Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 68: Amidst the Frenzy
The holy sword in Elliott’s hand, after emitting a white smoke, changed to a reddish-brown color and crumbled to pieces.
Emily was speechless and in despair at the scene before her eyes.
–No… No, that’s a lie, a lie, a lie… How could this be? The holy sword… Why, how?!
She let out a silent shriek, and a torrent of unanswerable questions swirled in her mind.
“Why… What’s happening… The holy sword…?”
“The holy sword lost…? Melted? Why?”
The words that came from those around her echoed the same questions in Emily’s mind.
The king, the prime minister, the nobles, all the common people—everyone seemed to be in a state of confusion, raising their voices with questions. When the holy knight Elliott was swallowed by an unidentified, liquefied wave and disappeared from sight, they all turned their attention to Emily.
“Saint Emily… What exactly is going on…?”
The voice asked in a panic. she couldn’t tell who it was from.
“I… I… I… you’re asking me…?”
The voice she barely managed was hoarse. There was no way she could know. She also wanted to know. She didn’t know who to ask, or what to ask. Elliott was far away, and she couldn’t even see him clearly anymore.
She only understood that something very frightening was happening, and she couldn’t stop trembling with fear.
“…Hahaha, hahahaha!!! So the power of the goddess is only this much in the end.”
Suddenly, a crazy laugh came from right beside her, and Emily turned around in a daze. Dylan Agreas Ziemeld stood there with a smile on his face that said he was genuinely happy, and he was laughing loudly in a way that was completely out of place.
“Why… are you laughing?”
Emily asked hesitantly. Agreas’s laughter was horribly irritating, and a feeling like anger was even growing from the depths of her fear.
“How could I not laugh at this? S-a-i-n-t Emily.”
Then, his expression slowly returned to its usual state, and he turned around ostentatiously and smiled at the King and the Prime Minister, who were crouching on the floor.
“In the first place, why did you call her a ‘Saint’?”
“W-what are you suddenly saying…? Have you lost your mind, Dylan Agreas…?”
The king raised his voice, confused.
“Hah, well, we were also fooled by her up to a certain point, you see, so it’s not surprising.”
Emily’s face turned red as Agreas spoke with an exasperated look on his face and his voice tinged with a hint of contempt
“W-what do you mean, ‘fooled’? I didn’t do anything!”
“That’s right. Exactly. You didn’t do ‘anything’.”
Agreass put on a sympathetic expression. The changing expressions were somewhat clownish.
“You’re just an apprentice monk. Was it your ‘Activity on the battlefield’? It seems that you just stole the work of other people right before they finished, taking the credit for their achievements, aren’t I right?”
“what, you weren’t aware of it? Thanks to that, the knights were foolish enough to be completely deceived, and your reputation was that of a Saint from the legends. Thanks to that, we also ended up believing you as well up to a certain point. It’s truly a pathetic story.”
Emily felt, for the first time, as if she had been exposed for things she had no idea she was doing, when Agreas clutched his head dramatically. She couldn’t refute it.
The heat on her face was a combination of anger and overwhelming shame. Realizing her actions from the past after they were voiced like this made her feet feel unsteady.
“Ah, but I finally understand. I couldn’t help but wonder why it was so easy to deal with you. If you had been a little more shrewd and cunning, you would have noticed something was off. I see, you weren’t aware of it…”
The forced pity in his voice grated on Emily’s nerves. Confusion, anger, shame—and the situation she was in—prevented her from speaking.
“On top of that, prayer is something you can’t see, so that made it even more difficult.”
He then continued as if speaking to himself, exhaling.
“What does that mean? What are you talking about?”
“The ‘Saint’ you all believed in never existed anywhere. I am simply exposing that fact, Your Majesty.”
Agreas’s calm voice was eerily resonant.
“…But, but, praying isn’t useless…”
Emily sat there, struggling to breathe and trembling uncontrollably.
“I, I, I never said I was a Saint… I’ve never said that! Everyone just said that, on their own, so, I tried my best to pray. But even so… this, this…”
She babbled excuses in a trembling voice, covering her face.
“Yes, that’s right. You were called a saint and praised, and you didn’t deny it. You just did as you were told. You’re not wrong at all.”
Ad
Even the comforting voice sounded like it was just mocking her.
“Count Agreas, what is it you’re after? At this time, like this…”
The Prime Minister asked.
“That’s a good question. I simply wanted everyone to see with their own eyes the ambiguity and fragility of the power of the goddess, and to learn about the existence of truly valuable power.”
Saying that, Agreas drew the sword he had at his waist. Although he was the commander of the knights, it was only a ceremonial sword, and the one in his hand was a slender, decorated sword. He pointed the tip at the king.
A royal guard waiting behind the King saw this and immediately drew his sword. Without a moment’s hesitation, he attacked Agreas and sliced off his wrist. Agreas remained motionless, as if he had deliberately wanted to be slashed.
“…Agreas… what, is that…”
The king gasped. A frozen silence fell on the nobles in the VIP booth.
The severed wrist, drawing an eerie thread from the ground where it had fallen, returned to Agreas’s arm as if rewinding time.
“Wonderful, isn’t it? This is the most equal and most unwavering power of miracles.”
His face, smiling with satisfaction, was calm, yet seemed filled with madness.