Chapter 535

The day to return to the Empire is approaching, so I often engage in light sparring with my companions to loosen up my stiff muscles.

Excluding the Power of Feats and clashing with just techniques in a mock battle. It had been a long time since I held an ordinary sword instead of Durandal.

“Well, that’s it. I won.”

I laughed as I pointed the training sword at Leonor’s upper chest.

“No, what was that technique? It felt like the sword suddenly grew longer.”

“It’s a technique I learned in Landenburg. It’s a method that’s hard to use without considerable grip strength.”

Since you have to slide the hilt gripped in one hand through your palm, without sufficient grip strength and reflexes, attempting it is practically suicidal.

You might just end up dropping the sword pointlessly.

Right after the sparring ended with my victory, Lacey, who had come to watch, approached me.

“The tomb?”

I wiped the sweat running down my cheek to my chest with a towel and asked back.

I wasn’t unfamiliar with the word “tomb.” It’s like a cemetery for great people, right? In games, it’s usually treated as a dungeon.

Dungeons where you defeat guardians protecting the tomb or undead monsters that appear in poorly maintained tombs to collect the deceased’s belongings.

…Thinking about it now, it’s practically grave robbery.

Is it okay for a hero to do such things, even if the tomb’s descendants have long since died?

“Yes. It’s the tomb where the relics or remains of the Twelve Knights are enshrined. Not all of their relics are there, though.”

My ancestors… no, Hersela’s ancestors are buried there. I didn’t know there was such a facility underground in the Holy City of Alhebron. It was the first time I’d heard of it.

“So, what about it?”

“Do you remember what I said when the trip to the Holy Kingdom was decided? Sir Median acknowledged that you are a descendant of the Twelve Knights.”

…Doesn’t everyone know that by now?

I handed the sweat-soaked towel to Hersh, who was beside me, and tilted my head.

It seems like it’s become common knowledge that I’m a descendant of the Twelve Knights, just like a limping person being the culprit. Is there any point in getting it officially acknowledged now?

“We need clear evidence to record it officially. That’s why we’re going to the tomb. The situation has been too chaotic until now, but it’s stabilized enough to finish what we’ve postponed.”

As if she read my thoughts from my expression, Lacey explained the reason for bringing up the sudden topic. It was still hard to understand.

What’s the connection between visiting a tomb full of skeletons and my lineage being acknowledged? Will a locked area open if I go there?

“What are we going to do there?”

“There’s a facility called the Sword’s Stone Gate in the tomb of the Twelve Knights. It’s a stone gate with a blessing that only a sword of oath with an owner can open.”

…Seriously. The security technology from 800 years ago is impressive.

“Open the gate with Durandal, face the remains of your ancestors, and then return. Beyond that… I don’t know either.”

“You don’t know?”

Well, if you don’t know, who does?

“It’s the first time the descendants of the Twelve Knights are being officially acknowledged. I only learned about this procedure recently.”

Lacey blushed slightly, embarrassed, and confessed that this was her first experience.

…Well, if it’s the first time, there’s nothing to be done.

Thus, my visit to the tomb was confirmed.

The visit is scheduled for four days later. It was decided considering the schedules of the remaining cardinals in the Holy Kingdom and my recovery speed.

During that time, I focused solely on resting and recovering my strength as much as possible.

Since the tomb is managed by the Elpinel Church Order, I didn’t think monsters would pop out, but there might be unexpected dangers inside the Sword’s Stone Gate.

Like ancestral spirits testing if I’m a worthy descendant or guardians protecting the relics of the Twelve Knights.

Lacey said it’s just an ordinary tomb built by old believers, not some ancient ruin, and there’s no need to worry so much… but it’s better to be cautious.

After all, I’ve been caught off guard more than once since arriving in this world.

Fortunately, once my body fully recovered, my strength started to return quickly. In just two days, I recovered to the level of a master.

It even felt like I had accumulated deeper feats from defeating the demon, and I sensed that once my strength fully returned, I would be even stronger than before.

At this rate, I might even surpass the Empire’s strongest and boast of being humanity’s strongest.

The strongest woman in humanity. Saying it out loud felt strange and amusing. Really, I just played some games, how did I end up like this?

While I was resting, Lacey also began preparing to return to the Empire.

She handed over her duties to Richard, finalized discussions with other church cardinals about future state affairs, and dealt with the last unstable element, Paulus, with Agnes.

Paulus Hindenburg. The mastermind serving the ancient gods, suspected to be the second apostle of the ‘Forgotten Gods’ Church Order.

Although he was killed by Agnes, it was hard to believe he was completely dead.

After his death was announced, despite the Holy Kingdom being in chaos, he never showed himself again… It seemed he had gone into deep hiding. It was truly a pity.

If only he had shown himself, I would have chased him down and killed him like a dog.

I felt like a thorn in my side for not being able to deal with him. Who knows what he might do after we leave the Holy Kingdom.

But we couldn’t stay in the Holy Kingdom until we found him. Since we were already a month behind our expected return schedule, Leopold must be eagerly waiting for my return.

Though I’m not sure if he has any hair left to lose.

Anyway, the conclusion Agnes and Lacey reached was to issue a warrant throughout the Holy Kingdom to block Paulus’s actions.

The warrant stated that an evil priest of a cult, wearing Cardinal Paulus’s face, attempted to kill Agnes but failed and fled, so anyone who saw his face should immediately report to the nearest church member.

It wasn’t exactly a lie, though it was a bit far from the truth.

It was undeniable that he was a priest of the ancient gods, and his identity was indeed Paulus, so he was wearing Paulus’s face, and their goal was to kill Agnes eventually.

But announcing that Cardinal Paulus was a priest of the ancient gods would have caused too much turmoil in the already stabilized Holy Kingdom, so this was the best course of action.

Two days before visiting the tomb of the Twelve Knights, I went to Astraea’s cathedral to meet Cardinal Ernliter and Seilon.

I owed a lot to Ernliter, and I felt a sense of debt to Seilon, who was seriously injured because of our situation.

Although it was the duty of a paladin, I couldn’t just ignore the help I received.

And I regretted it within 10 minutes.

“Is that… Sir Median?”

“The Sword of the Starry Sky has come here…!”

As soon as I entered Astraea’s cathedral, I was swarmed by countless people.

The paladins and priests working in the cathedral, upon seeing me, gathered around like fans at a signing event and started pouring out all sorts of questions.

Most of the paladins were out on missions like monster subjugation, so the remaining believers in the cathedral were mostly female priests… Their warm reactions made me wonder if my secret as the Saintess of Order had been revealed.

“Oh my, oh my. Are you here to visit Seilon? Sir Median has come to visit, Seilon must be so happy!”

“Yeah.”

I hope he doesn’t jump for joy.

“Sir Median, if it’s not too much trouble, could I touch the unicorn just once? It’s my wish!”

“You know the rumors about unicorns, right? If you’re a virgin, go ahead and touch it.”

If you’re a virgin, you shouldn’t feel guilty.

“Is it true that you cut the sky?”

“It’s true, but I can’t do it now.”

I want to test if something similar is possible, but it’s not a situation where I can waste the Power of Feats, so I’ll put it off for later.

In this way, I answered the questions of the priests gathered around me and headed to Seilon’s hospital room.

The fact that I came to visit Seilon seemed very interesting to them, and some female priests looked at the fruit basket I brought and my face with sparkling eyes, like girls deeply immersed in romance novels.

Their expressions were full of pink flower fields. I decided not to think about what they were imagining.