Chapter 322.
Hillis kept looking at me seriously after hearing my story. She asked, "Everything started because of muddy water?”
I nodded. Hillis was somewhat dumbfounded, but eventually regained her composure with a laugh and a smirk.
"I can’t deny it. Since I’m a magician, it took a long time to adapt to the environment outside the Olympus Forest,” I explained.
As I had been born and raised in the crazy mana storm of Olympus Forest, it hadn’t been easy for me to adapt to the peaceful mana outside the forest. The environment outside the forest was so calm and stable that it hadn’t been strange for me to accidentally release sword aura or fire off magic while sleeping.
That was why my aunt had given me a bracelet made by the Witch of Pride. The bracelet I always wore on my wrist regulated and directed magical power, helping me avoid making mistakes.
Hillis sighed deeply and frowned, as if she found something unsatisfactory. She asked, "By the way, kidnapping the princess... What were you trying to do?" She swept her hair back and closed her eyes due to the complicated thoughts running through her head.
It was natural for her feelings to be complicated. Nothing could be more disturbing than finding out that the family member who supported and trusted her the most was a member of a radical terrorist organization.
"I have a question. What magic was that white light back then?” I asked, referring to the divine magic that had saved Cardinal Fernando. In fact, I had always been curious, but I had just let it slide because it would have been weird to ask at the time.
Hillis grinned again, remarking, "It’s just like you to ask about magic even at times like this.” In a lighter tone, she pointed to my Holy Sword and said, "You can feel a peculiar divine power from the jewel in the holy sword, right? The power contained in the jewel is the great divine magic called ‘Miracle’. It’s a spell that can grant the wishes of the person who invokes it."
Hillis explained in detail, including how to use the magic called ‘Miracle’. "At the moment, it’s a spell that only the saintess can use, so it’s very valuable,” she said.
When I heard the explanation, I realized that if it was a spell ‘only’ the saintess could use, its magical structure had to somehow be very similar to the magic of the Holy Tribe. I said, "Hmm, I think I know why the Demon King worshipper carefully brainwashed your sister and took her."
Hillis looked at me and asked for a detailed explanation. I continued, "Calm down first. It’s still a hypothesis. Speaking of which, you have the copy of ‘The Prophecy of the Holy Tribe’, right?”
"Yea, I have it. But what about it?” Hillis asked as she took out ‘The Prophecy of the Holy Tribe’ from her pocket space and handed it to me.
I had just skimmed through it, so although I remembered the contents, I couldn’t remember the page numbers of the arrangements of the letters accurately, and I couldn’t solve the code.
"This book was held by the archbishop. The archbishop was in secret communication with the Demon King worshipper,” I said.
Hillis realized what I was trying to say and her expression stiffened. "Are you saying that the book isn’t just a history of the Holy tribe?” she asked.
I nodded. As soon as I met Hillis, I had taken out ‘The North Continent’s Cry’ from my pocket space and spread it open in advance in order to decipher ‘The Prophecy of the Holy Tribe’. I said, "This book is a kind of code book. That time, you brought the documents with the holy book code, too.”
"Right. Having deciphered it, a person called Libra... Ah! No way! That Libra!” Only then did Hillis recall the results of the interpretation and connect it with the Demon King worshipper.
"Yes. It’s exactly that Half-half Mask,” I affirmed.
Hillis clenched her fist so hard it made a cracking sound as she said, "But that book doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the holy book no matter how I look at it."
"That’s because the code isn’t related to the holy book. It has to be solved with this book,” I explained as I searched through a copy of ‘The North Continent’s Cry’, using it to reassemble and interpret the contents of The Prophecy of the Holy Tribe. When I saw the message, I muttered, "I see, so that’s why..."
"What is it? Why did they kidnap Unni?" Hillis urged me to explain.
I replied slowly as I organized the interpretations, "The Demon King worshipper definitely called your sister a ’shaman’."
Hillis nodded and responded, "That’s right. He did say ‘shaman’... Huk! Is she a sacrifice needed to bring back the Demon King?!”
"No, that’s not it. According to the ceremony for summoning the Demon King written here, that refers to a summoner rather than a sacrifice,” I explained. Hillis was noticeably relieved. I continued, "The summoner who performs the ceremony must have a special type of mana, and I think that mana is the mana of the Holy tribe. In other words, your older sister is a descendant of the Holy tribe."
Hillis looked at me in surprise and began, "That means..."
"It also means that you, her sister, are a descendant of the Holy tribe. I think the saintess is a person who has a latent expression of the Holy tribe’s genes. The ‘Miracle’ spell you talked about is part of that too,” I explained.
That meant Hillis was a distant descendant of Arietta, but by now, the Holy tribe’s blood had become so thin that it would be embarrassing to say that it was of the Holy tribe. Perhaps there were also still distant descendants of the Giant tribe, which had gone extinct around the same time as the Holy tribe, though.
"But Unni was normal...?” Hillis asked, confused.
"The Demon King worshipper must have not only brainwashed your sister, but likely forced those genes to be expressed,” I explained.
"Then, what if something goes wrong with Unni’s health?" Hillis asked anxiously.
I smiled and reassured her that she didn’t have to worry. "The body may be burdened by expressing genes that way, but considering that she can produce strong martial aura, it doesn’t seem to be a big problem."
"Really...?" Hillis asked.
"You can use your Holy tribe power because your latent Holy tribe gene was expressed, but there’s nothing wrong with you, right?” I asked.
"I see. That’s a relief,” Hillis said.
I shrugged. "It’s not a big problem. It just means there’s now one more saintess besides you."
"...What?" Hillis was flustered as she hadn’t thought of that.
I grinned. "I told you. A saintess is a person who can use the power of the Holy tribe because their latent Holy tribe genes have been expressed. That’s great, because you didn’t like that you were the only one who was special anyway."
"That’s true, but...” Hillis trailed off, bearing a complicated expression.
Considering how she usually was, she probably thought it was a pity that her sister would also have to bear her duty, rather than being happy that she would no longer be special.
Organizing her complicated thoughts, Hillis looked at me and said, "Den, I understand why and how you killed Paladin Mario, who was to be my brother-in-law. That isn’t a matter for me to intervene in."
Her eyes showed sorrow and compassion for her sister. "Vibrio unni must be just another enemy to you, and I know you’re merciless toward those who are hostile to you. But!" She sincerely asked with a trembling voice, "Even if my sister did something wrong, she’s my one and only precious sister. I know it’s a shameless request, but could you save her? I’m..."
I got up from my seat and grabbed Hillis’s trembling shoulder. "It’s okay. I don’t know if it’s right to say this, but I’ll save your sister." It felt strange to be in a position of having to save someone who hated me and regarded me as an enemy, but I still continued, "Of course I have to save my friend’s family, regardless of whether I can resolve my old grudges with them.”
In response, Hillis lowered her head and thanked me quietly. I patted her shoulder to comfort her.
"Arwen,” I began, smiling. When she saw my smile, Arwen seemed hesitant. I continued, "Well, if you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to say it. I can roughly guess."
I didn’t particularly want to force her to talk. If necessary, it would be enough to hear what I needed from my aunt. Considering that Arwen hadn’t told me a word about her past so far, it likely wasn’t a good memory.
In response, Arwen magically wrote letters in the air and began to explain.
-No, I’ll tell you. I think it will help save Hillis unni’s family.
* * *
10 years ago...
The girl had no memories of her childhood. Her oldest memory was a scene of holding hands with some elderly person, then going up to an altar and receiving bows in front of countless people.
Because of that, the girl didn’t even know why she couldn’t talk, not even whether it was an innate or acquired trait. She just learned strange magic and developed strange mana, just as the old man who had held her hand told her to.
The girl’s daily routine was to read a strange scripture in a narrow room without even bars in it, and when the time came, to stand on a strange altar and hear insane prayers.
She had no name and was just called the ‘shaman’. She lived from day to day like a doll without knowing what was wrong.
But one day, a tiny opportunity turned her ordinary days of sitting on the altar and listening to crazy prayers into something stranger.
One of those who had been praying madly to himself killed his young son. The believer smiled happily with wild eyes and shouted that he had received a blessing.
It was definitely the same as always, but why did an unknown disgust arise in the girl, and her head hurt as if it were breaking? Was it because the son who died had been the same age she was?
The girl said she wanted to go back to the old man with a pale complexion. But then the old man, who had always smiled benevolently, put on a serious and terrifying face and got angry at her.
From then on, the girl realized that everything around her was wrong. Her ordinary daily life became full of fear.
The girl prayed, wanting to get out of there. But was the target of the prayer the god these people believed in? Her daily life didn’t change, but she was helpless to do anything about it. After all, the only one she knew to pray to in order to make a wish was their god.
One day, the girl decided to give up because she was tired of her unchanging daily life. But just then, she faced a massive change. In a loud explosion, everything surrounding her was destroyed, and an older man and a boy reached out to her.
"How dare you! How dare you!" The old man, who had always been beside the girl and watched her, shouted at the older man who had a benevolent expression.
The older man turned his palm upside down with an expression of annoyance, and everything collapsed. The altar, the pillar, and the girl’s room that had no bars fell away.
The girl saw the ceiling that had trapped her collapse, and she shed tears when she first glimpsed the sky.
Why did her tears flow? The girl didn’t know, but she continued to cry as she looked at the open sky.
"Nice to meet you. I’m called Zendia Blade. This guy here is Kai...” the older man began.
"Flam! Didn’t I say my name was Flam?!" the boy shouted.
The older man laughed pleasantly at the boy’s blunt young voice. "Ahahaha! Brat, are you going through puberty? Anyway, child, what’s your name?”
The girl shook her head at the older man’s question. She had no name.
"I see. Do you mind if I give you a name?" the man asked. The girl hesitated at the older man’s words and nodded slowly. The man continued, "Hmm, all right. Let’s say your name is Arwen. Your last name will be Blade, like mine. From now on, you are Arwen Blade."
That one day...
It was the day the girl got her name, and the day she learned the sky was blue.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢