The Miss and Mister Temple Contest will begin at 7:00 PM. The current time was 4:00 PM.
There wasn’t much time left. The size might not be right, but I think it’ll roughly fit based on my estimate. For the purposes that I wore it before, the size wasn’t important.
What would I do if Eleris sold it by now? It’s only been two days, so she probably hasn’t resold it yet.
Since the participants were required to gather beforehand, Olivia needed to go to the contest venue earlier. So, she had to get the dress before that.
If someone looked and pointed out that the dress was worn by the winner of a cross-dressing competition….
I don’t know what would happen.
Ah, whatever! It’ll work!
I’ll get you something!
No one ever died of embarrassment!
With no more time to waste, I hurriedly made my way to the Al Ligar shopping district where Eleris’ shop was located.
“This is driving me insane…”
The fastest way to travel within the capital was by mana train.
Right now during the Temple Festival, there were too many people crowding the capital.
Therefore, there was a huge crowd of people waiting to board the mana train. Even after three whole trains passed by, I still couldn’t board it.
It won’t be late.
Nonetheless, since the mana train had to be faster than walking or running, I anxiously waited for the train and boarded it.
I don’t know why I had to take a hellishly cramped train in this world too, but somehow I finally arrived at the Al Ligar shopping district.
Now I just needed to go to Eleris’ basement and walk out with a dress.
However,
I didn’t have eyes on the back of my head.
But now, I had a skill that served the same purpose.
This feeling of discomfort.
There was a sense of uneasiness that followed me. It was like something sticky and unpleasant was clinging to my back.
I realized it instinctively.
I was being followed.
“If you’re going to follow me, shouldn’t you at least hide your presence?”
Clothed in her school uniform, without any intention of hiding, she was there. In the middle of the crowded Al Ligar shopping district, Lydia Schmidt stood still, watching me.
“….”
I thought she was a little creepy but I didn’t think that she would end up following me. Lydia Schmidt approached me with a coy smile on her face.
“Reinhardt, I have a favor to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“Stay away from Olivia. Please.”
Looking into Lydia Schmidt’s eyes sent shivers down my spine..
How many times had Olivia seen someone with eyes like that, talking to her without listening to her at all?
Experiencing this once was bad enough, but this kind of thing was happening all around her.
It was a wonder that Olivia had stayed sane.
“It’s all because of you. It’s because of you that she’s like this, that she’s strayed, that she has strayed away from the embrace of the gods. If only you were gone, everything would be fine. If only you were gone, she would return to her old self. Right?, Wouldn’t you think so too?”
“… I think you’re mistaken. Olivia had already decided to give up her faith before she met me, that had nothing to do with me.”
She had the order reversed. Olivia had already left her faith before she met me, so it’s nonsense to say that I was the cause of it..
Lydia Schmidt stared at me as if she was mesmerized by something.
“No, it’s because of you. Olivia could have returned, and she certainly could have been saved back then. Everything went wrong after she met you.”
Nothing I say would matter since she had already reached her own conclusion. She didn’t care at all about what Olivia had experienced in her brief stay under the Knights Templar.
No, she probably believed it was the right thing to do, if that meant that it set Olivia back to the right path she believed in.
There’s nothing I could do to change her mind.
My words would not convince her.
“Please, Reinhardt. Stay away from Olivia. I’m begging you. Without you. Without you, she’ll be able to get back on the right path. I’ll even get down on my knees, I’ll do anything you ask. So let her go. Please, before something tragic happens. Let Olivia go. Before something irreparable happens.”
She hated me but would do anything for Olivia, that attitude was foreign to me. This was the person who would kill herself for Olivia.
Why would she do something like this?
I found myself thinking what Olivia was thinking earlier.
Just as Olivia couldn’t understand why Lydia had to do this, I couldn’t either.
“No, you do me a favor and leave Olivia alone. Even if she’s a genius who’s never going to be found again in this century, there are people who are more faithful and capable than her. Why do you have to put some large expectations on Olivia, who doesn’t want it at all. You’re probably not the kind of person who easily falls for abilities or beliefs, but I don’t know what you’re expecting from Olivia. Just do it yourself. Okay?”
“No! Olivia! She’s the only one! She’s the only one who deserves it! She’s destined for that”
Lydia Schmidt began shouting, and the passersby began to pay attention to our argument.
It was as if they sensed something was amiss.
“Only Olivia is destined to unite the Five Great Churches, and become the Holy Empress of the nascent millennial empire.”
“…what?”
My head seemed to spin at the sudden nonsense that Lydia spewed out.
A millennial empire?
What kind of bullshit was that?
“Olivia is destined for that. Only Olivia deserves it. Only Olivia has the looks, the talent, the abilities, the personality for it, and you’re ruining it.”
In Lydia Schmidt’s eyes, I could see nothing but an endless swirling abyss.
For someone who believed in the divine, I could see nothing but darkness in her eyes.
Apparently, Lydia Schmidt didn’t want Olivia to simply regain her faith.
It was clear that she wanted her to be the master of something bigger, something much more.
But one thing she said caught my attention.
A millennial empire.
What the hell does that mean?
If Lydia Schmidt was simply a madwoman, I would have to deal with just her alone.
But there was something about what she said that I couldn’t take lightly.
“What the hell is the Millennial Empire?”
Lydia Schmidt’s face stiffened when she realized that her tongue slipped.
“…You don’t need to know that.”
She tried to hide it, as she realized that she’s made a mistake.
It wasn’t just some bullshit of a madwoman.
There’s something there. I realized that she’d said something she shouldn’t have because her emotions were running high. If it was just a random rant, there would be no need to cover it up.
I could make some inferences.
It’s possible that the people urging Olivia to return to her faith were doing so out of their own personal wishes, but Lydia Schmidt meant something different.
Lydia Schmidt seemed to be talking about an empire composed of the Five Great Churches. They were independent enough as it was, but it seemed they still wanted to make their own nation.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility that this was just Lydia Schmidt’s delusion, but if there was a group out there that shared the same delusion, it would complicate matters.
If I assume that there’s a revolutionary faction in hiding.
Then it’s not just a matter of getting rid of one crazy bitch.
Of course, things only got more troublesome.
They’re imposing their fucked up ideals on Olivia after all.
Why did it have to be her?
It was so disgusting to see that look on her face, she didn’t even consider that what she was doing to Olivia was coercion.. The way she didn’t even think about whether this was right or wrong. She believed that whatever suffering Olivia would go through was justified, because she had the conviction that it was the right thing.
A corrupt priests was disgusting,but fanatics were disgusting and unpleasant on another level.
There were a lot of things I wanted to say.
So many impolite words went through my head, but I couldn’t bring myself to say them.
I stared at Lydia Schmidt in silence.
She had been following me boldly down the crowded street.
I could see the subtle twitching of her hand.
This was a woman who would give her life to bring Olivia back to the right path.
Which meant that she was also willing to kill someone to get her back.
I didn’t even need to speculate about it.
A gaze full of unpleasant obsession mixed with anger, hatred, resentment, and countless emotions towards me told me everything.
Something irreversible.
She said something tragic might happen.
That’s all she said, but that could only mean one thing.
This girl was going to try and kill me.
Judging by the way she talked about the Millennial Empire, she seems to have a sense of conviction.
She’s going to do it because she thinks killing me was justified, whether anyone saw it that way or not. It’s not hard to predict how far she was willing to go, since I’ve seen it once before.
That’s why she’s tried to talk me out of it, to dissuade me.
Since that was rejected, Lydia Schmidt’s next option was very likely to be to kill me.
I didn’t want to fight in the street, but if she starts one, I’ll have to.
Most likely, if I fought this person, I would die.
I’ve had a lot of good luck so far, but there’s no guarantee that that streak of luck will continue.
I wonder if she would react differently if she knew I was the owner of Tiamata.
For a fanatic like this, nothing could be more effective than that Divine Relic.
But I couldn’t rely on Tiamata alone.
If she realized that I was Towan’s champion, she might ask me to convince Olivia to join her, or she might go and do something completely unexpected.
Lydia Schmidt was too dangerous.
But it’s very likely that she knew something even more dangerous.
First, I needed to find out what that was.
“I think you and I have a lot to talk about.”
“If you don’t stay away from Olivia, I have nothing more to talk about with you….”
“Why don’t we go somewhere quiet and talk?”
”!”
Lydia Schmidt’s expression tensed at my words.
It wasn’t out of embarrassment, but because I had said something completely unexpected.
She had resolved to kill me, whether people saw her or not, but her prey had suddenly asked her to go somewhere private to talk.
She wanted to kill me, and was willing to do so in public, even getting hauled off to jail and stand trial for murder so long as I was finally separated from Olivia.
But since I offered to go to a private place, she could even get away with it.
It was a perfect crime, she could remove me from the picture without sacrificing herself.
“…Alright.”
Lydia Schmidt laughed softly, as if she had already won.
I got goosebumps all over, but I couldn’t help it.
“But first, I have to take care of something. Let’s get that out of the way. It won’t take long. You can come with me.”
“Okay.”
You’re about to realize that if you wanted to kill me, you should have attacked me now.
Your ‘perfect crime’ will be the end of you.
It’s quite amazing how I could calmly think that and talk idly like this while my life was on the line.
My business has changed a bit from what I had earlier.
But it’s also not much different. It’s still the same thing actually, I needed to find Eleris.
Lydia Schmidt seemed to be enjoying herself, as if her prey was walking right into her trap.
It was daytime, so Eleris should be in the shop by now.
We were already in the Al Ligar shopping district, so my walk with Lydia Schmidt was not long.
Lydia Schmidt did not ask me where we were heading or for what purpose. Maybe she was thinking about how she’d kill me and how to dispose of the corpse afterwards.
This hunter had no idea that she was now the hunted.
Yeah, I could imagine her thought process.
I may be the winner of the first year tournament, but Lydia Schmidt was confident in her ability to take me down, and I knew it.
No matter what I do, even if I manage to get away from her, she’ll have my neck.
-Clack
“……aah.”
Eleris, who was sprawled out on the counter, the same as ever, was surprised to see me enter, and was once again surprised when she saw a girl from Temple that she’s never seen before behind me.
I’m sure she’s a little embarrassed, but this wasn’t a good time..
I told the shopkeeper that I’m here on business.
And it really was my business.
“Don’t speak or ask questions, but I need some noise canceling around here.”
“Sure.”
Eleris didn’t quite understand what’s going on, but she did as she was told. The sound-canceling magic spread out, and Lydia Schmidt narrowed her brow slightly, sensing that the atmosphere was a bit odd.
Yeah, she couldn’t expect something like this.
One doesn’t usually walk into a store, seemingly out of nowhere, and then start barking orders at the owner.
“And if you have any binding or incapacitating spells, use them on her. Use something strong. That isn’t a normal girl.”
“Yes.”
“…You!”
Eleris still didn’t understand the situation, but she followed my instructions to a point.
The look of realization on Lydia Schmidt’s face was frightening, and she was about to take action, but Eleris was faster.
-Kang! Ka-kang!
“Kak!”
With a terrifying casting speed, a jet-black chain suddenly appeared from thin air, binding Lydia Schmidt’s limbs.
-Kagak! Kagak!
Her arms were lifted into the air, and her legs were pinned to the ground. Lydia Schmidt struggled with her divine power, but the chains Eleris had summoned didn’t budge, except for a slight rattle.
“You, you bastard, what are you doing!”
No one could hardly expect to suddenly end up in such a situation. It’s natural for Lydia Schmidt to be taken aback.
-Click!
And to make sure no one could see what was going on, Eleris locked the door to the shop. She did as she was told and didn’t ask me anything at all.
“Hey, hey… I can’t get out of this! Who is she?! What are you trying to do to me?!”
Lydia Schmidt couldn’t understand the situation, but I had no intention of making her understand, just as she had no intention of making me understand her plan earlier.
“Let me go, let me go!”
Just as she would only say what she wanted to say to me, I would only say what I wanted to say to her.
-Shiing
“This…, do you recognize what it is?”
“Ti… Tiamata? That, that… that is… how…?”
“Believe it or not, I am the master of Tiamata. With this, I could be considered the Champion of Towan… or whatever you call the wielder of this sword.”
The man you were planning to kill lures you into a trap, and summons Tiamata out of nowhere.
It’s an unbelievable situation. But Lydia couldn’t possibly think that the Tiamata in my hand was a fake. No matter how long this sword had been hidden from the world, it’s impossible not to recognize the divinity that radiates from its aura and from the Divine Relic itself.
Lydia Schmidt tried to convince me to stay away from Olivia before she tried to murder me.
So, I’ll give her the same chance.
“From now on, you’re going to answer everything I ask you.”
“Stop flailing around, stop staring at me, and stop babbling nonsense….”
I slapped Lydia Schmidt’s cheek, using Tiamata’s side.
“Because the power of that god you’re so fond of might just split your skull open.”
Lydia Schmidt could only stare at me, wide-eyed.
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