Esmond's Pov:
After the duel, we headed back on the road leading to the capital. From this point on, we were in the Holy Empire's territory.
Though it's pretty concerning that a demon king is going to his worst enemy's territory, I still have the gods on my side.
So let me tell you something about the Holy Empire. There are about 5 major cities within its territory. Each one is ruled by a Duke, but one of the major cities is considered the capital, and there resides the Holy Emperor.
I met that dude once; he was a frail young ruler. Since the previous emperor died, he had to take the throne. He also had a daughter, but I won't talk about that since... Nevermind.
Anyways, there will be an upcoming festival in this territory, so I plan on checking it out. But I haven't forgotten about the real reason why I'm here.
"So what's your purpose for going to The Holy Empire's capital?" she normally doesn't ask questions, but I should answer.
"I'm just going there to meet some relatives of mine. Since there's also a festival, I should pay a visit to them and eat some of the food."
Truthfully, though, I was going to gather some information from a friend of mine and also eat some street foods along the way.
I also asked her the same question.
"I'm visiting my aunt's grave as per requested by my father. Ever since the demon God died, he would ask me to go to the Holy Empire and pay my respects."
"I see," this aunt of hers must be a great woman since even her niece would travel across kingdoms and empires just to pay respect to her.
It was still a day's journey to get to our location. We stopped by a few villages on the way. Fortunately, it was not burning this time, so that was good.
Gesine rented two rooms in a tavern; she paid for it, of course. I'm not shameless; I'm just poor. It was late at night when I got a message from the goddess Leticia.
[So you used my blessing.]
"I did, thanks to that I managed to make them piss and obliterated their entire existence."
[You used the sword of light for ordinary demons and hurt yourself in the process.]
I looked at my hand and saw a burn; it was shaped like the grip of the sword of light. I admit that I overdid it, but at that time, I just needed to release my anger on something.
"I'm sorry, Leticia", You know that this happens to me most of the time. It's only thanks to Leticia that I keep on getting minor burns. Without her support, my hand would have been charcoal black.
[As long as you don't overdo that again. The last time you overused the sword, you couldn't use your hands for a month.]
"Yeah, but that was when I fought the demon God." Remembering it back, it was torture not being able to touch anything. I can't grip a sword, a wood... A weapon.
[Esmond, I'm worried about your body and mental health.]
"What?" I clenched my fist in the air. "Look, I'm fine and healthy. There's nothing wrong with me," I smiled brightly. "There's nothing for you to worry about, Leticia."
[You may say that, but still...]
"Shush, shush, that's enough. We can't have a goddess crying."
"Like hell I'd cry."
"Ahahaha, everything is going to be fine, Leticia... Everything," I reassured her for the final time, and she asked me again if I'm really okay.
"Of course I'm okay," and for the millionth time, I reassured her, and she finally left in peace. And now that's over, I went to the other room, Gesine's room to be exact, and knocked on the door.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
"Hey, Gesine, it's me, Cassius."
"Huh, what do you want? I'm busy." Damn girl, at least open the door before you. I knocked again and again until she finally opened the door.
"I said, 'What do you want?'" she was sweating, and her hair was tied. Is she working out? She must have realized her disadvantage in stamina; she's a quick learner.
I showed her my hands that were burned, "Can you patch me up?" She sighed and agreed, so I went to her room. I had a quick look around; her bed was still clean, and the floor was wet, must be from her sweat.
"You didn't have this when we were traveling. What happened?" she asked me as she was wrapping my hands with a bandage.
"I got it from the burning village. I saved an old man and his granddaughter from the falling wood that was on fire," but she didn't believe me.
"You said this can't be healed with healing magic? What kind of wood was that? A branch from the world tree?" Yeah, I probably shouldn't have said that, but it was true; the wound can't be healed with magic, unfortunately.
After Gesine finished bandaging me, she immediately kicked me out of her room. "Goodnight, Gesine!"
We rested the entire night since tomorrow afternoon is the day when we might finally be able to step foot into the holy empire's capital, Aigneis.