The Tale of Gerald Vader, the Heretic Knight’s Rampage Through Another World
“Seriously, you men are something else…”
“…………”
“…………”
While being bombarded from head to toe with the overly dramatic scolding of Eliza Lindeu—commander of the Knights of the Cathedral—Gaston and I sat cross-legged together under the bushes.
I mean, this loli-granny is seriously scary.
If I tried to defy her, she’d probably flatten me with her “Blessing of Humility.”
In fact, she’s already flattened a few people who defied her.
And if you’re a demon, there’s no discussion—you’re just done for.
By the way, on my side—opposite Gaston—Twina had appeared and was sitting cross-legged with a solemn expression… but you’re definitely just sitting there for the sake of it, aren’t you?
—Eliza’s Holy Magic was incredibly powerful.
Although he wasn’t dead, Gaston’s every bone had clearly been shattered, yet she revived him to full health in the blink of an eye, and even restored the surrounding destroyed streetlights and trees to their original state.
The spell Eliza cast was “Repair of the World,” one of the highest-ranking Holy Magic spells.
Its power extends beyond humans, literally “restoring” trees, inorganic objects like streetlights, and even the terrain itself.
In the game, it gave the impression of being a magic spell with a grandiose name that consumed enormous amounts of magic power just to revive incapacitated characters… but actually witnessing its effects, exactly as described in the flavor text, is nothing short of astonishing.
And after that, we were once again isolated from the outside world by Gaston’s barrier magic, which is why we are now receiving Eliza’s lecture.
“…Well, very well. I understand your side of the story.”
Gaston and I had already explained our circumstances to Eliza.
The details of the fight, the reason I was loitering near the girls’ dormitory, and so on.
Of course, we’ve also told her that there’s a possibility demons are lurking in either the men’s or women’s dorms—or perhaps both.
After all, I “know” that at the very least, Eliza and Gaston aren’t in cahoots with demons or the Demon Race.
Well, Twina did criticize me for secretly sneaking around doing “interesting things” behind her back.
Still, I never would have guessed that the reason he picked a fight (?) with me was to keep me from joining the Knights of the Holy See.
Or rather, it’s also surprising that the reason Eliza had infiltrated the academy was to get me into the Knights of the Holy See—the exact opposite of what Gaston wanted.
Naturally, a scenario like that doesn’t exist in the “main story.”
Well, it’s not uncommon for the top dog and the number two to be secretly at odds with each other.
It doesn’t quite look like they’re “obeying outwardly while harboring resentment inwardly,” but hey, they’re human, so they have their own beliefs and opinions.
Even if they agreed at first, they might change their minds later.
That said, I have no intention of joining the Knights of the Holy Temple.
After all, in a few years’ time—around the time the story reaches its climax—they’re going to suffer the fate of total annihilation.
Not “annihilation” in the military sense.
Literally “annihilation” in the sense that every single one of them will die.
Of course, this includes Eliza, one of the main heroines.
To be precise, if the protagonist, Klaus, hasn’t established an intimate relationship with her by the time a certain event occurs, she’ll challenge a demon to a one-on-one duel and die in battle.
And the remaining knights, deprived of Eliza—the Order’s greatest asset—will be unable to withstand the surging hordes of monsters and demons, falling one by one.
The Knights of the Cathedral are among the kingdom’s finest elite, but precisely because of that, their numbers are small.
I believe there were only about 100 of them in total, weren’t there?
No matter how many warriors capable of taking on a thousand enemies they may be, there’s nothing they can do if they’re left stranded on a battlefield against an army of hundreds of thousands of monsters led by the Demon Clan.
And even if I were to join the Order of the Cathedral Knights…
The question is, what could a single person possibly do in such a hopeless situation?
It’s true that the “Blessing of the Sword” is powerful.
But if you ask me if it’s powerful enough to overcome the sheer force of numbers, I’d have to shake my head.
At best, I’d probably end up in a mutual kill with a demon using the “Godslayer Sword.”
But a “mutual destruction” would mean a death ending for me.
I’m not aiming for a bitter ending or a merry bad ending—I’m aiming for a happy ending… a survival ending.
I’m not a hero. I’m not aiming to be one.
Of course, I’m not the protagonist either. I have no intention of taking the protagonist’s place.
I do feel sorry for them, knowing they might all be wiped out.
If it can be avoided, I’d like to lend a hand.
Maybe there’s a future where that happens.
But even so… there’s no way I’ll ever join the Knights of the Holy See.
“Do you lot really understand?”
Eliza, who has no way of knowing what’s going on inside my head, continues her scolding, looking utterly exasperated.
“If I hadn’t intervened, there would have been casualties, you know? And with that magical barrier set up… if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t even have noticed it.”
“No, I didn’t mean to kill him! That goes without saying! I just meant to give this insolent brat a little taste of his own medicine—”
“You fool!”
“Guh…”
Gaston fell silent at Eliza’s rebuke.
“If you’d kept fighting like that, you might have injured Gerald. But even so… if that brat had gone all out, it would have been you who died, Gaston! Have you forgotten that huge hole in the dungeon?”
“…There’s no way I could forget that.”
Gaston hesitated for a moment, but then, fixing his gaze on Eliza, he spat out the words quietly.
“That’s exactly why we’re incompatible, isn’t it?”
“…I told you. If it’s a ‘potent poison,’ it should remain in my possession.”
“I understand the logic. But Your Grace, even so, I—”
Both of them going on and on about “potent medicine”… Given the context, I know they’re talking about me.
But… “Potent medicine” is definitely not the right term, no matter how you look at it.
I’m clearly on the “refreshing tonic” side, right?
Twina thinks so too, doesn’t she?
I glance sideways at her.
“You’re up to no good again, aren’t you…?”
But Twina looked at my face, narrowed her eyes, and muttered that under her breath.
Unfortunately, it seems she’s not on my side.
“…Well, let’s leave our discussion at that for now.”
Eliza and Gaston continued their heated back-and-forth for a while, but aside from the fact that I was being called a “potent medicine,” it was unfortunately too much of an inside joke for me to really understand.
After all, they were talking about “potent drugs,” “miracle cures,” and “painkillers”—all the key proper nouns and terms had been replaced with medical jargon. There was no way I could understand it.
Well, I could vaguely grasp the general direction of the conversation—something about exterminating demons or internal politics within the Knights’ Order…
That said, it seemed the two of them had reached some sort of conclusion at the end of their debate.
Gaston still looked like he wanted to say something, but he said, “I understand,” and shut his mouth.
After that, Eliza snorted and turned her gaze toward me.
“Still… to think a demon is impersonating a student at this knight academy.”
Ah, that topic was important too.
“At this point, it’s just a possibility… but then again, it could be an instructor, a dorm mother, or even one of the security guards.”
“Indeed, based solely on the traces of miasma left in your magic circle, we can’t definitively say the culprit is a student.”
“I do think at least one of them is a student, though.”
I nodded as I pulled a small magic circle from my pocket.
I had already explained my “night activities” to her.
The magic circle I took out was the one I’d recovered near the back entrance of the girls’ dormitory just before the attack on Gaston.
The paper was completely white, but the area around the spell formula had discolored as if it had been scorched.
Eliza looked at the magic circle and let out a groan—“Hmm…”—that was somewhere between admiration and confusion.
“I see. The spell is a bit hard to read, but it certainly reacts to miasma. Did you study under a renowned magician before enrolling?”
“No, I’m self-taught.”
“Hey, don’t try to put on airs like that.”
It was Gaston who spoke up suspiciously from beside her.
“To construct a spell like this, you need a cross-disciplinary understanding of sacred magic and barrier magic, along with the ability to apply syntactic knowledge creatively. Come on, admit it—you must have had some adult helping you, right?”
“I don’t know about understanding, but the spell’s syntax is all basics.”
In fact, I wasn’t using any advanced knowledge or complicated techniques.
It only looks long-winded and complex because I’ve forced the magic circle together using nothing but basic syntax.
“Anyway, let’s get back to the matter at hand.”
Eliza looked down at me, then let out a small sigh.
“If a demon is lurking within the academy, we can’t be wasting time trying to recruit you. I suppose we’ll have to help you with your ‘demon hunt’ after all.”