"Hey Crow, what will you explain to me?"
Ignoring the half-crying instructor who's hitting me, I look at Safran.
"Does my Vacuum Sword have any abilities other than silencing footsteps and hiding presence? Maybe controlling the air because it's the 'Vacuum' Sword?"
Excitedly, Safran lifts her skirt to reveal the Vacuum Sword Curtana hidden on her thigh.
Where on earth is she hiding it?
"No, sorry to disappoint, but the Vacuum Sword's abilities are just invisibility and silencing."
"What?"
For a moment, Safran directs a threatening aura towards me.
"Why are the abilities of my Saintly Sword so plain?"
"It's not my fault. I didn't decide on the abilities."
"So, you have nothing to say to me? Why did you call me then? Are you making fun of me?"
Why does she get angry so easily? "I don't feel like I can have a proper conversation with her."
"Listen, Safran. The invisibility and silencing abilities of the Vacuum Sword not only affect you but also things in contact with you."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"That's what I'm saying. When you turn invisible, not only do you become transparent, but the clothes you wear and the items you possess also turn transparent, right? If not, when you were invisible, from others' perspectives, it would appear as if your clothes and the weapons you carry are floating in the air. But in reality, when you're invisible, even your clothes, belongings, and Curtana itself are invisible."
"So, your invisibility also makes anything you're in contact with invisible. If we hold hands and move together, I will also be unseen by others."
"Now, let's experiment using the soldiers here in this fortress. If successful, the three of us – you, Instructor Cattleya, and I – should be able to rescue Iris without the enemy noticing."
I look down at Instructor Cattleya, who's still tearful.
"The place where Iris is being held is a castle taken by the rebel army. With Safran's invisibility, Instructor Cattleya will sneakily place bombs throughout the castle using the Blaze Sword. After rescuing Iris, we'll detonate all of them at once, capturing all the enemy forces."
With just one bomb, it's that powerful.
If we use multiple bombs, the castle will probably be rendered unusable. Well, it doesn't matter what happens to a castle taken by the enemy.
Both Instructor Cattleya and Safran are silently staring at me.
"...What?"
Ignoring me, the two of them step back a few paces to distance themselves.
"Hey, isn't he kind of dangerous?"
"Yes..."
"Was he like this during his student days?"
"No, this is the first I've heard of it."
Why are they looking at me so warily?
〈They're taken aback by your cunning〉
Holly, who had remained silent until now, speaks up.
〈It's strange to have someone understand and utilize one's abilities better than oneself, isn't it?〉
"What do you mean?"
〈I mean, in your case, you're trying to annihilate the enemy, along with their castle, by leveraging the abilities of these two women. And you're doing it secretly, without them noticing.〉
"So what? If we're discovered, we're the ones in danger, right?"
Holly sighs in exasperation as I say this.
"Both of you, today is for testing and practice. We need to check the limit of the number of bombs and if all three of us can act covertly using Safran's invisibility. Come on, get ready."
Chapter 6: Underworld Sword Sequence
The practice with Instructor Cattleya's bomb-setting and Safran's invisibility was progressing smoothly. Once the two, who were exhausted from the practice, fully recover, we can go to rescue Iris. And then, we'll capture all the zombie soldiers controlled by the wielder of the Underworld Sword.
With these thoughts, I was gazing at Instructor Cattleya and Safran taking a break.
"Hey, Holly."
〈Yes?〉
"Why are all the current Saintly Sword users women? Does it have something to do with the hero being female?"
〈Who knows. Does it matter? Even if there were more men, what benefit would it bring you? Aren't you just going to add the wielder of the Underworld Sword to your harem?〉
"...I'm not creating any harem..."
〈Oh? Aren't you interested in a harem? People with power, big or small, usually try to create one.〉
"I won't... really..."
At that moment, something struck me. While Instructor Cattleya and the others were taking a break and I had some free time, there was something I wanted to ask Holly.
"Among all the past heroes, were there any who, after defeating the Demon King, went around having affairs with numerous women?"
〈Huh? There's no way there would be. Don't be so disrespectful!〉
Perhaps because we were discussing the revered heroes, Holly snapped at me for the first time in a while.
〈All the heroes up to now were, without exception, devoted and pure-hearted. They never laid a hand on any woman other than the one they chose as their partner〉.
"Oh really? So they were all selfless individuals?"
It seems that all the past heroes were selfless and never engaged with numerous women.
If Holly, the spirit of the divine sword that every hero cherished, says so, it must be the truth.
It seems that the criteria for choosing a hero have nothing to do with lineage. I wonder if such personality traits are also qualities needed to be chosen as a hero.
"From your perspective, how's the current hero? Do you think Shion is also selfless and pure-hearted?"
〈I believe so. Especially the part where once she falls in love with someone, she shows no interest in anyone else. That's very similar to past heroes〉.
"Hmm..."
〈...Why are you talking about this as if it's someone else's business, Crow? You're the one who's currently being loved by the hero, aren't you?〉
"What are you talking about? It's like... you know, when a daughter says, 'I'm going to marry Daddy when I grow up'. You know that, right, Holly? Every daughter goes through a phase of having a pseudo-romantic feeling for her father. If the father is a good man, she'll choose a boyfriend similar to him. If he's not, she'll choose one who's the complete opposite. In other words, I'm currently the standard against which Shion will measure future love interests. Well, I'll probably end up being the bad example."
For some reason, Holly was staring at me, her face twitching in what seemed like irritation.
"For now, let's stop this pointless chatter. Today, we'll break into that castle and bring Iris back."
Having decided that the preparations for Iris's rescue operation were complete, I boarded the carriage with Instructor Cattleya and Safran. Once again, I flew on the Pegasus Sword, Ramley, to the castle where Iris was being held.
"...What's with this castle?"
"What's with these guys!"
As soon as we entered the vicinity of the castle where Iris was being held and formed a line to infiltrate, Safran and Instructor Cattleya, who were behind me, were shocked.
(.....)
All the soldiers inside the castle were either zombies with the stench of death or skeletal remains.
Safran, from behind, grabbed both of my shoulders, and while Instructor Cattleya held both of Safran's shoulders, Safran used her invisibility ability. As a result, the zombie soldiers inside the castle didn't detect our approach at all. Everything was going according to plan.
"Hey Crow! What the hell is this?"
"Huh? They're zombies, right?"
"It's not just about them being zombies! Why are the corpses moving?"
"There's a Saintly Sword that has that ability. The person wielding that sword has captured Iris. Oh, didn't I tell you?"
"I'm hearing it for the first time, you idiot!"
"Don't shout. Even if they hear us, they won't notice."
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"Well, I thought it wouldn't change what we had to do, so I didn't bother."
"You really are an idiot! Being with you is shortening my lifespan!"
Instructor Cattleya seemed to be in a bad mood, but for now, Safran's invisibility was successfully applied to all three of us. The problem will be after rescuing Iris. When the number increases to four, invisibility becomes more challenging. Safran's invisibility only affects those in direct contact with her. For instance, if Iris joined our group now, even if she grabbed Instructor Cattleya's shoulder, she wouldn't become invisible. Well, it would be fine if Instructor Cattleya and Iris each grabbed one of Safran's shoulders, but walking in a single line makes it difficult to pass through narrow places.