Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 16: A Sense of Unease (3)
A heavy silence fell over the place.
The moment Elliot saw what was in his hands, his confusion deepened and his breathing grew even more ragged. His feet seemed sewn to the ground, and when he opened his mouth, only harsh, ugly breaths escaped—not a sound.
Lloyd was equally frozen. He couldn’t comprehend a sight he would never have imagined even the day before.
Their one saving grace was that only Elliot, Lloyd, and Powell had witnessed it. Had more people been present, chaos would surely have followed.
The silence was broken by Bishop Powell addressing Lloyd.
“You… Your name was Lloyd, was it not?”
“…Yes.”
Seeing the two men’s reactions, Powell appeared to understand what had happened. He stared in the same direction as Lloyd.
“One question: do you have any idea why this happened?”
His calm voice finally brought Lloyd back to himself, but Lloyd could only shake his head.
“…Hmm. It would be best not to let His Majesty—or anyone else—realize what happened yet. You would hardly welcome a barrage of questions when you don’t know the reason yourselves.”
“Yes… You’re right.”
Lloyd forced out the low reply, then turned back to Elliot. Still deathly pale and bewildered, Elliot remained rooted to the spot.
“You two remain here for a while. I’ll offer a suitable explanation and send the others back first.”
With movements remarkably agile for his age, Powell mounted his horse and rode toward the lavish carriage carrying the king and chancellor.
Left behind, Lloyd helped Elliot—still nowhere near calm—sit on a nearby rock.
Elliot was dazed beyond thought and didn’t respond when Lloyd spoke to him.
The sword needed to be sheathed for the moment, so Lloyd pried Elliot’s hand from its hilt. At once, he frowned again.
—It’s light…?
When Elliot first acquired the holy sword on the battlefield, it had become so heavy in anyone else’s hands that no one could lift it. Now it felt little different from an ordinary blade. A chill ran down Lloyd’s spine as he considered what that meant.
In the past, Lloyd had indeed felt envy and inferiority, wondering why Elliot rather than he had been chosen to wield the holy sword.
Yet now that he could lift it himself, he felt no joy—only an inexpressible dread.
As the blade slid into its sheath, even the ivy relief carved into it seemed to be fading. Lloyd pretended not to notice and struggled to preserve his composure.
—What happened? Why is this happening…?
He wanted to demand an answer aloud, but one look at Elliot made it obvious that Elliot himself was equally confused and understood nothing.
After a while, hoofbeats sounded and Bishop Powell returned.
“I told them we needed to dispose of the remains and conduct an investigation. It’s true that this matter also requires some study.”
Powell looked toward the remains of the incomplete undead beast they had just defeated and stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“…Did His Majesty say anything?”
“No. Neither His Majesty nor anyone else noticed a thing. They were quite far away. They mistook the sunlight reflected from the water for the holy sword’s glow, so I left them to believe it.”
Powell smiled wryly, the lines on his face deepening.
With the wisdom of age, Powell had grasped the situation without asking a single question and used his position to help them through the immediate crisis. Relieved yet desperate, Lloyd looked to him for help.
“Thank you for your consideration, Bishop Powell. But… do you know anything about what happened?”
Powell gave him a troubled smile and quietly shook his head.
“…Regrettably, the holy sword last manifested one hundred and eighteen years ago, in my grandfather’s day. That wasn’t in this kingdom, either, but in a small country to the south. Worse still, accounts of this kind tend to be concealed unless the event is auspicious. Finding a precedent won’t be easy…”
“I see…”
Powell looked at Lloyd with pity as he hung his head.
After a few moments of contemplation, he crossed his arms and let out a sigh.
“…Either its steel vessel can no longer withstand the burden of holding so great a blessing, or the blessing has been stripped away. If it’s the former, there may still be…”
Hearing what Powell muttered, Lloyd looked up as if he had found a faint glimmer of hope.
“It’s only conjecture, so don’t raise your hopes. But if you understand that… An arms dealer named Goliath has long served the court near the castle’s west gate. Take the sword to him and ask. He may know something useful.”
“Yes…!”
Behind Lloyd, who looked as though he had glimpsed a ray of hope, Elliot finally raised his head after remaining bowed and silent.
The two young men promptly mounted their horses and hurried back toward the castle. Watching their backs recede, Powell released a long sigh.
“…It isn’t that I truly know nothing. There’s one thing of which I’m certain. However…”
He recalled Elliot’s face as the young man departed without a word, still lost in confusion.
“If the man himself can’t even recognize that truth, the holy sword will never return to his hand.”
Powell’s murmur dissolved into the wind without reaching anyone’s ears.