ALL NOVEL Chapter 7
While having a meal alone with Lucius, I asked him for information about the village chief.
“So, that grandfather who took you in had a terrible relationship with the chief, right?”
“Yes. It seems he didn’t get along well with the chief’s wife at all. Eventually, she became the chief’s wife, though.”
“Hmm.”
I scanned Lucius’s house.
There were traces left behind that showed another man lived here, different from Lucius.
His touch was homely and warm, filled with considerations to ensure Lucius could lead a quiet life even on his own.
‘He must have been a good person.’
A person’s traces are bound to be left in the place they live.
The guardian who raised Lucius must have had a significant impact on his growth journey.
‘So, it’s taken away by someone like the village chief.’
Compared to that, the village chief was genuinely disgusting.
With the look of a man who had touched many women in his youth, he entertained strange fantasies about me.
‘The picture is quite vivid.’
Did the chief’s woman choose him, or was she chosen by him?
If Lucius were in such a situation, his lover would have been subjected to terrible things in a place unknown to him.
I would have shed tears, saying I could no longer be someone who could be with you.
Originally, it’s just how the world works that good people end up suffering.
‘But that’s not my concern.’
The chief’s sordid affairs are not important to me.
What truly matters is the Holy Sword.
“The Holy Sword, huh? It does seem impressive.”
“What do you think after seeing it? Is it the Holy Sword?”
“…It’s still too early to make a judgment. I think I’ll need to stay a few more days to confirm.”
I already knew.
That it is indeed the Holy Sword.
To call it a fake wouldn’t fit, as its unique form pierced through my memory perfectly.
Had it been merely a fake or just an ordinary Holy Sword, my heart wouldn’t have suddenly felt a phantom pain.
‘It’s definitely not fake. I know it.’
The Holy Sword in this place is real.
The reason everyone claims it to be false is that its true appearance hasn’t been revealed.
Since it’s sealed and embedded in the ground.
‘I need to take action somehow.’
Either destroy the Holy Sword.
Or make the one wielding the Holy Sword my ally.
Unfortunately, I can’t wield it due to being Undead.
Even if I don’t get purified by the Holy Sword’s influence, it remains a sword meant for a living person to wield, meaning that the one who is not Undead must be the master.
“Lucius, have you heard of the Holy Sword?”
“Uh? Oh, no. All the young men in the village hear about it once on their coming-of-age day.”
“You still haven’t heard of it?”
That’s unexpected.
“Aren’t you of age? Still haven’t heard of the Holy Sword?”
“No. Tomorrow is my coming-of-age day, so I’ll get a chance to hear about it then….”
Lucius smiled sadly and took a sip of his tea.
“Does it really change anything? Haha, a guy like me could never be a Hero.”
“But you said you could do anything for me, yet you can’t hold the Holy Sword?”
“…That’s not something I can just want, right?”
Lucius shook his head self-deprecatingly.
“Hey, Lucius.”
I patted my chest toward him.
“If you want to become a Hero, should I help you?”
“Is that possible?”
“If you truly wish for it.”
I reached out my hand to him in a low voice.
“Do you know what qualities are needed to be a Hero? Powerful swordsmanship? I can teach you that. Great strength? The Holy Sword will support your strength, and you can grow stronger going forward. Being a Hero, you see.”
Thud.
I lightly pressed my fist against Lucius’s solar plexus.
“This is it, this.”
“…….”
“What do you think? Are you interested?”
“Am I really allowed such an honor?”
“Of course.”
Who else would wield the Holy Sword and become a Hero if not a special fool like you?
I swallowed my last words and patted Lucius on the shoulder.
“You can do it. Maybe this is destiny. You, who were the first I met in the village of the Holy Sword, might be the Hero awakened by the Witch to seal the Demon King.”
“What if someone else had met you first….”
“Still, I would have chosen you.”
Because you’re a fool.
“I have lived a long time. I can certainly judge people well. I’ve met so many Heroes by now.”
Only the Heroes I’ve personally buried could circle three times in the training ground.
“But remember this. A Hero is not someone predetermined. I’m someone who provides opportunities among many with the qualities of a Hero, and the choice is yours.”
You are the chosen Hero.
Endure through evil and become my slave.
“Do you want to be a Hero?”
“I… I still don’t know anything.”
Lucius knelt before me as if he were a knight.
“So will you teach me the way?”
“The way?”
“How to gain strength, how to wield the Holy Sword, and… what I should do as a Hero. Please show me the way.”
“If it’s that, I can do it as much as needed. But first, we have to do this.”
I got up from my seat and picked up a wooden stick from inside the house, then placed it on top of Lucius’s head.
“Will you become my disciple?”
“…Yes!”
“Will you receive my teachings, follow my instructions, and risk your life for me?”
“……Yes!”
He’s truly a fool.
To follow such a one-sided slave contract.
‘No need for a Geass.’
For a guy like this, his conscience is the Geass.
There’s no need to cast a compulsory command spell, nor should it be done.
Because…
This guy qualifies as one of the top three fools I’ve ever seen!
“Okay. Then from now on, you are my disciple.”
“Then can I keep calling you Witch?”
“Um….”
Witch.
It sounds a bit odd, but it doesn’t have a bad ring to it.
“Only call me that when we’re alone. If my identity is revealed, others may question me.”
“Ah!”
“What’s with the ‘ah’?”
“Then….”
Lucius shyly opened his mouth carefully.
“Can I call you Master?”
“Master? That sounds appropriate.”
“Ah… Haha….”
It seems Lucius has never had anyone to follow as a mentor.
Well, if there were a church in this rural town, a priest might have volunteered to teach them something, but it seems this isn’t that kind of place.
So it’s more comfortable.
I can influence Lucius however I want.
“But, Witch, what if I can’t wield the Holy Sword…?”
“What?”
“Then can’t I become a Hero?”
“Puhahaha!!”
I burst out laughing.
I couldn’t hold back my laughter at all, and I lightly tapped Lucius’s head with the stick.
“What are you worried about? The one who wields the Holy Sword is a Hero, but not every Hero wields the Holy Sword.”
“Huh?”
“As I said, a Hero’s qualities are this.”
I lightly placed my hand on Lucius’s chest.
“From the moment you decided to become a Hero, you are one. Don’t worry. I have all the methods to strengthen your lacking power.”
“Ah….”
“You just need to follow me. Got it?”
“…Yes!!”
Lucius beamed at me like a gentle lamb.
*
“The Witch’s blood is captured!!!”
“Ugh, this is maddening.”
The Chief’s Wife had completely lost her mind.
Was it due to jealousy over the young woman who had entered, or was she driven mad by comparing her once beautiful self in her youth to her miserable state now? Or perhaps it was because a revelation came to truly sacrifice the captured Witch; only the chief could tell.
“Father, what should we do?”
“For now, let’s just wait while keeping her tied up.”
The chief and his son began an emergency meeting, tying up the chief’s wife.
With the coming-of-age ceremony tomorrow, it was possible they both might have to take on the proceedings themselves since the chief’s wife was in such a bizarre state now.
It could be conducted.
They were just worried about whether she would still act like this even after the ceremony was over.
“How about we try what Mother said?”
“What? You mean to sacrifice the captured Witch? That little girl?”
“Is it still unclear whether she’s a child or not? The appropriateness of being a sacrifice….”
He smirked.
The chief’s son rubbed his fingertips together with a cunning smile.
“You can only know if you see it with your own eyes.”
“……Ugh.”
“What’s wrong? It’s not like this is a new matter.”
“……Ugh.”
The chief cautiously stood up.
“And, call me too.”
*
Night fell.
While I was sleeping in Lucius’s bed.
Hiss.
Footsteps could be heard near the house.
Several of them.