### Chapter: 211
As Kraush followed Tersada, he glanced outside the Grand Temple.
Before he knew it, it was mid-September.
While the Rahern Academy was bustling with second-years eager to join the student body, the Grand Temple was equally busy.
The day of the gods’ festival was fast approaching.
Naturally, the priests and clerics responsible for festival preparations were working themselves into a frenzy.
“It’s quite noisy because of the festival preparations, isn’t it?”
Tersada remarked with his usual kind smile.
Dressed in a ceremonial robe with gold embroidery, he walked with his hands clasped behind his back, exuding an air of nobility.
“Well, it’s expected to be busy with festival preparations,” Kraush easily replied.
Tersada looked at Kraush with a hint of surprise that he didn’t show.
Kraush was at most 15 years old.
It was amazing to see such composure and maturity in someone so young.
One would think he’d feel nervous discussing things with the Ten Great Lords.
‘He definitely is different. This is something else.’
Once someone reaches the level of the Ten Great Lords, they usually have their ears everywhere.
And the name that had been circulating the most recently was none other than Kraush.
The young hero, the next star, the youngest of the Holy Royal Family.
With so many titles, Kraush had repeatedly done things that astonished not just Rahern Academy but the whole world.
Perhaps that was why the aura emanating from him was notably extraordinary.
‘This incomprehensibly transparent aura.’
Even Tersada couldn’t quite grasp the intangible force coming from Kraush.
And the size of that force was so immense that it was nearly impossible to gauge by mere sight.
‘The young hero is different from the start, huh?’
Indeed, this was something many would no doubt covet.
‘If this keeps up, he’ll definitely make it into the Ten Great Lords by the time he turns twenty.’
By then, even Tersada would hesitate to summon him casually.
Thus, Tersada concluded.
The Freeman he envisioned needed a new young hero.
One who transcended the likes of Balheim, a truly religious hero.
Tersada’s steps came to a sudden halt.
He stopped in a largely empty garden.
The garden was immaculate.
It felt like a space filled with divine energy.
Originally, it was a garden the current Pope visited for relaxation.
However, after the Pope grew too old to walk unaided, it had become a place where the clerics occasionally whispered their secrets.
“Here, there aren’t exactly any listening ears, so it should be fine.”
Tersada inhaled the fresh scent of flower petals and turned to Kraush.
In Kraush’s gaze, there was a clear determination.
“First of all, I sincerely thank you again regarding my daughter.”
“That was simply something I had to do.”
“Anyone could say that. But in this world, there are far more who cannot do what you did.”
That was quite a significant statement.
“And you, Kraush, are someone who can accomplish what needs to be done.”
With that, he leisurely walked to a chair in the center of the garden and took a seat.
As Kraush also sat in the chair across from him, Tersada gestured.
At that moment, a butterfly formed from shining light flew into the garden.
The butterfly, seeming very familiar, poured tea into Tersada’s cup.
It was a butterfly created by divine energy.
“Is there something you’d like me to take care of?”
The moment Kraush smartly inquired, Tersada slowly narrowed his eyes.
He liked the fact that Kraush was quick on the uptake.
“Yes, having come with the Saint, I thought you might have heard the news through her. The Holy Royal Family of Freeman is rather corrupt internally.”
And surprisingly, Tersada brought that up quite straightforwardly.
“Do you know about the process of how a saint is made?”
Kraush raised an eyebrow.
Tersada, this man.
He had known even before his regression that he was someone without reservations in action, but this was beyond anything he expected.
For him to bring something that should be absolutely confidential in Freeman to an outsider without a second thought was outrageous.
“…Is that something you can share with a Balheim?”
“Haha.”
Tersada chuckled briefly at Kraush.
“This concerns the Saint’s direct negotiation with the Holy Royal Family. And I know that the Saint had previously met with you, Kraush.”
So he knew everything before approaching.
“I have ears everywhere.”
Seeing Tersada’s squinting eyes, Kraush’s expression turned skeptical.
“I see you’re worried about what proposal I might make.”
“Well, if you’re going to openly discuss it, I’d naturally be worried.”
“Haha, you don’t need to worry too much.”
Tersada waved his hand and took a sip from his teacup.
“I only hope that you will accept the Divine Sword, one of the Ten Great Swords.”
And as expected, the absurd proposal emerged.
The Divine Sword, one of the Ten Great Swords.
The Divine Sword passed down through the royal family of Freeman held many legends.
Legends that whoever held the sword would save the world or some similar nonsense.
Such outdated legends often inspire more power than one might think.
‘It’s the very sword that Arthur wielded.’
Before his regression, Arthur had wielded the Divine Sword.
It was the strongest tool to present to the world, instantly drawing attention.
Kraush’s gaze became complicated.
After all, he was now being offered the very sword used by Arthur.
The Divine Sword held many values.
Starting from its intrinsic power.
Perhaps this could also be an opportunity to draw out the Red Witch, Adela.
After all, Adela would probably hope for Arthur to return just as he was.
‘The real question is.’
Kraush looked at Tersada.
‘The intent behind offering the Divine Sword.’
Kraush understood that Tersada had high regard for his value long ago.
After all, he was still converting the power of global erosion through the aura via the Four Seasons.
The peculiar image Tersada had of Kraush had its reasons.
‘I understand that you are using me as a hero narrative.’
Freeman had heavily packaged itself around him as a tremendous hero.
Alongside political motives, he knew they aimed to coat their rising divine figure with his spit.
But that wouldn’t be enough of a reason to offer the Divine Sword.
“You have something you wish from me.”
Kraush grasped that there was another reason behind handing over the Divine Sword.
He locked eyes with Tersada, who tilted his teacup.
That action was clearly a tactic to keep him in suspense about giving a direct answer, instinctively creating tension.
‘You’re one slippery snake.’
But for someone like Kraush, who was familiar with such tactics, that behavior was quite suitable.
“Kraush, you’re wise beyond your years, so I don’t think you’d misinterpret my words.”
Tersada set down his teacup and wore a gentle smile once more.
“I intend to draw out the Saint created by the Holy Royal Family.”
Kraush looked at Tersada with an unflinching gaze.
“The Saint is akin to a hidden weakness of the Holy Royal Family. She’s been passed down only for the sake of symbolism. Of course, I highly appreciate the Saint’s heart and strength. But I have seen the previous Saint, who exhausted herself and was discarded.”
This was the fake saint that caused a stir in Freeman some time ago.
This fake saint was once the past saint who had been deliberately helped to escape by the opposition.
Thanks to the divine energy within her corpse, she’d survived, but after functioning as a saint for a long time, she had been mentally broken and discarded once her strength was drained.
Naturally, Tersada would have witnessed that previous saint too.
“Outwardly, people said the previous Saint accomplished her mission and ascended to heaven.”
But the reality was that she had simply been used for the holy symbol of Freeman until the very end and then thrown away.
“I believe such harmful customs must disappear.”
Kraush agreed on that front.
“And the true master of the Divine Sword would be perfectly suited to eliminate such customs regarding the saint. The hero who realizes the flaws of the saint, who cannot tolerate injustice and cuts the harmful traditions of the saint.”
Tersada’s smile was undeniably kind.
But that smile was now crowded with several hundred intertwined snakes.
Since Kraush saved his daughter, all the packaging of Kraush as a hero had been accompanied by this grand plan all along.
The reason he invited Kraush to the gods’ festival through Astrea was precisely this.
Perhaps Astrea had summoned someone to tie a noose around her own neck.
“The hero Freeman proposes is precisely fitting, don’t you think?”
As said earlier, Kraush also agreed with eliminating the harmful traditions.
The saint was merely a concoction of the divine power created by humans in the first place.
However, there was one unresolved issue.
“What do you plan to do about Saint Astrea?”
Currently, who was the saint?
It was none other than Astrea.
Kraush had no cares regarding other saints.
He wasn’t a saint or hero meant to protect everyone.
What he wished to do was simply protect his own.
And right now.
Astrea was someone Kraush absolutely could not afford to lose.
From their previous life until now, Astrea had become one of the most important individuals in Kraush’s life.
The moment he labeled the saint as a harmful tradition, Astrea’s life would shatter.
Even if she desperately wished to break free from the cage of the saint.
She had lived as a saint all along.
That was the outcome Kraush wanted to avoid the most.
“It seems you have a close bond with Astrea.”
“Yeah, we’re second-year classmates. Naturally, I’ve received a lot of help from her.”
But Kraush didn’t show that to Tersada at all.
He understood that this could turn into a weakness that he could be exploited.
“And you also know that Saint Astrea has saved many lives through her pure intentions, which I believe you know very well as well.”
“Yes, I won’t deny that.”
No matter how much the saint was labeled as a harmful tradition, Astrea’s deeds were still facts.
[ You’re both really going at it, fighting it out with slippery tactics. Aren’t your eyes hurting? ]
Just as stated, in this mere few minutes of conversation, the two were keenly feeling each other out.
“So let’s return to the initial question.”
Kraush pushed aside the untouched teacup beside him.
“What do you plan to do about the saint Astrea?”
Cutting through the fluff was the direct approach.
“I plan to strip her of the title of Saint.”
Tersada concisely delivered his intent.
“And I want to entrust that task to the hero who will hold the Divine Sword, Kraush.”
This could be seen as a form of barter.
Tersada and the opposition aimed to strip the saint of her title at any cost.
That thought would not change no matter what happened.
Nothing would make a louder statement in a religious revolution than the eradication of the saint’s title.
Thus, he proposed it.
He would leave the treatment of the deposed saint to Kraush.
In exchange, he asked Kraush to be the puppet of the hero who would possess the Divine Sword.
If that happened, it would be Kraush’s responsibility to at least protect Astrea.
“Please give me time to think.”
Kraush stood up from his seat.
“Yes, just until midnight tonight, if you would.”
Tersada did not try to stop him.
He knew that Kraush would respond by the end of the hour.
With a subtle smile, Kraush exited the garden.
Tersada remained unaware of the flickering smolder of rebellion brewing within Kraush.
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