I Kidnapped the Hero’s Women

'An unexpected result.'@@novelbin@@

The dazzling golden key in my hand.

This was the reward I received in exchange for forgetting the Vatican’s blunder this time.

The key was none other than a pass to access the Vatican's archives.

It wasn’t an access key to classified information, but still, the Vatican’s archives were said to house more knowledge and information than all the libraries in the world combined.

Even if it wasn’t classified, it was still an incredibly useful item.

Its rarity spoke for itself—no emperor had ever possessed it before.

Even if I didn’t use it myself, selling it would surely fetch a great sum of money.

'Should I give it to Irene?'

Irene was probably the one who needed it most, not me.

She managed the entire wealth of the Vermont family, and she was the one controlling the underworld and waging information warfare.

For someone like Irene, information would be the most powerful weapon.

The data stored in the Vatican's archives would definitely be useful to her.

'I should take a quick look and then pass it on to her.'

I’ll check if there’s any useful information in it, and if so, I’ll pass everything to Irene.

Having made my decision, I put the key in my pocket when I noticed Yuria, who had been staring at me, quickly turn her gaze away and become flustered.

"By the way, what are you going to do about the Saint?"

"Huh?"

"Whether you become a saint or not is up to you. You don’t have to decide based on what I think."

"Ah... It's not because of you, Count. It's just that I felt it wasn’t suited to me, so I decided to quit."

'...?

Not suited?

She has an unprecedentedly powerful healing ability, and if she’s not suited for that, then who is?

I couldn’t help but sigh in disbelief.

"What do you mean by not suited?"

"Well, I do feel a great sense of accomplishment when healing and saving people, but as I gained more experience, I realized that breaking things down is always more efficient than fixing them."

"What are you saying?"

"Rather than healing people after they get hurt, wouldn’t it be more effective to remove the cause of the injury in the first place? Of course, when I have the time, I’ll focus on healing people, but as a saint, going around just healing people feels like I’m wasting my talent and abilities. I think it’s a waste."

"...."

[The Evil God, 'Kalli', praises our healer for being thoughtful and claps without stopping!]

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

I listened, stunned, to Yuria’s candid opinion. Instead of treating the damage after it’s done, she seeks to eliminate the source of the harm. Isn’t that exactly what a healer is supposed to do?

She must have figured this out on her own—no one has ever taught her that. I felt a deep sense of admiration for her intelligence.

Indeed.

Even though she awakened healing powers, Yuria is far too strong to just run around healing people. Her abilities could easily be used for fighting—she might be better suited to a berserker-like battle style, using her healing powers to heal her own wounds in the heat of battle.

"That's a good thought. Go ahead and do what you think is best."

"Yes, Count!"

Yuria replied with a confident voice, boldly answering me.

With this, the position of the Hero, as well as the Saint, would be vacant.

At first, it felt unsettling, but now, I no longer felt any discomfort about it.

Charlotte ultimately gave up the Hero's role and grew stronger by wielding the mighty sword.

Yuria, having abandoned her duties as a saint, would awaken once again by choosing the path of a healer (physical).

For me, what matters most is giving the children the wings they need. Who cares about the rigid paths or formalities?

Even if it’s not the orthodox way, if it’s the path the children want to take, then that’s the right way.

"Yulia. By the way, don’t we feel like we’ve forgotten something?"

"Huh? I don’t think we’ve forgotten anything. It’s just your imagination, right?"

"Is that so?"

I still had a feeling we were forgetting something, but seeing that Yulia brushed it off nonchalantly, I decided not to worry too much.

It’s probably nothing.

"Could you please move aside, Great Spirits...?"

[Kyaaah! No chance! Do you think I, a humble human, will yield to your words?]

[Kraaah! We won’t move until Yulia orders us!]

"Ugh, this is maddening..."

The priests, who had rolled up their sleeves to start repairing the road, found themselves suffocating in front of the two enormous spirits blocking the path.

If you are reading this translation anywhere other than Novelight.net or SilkRoadTL, it has been stolen.

Even though they begged desperately for the spirits to move, the spirits didn’t budge.

They couldn’t even dare to use force against the Great Spirits.

It was truly maddening.

Is this how Vermont deals with things...?

Though Aslan was ruthless, I never thought he would resort to such petty tactics.

It felt like I had been betrayed.

"Quick, contact Vermont... Please have them move those things!"

[Kyaaah! Those things? Did you just call us those things?!]

[Kraaah! I heard that! I’ll remember your face! Once I become the Spirit King, I’ll repay this!]

[Kyaaah! The Spirit King’s throne belongs to me! How dare you look at it!]

[Kraaah! If a dung-colored monster takes the throne of the Spirit King, it’s an insult to all spirits! Give up!]

[Kyaaah! What did you say...!]

Boom!

The two giants collided with an earth-shattering sound.

The priests, fearing they would get caught in the fight, fled in a hurry, watching the chaos unfold.

"Hmmm..."

I had just received a mail from a rare academic conference.

Not just one or two, but several letters.

Opening them one by one, they were all requests for research cooperation.

One person was researching dark magic.

Another was researching evil gods.

And someone else seemed to be re-evaluating the concept of anti-mana.

While these could all be done independently, they would certainly be much easier with the help of a powerful dark magician.

Perhaps that’s why they had sent the request—hoping for assistance.

"There’s no reason not to cooperate. Perhaps, I might even learn more about the evil god that’s attached to me."

[The Evil God, 'Kalli', is startled and embarrassed.]

I had already secured a monopoly on the neodymium mine, so there was no reason not to support these research efforts.

I had no desire to earn academic fame, so I hoped they would chew, taste, and critique my theories, correcting and reinforcing them where needed.

Moreover, if the identity of the evil god were uncovered, I might finally meet Kalli in the near future.

I had already met Laura through a clone, but with Kalli, all I had ever gotten was her constant chatter on my shoulder.

"I’m curious about what kind of creature it is."

[The Evil God, 'Kalli', is horrified and panicking!]

Kalli... From her reactions, she seems like one of those internet tough guys, right?

The type who talks big when you’re not face-to-face, but falls silent when you actually meet.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to it.

I’ll receive plenty of compensation from the research teams, but when it comes to the team studying the evil god, I think I’ll help fund their research.

That way, I might speed up the day I meet Kalli.

"Ah."

As I shuffled through the letters, I found a letter from Yuria, and I froze for a moment.

I had sent a letter to her after the Saint kidnapping incident (not) to check on her.

It seemed like her reply had come back.

• To the dark old man,
• Sorry, I must have sent a worrying letter in the rush. As you probably already know, I’m fine.
• The Count’s involvement almost turned it into a big incident, but somehow it worked out.
• You must have asked the Count to send me after I was kidnapped? He said he heard reports of my capture, but when I think about it, there was no one around at that time.

"Ugh..."

[The Evil God, 'Kalli', is panicking as your identity is close to being exposed!]

My excuse that I rushed over after hearing the report was a pretty weak one.

Looks like Yuria is starting to suspect the identity of the dark old man.

I’ve been making so many subtle hints that it’s no surprise she’s starting to confirm it.

"Ha... I can't be found out..."

[The Evil God, 'Kalli', shakes her head as she senses your desire to be found out!]

Ah. What do I do now?

I can’t let her figure it out before graduation.

I had planned to reveal my identity dramatically after graduation and propose, but now I’m stuck.

Letting out a sigh of frustration, I tried to calm myself.

"Hey... Count?"

"Oh, Yuria. What is it?"

The door creaked open, and Yuria appeared, and I quickly hid her letter under some papers.

Now that I think about it, Yuria had come to the mansion during the break.

I almost got caught because I let my guard down.

If I’m caught, I want it to be in a cool way, not something clumsy like having my letter found.

"So, what’s the matter?"

"Ah, um... I have a favor to ask..."

"A favor?"

"Could I... choke you, Count?"

"...?"

After hearing Yuria’s request, I had to question if I had misheard it.

What did she just say...?

But why does she look at me like that...?