Let’s Block the Ruined Route in Advance Chapter 84

Eileen’s first weekend back after waking up.

 

Back at the Academy, Eileen and the Duke were waiting for the Inquisitor to arrive, and Eileen smiled wryly.

 

“I apologize if I seem to be causing you to come to the Academy too often.”

 

“Don’t worry about things that aren’t your fault.”

 

The words were spoken nonchalantly, but the tone was sweet, and Eileen couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Eileen, you might feel pressured if you go in. The old raccoons in the palace and temple are cunning, always trying to lure powerful beings to their side.”

 

With that, the duke lifted a round porcelain jug.

 

“When they talk nonsense, just think of it as the whining of fat, round old raccoons.”

 

As the Duke rubbed the teapot with a serious face, Eileen couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

 

“Haha, that’s what it is.”

 

“Oh, yeah. It’s a sorry sound for a raccoon.”

 

The duke smirked, the corners of his mouth twitching upward, and as he finished, there was a knock on the door and Albert entered.

 

“The inspectors have all arrived, let’s go right away, Eileen, remember what we talked about?”

 

“Yes!”

 

She had promised Albert, the Duke, and herself that she wouldn’t tell them about her glimpse into the future. The clues Eileen had identified were likely to be learned during the interrogation of the prisoners and revealing that she was special beyond that might draw more attention than necessary.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

 

***

 

 

‘This place sure is intimidating.’

 

Four investigators from the imperial side. Four from the temple side.

 

A total of eight investigators sat in a row across from Eileen and the Duke.

 

“We need to see its power for ourselves first, if you don’t mind?”

 

“Here?”

 

Eileen’s eyes widened in confusion. It wasn’t cramped in the great hall where the investigation was taking place, but it wasn’t a comfortable place to demonstrate the power, not when she hadn’t quite gotten it under control yet.

 

A middle-aged priest spoke up in response to Eileen’s embarrassment.

 

“Don’t worry, we don’t want to see any fancy techniques. We just want to see if your power really responds to Magi, that’s all that matters.”

 

As the priest finished speaking, a woman stood up from the palace side. In her hand she held something small that looked like a cloth-covered birdcage.

 

As she walked out, she said,

 

“My name is Bianca, I’m the imperial demon investigator, and what I have in this cage is a mandragora, a small plant-type demon taken from the Overlap. I’ve sealed the cage to keep it from escaping, but once I unseal it, it will soon awaken, and if your powers are truly responsive to the demon, it shouldn’t be difficult to defeat it.”

 

Eileen swallowed hard. Sealed, but a demon was a demon. She’d even learned that Mandragora, while not mobile, could kill a man with a scream. When Eileen looked nervous, Albert, standing behind her, whispered softly.

 

“Don’t worry. The people here can take down a Mandragora in a heartbeat.”

 

Encouraged by his words, Eileen nodded and stepped forward. Bianca saw that Eileen was ready and quietly pulled back the cloth covering the cage.

 

“Looks like an ordinary planter.”

 

It was time to take a fresh look at its plain exterior. Bianca partially opens the door to the cage.

 

Kwang-!

 

With a loud crash, a branch from the giant old tree that grew behind Eileen’s back smashed the mandragora into the cage. It happened in a split second, before the unsealed Mandragora could even scream.

 

“Again!”

 

“This one!”

 

“That’s incredible. It definitely reacted to Magi!”

 

“Unbelievable speed.”

 

Everyone was surprised, but the most surprised was Eileen herself. Star appeared at Eileen’s feet, gritting his teeth and staring at the raggedy cage.

 

“Star?”

 

Star had always been a gentle puppy, but in the presence of Magi, he bared his teeth easily.

 

“Again, you moved before I gave the command.”

 

Eileen let out an involuntary grunt of pain, and Albert watched Star closely, as did Aru, the first-ranked Elementalist, one of the Imperial Investigators.

 

“Certainly not a common elemental.”

 

It wasn’t uncommon for spirits to go on a rampage to protect their contractors, but in Star’s case, his hostility was clearly targeted.

 

His eyes flashed like a predator upon an attractive prey.

 

‘It’s definitely a helpful power.’

 

“Ms. Eileen, have you ever thought seriously about a career?”

 

Aru was the first to speak up. The imperial family valued people who could help them exterminate demons above all else for the sake of a strong imperial power. Since their powers were optimized for dealing with demons, it was a priority to recruit them before their true nature was revealed.

 

“Once you receive the rank of imperial authorized elementalist, working as an imperial elementalist is…”

 

“Wait!”

 

Before Aru could finish speaking, a young priest stood up from the side of the temple.

 

“Before that, I need to confirm something!”

 

All eyes turned to the priest. Feeling the attention on him, the priest slapped the table lightly and spoke.

 

“We must first determine if she is a saint.”

 

Silence descended on the room. The Duke and Albert’s shoulders stiffened instantly.

 

A saint.

 

Unlike the bloodline of heroes, it was more of an acquired ability that manifested itself at random. Born human, but possessing pure divine power and the mark of a goddess. The divine power of a saint was characterized by an overwhelmingly purifying power, greater than the divine power of priests and paladins.

 

Being a saint, a blessing from the goddess, seemed honorable on the surface, but in reality, it was something else entirely.

 

The moment a saint’s name was confirmed by the High Priestess, all saints, regardless of origin, lost their names. Not just their name, but their freedom of marriage, economic activity, and hobbies. Most of their rights were severely restricted and they were treated as living relics.

 

Gritting his teeth, Duke Gaudium rose from his seat and walked to Eileen’s side.

 

“The child is not a saint, and the absence of the goddess’s mark of manifestation before her coming of age is proof of that!”

 

“Then what are you going to prove that power with? The first thing is to test for divine power. If we can confirm the presence or absence of divine power, we might be able to reveal the source of that power!”

 

The old priest stood up from his seat and extended a wrinkled hand to Eileen.

 

“Here, it’s not difficult, just take this hand and I’ll determine the presence or absence of divine power right away.”

 

The colorful goddess symbols on his robes gave him away as a high ranking priest.

 

“Wait!”

 

“The way you’re looking right now, Duke, it’s as if you consider saints to be something unclean to be avoided.”

 

“That is not my intention.”

 

“Then!”

 

The old priest said, his eyes glittering with desire.

 

“Accept the judgment. It’s a divine power test at best, isn’t it?”

 

The Duke’s brow creased. It was literally just a divine power test. But if Eileen had any holy power at all, the temple would do whatever it took to get her into the temple.

 

“Damn it!”

 

But there was no stopping it.

 

In an empire where the goddess was the sole deity, rebelling against the temple’s inspectors was tantamount to turning the entire empire against them. Even the imperial inspectors were silent at this point, waiting for the old priest’s results.

 

Eileen, who had been watching, gently grasped the Duke’s fingertips. When the Duke looked down with bloodshot eyes, the child was smiling and nodding as if to say she was fine.

 

“I am still powerless.”

 

Fighting back the anger and despair rising from deep within him, he could only watch as Eileen took the old priest’s hand.

 

“Hmph.”

 

The old priest, who had been holding Eileen’s hand with a satisfied expression on his face, stiffened as he drooled. Eileen, who had been holding his hand for a long time while the corners of her mouth turned down and her brow wrinkled, rolled her eyes in embarrassment.

 

“How long are we going to do this?”

 

The old priest who had been holding her hand for over five minutes shakily let go of her hand and stepped back, coughing in vain.

 

“Hmph. You don’t have any divine power.”

 

At those words, Albert and the Duke silently relaxed.

 

“Still, isn’t that power close to miraculous? It’s unusual to recognize someone as a saint…”

 

A priest, unable to let go of the person who could have raised the temple’s reputation, spoke up.

 

The doors to the great hall swung open and a man entered. His white robes flowed fluidly with his steps.

 

“She cannot be a saint.”

 

It was the hero, Aire, who had entered with the declaration.