I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

58 – 12# Beginning (1)

The match ended with Beris’s victory.

But not only the spectators, even Beris herself did not wear a satisfied expression. Because she struggled more than she had imagined.

Who is she?

She is a member of the hero party that defeated the Demon King and was called the strongest saint. That she struggled against such fledglings? It doesn’t make sense.

Even the excuse of being careless doesn’t hold.

From the beginning, Veris was aware that her opponent was clearly a step below her. In that case, she should have at least prepared, but she didn’t.

This is the result.

She was driven to the brink of defeat, and in the end, she barely won by pulling out all her trump cards. Athena summarized Veris’s victory in one word.

“A victory as ugly as it gets.”

“Whatever, a win is a win, right?”

“If you’re satisfied with that.”

“…You’re backing down easily today?”

Could it be that our stubborn demigod has finally developed some sense? Athena, with a smirk, responded to Veris’s surprised expression.

“I just realized that dealing with an ignorant fool who doesn’t even know they’re embarrassing themselves is a waste of my time.”

“Okay, so you want a rematch? Come on up.”

“You’ll regret it.”

“Both of you, stop it. This is not something to do in front of the kids.”

Of course, it was Yushin’s role to stop the fight. Yushin, who had been watching the outcome of this fight next to Athena, found the result much more surprising than expected.

‘It means they were serious too.’

They think of me as their real brother or childhood friend, and they’re putting in this much effort. But ignoring their sincerity doesn’t make sense.

Eventually, I’ll have to tell them the truth.

But at least not today. The worst enemy is right in front of us. So, let’s prioritize properly. Yushin approached Yuri.

“Fortunately, there’s no threat to life.”

“I’m not that reckless, you know?”

“Then please take care of the treatment.”

“Yes, yes.”

Treating the woman who had just been fighting was not pleasant. But if left as is, she would probably suffer for years in recovery.

As Veris approached and reached out her hand, golden, radiant lights appeared from her hand and healed Yuri and Hayoung. As if erased by an eraser…

The wounds that had covered their bodies disappeared in an instant. It had been a while since he had seen it, but her healing ability was still amazing. Yushin clicked his tongue and said.

“Your healing power is always impressive.”

“Thank you for the compliment, hero.”

“But can you use divine power here too?”

“Of course. The basic essence of divine power is no different from magic.”

If the church had heard, they would have been furious and declared her a heretic, but Veris spoke nonchalantly. Unfortunately, Veris was right.

The basic principle of divine power is ultimately no different from magic.

Just as there are those who are born with immense magical power, there are also those who, despite serving and believing in the gods all their lives, never manifest any divine power.

Nevertheless, the Order packaged the power called divine power as something that comes from the gods. It’s not entirely wrong. The source of divine power is ultimately the power of the gods.

But the gods do not bestow power only to those who believe in them. They simply grant power as needed, or for various reasons, according to the laws of nature.

“So, the Order is basically a bunch of frauds!”

“Is it okay for a saintess to say that?”

“But it’s not wrong, is it?”

Even though Beris held the position of saintess within the Order, she had seen many of its dirty sides. That’s why she hated the Order so much.

After all, wasn’t Beris herself dragged in as a child, subjected to harsh abuse, and raised to be a saintess? So, of course, she couldn’t like it.

But she wasn’t here to talk about old, dusty stories. Beris had no interest in the past anymore. She only looked toward the future.

‘Being tied to the past is a huge loss.’

Beris had already been immensely tied to the past. She wandered here and there in search of the hero. She didn’t think of that time as a waste, but it was indeed regrettable.

If only she had spent that time with the hero.

It would have been truly enjoyable. She couldn’t help but think that way. But shaking off even the lingering regrets in her heart, Beris lifted her head.

To move toward a better future.

* * *

Thanks to quick treatment and Beris holding back in the duel, Yuri and Hayoung were fortunately able to recover completely without any aftereffects. Beris acknowledged them as well.

Certainly, at this level, they would become excellent forces.

The coordination between Yuri and Hayoung was excellent. If Yuri had known about Beris’s blessing, it’s hard to guess how the match would have turned out.

“Of course, I would have won somehow!”

“Well, you never know until you try again.”

“Oh my, are you planning to challenge me again?”

“No, not now.”

But it was Hayoung who calmed the overheated battlefield. She had been too timid to voice her opinions properly before, but now it was different.

Fighting alongside Yuri had greatly boosted Hayoung’s courage. Above all, she had gained the reliable power of magic, so it was only natural.

Anyway, although Hayoung was also disappointed with the result, she had no choice but to accept it for now. When the opportunity comes again, she would do better then.

“But sister!”

“Right now, we have enemies to fight. Don’t we?”

“That’s true, but…”

“Is it because I’m older? I know how to prioritize!”

“Don’t get too carried away, I have no intention of being intimidated like this.”

‘Something seems different about this person.’

Could it be because of the overflowing confidence? The way they calmly beat people was unusual. But thinking it was rather good, Yushin opened his mouth.

“When you were in the middle of fighting, Principal Beris contacted me.”

“Principal?”

“What did he want?”

“He found out the location of Mephisto’s base.”

With Yushin’s words, everyone’s attention was focused. Beris and Athena drew upon the concentration from their hero party days, and Hayoung and Yuri were no less focused.

“And Banserin has roughly figured out Mephisto’s objective.”

“Is that possible?”

“She has been fighting this nemesis from the beginning until now. She must have known something.”

“When you fight an enemy, you end up learning a lot, even if you don’t want to.”

Beris chimed in with a rare serious expression. As he said, the members of the hero party learned about the Demon King through their persistent battles.

About the ultimate goal the Demon King desired.

He wanted his kind to live a life where they wouldn’t bow down anywhere. That was probably because he himself lived a life of obedience, bound by the sage.

Anyway, just like that, Banserin had also been resisting Mephisto, known as the source of monsters, along with her comrades until now.

Naturally, she must have known information about Mephisto that she hadn’t shared until now. Thanks to that, she was able to find it so quickly.

“So? What does that great archdemon want?”

“I’m curious about that too.”

“He has a rather absurd goal.”

“Those kinds always have grand scales, don’t they?”

Beris said sarcastically. The Demon King, the sage, they all had grand scales. Always unnecessarily so.

“Thanks to that, they cause a lot of trouble, and the cleanup always falls to others.”

“This time, I have to agree with you.”

Athena had to agree with Beris this time. Because of the unnecessarily grand scale, they had to clean up the mess.

Their words were close to the truth.

Unfortunately, this time they missed the mark. If you look at the scale of what Mephisto is aiming for, it’s rather small.

“At first, I thought Mephisto wanted to rule the world or something like that. But it wasn’t.”

“Then what is it?”

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“He wants to exclude us as his top priority.”

“Is that the goal?”

“Yes. Ban Serin said that without us, the world would eventually be his anyway.”

It’s not wrong. If Yushin and his comrades fail, there will be no one left to stop Mephisto in this world. So what exactly is he trying to do?

“A few days ago, the Hero Association, which manages the heroes, issued an order. Everyone here, including myself, has committed crimes, so they said to arrest us.”

“What?”

“Indeed, that’s how it is.”

Unlike the others, Veris immediately grasped Mephisto’s intentions just by hearing the words. That demon Mephisto, he came out much more troublesome than expected.

What Mephisto is aiming for is precisely this.

He decided to handle it by borrowing the hands of humans, without getting his own hands dirty.

[Do you really need to sit on the throne and wear the crown to call it domination? The true domination is to exert influence as inconspicuously but surely as possible.]

It felt as if Mephisto’s mocking words could be heard all the way here.