Chapter 156.2: Divine Power (Part 2)
『I wouldn't say it's ideal. A devil would have no issue carrying a relic around, but they would feel an intense shock of divine power if they tried swinging one. No matter how strong they are, they've been tainted by evil now, so they can no longer handle divine power.』
「I see. I guess that means he couldn't just swing the relic around wildly. Though I appreciate the fact I don't have to worry about running into a devil swinging a relic wildly.」
Mira heaved a sigh of relief hearing the Spirit King.
「Still, now that I know how devils used to be, I feel hesitant to fight them again, as there might be a way to turn them back. I'll try to just render them unconscious if I ever run into one again. Though I would've been forced to go all out if I encountered one brandishing a relic.」
Mira grasped Tiriel's hand more firmly as she said that with a gentle voice. It was impossible for her to imagine it, but devils had once worked hand-in-hand with angels. Now that she knew of that, she could no longer see devils as the ultimate enemy of humanity. Not to mention that bringing up that would only make Tiriel more depressed.
「Mm, you're right. Maybe there's even a friend of Tiriel's out there somewhere.」
Kagura was of the same mind as well, and she held Tiriel's free hand. The angel had spent tens of thousands of years inside the coffin. An Angel's lifespan was infinite, so was a devil's. That meant it was possible that there were still devils that she had known once.
But so many devils had died during the Defense of the Three Gods' Countries that the chances of that happening were close to zero. But Kagura still wished the angel could smile again, and hoped for the best.
She looked like a young girl, but she was really thousands of years old. She slowly lifted her face and looked at Kagura and Mira, who had only lived for an insignificant fraction of the time she had. She realized they both cared deeply for her, so she thanked them and embraced the warmth of their hands.
After that the angel Tiriel would be taken to the Fifty Bells' headquarters. There she would help Kagura with anything in her power, while also researching what happened with the other angels in charge of the catacombs.
The devil with the means of opening the coffins was still at large. If a second or third coffin was opened, there was a high likelihood that a second Chimera Clauzen could be born. That was the Spirit King's biggest fear, and Tiriel offered to help stop that from happening.
There had been a total of seven different coffins. And apparently the Graveyard of War Memorials was the smallest one of the bunch. Whether the other ones ended up being opened or not, their contents were even more dangerous and vile.
But if the curse had weakened as much as in the first location and it was possible to cleanse it, Tiriel wanted to help Mira accomplish that.
Tiriel left aboard the spirit flying ship, heading to the Fifty Bells' headquarters. Some days after that, Sentopolly had regained normality, its streets abundant with merchants and adventurers.
Alioth was handling the management of the city properly, and there were no issues under his leadership.
Chimera Clauzen had been puppeteering well-intentioned nobles. He had learned all of Chimera Clauzen's methods from Gregorius, so now Alioth knew how to take over from those nobles that had simply been used by Chimera Clauzen before.
On top of that, now that Chimera Clauzen's members of middling ranks had been uprooted from all over the state institutions, their positions had been taken over by members of the Fifty Bells, who all worked efficiently. Even after there was such a large turnover of personnel, the country did not fall to chaos, and every aspect of the government was fully functional.
Maybe it was all due to Kagura's charismatic personality, but Mira was surprised to see just how capable everyone in the Fifty Bells seemed to be.
The main difference was that now there was a limit to the spiritual power available to the city, so now it could not be bright and lively the entire day and night. All the street lamps used to be spirit lamps after all.
Now some kind spirits would lend their power during the busiest hours, just to keep everything afloat. But that was not a sustainable solution, so the commercial and entertainment districts had already started swapping onto more common street lamps. Everything was funded with the money seized from Chimera Clauzen's coffers.
Slowly but surely, Sentopolly was changing into a city that no longer needed to rely on spiritual power.
「Hey, I see you're hard at work today too.」
It was a bit after breakfast time. Mira left her inn and found the Écarlate Carillon crew amidst the crowd outside.
「Yes, originally we wanted to finish earlier, but things kept getting in the way so hopefully today we'll get to wrap up.」
「Ahhh, this has to be fate, seeing you on our last day like this!」
The merchants nearby were shuffling around their baggage on the carriages. Sero's group seemed to be taking it easy for now, except for Emera having to restrain Fricca again.
After talking for a bit, Mira learned that Sero's group had been hired as bodyguards for those merchants, and were about to leave with them. Their contract included the return trip as well.
Once they returned to the Requiem City of Caranach, they would spend around half a month training some children and helping them study, and then they would head north.
「You're teaching children then?」
When Mira asked that, Zef replied with a laugh. After Fricca began teaching Takuto some spells, one child after another came to ask her to teach them as well.
Sero then added that now the Spellcaster's Union in Caranach had designated one room to be used as a classroom for adventurers that wanted to teach others.
「The teachers don't get any remuneration, but somehow there's always someone there every day. It's nice seeing generous people like that.」
Asbar laughed a bit mentioning how things had escalated. But then Emera interjected, 「And Mr. Asbar diligently preparing material each day is very generous as well,」 to which he replied by looking away and saying, 「I only did that because I was bored.」
「Also, I still can't believe she let me keep this. Please tell her thanks from me if you see her again. 」
Sero tapped the white sword hanging from his belt as he spoke to Mira.
It was the Anti-Demon Silver sword Kagura had given him the night before the final battle against Chimera Clauzen. Once everything was over, Kagura said he could keep it, as his reward for collaborating.
Anti-Demon Silver was the masterpiece of both the best alchemist and the best blacksmith. It had only one special property, to completely nullify black mist stones. But it was incredibly sturdy and sharp, so even if sold as a regular sword without special properties its price would never fall below a billion.
Yet Kagura easily gave it away. Sero was surprised by that, but Emera showed an even more stark reaction.
「Tell her the same from me! And that I'll treasure it for the rest of my life! Also tell that to Dovalin too if you can!」
Emera seemed to recall that scene again as she pleaded happily. Her belt was also adorned with two new scabbards, and new blades in them. One of them was an Anti-Demon Silver sword, and the other the sword Gregor crafted for her. Having those two made her so incredibly happy that it was almost creepy being around her lately, according to Zef.
「Uncle... uncle...」
Emera forgot about the chokehold she had Fricca in, and had exerted more force than planned. Mira pointed that out, and Emera hurried to let go of Fricca, who fell limp on the floor.
No one was close enough to hold her now, so she quickly raised her head and darted while keeping a low profile, jumping into Mira's bosom.
「Nguh!」
Mira had either kept her guard low, or Fricca's speed had gotten just so fast, but Mira was too late to evade and Fricca tackled her. From between the two, a small bottle fell down and rolled on the ground. It was an empty potion flask. Fricca had drank it while she was halfway collapsed, regaining her strength in an instant and dashed while everyone was distracted.
「I'll never let go of it! It's a matching set with Mira's after all!」
Fricca had been restrained for so long that now she was even more active than usual. Her wand was shorter than Mira's Anti-Demon Silver staff, but the design was similar. In a way, she was right, they were a matching set.
Some of the merchants turned around to see what the commotion was all about, but they all knew of Fricca's tendencies, so they merely gave Mira compassionate gazes and continued working as if nothing was happening.
「I didn't expect you to come with that timing...」
Fricca had managed to enjoy Mira's presence for long enough, so when Emera's backhanded chop finally landed, she collapsed with a blissful look in her eyes. Mira straightened her terribly crumpled clothes while forcing a smile, things always ended like that.
「Well, let's hope we meet again sometime, Mira.」
「Bye bye Mira! And... if you ever see Dovalin again, please ask for an autograph-」
「See you! Though I really feel like we'll end up running into each other soon enough.」
「Make sure to take care of yourself, missy. I know you're busy, but you should get proper rest too.」
「Awww Mira... We'll be away from each other again, but at least I have this to keep me company now!」
The merchants were ready so it was time for them to depart. Everyone said their goodbyes, and Fricca spoke with a sorrowful voice, which turned into a smile by the end as she lifted an item. It was not the matching wand with Mira's staff, but a single long strand of silver hair.
Somehow she had managed to snatch one of Mira's hairs while she was tackling her.
「You too, stay in good health.」
Mira shook her head a bit and then saw off Sero and the merchants.