Chapter 37: Heavenly Saint, Vasily Valvaroi 8

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Finn? Why? Did that kid become a silver-rank adventurer? When? Did he rank up within these past few months? He had the aptitude. It wasn’t impossible. But why? And his status is unknown, between life and death? Treatment… if it were the Royal Capital, the Saint could make it in time, but from the Northern Mountain Range? No, it won’t make it. What should I do? How can I make it in time? The development of <Teleportation> failed. Is he going to die? Finn? To begin with, why was that kid even involved? Because I didn’t stop him? An Elven mage and a priest? I don’t know, I don’t know anything about that. Are the ones who were supposed to be sacrifices saying they fought back? No, that alone couldn’t possibly resolve it. The enemy that appeared… That’s right, what kind of individual was the monster? Does it match what’s in <Knowledge>?

“…Master? What’s wrong?”

Aria’s single line brought her back to awareness. She hesitated. Whether or not to tell Aria… Finn had caused the original work recorded in <Knowledge> to collapse. There was no way she wasn’t happy about that. But more than that, the confusion, bewilderment, and the information that he was hovering between life and death weighed heavily on her. Even Vasily was shocked, shaken, and unable to remain calm. No. At least, she was still not calm even now. What would happen if Aria saw it?

“…Do you want to see it?”

“Hmm… should I?”

“I don’t know. Honestly, I think it might be better if you don’t. But…”

“…If you’re hesitating like that, Master, it’s Finn, right?”

“Ugh.”

“I can tell that much, geez.”

“…Heh. You’ve grown, Aria.”

“You’re more obvious than you think…”

As Vasily tried to dodge the issue, Aria and Alicia gave wry smiles.

“Finn… what happened to him?”

Whether she should answer or not… There was no doubt Aria continued to grow mentally, and she already possessed combat power and strength of heart no different from the final stages of the <Original Work>. Up to this point, they had destroyed numerous <flags>, and along the way, it wasn’t as if they had avoided encountering grim realities.

Village girls kidnapped and toyed with by bandits. A female warrior defeated on the battlefield and forced to taste humiliation. A female knight unable to defy nobles and treated as they pleased, adventurers violated by monsters…

She had witnessed the foundation of this world, the very cause of Johan’s despair and had cut those horrors down with the power of the Holy Sword. Two years ago, Aria had stood frozen at such scenes, vomiting and developing an aversion to men, but now she was able to discern that not everyone was like that.

But Finn was special. To both Aria and Vasily, the young man Finn Debyura was special. He was an irreplaceable person. If Aria were told that such a man might be dead, could she truly remain sane? She wanted to believe. Perhaps she should believe.

After all, Arianrod Mona was already a hero.

…I should believe. This girl is no longer a child.

“……Finn is—”

“——No. Sorry, Master. It’s fine after all.”

Just as Vasily opened her mouth to answer, Aria cut her off. Vasily couldn’t hide her surprise. She knew how deeply Aria cared for her childhood friend. When she murmured happily in her sleep, it was usually Finn’s name. When she had nightmares, it was Finn again. He was the boy who had stayed by her side when she was drowning in despair during the most sensitive period of her life, the childhood friend she had lived under the same roof with, and the one who had always helped her whenever she was troubled or lost.

Of course the weight would be unbalanced. In <Knowledge>, there was someone Aria had vaguely been in love with, but since she had no connection with that person, the only one in her heart was Finn. The safety of the one she still dreamed about. There was no way she wouldn’t care.

“Finn will be fine. I’m sure of it. After all, he’s the boy who saved me, right?”

Aria said it with a smile. But did she realize it? That her fists were clenched tight, her nails digging in until blood flowed, her hands trembling.

“And besides. If we don’t do our part properly, it’s all pointless anyway, right? So I don’t need to know right now. I don’t want to know. I’ll believe it. Finn will be fine.”

“…Aria…”

“…Ah, but maybe Master should know. If he really did die, we’d turn into unbelievably heartless people.”

…How heartbreaking.

Aria was afraid. Afraid that if she learned the truth, and if it wasn’t the outcome she hoped for, she wouldn’t be able to recover. If Finn had died, even if she didn’t completely break, she would never be the same as before. She understood that. That was why she didn’t want to know right now. The way she muttered, convincing herself with reasons that felt almost like excuses—“I shouldn’t know”—was nothing but agony.

“…Should I go check?”

“No, it’s fine. This is something I’ll follow up on.”

“It’s only natural to be scared when someone close to you might have died. Don’t push yourself.”

“…That’s true, but… huh? Oh, right…”

As Alicia spoke, something suddenly came back to her. Wasn’t there a name on the report that shared the same family name as Alicia?

“…Alicia. Do you recognize a girl named Astrea?”

“Huh? My younger sis—wait, hold on. Sorry, why are you asking that now?”

“It’s fine. She survived.”

“No way… what? Wait, if she was there and that many still died, what kind of enemy was it? That’s insane…”

Alicia said it with a face drained of all color.

“You should absolutely look into the enemy’s details. There’s definitely been a change in <Knowledge>.”

“Hm… I did hear about it when we visited the village, but…”

“She was the strongest in the village. That assessment hasn’t changed.”

She didn’t think Alicia was lying, but changes occurring in places she hadn’t been involved in… It was hard to believe yet not impossible. They had left traces all over the world. It wouldn’t be strange if discrepancies arose somewhere. The probability was extremely low, but it wasn’t zero.

“If it weren’t for Grandpa’s <Prophecy>, she’d be the one in this party. I think so, my mother thinks so, and even my youngest sister thinks so. She’s a girl who became strong regardless of the <Prophecy>. Please believe me.”

“…I see. That is indeed plausible.”

A High Elf who had gained strength unrelated to the <Prophecy>. What had caused it? Vasily didn’t know. She didn’t know, but it wasn’t a bad thing.

“Aria. I’ll look into Finn as well. When I decide it’s okay to tell you, I will. Is that acceptable?”

“Yeah. Thank you, Master…”

Saving the world was a road full of hardships. And yet, something was clearly changing. Vasily had that feeling.

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<To Lady Vasily Valvaroi,

Regarding the monster claiming to be of the Demon Lord’s Army, we conducted interviews with the survivors and report as follows. Its characteristics included a body color resembling a pigman, an ugly face, four arms, and chain-like objects affixed to its body. No matter how many slashes or spells landed, they had no effect, and it took actions as if to relish tormenting and humiliating its prey. Ultimately, it was defeated by a priest’s magic, but even High Elf magic had been nullified, so had this monster not been defeated, it is highly likely the worst-case scenario would have occurred.

It identified itself as Demon Lord’s Army Executive Number Three, raising the possibility that the Demon Lord’s Army exists as an organized military force. We intend to issue warnings to guilds across the world and continue gathering information. Additionally, the adventurer who served as the shield-bearer miraculously survived.

P.S. Don’t get mad, okay?

—Marcus>

“…I’m definitely beating the crap out of that brat…”

It had been an emergency, but since they had just returned from the Abyss, Vasily had chosen to rest once. When the flustered guildmaster arrived and handed her the letter, nearly all the information she wanted was written there. The information that Finn had survived made her feel relief from the bottom of her heart, and the words she muttered to hide it seemed to have been clearly heard by Alicia, who let out a relieved sigh.

“So? Does it match your <Knowledge>?”

“A pigman-like appearance, four arms, chains attached to the body, a fondness for torture-like violations. Attacks ineffective, with priest magic as the only effective strike. Hmm…”

After placing the letter on the desk, Vasily fidgeted with her chest. From there, she pulled out a single notebook. Neither Alicia nor Aria had ever read it directly. It was the source of Vasily’s <Knowledge>. 

She had seen it somewhere before. No. She didn’t want to harbor pointless hope. Maintaining a calm facade, Vasily carefully turned the pages. An orc-like appearance. Four arms, chains. A fondness for torture. Attacks ineffective. The logic was unclear, but a priest’s strike—in other words, the goddess’s magic—worked.

There is one. Exactly one, that comes to mind.

And it had the strength to massacre silver-rank adventurers in a surprise attack. It appeared in the world as a vanguard of the Demon Lord’s Army, an enemy that appeared in CGs multiple times. The Numbers, marked with digits as proof of being Demon Lord’s Army executives.

──Demon Lord’s Army Executive, Number III: the Slaughter Ogre.

A powerful enemy who, in the latter part of the story, would either be slain by the hero or defeat the hero. The monster depicted in the “CG that announces the Demon Lord’s Army invasion in Chapter One of the original work” and the “CG where a gold-rank adventurer stronger than the protagonist is defeated and violated before their eyes.”

To Vasily Vul Barbarossa, it was nothing less than the Grim Reaper. There was no way she could mistake it. She had seen it again and again and again and again. The ending was terrifying, frightening, and made her want to look away, yet she couldn’t run from it, so she had kept watching without turning her back. The fate written in Johan’s journal. Carved as mere text, accompanied by poorly drawn illustrations that looked exactly like what was described in the report.

No way—no, but these characteristics…

“…Are you okay? You’re sweating a lot.”

“……Heh, heh. Hehe, hahaha…!”

“Eh… d-did you snap?”

“No, haha, no, no! I just felt like laughing a little.”

“…Shouldn’t you rest?”

Ah, I don’t want to hold onto such hope.

The more hope she held, the deeper the wound would be if reality didn’t change. Three thousand years of resolve wavered. Her determination began to crumble. And yet, even knowing this was nothing but wishful thinking, optimism, and normalcy bias, she still laughed.

“…Could it be that you might save me too?”

She thought of her disciple, active in the distant Royal Capital. Aria’s childhood friend. Not particularly strong, but with mental strength second to none. A young man who had trained his body for five years for a single reason—to keep his childhood friend from being lonely—might have solved a problem Vasily herself couldn’t.

She wanted to know right now. She wanted to go see him right now. She even wanted to hug him, praise him with all her might, and kiss him on the spot. But reason suppressed her, telling her she shouldn’t. They had come this far. She would do her part, and Finn would do his.

She didn’t want to do something like relentlessly prying into the defeated enemy’s characteristics just to feel relieved. If she saw the reality with her own eyes, she feared it might dull her body.

“For now, this should put Aria at ease.”

“Yeah. She was really shaken, so I’m not sure she’s truly at ease, but…”

“It’ll be fine. Aria will definitely grow even stronger.”

Her disciple was alive, and the gears of the story had gone awry. And that was fine. For now, she didn’t want to celebrate prematurely. 

Because if this turns out to be wrong, I might not be able to recover.

As if convincing herself, Vasily murmured so.

One year later. On the day fate was supposed to strike, Vasily did not die. The enemy that appeared was not in the journal, and it was slain by a single swing of Aria’s blade. It was an anticlimactic end.

Another year passed. Direct confrontation with the Demon Lord’s Army began. The elite forces led by Vasily—platinum-rank adventurers, the Sword Saint, and the Saint—stormed the Demon Lord’s main camp. Hero Aria and the Demon Lord struck each other down, resulting in a draw, and many of the Demon Lord’s Army executives were slain.

One more year to the present. At a point when, in the original work brought forth by <Knowledge>, Aria would only just be obtaining the Holy Sword, ninety percent of the Demon Lord’s Army executives who had taken to the battlefield had already been defeated. After a direct clash between the Demon Lord and Starry Sky, Aria inflicted a grievous wound on the Demon Lord and successfully forced the Demon Lord to retreat deep into the western lands, pushing the front line forward significantly.

In effect, humanity had won the war against the Demon Lord’s Army.

Vasily survived.

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