Chapter 104

Chapter 104

Induction Ceremony (1)

I was walking indifferently, not avoiding puddles as I was struck by the raindrops falling hard.

The sky was thick with rumbling dark clouds.

When I crossed the fence and stepped outside, I was able to meet one woman who, like me, had pulled a robe over herself and was mounted on a horse.

She was taking shelter from the rain under a large old tree.

Soon, after discovering me, she spoke to me.

“Yo, you are early?”

Eclin’s lively voice pierced through the sound of rain and reached me.

Today was the day I would be introduced to the branch of the Silver Wings Knights near the academy.

I had already discussed the meeting place and time with Eclin. When she asked how I would come out at the correct time, I had simply answered that I could ask someone nearby.

It was a rare weekend, yet I had many things to do here and there.

“A... a... achoo—!!”

Before I could answer anything, Eclin sneezed and then sniffled.

“Vice-Captain Eclin, how long have you been waiting? I thought I came out early too.”

I lowered the robe from my head and asked.

Eclin had been under the tree, apparently trying to avoid the rain in her own way, but it seemed she had been unable to avoid it completely, as her robe was soaked through.

“The Saintess told me to leave even earlier. She said you were the sort to come out early and wait in advance. Sniff, a cold is fine. I can ask the Saintess to heal me, hehe.”

Eclin wiped her nose and laughed wickedly.

“She still likes Bernice just the same.”

Her personality was innocent, just as I had seen many times in the game.

[ This is something I have thought before... but for the vice-captain of the Saintess’s knight order, she looks rather young. ]

Sierra’s voice rang in my head as she examined Eclin’s face.

That was right. This girl with the youthful face was the vice-captain of the knight order.

The silver armor faintly visible through the robe Eclin wore proved what kind of existence she was.

At an age one could call close to Bernice and me, Eclin had reached the position of vice-captain through effort and grit alone, without any special talent.

Perhaps because of that background, she was fairly well regarded inside the knight order too. In particular, I knew she was even considered a role model by new knights.

Her swordsmanship had no special traits to speak of, but her fundamentals were extremely solid, accurate, and concise.

That was about the extent of the information I knew about Eclin.

“By the way, is the Saintess at the branch we are going to?”

I stepped through the mud with a splashing sound and approached Eclin.

“Right? The induction ceremony remains, after all.”

“Induction ceremony?”

“Did you think it would end with them handing you a single badge and saying, Welcome to the knight order? Well, since the circumstances are what they are, it will not be an official induction ceremony, so it will be held quietly.”

I nodded at Eclin’s explanation that followed my question.

“An induction ceremony itself is not especially strange.”

Just then, Shady caught my eye, rolling his body around inside a puddle. Shady did not float around like Sierra, but he was capable of stepping on the ground.

But perhaps because he was ultimately a spiritual body, neither puddles nor falling raindrops had any effect on Shady’s fluffy body.

Perhaps because there was no moonlight and the surroundings were dark, I could tell that his energy had grown stronger. It seemed his power strengthened the more darkness there was around him.

In any case... if it was Bernice, she would be able to faintly sense that furball’s energy at least.

Priscilla, whom I had met this time, had also sensed the energy, though there had been direct contact.

She had whispered quietly enough that Yuri, who had come to the infirmary with me, could not hear.

“You have brought many strange things in the short time I have not seen you, haven’t you?”

It had been quite a long time since I had met her.

Because of the past Priscilla wanted to hide, she avoided the Holy Kingdom, and especially the Saintess, so I had not run into her during open class either.

Priscilla did not pry any further.

It seemed her protection of “secrets” was still valid.

“Still, it would be better to keep some distance from Priscilla...”

Because I could not precisely predict Bernice’s reaction, I had prepared various countermeasures.

What mattered was that even if darkness spirits were deeply connected to demons, a demon’s demonic energy and the energy of a darkness spirit were clearly different powers.

At the very least, it meant I would not be mistaken for a demon.

In any case, it was certain I had built favorability with Bernice, and if I handled things flexibly by making good use of her “authority,” I did not think there would be no holes to escape through.

—Neigh.

The horse Eclin was riding bobbed its head and cried.

Then Eclin patted the spot behind her.

“Shall we go for now? I naturally assumed you could not ride a horse, so I did not bring a spare... Surely you cannot ride a horse too, can you?”

Eclin asked with a doubtful look and held out her hand to me.

“I cannot ride a horse....Not yet.”

I took Eclin’s outstretched hand and climbed onto the horse.

Horse riding was ultimately a skill too, and since I had not particularly learned it, this was true.

There was no separate place to keep a horse either, and considering my “traits,” I thought it was better in many ways to use carriages.

Well, still, the process of learning the skill did not seem especially difficult, so I thought learning it at least might be fine.

“...That sounds like you could ride one as long as you learned?”

“Haha, who knows.”

My sly laughter followed, and Eclin pulled at my arms behind her back.

“...You need to hold my waist tightly.”

Following Eclin’s careful voice, I wrapped my arms around her waist. Even though she wore armor, her waist was slender, and there was a lot of space left.

But I was not the only one who had to climb onto the horse.

Sierra naturally approached from behind me and hugged me.

“Krrng.”

Shady, who had been in the puddle, hurriedly ran over and clung to my foot.

“He looks like he will fall off like that...”

Around the time I wondered whether Shady, like Sierra, would move around me as if teleporting if he grew farther than a certain distance...

Sierra grabbed Shady’s head and placed him on top of mine.

[ This is your place. ]

Following Sierra’s gentle voice...

“Krrng!”

Shady cried as if satisfied.

On top of my head.

It somehow seemed like he would fly off more easily there, but surely it would work out somehow.

Soon, Eclin began driving the horse.

As we moved through the raindrops, I asked her.

“Are we heading straight to the branch?”

“No, there is one thing we need to do before that.”

“What is it?”

“An induction test. I told the captain it did not seem especially necessary, but she said we could not break tradition.”

“An induction test... Demon subjugation, then.”

“Yes, there is one whose location we have already figured out. Originally, four or five new recruits would gather to subjugate one demon, then bring back its horn and hold the induction ceremony... but you can manage alone, yes?”

“Yes, more than enough.”

The demon I would need to catch for the induction test would not be a strong demon, and I had Rebellion Against Heaven, so there would be no problem.

Like that, with rough hoofbeats and the sound of rain in our ears, we moved quickly.

***

To hold Zeto’s induction test, we came to the demon’s hideout that we had discovered in advance.

“There was nothing wrong with the barrier, yes?”

I asked the knight who had been watching the hideout, and soon she lowered her head and answered.

“Yes, the ‘target’ is currently inside the hideout and has shown no particular movement so far. There were no other visitors. All nearby residents have finished evacuating.”

“...That is what she says?”

Listening to the knight’s explanation, I looked at Zeto beside me and spoke.

“You are more thorough than I expected.”

Zeto, having gotten off the horse, said softly.

“We usually do not put in this much effort just to catch one demon... but this is for a test, so it cannot be helped. Normally, setting up a barrier before battle is enough.”

“A barrier? I do not know how to handle barriers.”

“Pfft, the same goes for me.”

Because Zeto’s deflated voice felt somehow cute, laughter slipped out.

“Here, take this.”

Soon, I threw a pouch containing small crystal fragments toward Zeto.

“Zeto should catch it well enough.”

That was the thought I had when I threw the pouch.

—Thup.

But unlike my expectations, the pouch I threw struck his body and fell limply to the ground.

“...Vice-Captain?”

The nearby knight glanced at me with a doubtful look.

It was a look that said, What are you doing to someone who is obviously blind?

“Ah... that... I thought he would be able to catch it... Sorry.”

Feeling awkward, I scratched my cheek.

Soon, Zeto picked up the pouch that had fallen on the ground.

“Haha, it is fine... My mind was elsewhere for a moment. So what is inside this pouch?”

Zeto laughed it off lightly as if it was fine and put a hand into the pouch he had picked up.

“Should I call them mana stones that allow you to create a simple barrier? The principle is similar to a scroll. You infuse mana into the mana stone fragment, then drop it on the ground, and that is the end. What do you think, simple, right?”

“Hmm... What is the effect of the barrier?”

Zeto, having taken a mana stone from the pouch, asked while fiddling with it.

“Nothing special. Soundproofing magic, and... a little bit of physical force that makes it difficult for demons to escape the barrier?”

“It must react to demonic energy.”

“You understand quickly. Still, if the demon is a strong one, it will not have much effect, so be careful.”

“Understood.”

After that brief explanation ended, Zeto and I immediately approached the building, the hideout where the demon was lurking, in silence.

Since the residents had already evacuated, it would be better to clean it up quickly.

As we approached the building like that, Zeto was silent for some time.

Was he nervous?

“Do not be too nervous. The demon should be on the weak side. It is a trait of weak ones that they cannot hide their demonic energy and drip it everywhere. Thanks to that, they are easy to handle too.”

Zeto, listening closely to my voice, nodded.

With the swordsmanship I had seen during open class, I thought he would finish it quickly without much trouble.

When we finally reached the building, Zeto, who had maintained his silence, opened his mouth.

“Vice-Captain, you certainly said there was one demon, yes?”

Zeto asked a somewhat meaningful question.

“The one we chased is one, for now. Why? Is there something bothering you?”

“It is...”

He trailed off, then placed his palm against the hideout’s entrance door.

Soon, he removed his hand, and his mouth opened again.

“What I have been sensing through Perception from earlier—I thought perhaps I was mistaken because of the rain. But now I know for certain. There is not one demon in the building, but six.”

“Six?”

At Zeto’s following explanation, I immediately voiced doubt.

“Perception...”

I had heard it was Zeto’s special ability.

I did not know what sort of sense it was, but at the very least, it was a sense that allowed him to live and even fight smoothly despite being unable to see.

However, there had been a report from the knight that there had been no other visitors.

Judging by the demonic energy felt around the building, scattered without being properly hidden, it was certainly a demon’s hideout.

But even for me, unless I stepped inside the building, it would be difficult to accurately figure out the number of people.

I quietly took Zeto into my eyes.

His face, struck by rain beneath the robe pulled over him, stood out because of the snow-white bandages covering his eyes and the ink-black hair that was hard to encounter nearby.

A blind man who handled a sword.

That alone could be called special, but he was also the first “man” the Saintess had ever taken interest in.

The talent the Saintess had personally chosen, and a man who might someday stand beside the Saintess and spend his life with her.

If Zeto’s words were correct...

“...Is it a ‘nest’?”

Not all demons who hid themselves in human lands were strong. There were countless weak demons who set foot in human lands in order to accumulate power.

Among them, there were cases where those who recognized that they were weak gathered together and lived in groups.

In such cases, their hideout was called a nest.

“A nest for an induction test is a bit much, perhaps...?”

I scratched my head as I said that.

No matter how weak they were, once their number increased, the subjugation difficulty naturally rose.

Just as I was about to say I would help too...

—Shing.

Zeto suddenly drew the sword at his waist.

“No. I think it is a sufficient number for a ‘test.’”

He said this with a faint smile, then slowly swept his fingers along the blade. As I had seen before, he held the sword in a reverse grip.

I had already known this was the casting motion for his bizarre swordsmanship.

The one thing that puzzled me was that he had not yet entered the building.

Zeto stood blankly in front of the door while being struck by rain, and finished sweeping down the blade.

Immediately afterward, the flow of his mana twisted.

It was an extremely nonsensical thing, but since I had already experienced it, something like this no longer surprised me.

I decided to quietly watch Zeto.

Inside, I was filled with expectation as to what he would show me.

Despite the rain pouring down like this, he maintained astonishing focus.

Then Zeto swung his sword fiercely.

“Could it be that invisible sword aura that cut the wyvern’s wing...?”

As I watched him, I shouted quietly in an urgent voice.

“Zeto, still, there is no need to destroy the building...?”

“...”

Lightly ignoring my shout, Zeto continued his motion smoothly without any wavering, cutting five times. Exactly five times.

The only problem was that it was the empty air.

Now sword aura should fly out and the door should be broken or something...

...but even after several seconds passed, no damage whatsoever was inflicted on the building.

“What is this... Did he really just cut the air...?”

I was watching him with doubt, wondering whether he had not been trying to use the “not-quite sword aura” I had seen last time.

Soon, my gaze went to the sword Zeto held.

“Demon blood...”

For some reason, Zeto’s red blade was stained with the black blood unique to demons, and the pouring raindrops were washing it away.

“Haha...”

Barely understanding the situation, a hollow laugh burst from my mouth.

It was ridiculous, absurd.

The fact that demon blood had appeared meant that Zeto, who was outside the building, had cut the demons inside the building.

And without even leaving a tiny scratch on the building’s outer wall, no less.

“At this point, this is not swordsmanship... Is it not magic...?”

While I was feeling awe toward Zeto’s swordsmanship, he was still standing leisurely before the door.

He seemed to be waiting for something.

What on earth was he waiting for?

Not long afterward, extremely urgent running footsteps came from inside the building.

Zeto listened quietly to that sound, and as he swung his sword toward the door, the door opened.

—Bang!

Together with the sound of the door being kicked open, a moment like an instant followed.

First, the face of the demon who had opened the door appeared.

On its forehead grew a bright red horn, and its face was full of fear.

Then, before the creature could properly take Zeto into its sight, its neck, which had been pushed forward...

—Slice.

...was cleanly cut off by Zeto’s sword.

Soon, the demon’s severed head rolled across the ground, and the headless body toppled forward. Zeto quietly shifted his foot to avoid it.

—Thud.

Only after its body and neck had been separated was the demon able to fully leave the building.

—Shaaaaa.

Time, which had seemed to flow slowly, soon returned to normal along with the sound of pouring rain.

It was perfect movement without a single unnecessary motion.

As I lost the words to say, Zeto’s head turned toward me, and along with the sound of him sheathing his sword, his mouth opened.

“I cleaned them all up.”

“Y-yes...?”

I asked back in a reluctant voice and entered the building through the door the demon had opened.

Inside the building, together with the musty scent of rain, a piercing stench could be felt.

It was the smell of demon blood, far too familiar to me.

I slowly looked around.

All throughout the house, the corpses of demons whose heads had been cut off without even being able to cry out were visible.

There were five corpses in total.

On each corpse’s forehead grew a red horn. They said demons could hide their horns, but upon death, their horns were ultimately revealed.

Including the one that had died before the door, there were exactly six, just as Zeto had said.

“What in the...”

I murmured that, then swallowed the rest of the words.

Monster-like senses capable of accurately grasping the number of people before even entering the building.

Slashes carried out from a distance, capable of piercing through obstacles and reaching their target.

Moreover, if I thought back to when he caught the wyvern, this was not even the whole of his ability.

Soon, Zeto, who had entered the building behind me, asked me. In his hand was the demon’s head.

“Vice-Captain, do you happen to have a dagger?”

“Ah...”

He needed a dagger to cut off the horn.

I wordlessly handed him the dagger at my waist.

Watching Zeto casually carve out the demon’s horn, I thought.

“No matter how I look at him, he seems perfectly fit to be the Saintess’s husband...”