Tsuyokute New Saga (LN)

Volume Chapter 7

Returning to the inn, Kyle was greeted by Lieze and the other girls. When entering the lobby, Lieze immediately ran over to him.

“Kyle. Is it true that some amazing woman called out to you and you made Seran leave because he was just being in the way?”

Kyle immediately felt a cold shiver. His instincts were warning him. And running away would only make matters worse. It seemed like Seran snitched and told Lieze about Sakira. And Seran isn’t around, so he probably ran away after creating chaos.

“That is just a misunderstanding. In reality—”

Kyle cursed Seran as he explained what had happened.

“Hmmm…Well, if you say so.”

After a long round of explaining, Lieze seemed to accept his excuses, even though her tone spoke otherwise.

“But why would a princess like her come talk to you?”

“Honestly, I’m just as lost myself. But, how did it go on your guys’ end?”

It wasn’t a conversation he wanted to continue, so he instead diverged the topic to Minagi, where Lieze explained that she had cheered up quite a bit.

“That’s good…”

Kyle felt apologetic for having forced this duty on Lieze, and she must have realized this.

“I’m doing this because I want to.” She smiled happily, which made Kyle thank her once again.

“Ah, yeah. I know it isn’t much, but…as a token of gratitude, maybe?” Kyle took out the charm with the glass orb he spotted earlier. “It’s supposed to be a local charm, meaning luck. I bought one for myself, too,” he said as he handed her one charm, showing his own to her at the same time.

“Oh…Thanks. We’ve got matching ones, huh?” Lieze happily looked at her own charm and then compared it to Kyle’s, smiling gleefully.

It was the kind of smile that made Kyle glad he went out of his way to buy it. After that, he also gave Minagi and Urza respective presents, but that held no particular meaning instead…most likely.

The following day, Kyle rested in the inn. Leyla once again hadn’t contacted the group, but since a day had already passed, they opted to stand on hold. With nothing to do, they simply loitered around.

“So bored…”

That said, since Seran doesn’t exactly excel at staying still, he grumbled to himself as he rolled around on the sofa. But since he had no way of knowing when Leyla would show up, he didn’t want to be the idiot who wasn’t present.

“This place…really gives me the creeps.”

Lieze heard his comment and decided to latch on.

“Why are you saying that? Dalia-san’s being so kind to us. She even helped us make this.” Lieze said as she pointed her chin down at the baked sweets they made using the inn’s kitchen.

Since they had been only cooking food in the wild for a while, being able to use a kitchen probably tickled Lieze’s cooking desires. And when she asked Dalia to borrow the kitchen, the proprietress obliged. That’s why she felt a bit hurt to hear Seran say this.

“I’ve got no issues with her. She’s definitely welcoming us…but there’s something creeping behind the scenes.”

“Like what?” Lieze still seemed bothered that Seran was so devoid of trust for Dalia.

“I mean, I’ve got no proof or anything like that. Just my intuition speaking. Ever since I walked in here, my neck’s feeling itchy. Why aren’t you guys realizing this?”

Rather than intuition, it was more like a wild beast’s instinct, a sixth sense speaking. Seran tried to explain, as he scratched his head.

“Intuition…” Lieze seemed angry for a brief moment, but quickly controlled herself, not saying anything else.

She knew that his intuition could not be underestimated.

“What do you think, Kyle?”

With the topic being directed at Kyle, he started thinking about it. He knew about Seran’s intuition, but with no proof, it was hard to bet on it.

“Well…I don’t have any intention of doubting Dalia-san, but…There’s no telling…” Kyle spoke this far, only for him, as well as Seran and Minagi, to instantly look over at the door.

“Wh-What’s wrong?” Urza asked, utterly confused, only for a knock to give an explanation.

“Weird…Who is it?”

Seran raised his upper body, keeping his sword at arm’s length, as he glared at the door.

“It’s weird…It should just be us here, and I’ve confirmed that the proprietress left earlier. The employee should be cleaning the front of the store,” Minagi said while glancing out the window.

She had been cautious this whole time, and yet someone appeared at the front door.

“Couldn’t be…Leyla-san, right?”

Leyla of all people wouldn’t possibly knock on the door. Lieze knew that. In other words, it limited the possible suspects. Another knock followed, so Kyle took a deep breath and called out to the door, saying “Come in.” From the opened door appeared a single man. He walked directly toward Kyle, then went on one knee.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Kyle-sama.”

Like this, he put one hand on his chest, showing the greatest possible greeting.

“My name is Cordi. It is a blessing to make your acquaintance.”

It almost seemed comical, but it conveyed Cordi’s belief all too well, making it impossible for Kyle to look away. The man who called himself Cordi seemed androgynous, but his age remained unclear. In fact, without the voice, it would even be hard to tell if he was a man or not. He even had a certain appeal to him.

“…”

However, Kyle realized that he was an individual who couldn’t be judged by a single glance. The smile Kyle received felt put on, making him wonder just what was hiding behind the scenes. More than anything, the look in the man’s eyes resembled that of a snake. Even though the man was looking at Kyle, it felt more like he looked right beyond him. He was different from any individual Kyle had met so far, feeling an eerie sensation that couldn’t be put into words.

Kyle had never met someone who made him feel this unpleasant during their first meeting, so much so that shivers ran down his spine. Kyle himself didn’t understand why he felt this way, but he knew that something he felt was spot-on.

“Could you raise your head?”

He probably wouldn’t do so unless Kyle gave the permission.

“Thank you very much…” Cordi showed a brilliant smile as he raised his head, but even that invited nothing but eerie creeps.

He did the same with everyone, except when he reached Urza, where his expression changed. Witnessing this filled Kyle with explosive rage. He stepped between the two and glared at Cordi. In response, his gaze grew sharper for a moment, but he quickly went back to smiling innocently.

“Let me just confirm this…But you’re a Mera cult follower, right?” Kyle asked.

This was really just to confirm. Judging from Cordi’s previous reaction, it was already clear.

“Yes. That’s correct, Kyle-sama.” The man didn’t even try to hide it.

Immediately after, Kyle’s friends all took positions. And even though all this hostility was directed at Cordi, he remained as calm as could be. He was certain that no harm could possibly befall him. Or rather, he wasn’t bothered by any harm he could experience.

“As I thought…so are you that Holiness?”

The Holiness referred to the leader of the Mera cult, and the reason the cult even interacted with Kyle to such an extent was because they ordered it.

“No, not in the slightest. I am but a faithful believer, tasked with keeping order. I couldn’t hope to compare to our Holiness.” Cordi hurriedly corrected this idea.

“Keeping order, huh? So, what did you want with me? Why have you come here?”

Kyle asked the same question as he did with Sakira yesterday, but the emotion packed into it was completely different. With Sakira, he still had good faith, but not with Cordi. He felt nothing but disgust.

“As you can see…I heard that you finally came to this holy land, so I couldn’t suppress my desire to come see you. Apologies for my sudden visit,” Cordi once again apologized as he deeply lowered his head, showing no hostility whatsoever.

“I’m sure you must be aware, but we have no intention of fighting you, Kyle-sama. In fact, we want you to stand above us. Guide us.”

The tone he spoke with was more than genuine, showing passion in his voice.

“I decline. Do you really think I would accept such an offer?”

But of course, Kyle’s answer was already decided. No matter how serious Cordi may have been, Kyle was under no obligation to abide.

“We don’t expect you to accept right away. We understand you have your own problems to worry about. We simply wish for you to know how genuine we are. And I’m certain that your title as [Dragon Slayer] has quite come to your liking so far.”

Even so, Cordi remained casual, and his bringing up the [Dragon Slayer] argument left Kyle stuck for words. Any high-ranking title, the Mera cult most definitely provided. Kyle couldn’t just take it back, and it helped greatly so far.

“Of course, this has all been made possible thanks to your own skill, Kyle-sama. We simply pushed things in the right direction.”

“…”

“We intend to help you from the shadows as before. For example, when you snuck into the imperial capital…”

At first, Kyle didn’t quite understand what Cordi was referring to. But now, it connected. He was referring to the time when he, his group, and Princess Angela snuck into the imperial capital. They almost failed when they ran into General Dargof, but when someone whispered into his ear, he changed his mind. Kyle still didn’t know what happened there, but he remembered it as being unnatural.

“That was your guys’ doing?”

“Yes, albeit only a bit of helping from the shadows. Be it one time or a thousand times, we will act as long as it helps Kyle-sama.”

At the same time, this also showed the influence the Mera cult had even in the higher ranks of the Galgan Empire.

“We believe that the world is much bigger and more colorful than we could even anticipate,” Cordi said so like he anticipated what Kyle was thinking, and it made him realize that the Mera Cult was much more influential than he could have expected.

Internally, Kyle clicked his tongue.

“Then tell me…Was it you people who had Prince Eldorand assassinated?”

This was also more a way to make sure rather than a genuine question, but he had to make sure.

“Yes. We hired Lord Souga,” Cordi answered with a tone like he said nothing special.

When Souga’s name popped up, Minagi’s eyes shook. Cordi didn’t miss this.

“Ah, you are Lord Souga’s pupil, I see. We have heard the stories…”

“I don’t matter. Continue.” Minagi said with a sharp tongue, leaving Cordi with a wry smile before he finally continued. “We were left with no other option. Prince Eldorand intended to push us out. And during such a troubled time? We couldn’t afford that…So we had to rely on extreme measures,” he looked up at the ceiling like he was pretending to feel hurt. “However, we had planned on keeping the civil war going for a lot longer, but to think you solved it this quickly…You surpassed our expectations. Wonderfully done,” Cordi praised him thoroughly.

It didn’t sound like sarcasm whatsoever. You didn’t have to think much about it to realize that the Mera cult had its dirty hands involved in the civil war.

And he’s the one who set it all up…

Kyle felt furious, knowing that he had become nothing more than a puppet, but getting emotional won’t help.

“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. We don’t intend to bring you in our favor. We simply wish to loyally assist in your duties.”

“So you’ve come with loyalty. And yet, I killed both Barel and Rockphal, your fellow followers, with my own hands. Are you still willing to serve me despite that?”

In reality, he didn’t kill them, but he still decided to play this card.

“Yes. They have become glorified martyrs. There is no greater honor.”

He acted like there was nothing out of the ordinary. It filled Kyle with pain to see this, but he also realized that this loyalty was unparalleled.

“Then let’s get to the big stuff…Why are you so obsessed with me?”

Kyle had dealt with many Mera cult followers so far. And yet, they were willing to throw away their lives, which just gave him the creeps.

“Of course, this is all because their Holiness ordered us, too. They wish for this, assist you in your deeds,” Cordi said without much hesitation.

Anything related to the Mera cult was all under the orders of this Holiness.

“Someone’s crazy for that Holiness, all right. Will you do anything they tell you to do?”

“Naturally. Why would you even ask that?”

Seran meant it as a bit of provocation, but Cordi answered with a dubious look, showing no hesitation.

“So if you’re so influential, can you tell us something about that Holiness?”

This comment left Cordi with a problematic gaze in his eyes.

“That…is rather troublesome. It’s hard to explain, but I am not the one to speak of their Holiness…”

Unlike any of Kyle’s previous questions, this left Cordi vague. He genuinely seemed troubled, like he wants to tell them but couldn’t.

“Just who is this Holiness…”

“That’s enough.”

Yet again another voice appeared, but now it was the very person they had waited for.

“To think you’d actually come here, Cordi.”

“Oh word, if it isn’t Leyla-sama. It has been a while.” Cordi yet again bowed deeply, greeting Leyla this time. “You seem to have been busy lately, which makes me very happy—”

“Shut up. I don’t have any intention of talking with you,” Leyla’s voice was harsh, like she was speaking to an insect.

“That’s right. No matter how much we discuss things, we never see eye-to-eye. But as I’ve said before, we have no intention of facing you, Leyla-sama. Your thoughts might be different, but our goal is the same,” Cordi spoke with not a glimmer of hostility.

However, Leyla’s response toward that couldn’t have been more extreme. It sent shivers down the spines of everyone.

“…I’m sure you know, but I’ve got important business with these guys.”

“Yes, of course. I simply came to visit today, so I will be excusing myself today.” Cordi turned toward Kyle and lowered his head once more. “I now realize that I had been rather aggressive today. Knowing of your presence, Kyle-sama, I just couldn’t help myself. Please forgive me.”

“Just to let you know…I will not play to your tune any longer. No matter what you try to make happen.”

And yet despite Kyle’s statement, Cordi seemed relaxed.

“Of course. I can’t blame you for feeling this way at this moment,” Cordi agreed so easily it left Kyle bewildered. “But with today, everything will change. You will change the world, Kyle-sama. And then you will change your thoughts. Just as I have in the past.”

Not only Kyle, but even his party felt a chill in the air.

“We will meet again, and I greatly anticipate that time.”

The group watched Cordi walk out of the room. Seran considered cutting him down right here and there, but now Leyla stood between the two of them, just as Kyle had with Urza earlier.

“I swear, creepy as always.”

Once Cordi had left, Leyla grumbled to herself.

“Then why’d you protect him just now? I thought you’d snatch him away from me instead,” Seran complained, not understanding his mother’s actions.

The gaze Leyla gave Cordi had crossed the boundary of just hostility, so much so she might have cut him down there and then.

“If only I could…But he’s just that much of a pain. If he’s gone, the Mera cult’s aggressive party is gonna go crazy. And when that happens…” Leyla grumbled as she bit on her lip. “He’s at least good at keeping these idiots under control.”

“Aggressive party?”

“They think there’s only one true human race. Absolute power to humans, disregard any other humanfolk. You got involved with them back in Edos.”

“Ah…them.”

They controlled Ghrud and gathered unicorn horns. These fanatics were willing to go as far as they needed to, willing to cause as much pain as they wanted. The real doubt Kyle still was plagued with…How could they possibly gather so many influential followers despite being such a cult of fanatics? As long as Kyle didn’t understand this single connection, he probably would never be able to shake them off.

“Thinking about…the future? This isn’t like you, old hag. Who are you?” Seran doubted his mother’s sanity with a straight face, leaving Leyla to sigh in disbelief.

He’s got no remorse when it comes to Master.

Normally, Leyla wouldn’t hesitate to strangle Seran for this comment, but Leyla seemed awfully calm.

“What is this aggressive party you’re talking about? Are they different from the regular Mera cult?”

“Of course. Just because they’re part of the Mera cult doesn’t mean they’re crazy fanatics. Those weirdos just make a small portion.”

From her words, it sounded like there was an aggressive and peaceful faction within the cult. And it also seemed like Leyla was part of the peaceful faction.

“It must be related to the variety of teachings those guys have…Well, you’ll hear it directly later.”

“Directly?”

“Preparations are complete. I came to pick you up.” Leyla didn’t answer Seran’s question and just prepared to head out again, but Kyle and his group couldn’t move.

“Basically, you’re going to take us…to the Mera cult’s Holiness, right?”

“Right, but wrong. And also, their Holiness isn’t the one giving Cordi the orders.”

“Stop speaking in riddles. If you don’t come clean now, I ain’t gonna follow,” Kyle stood his ground, so Leyla turned around with a sigh.

“It’s hard for me to explain. You’ll understand once you come with me. Hearing it directly will help things clear up.”

She used the same argument as Cordi did, but her phrasing was completely different despite showing the exact same answer.

“And also, we technically only need Kyle, so you guys can wait here. Of course, I don’t mind if you tag along.”

“No way we can just sit here and fimble our thumbs.”

Seran’s response came as expected, and Leyla sighed yet again.

“Anyway, that’s all I can tell you, so just come with me. In return, I’ll guarantee your safety.” Leyla pressed as she looked at Urza in particular.

That said, Kyle had no choice of leaving Urza here, so he planned on taking all of them with him. If this was anybody else, they may have hesitated, but Kyle, Seran, and Lieze knew Leyla all the way back from Rimarze, so they agreed. And with those three on buard, the others couldn’t disagree.

“Got it. Let’s go.”

Can’t gain anything without entering the lion’s den, as they say.