What a glorious sight, truly.
She is as beautiful as you'd expect.
Her lustrous hair, her comforting gaze, her warm smile.
Like a fairy, she was nearly untouchable. She came and went, from the temple to the street, to palaces, to the slums, to hospitals, to graveyards.
She taught, she prayed, she blessed.
Such was the duty of the Saint, appointed by the Holy Kingdom, to lead the people in faith, provide courage, and maintain face for that kingdom.
"Hear me. I bring news from none other than our goddess herself. The most kind and loving, the most gracious of all."
"Let us rejoice, for she has forsaken the teachings of the past. She grants peace to us all, even the unfaithful."
"Let us release them, those in captivity, those sold, those enslaved. For in her eyes, we have become one."
"Today is a special day for the world, for the most gracious of all, has granted the demi humans face. She frees them with her utmost sympathy. From the teachings, from the deeds we do to them as a superior race."
"As of this instant, all demi humans, whether dwarves, or elves, or beastkin. They have been granted equality. Treat them as your own brother and sister. Do not discriminate, for this is the will of the goddess, and all shall follow."
"Rejoice!"
Were they truly that blind? Or were they just playing along? Amusement, or faith?
On the surface, it looked like faith.
They were freed, given food, water, clothes, their wounds treated.
But on a deeper level,
Nothing of the sort ever happened.
Everything remained the same as it was, if not worse. Maybe they really were listening to the saint only for amusement.
Was I the only one to have noticed it? Clearly the Holy Kingdom was up to something.
Either way, it doesn't concern me. I am the ruler of this mighty nation, strongest in the continent, strongest in the world.
But the title was taken, not even by humans, but beasts who consider themselves equal to us.
Such foolishness should not be tolerated.
"Your highness. The subject has awaken."
Right now, there are only a few more weeks until the war between humans and monsters begins.
Judging from what I've heard from the academy, there were a lot of heroes that appeared this year. That's good news, considering the fact that it produced only 1 hero over the course of 15 years. *We had to make a fake story about there being over 600, though it isn't entirely wrong. They're just not as powerful as true heroes.* It would seem that the prophecy from that High Priest has been fulfilled.
However, since the heroes appeared without the help of the academy to train them, it makes it seem useless. We can't have that.
Look at him. One of those damned elves. How dare such an insignificant race think we are their equals? They'll leave to regret such thoughts once we're done.
"He can't even bare the pain of a simple pipe injected into his veins."
"Well, your majesty, it is more than one—and they're all pretty big."
That black liquid flowing through it. The professor must've succeeded.
"Pina. Prepare a carriage. We'll be taking an impromptu visit to the academy. Inform no one but the professor."
"Yes, my lady."
The subject is screaming too much. My ears are ringing. At least we thought of building this place underground.
Not only did it make the construction of the tunnel from the academy to here much easier, but it is also very unlikely that anyone can hear or sense any kind of magic or such from here. Of course not. We are under the palace after all.
I'm still surprised it took me all these years to build this place. We were risking so much all for nothing. Barely any progress was made for the past 15 years. We have to complete this by the time the war starts.
"My lady. The carriage is ready."
It was only after her death that I started thinking about what she taught me, about the way she saw the world.
The imperial family is the height of all power and authority in the continent. Mother made sure to keep it that way, and in every single situation she put herself in, she always came out on top. This helped solidify the imperial family's position.
"Sivana! The transport circle* is ready. You may take the carriage."
*Transport circle. As its name suggests, it's the same as a city's portal. The only difference is that it is privately used by nobles—this is the case in the empire only.
Now that I think about it, father once mentioned something about her special blessing. It gave her the ability to see the future. It must've helped her a lot in her conquest.
The survival of the imperial family is what she always cared about. She saw everyone else as puppets who should follow her orders. Insignificant, even if they were nobles. Only her family mattered.
I shall continue this play of hers. All of her efforts will not disappear simply because of a war. Still, this isn't my main goal.
Forgive me, mother. Wherever you are, I hope you won't resent me for my ways. But I must be bolder than you.
The façade you were putting up must've made you forget that you had the power of the strongest nation in you're hands.
"We've arrived, your highness."
The hero academy. What a majestic sight. Unfortunately I can't take this in for too long, especially since the sun is already setting.
"Pina. Go call the professor. Tell him that I'll be staying here for two or three days max. The rest of you come with me if you want. Sir Balnan. Help Sivana with the luggage."
"As you wish, your highness."
I'll take a stroll around the school before the professor finds me.
...
Daichi was still waiting for Nyla's response. She didn't seem fazed by his sudden request for a duel. Surprisingly though, in her expressionless face, you could see a hint of displease.
They didn't exchange many words. This made her think that they'll just stand there, staring at each other for a long time.
"The average lifespan of a human in this world is 85-120 years." He started. "That's around 70-100 years in our world."
She was confused. What was he getting at?
"Do you think... we will ever live that long?"
Now she understood. That was what he meant. 'Even after all this time,' she thought, 'you're still thinking about that.'
A spear appeared in her right hand out of thin air. Her grip tightened it. She was angry.
Daichi drew his sword but didn't take a stance. Still, he was visibly ready for a fight.
At that moment, Jezebel appeared from around the corner of the main school building. Though it was at a distance from where they were standing, she immediately noticed them.
'A spur?' She thought.
Judging by how serious they looked, she knew it was bound to be interesting.
"Hey guys. Come take a look!"
From classroom windows to the dormitories to the practice field. It didn't take long for them to get the attention of the entire school.
"Did you hear? Apparently two heroes are about to fight. I can't wait to see it!" A group of girls ran past Haizea as she came from the library, talking about the match that was about to take place.
"Professor! You have a visitor."
"Let them in."
A familiar face. It seemed his beard grew even longer.
The old man with the name of a girl. Mona.
He was shocked, more like a bit frightened to learn that the princess had visited the academy.
"I shall welcome her myself. Please give me a min—"
He got distracted by the crowd that gathered at the training ground. He could see them from his office window at the top of the main school building, which only had his office.
If the princess was there, that meant that she was also watching. It was the perfect opportunity for his preparations.
"I shall return to my lady." Her maid said and left. Now was the opportune time.
To think that the princess would visit the academy without informing anyone. A surprise visit? What for?
Using his staff, he tapped on a book shelf twice, revealing a magic elevator behind it.
It was built inside the literal walls, making it nigh impossible to know of its existence.
It descended at top speed, reaching a level so deep below the ground, he began sweating as soon as he got there. It looked like he simply forgot to use a magic spell to counter the heat.
He was to focused on ensuring that there were no issues.
Below the school, was an underground facility, filled with magic tech engineers and scholars from magic academies in the east.
They were all running around, making it look like some kind of emergency happened. It almost scared the professor.
That was until he learnt that everyone was only so excited because the experiment was yielding promising results.
He was relieved. But then he began questioning why the princess would visit without notice if everything was going smoothly.
'Maybe she wanted to congratulate everyone on the recent progress?' He questioned in his mind, but that was too unrealistic.
He looked around, trying to figure things out. Everything looked perfect.
His pulse returned back to normal after thinking that it may actually just be a casual visit.
Once he calmed down, he found himself standing at the edge of a corridor.
His eyes locked onto what lied ahead of him.
He stood there quietly and stared at it for a few seconds before leaving.
His mind could never fathom what gave the princess such an absurd idea. And to think that it was actually working.
This was too much for him. All he could do is hope that it doesn't come back to bite them.
For they are using a power that even the heavens refused to let it exist in this world.
But like they say—the death of one is the birth of another.
This is a similar case, one that Jezebel brought up, one that made countless faint just from hearing it, one that may be considered a sin.
"For the death of a True Giant, is the birth of a new weapon."