to your reports. But for a kid’s creation to be ‘Saint’s Ornament’… that’s a bit too hard to believe.”

“But, Your Majesty, ‘Saint’s Ornaments’ show its ‘Power’ through ancient language and ‘True Love’.”

“‘True Love’… is it?”

Bates-dono nodded, “Yes. ‘True Love’. And according to my estimation, it’s the most important factor. Even the ‘Saint’s Ornaments’ need it.”

His Majesty and the rest of us looked at each other, silently asking whether the other understood Bates-dono’s remark or not. However, no one seemed to understand the sentences he threw out just now.

“What does that mean, Bates? Would you elaborate in away that we can understand?” Count Sphene asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to explain it either. In short, the matter is exactly as I say. Presents that are gifted with love from the bottom of one’s heart is the reason for this miracle. Even without the engraving in ancient language, I think the reason why Theodore’s bracelet can cause such miracle is none other than because of Theodore’s love toward Miss Muriel.”

Bates-dono nodded by himself as he explained. I couldn’t deny his speculation though, because Theodore definitely gave most of his love toward Miss Muriel. That was for sure. Still, even though I knew that there was basis to this theory, I couldn’t help but feel that the condition for this miracle to happen was really unbelievable.

""

First of all, we had no idea on how to measure something like love. After all, there was various form of loves. Moreover, it didn’t mean that the love like the one Theodore showed for Muriel was absolutely needed to invoke the miracle. In the end, just like stated before, there were different form of loves.

“Moreover, Theodore also said it himself, though perhaps not consciously. It happened when Luke said, ‘I want to become stronger for the saint’. At that time, Theodore suddenly said that he preferred Muriel over the saint and stated that he would give his true love to Miss Muriel instead of the saint.”

That was only natural. He had yet to know that Miss Katrina is the saint, so he chose to devote himself to the girl he loves rather than some unknown saint. It was completely normal.

“―― According to the legend, one is supposed to offer their ‘True Love’ to the saint. However, Theodore caused a miracle by offering his ‘True Love’ to the girl he loves. Moreover, he can arrange ancient language on his own.”

Bates-dono spoke with an extremely passionate voice and continued, “In the pronunciation that was deciphered by Theodore three years ago, ‘Waga Itoshi no Serendia Ni, Goldias Yori Shinjitsu no Ai Wo Sasagu’, remember? Now, he replaced ‘Selendia’ with ‘Muriel’ and ‘Goldias’ with ‘Theodore’. Based on these, it could be seen that Theodore knew which one is the name of the person in the ancient language. To be more clear, he understood the ancient language and can decipher them.”

“Please wait a minute. Theodore has said it himself. He doesn’t understand the ancient language. Let’s not jump into conclusion so fast.” I said to prevent Theodore from being suspected to cause a miracle because of everything he did so far. That was a dangerous path.

“Bates-dono said ‘Unconsciously’. So, the possibility that Theodore did that unconsciously is huge. Moreover, we’re off-topic right now. Before everything else, we have to investigate whether the bracelet Theodore made is really equal to the ‘Saint’s Ornaments’.”

I forcibly changed the topic back to the original topic.

“In addition, we also have to investigate if ‘True Love’ is truly necessary to activate the ‘Saint’s Ornaments’. I mean, how are we supposed to know ‘True Love’ from third person’s perspective?”

I spoke vigorously in a single breath, not pausing at all. “There’s various form of loves. Even if every single one of the Six Gods in the Saint Legend love the saint, the form of their ‘True Love’ might not be the same with one another. Furthermore, even legend might have some modification, so I think our current focus should be to verify how to see that.”

Bates-dono finally fell silent when he heard the word ‘verify’, pondering my opinion. Now then, it was time to push forward my opinion.

“Regarding the bracelet, I think we can do some observation while it’s worn by Miss Muriel. Once we confirm that it isn’t magic tool like the Saint’s Ornaments, it means that we have to add another topic to our research. Anyway, in my humble opinion, the miracle that happen this time, which is caused by the bracelet on Miss Muriel’s arm, and its effect on her is one thing that we have to investigate.”

“― I see. That might be a better option. After all, at present, there is no ornament that caused miracle. Still, though we can continue our observation, there’s a low chance it’ll be tied with the Saint’s Ornaments.”

Count Greenwell, the chief of the Court Mage Department, directly gave his seal of approval. I secretly breathe a sigh of relief. With this person’s backing, the weight of my previously empty argument should be heavier.

“I also agree with this. We should observe first. After all, I’ll be ashamed as an adult if I have to take a present that is given between children, and one that save the other’s life on top of that. Therefore, I think we should choose this option until we understand what we really need to know.”

Count Sphene also agreed to this, and for that, he had my heartfelt gratitude. However, His Majesty looked dissatisfied with this. Perhaps because he really wanted to confiscated that bracelet.

Thank God I act quickly before he make such decision.

“For the same reason, I think we should return this chick doll to Theodore too. It might start moving again if it stay beside him.”

Although His Majesty and Bates-dono looked like they were against my idea, in the end they agreed to it, albeit reluctantly. Then again, nothing would change even if we confiscated the bracelet, so perhaps they finally decided to go along with the idea.

“―― I guess nothing can be said about ‘True Love’.” Bishop Cobalt said.

“Something like love isn’t visible to the eyes after all. Still, we’ll be in deep shit if the qualification to become Six Gods are to love someone. Especially in my son’s case. Due to my son’s twisted personality, his expression of love may be quite crooked too.”

Bishop Cobalt evaluate his own son, Simeon-dono, harshly with a sarcastic smile on his face.

“―― Before the magic unsealing ceremony, I tried to ask Theodore-dono about what make the Six Gods, but… Theodore-dono’s answer is to care about the important people around him. Goldias of the Six Gods are also said to be someone who cares about the people around him and fight to protect them too.”

I had heard about this matter from Kevin as well.