His words sound like a complete joke.
No, it's not a joke.
His words are all nonsense.
If he didn't truly think everything was meaningless, he wouldn't emit such a sense of void.
Why someone like him possesses power that surpasses Shion and Amaranth, I don't understand.
It's clear he's not someone I can deal with.
I can't understand what he's thinking, but it seems he truly has the power to kill everyone here at any moment."It seems so leisurely."
"…Amaranth."
"Hmm?"
I spoke to Amaranth, who was standing next to Geranium.
I don't really care if I'm the only one going back to the dungeon.
I have no power to resist.
But,
"Is that okay with you, Amaranth?"
"What do you mean?"
Let's throw a stone.
"Geranium is going to die, is that okay with you?"
"!?"
I can't do anything.
So, I always have others do things for me.
Things I can't do myself, I get others to do.
Let's throw that stone.
Throw the stone of words and create ripples in the world's lake.
"What do you mean by our lord dying?!"
Amaranth yelled at me.
The four people beside me looked confused, not understanding the meaning.
Of course, they would.
I don't understand it myself.
"Hmm? No, I don't really care if Geranium dies, but since Amaranth doesn't want him to, I was just wondering if this is okay with you."
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Because, you know. If Shion's time is stopped until the demon king revives, won't Geranium be killed by the demon king?"
The only possibility of breaking this situation is Amaranth, who can exhibit power equivalent to Shion, albeit momentarily.
As long as Amaranth and Geranium's policies align, I have no chance of winning, but talkly, if Amaranth changes his mind, the situation might be reversed.
Because if Amaranth betrays, then Cineraria and Jasmine, who are favorable to us, will also betray.
We could completely isolate Geranium.
"Don't make me repeat myself, Crow. I believe in my lord. I believe his words, and I will defeat the demon king."
"Then, that's fine. Just go die together."
"What?"
"I don't want you guys, who hurt Shion, to be saved. So I should probably persuade you, but I won't say anything more. Just let the demon king kill you. I'll be waiting in the dungeon for that day."
Leaving those words behind, I turned my back on Geranium and Amaranth and started walking towards the castle.
It's a stupidly simple strategy of pulling when pushing doesn't work.Just when I thought someone needed to stop me, or I'd really end up back in the dungeon,
"Wait."
Cineraria pointed the Underworld Sword at my neck.
You're the one stopping me?
Every single time, why do you point the scythe of the Underworld Sword at my neck?
"What do you know, exactly? How can you be so sure about the power relationship between the Demon King and the hero? The hero defeating the Demon King is almost like a half-baked story, isn't it? What's your basis for saying Amaranth can't defeat the Demon King?"
I don't have a basis, but Holly said so.
Telling them about her would be pointless, so what should I say?
"Cineraria. You know I can navigate the shortest route through the dungeons, right?"
"Yeah."
As I turned to explain about Holly,
Geranium was staring at me.
What's with that look?
He was staring at me, eyes wide open.
"That's because I'm guided by a holy spirit. And that holy spirit explained that no one but the hero can defeat the Demon King. By the way, I found the hero Shion because that holy spirit guided me."
"Holy spirit? What are you..."
"You're talking about Holly?"
"!?"
While Cineraria was puzzled by my words, Geranium appeared right in front of me.
Suddenly, he was right before my eyes.
With a speed that neither Cineraria, who was talking to me, nor Saffron and Platanus, who stood by me protectively, could notice, he appeared directly in front of me.
"Hey, the holy spirit you're talking about, is it Holly? The holy spirit residing in the Holy Sword Holly?"
"…!"
"Why do you know about Holly? How can you know about Holly, whom no one but the hero can see? Even if you heard it from the hero, it would be impossible to have her guide you in the dungeon, right? What's going on?"
What's going on?
Why does he know about Holly?
No, more importantly, how did he gather so many Saintly Swords?
"Could you see Holly?"
Should I talk? About everything up until now.
Can I break this situation?
Can I isolate Geranium and add Amaranth, Cineraria, and Jasmine to our side?Or is there a possibility to ally with Geranium himself?
Can I persuade him to help us defeat the Demon King?
Even though he recognizes Holly's existence, he still hindered the hero?
Think. About his true identity and motives.
I was always with Holly.
Is it possible for Holly to have met someone without me knowing?
Someone else knowing about Holly, who is invisible to anyone but Shion and me.
"…!"
Could it be Holly before she met me?
This moment, my choice will determine everything.
"Why?"
"?"
And so, I make my choice.
"Why are you doing this? No, why are you here in the first place?"
"…"
Choosing to pretend to be possessed by Holly, who isn't here.
Will it catch on?
Will this choice hook Geranium?
"I thought she would disappear completely if the hero's consciousness was entirely gone."
He bit.
"And to possess someone other than the hero, that's pretty harsh, isn't it? He's going to die."
"It's his own will, so it's none of my concern. You know, I'm only interested in the hero."
"…Ha, ha. You haven't changed, Holly."
"…!"
This guy… really knew Holly?
Not just any acquaintance of Holly who awakened with Shion's birth.
Unbelievable as it may seem, he is,
"From the time of the last Demon King's defeat, how did you come to this era?"
A man who talked to Holly, who was possessed by the previous hero, alive during those times.
"Why hinder the current hero? You helped the previous hero quite a bit."
How about that?
Is this correct?
Is this really Geranium's identity, as I imagined?
Am I accurately mimicking Holly's tone?
"…Ha, ha. I'm glad…"
Tears began to stream down Geranium's eyes.
"Meeting someone I know for the first time in five hundred years, Holly. To think I still have the capacity to feel joy…"
He began to sob.
Everyone around us was wide-eyed in astonishment."Now, what happens next is..."
"Let's talk, just the two of us, Holly..."
"!?"
In an instant, the scenery around me shifts wildly.
Suddenly, I'm enveloped in Geranium's embrace.
Then, holding me tight, Geranium leaps with extraordinary force, soaring into the sky.
"Platanus!"
I called out the name of Platanus, not anyone else who was present.
Will my intention get through?
Geranium, still carrying me, steps on an invisible floor and leaps again.
Continuing to leap straight up, reaching a height where the entire royal capital is beneath us, Geranium places me on an invisible, transparent floor to stand, facing me.
"Do you like high places, Holly?"
Geranium, having set me on the invisible floor, turns his back and starts walking away, his footsteps echoing in the sky.
"I do. Everything looks so small."
Shall we begin?
This is my moment of truth.
Though, to be honest, I'm pretty much scared stiff.
I really want to go home.
Not that I have a home to go back to.
Chapter 5/Section 6: Geranium
"Right. Do you understand how I've lived up to this era? Take a guess."
Geranium wipes his tears away, smiling.
He seems overjoyed to meet someone he knows, but if he realizes I'm pretending, I'm literally dead.
Especially being this high up, I'd rather not be dropped into town, thanks.
And what's with this transparent floor, anyway?
"You used the Timeflow Sword, didn't you?"
"By manipulating the physical time with the Timeflow Sword, reversing the body's time by twenty-four hours, and using this magic once a day, you could theoretically live forever. That is, if you're as skilled with the Timeflow Sword as you are."
No response? Did he catch on?
"...There's no mistake... You are Holly... Just like Holly when she was possessing him..."
Oh, wrong guess.