CHAPTER 164
Arborex and Ganibal. Both Deadly Sinners were failing to resurrect.
What were we supposed to do about this situation?
Naturally, we couldn't just sit on our hands.
The resurrection of the Deadly Sinners meant an immediate boost to Black Dawn's combat power.
We absolutely could not let that happen.
But catching Asheria Eve was already difficult enough.
On top of that, the Emperor competition and the Commander-in-Chief election were overlapping.
'These sons of bitches.'
If it was them, they definitely aimed for this complicated moment.
Knowing we wouldn't be able to chase them, they made their move during this opening.
While Inferno stepped out to report the situation and everyone was deep in thought.
"......Harua-nim."
Right then, Aigis spoke to me.
"If they are Apostles, the Saintess might be able to track them."
Saintess Lua.
Lua had been studying divine power for a very long time.
Naturally, she had abundant knowledge regarding it, and she was also directly granted power by the embrace of the Holy Light.
If it was Lua, she might be able to track the two if they had become Apostles.
"That is, assuming they truly resurrected as Apostles, however."
Aigis also looked at the two corpses with a complicated expression.
There was practically no one left in this world capable of turning two Deadly Sinners into Apostles.
The fact that they didn't resurrect might mean there was a completely different method at play, separate from becoming Apostles.
"Our Holy Church will collect the bodies and investigate. How does that sound?"
Aigis's proposal was perfectly reasonable.
Even if it was a long shot, we had to try everything we could.
"Lieutenant General Anastasia."
"Yeah, I'll process it under my authority."
Anastasia tactfully stepped in.
With this, there would be no issues transporting the bodies.
"Lady Aigis, let's go together."
"Yes, understood. I will prepare a carriage immediately."
I decided to go along to see Lua's face after such a long time.
When it came to resurrection, I was the foremost expert in the world.
If I could get even a small hint from a conversation with Lua, it would be a good thing.
"Babiyen, about the Imperial Family matter."
"I know. I'll keep a close eye on things with Sir Iox."
"It's not just that. I need you to meet with Her Highness the 1st Princess."
Babiyen flinched.
She realized what kind of heavy responsibility I was trying to entrust her with.
"This girl?"
No matter how confident she usually was, she looked a bit flustered this time.
It was only natural.
I was a Transferee and had the status of a Saint, so I had a massive influence on the 1st Princess.
Since her side wanted my cooperation anyway, I was deliberately acting bold and telling her to deal with it.
But Babiyen had lived half her life as a noble.
Having lived in a hierarchical society for a long time, she knew exactly how high the position of the 1st Princess was.
"You're the only one I can ask regarding this matter. You perfectly remember the Regular Army's situation and the message I want to convey."
If it was Babiyen, she would be able to deliver the message entirely without distorting my intentions.
Besides, the 1st Princess's side wouldn't bother rejecting this offer.
After all, she herself wouldn't be pleased with the Regular Army's Commander-in-Chief supporting the 1st Prince.
"The problem is, and this is just a 'what if', but the 2nd Prince might also make a move."
The fact that I had spoken with the 1st Princess would have definitely reached the 2nd Prince's ears. If Babiyen spoke with the 1st Princess, nine times out of ten, he would come to meet her.
It was a situation where a lot of responsibility was being placed on Babiyen.
For her, it was naturally a huge burden.
"......Understood."
But in the end, Babiyen clenched both her fists tightly and answered.
"This girl will just give it a try. Why not."
Our Babiyen was as brave as any man.
"Maybe it's because I've already seen so many high-ranking people while hanging around Harua. I'm not as nervous as I used to be, anyway."
For saying that, her eyes were shaking quite a bit with anxiety.
But since she said so, I decided to trust her.
"Aranseol, please protect Harua well."
"Yeah, got it."
When Aranseol told her to leave it to her, Babiyen subtly rolled her eyes and approached Aranseol.
"Protecting him doesn't just mean from enemies. Listen carefully. Make sure you watch out for the Saintess."
At that, the light in Aranseol's eyes shifted strangely.
She quietly glanced back at me, then nodded.
"Yeah, I understand."
What exactly did she understand?
I really wished the two of them would stop plotting behind my back.
However, since I now knew how both of them felt, I could only offer a bitter smile.
Weren't the two of them basically rivals over me?
Even though it was my fault for not sorting out the traffic properly, the two were becoming close in various ways.

Afterwards, we sent Babiyen off and immediately departed for the Holy Land.
Since the situation was urgent, we didn't have time to dally.
During the journey, Aranseol quietly went into meditation.
She was trying her best to master even one more technique from Danmyung.
Not wanting to disturb her, I carefully read the Holy Magic book that Rapiel had newly written for me.
It was a divine tome she had steadily compiled while I was away at Wolun.
Thanks to that, I was able to study Holy Magic in much greater detail.
As the carriage sped along the highway toward the Holy Land...
The carriage, which wasn't even near a village yet, abruptly stopped on the road.
When I looked up with a questioning face from reading behind the drawn curtains, Aigis also stood up from her seat.
"It seems something has happened."
I could feel multiple presences outside.
Could it be an ambush by Black Dawn?
Thinking that the day had finally come, I quietly summoned Mi-myeong to my hand.
Aranseol had also opened her eyes at some point and was gripping Danmyung.
"Is it time to prove my skills-ssumda?"
Lululio had also conjured a spear of light before I knew it.
Everyone looked ready to unleash their full power against Black Dawn at a moment's notice.
"Harua, you know what to do."
"Yeah, if things go wrong, I'll run away like my life depends on it."
I, who possessed Resurrection Magic, absolutely could not be caught by Black Dawn.
A tense moment.
Slide-
Aigis opened the small window connecting to the coachman.
"What is going on?"
"Lady Aigis."
At her question, the coachman spoke with a troubled voice.
"It's bandits."
Hearing the next words, all the tension instantly deflated.
Bandits?
Bandi-i-its?

What kind of moron robs a carriage with the Holy Church's crest stamped right on it?
"Everyone inside, crawl out!"
"Take off everything you're wearing and step outside, now!"
I wondered if it was some high-level psychological warfare, but the cliché repertoire coming from outside gave me a headache.
What was all our tension for?
"They really are just at the level of bandits."
Aigis also looked like she had finished assessing the opponents.
A sigh escaped her lips as she leaned back into her seat.
Did the bandits know?
That the people riding in this carriage possessed enough combat power to lightly blow away a city?
Talk about terrible luck.
Of all the carriages to target, why did they have to pick this one?
While I was feeling pity for them, Lululio stood up from her seat.
"If it's bandits, isn't it our job to handle them-ssumda?"
The Regular Army also doubled up on regular bandit subjugation.
In cases where people became bandit groups due to village disasters, the Regular Army even provided support, so they were very good at dealing with bandits.
"I'll take care of it quickly and come back-ssumda."

I figured I might as well see how much Lululio's skills had grown.
With that thought, I slightly opened the curtain and watched Lululio step out.
As soon as Lululio came out, the bandits whistled.
Seeing a prettier girl than they expected come out naturally elicited that reaction.
Among them, there were those whose lust was boiling over.
I didn't know about anything else, but they definitely didn't seem like guys who became bandits because of a disaster.
Their behavior showed they had been living the bandit life for quite a while.
Lululio knew this fact all too well.
So she showed no mercy and conjured a spear of light in her grasp.
"Uh."
"A No-Named, that woman is a No-Named!"
The bandits seemed to have belatedly grasped the situation and shouted in terror.
They were well aware of the danger of No-Named Transferees.
As they panicked and tried to flee, Lululio tossed her spear up into the air.
"Aren't you being a nuisance to the honest folks traveling the road-ssumda?"
With that, Lululio swung her leg and kicked the end of the spear.
Along with a clean roundhouse kick, the spear instantly split into multiple branches and flew in all directions.
Then, it cleanly and instantly killed all the fleeing bandits.
She had definitely become much more proficient at using her Ability than before.
One of them was pinned to a tree with a spear through his clothes.
Lululio lightly grabbed him, who was trembling violently, and brought him back.
"Since Harua-nim is here, it’s comfortable being able to take care of bandits without worrying too much-ssumda!"
Saying such scary things with such a bright face.
Was her mindset that even if these guys had some tragic backstory and she killed them, I could just resurrect them anyway?
"Do you think my resurrection magic is cheap?"
"For saying that, you've been using it pretty recklessly-ssumda."
I had no words.
Clicking my tongue, I looked back at the bandit member who had arrived in front of us.
Then, the bandit member looked back and forth between me, Aigis, and Aranseol, and began to tremble uncontrollably.

"W-W-Why is the D-Divine Lord..."
Ah, so he recognized Aigis's face.
The bandit finally looked like he realized who he had messed with.
Yeah, your luck is absolute garbage.
"How did you end up becoming a bandit?"
When Aigis suddenly asked, the bandit stammered and answered.
"T-That is, my child was so sick, so in order to make money, I had no choice but to..."
And then his neck was cleanly severed.
Aigis had cut it with the side of her hand without even drawing her sword.
"A lie."
"Lady Aigis, can you even see through lies?"
"If I borrow the power of Holy Magic, people of this level are not difficult."
Was it the Eyes of Truth or something?
I should be careful not to lie in front of Aigis from now on.
After experiencing that random bandit incident and riding day and night, we finally arrived at the Holy Land.
At some point, the Grand Temple had been rebuilt and restored.
Bloody and I had cheerfully blown it all away, so I was glad it had been safely restored.
Since Aigis had informed them in advance, Saintess Lua had already finished her preparations and was waiting outside.
As I stepped out of the carriage, she waved at me with a bright face.
"Haru."

It was the Saintess whom I hadn't seen in a long time.
Just as I was about to face her and greet her...
Aranseol suddenly poked her head out from beside me.
"Haru? You two look very close?"
The nickname Lua and I used to distinguish each other.
Hearing that nickname, Aranseol looked toward Lua with sharp eyes.
"So this is what Babiyen was talking about?"
Um.