It was late afternoon by the time I got to the town that the Protagonist was staying in. Well, it was the town where her orphanage was located, so it only made sense that she was here.

Anyways, I got here just in time for the official start of the Ceremony. This town did have a Ceremony earlier in the morning. The only reason why there was another one in the afternoon was because it was “special” in the sense that only orphans could participate.

Judging by the half-rotten state of the venue, it was safe to say that the townfolks didn’t separate the orphans for any good reason…

As I walked toward an empty seat, I could see that almost everyone was staring at me. ‘Maybe Petra’s right, my clothes are conspicuous.’

But it was too late to change anything now, so I simply sat still and stared straight ahead at the sole Awakening Orb here, ignoring all the chatters directed at me.

…And it would’ve stayed that way if it wasn’t for someone very rudely approaching me without my consent.

It was a woman who looked like she was only twelve. She had red hair, dark eyes, and a very petite build. Seeing the white-and-gold armor she was wearing and the Golden Sun design on it, anyone could tell that she was a Holy Knight.

But I wasn’t fooled by her appearance. Despite how young she looked, she was actually more than sixty fucking years old. 

I knew it because I was sure that she was The Captain of the Illuminous Holy Knight Order—Savannah something, I didn’t care enough about her last name.

Anyways, she took the seat right beside me without even asking for my opinion. Glancing at the badge on my shirt, she said,

“What’s a Corporal doing here? Surely, you aren’t here to Awaken, are you?”

At her prodding words, I simply chuckled.

“Then, will you tell me what the Captain of a Holy Knight Order is doing here? This isn’t a place where a S-ranker like yourself should be.”

Savannah was slowly but surely releasing bloodlust. Yep, before she could do anything rash, I quickly continued.

“Don’t be too surprised. The Emperor told me all about you.”

“He…did…?”

‘This is revenge for calling me to your palace at fucking midnight. Be my shield, Razos.’

Anyways, I was sure that he wouldn’t mind. All I did was use his name so that I wouldn’t get obliterated by Savannah.

“That should give you an idea of how important I am,” I simply sighed. “I’m here on my own private business, and I’m sure that you are, too. So, what do you say about not interfering in the other’s business?”

I extended a hand out to her, but she didn’t grab it immediately… Or at all.

“No, I can’t accept unless I know what you’re here for.”

‘Yeah, yeah, now I know where the Hero got her stupid sense of justice from.’

I said stupid, because I literally hadn’t done anything wrong. 

But, to be fair, my timing was a little bit suspicious. Supposedly, the Pontiff of Light received a revelation about the Hero being here, so if I were to say that I was also looking for the Hero, I’d definitely be tortured for information; backed by the Emperor or not.

Since I was (very obviously) smart, I’d prepared an excuse beforehand.

“Here,” I said as I handed her a flyer.

“This…”

“Knovski’s Maid Café. Visit it sometimes if you want, I don’t care. I’m just here to do some advertising.”

Savannah gulped and folded the flyer and put it inside her armor. Heh, she and her obsession with maids.

After that, she didn’t exchange words with me anymore and simply watched the Ceremony in silence.

.

.

.

.

Children are very stupid, and that fact will never change. Well, they were eighteen, so young adults, I guess, but that didn’t matter.

Seeing the irrefutable evidence in front of my eyes, I was even more sure of that fact. 

Every. Single. Fucking. Person. Ripped the parchment apart as soon as they awakened, showing their Status to the whole world.

It was lucky for them that they were all shit. Like, they weren’t even half as talented as Raun.

That was, until I saw a green-haired and green-eyed Elf girl walk up to the Awakening Orb.

‘Oh? A Heroine… Since she’s here, she’s most likely the Hero’s childhood friend.’

Marie, no last name. She would soon take on the Protagonist’s surname as her own’s, but that just served to make the Protagonist see her as a sister rather than a wife. So, you could say her attempt at getting the Protagonist to see her as anything more than a friend technically worked?

Anyways, she was an Elf, so of course she was either a Mage or an Archer. And, seeing the Status that she so stupidly decided to show the world, it seemed that I didn’t even need to have the knowledge of the novel to know that she was the latter.

===Status===

Name: Marie

Bloodline: Elf (100%)

Overall Growth Rating: Heroic+

Rank: F+ (MAX: UNCHECKED)

Strength: F (Heroic)

Agility: F+ (Legendary-)

Stamina: F (Heroic+)

Intelligence: F (Common-)

Mana capacity: F+ (Heroic+)

Class: Archer

--

Affinities:

[Legendary - Wind]

[Rare - Light]

--

Skills:

[Hawk Eyes] {A}
Lock onto any target from a great distance. Will notify the user of the enemy’s position during the next 15 minutes if she locks eyes with them for more than 10 seconds. Raises proficiency with any Bow-type weapon.

===

“A-A kid like this is in this backwater town?” Savannah couldn’t help but mutter in surprise.

Meanwhile, I was simply enjoying myself, waiting for the show to come.

‘Where did I put my popcorn again? Ah, here it is!’

Munching on the popcorn I’d prepared beforehand, I leaned back in my seat and watched everything with keen eyes.

“C-Could this be the Hero in the revelation?” Savannah muttered.

‘Hey, you gotta fix the habit of muttering your thoughts out loud.’

“She has to be,” Savannah nodded to herself. “Though, I’d never heard of a Bow-wielding Hero of Light before. And her Affinity…she’s really better off joining the Church of Wind.”

‘Don’t worry, she will, eventually.’

“Even if she’s not the Hero, our Church do indeed need a good Archer.”

‘...I don’t think you bastards that can summon Light from the Heavens need more ranged options, but you do you.’

With a determined nod, Savannah got out of her seat and walked toward Marie in a very imposing manner. But before she could reach her—

“KYAHHHH!”

—A man in dark hooded robes leaped out from a shadow and grabbed Marie and ran away. 

The man was barely even a threat to Savannah, yet he managed to escape her and every other Holy Knight stationed inside this place by melting into the shadows. 

And…judging by the explosion of Void mana as soon as he did so…

“IT’S A VOID FIEND!”

Pandemonium. 

While the other Holy Knights were trying to calm everyone down, Savannah rushed out of the building to try and find the robed man.

Unfortunately for her, she’d never find him until much later.

But fortunately for me, I knew the exact place where he’d just gone. I threw the pack of popcorn back into my backpack, stretched my arms for a bit, before also exiting the building.

*

*

*

*

One slash, two slashes, three slashes. One straight forward, one horizontal, and one vertical. Those were the basics of one very powerful sword style.

Inside an abandoned Church not far away from where Savannah was, a youth was practising her swordsmanship. 

With every dance-like movement, her raven hair swayed from left to right. Yet, it never obscured her vision.

Her golden eyes gleamed through her hair; intensely glaring at her imaginary opponent. 

With one final slash, she let go of her sword and fell to the ground. As she gasped for breath, she picked up the book right beside her and read the title.

[Holy Sword Dance] {V}

It was the Sword art that her father left her before he was killed by the despicable Void fiends. 

She flipped it open, but was stopped at just the fifth page.

‘Looks like this is my limit for now. I should go to the Awkening Ceremony.’

The girl stood up and grabbed her sword. Looking around, she couldn’t help but let out a confused noise.

“Eh? It’s already dark?”

More than that, there was something that greatly disturbed her—the sound of footsteps.

‘Is Marie coming?’

But she quickly shook such thought away. The footsteps were too heavy to be Marie’s. Still, she could tell that it belonged to something humanoid.

Gripping her sword and gulping, the girl peeked into the main prayer room and saw something horrible.

In the middle of the room was Marie, who was lying there with her hands and feet bound by sturdy ropes.

Right next to her was a man in dark robes. Since he had his hood down, the girl could see his face. He had black hair, and even blacker eyes. In fact, his eyes—even his sclerae, were pitch black. 

He looked just like the Void fiends the girl often saw in books.

That was not to say that she needed books to know what Void fiends looked like. After all…

“FIRST, DAD, AND NOW MARIE!? I’LL KILL YOU!”

Startled by the loud noise, the Void fiend jumped back a few steps. But as soon as he saw the girl, he burst out crackling.

“Hah, I can’t believe someone like you scared me. Just a worthless bitch that haven’t even Awakened.”

Ignoring the Void fiend’s remarks, the girl rushed toward it. As her sword was about to make contact with its skin, she could remember the words her father left her.

-”Artoria, everyone deserves a second chance, however bad they might be. So, my dear daughter, fulfill my last wishes and be kind.”

Indeed. To the girl—Artoria, everyone deserved a second, or even a third chance… Everyone except for Creatures of Void, that is. After all, they murdered the one she cherished the most in cold blood. And here they were again, trying to harm her one and only friend in front of her eyes.

Just as her flashback ended, Artoria’s attack hit. However, it bounced off the Fiend’s skin without inflicting as much as scratch.

The Fiend smiled before delivering a punch to Artoria’s abdomen. “Know your place.”

“Gurghh!”

Artoria spurted blood and fell to the ground. She tried to squirm her way toward her sword again, but was stopped by the Void fiend pressing a foot on her back.

He raised his foot up and smirked.

“Trying to save your friend, eh?”

Then, he slammed it down; almost cracking Artoria’s bones.

Ignoring Artoria’s pained cries, he continued.

“Or are you someone from the Church, trying to rescue the Hero?”

‘I-Is that why he abducted Marie?’

“L-Let her go!”

The Fiend stopped stomping for a few moments.

“Why should I?”

“S-She not a Hero!”

“Yeah, and the Evil God isn’t the most powerful being in existence. I can bullshit too, you know?”

He mercilessly continued his assault, ignoring every of Artoria’s subsequent attempt at reasoning.

While Artoria was getting tortured to death, Marie opened her eyes with a groan. However, her eyes soon widened in horror as she realized what was happening to her friend.

Suppressing her rage, she cut the ropes binding her with the Wind magic that she’d just acquired in the Ceremony and ran toward Artoria, aiming to rescue her.

However, the Void fiend had already noticed her movements. Disappearing from its spot, the Fiend reappeared right behind Marie and grabbed her by her neck, strangling her.

“A-Art! R-Run!” Marie could barely manage a stutter.

Artoria didn’t run. She was too paralyzed with fear to do so—fear for what might happen to her friend.

‘I-It can’t end like this!’

Marie was the only reason why Artoria hadn’t charged straight into the Void-infested regions yet. And now, she was being strangled to death in front of her eyes. 

For the first time in her life, Artoria felt…hopeless. Not even when her father died did she feel this emotion.

‘Perhaps it’s better to just give up—’

|My child, do you wish for power?
Do you wish for revenge?
Do you wish to never feel the dread of losing your loved ones again?|

The sudden voice, full of holiness and dignity, asked her.

Artoria was in no position to question the voice right now and simply answered,

‘Yes, I do.’

|Very well. Accept my power and become my Apostle!|

Just as the voice stopped, a brilliant pillar of golden light descended upon Artoria before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. However, that brief yet powerful surge of holy power was enough for several powerful individuals, including Marx the knight captain, to take notice of it.

Not aware of the commotion she had just caused, Artoria slowly stood up; her body still bloodied and bruised. However, there was something different about her, and that something manifested as the translucent blue screen that anyone could see.

===Status===

Name: Artoria Kilvillain

Bloodline: Human (30%) | Divine Vessel (70%)

Overall Growth Rating: Mythic

Rank: E (MAX: SSS)

Strength: E+ (Mythic+)

Agility: E (Legenary)

Stamina: E+ (Mythic+)

Intelligence: E- (Rare+)

Mana capacity: E+ (Legendary+)

Class: Holy Hero of Light

--

Affinities:

[Mythic - Holy]

[Heroic - Fire]

[Heroic - Water]

[Heroic - Earth]

[Heroic - Air]

[Rare - Light]

[Rare - Darkness]

--

Skills:

[Lumaria of Light’s vessel] {B}
The skill given to the one chosen by the Goddess of Light. Allows the user to borrow the strength of various gods allied with the Goddess of Light. The user is given the highest affinity to Holy magic. Excessive uses can strain the user’s body.

[Hero’s Bloodline] {SSS}
The skill granted to the successor of the First Hero – Arthur Vritious. Allows the user to have high control over the six basic Elements. Increases the user’s proficiency with the sword significantly. Grants the user the qualification to wield Excalibur—the legendary holy sword that the First Hero used to slay Celestial Lumet Carsotian.

[A – Appraisal]
Given to Artoria Kilvillain as a gift from the Goddess of Light. Gives the ability to appraise everything without the use of artifacts. The skill can also be used to appraise other people, although the user cannot inspect Affinities or Skills with it. If the target's strength is much higher than the user’s current strength, the appraisal will fail.

===

Before Artoria could even express her surprise, the Void fiend had already did it for her.

“Y-You’re the Hero! Dammit! I’ve been tricked!”

Then, he dashed toward Artoria with as much speed as he could muster up. He was moving so fast that the ground was disturbed in his wake. Growing claws out of his hand, he broke Artoria’s Status into a million pieces and aimed for her heart.

However, Artoria wasn’t the same as before. Gripping her sword, she delivered a single slash.

It was all it took for a huge gash to appear on the Fiend’s shoulder.

“Gahhh! H-How?!”

“The Goddess…she showed me the way.”

“Bullshit!”

The Fiend distanced himself from Artoria. Then, he hurled several Void spells at her.

However, all of them were countered by Artoria using each of the basic Elements.

Sensing that he couldn’t win, the Void fiend desperately tried to use the Void spell from before—the same one that allowed him to fuse with the shadows and escape from the Holy Knight Captain earlier.

But unluckily for him, Holy was the polar opposite of Void. So, with a wipe of her hand, Artoria effortlessly cancelled his Magic. 

Then, her figure flickered, and she appeared right behind him.

“Repent.”

With another simple slash, the Void fiend’s body was split in half.

Before Artoria could rejoice at the prospect of saving her friend, a wave of exhaustion washed over her. She passed out on the ground, but not before catching a glimpse of the green-haired Elf girl running toward her with a worried look on her face.

“I’m glad you’re safe…Marie.”

*

*

*

*

Marie carried Artoria on her back and quickly tried to get back to the town.

“No, no, no! SHE’S GOING TO DIE!”

The injuries that the Void fiend had inflicted on her were severe enough that Artoria would die in minutes if not treated. 

Tears welled up in Marie’s eyes. At her fastest, it would take Marie over thirty minutes to get from here to the town. Now, with Artoria on her back, she wasn’t sure if she could make it.

Suddenly, Marie felt something hitting her head. She snapped her head to the side and saw that something was throwing stones at her from a bush.

“A-An enemy!? Show yourself!”

No answer.

Marie gulped and placed Artoria against a tree. “It’s going to be alright,” she whispered.

Then, she took Artoria’s sword and cautiously approached the bush. Parting the leaves aside, she saw—

“W-What?”

—A Recovery potion and some popcorn and chocolate wrappers around it.

Normally, she’d have questioned what this was doing here, but now wasn’t the time! She hurriedly grabbed the Potion and ran back to Artoria.

Uncorking the Potion, she poured the content into her own mouth and sealed Artoria’s lips with her own. She pushed her tongue out to pry Artoria’s lips open. And, luckily, it worked! She'd sucessfully transfered the liquid into her friend's mouth.

Marie broke away from Artoria with a heavy sigh. Her friend was going to be fine…for now. The Potion had bought her a few hours at the very least.

So, after catching her breath again, Marie continued making her way back to the town with Artoria on her back.

.

.

.

.

I watched Marie “kissing” Artoria with a deep frown on my face.

‘Opportunistic bastard. Couldn’t you just pry her mouth open with your finger? Is kissing her really necessary?’

Well, considering what Marie would do in the future to win Artoria’s love, this could be considered tame.

Anyways, according to the novel, Marie would make it to the town and Savannah would save Artoria right as she was about to die.

Although it made for a good dramatic moment in the novel, I simply couldn’t risk the Protagonist dying this early. What if Marie tripped over some tree roots? What if she forgot her way back to the town?

There were simply too many ways that this could go wrong.

So, as much as it hurt my wallet, I decided to buy a Recovery potion in advance and used a very discreet method to give Marie it.

I followed them close behind until they made it all the way back to the town. Yep, Savannah found them. Yep, they survived. And yep, Savannah took them under the Church’s protection.

Now, I could rest knowing that the Protagonist wasn’t going to die out of nowhere.

Speaking of the Protagonist…

‘I should probably get the Artifact that she’s going to break for no fucking reason.’