Fake Saint of the Year
Translator: Tsukii
Editor: Kiro
Read at Watashi wa Sugoi Desu!
Chapter AF19 – Supple Ment’s Exploration ①
In the past, humanity’s territory was less than 10% of the world.
Since the appearance of the Great Saint Elrise, mankind has rapidly expanded its territory, including the territories of nations that were once destroyed by demons and lands that were stolen by them.
There were buildings with a story that had once disappeared into history ―― for example, the former witches’ bases, they were exposed to the light of the sun over time and buildings like these were investigated by the knight brigade.
One of them was the “Saint of Miracle’s mansion” that stood quietly in the forest.
This Saint of Miracle ―― had the name of Truffa. Until the appearance of Elrise, she was the Saint who was known as “The Greatest Saint of All Time,” and the place where it was said she had spent her last days was known as “Saint of Miracle’s mansion.”
1With the exception of Elrise, no Saint managed to make the era peaceful without threat of the Witch and demons for more than 5 years.
However, if it was an era where “the Witch didn’t appear on the front stage at all,” there was a Saint who managed to maintain that for more than 6 years. That Saint was Truffa.
It was said that fearing Truffa’s miraculous power, the Witch never appeared on the front stage, leaving all the invasions to the demons and hiding herself.
As expected, Truffa didn’t have the power to exterminate all demons like Elrise did, but even then, it was said that the era when Truffa reigned as the Saint had been much more peaceful than the era of other Saints.
That Saint was said to be last sighted in that mansion… such was how it was passed down.
Supple, who was intrigued by the relationships which resembled that of Elrise and Alexia, chose to leave the Academy and offered to (forcefully) accompany the knights for the investigation. 2
“So this place is the ‘Saint of Miracle’s Mansion,’ huh… times have deteriorated it greatly, but we could be considered lucky that it still remains here. Perhaps something has remained that is linked to the truth, and I can’t help but be excited at that thought.”
Supple pushed up his glasses with his fingertips and his mouth formed an arc out of curiosity.
Most of his extraordinary flame of passion toward the Saints had transferred to Elrise, with only a small ember left for the Saints.
But even then, he was still a teacher and researcher. The little bit of heat that remained turned into intellectual curiosity, burning his heart as he was following the footsteps of the Saint.
“I guess you’re a man of culture.” 3
The one who said that with a fed-up expression was the knight who served as the leader of the investigation team, Finley BlueEye.
His name is supposed to mean the blond hero, yet his hair was brown instead of blond and despite the surname of BlueEye, his eyes were gray colored.
He was once one of Elrise’s Guard Knights, but now served as Alfrea’s Guard Knight.
The Prime Knight Rex had to stay by Alfrea’s side all the time, so when there were missions that required someone to be dispatched, it ended up becoming Finley’s role most of the time.
“I’m still a teacher, you see. Isn’t it obvious to pursue history if there’s an opportunity to learn the truth of it? Besides, I don’t feel like teaching my students a false history.”
“So you presume that Truffa-sama’s legend is a lie?”
“I don’t know. However, records that have been handed down from generation to generation are like messages passed down from person to person. The message could be skewed over time and end up becoming something far from the truth. In that case, wouldn’t it be possible that there are mistakes in the history we know?”
Judging only from the legends that are currently passed down, Truffa was certainly a wonderful Saint.
Moreover, there were episodes where the Witch feared Truffa that she chose to escape and hide. Wasn’t that exactly like how Alexia continued to hide from Elrise out of fear?
What kind of Saint was Truffa that made the Witch fear her so?
However, even though Truffa was praised as someone who accomplished that great deed, the “miracle” power that was supposed to be the important part of history didn’t get depicted at all, leaving Supple wondering what it could be.
It truly made him curious.
“Haah… anyway, let’s go in. Be careful just in case… the possibility of demons appearing isn’t nil after all.”
“Aah, let’s be careful.”
Thanks to Elrise, demons hadn’t been seen lately, and not even sighting reports had been heard.
That was why more and more people were optimistic that demons were extinct, but both the knight brigade and Supple thought it was too early to judge it as such.
Even Elrise hadn’t confirmed every corner of the world, and she herself also claimed there was a high possibility that demons still survived in the sea and deep underground.
In addition, there was a possibility that demons went to hide out of fear of Elrise just like how Alexia did.
In addition, Elrise must not have the time to check every single building of the past and ruins just like this one.
Therefore, the possibility of demons in such a place wasn’t low.
The door was opened.
It was dark inside and smelled terrible.
Finley lit a torch and looked inside.
Then the mansion, which was in tatters everywhere, was lit up.
Plants were growing through the floor, breaking through walls and ceilings.
The walls were also tattered, and its state made it easy to guess it had been infested by ants or something.
As for demons… none were within sight at the moment.
The knights entered the mansion one after another and immediately split up to start investigating.
“By the way… It was said that Truffa-sama spent her last moment in this place, but what is sensei’s thought about that?”
“It’s suspicious, if I am to speak honestly. As you know, a Saint who defeated the Witch would become the next Witch. If Truffa-sama was last seen in this place as a Saint, it means this was the place where she defeated the Witch. In that case, the owner of this mansion would instead be…”
“The Witch that Truffa-sama defeated…?”
“Yes. Maybe after Truffa-sama defeated the Witch here, she might have continued her life somewhere else… such is my opinion.”
The reason it was said that Truffa spent her last moment in this place was because she was last seen as a Saint in this place.
Rather than “she became a Witch after that and went elsewhere,” it’s better to make it that “she spent her last moment in this place.” In order to hide the fact that a Saint would become a Witch, twisting the story that way was the best method.
In other words, it was natural to think that the last moment of Truffa was buried in darkness by the royal families of that era.
Originally, such a truth was best left in the dark.
The truth of “the Saint who defeated the Witch would become the next Witch” served as nothing but poison to anyone who knew about it and it would make the Saint lose motivation to do their mission. There might be a Saint who fell into despair like Lilia did.
It was possible that the wrath of people ended up directed to the Saint.
But times have changed now. Since Elrise had ended the cycle of tragedy that lasted for a thousand years, it was possible to bring out the truth that had been buried in the darkness.
Obviously, the truth wouldn’t be revealed all at once, but instead gradually told over the course of long years… but the era in which history should be covered and falsified had ended.
“But if that’s the case, wouldn’t that mean there won’t be any information about Truffa-sama in this place…?”
“I wonder about that. At the very least, I suspect there should be something that leads to the identity of the ‘miracle’ in this place.”
“The identity of the ‘miracle’… is it?”
“It was said that the Witch feared Truffa-sama and hid. Indeed, it isn’t completely impossible. After all, the relationship between Elrise-sama and Alexia-sama was exactly like that in our era. But even then, I can’t help but feel that something is off.”
“What might that be…?”
“I can’t say for sure. So I came here to learn about that.”
As he said that, Supple conjured several golems with his magic and moved away from Finley toward the nearby door.
That was the end of the chat. Rather than that, since Supple came here to explore, he wanted to look around the mansion.
He had the golems open the door and check inside the room first.
It was a mansion that humans hadn’t entered for a long time, so he doubted there would be any traps still remaining, but it didn’t hurt to be vigilant. It was possible they might accidentally touch poisonous insects and plants.
“So this is the study… however.”
There were many books in the room.
These were valuable old documents. However, there weren’t a lot of books that could be transferred safely due to improper storage in the open. 4
When Supple carefully touched the nearest book with his glove on, the edge of the pages crumbled.
It was no good. If he tried to read the book as it was, the book would crumble before that.
First of all, he needed to reinforce the book with magic so it didn’t fall apart, then he needed to gather people to copy the content.
But even if such magic was applied to the book, it wasn’t like every page could be protected.
For example, when reinforcement magic was cast on humans, only their external body got reinforced by magic, and it wasn’t like their inner organs and bones became sturdy.
For the same reason, even if the magic was casted on the book, it would only apply on the book’s exterior.
It wasn’t like every single page got reinforced, so if they tried to open the book, the pages inside would fall apart.
Reinforcing and protecting all the pages evenly would require multiple casters to cast spells one by one, which was meticulous labor. It wasn’t something that could be done by a normal person alone.
If it was Elrise instead, not only a book, she might be able to instantly preserve all the books in this place, but she was the exception among exceptions.
Anyway, Supple decided to leave the book preservation for later and continue his investigation instead.
“Even so…”
Supple left the room and looked around the mansion.
He felt something was off ever since he entered this place.
He couldn’t help but feel something unnatural present in this mansion.
“There’s something wrong”… such was Supple’s instinct that reminded him, but he didn’t know what exactly was wrong.
It felt like something that should be there was missing, or something that should be missing was left there… it felt like the entire building was strangely unnatural, as if it wasn’t how it should be.
“――!”
The thing that woke Supple up from his sea of thoughts was a scream he heard from afar.
Did demons appear?! Or were they attacked by wild beasts?
Either way, the fact that a trained knight screamed was already an abnormal situation.
There was no doubt that something happened.
Supple immediately ran to the direction where the scream was heard, and Finley along with several other knights joined along the way.
And when they arrived at the destination… There was a scene where one of the knights was entangled in a vine and was about to be dragged into the depths.
“R-run aw……”
The knight must have been trying to tell them to run away.
But the next moment, the knight was pulled deep into the mansion by the vine.
The knights immediately tried to follow, but Finley’s voice stopped them.
“All hands stay vigilant! Form a circle!”
The restless knight quickly regained their composure, following Finley’s instruction and forming a circle to protect each other’s backs while keeping vigilance in all directions.
It was gradually forgotten due to the appearance of an anomalous existence known as Elrise, but fighting demons was a series of life-threatening unexpected events. The slightest turmoil, even a second’s gap or stiffness that arose from hesitation could lead to death.
Therefore, they must remain calm. Even when their comrades were taken away in front of their eyes, if they knew the place was dangerous, they had to choose the best course of action.
That was the shield of the Saint that had protected the Saint for many years and paved the way for them to walk onward… the knights.
Supple also followed their lead and put his golems into vigilance, but left their backs open on purpose.
It was a terrible way to put it, but golems, after all, could easily be replaced… they could be attacked as they liked. Serving as bait was enough to fulfill their purpose. That was why he left the opening on purpose.
“…Is it a demon? What do you think about it, sensei?”
“A plant demon, is it? It’s hard to imagine.”
“What do you mean?”
“Have you ever seen a plant demon on the battlefield?”
“No, I haven’t. But I have heard demons like that indeed existed.”
A knight of this generation like Finley had never seen a plant demon before.
Even during that royal capital defense battle, although there were ground beasts, insects, and bird demons, there were no plant demons there.
But that didn’t mean they didn’t exist.
It was certainly said a demon of that type existed in the past.
“Plant demons are inefficient. You can even consider them useless.”
“Useless, is it?”
“Demons are based on their base creature. And the intelligence of said demons is proportional to the intelligence of said creature. They could think for themselves about how to make humans suffer if they were based on intelligent animals, but if they weren’t intelligent to begin with, they would be just strengthened animals.”
“I see… and plants lack intelligence.”
“Scholars had differing opinions on whether plants had intelligence or not though… but at the very least, it’s safe to assume that they have almost no animal-like ego or thinking ability. Obviously, even if they are turned into demons, they are still a plant. They wouldn’t uproot themselves and run to attack towns.”
They looked around without letting their guard down as they talked.
As of now, there was no sign of anything coming.
“However, there have been sighting reports of plant demons in the past. I never saw one, but they certainly existed… Why were they created then?”
“I’ve thought of two possibilities. The Witch was just testing their abilities to turn something into demons, or they are used for defending their base.”
“Witch testing their abilities, huh… I see. So they try to confirm themselves whether they would really be useless, and they find out they truly are useless.”
“Yes. Alexia-sama also said she made one in the past.”
“Then what do you mean about the base defense purpose?”
“You know about carnivorous plants, right? If that plant were turned into demons, their diets become human flesh. It’s not like they could uproot themselves to attack demons, but if they are placed around the base, they could serve as base defense against approaching humans… that said, it’s better to just place normal demons for the job, and if no humans approached over a long period of time, it was said they would wither as they were. Basically, they are so inefficient it’s not worth turning them into demons to begin with.”
In the end, it was concluded that there was not much meaning in turning plants into demons.
As for base defense? Rather than deploying demons which could only wait for their prey to approach, deploying normal demons which could move around would definitely be better.
How about being used as traps? It would be better to place a normal trap instead, or just turn spiders into demons and make them weave their nest. Demonized plants were so conspicuous that they weren’t even worthy of being a trap.
“But sensei, those vines are clearly…”
“Indeed. They moved and captured their enemy. That’s why I thought instead… that isn’t a demon.”
“Not a demon?”
“If it’s making plants move, there is a simpler way than turning plants into demons, something that even I can do.”
As they talked, Supple used his earth magic and moved the plants inside the mansion.
“Magic…!”
“That’s how it is.”
Supple spoke proudly to Finley who looked convinced.
Indeed, even magic could manipulate plants’ movement.
Elrise, who could turn a wasteland into a forest at once, was too anomalous to be used as a reference, but even Supple could do things to the extent of manipulating underground roots and entangling enemy legs with it.
And with this movement, it was possible to make a plant move as if it had will and attack the enemy.
Finley was surprised and turned his gaze to Supple.
Magic could manipulate plants. And those plants that were thought to be manipulated with magic attacked the knight.
In that case, only one conclusion could be drawn from it.
“In that case… that means!”
“That’s right. Keep your guard up, Finley-kun.”
Supple revealed a wicked smile filled with curiosity as he affirmed.
“There’s something other than us in this mansion.”
――With those words as the trigger, the plants growing in the mansion attacked them all at once.
Good evening, everyone. It’s the Grand Duke of Walls.
The release date of the comic version is finally approaching.
The comic volume 1 will be released on March 29th (Wednesday).
Please buy some!
This time, I used the 3 chapters of the side stories I wrote and previously distributed through Kakuyomu mail and updated the public chapters.
For people who didn’t get to read it before, please use this opportunity to read the story.
I’m slacking off, you say…? Nay, I’m making effective use of what’s available!
Tsukii Note:
We have met again here! Hope u don’t get tired of me yet.
Seriously, I didn’t even expect this to happen. And no, I haven’t read these 3 side stories yet since I had no access to it (blocked by paywall, you see!) so I’m as clueless to the plot as you are. But well, my notes above are just my guess, isn’t it okay for me to guess the upcoming plot like you readers!
Anyway, as the author wrote above, they will update 3 chapters for public reading, with each chap updated every day approaching the comic release date. I have no idea how many would be released at once when our site released it, it’s up to our QC after all.
With all said, please enjoy this chapter and the other upcoming chapters!
Want early access to Cannon Fodder, Melancholy of the Demon Army Officer, and I Was a Man Before Reincarnating, So I Refuse a Reverse Harem? Support the translator on Patreon!
Honestly, at this point with all the demons gone and that secret boss dead by Elrise, Supple might actually be this world’s Second Strongest Being, considering his performance during the last fight with the Witch and other stuffs. Supple, not only cunning and stealthy, he is also immensely powerful, what a fearsome pervert.
yeah, he is world strongest man, still lose to world strongest woman, though
More of this?
Hell yeah!!!
it is
enjoy
Hell yeah it continues
Thanks for chapter.
I happy to see another side story.
This Perverted teacher is quite capable when he not around Elrise.
indeed, our perverted glasses bastard is competent person, if only not for his faith to Elrise