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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: TushChen
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It was now truly spring.
Winter had passed, and spring had arrived.
Spring, known as the season of encounters, was heralding a farewell for Nias and me.
At the castle’s main gate, a lavish carriage and a group of knights to escort it were standing there.
My father and mother were already saying their goodbyes to the person who would be leaving the castle today.
Imperial Princess Yuria Rodmas.
Now 12 years old, Yuria had finished her two years of magic training at Deinhart Castle and was about to return to the capital.
“Thank you for your teachings until now, Your Grace the Duke. And I would also like to express my gratitude to the Duchess, who has kindly embraced me like a mother all this time.”
Yuria spread her skirt and politely bowed, following etiquette.
At an age when her chest was beginning to rise gently, Yuria was slowly progressing from childhood to a charming young girl.
“Even after returning to the capital, you must not neglect your magic training. If you let your guard down and start slacking off, your two years of effort will go to waste.”
“Yes, of course. Your Grace’s teachings are already engraved deep within my heart.”
Yuria gently smiled and nodded, then widened her eyes upon noticing me.
“Leonhart.”
Yuria approached me with a smile, lifting the hem of her dress and taking small steps.
She stopped before me with slightly flushed cheeks and a beautiful smile.
“You’re really terrible, Leonhart. Why did you only come now? Shouldn’t you be on time? You’re my… my knight, you know.”
Yuria spoke slightly excitedly as if she was scolding me, yet not quite.
“I had something to prepare.”
I spoke as if to appease Yuria and smiled.
Yuria stared at my face momentarily as if entranced, then came to her senses as if waking from a dream and opened her mouth.
“Something to prepare?”
“May I have your hand, Your Highness?”
Yuria tilted her head slightly and extended her hand to me at my question.
I gently held Yuria’s hand and placed a necklace on it.
It was a necklace with a sapphire embedded in it, which I had asked my father and mother for in advance.
“This is…?”
Yuria looked at me in surprise at the unexpected gift.
“Since we won’t be able to see each other for a while. I, who have sworn an oath as a knight, wish to serve Your Highness, but I cannot do so…”
At my words, Yuria’s face flushed red.
It was a color that ideally suited spring.
“…Thank you.”
Yuria muttered softly and took the necklace.
Then, she put the necklace around her neck, swept her hair back, and gazed intently at me.
Yuria’s blue eyes and the sapphire’s blue glow harmonized beautifully, enhancing each other’s beauty.
“How is it…?”
I looked at Yuria and smiled softly.
“It suits you very well. Extremely well.”
Upon hearing my compliment, Yuria’s face seemed to heat up, and she brought the back of her hand to her cheek to cool it down.
But even so, the faint smile across her face couldn’t be hidden.
If you looked closely, she was pretty cute.
“I have also imbued it with my mana.”
At my words, Yuria gently caressed the necklace with her slender fingers, which were beginning to show hints of womanhood.
Yuria, who believed she had mana insensitivity, was under the misconception that she wouldn’t be able to use magic without my mana.
Magic is the power of the mind. Considering the characteristics of magic, a power greatly influenced by one’s mental state, she might be unable to use magic if she couldn’t feel my mana.
To prevent that, I had given her a necklace imbued with my mana.
Yuria, who had been caressing the blue sapphire, soon smiled elegantly.
“Then, it’s as if you’re constantly by my side. I’ll consider your promise to always be with me as properly kept, Leonhart.”
“It’s an honor.”
I also responded with a smile.
“Ahem.”
At that moment, Nias released a slight cough she had held back.
It was a tiny cough, slightly louder than a whisper.
However, since a quiet conversation occurred, everyone’s attention was drawn to Nias.
Nias’ face turned bright red.
“I- I’m sorry…”
Every spring, Nias suffered from a mild pollen allergy.
Although not severe, she said she couldn’t hold back her cough sometimes.
“Hehe, it’s alright. We’ve already spent two springs together. I know well how much you struggle, Nias.”
“Still…”
“It’s okay! I’ll say it’s fine in the name of the princess. Rather, thank you for coming out despite the difficulty with your allergy.”
Yuria spoke kindly to Nias, and they held each other’s hands.
Surprisingly, after the incident where Nias and I were severely injured and returned from the forest, the two of them hit it off and quickly became close friends.
“I won’t be able to have tea time with Nias anymore… I’ll be quite lonely.”
“…Me too. I’ll be extremely lonely.”
The two of them looked at each other and burst into small laughter.
Seeing the two of them, who had a poor relationship, become so close was undoubtedly heartwarming, but…
‘Is this okay?’
Honestly, I was a bit worried about that fact.
In the original work, Nias and Yuria had the worst enemy relationship. Yuria would torment Nias, and the protagonist would often protect Nias from Yuria’s bullying.
But now they were almost best friends, so I wondered if things would go astray in the future.
“Well then, I’ll be going now. Take care, Leonhart Deinhart.”
After finishing her tearful farewell with Nias, Yuria turned to me and spoke.
“…Let’s meet again.”
“Yes. Definitely.”
Yuria gave a slight eye smile.
I held Yuria’s hand, escorted her to the carriage, and opened the door.
While getting into the carriage, Yuria maintained a confident demeanor until the end, but I could sense her troubled heart.
The soft-hearted Yuria probably wanted to cry her heart out right now.
Yuria was returning to the capital due to the political issues currently unfolding there.
Just as their father, the emperor, had experienced, the forces of Yuria’s two older brothers, who had similar positions in the line of succession, were starting to clash in the capital.
Amidst the turbulent situation, the emperor feared that the princess might be politically exploited by the Deinhart Duchy, so he summoned the princess back to the imperial palace.
After this, Yuria would be swept up in the politics of the imperial palace and grow into an even more proud, arrogant, and elitist royal.
We had been together for two whole years.
Knowing she would face difficult days ahead, sending her off with a peaceful mind wasn’t easy.
“May you stay safe until we meet again.”
I spoke sincerely.
Yuria responded with a smile and a wave of her hand.
The carriage door closed, and the carriage and the escort knights slowly began to move.
*Ding!*
After the carriage had departed, I exhaled.
“Father. Mother. Then, I will return to my studies.”
“Take it easy. Especially since your health isn’t good…”
I spoke to reassure my mother, who was expressing her concern.
“No. There is no end to knowledge.”
At my words, my father and mother let out sighs of admiration, looking at me with eyes that said, “As expected of our son.”
I could feel the deep affection in their gaze.
“I am also in awe of your infinite pursuit of knowledge. It’s a rare talent even in our Deinhart family. Take care of your body and continue to cultivate your talent.”
“Yes. I will do so.”
I nodded at my father’s words of encouragement.
Pursuit of knowledge, huh.
Of course. This was a world inside a novel. The knowledge here was the setting.
And there was no end to an enthusiast digging into the settings.
No matter how much you dug, the knowledge of this world was fascinating.
“Let’s go, Nias.”
Nias, who had been continuously staring in the direction Yuria’s carriage had departed, followed me closely while repeatedly sneezing.
“Are you going to the library again? Achoo.”
“Yeah. There’s something I want to know.”
“Recently, you’ve been so engrossed in books to the point of worrying about your health.”
That’s right.
Recently, I have been obsessed with a particular setting.
Strongest.
No one’s heart doesn’t burn at this word.
It’s even more thrilling when the words “weapon” follow this word “strongest.”
The supreme weapon that ends up in the protagonist’s hands after much hardship.
The moment it is swung, everyone is stunned by its destructive power.
Such a scene automatically plays out in one’s mind.
However, in novels or games, the “strongest” often exists only in the setting and cannot be confirmed in reality. This is especially true for works with tons of settings attached.
Naturally, 『The Hero of Salvation』, full of brain-twisting settings, couldn’t be an exception.
In fact, the protagonist, Leonhart, had the opportunity to obtain the strongest weapon from the early stages of his life.
If the story had gone down that route, the protagonist could have killed the demon king sooner.
Because the strongest weapon was sealed within Teranto’s tablets.
He wouldn’t have needed to twist his body and devote himself to training to break through the demon king’s absolute barrier if he had obtained that weapon.
And here lies the problem.
The early stages of life refer to the childhood years not depicted in the work.
I understood that much, but what are Teranto’s tablets?
Where are they located?
What do they look like?
Of course, if the author had further supplemented this setting, I wouldn’t have had such questions.
The Tablets of Teranto housed the strongest weapon.
The author didn’t expand on this foreshadowing and stopped revealing the settings.
This was how the settings of this novel were.
Words that seemed appropriate were written, but there were many instances where no specific mention was made later.
However, in this world, even those background settings entirely exist.
In fact, as someone reborn in this world, I clearly learned through Nias that the background settings impacted the world.
‘And that means there must definitely be something like the Tablets of Teranto and therefore, the strongest weapon in this world.’
After the battle with Cluak, I realized that I could die at any time without proper strength.
Even then, if I had made the slightest mistake, I would have been gobbled up by Cluak’s beak from head to toe.
So, I decided to obtain the ‘strongest weapon according to the setting’ mentioned in the worldview settings as quickly as possible.
I thought that by combining the settings I remembered, the development of the novel, and finally, the clues I could find in the documents existing in this world, I could figure out the location of the Tablets of Teranto.
It was a task I thought wouldn’t be accessible in the first place.
After a lengthy investigation, I finally understood what Teranto’s tablets were.
Teranto meant “full moon” in the local dialect of the Deinhart region.
In other words, it meant the Tablets of the Full Moon.
After that, I traced back the territory’s history to see if there were any incidents related to the full moon.
I couldn’t find a single clue in two years.
“Not here either… Damn it. Where the hell is it?”
Nias stared blankly at me as I quickly read books and tossed them aside, occasionally coughing with an “achoo.”
“Teranto…”
“Tomato? Achoo.”
Mishearing the word due to her coughing, Nias asked back with an absurd response.
“Teranto.”
“Tomato. Achoo.”
“Teranto!”
I slapped Nias’ forehead with a whack.
Nias looked at me as if it was unfair.
“It sounded like a tomato…”
“Your ears are the problem, you idiot. Go over there. Don’t buzz around like a mosquito. Stay at least ten steps away.”
“One…”
There she goes again.
But this time, Nias couldn’t take ten steps back.
Because she bumped into the bookshelf behind her before that.
“Eek!”
The bookshelf shook with a clatter, and books fell on Nias’ head.
I used magic at the last moment to scatter the books in all directions before they collided with Nias.
“Hey! Be careful!”
“Ehehe… S- sorry.”
Nias looked up at me with her shoulders hunched.
*Ding!*
At that moment, I noticed a small picture book lying beside Nias.
On the page was a picture of a bright full moon illuminating a castle and a village.
‘That thing drawn there… could it be?’
Sensing something, I opened the first page of the book.
On the first page was a picture of a bright moon in the sky, its light dimly illuminating a castle and a village.
‘This is…!’
What was depicted in that picture was definitely Deinhart Castle and the village beneath it.
I quickly flipped through the pages of the book.
There was no text at all in the book. Only pictures.
The picture book depicted the story of a boy exploring the village on a full moon night.
Sensing something unusual, I opened the cover to check the book’s author.
And I smiled faintly.
The author was Kift Deinhart.
The first duke of the Deinhart Ducal House.
Who would have thought it was hidden in pictures, not text!
I had only been searching through text-based books, so I couldn’t find it for two years.
“Nias. Well done.”
“Huh?”
Nias looked at me as if she didn’t quite understand what she had done.
“I’ll call you a flower pig instead of just a pig today.”
“Huh?”
Nias pondered momentarily, wondering if it was really a good thing.
“Thank you!”
Seeing Nias smile brightly, I felt sorry for her and patted her head before standing up.
“Get ready now. We need to go to the village. No, wait, don’t follow me and stay here quietly. You’re a nuisance.”
“The village… but don’t we need the Duke’s permission?”
After the incident two years ago, when Nias and I returned severely injured, going out without permission had been prohibited.
“We’ll sneak out, so it’s fine.”
At my words, Nias showed a slightly worried expression.
Then, realizing she couldn’t stop me, she pushed forward with a determined look.
“Then I’ll go too! I can’t let you go alone, Young Master…!”
Nias abruptly stood up from her seat.
And the very next moment, covering her mouth with both hands, she let out a slight cough.
“Achoo.”
It was slightly softer than a whisper.
I wondered how she would follow me like that.
Wait, but… there was one thing that bothered me.
If my memory was correct, the author definitely mentioned a route.
Could it be…
*Ding!*
I felt a chill running down my spine.
It seemed that in my attempt to gain strength a bit earlier, I had triggered a landmine.
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A narrow space where light poured in.
Around it, the corpses of dead girls and boys were endlessly piled up.
This place was a shrine.
A shrine to find the saint who would live their entire life for God.
Numerous boys and girls were kidnapped by the church and pushed into this place.
Without food or water, only a large number of children stayed here.
And they were told that only one could survive in this place.
Finally, there was a girl who survived alone in that space of death.
With her hands clasped together, the silver-haired girl was offering a prayer towards that tiny ray of light pouring down from the sky.
The prayer of the small, delicate girl, who had not been able to properly consume food for several days, was already no different from madness itself.
‘If you believe in Him, pray earnestly, plead, and beg, He will bestow merciful salvation upon you.’
Those words, heard from the hooded figures before being forcibly brought into this narrow and small cave, had eventually become a faith for the girl.
In a place without salvation, praying fervently to God beyond that light.
For a single drop of water to fall from there.
For the gaze of God to reach her even once.
For a single instance of salvation to come upon her.
Gradually, the girl’s faith grew stronger and stronger.
And this was the very place where she would die while endlessly seeking that faith.
“O God. Please grant me just one salvation.”
And as if her God had responded to those words, or as if someone had heard her prayer, a caravan stopped in front of the tunnel where the girl was buried.
The moment the rope was lowered, the girl grasped it, believing it to be salvation.
Not knowing that the rope belonged to the slave traders who had killed the people of her church.
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