"No, are you really thinking of pulling out the Holy Sword?"
Isabella asked in surprise.
"It was a lucky guess, it's the only thing that came to mind."
"It's the only option. No matter how high up in the Order, if I pull out the Holy Sword, they wouldn't dare harm me."
Theo's gaze was unwavering.
Isabella sighed internally.
'Even if it's Theo, I can't see him pulling out the Holy Sword. What kind of item does he think it is?'
Isabella cautiously began.
"Theo, not to belittle you, but no one has been able to pull out the Holy Sword since the hero Ryuk. All the renowned heroes and paladins have failed."
"I'm aware. The heads of the Waldeurk family have tried too but all failed."
Every head of the Waldeurk family had been among the top heroes.
"...Yeah. Not just heroes, but everyone else failed too. Even all the past Popes failed."
Theo replied without changing his expression.
"I see. I didn't know the Popes had tried as well."
At this, Isabella couldn't help but sigh deeply.
"...Theo. Do you not understand what I'm trying to say?"
"You're saying since I can't pull out the Holy Sword, I should dispose of the Practitioners and send a false report to the Order? That way, I could be safe from them?"
Isabella clenched her mouth as if struck by the truth.
"...Exactly. Why not do as I say? They're are more terrifying than you think. They have the power to reduce a small country to ruins overnight with just a gesture."
Theo gave no answer. He silently stared at Isabella, then said,
"Let me confess something."
"...Uh, what?"
"I had the ability to see the future. Far superior to the current Pope's prophetic ability. The Pope sees random futures, but I could see the future I wanted."
Isabella responded with a hint of disbelief.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"I... didn't know you had such an ability. Of course, coming from you, Theo, such an unbelievable ability doesn't seem too far-fetched. But why mention this?"
"I saw it. The future where I pull out the Holy Sword."
Isabella's eyes widened in disbelief.
Theo's words were not mere bravado.
They were true. With Fyat's joining, he met the condition to pull out the Holy Sword.
'The Holy Sword can be pulled out if you carry two divine artifacts.'
Meaning, Theo's [Demon Sword] and Fyat's [Eater].
Having both means the Holy Sword can be pulled out.
[Eater] had the characteristic of choosing its own owner, but it didn't matter.
As long as it was in possession, the condition was met. When Fyat was in surgery, he briefly held [Eater] and it fit well.
Of course, pulling out the Holy Sword doesn't mean it becomes yours.
However, the fact that it was pulled out is what's important.
The Holy Sword is an artifact from an old era, but it's a treasure among treasures symbolizing the Renimid Order.
Just instilling the perception in the public that he was chosen by the Holy Sword is enough.
Isabella cautiously said,
"Honestly, it's hard to believe... but I'll trust you. What will you do after pulling out the Holy Sword?"
"If I pull out the Holy Sword, the top echelons of the Order will surely approach me. I'll identify the rotten branches among them and cut them off."
"The ones I know are all rotten. What exactly do you mean by rotten branches?"
"Currently, there's a faction in the Order's top ranks that has close ties with [Turning White]. They pretend to worship Angels on the outside, but in reality, they worship Demons."
"...That's shocking. After cutting off the colluding faction, you plan to fight [Turning White] with the Order's forces."
"That's the big picture. An enemy within is several times more dangerous than an external one."
"That's true..."
Isabella murmured and then fell silent. Her head was spinning from all the information.
Theo said,
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Let's return to the original discussion. Is there no way to revert the Practitioners back to their original state?"
"...There is no way to revert them in a short period. If they've been exposed to a massive amount of demonic energy while in [Release] state, they're likely on the boundary between human and monster. Even with their limbs cut off, they're still alive, right?"
"Yes. They've been lively despite not eating anything for days."
"Hmm... For now, the only thing that comes to mind is isolating them in a space where demonic energy is completely blocked off, and then continuously infusing high-quality holy energy.
I guess I'll have to see them myself at least once."
"Before I go, I'll have everyone cleared out."
Theo took out a communication crystal from his pocket.
Isabella asked,
"...As expected, you work fast. But you do have someone to infuse the holy energy, right?"
Theo answered as if it was obvious,
"No."
"...What?"
"You're here, aren't you? Among the people I know, there's no one with better quality holy energy than you."
It meant he was planning to use Isabella for free.
However, for some reason, she wasn't upset.
"Alright, I'll help."
"Thank you."
So, Theo and Isabella headed to the basement of [The Hilté], where the Practitioners of Light were isolated.
It was well past midnight by the time Theo arrived in front of Aisha's dormitory.
'Ah, I'm tired.'
Infusing the Practitioners with holy energy was quite a demanding task.
Since they kept rejecting the holy energy and shaking it off, Theo had to hold them down while Isabella infused the energy.
Fortunately, Isabella had agreed to keep helping.
So, Theo planned to head to [The Hilté] with Isabella every night for the foreseeable future.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})'Anyway, I need to rest now.'
Theo knocked on the door.
'It's later than I thought. Maybe Aisha is asleep.'
Contrary to his thoughts, the door opened quickly.
Aisha peeked her face through the gap in the door and whispered,
"Come in, quickly."
Theo hurried inside.
As Aisha closed the door, Theo spoke to her.
"You're still up?"
"...I was waiting because someone said they wouldn't be late, but then midnight passed and they still hadn't returned. I was about to wait another 5 minutes before trying to contact you."
"I apologize. Did anything happen while I was gone?"
"Something did happen... I'm not sure if I should be happy or not... It's starting to talk quite well..."
"What happened?"
Aisha pointed towards the room.
"...Look over there."
Inside the room, a robot was lying on its stomach on the floor, expressionlessly drawing with colored pencils on a sketchbook.
The drawing skills were impressive.
'That's beyond the level of entrance exam art.'
Theo said to Aisha,
"Did you use drawing as a form of socialization education? That's a good method. I don't know much, but I've heard there's something called art therapy."
"...You're joking, right?"
"I'm serious."
"Oh my gosh, I was so freaked out."
"Take your time and explain."
"Well... I thought Ao was being too negative, so I tried to draw something together?"
"It looks more like you were doing coloring than drawing. And who's Ao?"
Aisha exploded as if caught off guard,
"It's not coloring! It's drawing! Do you think I'm a child?!"
"Okay, okay. Calm down."
"...Phew. Anyway, Ao is its name. It needs to have a name, right? I can't keep calling it a robot."
"That's a unique name. Once you hear it, it's hard to forget. But why Ao?"
"I was inspired by your name and mine."
Ao.
The name 'Ao' takes one character from Aisha's 'A' and Theo's 'O'.
Theo caught on to that immediately.
'It's childish but... can't help it.'
Theo nodded in resignation.
"Alright, from now on, let's call it Ao. But what happened?"
"...Ao drew a picture of this quality in less than an hour."
"Hmm, it's well drawn indeed."
"I'm scared. Isn't this beyond genius?"
"It should have that level of learning ability to justify the energy it consumes..."
Theo stopped mid-sentence and looked at Ao, who had approached him unnoticed.
"What's up?"
Ao held up the drawing it had made towards Theo.
Then, with a bright smile, said,
"This is the drawing I made. Did I do well? Praise me, brother[1]."
"Brother?"
Theo's mouth dropped open in an ungraceful manner.
[1. raei: this is 'oppa,' which really is not the same as 'brother' but uh i've been asked to keep the kr terms to a minimum or to fully turn it into English. A little late, but decided to do it for the rest of this novel and all novels]
