Prologue – Chapter 8

Chapter 08 Iris’s Awakening

Louis was chosen as a hero, but he wasn't immediately able to set out on a journey to subjugate the demons, and by extension, subjugate the demon king.
He needed a minimum of education and courtesy in relation to the fact that he would be traveling around countries exposed to the threat of demons.
However, now that there are people who are still threatened by the demons, it is not possible to just spend all of his time studying. 

"Haa, haa, haa――――"
"thank you very much"

Louis had just finished a mock battle against the Holy Church's temple knights at the training ground in Janta, the capital of the Holy Kingdom of Sera.

――As a leader of the human race, a hero must have the minimum amount of courtesy, but as a major premise, it is required to be able to unleash his maximum potential
But in this respect he did not worry much about Louis.
Originally, Louis, who had been working hard with Claire on a daily basis, had acquired considerable physical strength under the influence of Claire's talent.
But then, right after he was chosen as a hero, Louis had many close battles against even a single temple knight, and many of them he were defeated. By using the swordsmanship that he acquired through his training as a base, he was steadily increasing his ability.
It's already been a month since Louis was selected as a hero.
Inside the training grounds, there were many knights taking a break after finishing their mock battle with Louis.
Among the Great Saints knights in the capital, Jeanne, their temple knights are entrusted with the protection of the cathedral. Their ability is comparable to that of Imperial Guard Knights from other countries.
Louis, who continues to fight against such an opponent without rest, has a calm look on his face, apart from the tragedy around him, and it can be seen that there is still plenty of room for him left.

"This time I will be your opponent."
"Please take care of me"

If the knight who finished the mock battle first appears, the next knight will appear.
Louis bowed once and held up his sword.

Gaaa, gyii~i, kin~!

There was a shadow watching from the hallway as the two clashed with a sword with a blunt edge - a sword for training that would still inevitably inflict serious injury if hit properly -.
Among the Great Saints, she is the saintess Iris, who wears a special holy robe of white cloth with gold embroidery.
She was standing by her window, watching the two fighting, Louis to be exact, with those dark purple eyes.

(--That's the hero-sama)

She murmurs in her heart, she lets out an unknown number of breaths today.
For her, the existence of Louis was far removed from anyone she had ever come in contact with.
Iris was born between a father who was a cardinal of the Great Saints and a mother who was a high-ranking priest of the Great Saints.
Her parents were related to the Church, and both of them held high-ranking positions, so she was raised as a saint for the next generation from an early age.
She has a role as a shrine maiden who can only hear the voice of the holy god Admis, and she received a role that has been handed down from generation to generation.
The saints at that time were quite old, and it was necessary to select the next generation of saints.
Raised as a saint, Iris was strictly controlled not only in her contact with the outside world, but also in her interpersonal relationships.
The only people she encounters in her daily life are her parents, or high-ranking priests of the Daisei Church that her parents approve of. No over-stepping their rule is allowed.
Her parents raised her as a candidate for sainthood.
They read to her many times of the holy scriptures, and rejoiced when she understood the teachings of God as if it were her own.
As a result, Iris has grown into an existence that even two high-ranking members of the Daisei Church can convince, and she succeeds in being chosen as the next saint.
Iris has grown into a saint who is the banner of the Great Holy Church both in name and reality.
However, there was one thing she was overwhelmingly lacking.
It's an emotion that a person can have.
She only understood people's emotions literally.
Raised in the depths of the cathedral, she has no friends. She didn't show much emotion in her face.
Therefore, although she could explain the feeling of joy and the feeling of suffering, she could not express it well.
And that didn't change even after Iris was appointed as a saint and she began to appear in front of people.
As a saint, she was always met with reverence by the priests of the church and by those of the faithful who could see her.
Even with Iris and the other priests who were her age, their correspondence was between a saint and a priest, and Iris never had anyone who could be called a friend.
Meanwhile, the damage caused by monsters spread.
The appearance of demons, the invasion of demons, and the damage caused by demons.
Iris was forced to deal with the unprecedented invasion from the east side of the continent.

She perform brilliantly.
A demonic invasion that the Prussians had never expected.
To which she undauntedly fulfilled her role as a saint.
She wielded holy magic that only saints could wield, drove demons away, and healed people who were in anguish with her words.
However, the turmoil of the human race deprived her of even the opportunity to develop her emotions.
Before she knew it, five years had passed since the appearance of the demons—she was complete truly as a saintess.

A heart that loves the humans as a race, and a faith that reveres God.
During the war, she had fulfilled her role as a saint, and while she was saving people, she was sharpened and perfected as the saint that people thought she was.
--That's why she was surprised.

"That's the existence of a hero declared by the gods."

As someone who had heard the oracle from God, and as someone who handed over the Holy Sword of the Great Holy Church, Iris, who faced the hero――――was fascinated by him.
At first I thought he was just a normal young man.
He's not much older than me, and he's a farm boy in brand new white clothes.
Was he working as a guard in the village? I could tell that he was being trained over his clothes, but from her point of view, there was nothing special about him, as she had been on the front lines to subjugate demons.
That's why she was fascinated by his eyes.
His task is to save the human race.
In response to that request, he - Louis looked straight into her own eyes and said.

"If that will saves someone."

Then.
His words weren't special.
In this turbulent time, words like that would have been common like pebbles lying on the side of the road, and it should have been a feeling that any knight who tried to protect the people would have.
But--the amount of passion was something else.
From the bottom of his heart, he has a strong resolve to protect others even if it means risking himself.
Even from the perspective of Iris, who doesn't know her emotions, Iris was fascinated by the radiance of his strong emotions.

Ever since that moment,
I naturally followed him with my eyes as he worked hard to study and train within the church.

“Are you so worried about Louis?”
"...Claire-sama"

A voice spoke to Iris, who was standing by the window in the hallway and looking at Louis in the training grounds.
When Iris turned her gaze, there was a young girl dressed in shorts and a tank top.
She was a girl named Claire, who had a high degree of exposure that would be unthinkable in this sacred church, and her determined eyes were shining.

She was a peculiar girl on par with Louis, no, even more so.
When the bishop of the Great Saints went to pick up Louis, she appeared with Louis. allowed her to accompany him.
She was a girl with a strength that made me think she was chosen by God.
The hero Louis was nothing more than a young man with moderate ability, if not for the power of the holy sword.
His original ability is about whether he can deal with one of the elite Temple Knights of the Great Holy Church.
However, she - Claire, the childhood friend of the hero Louis, had the natural strength to defeat all the temple knights at the same time from the beginning.
She is also the only confirmed party member other than the saint in the hero's party, which is decided at the discretion of the hero.

In the journey to subdue the Demon King, numbers are meaningless against the demons who will become their main enemies.
Also, even the users of holy magic, whose effectiveness was still desired, were severely understaffed in various places due to the previous defeat, and it was clear that they would be crushed in vain by those around them if they were to accompany the hero.

For this reason, the number of people in the hero party is the bare minimum, and in order to protect the hero themselves from the speculation of countries trying to take in heroes who have the power to stand up to the demon king, all decision-making powers are entrusted to the hero.
The only exception is the saint who received the hero's oracle, but other than that, the hero is free.
Claire was unofficially accepted as a party member based mostly on her ability.

Looking back at her, Iris answers.

“Yes. We’re going to travel together from now on after all."

That was certainly an answer that came from Iris's heart.
After all, they are the ones who will travel together until the day they subjugate the Demon King.
For Iris, who had never even been blessed with a friend until then, her existence seemed unknown.
However, Claire's fixed gaze was directed at Iris who answered so.
A look that seems to be searching for something, something suspicious. When Iris reacted to that gaze that was exposed for the first time, Claire opened her mouth again.

“Saint-sama, what do you think about Louis?”
"About Hero-sama...?"

Iris was a little defensive, but contrary to her imagination, the question itself was very ordinary.
She thinks about the answer to the question, even though she thinks it's somewhat disappointing.
Louis, what do I think about the hero… I couldn't give a clear answer even when asked.
If I had to say, that time――I can't forget the glorious eyes he showed when he held the holy sword……
Yes, now that I think about it, I've never seen him look at me like that.
The eyes filled with the strong determination he showed at that time.
What kind of emotion was it, and what was the emotion I felt at that time?
Wanting to confirm this, Iris, who had been secretly observing him, was still unaware of them.
After many conversations with him, the only thing I realized was that he was too ordinary a person.
He seems to be able to wield a sword somewhat, but his skill with the sword is also rough-cut in his own style.
His personality is a word of sincerity, and he does not deviate from the general public in terms of thinking.
However, it was also true that conversations with him had become the most enjoyable thing recently.
It was great that he did not see herself as a saint.
She is just a companion on the journey from now on, and there is no hierarchical relationship there.
At first he was talking formally, but now his tone has softened and he has become friendly enough to not be rude.
A friend that Iris was never able to obtain.
A smile naturally appeared on Iris' lips as she thought about her relationship with Louis, who was close to her.

"Haa..."
"……yes?"

Iris, who was thinking about Louis, remembered that she was talking to Claire from hearing a sigh that was spilled from the other side.
When she hurriedly turned her gaze back, there was Claire looking at her with a somewhat resigned look.

"It looks like it will be a long relationship with you. Take care of me, yeah."
"Eh? Yes, please, take care of me as well."

We'll be traveling together from now on, so it's going to be a long-term relationship.
But it seems that the relationship she's talking about doesn't stop there.
Iris gently grasped the hand that was held out.

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