CH 120

Not a single citizen was outside the city that day. The gates of the country were closed, not allowing anyone in. This was because the people had been waiting for this day more than anything else.

This memorable day to welcome the return of the bond of the heroes.

“”…””

Cielo and Goutani looked at each other in the clothes they respectively should be wearing without saying a word to each other. Goutani, who had black hair, black eyes, and eyes that had become even darker over the past week, wore a disproportionately white tuxedo with his hair pulled back in.

Cielo was Cielo, dressed to perfection in Mermaid A-line Wedding Dresses and Lace, her lips painted with sun-red lipstick, a beautiful girl who Goutani could not have been more pleased with, if she had kept quiet. Cielo was 15 years old. In the old world, that would be a crime.

“Beautiful…. Hehe, what the heck, Cielo-chan is adorable…”

“I’m glad to hear you say so. Today is a memorable new beginning for the country, so I can understand Goutani-sama’s excitement. Your figure, combined with the unique color of a hero, suits you well, don’t you think?”

“Oh, I see! I’m so glad to hear that~♪”

At Cielo’s words, Goutani almost forgot all the pain she had been through yesterday. Today, she was smiling, though only a little, and that was a big part of it.

But the mark was still there.

“But I’m going to ask you to put on a dignified face in front of the public, like you did a week ago…”

“Yes, of course!”

Then the Cardinal appeared, walking with short steps. Today, he was especially adorned with jewelry, and every time he walked, they made a jingling sound. The two frowned and caught the figure in their eyes, as if the sound displeased them.

The cardinal exhaled his words as he made the noise, deeply… his belly was in the way, and he couldn’t bend at the waist, but he bowed anyway.

“My Lord Hero, it is time…”

“Ah… right. Let’s go then, Cielo-chan?”

“…Yes.”

Goutani held out his arm. Cielo modestly accepted it and started walking along.

The front of the cathedral was overflowing with citizens and tourists. In front of the entrance, there was a special ceremony hall, attended by ambassadors from various countries. A priest walked between the ambassadors and came out in front of the people.

“I now proclaim that the marriage ceremony is about to take place. First, the groom. The hero, Goutani Senji-sama, will make his entrance.”

In the silence of the ceremony hall, a man appears with an imposing bearing at the sound of the priest’s voice. He was the hero of the people, “Goutani Senji”. The people applauded and prayed for him. The priest held up his hand and called for the next one.

“Next, the bride. The priestess, Cielo Forbranad La Veil Radd, will make her entrance. The bridesmaid is the current Pope. Kairos Forbranad La Veil Radd.”

The attendees stood up and then they all kneeled. The whole nation saw for the first time the Pope’s face, with the same silver hair as Cielo’s, kept short. He has no beard, and his eyes are the same color as his daughter’s. The Pope was slightly unsteady on his feet, but he walked firmly down the aisle with Cielo supporting him. His face, though, remained grim.

Along the way, father Kairos exchanged a few words with Cielo without breaking eye contact.

“I’m sorry… for what I’ve done.”

“No, Father, you did nothing…I must apologize too. I should have faced him better. I should have been more open with him instead of relying on a prophecy…”

“No, that was too rushed. I couldn’t handle it properly either. Next time, I’ll take better precautions…”

“…and I’m probably going to have a rough time from here on out, so please bear with me…”

“…I believe you. Just protect those who are not involved, okay?”

“Of course…I’ll be on my way.”

That was the end of the parent-child conversation. But that was all that mattered, for they were father and daughter, two devout believers who had both carried a heavy mission on their shoulders. Their bond was stronger and deeper than anyone else’s, so even a few words were enough to convey their feelings.

Cielo left her father’s hand and stood next to the brave. When the priest confirmed this, he quietly recited a passage from the Bible, followed by the wedding vows.

“Thou. O groom, Senji. Do you swear that you will support your bride Cielo in sickness and in health, and in sorrow, and that you will support each other with your love all the days of your life, and that you will live together until the day of death do you part?”

“I swear.”

Goutani managed to get the words out, his body trembling with nervousness. The priest then turned to Cielo.

“Thou. O bride, Cielo. Do you swear here that you will support the groom, Senji, in sickness and in health, and in sorrow, and that you will support each other with your love for life, and that you will live together until the day of death do you part?”

“…I swear.”

“Gh!”

Goutani a little nervous, but as those words came out, he struck an imaginary guts pose inside his heart. Now there was no one who could stand in his way. The only thing left to do now was to let the evening be known for what it was.

The priest then asked the people about this vow.

“Does anyone present here today have any objection to this marriage, with good reason? If so, raise your hands, if not, stay in silence…”

The people naturally choose silence. Not a single person uttered a sound, hoping that the contract would be signed now or later. One minute in time. The priest, seeing no one to break the silence, tried to look down to continue, but

“Objection!”

Someone raised their hand. It was not a mistake. The voice came from a woman, and her hand was raised calmly. Following that raised hand, a path opened up in the ceremony hall at once.

While everyone was stunned, that person, wearing a white robe with a hood walked through the crowd. Walking neither quickly or slowly, the figure came up to the ceremony site, exposed to numerous gazes, and stopped just before the aisle.

The priest, although it was a new experience for him, tried his best to calmly ask what her name was.

“State thy name. And state the reason for your objection…”

At his question, she first took off her hood.

“”Ooh…””

The people gasped in admiration at the inhuman beauty and loveliness. But many of the believers glared at her as if they were looking at their parents’ killer, because she was ruining the ceremony.

“My name is Aidle, and I am here today at the request of Cielo Forbranad La Veil Radd. And as for the reason for my objection… you can see it here.”

She took out a large crystal ball. With those words and the tool she produced, several of the merchants present understood what was going to happen.

But, of course, there was someone who tried to interrupt the showing.

“Wait! You are one of the great sinners who seduced the priestess!”

Goutani said, and the people turned their attention to the three people who had been brought to the spot and were kneeling on the ground. And when they turned again from those figures to Aidle, their eyes glazed over even more.

But she did not panic. She continued, unwavering, letting the situation pass by like a gentle breeze.

“What I’m going to show you now is something to clear up this misunderstanding. So, I would like everyone to take a look at it… and…”

With a huff, Aidle’s figure vanished from the scene. Everyone looked for her, noisily wondering where she had gone, and then noticed a light shining overhead and went to look up.

In the center of the cathedral’s stained-glass windows, there was something shining brightly. It was standing on a crystal, looking over everything, emitting pink particles.

Then, with a flash of light, blue light flooded from the crystal and formed a giant screen in the air. On that screen was projected the image of a creature unknown to the onlookers, but they all thought it was that little creature from just before. Goutani was stunned and could not take his eyes off the creature.

Then she smiled in an excellent way, letting her image on the screen be burned into the memory of those watching so that her words would reach every corner of their brains, and then she spoke.

“Let me introduce myself again. My name is Aidle, and I am a [Fairy] who has come to rescue the priestess of prophecy from an unjust marriage.”

An amplified voice echoed through the air. Then Aidle started playing back the crystal recordings. Several screens arose, as if to make it easier to watch.

Then came the title.

[The title of the program was: “Doki Doki… Aidle’s Week of Investigating the Reality of the Heroic Young Master! The Cardinal will also appear…]

It was the beginning of a public execution.

With pop music in the background, an anime-style Aidle appeared on the screen and started to play an edited video while also narrating. Coming back to his senses, Goutani loudly protested to stop the video, but it was muffled by the sounds and voice that were being amplified.

[Hello everyone! My name is Fairy Aidle, nice to meet you! My friend Cielo-chan told me that she was in trouble, so I tried my best to find out the cause of her trouble!]

The video changed. The scene followed Cielo and the others’ failed attempt to rescue the Pope, complete with audio courtesy of Quad.

[I missed you~ Cielo-chan? I know you were probably thinking of rescuing that old man and taking back your country from me, but there’s no way a mere adventurer or mercenary like Sakurada can beat me! Ah~~~ that was the perfect surprise for the reunion, Cielo-chan!]

Goutani’s face turned blue. The people are in a panic. Everyone was confused.

Then the animated version of “Aidle” began to give a supplementary explanation. It seemed that the whole program was like this.

[Cielo-chan was being forced to marry the Hero, and when she refused, he cursed her and kicked her out, saying that he would make her the plaything of the demons. That’s terrible, to put such a curse on an innocent girl! That’s why Cielo-chan came to me in Galania thanks to Mika-chan, right? So, I used my Fairy powers to break that curse!!!]

The people noticed that a piece of paper had fallen down. When they unfolded the paper, they found that it was a status list issued by the guild. It shows Cielo’s status before and after the curse was lifted.

Of course, it was made by Aidle.

[So this is why we have come to rescue the Pope with my friends. The guy who captured Grandpa was strong, so they failed. But everyone has already been rescued, so it is fine…]

“Haaaaーーーーh!?!?!?!?”

With one turn of the finger, the three Substitute Golems disappeared, accompanied by a burst of pink smoke, and a group of four hooded people appeared on a special stage in the ceremony hall.

Moreover, one of them was clad in [Holy Armor], which surprised the audience so much that their jaws dropped open.

The next scene showed the kicking out of the Pope’s chair, the creation of a new Bible, and Goutani’s wailing. At that moment Goutani snapped perfectly and activated his [Holy Sword], called forth the [Holy Armor] from his magic box and clad himself in it, but.

“I won’t let you go, Goutani!”

“Sakurada….youuuuuuuu!”

Mika was this time facing Goutani.

Meanwhile, Hinomoto, who was watching the situation, was talking to someone through the slave’s collar.

“Why do you have to intervene? It was justified. I think La Veil Radd will be truly at peace if it ends like that…ah…duh, I get it. As you say, Mr. First Place, die.”

With that, Hinomoto cuts off the communication and releases her holy sword with a sigh from the roof of the cathedral toward Aidle.

“Huh…a brilliant joker, but apparently the top won’t forgive this. Please hate me for not being able to give you a happy ending…”

“Now, now, big sis. Don’t be so scary, come play with me.”

“…oh?”

For some reason, the [main body] human Aidle, who had disappeared earlier, was standing right next to Hinomoto. Hinomoto realized that she was holding his shoulder and was about to invoke the Holy Sword characteristic, but

“…oh…what?”

Her vision suddenly switched, and she realized that she was standing in the middle of a snowfield.

She did not even blink. It was really out of nowhere. She was stunned, but this was a different world. She quickly shook off her head to assess the situation.

(Did she use some kind of transfer magic or skill earlier? If so, was her purpose to stop me in my tracks? No, she must have heard about my status from that old man…)

“You think you alone can stop me in a fight?”

“I wonder.”

Aidle appeared directly in front of her. She was holding a shining sword. And her status was exposed to Hinomoto’s [Judgement] without being hidden, except for one [Skill].

Aidle (3) Lv.1340

Unique Race: Dimensional Fairy (Awakened+), : Sacred Sword Open (Status x 10), 

HP 306,665,999,980/306,665,999,980

MP 636,000,230,0230/636,000,230,0230

AK 3,428,039,000

DF 3,101,901,000,000

MAK 5,422,699,994,440

MDF 5,023,877,034,000

INT 7100

SPD 2,012,212,906,905,000,000

[Inherent Skills] Fairy magic, Fairy’s eye, Dimension Magic, Manifestation Dependence

Holy Sword (2nd level), True Holy Armor (Dormant), 

Skills: Singing (S+), Swordsmanship (EX), Humanization (S+), Four Attribute Magic (EX), Adjustment (S+), 

Concealment(S+), Servant Contract(-), Parallel Thinking (S+), 

Title: Dragon Killer, Rebel, Master of Ancient Dragon, Battle Master, ●・●●, Dungeon Ruler

An amazingly astonishing status. So many skills she didn’t know. She was also surprised that the Holy Sword and Holy Armor were different from the usual ones. Even so, Hinomoto still didn’t lose her composure.

“…Ah…how should I put it? Many things about your status are a bit of a surprise, right?”

“Yes, I knew you would react that way. But you’re strong, too.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still the third-strongest hero…but my strength is not based on my status, it’s based on my skills. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to end this without showing off my status because I have to stop this quickly.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Unfortunately, we can’t.”

At this point, Hinomoto did not understand. She did not understand how unreasonable the existence she was dealing with was.

“Holy Sword…Activate…”

And then… the space within a 100 m radius —— stopped.

[TL Note: Za Warudo!!!]