Chapter 6

The verification revealed that the characters highlighted in blue are three in number.

They are Falan, the spear user; Nick, the archer; and Brandon, the swordsman.

However, if more than two are added at the same time, all will turn black.

It probably means that I have to choose one from among them.

The first one I eliminated from the candidates was Brandon, the swordsman.

His role overlaps with mine, and to be honest, his sword skills are several levels below mine.

I didn’t feel any benefit in adding him to the party.

Both Falan, the spear user, and Nick, the archer, are capable party members.

Nick’s skill is 'Dragon Eye.'

It’s a fairly rare skill that not only allows him to see far but also gives him exceptional dynamic visual acuity, which is the ability to react to moving objects.

During the cycle when I learned that adding more than two at the same time would turn everything black, I formed a party with myself, Falan, and Nick.

Each of them functioned at close, medium, and long range, making it a very stable party.

In fact, although we didn’t win, we managed to wound the demon guarding the path to the Demon King’s castle for the first time.

It was surprising that it turned black.

But, there must be someone with a skill that would make the party even more stable.

After that, I alternated between adding Falan and Nick while continuing to search for a powerful skill holder I hadn’t met yet.

“Damn, again!”

The twenty-seventh time.

I shouted involuntarily in my room where I had returned.

Since forming the party, there has been no progress.

I still can’t reach the Demon King, and I end up being killed before that.

I was fed up.

For five years, twenty-six times.

More than a hundred years.

An endless negative cycle.

During this time, I tried various things.

Talking to people about this skill and seeking advice.

But that didn’t work.

If I revealed the existence of this skill to others, it would immediately turn black, marked as

"Leaking the secret of 'The Guide' to others."

It’s forbidden to let others know about the skill.

I even considered suicide.

But

"If you give up, this deal will be as if it never happened."

Cero’s words made me hold back.

And more importantly, the lives of people who would be lost in the original history rest on my shoulders.

If I didn’t know this, I might have given up long ago.

I recalled Shiro’s warning.

"Don’t listen to them."

Regret over not following this advice crossed my mind.

But I already knew.

The lives of people who would be lost in five years, the weight of that burden, can no longer be put down.

Still, I was cornered.

After all, there has been no progress for over a hundred years.

During that time, I tried to train myself to the utmost.

To the point of achieving the rank of Sword Saint immediately and being able to defeat the Demon King alone.

However, no matter how much I trained, I would always return to that night after five years.

Of course, the combat experience itself wasn’t wasted, but there is a limit to how strong one can physically become.

My father achieved the rank of Sword Saint at the age of twenty-three.

Considering that, I concluded that it was impossible for me to achieve the rank of Sword Saint by the age of twenty.

I even tried not going on a journey.

But that was immediately marked as "stayed at home," and I was conscripted by the country, eventually being sent to fight the Demon King’s army and killed at the age of twenty.

A predetermined death.

No matter how many times I experienced it, I never got used to it.

Even knowing I would return, the pain accompanied it.

Sometimes I was beheaded, and other times I was tortured and killed as a prisoner of the Demon King’s army.

In the midst of my despair, I dragged my companions to their deaths.

If they hadn’t joined my party, they wouldn’t have suffered.

The guilt of this constantly followed me.

I wanted to stop, many times.

Every time, I remembered my father’s and my teacher’s regrets.

And most of all, my younger self, who saw my mother crying while holding the sword left behind.

“I will kill the Demon King.”

I can’t betray that vow.

I don’t want to betray my younger self, who made that promise, thinking, “He was just a child back then.”

“Someday, you’ll accept reality.”

Ignes’ words sometimes echoed in my mind.

To shake off such weakness, I repeatedly reviewed the words written in “The Guide.”

“This book leads to the death of the Demon King, its result.”

These words, along with my thoughts for the two people I respected, and the encouragement from my former self, helped me continue the repetitive days.

Faster, faster.

Please, please.

I wanted to see the next red text.

“Please appear soon.”

I repeated these words in my heart like a prayer.

But, the days without progress continued.

Although I didn’t give up, I was quite fed up.

There were no clues.

After forming the party and adding Falan, the spear user, as usual for a few days, I wandered around town, looking for any clues that might trigger the appearance of other text.

In a district I hadn’t visited much before, there was a dilapidated church.

“Maybe I should pray to God.”

On a whim, I entered the church.

From the gate to the main hall, there was a small courtyard.

In the courtyard, a few children were doing some work.

All of them were thin and in poor health.

The country had been ravaged by the Demon King.

Many orphans were created due to reasons such as parents being killed or impoverished families abandoning their children.

This church probably accepted such orphans.

(I must defeat the Demon King quickly and improve this situation...)

Thinking this, I was approached by a voice.

“Excuse me... Do you have any business with our church?”

The person who spoke was a girl about my age.

She was wearing a slightly worn, used nun’s habit, but it was clean.

She had a well-structured face, but her eyes showed a hint of distrust or fear.

It might be rare for adventurers to visit.

“No, not really... I’m just looking for someone and thought I might pray for divine guidance.”

“Looking for someone...?”

“Yes. I’m searching for someone necessary to defeat the Demon King.”

When I told her, she frowned.

“To defeat the Demon King... someone necessary?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The girl seemed a bit taken aback... Her eyes showed even more fear, and she took a step back, putting some distance between us.

Did she think I was trying to involve her in something strange?

Feeling a bit uncomfortable with her attitude, I made a small donation and returned to my inn.

By this time, it had become a habit to check “The Guide” at the end of each day.

Although new text rarely appeared,

“This book leads to the death of the Demon King, its result.”

I read this sentence to find motivation for the next day.

Lying on the bed, I opened the book, looking up at it, but...

Unexpected red text caught my eye.

“Encounter with the Holy Maiden Lena”

“Holy Maiden!”

I shouted and jumped up from the bed.

My hands trembled with excitement.

As I traced the words with my trembling fingers, my heart beat faster, as if trying to interfere.

Trying to control my breathing, which was becoming more and more rapid in response to my heart, my trembling and heartbeat gradually subsided, but my excitement continued.

The “Holy Maiden” is a legendary figure.

In the past, there was a different Demon King from the one I am trying to defeat now.

She is said to have been part of the party that defeated the Demon King and sealed an unknown evil deity that sowed distrust and conflict among people.

The “Holy Maiden” is a holder of the “Holy Maiden” skill, a superlative skill on par with the “Sword God” and “Divine Eye,” which are themselves questioned for their existence.

She is an essential person for defeating the Demon King, no doubt.

The only person I met today who fits this description is the girl from the church.

Adding her to the party must be a necessary condition for defeating the Demon King.

There’s no other way to think about it.

“I did it, finally, finally, I can move forward...!”

I was certain.

...Looking back now, it was too hasty and naive.

I should have sensed that there was something going on from her attitude.