“Nah, I’m good. We need to hurry.”
“Hehe… we’re already late for sure, right?”
The carriage continued passing through the downtown of the Divinum Castle. Then I saw a hotel and pulled the carriage over.
“Hold on.”
“What’s up?”
I called Shura and handed my baggage to her.
“Hey, Shura.”
“Yes, Master.”
“Why don’t you stay at the hotel over there?”
She looked at the hotel. Hotel Darkness. It surely seemed like accommodation for believers of the religions of Darkness. Since both the Power of Light and the Power of Darkness coexisted in the Holy Land of Divinum, the possibility of accidents occurring was high. Therefore, accommodation businesses were also doing their best to prevent conflicts between these two Powers by serving them in different districts.
“What about you, Master?”
“I should stay with Hubeo in a different place. We are on the side of the Power of Light anyways. You know how we can meet up again, right?”
Hubeo smoothed down his face and Shura was touching her pendant on her chest.
“Yes sir.”
“Well, I will see you later.”
“Yes, Master. See you later.”
Once Shura took all the baggage, the coachman started driving the carriage again. While looking at Shura receded away, Hubeo asked me allusively.
“She’s an elf from the side of the Power of Darkness?”
“Yeah.”
“Do you think it’s okay? She could be a spy.”
“It’s okay. She’s a female elf.”
I had said enough. Hubeo could understand what I meant. Female elves’ love for their lovers were greater than their beliefs and patriotism towards their nations.
“Well, you’re right.”
At last, our carriage arrived near the Great Temple of Divinum. There were many bookstores on the street. On their display stands, were arranged the books with titles such as ‘You Could Also Become the Owner of A Sacred Weapon’, ‘100 Kinds of Mental Attitudes to Become the Owner of A Sacred Weapon’, ‘This Type of Person Can Never Become the Owner of A Sacred Weapon’.
Hubeo stuck his head outside the carriage window and showed his interests in those books. So, I kicked his shinbone.
“Those books are useless. They’re all lies.”
Yet, Hubeo was feeling hesitant. Probably, he’s willing to grasp at straws.
Hubeo was a rightful and direct heir of Duke Ferrero. However, his succession wasn’t guaranteed due to conflicts within his family. Actually, there were more than dozens of rightful heirs in his family. Of course, Hubeo just turned to legal age yet he already became a 4-Term magician. He had talents in magic so his family gave him recognition for it as well. But still, there were definitely a few more talented heirs in the Ferrero family. So, he must feel very anxious.
“But…”
“Just trust me. Who am I? I’m Yan Sergio Carl. I already have plans. Hahaha.”
“Really?”
“Of course. What kind of sacred weapon do you want?”
Actually, the answer to my question was pretty obvious.
In fact, the sacred weapon that Hubeo wanted was Alohim, the Great Wand of the God of Storm, which was a 2-tier sacred weapon. Duke Reynolds, his ancestor in the Ferrero family, used to own this magic-wand-type sacred weapon. If he got this weapon, his succession was guaranteed for sure. Alohim was the sacred weapon that had great symbolic meaning for the Ferrero family, even more, important than their religion.
“Alohim, the Great Wand of the God of Storm.”
I mischievously looked at Hubeo. And I hesitated a little bit about telling him the secret trick. But he’s my best friend who took care of my snacks and backpack during our school years. I think I should fulfill a wish of his lifetime for sure.
Whispering in his ear, I told him about how to become an owner of a sacred weapon.
“Good luck man. Actually, it’s pretty easy. You can certainly do it right?”
“Is that all? Really?”
“Of course~. For 2-tier sacred weapons or below, it works just like I said.”
Hubeo still made an unbelievable face.
“But it doesn’t make sense at all if anyone can get a sacred weapon with such a simple trick, does it?”
“It works. I’ve already done enough research. And do you know what the final mission of the Road of Asceticism is this time?”
“What is it?”
“Attacking the Zes Mercenary Group. I found this information beforehand so I already took care of it. I asked people in the Aeem Village on the Dwin Mountains to keep Zes’ head for me. The only thing we gotta do is to go to the Aeem Village again and get Zes’ head back. Your life has become easy thanks to the fact that you have such a good friend. Hahaha.”
As I explained to him in detail, he started believing my story a little bit. Besides, my uncle was the Emperor and my father was the second most powerful man in the Yosrahim Empire. They could exert such a huge influence in politics and all. So, there’s a high percentage that they got some information from the Temple.
“Wow. Is that real? Hey, then you’re going to get Dalahan?”
The trick didn’t work for Dalahan which was not one of the fack sacred weapons made by the Temple.
“I can get anything but Dalahan.”
“Why not?”
“Haven’t you heard the dying injunction of Siegfried, the Founding Emperor?”
“I know. He said, if one of the Imperial family gets Dalahan, regardless of gender, he or she should become the next emperor. And if someone else not in the Imperial family gets Dalahan, the whole empire should serve him or her as a national guest. Right?
“Yeah. So if I get Dalahan, it becomes a hot potato. The relationship between my mother’s family and I gets very tricky.
I was a member of the Imperial family. If I got Dalahan, I became the first heir in line for the next emperor according to the will of our ancestors. Let alone my uncle who was the current emperor, the relationship between Simon, who was my cousin and the Crown Prince, and I would become very uncomfortable.
“Ah, I see.”
“Anyways, you should take this secret to the grave. If everyone knows about this trick, we’re dead men. It’s a sacrilege.”
I asked him to keep his mouth shut. Ruining our people’s business did nothing good for us. What we needed to do was to get a rake-off for ourselves.
At last, Hubeo promised me to keep his mouth shut. I’m his best friend so I know him well. He doesn’t have a lot of nerve to risk his life by revealing this kind of secret. Sometimes when I raise my arm to sweep my hair up, he instinctively shrinks with fear.
* * *
Before we knew it, our carriage was passing by a stonewall road in the Great Temple of Divinum. I looked up at the sky and the sun was yet in midair. We barely got on time but still weren’t late.
I put my arm on a carriage window and looked at the Hall of Divinity from a distance. The Holy Shield was not covered yet but it seemed the preparation for the ceremony was almost finished.
‘Yojo, I’m here now and I will be there soon. Please wait for me.’
It’s a nameless sacred weapon but I named this sword as Yojo because it looked bizarre and shoddy. That Yojo was inside the Hall of Divinity. Now, it’s just one step away from our reunion.
At that moment, I saw a tall swordswoman in her late twenties passing by the stonewall road. She had a sword rolled up with a piece of cloth in her waist. And her long and curly red hair was very impressive. It was vividly redder than blood.
She had very sharp eyes yet she was a fantastically beautiful woman. If Shura who’s a Moon Elf stood right next to her, Shura’s beauty would’ve faded away.
However, I’ve met her before in my past life.
Hubeo saw her as well and acted frivolously.
“Yan, did you just see that lady?”
I looked at him with my calm eyes.
“Yeah.”
“She’s really beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
Hubeo looked at me carefully. He seemed to think as if I took some kind of weird drug or something. Actually, it’s not so strange for him to think that way at all since I looked vaguely even if such a beautiful woman from Heaven was in front of me.
“Yan, aren’t you interested in her?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Why not?”
“If you wanna get yourself murdered, you can hang around with her. Seriously, once you get involved with her, you’re a dead man.”
Her name was Katrianne. As of now, she took a role as a guidance teacher for new guardians who’re about to leave for the Road of Asceticism. But in the future, she became the commander in chief of the Holy Cavalry which was the hope of mankind.
“Do you know who’s that lady?”
“Yeah.”
“Who is she?”
“The archenemy in my past life.”
In the future when I went to apply for the Holy Calvary, she kicked me out with a flat refusal. The reason was that I got away with ‘the Road of Asceticism’ by giving a bribe to the priest. At that time, she said those who didn’t go to the Road of Asceticism were not guardians and turned down my application for the Holy Calvary. As a result, I was stigmatized as a fake guardian who defamed the divinity.
After that, I was held in contempt by everyone. As soon as the Yosrahim Imperial City fell into the hands of demons, everyone turned their backs on me.
“Who the hell is she? Please tell me.”
“She’s a Valkyrie. And not just a Valkyrie, she’s a Flaming Valkyrie.”
Hubeo made a pale face with fright and just mumbled in silence.
Valkyries were suzerains of divinity and members of Kronos, the Sky City. Also, they were supervisors for the world sent by God. In other words, they were sacred and inviolable ones. Even if Hubeo was an aristocrat, he could even make eye contact with them.
“Re… really?”
“Yeah, man. And keep in mind that she has a really bad temper. If you brag yourself as an aristocrat, you’re gonna be dead right away.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, man. If you still feel suspicious, you should go and ask the Pope. He knows about everything, regardless of the Churches of Light and the Churches of Darkness.”
At that moment, a sword rolled up with a piece of cloth broke the door and penetrated into our carriage. Looking at the sword aimed at my neck, I scratched the bridge of my nose. It was Idron, the Red Fire Sword of Fierce Heat which was one of the Seven Sacred Weapons. Definitely, Idron was Katrianne’s favorite sword.
“Well, you have such good hearing.”
Soon after, I could hear her sharp voice from outside.
“Where have you heard that from?”
“I eavesdropped on other people’s conversations on my way here. I also have a good hearing just like you.”
“Oh really? Anyways, you should keep your mouth shut forever.”
“I got it now. So please leave us alone. I just told my friend because I’m worried about him. He will be one of your students soon.”
Hubeo’s convoy of knights mobbed around Katrianne who stopped the carriage but Hubeo yelled at his knights to stop. A Valkyrie was a God’s warrior who alone could fight against an entire kingdom. Hubeo could fix his carriage again anytime but if he got on the wrong side of a Valkyrie, his whole family could be murdered.
While looking at her knights who’re turning the heads of their horses, Katrianne said to me.
“Alright, I will trust you. And you on the left! You should keep your mouth shut as well.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Hubeo answered in a trembling voice. Soon, Idron was pulled off from our carriage and Katrianne had left away. Then Hubeo suddenly shouted at me.
“Yan! You should’ve told me that later in secret!”
“Why?”
“Didn’t you see how much she got pissed off after hearing our conversation? You do know how strong those Valkyries are, don’t you?”
I was also aware of that fact because I read about them in history books. Occasionally, Valkyries came to the earth in secret to accomplish their assigned mission. However, they had a lot of conflicts with humans and caused many problematic issues. Due to those conflicts, even an existing kingdom fell and a new kingdom rose from time to time. A typical example was the fall of the Iseran Kingdom and the birth of the Yosrahim Empire.
I made a very warm smile towards Hubeo.
“You aren’t scared of me, are you? Why are you yelling at me like that?”
Hubeo calmed himself down and made a very humble posture.
“Nah, I didn’t mean to…”
“Behave yourself. Okay?”
“Yeah, I will.”
I was staring at Katrianne as she slowly receded from us. Although she got a really bad temper, she wasn’t actually a cold-hearted Valkyrie so much. During the Era of Destruction, all the Valkyries got a call from God to come back and ran away to Heaven. But she left alone, led the Holy Calvary, and faced the same fate with mankind.
Still, I hate that woman. Seriously, I wasn’t the only guy who got away with the Road of Asceticism. In the early days of the Era of Destruction, most of the guardians who received the sacred weapons didn’t complete their final mission, the Road of Asceticism.