TPVWH 15

Chapter 15

“If we haven’t returned by tomorrow afternoon…”

“I’ll take care of things appropriately.”

It was nearly eleven at night.

We had come to the dedicated teleportation room in the basement of the annex. From here, we would teleport to the temple, have the Subordination Contract terminated, and then return.

The problem was that no one knew how long the termination ritual would take.

So the Hero had given Baron Delmarc, who knew the circumstances, several instructions. If the Hero and the Princess of Legacy suddenly stayed away from the Grand Duke’s residence for a long time, everyone would find it suspicious.

“You don’t need to worry. Anything that happens within the Grand Duke’s residence can be handled on my end.”

“Then we’ll be off. Princess, this way.”

After pulling the hood of my robe over my head to conceal my face, I clung tightly to the Hero.

It was embarrassing, but there was no choice if we wanted to travel safely.

Teleportation, a spatial movement spell, consumed less mana and became more stable when the caster and their companion were as close together as possible.

Only a handful of mages could teleport someone without the caster and companion touching at all.

Unfortunately, our Hero was only an average teleporter. According to him, at least.

Apparently, he had spent his entire life using nothing but offensive magic to beat the Demon King into the ground, so he had never bothered to develop his teleportation skills.

“Thirty seconds remaining.”

At Baron Delmarc’s words as he checked the clock, the Hero began gathering mana. A circular magic formation appeared on the floor, gradually filling with light.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven…”

Following Baron Delmarc’s countdown, the Hero carefully timed it and cast Teleportation at exactly eleven o’clock.

Blinding mana surged upward like a whirlwind and wrapped around us.

“Welcome, Princess.”

The person who greeted us when we arrived at the temple was the High Priest Abillus, whom I had met once before at the Imperial Palace.

I was startled by his appearance. The dark circles under his eyes made him look as though he had been through an enormous amount of hardship.

“High Priest, you don’t look well.”

“Hahaha. I’m not quite at the point of dying yet.”

Looking around, I realized that I knew this place.

It was a sturdy room constructed from white bricks.

This was the training ground beneath the Central Grand Temple.

Right after I was chosen as the Princess, I had studied how to use divine power and learned various kinds of knowledge here.

“The training ground hasn’t changed at all.”

“Only the upper portions of the main temple have been renovated. The underground section remains exactly as it was five hundred years ago.”

Although I had stayed underground at the Central Grand Temple before, I hadn’t visited every room here.

The places I used most often were the training ground, which had been constructed from materials reinforced with divine power, and the study room with its desks.

“His Holiness the Pope is waiting for you.”

“Where are we going to perform the termination?”

“At the Feet of the Goddess.”

“That room has the Divine Power Amplification Formation.”

“We decided to attempt it there first, just in case. The amount of power required for the termination ritual is considerable.”

At the center of the main building of the Central Grand Temple stood a massive statue of the Goddess.

Beneath the feet of that statue, there was a small underground room. Its name was the Feet of the Goddess.

The name was rather amusing, but it was one of the most important places in the Central Grand Temple, almost as important as the Forbidden Archives.

Every single tile covering the floor of that room was a divine relic painstakingly crafted by generations of Popes over thousands of years.

There were also barrier formations engraved directly into the walls by High Priests using their divine power.

In other words, by standing at the center of the Divine Power Amplification Formation engraved into the floor and activating the barrier, the Central Grand Temple could be protected.

For reference, the range of this barrier was so enormous that it covered the entire temple grounds and still had room to spare.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the reason this place alone remained unharmed even though all four temples had been destroyed was because of this absolute defensive barrier.

High Priest Abillus briefly explained the information regarding the termination of the Subordination Contract that he hadn’t been able to include in his letters because it was confidential.

There were three attempts available for the termination today.

Once by the High Priest, once by the Pope, and once by me, the Hero’s master.

According to the records, it required the least amount of power when the master attempted to terminate the contract.

Even then, however, I needed to pour in at least as much divine power as an advanced High Priest could produce.

“So that’s why we’re going to the Feet of the Goddess as a last resort.”

“Exactly. It would be best if either His Holiness or I could resolve it, but we have to prepare for the possibility that we cannot. However, according to the nature of the Subordination Contract, if the master’s will is firm and both parties agree to terminate it, it shouldn’t be difficult to break.”

I had absolutely no intention of keeping the Hero bound to me.

And now that the Hero, Licht, had accomplished his goal of defeating the Demon King, there was no reason for him to remain tied to this ridiculous contract anymore.

All right, Hero.

Let’s terminate the contract and set you free!

“Oh dear. It’s been so long since I’ve come in here. Look how filthy it is.”

When we arrived at the Feet of the Goddess, Her Holiness Celestia had just finished cleaning.

She leaned the broom against the wall and casually wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve.

“Your Holiness, where did you leave your handkerchief? Why are you wiping your face with your clothes?”

“It’s all going into the laundry basket later anyway.”

She really was easygoing and refreshingly straightforward in every sense of the word.

In a way, I had heard that her unpretentious personality, which was rather unlike what one might expect from a Pope, was precisely why she was so popular.

“It has been a few weeks since I last saw you, Princess.”

“Have you been well, Your Holiness?”

“I’ve been terribly busy, but without the Demon King around, even the workload is manageable. Hahahaha!”

Hmm.

This person seemed to be doing extremely well.

“First, I’ll check your physical condition.”

After removing my bracelet and handing it to High Priest Abillus, I held out my right hand.

Her Holiness Celestia carefully examined me with her divine power before nodding with a satisfied expression.

“You’re very healthy. It would be best for you to continue wearing the bracelet, but you may now use techniques that treat wounds or consume small amounts of power.”

“As long as I don’t overdo it?”

“That’s right.”

At the Grand Duke’s residence, I had been eating three healthy and delicious meals a day without having to do anything difficult.

I had been living in an abundant environment and receiving the most devoted care imaginable, so naturally, I was healthy now.

“The Subordination Contract termination ritual has a higher chance of succeeding when the master is strong and healthy.”

“Why is that?”

“The subordinate considers their master to be the center of their world and the most precious person in existence. So when the master is sick, they instinctively try not to separate from them. Naturally, terminating the contract would be impossible.”

In other words, if I were sick, we couldn’t even attempt the termination ritual.

That was why the Pope and the High Priest had waited.

They had been waiting until I understood this world to some extent and both my body and mind had become completely stable.

“Of course, I also needed time to clear my schedule.”

“Y-You must have had a hard time.”

Now that it had been proven that I, the master, was in perfect health, it was finally time for the termination ritual!

The three of us—me, the Hero, and Her Holiness Celestia—stood at the center of the Divine Power Amplification Formation.

“The two of you should face each other and hold both hands together with your fingers interlaced. When I begin the termination ritual, the contract will appear in the air, materialized by my power. Apparently, the form of the contract differs from person to person. It may appear as a tangled ball of thread, or it may take the form of a small tree or intertwined vines.”

“What happens after that?”

“You simply have to strongly wish for the contract to be terminated and release your joined hands. You’ll be able to tell immediately whether you’ve succeeded or failed by looking at what appears in the air.”

Regardless of its form, there would always be a knot where the two strands were tightly bound together.

That knot was the core of the Subordination Contract.

We had to untie it.

It sounded easy enough at first, but there was one problem.

There was a time limit.

Materializing the Subordination Contract consumed an enormous amount of power.

If the person conducting the termination ritual ran out of power before the knot was undone, the attempt would fail.

“Your Holiness, wasn’t there anything about a trick or technique?”

“It only says that if the master and subordinate share the same will, the knot should come undone quickly…”

“I see. Let’s give it a try.”

I reached forward and grabbed the Hero’s large hands.

His long fingers slipped between mine, gently wrapping around the backs of my hands.

“I’ll begin.”

Her Holiness Celestia began chanting a spell in an ancient language and poured divine power into us.

The divine power seeped throughout our bodies.

After a moment, it flowed back out, slowly gathering in the air.

Eventually, the contract appeared.

It had a very peculiar appearance.

A long strand of soft, white fluff that glowed beautifully was tightly wrapped with a pink ribbon.

I knew immediately.

The white fluff was the Hero.

The pink ribbon was me.

The problem was that I had been told there would be one knot.

But once the ritual began, I discovered that our contract had two.

One at each end.

No matter how I looked at it, there were definitely two.

It was probably because the Hero had pledged both his soul and body.

One knot for his soul and one for his body.

That explanation fit perfectly.

A variable had appeared, but what we needed to do hadn’t changed.

In my mind, I shouted—

Terminate the contract! Let the Hero sleep independently! Separate beds at night!

As I slowly began loosening my interlaced fingers, I repeatedly chanted the words terminate the contract like a prayer.

The knot at the bottom began to squirm.

Untie. Untie!

As if responding to my will, the end of the pink ribbon began struggling even more energetically.

Wait.

Then why wasn’t the white fluff moving at all?

I shifted my gaze to my hands.

And then I realized.

The Hero’s fingers wrapped around both of my hands hadn’t moved even a little.

“Licht?”

We had to let go of each other’s hands.

That was how the contract would end.

So why?

It wasn’t as if someone had smeared glue on us.

Why were our hands stuck together?!

I widened my eyes in disbelief.

Then suddenly, the Hero let out a quiet sigh.

At the same time, the contract floating in the air slowly disappeared.

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

The subordinate—

Licht—

had just refused to terminate the contract.

I hadn’t eaten anything strange today, so why on earth was this Hero suddenly acting like this?!

Aaaaaaaah!