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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Lord Fourth
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“Ophelia Meredith.”
In the Papal Office, Pope Eudor emerged from the pillar of golden light.
Ophelia, kneeling at the bottom of the stairs as dictated by etiquette, looked up at him.
“Two months.”
Eudor sat down, his displeasure evident. He tapped his ringed finger on the armrest.
“You were gone for two months. Two months! The Saintess of the Holy City, suddenly missing, in the midst of the Demon King’s resurrection. Along with a Holy Inquisitor and a Holy Knight.”
It was unprecedented. He had immediately ordered a full-scale search. That’s how much the Holy City valued its Saintess.
But despite their efforts, the Saintess had returned on her own.
“Do you have any idea how much time and effort the clergy of the Holy City spent searching for you, how worried they were?”
“….”
“You have a lot of explaining to do. And about your escort knight, Sir Elliot, returning with serious injuries.”
It was a threat. Eudor’s voice was calm, but the underlying anger made even the surrounding clergymen hold their breath.
Ophelia flinched, but her expression remained neutral.
“I’ll ask you once. Ophelia Meredith, do you have anything to say about leaving the Holy City without permission?”
“No.”
A direct answer. Eudor’s eyes narrowed.
“What?”
“There’s no excuse. I just wanted to go outside.”
“Go outside?”
“Yes. I wanted to see the world. Ured and Sir Elliot followed me to try and stop me. And Sir Elliot was injured in an attack by the Demon King’s army.”
“So, you’re admitting that this is all your fault?”
“Yes.”
Pope Eudor had expected Ophelia to make excuses. He would have been disappointed, but he would have let her off with a light punishment, for the sake of appearances.
But Ophelia readily admitted her fault. Honesty was a virtue, but not one befitting a Saintess.
To say she simply wanted to “see the world” in front of all these clergymen was an affront to the Papal Office.
And Eudor valued his reputation above all else.
“Ophelia.”
“Yes.”
“Do you remember what I told you before?”
“I am God’s representative, Your Holiness’s avatar. My actions are God’s will, and my words are yours.”
“And you did this knowing that?”
He pressed her. Ophelia nodded, and Eudor groaned. He was furious.
“So, you’ve disgraced me, the Papal Office, and above all, God. Do you admit that as well?”
Eudor asked, and Ophelia responded with a smile. Not the benevolent smile of a Saintess, but the mischievous grin of a child. Eudor’s face turned red.
“Saintess Ophelia Meredith, you have committed a grave sin. You will be punished accordingly.”
Eudor stood up and descended the stairs.
Ophelia maintained her smirk until he reached her and raised his hand.
—
‘We shouldn’t tell anyone about the Hero’s Mark.’
That was the conclusion Ophelia and I had reached on our way back to the Holy City. I touched the back of my hand, which was covered by a glove, lost in thought.
There were two main reasons for this. First, the Hero’s Mark held immense significance.
Every nation, even the Demon King’s army, was desperately searching for it.
Its appearance would undoubtedly have a huge impact. Word of my battle with the dark mage in the Great Forest had already spread.
If news of me being chosen as the hero were to spread as well, the repercussions would be difficult to handle. The political landscape of the continent would shift drastically.
Of course, that was just the surface reason. The more important reason was…
‘The Demon King is controlling transmigrators.’
The dark mage’s words couldn’t be dismissed. People from Earth, summoned by the Demon King, marked with stigmas, acting as his puppets throughout the continent.
If the Demon King’s army were to find out that Elliot, a knight of the Holy City, had become the hero… They already knew about me.
‘Elliot, the mercenary! The mad dog of the Black Eagle Mercenary Group! The slave swordsman who slaughtered hundreds of demons! Many demons seek revenge against you!’
“It wasn’t that many.”
I scratched the back of my neck, embarrassed. They seemed to despise the name “Elliot, the slave swordsman.”
And now, that same Elliot had become a knight of the Holy City and received the Hero’s Mark? Considering what happened in Loren, the Demon King’s army would likely attack the Holy City.
Of course, the Holy City was much larger and more powerful than Loren. But the transmigrators… they knew the game’s information, just like me. I was probably the only one in this world, besides the Demon King’s army, who knew about their existence.
I didn’t want to fight them yet. Neither Ophelia nor I were ready. That was my conclusion.
We, the heroes of this game, needed to become stronger before revealing our true identities.
“What a cruel twist of fate…”
I thought of Geldmere, the One-Eyed Knight, a commander of the Demon King’s army. I couldn’t imagine myself defeating him. And there were at least ten more like him in the Demon King’s castle.
Could I really defeat them all and then kill the Demon King? I wasn’t confident. But God had chosen me as the hero, and the Mark was now on my body.
Whether I liked it or not, I was destined to defeat the Demon King.
There was still a year and a half until the main story began. Plenty of time. But I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease as I paced back and forth in front of the Papal Office.
‘What are we going to tell His Holiness? Desertion is a serious crime.’
‘You won’t be punished. I’ll take the blame. We’ll say I left on my own, and you followed me to protect me. Ured will back us up.’
‘Ophelia, are you sure about this?’
‘It’ll be fine… He wouldn’t kill me, would he? Not even you.’
‘Ophelia, I’m trembling.’
‘….’
That was our conversation earlier. Ophelia had said she would take the blame, but I knew she was nervous about facing the Pope. She would definitely be punished.
I rubbed the back of my hand, lost in thought.
“I’m back.”
Ophelia’s voice.
“Ah, how did it go?”
I turned around with a smile.
“….”
The smile vanished from my face when I saw the red handprint on Ophelia’s cheek.
“Which bastard did this?”
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“How can I not worry about it?”
Her cheek was more swollen than when I had slapped her. Unlike me, who had held back, he must have hit her with full force. I rushed over to her and examined her cheek.
“Let’s… let’s heal that first. I’ll use divine magic…”
“No.”
Ophelia shook her head.
“I can’t heal it.”
“…Why?”
“It’s a… holy scar. I should be grateful.”
I couldn’t heal it. A holy scar.
I understood.
There was only one person in the Holy City who could inflict a wound that couldn’t be healed, a wound that was considered a blessing.
“The Pope?”
A wound inflicted by the Pope was a holy scar, a blessing from God. It couldn’t be healed. It was absurd, but that was reality in the Holy City.
My eyelids twitched, and I asked, my voice trembling slightly. Ophelia smiled wryly and patted my shoulder.
“Don’t look so worried. I took the blame for everything.”
“But…”
“You’re the hero, aren’t you?”
“….”
“…Ugh, this is embarrassing. What was God thinking, choosing you as the hero?”
She muttered, then kicked a nearby fence, as if embarrassed.
“I won’t be seeing you for a while, anyway.”
“…Why?”
I asked, trying to suppress my anger. Ophelia’s expression was pained.
“I’m going to the punishment room.”
“The punishment room?”
“You don’t need to know. I’ll come out… in one piece, at least.”
With those words, Ophelia walked away. I called out to her, but she didn’t respond.
“….”
But I could tell from her expression that she was terrified of the punishment room.
I clenched my fists. I didn’t know why, but I felt a surge of anger.
“Sigh…”
Archbishop Belwin sighed deeply in his room. It had been just two months since the Holy City was thrown into chaos by Ophelia’s disappearance.
He had been quite worried. And when he found out that Elliot had disappeared as well, he had felt a sense of dread. Ophelia had finally done it. She had caused a major incident.
He had been relieved when Ophelia returned two months later, but his relief had turned to anxiety when he saw the seriously injured Elliot beside her.
He didn’t know what had happened, but it was clearly something serious.
“Why would you do such a thing?”
Belwin muttered, addressing the absent Ophelia. He wasn’t blaming her. He simply felt sorry for her, knowing she had been summoned by the Pope.
“His Holiness will surely punish her severely.”
That was the law of the Holy City, and only the Pope could judge Ophelia. She would probably be sent to the punishment room. The thought made Belwin’s hand tremble.
The punishment room. The place where Ophelia had been sent countless times during her training as a Saintess.
The last time Ophelia had been sent there was ten years ago. She had been young then, clinging to Belwin’s robes, begging him to help her, to save her. But Belwin hadn’t been able to defend her.
The Pope then, as now, was Eudor Meredith. Ophelia’s adoptive father. An outsider, a mere priest, couldn’t interfere with the Pope’s discipline of his daughter.
Ophelia had been dragged away to the punishment room, and she had changed after that. She had developed two faces. The ideal Saintess in front of the Pope, and her true self everywhere else.
That’s when the rumors of her being a villainess began. But Belwin, who had known Ophelia since she was a child, knew better.
She wasn’t inherently evil. She wasn’t a bad child, though she wasn’t exactly kind either. He couldn’t forget the image of the young Ophelia, begging him to save her from pain.
He believed that she was simply lashing out at the harsh reality surrounding her.
“I wish… she hadn’t come back.”
Belwin had secretly hoped that Ophelia would leave the Holy City, disgusted with her life there, and find freedom elsewhere. But…
Bang!
His thoughts were interrupted. The door to his room burst open, and a knight walked in.
The blond Holy Knight, Elliot.
His expression was more menacing than Belwin had ever seen.
“Sir Elliot. What brings you…”
“What is the punishment room?”
Belwin frowned at the abrupt question.
“The punishment room?”
“That’s where Ophelia was sent. I thought you might know. What do they do there?”
“….”
Belwin hesitated. But Elliot’s expression was too frightening to ignore. He explained. Elliot’s eyes turned cold.
“Thank you.”
“Sir Elliot, where are you going?”
“Just taking a walk.”
Elliot said curtly and left the room.
Bang!
The door slammed shut, and silence returned to Belwin’s room.
“Huh.”
Belwin sat down, relieved.
“There’s still… hope for Ophelia.”
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Hi Lord Fourth here!
I’m still new to translating as this is my second novel to pick up, so if you find some mistakes or inconsistencies let me know about it on the dedicated channel on discord.
Sad…