Chapter 139 - The Academy’s Weapon Replicator

Chapter 42: Deception Operation (5)

Inhale, exhale.

I quietly repeated the deep breaths, careful not to let anyone hear.

The most important factor in this deception operation was my remaining Mana.

Penelope’s Cloth was certainly an incredible item containing an enormous amount of Mana, but that didn’t mean it would let me pull outrageous stunts like this indefinitely.

I had caught Heldre off guard and landed a devastating blow, but there was no way I could launch another attack like that.

Even maintaining the forms of Excalibur and Mjolnir was becoming a struggle. My poker face still seemed to be working, though.

That aside...

“S-spare me! Please! I’ll do anything!”

Heldre, begging for his life.

It was a new experience for me, too, but not a particularly pleasant one.

The game portrayed Heldre as a formidable enemy.

Of course, since Constel’s faculty defeated him, the protagonist, Aster Evans, rarely got to face him properly. That also happened much later than this.

Because the game never showed the process of his downfall, Heldre came across as a deeply mysterious figure.

He even had fans, since all we knew was that he wounded a considerable number of Constel’s teachers and fell fighting to the very end.

And now that man was begging for his life. Swallowing his pride as a Zodiac.

“Heldre.”

I called his name and asked something that had been bothering me.

“What happened to your Divine Power?”

“...”

Heldre bowed his head. I couldn’t see his expression, but the trembling of his head betrayed his rage and humiliation.

Heldre hadn’t used Divine Power.

All twelve Zodiacs possessed it. Without Divine Power, you couldn’t become a Zodiac in the first place. There was a gap that magic and Aura simply couldn’t bridge.

Yet Heldre hadn’t used his Divine Power. Not even after both his arms were wrecked.

Of course, I knew why.

“You’ve been abandoned.”

“...!”

The gods were fickle.

Sometimes they granted their Divine Power to no one. Sometimes several gods attached themselves to a single person.

And sometimes, as with Heldre, they took back what they had given.

Of course, I didn’t know the reason for that. The game said Heldre fought to the bitter end, but could he have done that without Divine Power?

“... I haven’t been abandoned...”

Heldre muttered then, his voice full of anger.

“My god has not forsaken me. Even now, she lives at my side.”

“Then why—”

I stopped midsentence and closed my mouth. Something was rising around Heldre’s body.

I hadn’t seen that in a while. A phenomenon only visible to the player. A purple haze.

“...!”

I see.

She really was at his side.

Players had originally considered that purple haze proof that a character had undergone “Corruption.” Characters generally started behaving strangely when it appeared.

But I had witnessed something during the golem incident.

I had seen Hephaestus manifest from the haze rising from Edwin.

In other words, the haze was less a sign of Corruption than evidence of a god’s manifestation.

Which meant...

[“A pleasure to meet you, Frondier de Roach.”]

Time had stopped, just as it had during the golem incident.

And there was a voice that probably only I could hear.

The haze took shape, forming the figure of a woman.

[“Allow me to introduce myself.”]

The woman bowed her head gracefully.

[“I am Hestia.”]

Hestia.

Goddess of the hearth, guardian of the home. Considered the gentlest deity in Greco-Roman mythology.

... Frankly, she didn’t suit Heldre at all. Just as Renzo, the Freeloader of Chaos, had Divine Power from Ares, the God of War, I had expected a similar sort of god to appear for Heldre.

Were the gods of Etius different from the images I generally associated with them after all?

[“You look as though you think I don’t belong here.”]

A god indeed. She picked up on my thoughts with ease.

“That’s right. I’m curious why you granted Heldre your Divine Power.”

I spoke within the frozen time. I hadn’t been able to speak when Hephaestus stopped time. Did this mean Hestia was a higher-ranking god?

[“The reason is simple. Because I love humans.”]

Hestia spoke in the calm, clear voice that suited her.

Though I had no way of knowing yet whether that benevolent demeanor was sincere or a carefully crafted lie.

“What do you mean?”

[“Because I believed helping him was the way to save the most human lives.”]

“... The monster invasion.”

Hestia nodded.

[“When humans are born, we gods can discern the broad outlines of the gifts they will possess and the destinies they will follow. That is why I helped Heldre. He is the one who contributes the most during the monster invasion.”]

“... Before that invasion, Heldre was a vicious criminal. And now he dreams of a revolution that will overthrow the Imperial Palace.”

[“It is difficult for me to offer an answer when you speak of laws and crimes devised among humans. There is only one thing I can say. The humans Heldre has saved outnumber those he has killed several times over, and that number overwhelmingly surpasses anyone else’s in the present age.”]

... Hestia, who loved humans.

She loved and saved them without distinguishing good from evil, and the more, the better.

So she had granted Divine Power to Heldre, the man who saved the most humans.

Truly a god’s way of thinking.

[“But I do not agree with the revolution either. That future holds nothing but bloodshed and horrific death. So I, too, tried to restrain Heldre as much as possible.”]

People did say Heldre had changed after the wall was built.

From a criminal who knew only bloodshed to a man of kindness and mercy, was it? People attributed that to his becoming a Zodiac, but had it actually been Hestia’s doing?

“And even those restraints didn’t work?”

[“I have no intention of forcibly changing his heart. That would make him a god’s puppet, not a human. So I left him. I have merely borrowed his body to manifest here now. He can no longer draw Divine Power from me. I only grant it when I wish, as I see fit.”]

She wasn’t giving him Divine Power.

Then Heldre really had gone ahead with the revolution without Hestia’s help.

Was his current groveling a reaction to losing his Divine Power?

But in the game, Hestia had probably lent him her power for his final stand. The Hestia before me wouldn’t know that yet.

[“We have little time, so I’ll be brief,”] Hestia said.

Apparently, she was about to explain her real reason for appearing before me.

[“Just as the human world is in turmoil, things are not entirely peaceful here among the gods either.”]

“Not peaceful...”

Hestia nodded at my murmur.

[“I cannot explain in detail. Mentioning certain keywords would summon other gods, putting you in danger as well.”]

“Could you give me at least a general idea?”

At my question, Hestia lowered her eyes for a moment, apparently considering something.

She was choosing her words to avoid any keywords that might attract another god’s attention.

[“There is a problem the gods have been unable to resolve for a very long time. Opposing sides formed in pursuit of its solution in the distant past.”]

“... And that affects humans.”

Hestia nodded.

I asked, “Then which side are you on, Lady Hestia?”

[“Let us say I’m on your side. For now, at least.”]

Hestia, who loved humans, was on my side for now.

If it was true that the gods were currently at odds, this was an enormous piece of information.

[“But from what I’ve heard, there should be something you can do in this situation.”]

“Something I can do?”

I looked at Hestia in puzzlement.

Then our eyes met.

“... Ah.”

A scene flashed before my eyes. Just like when I had encountered Hephaestus.

Within it was Hestia, repeating the same task she always had.

Scenes of her daily life sped past like a dream.

Lighting the hearth, looking down on the human world, and watching their lives with loving eyes.

A flame that would never die, burning within the hearth.

Hestia’s Hearth.

I stored the hearth in my Workshop.

[“... You really can...”]

Hearing Hestia’s murmur, I came out of the vision.

It was hard to tell through the haze, but she seemed surprised.

[“You can observe the past by looking into a god’s eyes. Just as Hephaestus said.”]

“...”

I had no answer. In truth, I didn’t know how I could do it either.

Artemis’s Bow and her arrow. Those were the two weapons I had witnessed by seeing Hephaestus’s past.

The condition was probably encountering a god manifested as that purple haze. But even though I had witnessed the past myself, I hadn’t felt as if I’d done anything at all.

If anything, it felt as though the god’s past had been thrust upon me.

[“It is time.”]

Hestia spoke suddenly and seemed to raise her head slightly, as though she had sensed something.

[“Take care, then, Frondier. As you surely know, you have many enemies.”]

“... It’s comforting to know that at least one of the gods is on my side.”

Within the slowly fading haze, she seemed to smile briefly at my words.

Then time began to flow again, and I looked back at Heldre.

‘... All right. This is still hard to get used to.’

Returning to reality after facing a god felt like suddenly being inundated by waves.

But nothing had changed. Time to continue the operation.

“Mr. Heldre. Then let me make you an offer.”

Heldre gave me a suspicious look as I spoke.

Even while begging, he probably thought his chances of survival were slim.

And he wasn’t wrong.

“All I want is your life. So there’s no room for a bargain between us.”

“... Then what offer could you possibly make?” Heldre muttered, sounding offended.

“I’ll give you a choice.”

“A choice?”

As Heldre echoed the word, I lifted Kian by the collar. His gaze shifted to her.

“You seem to care a great deal for your granddaughter.”

“... Now, wait a moment.”

Heldre had guessed what I intended to do.

And his guess was probably right.

“I’m going to drop Kian, right here.”

“...!”

I spoke calmly. Or tried my best to.

“As she falls, I’ll hit her with the same attack I fired at you. I doubt Kian can dodge an attack even you couldn’t evade.”

Heldre’s eyes widened. When I looked at Kian, her expression was much the same.

“But you could block it. You’ve already done so once.”

Though it had wrecked both his arms.

I smiled. I’d been feeling like quite the villain for a while now.

Here I was, weighing a granddaughter’s life against her grandfather’s, right in front of him. Yes, a villain by anyone’s standards.

“I’m giving you a chance.”

Heldre clamped his mouth shut at my words. His jaw clenched.

That was an angry expression, but I couldn’t know what was going through his mind.

“There will be a moment between when I drop Kian and when I fire Excalibur. Will you use that opening to escape, or protect your granddaughter? It’s your choice. For the record, I don’t recommend attacking me. It would be impossible with those hands, and don’t forget who’s standing beside me.”

At my words, Heldre shifted his gaze to Ospreet.

Ospreet was already at my side. With his abilities, he could surely protect me if Heldre tried to attack in that condition.

After a brief silence, Heldre spoke.

“Then does Ospreet agree to this offer as well? He won’t interfere with me either?”

“Of course. Isn’t that right, President?”

I smiled at Ospreet.

Of course, we hadn’t arranged anything beforehand. But Ospreet would see the intent behind my offer.

“... Of course. I will not get involved,” Ospreet said.

I extended the arm holding Kian by the collar out to the side. Even with Aura, she was quite heavy.

“Then make your choice.”

With that—

“Ah!”

I dropped Kian without hesitation. She let out a short sound that barely qualified as a scream.

I pointed Excalibur’s tip toward Kian, holding it in a reverse grip, and drew Mjolnir far back. The same attack stance as before.

I hadn’t named this attack yet, but it looked rather like striking a chisel with a hammer. Maybe I should call it “Chisel.”

“Ggh...!”

Seeing that, Heldre—

Fled. Without so much as looking back. He was disappearing into the distance with Propelled Flight.

‘... That did it.’

Naturally, I had nowhere near enough strength left for a second Chisel. Instead, I spoke.

“President! Please go after Heldre!”

“Are you breaking your promise?”

“You don’t need to attack him! Just chase him so he doesn’t come back this way!”

“... I see. Very well.”

Ospreet, too, used Propelled Flight to soar in the direction Heldre had vanished.

And I dismissed Excalibur and Mjolnir, diving straight down toward the falling Kian.

It felt a little odd to say it when I was the one who’d dropped her, but...

I was going to save Kian.

She still had far too many uses to die just yet.