There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 157

‘I know. I know, but…’

Still, it’s too reckless to face an Evil God with human strength alone.

Even if Le Guin is strong and the Evil God hasn’t been fully released from the seal, it’s still extremely dangerous.

Philomel pressed him, worried.

“You just dare to come back. I’m really going to hit you this time.”

Lexion scratched his cheek.

“A trial worse than the Evil God awaits Le Guin.”

At that moment, the Emperor spoke, his voice firm.

“So, where is the base of those guys that the Magic Tower found?”

His voice was imbued with a resolve that suggested he would never back down.

“Elencia’s body must be there too. I have to go myself.”

Nasar also stepped forward.

“Though my strength is meager, I will add what I can. I can’t leave Father to fight alone.”

Jeremiah answered the Emperor’s question.

“We don’t know the location. They kept it a complete secret from us.”

Kadin pounded his chest.

“I want to fight too! Le Guin told us not to even think about it and stay by Phil’s side!”

“I stole the information, so I know where it is.”

At those words, everyone’s gaze turned to Lexion.

“But Le Guin gave me strict orders to stay out of this. If I disobey this time, I don’t think I’ll get away with just a scolding.”

“Lexion!”

At Philomel’s call, he smiled brightly.

“But parents’ words are meant to be disobeyed, right?”

As soon as he heard the location from Lexion, the Emperor clicked his tongue.

“It’s quite a distance. I can do it, but most wizards would have to move in several stages [using multiple teleportation spells].”

The sacred magic of the Imperial Family had a fundamentally different principle from ordinary magic.

“I’ll go ahead first.”

Just as the Emperor was about to call his confidant to explain the situation,

“Just a moment.”

Philomel called out to him.

“Do you have something to say?”

“I too…”

*Take me with you.*

She was about to say that, but she swallowed her words.

The Emperor looked at her with a pitiful gaze.

“Philomel… It’s not that I underestimate you, but I can’t take you. That place will be a battlefield by now.”

“I know.”

Even though Philomel had become a Hero, others would be much more helpful in terms of combat ability.

Still, she couldn’t just stand by while Le Guin was fighting.

“Who among us can get there the fastest?”

After exchanging glances with his brothers, Lexion answered carefully.

“Even if we use teleportation magic alternately while drinking recovery potions, the amount of magic power consumed increases as the number of people increases, so we’ll inevitably need time to rest.”

The Emperor picked up the thread.

“Then it’s me.”

“Your Majesty, could you leave a little later?”

“What’s the reason?”

“Take Balvard’s Sword with you.”

Early on, the two had speculated that the prophecy the High Priest had received was about the Evil God, and that Balvard’s Sword was the key to defeating him.

*Now that I’ve become a Hero, I can receive Balvard’s Sword.*

Justis frowned.

“I understand what you mean, but there is no time to spare now.”

“…”

Perhaps the Emperor’s opinion was right. This might not be the time to worry about a legendary sword.

But.

“I don’t think ordinary means are enough to face a god.”

Philomel did not avoid Justis’s gaze and expressed her opinion. She decided to trust her judgment.

“If it’s just brute force, Le Guin and the Magic Tower’s mage corps are powerful enough. We need a different kind of power than them.”

Justis closed his eyes and pondered. After a moment, he opened them.

“There’s some truth in what you say.”

“Your Majesty…!”

“How long will it take for Balvard’s Sword to be in your hands?”

“I’ll probably receive the sword after being officially appointed as a Hero.”

“Too late. The appointment is the most grand and time-consuming procedure during the selection ceremony.”

“That’s right. So, I’m thinking of meeting the High Priest right now.”

“The High Priest?”

“I’m going to explain the current situation and get Balvard’s Sword first.”

The temple’s primary goal should also be to prevent the resurrection of the Evil God.

The understanding was mutual.

“I can’t wait long.”

“Yes! If you give me 20 minutes—no, just 10 minutes—I will definitely persuade the High Priest.”

“Okay. I’ll also speak to the temple side.”

Justis gave instructions to his confidant regarding that matter.

“However, the Imperial Family doesn’t have a great relationship with the temple. If I go, they’ll feel like I’m pressuring them.”

“I’ll meet him alone.”

The Hero is Philomel herself, not anyone else.

* * *

Some time later.

Philomel went straight to the High Priest’s residence and was able to meet him.

The High Priest—the head of all priests and the one at the top of the clergy. Philomel expressed her opinion in front of such a High Priest.

“…Therefore, I request to receive the Hero’s Sword, Balvard’s Sword, somewhat early.”

The backlash was strong.

“It’s against the rules!”

“How did you know that Balvard’s Sword is given to the Hero?”

“This is a serious matter of our secret being leaked!”

“Is it okay to assume that the Magic Tower or the Imperial Family of the Empire spied on the temple?”

The elder priests surrounding the High Priest shouted.

Philomel met their eyes one by one and replied.

“I heard the information from the World Tree. And with the resurrection of the Evil God Ieris imminent, are customs important?”

“That’s…”

“Even at this moment, there are people dying while risking their lives to fight. If you give me Balvard’s Sword quickly, we might be able to save even one more person.”

It was a heartfelt appeal.

At that time, the High Priest raised his hand, and the other priests became silent at once.

“Everyone, please leave.”

“However, High Priest…”

“I said leave.”

At the firm tone, they had no choice but to leave the room.

The High Priest held his cane tightly with his wrinkled hand and said.

“You’re the Hero of this era? I’m living long enough to see it all—to see a Hero who speaks her mind to those guys instead of being a puppet.”

“High Priest, thank you for your words, but I don’t have time right now…”

“I know, I know. You wanted Balvard’s Sword, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Okay. I’ll give it to you right away.”

“Yes? Really?”

“Why, do you not want it?”

“No, no!”

She was just surprised that he was so willing to give it to her.

As if reading Philomel’s mind, the High Priest laughed heartily.

“Since it’s something I was going to give anyway, what’s wrong with giving it early?”

“Thank you!”

“The World Tree trusts you so much that it even passed on such information, so I should trust you too.”

The High Priest got up from his seat, leaning on his cane.

“Now, let’s hurry and depart for the place where Balvard’s Sword sleeps.”

“Where is that?”

“It’s right next door.”

Philomel came out of the room with the High Priest. She gave Nasar, who was waiting in front, a wink—a signal that the conversation had been successfully concluded. Now he would go to the Emperor and tell him the news.

The High Priest brushed aside those who clung to customs with a single scolding and moved forward.

After entering the Hall of Relics in the Great Temple next door and reaching the 3rd floor, the High Priest said.

“From here, only the High Priest and the Hero can pass.”

The two walked down the hallway at the fastest speed the High Priest could manage.

He was panting, but he spoke like a kind grandfather.

“Shall I tell you an old story as we go?”

She wasn’t really in the mood, but Philomel nodded.

“It’s a story about the Evil God you’re about to face. It might be helpful to hear it.”

He began to tell the story.

Philomel also knew the story up to the point where the Creator God Miwa sealed the Evil God who was trying to bring the world to an end.

“The Creator God, worried about the seal being broken, left on a long journey.”

“Yes? You mean she didn’t fall asleep?”

Miwa, who had exhausted almost all of her power in the seal, fell into a deep sleep. That’s what Philomel knew.

The High Priest shook his head.

“That’s what’s known to the world, but the myths passed down only to the High Priests are different.”

“Then where did the God Miwa go?”

“She crossed over to another world, not here.”

“Another world, like the Divine Realm?”

“No, not even the Divine Realm. According to the oracle [a prophecy or divine communication], she is dreaming there.”

Another world and dreams.

Somehow, those words bothered her.

“What kind of dream is it?”

“It’s a dream about this world. She really loves this place.”

“But why did she leave this world that she loves so much?”

“If she didn’t, she couldn’t perfectly seal the Evil God.”

The High Priest explained in detail about the seal of Ieris.

Where there is a beginning, there is an end.

Once something is created, destruction is inevitable.

Miwa and Ieris are like two sides of the same coin. As long as Miwa remains in this world, Ieris will surely be resurrected someday.

“That’s why the God Miwa left only a part of her power here and went on a journey to another world.”

“But even so, Ieris is trying to resurrect.”

The High Priest was silent for a moment before speaking in a heavy voice.

“In fact, the power of the God Miwa is returning.”

“If you mean power…?”

“In recent years, forces that artificially intervene in this world have been observed in various places.”

The High Priest’s eyes, filled with years of experience, turned to Philomel.

“Come to think of it, your father also came to me to ask if I knew the identity of that power.”

*Father, you mean Le Guin?*

“I couldn’t open my mouth at the time because the fact that the God Miwa had left this world should not be known.”

The unidentified phenomenon that Le Guin had been exploring—his magic power, an artificial force similar to Estellion.

You and your father had previously concluded that the identity of that force was the ‘game system.’

*But the system was actually the power of the God Miwa?*

Philomel sensed it. This was not information to be overlooked.