Chapter 6

Chapter 6: An Outing (3)

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“Oh my, it suits you so well!”

The shops that Carlisle had recommended were, though she was reluctant to admit it, all filled with items that struck directly at Gray’s personal tastes.

‘He’s quite useful.’

Gray thought this to herself as she examined a dress with fluttering frills all over it.

It wasn’t a well-known shop, but she couldn’t figure out how he had found such things with ghostly accuracy.

…The secret the holy sword had told Carlisle, was only known him alone.

“You look beautiful, young lady! You’re so cute!”

“…Really?”

At Gray’s fidgeting question, the shop clerk’s face brightened even more.

She didn’t seem like the type who lacked confidence, but she appeared to be someone who hadn’t heard this kind of praise very often.

The young lady clearly had little resistance to girlish, sentimental words.

‘Got her.’

This type of noble young lady, once hooked, tends to completely clean out the store.

“Of course! I don’t know how you happened to come to our shop, but everything here suits you perfectly, young lady!”

Though it was formulaic speech, the content was sincere.

Her appearance was already at a fraudulent level to begin with. She would look good in anything that was genuine… 

“…I’m… Cute?”

“Of course, of course!”

“…Pretty?”

“Absolutely, absolutely!”

“…Hmm, hmm.”

Whatever Gray said, the clerk circled around her, agreeing enthusiastically.

How should she put it, she was like a familiar neighborhood older sister.

Normally, she would thunder at such audacity toward a Hero, but somehow she felt like letting it slide now.

Gray cleared her throat and nodded satisfactorily as she picked up a dress.

A smile she couldn’t quite hide was spreading around the corners of her mouth.

“Well then, shall I try it on?”

Gray said, and took off her coat.

Then, her nape was clearly revealed.

Along with the scar left there.

A cross torn in both directions.

Running a clothing business in the Imperial Capital Zedo Kagenov meant being familiar with various common knowledge and information to serve nobles without incident.

In that sense.

The moment she saw the scar on Gray’s nape, the clerk’s face turned pale.

Holy Scar.

The symbol of the rightful owner chosen by the holy sword.

It was no different from the Hero’s identification.

“…Hic…!”

A frightened intake of breath could be heard.

No matter how accustomed a place was to dealing with nobles, it would be strange not to be frightened when facing the tremendous human called ‘Humanity’s Strongest.’

In a way, she was as dangerous as the Imperial family.

“I’m, I’m sorry! I failed to recognize the Hero…!”

“…”

And.

The moment she saw that reaction, the expression was wiped clean from Gray’s face.

‘…Ah, that’s right.’

She smiled bitterly as she swept her hair back.

She had almost forgotten for a moment, being distracted.

This was normal.

She was clearly in a position where she had to live a different life from others. She could never blend in with other people.

‘Normalcy.’

The very small and trivial things that other humans could easily feel and experience.

These were merely elements that would quickly be crushed by her inherently different position.

“…”

Gray briefly looked at the floor, closed her eyes, and sighed.

When she raised her face again.

It was a face that contained all of her usual arrogance.

“Don’t make a fuss. I just came to buy clothes.”

“Yes, as you command…!”

“I’ll look by myself, so go hide somewhere appropriate.”

Seeing the clerk scurry away with relief upon hearing those words, her irritation rose again.

Seeing that reaction, a certain person came to mind.

-I intend to serve the Hero no matter what happens. 

-If you don’t like it, you can abandon me anytime, so please try taking me along at least once.

The one who had spouted such smooth words even while being beaten to a pulp by her.

The one who had dared to try to match her, the Hero.

She had thought it was annoying despite having nothing, but somehow.

Now she thought that kind of reaction would be rather better.

‘…Where is that guy?’

Since she was in a bad mood, she should take it out on him.

Having that thought, Gray closed her eyes and rotated the magic within her body.

There are countless people who handle magic on the continent, but among them are those born with special ‘qualities’.

Like the Sun God of the Desert Kingdom, who shows a high affinity for flame-related magic, or the Apostles of the Orthodox Church who handle ‘divinity’, which is transformed magic…

Among such magic, the quality of magic that the Hero possesses is unparalleled.

It has no particular characteristic of interacting with anything specific, but simply overwhelms everything else with overwhelming basic capacity.

It is called.

Omnipotence.

The most powerful, the sharpest, and the most precise.

If sharpened as a weapon to stab and cut, it could penetrate even the most solid defensive spells, and conversely, if gathered in one place, it becomes an invincible barrier that no weapon could pierce.

On top of that, the total amount of magic Gray possesses is close to unlimited, enough to be called a human power plant.

“-“

Because she was such a human, she could do things like spreading her magic to ‘search’ the entire surrounding area as she was doing now.

She released all her magic throughout the area, covered it, and reduced everything nearby to information.

It was a technique that would make even the Mage Tower wizards who calculate hyperspace coordinates and multidimensional equations daily scream, but for the Hero who recognized magic as almost a part of her body, it wasn’t particularly difficult.

All the information composing the world flowed neatly into her mind.

And among that.

“…?”

She couldn’t find that man’s presence.

She couldn’t feel it at all.

As if.

In this entire place, only that man had ‘resisted’ her magic.

A human who hadn’t received combat training.

Against humanity’s strongest magic.

“…What?”

Gray let out a bewildered voice.

◆

Even if you could obtain one of the Hero’s abilities, the first ability to take was actually predetermined.

[System Message]

◆ Adding ‘Magic: Omnipotence’ to the holy sword’s functions.

[Skill Info]

◆ Magic: Omnipotence

Special magic possessed only by the Hero. It has the strongest output.

This was the skill that became the foundation of all abilities this person handled.

In human terms, it was the skill that played the role of the heart.

‘Good grief.’

Looking at the description written in the skill window, Carlisle smiled wryly.

The description was simplicity itself, but that was enough.

The strongest.

Therefore, there was no need for further explanation.

As far as Carlisle could feel, the power already surging within the holy sword proved that fact.

[Quite good.]

The Hero inside the holy sword let out a satisfied voice.

[Familiar fuel.]

“But, Hero.”

[What is it?]

“You’re a person trapped inside a sword, so what exactly can you do and to what extent?”

Carlisle knew well what level of monster this person had been before being trapped in the sword, but still, given this form, it was unknown how much of her original power she could exert.

Anyway, it was clear she had deteriorated from the original.

[Do I seem that way?]

“…No?”

The confident voice that flowed out seemed to completely deny such a premise.

[I have weakened. It’s natural since I don’t have a body to move with in the first place.]

Flesh is the vessel that contains the soul. Since only her spirit resided within the holy sword, naturally she couldn’t do the same things as the original Hero.

[But just because I’ve weakened-]

But even so.

[-Doesn’t mean there exists anyone who can stand against me.]

She.

Was still ‘humanity’s strongest.’

The situation that followed proved those words exactly.

The world slowed down.

It hadn’t actually slowed down, but it happened because the magic flowing from the holy sword had greatly enhanced Carlisle’s physical abilities.

The very way of perceiving the world changed. The omnipotent feeling overflowing in his body was enough to make him chuckle.

Did that person always live in such a world?

‘No wonder she’s so insolent.’

The human mind is influenced by all sorts of factors more than you’d think.

With this level of power, she would certainly look down on other people.

This was irrational enough to twist a person’s mind.

[Now.]

And the person currently receiving his punch would probably have similar thoughts.

Following the timing the holy sword indicated, he delivered a blow to the chest of the human turning around the alley corner.

Though it was just a light tap, the person collapsed to the ground with the sound of armor crumpling.

‘…Did I kill them?’

Carlisle had that thought seeing them collapse unconscious, but the Hero answered in a tone suggesting he was joking.

[I controlled my strength properly.]

“…It hurts, it hurts-!”

“…”

Seeing such groaning flow from inside the helmet covering their head, it seemed she wasn’t wrong.

Strange way of speaking.

And.

‘A woman?’

Listening to the voice, it was a woman.

And quite young at that.

Carlisle tilted his head and opened his mouth.

“…Are you from the Orthodox Church?”

The emblem carved on the opponent’s armor was definitely from there.

“Why are you following the Hero?”

“I have no obligation to answer such things to someone who attacks people at first meeting.”

“No, shouldn’t you answer well precisely because I’m the one who beat you down?”

“…Violence is opposed.”

When Carlisle raised his fist, the armored woman flinched and averted her gaze.

The beating she’d just received had clearly left quite an impressive experience…

“In the first place, the reason I have to follow the Hero around is because of you.”

“…Excuse me?”

“The Hero is humanity’s greatest military asset, so her every move must be strictly monitored. We can’t have any strange people getting attached to her.”

“…”

Hmm.

Well, that sounds plausible.

“…Wouldn’t the Hero herself be the first to break the back of any strange person who gets attached to her?”

If the surveillance target wasn’t a monster who didn’t even need an escort.

At those words, the woman lying on the ground subtly averted her gaze.

She was probably sweating profusely under her helmet…

“…Want to get hit one more time?”

“I, I don’t particularly want to monitor the Hero either! I personally admire the Hero ardently! I don’t want to interfere with her private life either!”

The woman frantically waved her hands as she answered Carlisle’s words.

“But when the higher-ups order it, what can I do?”

“That’s what I’m asking, why do they order such a thing?”

“…If the person who received the holy sword causes a major incident, the Orthodox Church’s reputation would be ruined. There are those who are wary of that.”

“…”

“The Hero is, well… Even putting it nicely, not exactly a gentle person.”

…Ah.

Carlisle smiled bitterly and swept his hair back.

It was a reason he could understand, and at the same time, a statement that provided a clue to infer one fact.

‘There are people within the Orthodox Church who dislike Gray.’

There would be no other reason for doing such creepy things as attaching surveillance to monitor someone after even bestowing the holy sword.

Having surveillance constantly following, even just for going out, was too harsh a treatment for someone who hadn’t even had their coming-of-age ceremony yet, no matter how much of a troublemaker they were considered.

[…There was such a thing. I remember.]

The holy sword also added such words.

‘Did you make enemies within the Orthodox Church?’

[No. But sometimes… Just existing creates enemies.]

It was an understandable statement.

Jealousy, envy, wariness.

Excessive checks stemming from such things.

‘…Did you suffer a bit when you were young?’

[What’s new about that?]

Having exchanged such words with the holy sword, Carlisle sighed and opened his mouth.

“The young lady just came out for an outing. She hasn’t done anything you should worry about.” He said.

“Let that person at least do some shopping. What do you think she’s going to do when she finds out you’re making such a fuss?”

“…Uh-“

“Put aside the sordid affairs of adults for a bit.”

He continued, scratching his cheek.

“Let that person live somewhat normally.”

“…What?”

The woman answered in bewilderment, but Carlisle just shrugged.

“She’s human too.”

Anyway, fundamentally, she was human.

At least that’s what he had observed.

She was quite twisted in various ways, but anyway, she was also an ordinary human with emotions.

That’s why he had succeeded in reforming her to some extent in the first place.

“Everyone has the right to pursue their own happiness. Even if they bear the heavy responsibility of being humanity’s guardian. Let’s not interfere with that.”

“…”

“And.”

Carlisle continued with a grin.

“She’s already a person with a shitty personality, so if we prevent her from doing what she wants, it might explode twice as much later-“

“-You’re saying interesting things.”

“…”

Huh.

A voice that shouldn’t be heard.

Shit.

Carlisle turned around, sweating profusely.

Gray, who had appeared at some unknown time, was looking at him with her arms crossed.

“…Young lady. What I just said contains quite complicated circumstances-“

“If you don’t want to be stuck with a shitty personality, just shut up.”

“Yep.”

Gray, who had sunk Carlisle in one blow, looked back and forth between the woman lying on the ground and Carlisle.

“…The right to be happy.”

She muttered those words as if amused.

“Me, of all people.”

She looked Carlisle up and down again.

Still a man with nothing.

On the surface.

She opened her mouth with a smirk.

“I’m tired. I’m going back. Have a carriage prepared.”

“…”

Carlisle blinked.

Huh.

Why isn’t she angry?

I was prepared for at least serious injury.

“Didn’t you hear? I said I’m going back.”

“…Yep.”

Whatever happened, for now let’s be grateful that this young lady’s capricious temper didn’t explode in a bad direction.

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[System Message]

The Hero’s curiosity toward you has been amplified in a positive direction.

• The trait ‘Hero’s Companion’ activates.
• ‘Positive Trait’ has been added!

[ ★ Trust 0% → 5% ]

• Reward has been issued!
• Open the traits tab to check!

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