The Heretic and the Orthodox

"So this is the Hallowed Sacred Treasure of the 'Bow'… That's the

combination of the Goddess of Creation's powers for you. It's so

powerful."

In the hand of Zana, who was making a surprised expression, was a

bow that gave off a divine glow.

Needless to say, it was the purified Sacred Treasure—'Hallowed

Sacred Treasure'.

"With this, we've already got three Hallowed Sacred Treasures in our

hands. Four left to go, eh," I said.

"Yeah. They're the 'Spear', the 'Axe', the 'Shield', and the 'Sword'."

"The Sword…"

Hearing what Zana had said reminded me of the 'Sword' Saint

Elysium.

How was he doing?

I didn't think he'd go down that easily, but considering that he was

stabbed in the chest by Phinis-sama, he must have gotten cursed,

just like Shiva-san.

In her case, I was able to save her by purifying the curse from the

inside of her with the power of the Five Goddesses—or in other

words, the power of Olgou-sama, plus the Phoenix Seal which then

engraved on her made her be recognized as mine. Without access

to such a treatment, Elysium should still be afflicted with the curse.

That being the case, he shouldn't be able to last long; and in worst

case, there was a chance he'd been turned into Blackdoll by Phinissama already.

Well, I guess I should try asking Shiva-san to look into it with her

Clairvoyance later.

The main problem was, if Elysium had really been turned into

Blackdoll and we had to face him as an opponent, then I'd inevitably

have to consider about forming"Superior Arms"with Elma…

Should I just try kabedon her and see how things turn out…? As I

was worrying by myself inwardly, Canaan seemed to have regained

consciousness. While trying to climb to his feet, he asked.

Yep, we'd succeeded in saving his life.

"…Why didn't you finish me off…?"

"Oh, did you want to die? Sorry, we didn't notice. You were

desperately resisting Phinis-sama's curse, so we figured you

absolutely wanted to live," said Zana.

"Gh…" Canaan looked down, biting his lips.

Then, led by the woman I'd saved before, the elves approached us

while holding up their bows.

So I stood in their way and said, "What are you going to do with

him?"

"We will of course punish him in accordance to the rules of the elves.

Although he was manipulated by Phinis-sama, that doesn't change

the fact that he, a heretic, has indeed drawn his bow against us the

orthodox elves, and that is a serious crime worthy of the heaviest

punishment.

"I see. Then, can I ask you something?"

The woman nodded to my question, "Go ahead."

"Why are dark elves called 'heretics'?"

"Naturally, that's because of their skin color and abilities that

surpasses the orthodox elves. We elves are called 'The Pure Ones',

those who are farthest from the 'filth'. It stems from the fair

complexion of our skin, and it's been believed since a long time ago

that that is the proof that we are pure."

"Pure, eh. So, do you mean to say that dark elves, who have dark

skin, are 'impure'?" Shiva-san asked.

The woman nodded, "Yes," and said, "they are impure; hence why

they are born with excessive power, which is a seed of disaster.

That's simply the nature of dark elves. In fact, he turned into a

harbinger of disaster and attacked us. You've witnessed it with your

very own eyes."

"Right. This guy certainly turned into Blackdoll and attacked you.

Even if he was controlled by Phinis-sama, that fact doesn't change."

"..."

As Canaan was clenching his fists, I said, "But," and continued, "if

everyone around you keep telling you that you're a 'heretic' or

'abomination' from the moment you were born, you'd definitely come

to hate them. No one's an exception to that. If you had been born as

a dark elf, and everyone in the village had been shunning you as

long as you could remember, what would you do? Can you declare

with confidence that you wouldn't hold a grudge against them?"

"I-I…"

"I'm not trying to defend this guy, and I don't mean to criticize the

rules of the elves either, but I think dark elves weren't born with a

seed of disaster, rather, their surroundings planted the seed of

disaster within them."

"..."

"I'm sorry, I sounded so arrogant just now, didn't I? That's all from

me. I'll leave you to decide how to handle him. Now, we'll take our

leave."

After saying that, we turned around, about to leave, but—

suddenly,"P-please wait!" the elf woman stopped us.

"Yes?"

"Ah, uh, I… I just want to say thank you so much for your help. I

know this is a bit late, but my name is Elaine, and I'm the village

chief's daughter. My father is currently ill, so please let me express

our gratitude on his behalf as well."

"No, please don't mind it. I'm just glad you are all safe."

As I smiled, Elaine said, "You have our most sincere gratitude," with

a relieved look on her face, and then she continued, looking a little

hesitant, "…Um, I'm sure your words will touch everyone's hearts, so

please don't worry about Canaan. I'll make sure everyone discusses

about his treatment properly."

"Yes, we'd be very happy if you could do that. Alright, we'll get going,

then."

"Yes. Please be safe."

After another exchange of smiles, we left the elven village.

By the way, her father might have recovered because I'd cast area

heal before we set off.

Well, I hoped it didn't cause some sort of trouble in the village, but

even if it did, I was sure Elaine-san would handle it just fine.

With that in my mind, we flew back to Estona.

◇ ◇

Meanwhile.

An unbelievable event was happening in Estona.

"—Fufu, good evening…"

"""""..."""""

Yes, Phinis, whose head should have been cut off by Elysium,

appeared in perfect shape before the saintesses.