TLS 05

Chapter 5

“You know that the mages will also be joining this subjugation, right?”

The Controllers nodded.

“The religious order does not have a very good relationship with mages. I’m sure you all know that.”

The divine power of the religious order and the magical power of mages came from different origins.

Since the religious order had many people who possessed divine power, they considered the power used by mages to originate from the magic stones found inside monsters.

Because of that, they believed that mages were people who had sold themselves to greed.

Some priests even rejected mages, claiming that they were no different from demons.

“I’m sure everyone here thinks their Controller abilities are weak and is wondering why you are all being asked to come along.”

Noah and the others all nodded.

“Have any of you ever used your Controller ability on a monster or demon?”

Not a single Controller nodded.

“That is one of the most powerful hidden characteristics of a Controller’s abilities. Our abilities manifest far more powerfully against monsters and demons than against humans.”

Noah had never used her Controller ability on anything other than humans, so she listened carefully.

Gabriel’s smile deepened at the sight.

“When you use a Controller ability on a human, its effect is insignificant. But when you use it on a non-human being that possesses a magic stone, the effect is powerful beyond belief.”

“……”

“This place is for training you to develop your abilities and bring out greater power. It is also meant to give us time to coordinate our abilities before the subjugation.”

“I see……”

The Controllers murmured as awkward smiles appeared on their faces.

“If you are unwell or have some special circumstances, I will not force you. But personally, I hope all of you will join this subjugation.”

His words seemed to give them a choice, and Noah found herself conflicted.

Her unknown potential had awakened, but if she said, ‘I don’t want to go!’ even now, could she return to the Soal Academy?

Just then, Gabriel continued.

“The Demon Dragon Urbas has been asleep for the past fifty years. As you all know, His Holiness the Pope, who put the dragon to sleep back then, originally intended to kill it.”

The reason Bennie had put Urbas to sleep instead of killing it was simple.

Every monster possessed a magic stone.

In the case of dragons, their hearts were made of enormous magic stones. When a dragon was put to sleep using divine power, its entire body slowly transformed into a magic stone over a long period of time.

Since the amount of magic stone that could be extracted was enormous, just like the dragon’s size, mages preferred putting dragons to sleep with divine power rather than killing them.

Although the religious order disliked mages, they acknowledged that the magic-stone products created by them had made people’s lives more comfortable.

Naturally, the value of magic stones had risen tremendously as a result.

Bennie had also put Urbas to sleep because the religious order intended to use its magic stone once the dragon completely transformed into one after a hundred years.

At that moment, Anas raised his hand and quietly asked,

“Why did Urbas suddenly wake up? There is still a long time before a hundred years have passed.”

“Urbas is located on the border between Entria and the Ariel Empire. About fifty percent of its body has already transformed into magic stone.”

“And?”

“Under normal circumstances, it should have remained asleep for a hundred years. But for some reason, a crack was recently discovered at the place where Urbas was sleeping.”

Everyone swallowed in shock.

“We managed to seal it in a hurry, but Entria has informed us that Urbas is expected to awaken within three months.”

“Isn’t Entria the kingdom of mages?”

In response to Will’s question, Gabriel corrected him.

“It would be more accurate to say that they invest heavily in magic and that Princess Kyria is known to be an exceptional mage. Princess Kyria has already declared that she will participate in this subjugation.”

“……”

“Entria says they are already prepared.”

Anyone could tell that Entria had clearly made some sort of move.

“Then the Kingdom of Entria is after the magic stone.”

“That is correct. The reason the mages want to join this subjugation is simple. They intend to gain a considerable share of the magic stone by receiving credit for the subjugation.”

Gabriel’s convincing explanation made the Controllers’ expressions darken.

Will spoke as if he could not believe it.

“Wow, that’s seriously ridiculous. Fifty years ago, we nearly perished because of Urbas, and His Holiness went through all that trouble to save us!”

Seeing the atmosphere, Noah gave up on saying, ‘I still want to stay out of this.’

Even she knew that this was not the right time, no matter how bad she was at reading the room.

“But there is another real problem. The religious order is worried that our people may make the wrong judgment because of the dazzling appearance of Entria’s princess, Kyria.”

The people might make the wrong judgment because of the glamorous appearance of a mage princess?

Noah was still trying to figure out what he meant when Gabriel continued.

“So one of you will have to become the representative of the religious order who can stand against Princess Kyria’s image.”

Everyone looked at one another.

“What the religious order wants is an image opposite to the princess. Instead of seductiveness, intensity, and glamour, we need a Controller with a holy image that emphasizes purity, gentleness, and elegance.”

“Why does it have to be……”

“We need someone among the subjugation force who can draw the people’s attention away from Princess Kyria.”

At that moment, everyone’s eyes naturally turned toward Noah.

Lina spoke in a small voice.

“Princess Kyria has dark golden hair and apparently wears a red cloak, right? I have brown hair, so I wouldn’t stand out……”

As she said that, she subtly backed away.

“To be honest, when I first saw Priest Noah, I thought she was an angel. Pink hair is quite rare, after all.”

Noah had been thinking of nothing in particular, but she became flustered when she felt everyone’s attention focused on her.

Gabriel looked at Noah and smiled beautifully.

“I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you, Noah.”

Who knew that the word ‘beautiful’ could sound so terrifying?

Ta-da! You’ve been chosen!

Noah Kaplan! You’ve also been chosen as the Saint who will stand against Princess Kyria!

‘P-Please save me…….’

Noah could not even move her lips.

That day, the Controllers also practiced an offensive prayer called “Yap!”

Most of them were exhausted from practicing it repeatedly until sunset.

But for some reason, Noah broke her own expectation of ‘There’s no way this will work, right?’ and successfully used even “Yap!”

The moment she shouted, “Yap!” the carpet was swept up by the wind and went flying out the window.

Of course, she also managed to successfully use “Piyung,” which canceled out “Yap.”

It was hopeless.

What was she supposed to do with these horrifying results?

She had no particular motivation, so why was divine power manifesting through such ridiculous prayers?!

Gabriel’s eyes as he watched her results were so full of warmth that Noah nearly drowned in his gaze.

She felt sorry for those who were working so hard, but Noah wished this unnecessarily outstanding talent of hers would somehow move to someone else, like Will or Lina.

Of course, that did not happen.

“All right, that’s enough for today. You may eat or rest, and those who want to practice more may continue.”

“Yes.”

“Tomorrow, we will go to the training grounds and practice actual offense and defense together with the Holy Knights, matching them with your prayers.”

With that, the Controllers returned to their assigned rooms.

And Noah was separately called by Gabriel.

“Noah, I’ll walk you back.”

“Pardon?”

She probably had no right to refuse anyway. This was not a romantic escort but an escort with a purpose.

Looking miserable, Noah held Gabriel’s hand and walked beside him like a cow being led to the slaughterhouse.

“You know about Princess Kyria, right?”

“Yes.”

Ah, why did Princess Kyria have to participate in this subjugation and make Noah’s life so difficult?

She had no idea how much she had resented Princess Kyria throughout the day.

Gabriel was obviously going to tell her something frightening under the pretense of walking her back.

As he had said earlier, he probably wanted Noah to become the religious order’s representative during this dragon subjugation.

“I know this may be a burden, but I hope you will think carefully about it for the sake of the religious order. Your talent feels almost as if Elohim granted it to you specifically for the Urbas subjugation.”

If someone other than herself had shown such talent, Noah would have been the first to shout, ‘This person is the Saint! Saint! Let’s go subjugate the dragon!’

But when it was herself, things were different.

Her true thoughts naturally came to mind.

‘I don’t want to. I’m scared of dragons. If I’m the religious order’s representative, I’ll have to fight at the very front, and I absolutely can’t do that. Just being part of the dragon subjugation force is terrifying!’

But she could not bring herself to say it now. It was not just her and Gabriel; there was also a Holy Knight escorting them.

‘Still, Gabriel told me as if I had a choice. Maybe this is my last chance to get out of the subjugation?’

While Noah was thinking that, Gabriel continued speaking.

“I know very well that you are gentle and delicate. Given the situation, you must be feeling a great deal of pressure. If necessary, I can give you more time, so take your time and make your decision.”

Gabriel’s gentle words and warm gaze shook Noah’s heart.

After thinking for a while, Noah finally gathered her courage when they reached the front of her accommodation.

“Um, Your Eminence.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t mind, would you like to come into my room for a cup of tea before you leave?”

“……!”

Gabriel looked flustered, and Noah became anxious, so she gathered even more courage.

“I also have some delicious cookies!”

“……Yes, all right.”

Gabriel gave an awkward smile and was about to enter Noah’s room with the Holy Knight when—

“Wait a moment. My room seems a little too small for the Holy Knight to come in as well.”

It was the best excuse Noah could think of.

She was too embarrassed to have the Holy Knight hear her say that she wanted to get out of the subjugation.

Because of that, Noah failed to notice anything strange about the awkward silence that followed.

“Then I’ll wait outside.”

One of the knights answered.

Another knight also stopped at the door as if he had noticed nothing.

“……”

“Please come in, Your Eminence.”

When Noah actively urged him to enter, Gabriel hesitated for a moment before slowly stepping into her room.