Chapter 549

The fact that there was no information related to the Holy Grail paradoxically gave me a clue to narrow down the identity of the culprit.

They even placed fragments of souls in the tombs of the Twelve Knights to guard them, yet the Elpinel Church Order left no records at all. That doesn’t make sense.

It’s not that they didn’t leave records, but rather someone must have destroyed the existing records.

This suggests that the thief who stole the Holy Grail was close enough to the Church Order to destroy confidential documents—someone on par with Elpinel’s saintess, Lacey.

It was impossible unless it was someone like a former Cardinal, saintess, or saint of the Elpinel Church Order.

And coincidentally, among the enemies I knew, there was exactly one person with such a status.

The Soul Extraction Master, Peirus.

The first apostle serving the ancient god Alfodr, and according to Lacey, he was once one of the three great saints of the Holy Kingdom before falling into heresy and causing a massacre.

All the circumstances pointed to him being the Holy Grail thief. As someone who held the status of a saint in the Holy Kingdom, he would have had access to confidential documents about the Holy Grail or the Holy Grail itself. Stealing it and destroying related records would have been easy for him.

It also made sense that someone of his stature would suddenly turn to serving the ancient gods. Like Valenstein, he might have learned about the Heavenly Barrier and harbored anger toward it.

As Rotholandus said, the Heavenly Barrier was a plan for all humanity, but from the perspective of a select few strong individuals, it was also a plan that forced them into one-sided sacrifice without their knowledge.

—

“…That makes sense. If it was Peirus at that time, he definitely could have done it. And he had the motive too. It’s only natural for someone who fell to the temptation of the ancient gods to seek to destroy Elpinel’s protection.”

After hearing my explanation, Lacey nodded as if it was a plausible theory. I didn’t tell her about Peirus’s abilities or the fact that he was still alive, though.

If she asked how I knew, I wouldn’t have an answer.

I couldn’t say I received a divine revelation, nor could I say I heard it from Rotholandus, who is a figure from an even more distant past.

So, when sharing information I shouldn’t know, I had to frame it as speculation rather than certainty.

“About that Peirus… isn’t he still alive?”

Like this.

“Huh?”

“Think about it. If the thief of the Holy Grail was Peirus, then the Holy Grail was stolen four hundred years ago, right? But the Heavenly Barrier only started collapsing recently. It was only last year that people like me, who surpassed the realm of masters, began to appear.”

Before that, even villains and non-humans couldn’t surpass the level of masters. If they had, the Empire or the Holy Kingdom wouldn’t have survived this long.

“So, doesn’t that mean Peirus, who disappeared after being defeated by the Holy Kingdom four hundred years ago, has been hiding all this time and only recently started acting again?”

From my perspective, knowing Peirus was alive, this was a very close guess to the truth. But Lacey looked skeptical.

“…I’m not sure. Isn’t it more reasonable to think it’s the work of his descendants or followers rather than Peirus himself still being alive?”

Uh… is that how it works?

Admittedly, Lacey’s argument was the more common-sense conclusion. Anyone would think that. No human could live for over four hundred years.

But he’s alive. Maybe because he’s a Soul Extraction Master?

“That’s reasonable, but… in my experience, the world rarely follows reason.”

From what I’ve learned by slaughtering countless scumbags, there’s not a single villain in this world who operates within common sense.

Whether they appeared in the original story or not.

The common sense of this world collapsed the moment I saved Leopold and turned Isabella into an enemy, advancing the original story by several years.

The level cap expansion—or rather, the collapse of the Heavenly Barrier—progressed faster than in the original, so both enemies and allies began reaching the realm of heroes.

Enemies at the master level might be one thing, but those who surpassed it were all beyond common sense.

“No matter what you do, relying on common sense will always screw you over.”

I learned that the hard way with Isabella.

‘Common sense says that’s impossible.’

‘Common sense says they wouldn’t do that.’

It was all meaningless nonsense.

Judging that insane witch by common sense was a mistake in itself.

The common sense of this world was ultimately the common sense of the master era. It wasn’t suitable for the judgment criteria of the hero era.

“Right? Even Isabella was a monster far removed from common sense. If there’s a witch with eight thousand lives, it’s not strange for there to be a freak who lives for eight thousand years.”

“Hmm… you’re right. No, I should see it that way. All assumptions must always consider the worst-case scenario.”

Lacey agreed. She, too, understood the danger of judging enemies by common sense.

—

“While Peirus’s survival is uncertain, if he and the ancient god cult are the culprits… we must find Paulus.”

As Lacey said, if the mastermind behind stealing the Holy Grail and destroying the Heavenly Barrier is Peirus, there’s only one way to catch him.

Find and capture Paulus Hindenburg, who is likely a follower of the same ancient god and the second apostle.

He would probably know about Peirus or the Holy Grail.

…Wait a minute.

Now that I think about Paulus, come to think of it…

“…Hey, Lacey. My memory’s a bit hazy, but didn’t Agnes confess to killing Paulus and mention something about a ‘Holy Grail plan’?”

“Ah.”

Lacey, who had also forgotten that, let out a dumbfounded sigh instead of answering.

That’s right.

At the time, I didn’t even know what the Holy Grail was, and Agnes’s confession was so shocking that I didn’t register anything else…

But Paulus definitely mentioned the Holy Grail plan and muttered something about pulling down the heavens!

“No, there’s no need to overthink this. These bastards were the culprits.”

“What a blunder… we’ve had so much going on that we completely forgot…”

We let out a hollow sigh, our faces red with shame.

[As they say, ‘Familiarity breeds contempt,’ and it seems foolishness follows the same path. Thanks to you, I’ve broadened my horizons.]

…Are you mocking me for being an idiot?

Admittedly, forgetting such an important detail was undeniably idiotic, but…

‘You forgot too.’

Do you even know what ‘pot calling the kettle black’ means?

[W-What nonsense! I was just amused by your pathetic state.]

Liar. If you remembered, you would’ve used it to mock me earlier.

The fact that you’re mocking me now clearly means Hersela had also forgotten Agnes’s words. She probably only remembered because I just brought it up.

—

It’s now clear that the thieves of the Holy Grail are the ‘Forgotten Gods Cult.’ However, knowing the culprit doesn’t solve everything.

If my guess is correct and the collapse of the Heavenly Barrier is related to Valtir’s descent, then they are the true culprits behind the world’s destruction.

If we find and eliminate them as quickly as possible… we might be able to prevent Valtir’s descent altogether. It’s like removing the trigger for the final boss so the final boss never appears.

The problem is, this world isn’t a game, so even if the final boss disappears, we won’t get a ‘happily ever after’ ending.

If the apostles of the ancient gods and Valtir disappear, will the fairies suddenly become nice?

Will the beastmen all starve to death?

Will Or-han’s Ka`har, who say there’s no place like home, peacefully cultivate the Great Plains?

Will the sleeping dragons just enter eternal slumber?

No way. All of them are enemies we’ll have to deal with separately from the Forgotten Gods Cult.

In the original story, dragons and monsters weren’t left alone as non-humans, so once the world descended into chaos, humans didn’t have the luxury to focus on them… but who knows how it’ll be here.

So, while the extermination of Peirus and the other apostles is the top priority, we can’t afford to focus solely on that.

For instance, I need to head back to the Empire soon instead of chasing Paulus.

If I linger in the Holy Kingdom trying to catch Paulus, and the Empire’s eastern territories get destroyed by Or-han’s attack, there’d be no way to handle the aftermath.

If the Ka`har forces, having breached the barrier, start ravaging the Empire’s territories with their mobility, there’d be no way to stop them.

“Sigh…”

As always, thinking about the future made me sigh first.

The overwhelmingness of it all is just too much. They say if you chase two rabbits, you’ll lose both, but it feels like I’m chasing about ten rabbits.

And if I lose even one, it’ll be a disaster.

If humanity had about fifty people on my level, it’d be so much easier. Unfortunately, there aren’t even ten who’ve reached the realm of heroes, let alone my level.

Damn these Empire folks. Why are they so weak?