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Chapter 9
Francis.
She had lived an ordinary life until she became an adult — that is, until one day, a holy stigma appeared on her body and changed everything.
She had no parents and lived as an orphan, moving from place to place until she finally settled in Brillant.
A holy stigma is a rare trait, even among clergy.
Anyone who possesses it gains immense divine power, and the church forcibly recruits them upon discovery.
It doesn't matter if the person is from another country.
Even citizens of the powerful Baran Empire must become clergy if a stigma is found on them.
This is because the influence of the Holy Kingdom extends across the entire continent.
No matter how powerful the Baran Empire or the Rosaria Kingdom are, they can't afford to oppose the church.
That’s why Francis chose to settle in Brillant.
It was the least conspicuous place.
The day the demons first appeared in Brillant, I met Francis.
She saved my life.
Though, I had to endure her grumpy, suspicious, and generally exhausting personality.
She hasn't changed a bit.
I thought we’d talked a lot back then, but maybe not enough...
Even after learning I was Arzen, she didn’t show any hostility at the time.
But now?
Her reaction is completely different.
It looks like she might punch me in the face with divine power any second now.
“W-wait! I don’t know what misunderstanding there is, but—”
“Misunderstanding? Perpetrators always say that!”
She wouldn’t even listen.
Ugh, what do I do?
“I-I was abandoned!”
The words just flew out of my mouth — but they stopped the twitching muscles on her face.
I remembered her once mentioning she was an orphan, so I took a gamble.
Thankfully, she seemed curious enough to listen this time.
“The truth is…”
I told her everything — how I was abandoned by my family, and all the disgusting things they did to me.
Slowly, the hostility in her gaze began to fade.
“I’m Arzen by name, but not in spirit. I can’t even call my father ‘Father’... it’s that kind of situation.”
“Is that so…?”
I thought I’d explained things perfectly.
But she still didn’t completely trust me.
Which made sense — she was in hiding, and I had just barged in.
To her, I was nothing but a nuisance.
“Anyway, I’m sorry for showing up out of the blue. I was just looking for somewhere with people and ended up here…”
My sincere apology seemed to soften her mood.
“So how’d you end up in that state?”
“Oh, that…”
I vaguely lied, saying that I was a kingdom soldier ambushed by bandits.
Raymond is technically a junior knight, after all.
“Hmm… Are there bandits around here?”
“There are. We got attacked, didn’t we?”
Her cold eyes scanned me.
“What?”
“Why are you speaking informally?”
“We look around the same age, don’t we? What’s the big deal?”
I’m older than her.
But since she seemed to have calmed down, I started speaking casually too.
“Hah.”
She let out a short laugh and nodded.
“Fine, do what you want. But you know, I helped you. How are you planning to repay me?”
“Ah…”
There it is.
But the truth is, I had nothing to offer.
“You got blood all over my yard and my bed. What’re you going to do about it?”
“I’m really sorry. And I promise I’ll repay you for healing me.”
I meant that.
No matter what the situation, it was a fact that we’d caused trouble for someone in hiding.
From her perspective, it would’ve been easier to just let us die.
And yet, she used her divine power to save us.
I had to find some way to repay her.
“But, um, I don’t really have much money right now…”
“Forget the money. You guys… can you use swords?”
“Huh?”
“If you’re so grateful, then help me out. If you have a conscience, you’ll say yes, right? I’ll make sure you fully recover in return.”
Honestly, I stood to gain more from maintaining a connection with Francis.
If she said she’d heal me completely, then this kind of favor was nothing.
Healing from a priest at a church costs a fortune.
Of course, Francis can’t openly use her divine power, so she probably doesn’t factor that in.
Heh heh…
“Of course! Just tell me what to do.”
“Good. But…”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at me.
“Why do I feel so annoyed? I really don’t like that expression on your face…”
I shrugged like I didn’t know what she was talking about.
Dealing with sharp people is always a hassle.
“Anyway, you can use a sword, right? You can handle goblins?”
Given I’d shown up half-dead from a stab wound, I understood her skepticism.
Goblins, huh…
Easier than Pearson, but fighting monsters is different from fighting humans.
Well… I should be fine with goblins, right?
I should take this opportunity to show Francis I’m a reliable ally.
* * *
Once Raymond came to, we ate the food Francis had prepared and returned to Decaine.
I changed into the clothes Francis lent me since mine were soaked in blood.
We agreed I’d return them next time I came for treatment.
Since I wasn’t fully healed, we decided to visit her place every three days, and we agreed not to mention her use of divine power.
I sent Raymond home first while I stayed behind to clean up the aftermath.
“Good, no one’s come yet.”
Not that anyone would.
Pearson and Garett’s corpses were still where they had fallen.
After cleaning the blood and burying the bodies, I felt a strange sense of peace.
“Strange that their ghosts haven’t shown up.”
I snapped a thick branch and stuck it in the ground as a makeshift grave marker.
Maybe it was too sloppy?
Or maybe the grave was too new for ghosts to appear yet?
“Hey, hey, wake up.”
I tapped the mounds with my foot, but there was no response.
“Hmm…”
I watched the graves for about five minutes, then returned to Decaine.
—You’re still alive, huh.
“You say that like you were hoping I’d be dead?”
—Perish the thought.
I let out a small laugh at the teasing tone, then leaned my sword against a wall and resumed my delayed training.
Physical training must be consistent.
The foundation of swordsmanship is stamina.
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“Huff… huff…”
I sprinted 10 kilometers without rest like a madman.
Sweat trickled down my face.
As I raised my head, a system message appeared.
[Stamina has increased by 0.1.]
Nice.
As I keep up with this grueling training, every now and then a message flashes before my eyes, telling me my stats have increased.
Seeing visible progress like that really helps keep me motivated.
— Grab your sword already.
At some point, my ancestor, who was floating next to me as usual, spoke up.
My side ached and I was exhausted, but he didn’t even give me time to rest.
There was an odd look of dissatisfaction on his face.
"Is something wrong?"
— Tsk, I just can't stand seeing you get your side sliced open by trash like that.
"Pearson used sword energy, though?"
— Just don’t get hit.
"Easier said than done. When our swords clash, mine just gets wrecked."
After taking Pearson’s sword energy head-on, my sword was ruined.
I ended up selling Pearson’s machete and used the money to buy a new one.
Fortunately, Raymond knew a good place and helped me get a decent replacement.
— Why not just dodge and slash?
"..."
I had no comeback.
Hadn’t he already shown me that himself?
With a shovel, no less.
"Understood."
I picked up the sword without another word.
— When you fight enemies, your side gets cut, your shoulder gets cut, your legs get cut. That’s just how it is.
"I know."
— So don’t ever put down your sword, even when you’re injured.
"What if the wounds get worse?"
— Then you train your body so they don’t.
"And until then?"
— If you keep training through the pain, your body will toughen up eventually.
No reasoning with this guy.
Was his body made of steel or something?
— Today, you’re not getting a break until you do ten perfect vertical slashes.
"Excuse me?"
He must’ve been really pissed about that stabbing yesterday.
The training got even tougher, even though I was injured.
"...Haa."
And so, without even a proper rest, I endured a week of insane training.
During that time, Raymond also recovered enough to return to Decaine.
With some extra treatment from Francis, he was able to hold a sword again and resumed training.
"Senior, are you doing alright?"
Raymond asked as he rubbed his shoulder.
"I’m still in pain, but I’m okay."
"Francis said I need another two weeks before I’m fully healed."
"So it’s about a month total?"
"Yes."
"That’s not too bad."
"Not too bad? I won’t be able to train properly until then!"
Raymond stomped his feet in frustration, clearly eager to get back to training.
"You still have that request Francis asked us to handle in ten days. You need to be in good shape for that, so take it easy for now."
"...Okay."
Raymond slumped his shoulders, looking defeated.
"But wait, isn’t it fine if you go instead, Senior? Do I really have to go on that request...?"
"Of course you do. Someone helped you, and you’re just gonna pretend like you didn’t owe them anything? Are you that kind of person?"
"Wh-What? No, I’m not!"
"Then of course you’re going."
"...Huff..."
I couldn’t help but smile as I looked at him.
"You heard it back then too, right?"
"Heard what?"
"The black mage. The grave robbers mentioned it."
"Oh! Right! But aren’t black mages just made-up stories?"
"Tsk, that’s why you’re hopeless. Smoke doesn’t come out of a chimney for no reason, you know?"
"So you’re saying they’re real?"
"Well, I don’t know. But we still need to be prepared."
Raymond nodded at that.
"How do we prepare?"
"I was thinking about it after we buried those grave robbers last time."
"Yes?"
"We’re the only ones taking care of this place, right?"
"That's right."
"And barely anyone ever comes here."
"True."
Raymond kept nodding, clearly expecting some kind of answer.
"So I was thinking we could secretly move the remains here to another location. What do you think?"
"What?!"
Raymond gasped in shock and stared at me.
"If we get caught, that’s a death sentence! Death!"
"Not if we don’t get caught."
"Even so..."
"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve been at Decaine for almost 20 years—"
"Twenty years?"
"…Feels like it, anyway. Long enough. I’ll take full responsibility, so don’t worry."
Raymond looked at me with deep distrust.
Seriously, this guy used to look at me with such admiration—what happened?
"But if someone shows up, can’t you just wipe them out, Senior?"
"Agh, do you wanna end up like last time, all bloodied and beaten?"
"Well, no, but..."
"Then shut it and do as you’re told. Since when did junior soldiers talk back to their seniors like this?"
"..."
Raymond’s tightly closed lips trembled.
Looked like he had something to say but was holding it in.
Good.
Sometimes you just have to keep your mouth shut.
You’ve grown a lot.
— You're such a boomer.
I turned my wide eyes to my ancestor.
I never thought I’d hear that from him…
Suddenly, the image of myself from a moment ago flashed through my mind.
‘No way... I’m not a boomer... right?’
I shook my head, trying to clear the thought, then glared at Raymond.
"What are you doing?"
"Huh?"
"If it’s decided, then get to work."
My cold gaze swept over Decaine and landed back on Raymond.
"Aren’t you… coming too, Senior?"
"You get things ready first. I already have a place in mind where we can move the remains. I’ll go scout it out."
"..."
"Alright, come on! Let’s do this fast and be done with it!"
Raymond let out another sigh and dragged himself off to get a shovel.
How many times have I seen that same scene now?
At this point, is he trying to look pitiful on purpose?
— Poor kid, got stuck with the wrong mentor.
I ignored my ancestor’s comment and headed off toward the new grave site I had scouted out.
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