After his match with the Hero, Absolute moved on to cleaning up the aftermath.
The victims of this mess were Homeroom Teacher Teach, who was injured by the Hero’s attack, the Hero himself, who caused the whole thing, and Alicia, whose mental state had reached its limit, causing her to collapse. As Alicia was being taken care of by her classmates from the Mirai House faction, he wasn't too worried about her.
“Lady, explain the situation to the other teachers and bring them here. Mist, tie the Hero to a pillar. Oriana, keep an eye on the Hero so he doesn’t escape. If he makes any suspicious moves, you're free to attack. All of you, move out!”
“““Yes, sir!”””
Each of them started moving according to Absolute’s instructions. The injured parties this time were Homeroom Teacher Teach, who was caught in the crossfire by the Hero, the Hero, who was beaten to a pulp by Absolute, and Alicia, who had collapsed from the mental strain caused by the Hero.
I went to Homeroom Teacher Teach, who was injured. The other students were tending to him, but he looked to be in a lot of pain. He didn't seem to have any particularly serious injuries, but the Hero's attacks dealt several times the normal damage, even his basic ones. He probably had a few broken bones.
“You’re in quite a state, Homeroom Teacher Teach.”
When Absolute called out to him, Teach smiled weakly, his face covered in sweat from the pain.
“Yeah, you can say that again. I’m a disgrace as a teacher. Still, how did you manage to win? Having experienced the Hero's skill myself, I can say that he’s a monster. Guess that’s just what you’d expect from an Ark.”
It was no wonder Teach was lamenting. The Hero’s skill was indeed powerful. Depending on the user, even Absolute wouldn't be able to get away unscathed. But a Hero who had lost his reason, without any technique or strategy, just relying on brute force, was no match for Absolute.
“Don’t force yourself to talk. I’ll have you taken to the infirmary. Hey, Saint, you come too. You can treat him in the infirmary.”
Absolute called out to the Saint. He was convinced that the Hero's rampage this time was definitely caused by the Saint. He had to ask her what she was planning. The Saint wore a frustrated expression, as if she couldn't believe that Absolute had won, but she quickly put on her usual gentle smile and obeyed Absolute’s instructions.
“Of course. Treating the injured is only natural for someone who works for the Church. Let’s get Teach-sensei transported immediately.”
“Saint Elizabeth, we will carry him.”
The Saint's guards were about to carry him, but that wouldn’t do. He had something he wanted to talk about with the Saint, and having guards around would just be a hindrance. Absolute stopped the Saint's guards.
“I don’t need you lot. My people will carry him. A whole bunch of you would just be a nuisance. Hey, Mist, once you’ve tied up the Hero, start carrying the injured guy. Hurry up.”
“You’re really working me hard, Absolute-sama. Well, I don’t mind, though.”
Mist quipped as he diligently finished his work. However, the Saint's guards couldn't just back down with a "Yes, sir." One of the guards confronted Absolute.
“There’s no way we can let a barbaric man like you get close to Saint Elizabeth! You’re the one who should back down!”
Seriously, have these guys forgotten that I’m a member of the upper nobility? Even if, in theory, status doesn’t matter, shouldn’t there be some consideration? This prince and Hero are really getting on my nerves. Do I have to make them understand?
The Holy Knights were a military force possessed by the church, and their status was no different from that of commoners. Therefore, he had to correct this Holy Knight who had misunderstood his own position.
Absolute intimidated the rude Holy Knight with his 【King's Rule】 skill.
“I told you before, didn’t I? I won’t forgive anyone who gets in my way. Besides, you’ve been rude since earlier, haven’t you? Do you really think a mere Holy Knight is on the same level as me? If so, should I make you suffer the same fate as the Hero?”
“Hieek!”
The rude Holy Knight, having been directly hit by the intimidation, collapsed, his legs giving out from the sheer pressure. The other Holy Knights couldn't help but tremble.
The Saint spoke up, breaking the chilled atmosphere created by Absolute's intimidation.
“Stop it, you two. You’re being rude to Ark-san! Ark-san, I will strongly reprimand my guards later, so could you please let it go for now? Also, they have been told by the Church to never leave my side. Please allow at least one of them to accompany us as a guard.”
The Holy Knight regretted what he had done when he saw the Saint lower her head because of his actions.
(Well, one guard is within acceptable limits. It was worth the bluff.)
“There won’t be a next time, got it? Now, let’s get going.”
Absolute, Mist, the Saint, and the Holy Knight who was acting as a guard moved to the infirmary to treat the injured Teach. Afterward, Teach's body was restored with the Saint's skills and recovery magic, but as a precaution, he was still kept in the infirmary. Absolute and the others left the infirmary after the treatment. Here, Absolute brought up the main subject.
“So, Saint, do you have any excuses to make?”
“What are you talking about? I have nothing to hide.”
The Saint remained calm and unfazed.
“Don’t play dumb. You used your skill to strengthen the Hero and deliberately set him up to go on a rampage, didn’t you? You intended to use the Hero to kill me if possible, didn’t you?”
Absolute questioned the Saint. The Saint's guard took this content as a false accusation, and tried to step forward to protect the Saint.
“There’s no way Saint Elizabeth would do such a thing! Stop making false accusations!”
The Holy Knight was about to close in on Absolute, but suddenly stopped moving. He realized that someone was holding a knife to his neck from behind.
“You… when did you…”
Cold sweat dripped down the Holy Knight's back.
When he slowly turned around, he saw that Mist Browser was the one holding the knife. He was one of the Ark faction members.
“Don’t move. Absolute-sama is in the middle of talking. Besides, didn’t I say you guys were already told ‘there won’t be a next time’? You’ll seriously get killed, so it’s in your best interest not to interfere. Well, I won’t harm Saint Elizabeth, probably. Right, Absolute-sama?”
Mist stopped the Saint's guard from moving, so as not to interfere with Absolute's business. Mist’s House was in charge of assisting with the Ark House's dirty work. They could act as a shield for anyone who tried to harm Absolute, and they would carry out their missions without question. Mist's job now was to eliminate anyone who interfered with Absolute's conversation. He was used to this kind of work.
“Who knows? That depends on her. What’s the deal, Saint?”
It looked like he had taken a hostage, but it should be effective against the Saint.
(A hostage isn’t effective? Is she a pretty cold person, the Saint? And she can lie so calmly in this situation. She’s quite the actress.)
Absolute analyzed the Saint even as he spoke.
“Unfortunately, if it was magic, I might have been able to prove it by tracing the magical power, but your skill is special. I probably won’t be able to prove it this time. I guess you knew that too when you did it. You’re such a hateful woman.”
That’s right, he couldn’t prove that the Saint had participated this time no matter what. That was because the Saint's 【Agitation】 skill strengthened the inside of the target's body. There was no way to prove that she had strengthened something that couldn't be seen.
“You speak as if you know my skill. Only the top people in the Church should know about it… So, if you have no evidence, what will you do? Will you announce that the Saint caused this incident?”
(It’s meaningless because no one will believe me even if I say it. Besides, if I did something like that, it might affect the Hero's punishment, so I’m definitely not going to do it. Even if he doesn’t get expelled, he’ll get suspended. If the Hero gets suspended, he won’t be able to participate in the events during that time. I can't let that opportunity pass. It’s annoying to go along with the Saint’s plan, though.)
“Hmph, if I did something like that, the Hero's responsibility would become suspicious. So, I’ll go along with your plan this time. But you have made the Ark House your enemy. You will eventually pay for this.”
“Fufu, but I told you, I didn’t do anything. If you’re done talking, could you please have my guard released?”
Absolute gave Mist a signal with his eyes to release the Holy Knight.
“Thank you very much. Then, we will return first. Also, I hope you’ll call it even on the previous rudeness of my guard, in exchange for your rude remarks and for taking my guard hostage.”
The Saint lightly bowed to Absolute and left the place, with the female guard following after her.
“Is that okay? Letting them go like that?”
Mist wondered why they let the Saint and the others go without doing anything.
“It can’t be helped. Besides, I’m still not sure if the enemy is just the Saint, or the entire Church organization. If I let the Saint live, she’ll probably act through the Saint again if she plans something in the future. By then, I’ll figure out the enemy’s identity.”
(In the original story, the Saint was supposed to be a sheltered girl who had never left the Church. Maybe she was just hiding her true nature, but I definitely felt malice from the Saint this time. Moreover, she was trying to harass me under the guise of the Hero’s rampage. Her methods were quite insidious. I guess I’ll have to use the Ark House’s intelligence network to investigate her…)
Mist asked Absolute, who suddenly fell silent and started thinking.
“Sorry to interrupt your thoughts, but isn’t it possible that the Hero simply asked Saint Elizabeth to strengthen him? Shouldn’t you avoid overthinking things?”
The Hero had Saint Elizabeth strengthen him in order to defeat Absolute.
That’s what Mist thought, but Absolute didn’t care about that.
“You’re mistaken. The important thing this time is that the Hero and the Mirai House side are at fault, and the Saint has bared her fangs at us. So, it doesn’t matter whether or not the Hero asked to be strengthened. Either way, the Saint has bared her fangs at us. Whether it’s the entire Church or not, I won’t let them get away with it. Let’s go back, Mist.”
As if that was the end of the discussion, Absolute turned his back and started walking. Delayed from the Saint and the others, Absolute and the others also returned to the training grounds.
