“These imperial bastards couldn’t even think that it might be real! I went far and wide, delving into records, and even went to the far Widders. And when I dug into the holy land related to the Archpope, it did come out. It came out with a letter enclosed for the descendants of Kalladia. Haha. I burned it. The descendants of Kalladia will never know what kind of request their beloved god left for them.”

‘…He’s almost out of his mind.’

As I looked at Kirie, I began to suspect that stealing divine knowledge might have had a somewhat serious impact on his brain.

「A few generations ago, the royal bloodline was already diluted, so it was already weakened.」

‘…Does that mean he’s halfway crazy?’

「Maybe. It probably got worse after using alchemy. Why alchemy? They probably used sacrifices to perform magic based on the vitality of the subject… But it must have surely depleted his own vitality.」

The result was the appearance of this almost skeleton-like madman. That was it.
“Foolish Kalladia! Foolish Anais! Ardel’s god! I won!”

“…It seems the madness has left your eyes.”

“Earlier, you tried to run away when you saw us, but now there’s no sign of that.”

As if the only goal he had was to shine, Kirie screamed loudly.

Since he wouldn’t leave my limbs alone, and it seemed like he might cause harm, Aston, somewhat reluctantly, plucked Kirie’s head from my hands to stop his actions.

“Sigh.”

Kirie made an unimpressive sound and fainted.

Aston took the unconscious Kirie from my hands like picking up a bundle of baggage.

“Oh. I could’ve carried him.”

“I know the duke is strong. But I wanted to do it.”

Then, sending me pupils like a puppy that was hungry for a snack, I couldn’t be confident in winning.

“Uh… please do as the Crown Prince wishes, yes.”

“Thank you.”

What’s there to be thankful for? Since he gave me the burden of carrying such a heavy load, I should be the one thankful…

‘Such a strange person, really.’

“Let’s find our way back. The path we came on earlier had too many troublesome trap devices.”

The traps Kirie set up for his safety were all smashed by Aston and me. It wasn’t that scary since the Swordmaster and the Saint’s divine powers combined could destroy almost anything. It was boring. I wondered when we would break through all of them and return, contemplating how to go back.

At that moment, a dead cat came into our sight.

“Oh! This cat!”

“The cat we saw at the entrance of the secret passage earlier.”

“The fact that it’s dead here… maybe there’s another passage connected. There probably won’t be any traps there.”

“Then let’s go that way.”

We had to join our comrades.

“Sure.”

Ding.

The quest notification window rang.

[Main Quest Chase the Rebel of the World 1] [2. Capture Kirie Worei hiding in the hideout.] [Main Quest 1 2 completed!] [Congratulations on achieving a difficult achievement!] [Reward: Sacred Sword capable of killing a demonized being.]

The status window, eerily announcing the quest completion, handed me a shining sword.

Swoosh.

A sapphire blue sword, as if carved from aquamarine in the air, appeared and approached me.

In the hilt of the sword, there was a large diamond shaped like a water droplet, and strangely, it repeatedly shone with iridescence as if something inside it was flowing and changing colors.

Aston admired the sword as soon as he saw it.

“This is… a crystal sword that appeared in the founding myth.”

“A crystal sword?”

“There was a legend that wielding this sword would eliminate all impure beings and send them to hell. I never thought I would actually see it…”

While being amazed, Aston didn’t try to approach the crystal sword.

“It seems like this should be held by Aston.”

“The chosen owner of that sword is you. If I were to hold it, I would burn and die.”

“What are you saying?”
Surprised, I tried to avoid the Crystal Sword, but it followed me like it had legs.

Zero chuckled as he watched me run away from the sword.

“Take it. It appeared to help you defeat Kirie anyway.”

“Do I have to play the role of a dancing swordsman too?”

“Well, if that’s what it takes… Besides, it seems like the quest is expecting that from you?”

Ding.

The quest was updated.

[Main Quest Chase the Rebel of the World 2] [Final Quest.] [Use the sword received as a reward for Main Quest 1 to kill Kirie Worei.] [Reward: Safe return of the Player (Possessor). Promised reward.]

‘A real final quest…!’

The moment I saw that, joy surged in my heart, but at the same time, the realization that time was running out to see my beloved comrades again was agonizing.

Materially, I lacked nothing, but going back to the original world, which I always felt lonely in.

Not lonely, but still being in this world, unfamiliar and frightening.

Do I have a choice?

Since the final quest has been issued, it seems there is no way to turn back.

As I hesitated in confusion, Aston, holding Kirie in a state of unconsciousness, asked.

“…Aren’t you moving?”

“Uh, I should go.”

I… have to kill Kirie.