The Swordmaster Wants To Live Peacefully [EN]: Chapter 312

Swordmaster Wants to Live Peacefully – 311

The Holy Spirit Temple (21)

Jeremiah’s arrival at Olympus was met with a lavish welcome.

No sooner had she stepped out of the carriage than she was whisked away by the nymphs of Olympus to a place overflowing with a sumptuous feast.

All sorts of rare and exquisite delicacies were laid out before her.

The extravagance was so overwhelming that she could scarcely believe it was real, and she couldn’t fathom why they were doing so much for her.

To avoid arousing suspicion, Jeremiah indulged in the food and wine.

She eventually fell into a deep sleep, only to awaken in a dark room.

‘I knew something like this was coming……’

Isn’t this a bit too obvious, considering I just arrived?

She attempted to move, but she was bound and completely immobilized.

“…Damn it,” Jeremiah muttered softly, surveying the room to assess the situation.

However, the room was dark and appeared to be a sealed chamber.

With no apparent way out, she scanned her surroundings until a section of the wall slid open, revealing an old woman.

The old woman, radiating immense divine power and possessing a towering presence, stopped before Jeremiah and gazed down at her.

Jeremiah looked up at the old woman, frowned, and asked, “Who are you?”

“Would you even understand if I told you who I am? A tenuous [weak or fragile] fate has led you here……”

The old woman chuckled, placed her hand on Jeremiah’s head, and attempted to infuse her with divine power, but quickly realized that her power was ineffective. She withdrew her hand and said, “You’ve played a trick. But it won’t last long.”

“…….”

The old woman turned and departed.

Left alone in the room, Jeremiah breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that the demon’s trick had worked.

“…Please come and save me soon.”

Damn witch life.

***

“There’s a reaction!”

Dantalion, who had been engrossed in a book, closed it and stood up.

A week had passed since Jeremiah departed for Olympus.

At Yoo Seong-woo’s request, Dantalion had forged a contract with Jeremiah.

It was a somewhat one-sided contract, but Yoo Seong-woo agreed to pay the price on her behalf.

“Just now, some kind of divine power attempted to interfere with Jeremiah’s soul. But the contract with me repelled it. What are you going to do now?”

“Hmm.”

Yoo Seong-woo shook his head at Dantalion’s words.

Not yet, not yet.

It had been a week since Jeremiah was detained in Olympus. Since then, she had been subjected to constant divine interference.

Perhaps the Moirai [the Fates in Greek mythology] were constantly trying, but each time, she was protected by Dantalion’s contract.

“Their obsession is intense. If they’ve tried and failed every time for a week, shouldn’t they give up?”

“Maybe they’re after something else. Usually, villains who are that obsessive in novels have ulterior motives.”

Dantalion’s words were worth considering.

After spouting nonsense every day, he finally offered a valuable insight.

“So, do you have any idea why the Moirai are so obsessed with Jeremiah?”

“Isn’t it because they like her face?”

He’s still a useless demon.

Following the low elf Schueranel, it’s the little devil Dantalion.

Since “little devil” sounds a bit off, it might be better to call him a “lesser” devil.

Yoo Seong-woo called Medea.

“Medea, do you know why the Moirai are obsessed with Jeremiah?”

-I don’t know either. I’ve been with Jeremiah for a long time, but… I don’t know what the Moirai would be obsessed with.

“It would be good to investigate that. A demon who can’t earn his keep says there might be a reason why the Moirai are obsessed with Jeremiah.”

-If it’s the advice of a demon… Jeremiah is the type of witch who doesn’t talk about herself much. I’ll look into it separately and contact you.

“Okay.”

Hanging up, Yoo Seong-woo called Hermes this time.

After a few rings, Hermes’ voice came from the speaker.

-This is Hermes of Olympus. What’s the matter?

“I want to know Jeremiah’s condition. When can I get her back?”

-I’m sorry. They say the time has not yet passed.

“I wish you would tell me what that time is. I think I can ask for that much.”

-I’m sorry.

“I’ll give you a week. If you don’t tell me by then, I’ll formally protest to Olympus.”

-…Are you serious? Didn’t you tell the Moirai you would give her to them?

“I said I would give her, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t get her back.”

Hermes was silent for a moment.

He must have been contemplating whether what he heard was real.

But Yoo Seong-woo made it clear that he was not lying.

“Jeremiah is an important human resource, you see.”

-…I’ll ask the Moirai first. But I don’t know if a favorable answer will come back.

“That’s enough. I’ll hang up now.”

With that call, Yoo Seong-woo gleaned some information.

Hermes doesn’t particularly sympathize with the Moirai.

He knows that the Moirai want Jeremiah, but he doesn’t know their reasons.

It’s very little information, but it was enough.

At least he won’t interfere when I confront the Moirai.

‘One week from now.’

If I wait a little longer.

I’ll be able to go to Olympus.

***

It was only after a week that Hermes provided a reply.

The divine interference directed at Jeremiah had intensified even further during that time.

The demon’s contract was still holding strong, but the Moirai seemed to have discovered a way to circumvent it.

“It won’t last long. At most, a week?”

“You were so confident that it would be okay.”

“Oh, it can’t be helped! I didn’t expect them to attempt direct soul interference. If they do it recklessly, her soul will be destroyed, and she’ll become a vegetable.”

“Does it matter if she becomes a vegetable? If they’re that obsessed.”

Is revenge what the Moirai want?

Revenge against Jeremiah for betraying them?

No, they wouldn’t resort to these tactics.

If they wanted revenge, they would simply kill her.

They must have another purpose for imprisoning Jeremiah and attempting to manipulate her soul.

“I’ll find out soon what the Moirai want.”

Hermes’ answer remained the same.

After consulting with the Moirai, the response was that Jeremiah could not be returned because her time of death had not yet arrived.

They didn’t specify the exact period, but vaguely stated that ‘the time has not come yet’.

This is telling.

They were trying to somehow absorb Jeremiah.

And two days ago, I received a call from Medea regarding Jeremiah’s origins.

Medea’s investigation revealed that Jeremiah was from the ‘Tribe of Prophecy’.

The Tribe of Prophecy is a local myth from Ireland, where a child blessed by a god leads the tribe to prosperity through prophecy.

Jeremiah was born into such a tribe.

She was designated as the next child of prophecy by the previous ‘child of prophecy,’ but Jeremiah was unable to produce any prophecies.

Consequently, she was expelled from the tribe, branded as a witch, and joined the Witch Society.

It was a common story within the Witch Society.

Being cast out of the family or tribe.

So, Yoo Seong-woo focused on the ‘child of prophecy’ aspect rather than Jeremiah’s personal story.

“A child of prophecy……”

What special power does she possess that makes the Moirai covet her so much?

Considering that they both read fate, the child of prophecy and the Moirai share a commonality.

‘Do the Moirai desire the power of the Tribe of Prophecy? But even so, Jeremiah couldn’t make any prophecies at all.’

And why would a divine being covet human power?

But it seemed worth investigating.

Yoo Seong-woo contacted Yuvwol and instructed her to gather information about the Tribe of Prophecy, then awaited her report.

Shortly after, Yuvwol contacted him.

-The Tribe of Prophecy says they want to meet Seong-woo in person?

“Hmm.”

I didn’t anticipate such an immediate reaction.

It seemed certain that something was amiss.

Yoo Seong-woo immediately dispatched a plane to bring them to Geomgye, and Yuvwol swiftly arranged it.

Using the fastest plane, he was able to meet a middle-aged man, identified as the leader of the Tribe of Prophecy, in less than a day.

As soon as the man saw Yoo Seong-woo in the reception room, he jumped up from his seat and bowed deeply.

The divine power emanating from him compelled me to bow my head involuntarily.

“I, I’m glad to meet you. I’m Jerome.”

“I’m Yoo Seong-woo. I heard you’re the leader of the Tribe of Prophecy.”

Yoo Seong-woo scrutinized Jerome.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about him. He bore the grand title of the Tribe of Prophecy, but I didn’t sense any extraordinary power.

If there was a distinguishing feature, it was that he possessed the same deep turquoise eyes as Jeremiah.

The hair color was completely different, but the eyes were identical.

At his words, Jerome shook his head with a bitter expression.

“It’s hard to call it a tribe anymore. Everyone has scattered with the passage of time, and all that remains is me and a few relatives.”

“I see. So, what did you want to say to me when you requested this meeting?”

Yoo Seong-woo had only asked to gather information about the Tribe of Prophecy; he hadn’t considered meeting them in person.

But since they had requested the meeting, there must be something they wanted to convey.

At his question, Jerome hesitated, seemed to ponder for a moment, and then spoke.

“There’s something I desperately want to tell you about our tribe. It’s a story about the tribe’s destruction.”

***

Jeremiah tried to estimate how long she had been confined in this secret room.

It must have been quite a while. She had repeatedly fallen asleep and woken up, and she had consumed meals that were occasionally delivered through a small opening.

The old woman had entered the secret room and attempted to interfere with her soul more than ten times.

At least a week had passed, and possibly more than two weeks.

Her body was no longer restrained, but escaping the secret room remained a distant prospect.

“…Hoo.”

Jeremiah exhaled softly, hugged her knees, and buried her face in them.

Thanks to the contract with the demon, her soul was still intact, but she sensed that the protection was gradually weakening.

She could tell that the old woman was slowly identifying the weaknesses in the contract and persistently trying to exploit them.

If this continued, her soul would truly be destroyed before long.

“Why do I only think of my family when this happens?”

Is it because she senses that her death is approaching?

They were the family who had rejected her.

She thought she had completely forgotten their faces after hundreds of years.

But the pain of that time still lingered vividly in her memory and resurfaced during moments like this.

“…What do I do? I thought I had forgotten.”

She closed her eyes.

She was a child of the tribe, but she was an unacknowledged half-wit.

She was expelled and wandered through several villages, nearly being hunted down as a witch.

She encountered the Witch Society, but had the wounds of that time not yet healed?

Like the stunted growth of her body, she realized once again that she was still a child.

‘I’m getting too many random thoughts.’

And, once again, the door to the secret room opened. The tall old woman entered with a smiling face and looked down at Jeremiah.

“Heh heh heh……”

It was a very repulsive face.