…T-This is the product of my work, you know?”
Ooh, Ravel made it herself! Well, the effects must certainly be amazing! “Thank you, Ravel.”
After I thanked Ravel, it was Rossweisse-san’s turn to give me an amulet. It was a Japanese-inspired amulet. “I turned a Nordic talisman into a charm of Japanese style. Although it won’t have any use on the effects of Dragon Deification, it’s able to protect against other disasters or misfortune.”
This was Rossweisse-san’s handmade amulet! Ah! It was embroidered with affection! After watching my reaction, Rossweisse-san’s bashful face turned as red as an apple! Thank you for the cute reaction! And then it was Koneko-chan. …Ah, it was only Koneko-chan’s that I could clearly see…. She seemed to have noticed my gaze, so Koneko-chan poked my abdomen with dissatisfaction. “…I’ll become large during the battle. So that you don’t get hurt, there’s no need to look at me too much.”
“O-Okay!”
“…If you don’t recover quickly, you won’t be able to see me when I grow up, so please don’t be reckless.”
—Hearing Koneko-chan’s sincere words, I pat her head as I replied to her with
“Don’t worry, I don’t plan to die.”
After that, Kiba give me a bottle of drink. It was milk. “Ise-kun, this milk has a few drops of Phoenix tears mixed in it. It’ll be quite effective if you drink it.”
After listening to him, I gulped it all down. …Ahh, it feels like my body has become a lot lighter. Was this the effect of the Phoenix Tears, or was it the effect of the milk? After hearing that my body condition would improve after drinking milk, even I was stunned. I just thought that a glass of milk was rather delicious after taking a bath. …Really, what kind of existence are they trying to turn me into? I wanted to talk to Gya-kun next, so I turned my gaze towards him…while I was looking for him, I was startled to find a person that I didn’t expect to see here beside him. “Eh, Valerie!? Why are you here! ?”
Indeed, the beautiful vampire Valerie was actually here in this hospital! I cried out in surprise! Valerie simply giggled
“Ufufu.”
“Ufufu, it was the Fallen Angel oji-samawho called me over. Right, Gasper?”
“Yes. Ise-senpai, it’s like that. Not long ago, Valerie obtained the freedom to go out.”
What was Gasper saying…. Called over, and allowed to go out…. Was it alright for Valerie to come here? She was able to move about in a designated area, but she shouldn’t be able to move any further than that…. Sensei dispelled my doubts. “In fact, this time, during the battle against Trihexa and the army of Evil Dragons, Valerie’s assistance will be essential. With the help of the various factions, she was able to temporarily come out. But, there is a time limit. That’s why it was arranged so that she would enter at the critical point during the battle.”
Ah, in other words, there was nothing to worry about with Valerie being here right now, which is why they brought her to the Underworld. Vali seemed to think of something based on what sensei just said, so he asked him
“Did you find out about techniques on how to control the Holy Grail?”
“It’s something more or less like that. We just happened to come across some hidden information about the Holy Grail in the Vampires’ country. With this, we may be able to prevent them from using the Holy Grail to recover.”
—What! There was actually something like that!? Hidden information…Valerie’s aniki, Marius actually had a card left. But, it was discovered by sensei. “The one who discovered this was someone who cooperated with us on the other side.”
Sensei looked in a certain direction. I also looked over — and saw a person with a petite body wearing a hood. After removing the hood — it was actually the blonde bishoujoVampire Elmenhilde! Ooh, she also came to the Underworld! During the New Year, we, the Hyoudou family went to my sobo-chan’s place and ended up bumping into her…. “Long time no see, Sekiryuutei Hyoudou Issei-sama.”
She accepted the catastrophic damage to her homeland, and travelled back and forth around the world to collect the things which were necessary for its revival. Sometimes it was materials for reconstruction, and sometimes it was foreign aid for her country. She truly desired the restoration of her homeland, and her attitude had greatly softened compared to her previous overbearing attitude. At first, she continually rejected the assistance of other countries, and other factions, yet now, she was asking around in various places without restraint. It was really quite incredible. …It also showed just how severe a blow the destruction of homeland was. —While I was surprised by the appearance of Elmenhilde, Valerie took something out from her bosom. —It was a purple cross. Sensei said to me
“That is the slightly modified cross of the Longinus Incinerate Anthemthat was recently recovered. It was originally a holy relic of the cross — so I’ve let it synchronise with Valerie’s Holy Grail.”
—What! That evil witch — the Longinus that Walburga had! I heard that the Three Factions recovered it, but I didn’t expect that it was in the shape of a cross. Using that…to synchronise with Valerie’s Sacred Gear? So that’s why they needed Valerie’s assistance in this battle. What kind of response would the Holy Grail, in addition to the Holy Cross produce…? Vali asked sensei
“Her Holy Grail was originally unstable, and I’ve also heard that the Sacred Gear of the Holy Cross is dangerous as it chooses its own master. You can’t possibly know what will happen if you allow these two to synchronise. …But, it looks like the hidden information is a breakthrough for this problem, right?”
Sensei replied to Vali’s question
“Valerie’s ani — it was written about in the notes of Marius’ research. It once entered an extremely dangerous state whilst research on the Holy Grail was being conducted, and at that time, the Tepes faction used a fragment of the Holy Nail, which they had hidden as a secret treasure, and were able to get through that crisis. I’m already able to explain the technique that was used at the time based on the information which was obtained.”
The Holy Nail, that was also a holy relic? Even if it was just a fragment, the Vampires’ country actually had such a thing…. Also, in such a closed-off country, there certainly must be many hidden treasures. Elmenhilde continued
“We Vampires have been investigating the Christian religion that we’ve been hostile with for a long time. Among all of that research, the Tepes faction was able to obtain a fragment of the Holy Nail through their own channels. I think only the royal family could have handed it down, but that wouldn’t be recorded in history or literature anyway.”
Anyway, that and the information was all recovered and handed over to the Three Factions…it was a secret among secrets. However, as long as that was used, Valerie’s Holy Grail could be supressed. That’s why information regarding that was kept.