“Pathetic junior. How are things going lately?”
“Well, just the usual difficulties.”
Luca was not particularly surprised by the sudden visit from Kal.
He had been expecting this, especially since Lucy had left earlier this morning with the remark that things weren’t fun anymore.
Luca guessed that Lady Lucy had probably figured out, at least roughly, what he was preparing.
So, when Luca had spoken with Lucy earlier, he had seriously considered whether he should start acting on his plans imdiately, even if it disrupted things. After all, if Lucy was coming to make a declaration of war, Luca would have no choice but to go along with it.
But, contrary to his concerns, Lucy had only scratched at his nerves and left without saying anything further.
Luca surmised that she had her suspicions, but wasn’t completely sure yet.
If Lucy knew everything, she wouldn’t have just walked away from soone like him, who was involved with the Evil God.
She, who was loved by the Gods, wouldn’t leave such things alone.
So, Luca decided to delay things for now. After all, there was only a week left until the planned event unfolded.
Even with her connections as a noble of the Arlen family, there was no way Lucy could deal with this in just one week.
Therefore, Luca decided to give her the ti she needed.
The more effort she put in, the more beautiful the end result would be for his plan.
“Pathetic junior like you should be the one who has it tough, right?”
“Professor Kal, you have the Arlen family backing you, don’t you? As for , being from a common background, I have nothing, so I must do whatever I’m told.”
“Haha. I have ears too, junior. With your backing, you’re not exactly a lightweight either.”
“Oh, I suppose I’ve been overacting a bit?”
In any case, the plan was already set in motion. Even if Professor Kal was monitoring , there wasn’t much of an issue.
However, one thing that did bother was the problem of how to get rid of Professor Kal on the day the plan was executed.
“Well, I haven’t lied terribly either.”
Over the past year, Luca had observed Kal and realized that his skills were far beyond that of a re knight.
Even among the shining talents of the Arlen Knights, Kal was considered a rising star. Luca had seen firsthand why Kal was so highly regarded.
From Luca’s perspective, if Kal had joined another knight order, he would have likely already been entrusted with a high-ranking position.
It would be possible to defeat him using various thods, but that would cause significant losses in the process.
That wouldn’t do.
Everything I had to do had to be dedicated to leaving my mark in the stars.
I couldn’t afford to reach for so diocre shining stone.
“A commoner like could never do sothing remarkable with the power of the noble First Queen,” Luca muttered to himself, pondering his next move.
I needed to co up with a way to hand over my diocre talents to soone else.
Elsewhere, in the Art Guild
“Isn’t it too obvious that you're tired of this, Frete? I don’t think I should be treated this way.”
“Huh? Did I do sothing wrong? I was just listening to Sword Saint’s story.”
“Do you seriously think you can deceive my senses and say sothing like that?”
“…I’m sorry, Sword Saint. I’ve been focused on sothing else lately.”
The Sword Saint, Uden, a forr adventurer and the first of his kind in the continent, let out a light laugh and brushed his bangs aside.
“Are you talking about the accessories made by the Art Guild?”
“Do you know about them?”
“Of course. Those accessories are so famous that rchants with money are desperately trying to get their hands on them. How could I not know?”
Despite holding the title of Sword Saint, Uden had chosen to live as an adventurer rather than as an honorary noble of a kingdom. Lately, he had been wandering the world, expanding his knowledge.
Since Uden’s na was so well known, he usually traveled undercover, joining various rchant caravans as a guard, drifting along with the tides.
Given that he often interacted with rchants, it wasn’t surprising that Uden knew about the accessories.
“I’ve heard about them, but is there really that much demand?”
“Frete, you’ve been wandering around for so long, you should know. rchants are obsessed with anything related to fortune.”
“Hmm. I suppose that's true.”
“It’s more than a tendency. If the accessory can bring good fortune, rchants would even eat orc dung if it was part of the deal.”
The accessories from the Art Guild were known to grant luck just by owning them, and their beauty made people smile just by looking at them. How could such a thing not be popular?
“...Sword Saint, please.”
Frete couldn’t help but speak up at the sight of the Sword Saint laughing.
This was why it was so hard to write poems about living Sword Saints. His usual actions and words were so rough that it was impossible to accurately convey what he said.
“Oh. Please don’t lecture . What do you expect from soone who gave up a title just to avoid that sort of thing?”
“Sigh.”
Frete sighed, lowering his head in exasperation, then spoke up, wanting to move things along quickly.
“So, why did you co here, knowing I’d lecture you?”
“It’s because of the accessories I just ntioned.”
“You ca all the way here for those accessories? Why?”
Frete couldn’t help but lift his head in surprise as Uden spoke.
The Uden Frete knew wasn’t soone who cared about such things.
Soone who never felt the need to adorn himself.
A person who would throw away a fine accessory if it annoyed him.
And now he was asking for an accessory?
“Lady Arlen's beauty is enough to touch even soone as blind as you, huh? How touching.”
“…What? What kind of nonsense are you talking?”
“You don’t have to deny it. It’s completely normal to be in awe of Lady Arlen’s beauty. Even the Goddess I serve feels the sa way.”
“No. No, I really don’t care about accessories or beauty. If I really cared, I would’ve just grabbed so random guy by the collar and taken it. Why would I co all the way here?”
“…Are you really telling you see no value in the beauty that shines through in the accessories?”
“So?”
“How can soone like this even exist?”
“Hey, Frete, are you really saying everything on your mind right now? You can’t even control your expression?”
At the sight of Frete, who rarely lost his composure, Uden was caught off guard, his voice faltering.
Realizing his rudeness, Frete cleared his throat and tried to calm himself before continuing.
“Then what’s the connection between the accessories and your purpose for being here?”
“The one depicted in the accessories is Lady Arlen, isn’t she?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Then that ans... you and...”
“Frete!”
Suddenly, the door burst open, and a priest from the Guild entered, breathing heavily as if rushing.
Upon seeing Uden, the priest quickly bowed his head.
“Apologies, Sword Saint! My deepest apologies!”
“It’s fine. I’m not so big deal.”
“However…”
“You’ve got sothing urgent, right? Just tell .”
“…I apologize for the intrusion, but Lady Arlen has arrived at the guild.”
“Lady Arlen is here!?”
“Lady Arlen has co here!?”
I quickly made up my mind to et the Sword Saint and imdiately went to find Karia to ask about her whereabouts.
Despite Uden being the kind of person who wandered aimlessly, for soone of his status, it was only natural that information about where he was would circulate.
As I had expected, Karia imdiately answered about where Uden was.
“She’s at the Art Guild right now.”
“…What?”
That answer caught completely off guard. Why would soone who had been living as an adventurer, always seeking dangerous places, be at the Art Guild? It wasn’t a place that soone like Uden would usually visit.
However, my confusion didn’t change the reality.
Uden was indeed at the Art Guild, and according to Karia, he was currently talking to Frete.
Damn it. I had to go back to that perverted place again?
The place where lunatics were always praying and crying, hoping for blessings?
‘...I know that. But put yourself in my shoes, Grandpa. I have to go to a place where people are bowing and crying, saying they received blessings! How could you handle that?’
‘Sothing similar?’
I heard Grandpa’s story of how they created festivals wherever they went, but I didn’t really sympathize with it.
‘So, did they beg to be stepped on, saying it was a blessing?’
‘Did they spit for inspiration, begging for it?’
‘No, right?’
‘So please don’t pretend to sympathize. I really hate that place.’
After arguing with Grandpa and preparing myself, I used the teleportation skill and headed to the Art Guild.
When I entered the guild, nothing really surprised . There were the familiar faces of people who looked at with bright eyes, calling the Goddess’s incarnation. Those who were prostrating themselves on the ground, praying, or crying when they t my gaze.
As I looked at the hellish scene with sincere contempt, I noticed soone running towards from a distance.
Worn robes, leather armor commonly worn by adventurers, and a conspicuous sword that stood out among other equipnt.
The person with these traits must surely be the Sword Saint. But why was he running toward ?
...Is he also a pervert?
Is he so crazy person with strange tastes like a fool or a perverted apostle!?
Is sothing changing him, turning him weird!?
As I felt confused by the image of the Sword Saint with wide-open eyes, he reached .
With onyx-like eyes, staring at silently, she suddenly dropped to her knees and raised her voice, veins appearing on her neck.
“Lady Arlen! Please, let et your father... No! Please, give a chance to et Lord Arlen! Please, I beg you!”
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