Chương 40: Henry’s Memories (3)

Henry's first impression upon seeing Asher Griffin again was that the boy seemed just as timid and insecure as the first time - still obediently acting as Jullius's shadow. And yet, there was a difference. The eyes beneath that overly long fringe were not as submissive as his demeanor suggested. They seemed to be observing and calculating everything. Furthermore, Asher had "accidentally" caused a scene with the fake Princess. That incident, in Henry's eyes, didn't look accidental at all.

Yes, Henry already knew that Claire Cassandra was never a Hero Candidate. Her successful infiltration of the party was merely a political gambit played by the Church. In those hundred-plus loops, Henry had sought to expose the haughty Princess more than once to bolster the party's strength. Usually, the ultimate consequence of doing so was the death of the actual, highly talented candidate -the girl whose title Claire had usurped. Henry hadn't even had the chance to learn that girl's name.

Few candidates possessed scouting and long-range attack capabilities. This deficiency was a major reason the party repeatedly fell into dire straits - situations that could have been entirely avoided with a skilled scout. Clearly, during the celebratory banquet, Asher had been fully capable of pulling the mask off the true candidate. But he hadn't done it. Had I overthought it? Was it truly just an accident? Henry wondered. Or does he have a plan to topple the Princess while keeping that other girl alive?

There was only one way to find out the truth: to test it. And so, Henry killed Claire during their first sortie. He felt no psychological burden; he had done this several times before. Perhaps this was a side effect of dying and resurrecting so many times, Henry felt himself gradually devaluing life. His own, and everyone else's. Why hesitate to kill someone when you know you'll just encounter them again in the next time loop? If Asher Griffin truly had a plan, Claire's death would accelerate its execution.

Then, Henry could be certain whether or not he should share what he knew with the boy. And what if Claire's premature death ruined Asher's original plan? Henry didn't care. He had run out of patience. Another side effect of the time loop: one becomes reckless, heedless of the consequences. After all, the worst that could happen was just having to start over one more time, right? In the end, he had finally gotten exactly what he wanted. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen.

Please report the violation. In the middle of the night on the Holy Prayer Day, a subordinate suddenly reported that a young girl was demanding to see the Vice-Captain of the Knights in person. When Henry saw the red hair and a face that was an eighty-percent match to the Hero Candidate posing as the Princess, he began to understand why someone as capable as her had allowed herself to be so easily suppressed by the Royal Family.

The girl was dressed in rags, her entire body trembling from fear and the biting midnight frost. She stammered out:"Asher... Griffin said... he knows... your secret..." Henry frowned. What "secret" was the boy referring to? Was it the fact that he had killed Claire, or the far deeper truth that he had survived a hundred time loops?

"Where did you come from?" The girl kept her head low.

"From... from the... Cathedral..."

"Did the Church send you?" The girl shook her head violently, then grabbed Henry's sleeve.

"Please... don't tell the Church. That person... that Asher, is being held... in the basement." Henry pieced the fragmented information together and began to grasp the current situation. Asher Griffin was being imprisoned in the Cathedral's basement. Henry knew that place - the dark corner where the Church detained and harvested mana from those of low social standing who possessed abundant mana reserves.

This act directly contradicted the Church's own tenets, yet both the Royalty and the nobility turned a blind eye because they shared in the profits. As for why Asher was there, the cause was likely this little girl. Henry didn't want to cause a ruckus at the Church in the dead of night, so he arranged for the girl to stay temporarily at the Knight's barracks and waited until morning to head to the Sanctuary.

The Church officials were beyond shocked, and furious, when he abruptly appeared and demanded to see one of their "mana slaves." The mana slave trade was a gray area that even the Royal Family handled with "eyes wide shut." No one wanted to offend the Church by poking into their most lucrative business. Conversely, the Royal Knight Order was one of the few entities the Church could not control.

Only the King had the power to bestow the title of Knight, and Knights swore their fealty to the Kingdom rather than the Goddess. The Church had its own military, led by the Paladins. Unfortunately, in this current cycle, not a single Paladin had earned the title of Hero Candidate. This was a source of profound disappointment and humiliation for the Church. Out of sheer desperation, they had decided to back Princess Claire Cassandra - a royal family member who was closer to the Church than her own kin.

Yet, Claire had died under suspicious circumstances in a first battle that should have been an easy victory. Thus, when Henry arrived to demand a mana slave, the Church's first reaction was indignation at being slighted. However, after weighing the pros and cons, they grit their teeth and handed over Asher Griffin for several reasons. First, having the use of mana slaves turned into a public scandal was the last thing the Church wanted.

Their public approval was already waning; a scandal leaking at this time was strictly forbidden. This was especially true if the leak came from someone with an impeccable reputation among the populace, like the young and talented Vice-Captain Henry McCaley. The McCaley clan, while not as prosperous as it once was, remained prestigious for consistently producing elite Knights. Second, the Church had been uncomfortable with taking in Asher Griffin from the start.

Turning a member of a Great House into a mana slave was extremely risky. It was only because the future head of the Griffin family himself had personally requested it and guaranteed there would be no repercussions that the Church reluctantly agreed, simply to avoid friction between the powers. Now that Henry wanted to take the boy, it meant that any future trouble with the Griffin family would be directed at him instead of the Church. From their perspective, this actually relieved them of a significant headache.

And so, just like that, Asher Griffin was set free.