Antagonist Protection Service
Chapter 176 - 176: The Augury Tower (3)

Moments after I summoned the Holy Sword, I heard a voice in my head.

[Y-you're not a Hero! Who on earth are you?!]

Something I was probably too used to at this point, I knew I wasn't going crazy.

"Hm?"

Halting in my tracks, I raised an eyebrow, lifting the sword up in front of me.

What used to be a dull, inactive gem in the base of the hilt was now snow-white, glaring like a star and emitting a same-colour glow, almost reminding me of the flashlight on a smartphone, just less intense.

"Oh, are you the Ancient Hero? Good morning."

Just like Ina warned me when I asked her all that time ago, it indeed did talk to me.

It was a bit annoying―I'd rather just have a weapon that did only what I wanted to without interfering or being a nuisance―but, with a faint hope that it might come in useful one day, I decided to just put up with it.

Well, it's not like I even had a choice, but still.

[I asked your identity, heathen! Answer me!]

With a vigorous yell, the surprisingly young-sounding voice questioned me. Considering the description mentioning him as an 'Ancient Hero', I thought he would sound much older, but he didn't even sound that much older than me.

"Stop shouting. You're my sword, so be quiet."

[Ack-! Don't tell me, a lackey of the Demon Lord...?!]

"Wrong."

Sighing, I used my other hand to take my mask off for a few seconds, revealing my face to the sword before putting it back on.

"See? Perfectly human."

[I-Indeed... However, nevertheless... Why am I not being wielded by a Hero...?"

"And how do you know I'm not a Hero?"

Looking away from the sword, I dropped my arm to hold it at my side and continued walking through the forest, a thin mist beginning to seep through the endless trees.

There was no visual sign of it, but with my enhanced senses, I could tell.

'There are monsters nearby.'

Meanwhile, the Ancient Hero continued.

[O-of course you're not! Just look at you! And not to mention the fact you have no divine pow--...]

"...Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

Casting a suspicious glance at the sword's gem, I wondered what he was shocked about now.

[This... is the scent of divinity...? Why do you... No, it is not the same as the Holy Goddess I know, and yet... unmistakably...]

'Hm?'

For a moment, I was puzzled about what he was going on about, but then I realised.

"Oh, you mean that. Yeah, I have a Goddess' Blessing. It's not the one you're thinking of, though."

'Is that really enough to make me a Hero? I never even thought about that before, but I guess it's true...'

[Truly! This is... peculiar, yet incredible. Are you then the Hero of another realm? And just how did this generational Holy Sword find itself in the hands of a man not blessed by the Holy Goddess? What about the Demon Lord?]

"Too many questions. I'm busy right now, we can talk later. Name's Enki though."

Inwardly, I just wanted to avoid the topic at any cost.

I wasn't sure what would happen if this guy found out I actually killed the Hero who was supposed to wield the Holy Sword, but either way, things would be a whole lot smoother if that part was kept under wraps.

[Ah, yes! As you say, Enki! Apologies!]

Thankfully, he seemed like a good enough person to recognise my unwillingness to talk and respect it.

Relieved to see him drop the subject rather quickly, I realised he definitely was completely different from the Hero I met all the way back then.

'Lead him down a path of righteousness... Yeah, I can't imagine that happening, but who knows.'

Briefly recalling the description of the Holy Sword, I gave a wry smirk from behind the mask, suddenly remembering what I intended to ask.

"So, now that you're awake, what can the sword do? I saw that it unlocked something called Sunlight Spear, but how do I use that?"

[Of course! You just need to infuse the Holy Sword with your divine power, and with the will of the Goddess' Hero, the power shall be unleashed!]

He said that all enthusiastic-like, but...

"...Right. And when you say, 'infuse the Holy Sword with your divine power', how exactly might someone go about doing that...?"

That was exactly the problem. I had never been taught how to control the Winter Mother's Blessing that I had received, and no matter how many times I tried to meditate and learn how to do anything with it myself, I couldn't figure it out.

It's been a while since I regretted not asking Lucretia to teach me before I left Drakon-Rasa, but of course, that was far too late now...

[Ah, you must be a new Hero! There is no problem then, that is what I'm here for, to be a mentor for the new generation! Allow me to teach you.]

Fortunately, he sounded confident, and because he was an experienced Hero already, I thought I might just be able to learn it right now.

"Oh, reall--"

However, right at that moment―

"Wait."

Rustle~

Snapping my head towards the right, my ears picked up a slight rustling in the bushes.

As I narrowed my eyes, a gust of wind blew through the area, causing leaves to sweep across the forest floor, brushes and branches to whisper and creak, and along with it, a faint odour was carried to my nose.

Bending my knees slightly, I shifted into a posture ready for whatever enemy appeared.

For a second, nothing happened.

"...!"

Then, my body moved.

Feeling a sudden flashback to the time that cat girl pounced at me from a place I couldn't see, I twisted my body and swung my arm at the same time, slashing it in mid-air and repositioning before I even realised what happened.

Glancing down, all that remained was the bisected corpse of a fur-covered monster that lied somewhere between a mix of a panther and a wolf.

Then, I looked further down at my hand holding the Holy Sword. For a while, my gaze lingered there, feeling unusually powerful in how I just moved, even killing the monster in a single hit.

'Is this Heightened Senses too...? It feels a lot more natural for some reason...'

Considering there was nothing in the Trait's description that implied it would teach me swordsmanship, I chalked it up to being a pure result of my sharpened instincts, which was arguably just as impressive.

In fact, I would argue that having great instincts was better than just knowing how to swing a sword.

Recognising that, I then felt the corner of my lip curl up behind the mask.

"...I'll have you teach me later."

Muttering that, I thought it'd be better to get to beat the Floor and get to a safe place for now.

Still wary, I watched the surroundings intently, waiting until another gust of wind swept through the area.

'...This way.'

Using Heightened Senses to determine which way led to the Floor Boss, I continued forward.

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