The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 146

Chapter 146: Whiteout (4)

Several days had passed since the Saintess parted ways with Cain. It was enough time for the upper echelons of the Holy See to be thrown into disarray due to her long-distance communication.

[The Consistorium has reached a decision.]

Cardinal Fiorelli’s voice echoed in the Saintess’s chamber in Mainus.

[We grant permission for Rinaldo Pisani, the chief paladin of the Order of Autumn, to participate in the Airian Succession Trial.]

The Saintess made the sign of the cross and replied.

“All things are by the light.”

[However, Caterina.]

“Speak your will.”

[Remember that even His Holiness, let alone the other cardinals, broke his oath out of necessity to prevent a witch from becoming king.]

“……I apologize.”

On the other side of the receiver.

Cardinal Fiorelli, who would be in the Holy Palace across the sea and beyond the Empire, sighed.

[You don’t have to apologize so much. As an agent of the ‘light,’ that choice would be the will of the light.]

“…….”

[Why aren’t you answering?]

“I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore, not to mention my will, but also the future that the Holy Crown shows.”

Saintess Caterina calmly confessed her true feelings.

At first, she thought Cain was the Demon King. But he proved his innocence not with words but with actions.

No matter how hard she tried to see him negatively, she couldn’t disparage his attitude of always being prepared to sacrifice, which ‘light’ regarded as the highest value.

[Wasn’t he that bad when you actually met him?]

Fiorelli spoke not as a cardinal, but as the grandmother who raised Caterina and supported her all the way to this position.

Caterina bit her lower lip.

“Yes.”

[You said you also met the witch who sees the future?]

The Saintess originally had no intention of reporting Airian’s truth to the Holy See.

That way, she would be able to gloss over Oleciren’s identity.

But the situation was not favorable.

The Holy See would have immediately known about the killing of Elf Queen Glumiêm.

Furthermore, she needed the cardinals’ permission to send the chief paladin to the Succession Trial.

She had no choice but to report everything that had happened in Airian, and Cardinal Fiorelli knew it well.

“Yes.”

[And the future you two saw was no different.]

“It was the same sight.”

[Just because she’s a witch doesn’t mean she’s evil. It’s just that her power is so great that we have to punish her beforehand.]

“Then are you saying that my interpretation was wrong?”

Caterina asked pointedly.

It was like being accused of misinterpreting the future that ‘Autumn’ had directly shown her.

Then Fiorelli’s warm voice came from the other end of the receiver.

[That’s possible.]

“I did my best to interpret…….”

[Not all the best efforts bring the right results.]

Cardinal Fiorelli was someone who wanted not only the best effort but also the best results.

Caterina, who had heard this countless times since she was a child, shut her mouth.

[The day you heard the revelation, I and the other cardinals were worried about one thing.]

“What is it.”

[Emotion.]

“……!”

Most of the previous Saintesses had been completely indifferent. Therefore, they had dryly listed only the facts in interpreting the future.

That’s why Archbishop Barbetta didn’t trust Caterina’s prediction very much. The truth is so fragile that it is distorted by human emotions.

[That day, you were full of anger and sadness. That’s ‘your’ emotion in that future sight.]

“I admit it. But━.”

[When you see the future from the past, you have to look at it more broadly. Have you ever thought about it?]

“What are you talking about?”

[Why did the Iron-Blooded Princess, whose identity has yet to be revealed, have her wedding at the Holy See?]

“……!”

Caterina’s eyes widened.

It was such a natural background that she didn’t even care.

In the future shown by the Holy Crown, the Empire’s ‘Princess’ and the hero Abel have their wedding in Henerali-fe, the capital of the Holy See.

[Why did the woman who practically conquered the Empire come all the way to the Holy See instead of the Empire’s capital to get married? If she coveted the authority of ‘Summer,’ she would have had to do it within the Empire.]

“That’s…….”

[And you said that Cain Ethelred brought what appeared to be ‘Winter’s’ greatsword at that time.]

“Yes, that’s right.”

Cardinal Fiorelli was silent for a moment.

As if she was recalling past memories, memories she didn’t want to recall but couldn’t help but dredge up.

A strange silence flowed.

[The owner of ‘Summer’ is called a hero, and the owner of ‘Winter’ is called Lord East.]

“Lord East……? Ah, the one from the Great Wall?”

[Yes, the greatest of the Great Wall who protects the Western human world from the destruction of the East.]

“Are you saying Cain becomes such a person?”

[‘Cain’?]

Fiorelli picked up on the subtle difference in the Saintess’s tone of voice.

Saintess Caterina flinched for a moment and continued speaking quickly.

“It was awkward to address him formally, so I got used to calling him comfortably.”

[Be careful. Your actions, your tone of voice, even your eyes represent the dignity and latitude of the Holy See, just like all of us cardinals.]

“All things are by the light.”

Caterina actually thought that Fiorelli was the first one to screw up on that, but she kept her mouth shut.

[Why would such a warrior king of the Great Wall kill the hero?]

“I don’t know.”

[In other words, the future is a single scene in which all the processes in between are omitted. Our job is to trace the process leading up to that future.]

The Holy See is the place where the Holy Crown, ‘Autumn,’ is inherited.

Therefore, they occasionally interpreted the future that ‘Autumn’ had thrown at them, and by now, they had become adept at interpreting it.

The Saintess, who had been pondering her words for a long time, asked abruptly.

“Then why didn’t you stop me when I said I was going to Airian? It’s a big trip with the Holy Crown and the holy sword.”

[Because it was the first time.]

“The first time?”

[It was the first time you said you were going to step outside Henerali-fe, let alone outside the Holy See.]

Fiorelli’s tone was warm.

While she had been going back and forth as a cardinal and a senior priest of the Holy See, this time she spoke like a real grandmother.

[You can’t grow in a safe place. And we decided. Whether your choice was emotional or whatever, you need an adventure to grow again.]

“Did Cardinal Mauro know?”

Perhaps it was a decision made at the Cardinals’ Conference.

The Saintess, realizing that the Holy See had taken a significant challenge for her growth, asked again.

[I only told that blockhead to protect you with his life. If I had told him everything, he would have run to you and told you everything.]

Even though they were both cardinals, the times were different.

The youngest, Cardinal Mauro, was the best fist attached to protect the Saintess.

“Actually…… No. Thank you.”

The Saintess was about to say that he was useless, but she just thanked him obediently.

[Yes, he didn’t do much. When you get back to Henerali-fe, I’ll have to make sure he comes to his senses. He’s gotten carried away since becoming a cardinal.]

He’d find out anyway.

And Mauro was most afraid of Cardinal Fiorelli, having learned from her since he was a child.

[Rina.]

Saintess, Caterina Fiorelli.

Cardinal Fiorelli, the only one who could call her by her nickname until now, called her.

“Yes.”

[It’s been a long story, but keep one thing in mind. Do as you please.]

“……Yes?”

[Now that I have granted permission for the Paladin to participate in the battle, there is nothing you cannot do. So don’t let the princess or the witch push you around.]

“Thank you.”

She wouldn’t be able to see it.

But Caterina bowed her head. Fiorelli’s warm affection made the Saintess bow her waist.

[So, that would-be Demon King, ‘Cain,’ is my grandson-in-law candidate━]

“I’ll end the call now.”

Caterina hung up the receiver.

It was Fiorelli’s way of communicating, always adding a joke at the end.

When she was young, she used to answer every single one of them, but now she just hung up out of habit.

“Ah.”

But there was one more thing she wanted to ask.

Click━.

However, the light that was on when the other party was on the other end of the receiver went out.

Caterina stared at it for a moment before getting up from her seat and leaving the communication room.

Clank━.

As she opened the thick iron door that blocked out all outside noise, a priest in charge of the communication room was standing outside.

“I have a favor to ask.”

Caterina relayed the rest of her message to him.

“At the next regular communication with Henerali-fe, please ask if there is anything I need to know about the ‘Commons.’”

“I understand.”

The priest bowed his head. At that moment, his eyes sparkled as he mentioned the ‘Commons.’

“Ah, and Saintess.”

“Yes.”

“We have a…… visitor, of sorts.”

“A visitor, of sorts?”

“Well, that…….”

🔹🔹🔹

Caterina’s jaw dropped.

Archbishop Barbetta, who had arrived earlier, let out a somewhat tired laugh.

“Well, we were wondering whether to rebuild it or not, but this is fortunate.”

The two of them.

Or rather, the place where the priests were gathered, picking up the pieces.

One of the outer halls of Mainus Cathedral.

It was an outer hall famous for its beautiful round roof.

“Did that human break it?”

The Saintess pointed her index finger at the man.

Sitting proudly in a chair.

A silver sword hung at his waist.

Clang━.

And he was wearing an iron bucket on his head. There were holes in the eyes and nose, as if they had been pierced with fingers.

“Yes. The self-proclaimed ‘Knight of the Iron Mask’…….”

“Anyone can see that it’s Count Edmund.”

She was dumbfounded.

She had traveled with Count Edmund for quite some time, and he wasn’t even dressed differently from then, so of course she would recognize him.

The voice of the self-proclaimed ‘Iron Mask’ Edmund, who was far away, could be heard.

“I am no such person. I am the Iron Mask.”

Step, step━.

The Saintess and Barbetta approached him.

She had just been told by Cardinal Fiorelli that her actions represented the dignity of the Holy See, but she couldn’t help but say something.

“Did you go crazy in the meantime, Lord Edmund?”

“I am the Iron Mask━.”

“That’s not an iron mask, it’s a bucket!”

In the end, the Saintess’s voice rose.

Barbetta smiled bitterly at the sight.

He felt like he understood a little better why the insult ‘Edmund-like’ was so commonly used among the upper echelons of Airian.

Swoosh━.

Edmund finally took off his bucket.

“I thought you wouldn’t recognize me.”

“Even a blind man would recognize you.”

“……Hmm.”

“So why did you show up wearing that thing and break the ceiling of our cathedral, Lord Edmund?”

“It is something I cannot speak of unless I am the Knight of the Iron Mask.”

Clench━.

The Saintess clenched her fists.

If she had been strong like the monks or the mechanized paladins, she would have thrown her fists to relieve her frustration.

But she was still a Saintess.

She barely managed to hold back and continued speaking.

“I’ll assume you’re the Knight of the Iron Mask, so just say it.”

“Ahem.”

Edmund cleared his throat and lowered his voice.

“I want to participate in the Succession Trial. Send me out.”

“……?”

“I’m a good fighter.”

The Saintess rubbed her forehead.

She was so frustrated by his absurd words that she felt like she was going to explode, and Barbetta, who had been laughing, opened his mouth.

“Knight of the Iron Mask, we’ve already made our decision. The one sent by Lord Marquis McLoud, the vice-knight commander of the Royal Knights, and the chief paladin will participate.”

“In that case…….”

Edmund raised a finger.

And he closed his eyes for a moment, as if feeling something, before getting up from his seat.

“I’ll go and finish off the Royal vice-knight commander.”

“Crazy bastard.”

Translator’s Blog

Blog

• That Cringey Anime Obsessed Kid In Your Class: A Guide to Not Being That Guy (Or Gal)
• Unlocking Your Inner Naruto Fox: Finding Your Sasuke and Mastering the Sharingan
• The Ultimate Isekai Checklist: From Denial to Acceptance (and Maybe a Little Indigestion)
• Scrolling Through Reddit: “My dog got into the Chinese take-out before I did”
• What if Disney Princesses Were Real? (Spoiler: Not So Magical)