Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 69: Amid the Frenzy (2)
In the destroyed arena, the high-ranking knights huddled pale and trembling upon their last secure footing. Holy Knight Elliot had always promised certain victory, whatever the circumstances.
His extraordinary status had made them feel inferior, as if their existence were diminished. Nevertheless, the holy sword brought progress to the endless, punishing campaign.
They had taken pride and comfort in fighting beside its heroic wielder.
That comfort shattered before their eyes.
Any swordsman was helpless against an incomprehensible iron-eating undead slime. Knowing that didn’t lessen their despair.
Caught completely unaware, none moved to help when the liquefied slime swallowed Elliot. Confused and trapped, they too were engulfed as their armor began to corrode.
Through the chaos, Agreas’s voice reached them impossibly from the northern VIP seats, resonating within their minds as though carried through the slime.
What they heard, what he’d said, only deepened their anguish.
“…Then Lady Emily was never a Saint?”
Marcus murmured faintly.
Richard recognized his foolishness. The previous incident had made him suspicious, and his doubts had been justified.
Who first called Emily a Saint? No one person was responsible. They had all agreed and deceived themselves.
In a bleak war-torn land without amusement or comfort, Emily’s cheerful presence and tireless bustle enchanted them. What began as a joke—that if saints existed, one might resemble her—became reassurance.
It took root as daily pleasure, then comfort, then fever. When had so many begun calling Emily a saint until repetition transformed it into unquestioned truth?
“…We pushed her forward without any basis.”
His confession reached no one. He understood only now that he had seen the surface, and the realization came too late.
“Perhaps the holy sword disappeared because of us.”
Marcus said this as the undead slime took hold and he no longer had the strength to resist and was consumed by it.
“When I was told by His Excellency Agreas that the Holy Knight and the saint must be protected,…… I took it as confirmation that His Excellency also recognized the existence of the saint.”
Richard knew blaming Agreas for his manipulation wouldn’t lessen their guilt. He wanted the others to understand only that Agreas had exploited and incited their foolishness.
It’s the same with Agreas. Just a short time ago, he was someone they had respected.
Most were illegitimate sons of distinguished houses, minor nobles, or commoners. The proud House of Ziemeld had recognized knights otherwise overlooked and supported them. That trust and respect now lay shattered.
“Equality? Miraculous power? Once you become a monster, what exactly will you protect?”
His last pride denied Agreas, then vanished unheard into despair.
As slime engulfed them and armor melted, Lloyd forced himself onward, seized Elliot’s shoulders, and dragged him toward the remaining footing.
“Elliot! Hold on!”
Elliot remained conscious but dazed and barely responsive.
“Elliot, listen. I owe you an apology. Agreas used me. I followed him blindly without thought, and placed you in this danger.”
Lloyd’s voice was strained, and it was unclear if Elliot had heard it.
“I envied you. I always wondered why you received the holy sword instead of me. We both came from baronial families and trained alike. What made you different? Jealousy clouded my judgment.”
Shouting the confession, Lloyd hauled Elliot onto the crumbling platform. Only the sword’s hilt remained in Elliot’s hand, though Lloyd now knew it had never been the true holy sword. The pathetic sight filled him with sick self-loathing.
Agreas’s plan had trapped Lloyd in an irreversible disaster, but he continued struggling. His disgust at being manipulated would never leave; atonement now seemed meaningless.
Still, he refused to remain at Agreas’s mercy.
He could find no answer to the approaching slime. Before he knew it, mucus covered him to the waist, and he looked around desperately.
At the southern gate through which undead beasts had entered, an unfamiliar covered wagon approached.