Chapter 596
There is no need to act hastily.
And the opponent is an unknown force that can attack the temple where the leader of the Heretic Inquisitor is located and cause a massacre.
At this stage, it is unclear whether they are a group of magicians, demonists, or a third force.
The important thing is that they are those who do not leave their pursuers alone, and there is a very high possibility that they will try to touch not only the hero but also the princess of the Schwartz family.
First of all, in that respect, even if you don’t know about the heretic inquisitors’ temple disguised as the ruined temple of Tuan, the temple is sure to be safe.
It is not good to provoke them by making hasty moves.
So, first of all, Ellen planned to wait in the Royal Class Dormitory, waiting for any clues from Anna de Guerna.
We also need to think carefully about how to approach the internal problems of the Knights Templar.
For now, while waiting, observe the situation.
Ludwig is in the B class dormitory.
Ellen, Louise, and Heinrich were in the Class A dormitory.
It was snowing, and I had to organize my thoughts.
Heinrich is not a superman. That’s why he went to his room to rest because he was tired from walking around all day.
Louise sits down on the sofa in the lobby and organizes her thoughts when she sees Ellen, who has just come out of the shower, walking down the aisle with a towel hanging around her neck.
“Is something going on?”
“ah… … .”
Ellen tilts her head at Louise.
“Have you seen the cat?”
“hmm… … ? Are you missing?”
Pets had never been a concern for Louise, but if it was Ellen’s favorite cat, the situation was serious.
When Louise hesitated, not knowing what to say, Ellen shook her head.
“No, I usually go around alone often. It was the same in the garrison. I’ll be back soon after this.”
Ellen said calmly that if she couldn’t see her, she would be wandering around the other dorms, and while sitting across from Louise, she rubbed the tips of her hair with a towel and began to dry herself.
Champion, Ellen Artorius.
The prestige of her older brother, Lagan Artorius, had already faded.
The status of Ellen Artorius, the next great hero, has grown even more.
In a way, it seems a little sloppy and there are few words.
Looking at it this way, it was a girl of that age.
“Do you like cats?”
“… … .”
At Louise’s question, Ellen narrowed her eyebrows as if pondering for a moment.
“I don’t think so.”
“okay… … ?”
“yes.”
After making sure that there are no cats around, Ellen looks quietly out the snowy window.
“Even now, rather than raising me… … . It just comes to me from time to time, I think.”
So rather than recognizing her as my cat, she adds that she seems to think of her as a friend who visits from time to time.
In fact, rather than being anxious even now that the cat is nowhere to be seen, Ellen seemed to assume that it was just wandering around somewhere.
“It would be nice if it wasn’t just going outside.”
It’s cold and it’s snowing.
That’s why I wish I was walking around inside the Royal Class Dormitory, not outside.
Ellen said that and continued drying her hair.
A warrior who raises a cat.
Louise couldn’t help but laugh when she thought of yesterday when Ellen offered her to pet the cat.
Even though it seems like you have no idea, how was your appearance today?
At Ludwig’s request for help, he nodded and said he would help right away without asking or questioning.
Knowing it was dangerous, he had sorted things out ahead of time, and with his shrewd mind and judgment, he knew right away where he needed to go.
He’s smart, quick-witted, doesn’t hesitate to help others, and is already strong himself.
It doesn’t look like a hero, but rather, all the hidden features in the ordinary look make Ellen like a hero.
To Louise von Schwarz, Ellen Artorius was a stranger.
My son’s classmate, a warrior, the owner of two sacred objects and the hope of mankind.
This isn’t the first time I’ve actually seen his face.
I’ve seen Ellen fight so hard.
But it’s like hugging a cat, having a conversation with friends, or coping with a problem.
It was, of course, the first time I had seen such a human figure.
Louise was unfamiliar with the human appearance of such a hero.
In the end, I just had to like it.
Ellen entered Temple hiding the name of her overly heavy brother.
At that time, she was already the owner of the holy object, but only a few people knew Ellen’s identity.
After all, warriors are what the times need.
Just as Lagann Artorius became a hero because of the Pandemonium War.
Because of the last demon king and the gate crisis, Ellen Artorius is called the hero.
Even, the Demon King Reinhardt was treated as a hero until his identity was discovered.
I thought there were two heroes, but the fact that one was a demon king wearing the skin of a warrior shocked everyone.
Because of her son’s words that the Demon King might not actually be evil, Louise didn’t know what to judge.
After all, Louise is not ignoring Ellen.
If all this hadn’t happened.
If it hadn’t been for the Gate incident, would I have lived a different life?
Since Louise was the princess and heir of the Schwarz family, she would have been living as a princess of the royal family even without the Gate incident.
But Ellen is different.
Ellen was a commoner.
If it hadn’t been for the Gate incident, a normal life would have been predestined.
Because of the Gate crisis, Ellen has become the most important person in the world.
If all this hadn’t happened.
Ellen would have lived a normal life without having to carry any heavy burdens.
“If it hadn’t been for all of this.”
“… … yes?”
“What do you think you might be doing right now?”
“… … .”
At Louise’s sudden question, Ellen stiffens and remains silent.
“You wouldn’t have wanted to live this life, would you?”
“… … It was.”
Everyone sees Ellen only under the name of a warrior. But Louise, yesterday and today, she saw the human side of Ellen hidden under that title.
So Louise became curious about what kind of life she wanted and what kind of wish she had.
Even though I know there’s no point in talking about it now.
Ellen looked out the window in a daze at Louise’s question.
If all this hadn’t happened
“I must have attended the temple.”
It’s the same as being in the temple now, but if it hadn’t been for the gate incident, the temple would have been crowded with many students.
Even if they weren’t very close, as time passed, they would have been able to share at least a simple conversation with everyone.
It’s the same now, but it wouldn’t have been necessary to build a sad friendship that could only be called comradeship.
and.
There wouldn’t have been those who died in the relationship that was tangled and tangled.
There is no such thing as a person who cannot come to this place.
if that was the case.
If all this hadn’t happened
Ellen looks out the window.
He wouldn’t have to regard the cursed eyes as a curse.
Assuming everything hasn’t changed, if it snows like this.
no.
A piece of memory from that day naturally comes to mind.
Reinhardt shoved a snowball into Harriet’s mouth and laughed wryly.
It reminds me of sitting on a winter terrace and eating beef stew on a quiet snowy night.
It wasn’t a very special day.
I thought so even then.
I will remember this time later.
That these days would not last forever, that all the days that were considered ordinary, all the days spent like that were special, that you would think that way.
So Ellen vaguely guessed.
That this is enough.
I don’t even ask for more.
friend.
and loved ones.
I thought that just being able to be together like that was enough.
In the end, that’s just the story.
I didn’t even know.
The days I thought would never come back became days I couldn’t come back.
It wasn’t the way I thought it would be, but it was the kind of story that just turned out that way in the end.
And he was the one who broke it all.
if i could go back then
Now, if I had left everything as it was, and lived on as it was.
what were you doing now
“… … Maybe he was making a snowman.”
“snow man… … ?”
“yes.”
Ellen quietly says so.
In the snow, as before.
Eat or drink something while watching the snow fall.
Or make a snowman.
I would have been doing just that.
Not particularly great, not particularly great.
such ordinary days.
those special days.
would have been living
* * *
The next day, Anna de Guerna did not return.
Could it be that only Anna, Christina and Louis Ankton, who are devoted to research, have not returned.
It is possible that the story was not conveyed because the research being conducted at the magic university had nothing to do with the three.
Then, since it was unknown where they were researching, everyone had no choice but to wait in the dormitory.
It’s time to be more careful than anything else.
Yesterday, I went around prowling around and stimulating people who didn’t need to be stimulated.
One day was enough to move hastily in a situation where the enemy was unknown.
Two days after waiting at the temple like that.
Still, Anna de Guerna has not returned.
“Do you usually stay away for this long?”
At Louise’s question, Ludwig nodded.
“Yeah, it didn’t come back well… … .”
The four gathered in the B class dormitory were waiting for Anna, who did not return.
“Just because you dare to meet that child doesn’t mean that you won’t get sharp points… … . How about looking for a warlock within the temple?”
“I don’t know if it was the days when the temple was in operation, but I don’t think I can find it right now.”
The majority of wizards were recruited, so there was no difference between black magicians. It was clear that most of them were in Allied camps.
“Hmm… … .”
I didn’t intend to move in a hurry anyway, but I couldn’t help but be nervous as I was meaninglessly spending time waiting for Anna, who didn’t know when she would return.
So, all they did was gather in the B-class dormitory and sit all day.
Ellen was sitting on her lap and gently brushing the back of the sleeping cat.
I wondered where he had gone, and this morning he was peacefully asleep at Ellen’s bedside. I left the door slightly open and the cat came and went to Ellen’s room as if it were her own.
“It still doesn’t stop snowing.”
Heinrich was looking outside as if he was worried.
Although her eyes were weakened now, she did not intend to stop at all.
“It seems that even the Imperial Magicians were involved in the snow removal work. I heard that the wizards in the Allied Garrison are also making a comeback.”
“That’s a good thing… … .”
At Ludwig’s words, Heinrich quietly nodded.
Even inside the temple, I could see through the window the guards clearing the snow.
Now that a significant number of students have gone out to help with snow removal, they are waiting for Anna, who does not know when they will return. I was just trying to ask a trivial question, and I knew that it wouldn’t be a great hint, but right now there was no other way.
There is also a way to contact the Popes of the Five Major Churches, but that is dangerous.
It was Louise and Ellen’s decision to move after securing even a little more clues.
How long have you been sitting in the lobby like that?
– rattle
Louise sees one of the dorm doors open and a student walking down the hallway to somewhere.
A sluggish, skinny student who walks slowly with a limp appearance.
“Uh, Detto.”
At Ludwig’s greeting, the student just nodded slightly without replying, and then passed by.
“hi.”
Even at Ellen’s greeting, the student merely nodded slightly and went on her way without paying much attention.
Louise ran into that skinny student several times during the last two days waiting in the dormitory. Louise stared at her back.
“Dettomorian… … . did you say?”
“yes.”
“What can I say… … . hmm… … . You seem like a weird kid.”
Louise chose the words that were not rude for a long time, and finally said so.
I didn’t watch it for a long time, but Dettomorian definitely had a strong impression. Everyone inevitably gets a creepy, ominous feeling.
“He is often misunderstood, but he is a good friend.”
Ellen nodded as if agreeing with Ludwig’s words.
At those words, Louise couldn’t help but be visibly taken aback.
“No, not like a bad kid… … .”
“Sister, I know what you are talking about. me too… … . I haven’t talked to him much.”
Heinrich was still reluctant because of Dettomorian’s spooky atmosphere.
Dettomorian doesn’t even look at Louise, a stranger in the dormitory, and, of course, does her own thing. I don’t care at all who greets me or who is there.
Louise knew something about Heinrich’s classmate.
Of course, seeing it with your own eyes is different.
“Did you say that talent is witchcraft? yes?”
“yes.”
A Dettomorian with a talent for magic.
“What is sorcery?”
At Louise’s question, not only Heinrich but also Ludwig had ambiguous expressions.
“well… … . I’m not sure either.”
Ludwig, whom he had lived with for a long time, had no idea what witchcraft was.
something like magic. but not magic.
“I don’t know how it manifests itself, but it’s definitely a way to deal with power. I’ve seen it in person a few times.”
“You saw it yourself?”
“yes.”
Rather, it was Ellen who answered.
A long time ago, Ellen had watched Dettomorian’s ritual to awaken the cursed sword, Tiamata, with Reinhardt.
And, I saw Dettomorian praying for peace with Bertus and Saviolin Tana.
And the amulet now hanging around Ellen’s neck was also carved by Dettomorian.
Ellen doesn’t know if the amulet around her neck is really protecting her.
Dettomorian said to pray that this talisman would be a milestone to protect the soul.
So just do it.
I don’t know if it really works or not. But I hope so.
Is that the essence of witchcraft?
Louise wasn’t particularly suspicious of Ellen’s remarks that she’d seen witchcraft manifest a few times. She must be saying that because Ellen has seen it.
“Amazing.”
Louise crosses her arms.
“If sorcery manifests power, is it a way of dealing with mana or a way of divine power?”
A slightly more fundamental question.
Is sorcery magic or religion?
All three of them couldn’t help but look puzzled at those words.
“I don’t know, but I’ve heard witchcraft is the most primitive form of magic.”
That was all Heinrich knew, and it was a story that most ordinary people didn’t even know. Among his classmates, there is Dettomo Rian, who has a unique talent for witchcraft, so he knows even a little about it.
Before established magic existed in the world, shamans were the first wizards.
So witchcraft is a primitive form of magic.
Ellen knows that too.
But I had never thought of witchcraft.
Thinking like that, I couldn’t help but think that it was quite strange.
When Dettomorian performed a ritual on Tiamata. And when I saw them praying for peace.
The word ‘origin’ in the first place.
“But, when you actually use it, it’s something like a prayer… … . I tend to do it.”
Louise looks at Ellen with interest.
“Is this magic manifested through prayer? Is that possible in the first place?”
Magic is a ‘skill’ that uses fixed formulas and theories to refine and use mana inside or outside the body. That’s the wizard way.
However, prayer is literally praying for the manifestation of the power itself. That’s the priests way.
“I see.”
After hearing Louise’s words, Ellen senses that something is wrong.
“I think witchcraft is a very strange power.”
I don’t know if witchcraft is really magic or not.
There is no set formula or theory. So it’s not technology.
That’s why I don’t offer prayers to the five great gods, and it’s not the power that comes from the authority of the five great gods.
Where the hell do you borrow the power of witchcraft?
If it’s not borrowed, it should be the domain of technology like magicians, no matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like there is skill in witchcraft.
Witchcraft is a very strange power.
“It’s not that strange… … ?”
Ellen and Louise were suddenly confused, but Ludwig broke through the accident.
“Isn’t it strange that a power that is neither magic nor divine power actually works?”
At Louise’s question, Ludwig tilted his head.
“In fact, they say that the rituals performed by the pagans cause strange things. Even if it’s a demonic cult… … . If the strange rituals of people who don’t actually believe in anything have power… … . I wonder if that kind of thing can happen enough.”
Ludwig just remembered Rowen’s words.
It was said that pagans prayed in strange places, and that it might not work, but that it did.
It’s not like they didn’t use magic. But what actually happens.
“Shamanism is not much different from pagan rituals… … . Is this?”
“I-I didn’t mean it that way.”
Ludwig was taken aback when he realized what he had just said.
Ludwig was trying to say that it wasn’t so strange that witchcraft had power.
But since he was saying that Dettomorians were no different from pagans, Ludwig felt like biting his tongue.
“no.”
Ellen shook her head as she looked at Ludwig, who was taken aback.
“Come to think of it, I think the person we need to find now is Dettomorian, not Anna.”
Infidels in refugee camps. Or the drunkards.
If they are involved in this case, it is not Anna who should be visited, but rather Dettomorian.
I prayed to an unknown authority, and that authority answered.
If the cause of the incident was the rituals of the pagans, it might not be the black magician, but the shaman you need to find now.
Dettomorian had just left the dormitory.
“Let’s go find it.”
“Detto was often absent, do you know where he went?”
At Ludwig’s question, Ellen nodded.
That eerie, bizarre space.
The basement of the club building.
Ellen knows that Dettomorian prays there every day.
