Chapter 536

“Princess Ha-shal-leur?!”

As expected, Seilon was flustered and overwhelmed by the fact that I had personally come to visit him in the hospital. It was almost burdensome.

Even though he looked quite haggard, the moment he saw me, he tried to sit up from his hospital bed and bow properly.

“Stay down. What are you trying to get up for in that state?”

I pressed Seilon’s shoulder back down and handed him an apple I had peeled from the fruit basket I brought as a gift. He ate it well.

“I heard you had woken up. But for you to come all the way here… Are you feeling better now?”

“I’m more worried about you than myself.”

I thought he was fine since he woke up before me, but it seems the side effects of fighting while burning his life force were severe.

At this rate, his lifespan must have definitely shortened… Maybe I should look for an Elixir later. If we raid Alvheim, we might be able to get some since it’s made from the sap of the World Tree.

An Elixir should be able to restore some of the lost life force.

“I’m fine. I’m just a bit weak, but I should be able to return to duty soon.”

Really? No matter how I look at it, it seems like he needs to stay in bed for at least another month. His determination is truly something.

“Don’t push yourself. You survived fighting that monster, but if you die from overexertion with your body in this state, it would be too pitiful.”

I leaned against the window sill of the hospital room, blowing cigarette smoke outside, and chatted with him about various things.

I praised him for protecting his comrades, mentioned that I would be visiting the tomb of the Twelve Knights, and asked if he could follow me when I return to the Empire soon. Just casual conversations like that.

Even after a cigarette turned to ash and scattered, the conversation continued. It wasn’t just about constructive plans for the future but also trivial everyday matters.

Since I visited a bit late for a hospital visit, I felt a bit guilty about leaving right away.

“…Priest Bethania, you say?”

“Yeah. What’s up with her? I said we could postpone the doctrine education, but suddenly she started whipping herself. It was quite a shock.”

Thanks to that, I’ve been stuck with religious education I never asked for.

At least she doesn’t test me on how well I memorized it, so that’s a relief. I just have to listen and let it go.

What did she say? That it’s important to accept the doctrine in your heart, so you don’t need to force yourself to memorize it, just keep it in mind?

“She’s an ascetic priest of our church. Unlike paladins, those who can’t serve Astraea by eradicating evil prove their devotion by whipping their own bodies.”

In other words, it’s a way to appeal to the goddess. Do they really have to go that far?

Religious people are really extreme.

—

“By the way, Princess Ha-shal-leur. What was that sword strike you showed at the end of the battle with the Arm of the Evil God?”

During our chat, Seilon asked me about the Heaven-Splitting Slash.

Well, lately, everyone I meet asks about it. It must have been that astonishing.

“Well, I’m not sure how to explain it… It wasn’t an attack I fully understood or consciously executed.”

It was more like a life-or-death situation drew out power beyond my capabilities. The reason I was on the verge of death right after swinging the sword was probably because of that technique.

Anyway, I explained to Seilon the principle of the Heaven-Splitting Slash as I understood it.

It’s a secret technique among secret techniques, but Seilon isn’t the type to go around blabbing about it, so I figured it wouldn’t be a problem to tell him.

“First, the technique I gained upon reaching the Realm of Heroes is the power to compress time.”

To be precise, it’s the power to enter a world where time is compressed. Heroic Tales are usually absurdly illogical, but this one is on another level of weirdness.

“Compressing… time?”

Seilon furrowed his brows slightly, as if he couldn’t quite grasp what I was saying.

To his common sense, the concept of time being compressed must sound like nonsense.

“So, if it takes me 2 seconds to swing my sword and cut an enemy’s head off, this technique compresses that result into 1 second. From the enemy’s perspective, the power and momentum of the attack remain the same, but the speed is several times faster. Sometimes my attacks become abnormally fast, right? That’s it.”

In other words, the power itself is no different from my usual attacks… but that part isn’t really an issue.

If I pour all my strength into a single strike, I can even break Jin’s Silver Sword, so even if the Heroic Tale doesn’t boost my attack power, I won’t be lacking in strength.

“…That’s amazing. The effect itself seems modest, but the underlying principle seems more profound than divine power.”

“Really? I find divine power more fascinating. Anyway, I can compress time, and Durandal, being a divine artifact, has the power to sever space itself. The conditions are a bit tricky, so I can’t use it often.”

In fact, I’ve only used it twice.

It might be easier to figure out how to lift the sword’s restrictions than to find enemies that meet the conditions.

“The Heaven-Splitting Slash that cut through the Arm of the Evil God… Reversed Heaven (逆天) is probably a strike that mimics the power to sever space with my own strength, combined with the power to compress time… I think.”

If you sever space in a world where time is compressed, it means a much wider area of space is cut in the original world.

It’s a vague explanation based on intuition and experience, but it’s the best I can do to describe the phenomenon.

“…I don’t really get it, but it sounds like an incredible technique.”

Seilon nodded with a look of someone whose intelligence had just dropped significantly.

He didn’t understand a word of it, but he seemed to grasp that it was a profoundly powerful technique.

“I can’t use it now anyway. I almost died after using it last time.”

I was lucky to survive. If the treatment had been a bit delayed, I might have died.

Thinking back to the exhaustion I felt then… I wonder if it was really something that could be recovered from with just a priest’s healing.

—

After about an hour of chatting, I ran out of things to say, so I told Seilon to rest well and left the hospital room.

“Sir Median. Did the hospital visit go well?”

A young man in priestly robes was standing a short distance down the hallway from the hospital room, as if waiting for me.

Well, since he spoke to me the moment I came out, he must have been waiting.

Eavesdropping on my conversation with Seilon would have been quite rude, so he probably kept his distance on purpose.

“It went well… Do you need something from me?”

“Cardinal Ernliter wishes to see you. Of course, if you have urgent matters, you may decline…”

Ah. Come to think of it, I should have met Cardinal Ernliter before Seilon. When visiting another organization, it’s proper etiquette to meet the higher-ups first.

Well… it doesn’t matter. Since when have I ever been meticulous about etiquette?

Besides, thanks to Lacey, I now outrank the Cardinal, don’t I?

Cardinal Ernliter is well aware of that, so he probably implied that it’s okay not to come if I’m too busy.

“What will you do?”

“I’ll go meet him. Where is he waiting?”

“Just follow me. I’ll take you to the Cardinal’s office.”

The priest bowed his head and led the way.

I followed a couple of steps behind, recalling my previous impression of Ernliter. It was during Lacey’s hearing, wasn’t it? He looked terribly stubborn back then.

But at the time, I was in a position opposing Lacey, so it was only natural.

—

“Sir Median. Welcome to the heart of the Astraea Church Order. I am Ernliter Zaisers.”

Contrary to my first impression, Cardinal Ernliter, whom I met after a long time, had a warm expression, like a grandfather meeting his granddaughter after a year.

“Thank you for your hospitality. I am Ha-shal-leur of the Median family. You probably already know that.”

I greeted him politely. Since he had helped me in ways that would have been troublesome otherwise, there was no reason to leave a bad impression.

There were a few things that made me feel a bit guilty too.

“To welcome the hero of Arvil in my twilight years is truly an honor.”

“Your words are too kind. It’s not my achievement alone. Many people helped, especially Sir Seilon. He was a great help.”

As we exchanged light pleasantries and sat on the sofa in the office, the priest who had guided me bowed politely and left, closing the door.

Ernliter and I sipped the black tea on the table, waiting for the priest’s presence to completely disappear, and then began our conversation in earnest.

We talked about Seilon, the aftermath in Arad, the tomb I would visit in two days… and even my Holy Mark.

Ernliter hesitated and finally asked, if it wasn’t too rude, if he could see my Holy Mark.

It was a natural request, so I slightly lowered the top of my clothes to show him Astraea’s Holy Mark.

“…Do you see it?”

My face turned slightly red. Since the Holy Mark was located on my chest, both Ernliter and I couldn’t help but feel awkward.

[ …Now you’re showing your chest to men all the time. Why not just go around naked? ]

Hersela grumbled sarcastically. Since it was technically her chest, she seemed to feel both disgust and embarrassment.

You talk big. If I really went around naked, you’d have a fit.

‘That sounds good. Maybe I’ll do that in the summer?’

[ Are you insane? Oh, right, you were already half-crazy. Go ahead if you think you can handle it. ]

…I probably couldn’t handle it.

I only said it to counter Hersela’s sarcasm; I had no intention of actually doing it. It would make me more than just a barbarian—it would make me a perverted exhibitionist.

Even now, the stares are unbearable. If I went around naked, how would people look at me?

“Ooh… Astraea…!”

The moment Ernliter saw my Holy Mark, any sense of embarrassment vanished, and he shed tears of gratitude, offering a prayer of thanks to the goddess. I sighed inwardly and pulled my clothes back up.

—

After that, Ernliter called me “Queen Astika” and treated me with extreme deference.

…Honestly, it was a bit unexpected. Even though I have the Holy Mark, just a few days ago I was below the Cardinal in rank, so I thought he would treat me as a superior. Instead, he even used honorifics like Seilon.

Did he really want someone with the Holy Mark to come to his church that badly? As a non-religious person, it was hard to understand such fervor.