Volume 7, Chapter 36 – The One They Refuse to Acknowledge

It took us about a week to arrive in Sharikla, and from there, another week to return to Eibra.

Because around 500 Luma who had also suffered hardship in Sharikla joined us, we arrived in Eibra as one massive group.

As was the case in Sharikla, it seemed a report had reached Eibra ahead of us by ship, and the Luma were made to wait outside the city.

Despite how they had worshipped me over the most ridiculous things before, this is how they treat the Luma under my protection.

It seems this country truly does hate the Luma.

I felt uneasy leaving them waiting outside the city as they were, so I cast a Barrier that only Luma could enter.

This way, no one should be able to harm them.

Then, led by Khalid-san, we visited the palace once more to meet the President.

“Saint-sama. Welcome back. I am grateful to hear that you cooperated in monster hunting in Dalha.”

“No. More importantly, there is something I would like your cooperation with.”

“Yes. What might that be?”

“It is regarding the Luma. You may already know, but since Dalha and Sharikla refused to improve the treatment of the Luma, I decided to take them under my protection. I plan to have them accepted as immigrants once Princess Sara regains her kingdom.”

“Is that so.”

“I hear that the Luma here in Eibra are treated the same way as they are in Dalha and Sharikla. I ask that you improve their treatment, or if not, then please recognize them as being under my protection.”

“…What are these ‘Luma’? There are no such people in my country. Even if such people existed, they would be criminals and not citizens of my country. Please do as you wish.”

Rеαԁ оո KatRеaԁiոgCаfe

“…I understand. I shall do so.”

Wow, that is truly a horrible way of putting it. This country permits slavery and has this kind of discrimination.

I think I dislike this country a little… no, quite a lot.

Well, the White Moon Kingdom isn’t exactly praiseworthy, and there were strange people in the Blue Star Republic too.

Hm? Could it be that there are fewer decent countries than I thought?

No, now is not the time to be thinking about that.

“By the way, Saint-sama. The Holy Sword Lufiqar has also been passed down in our country. If you like, would you care to see it?”

“…I have no intention of increasing my number of Holy Knights or attendants any further, you know?”

“My, my. But surely there is no harm in simply viewing it?”

I wonder what his intention is? I thought for sure he wanted to send someone along with our Party.

“…All right.”

I hesitated, but I decided to accept the offer.

◇ ◇ ◇

Guided by the President, we arrived at a place that looked like the great hall of a Temple.

Reαԁ oո ΚαtRеaԁiոɡСаfe

“This is the Holy Sword Lufiqar passed down in our country.”

A curved sword, sheathed in an ornate scabbard decorated with intricate goldwork and gemstones, was kept inside a glass case.

“This is… it?”

“Yes. Would you like to hold it?”

“Yes.”

“Oh! Then you intend to grant this Holy Sword to someone and take them along with you?”

“Huh?”

How did he reach that conclusion?

“Eh? Does the fact that Saint-sama is holding the Holy Sword not mean there is someone you wish to grant it to?”

“Uhm?”

“Is that not the case?”

“It isn’t. I simply wanted to hold it to check it.”

“Is that so. Then I shall have it opened.”

The President clicked his tongue softly, then gave the order to open the glass case.

I gripped the hilt of the enshrined Holy Sword and lifted it.

Rеαⅾ оո ΚаtRеаdіոgСαfе

“Ugh, it’s surprisingly heavy.”

Eh? Why does it feel heavy to me even though it’s a Holy Sword? And I don’t feel any holy power from it at all.

I shook my head and returned it to its place.

“It doesn’t feel anything like Chris-san’s or Hugues-san’s Holy Swords, or the ones from Kirinagi and the Red Sky Empire. Is this really a Holy Sword?”

“Indeed. The anecdote about a Saint granting a Holy Sword is also strange.”

“Is that so. However, the fact that it felt heavy means that Saint-sama—no, Fiene-dono—was not acknowledged by the sword as the Saint.”

Hm? What does that mean?

“From this point forward, our country cannot recognize Fiene-dono as the Saint, so we shall have you leave this country immediately. Ah, we shall keep Princess Sara here in our care. We cannot leave the protection of a VIP to a foreigner who is not a Saint.”

The President declared this with a smug, grinning face.

“What!? Does the Yellow Planet Federation of Emirates intend to violate the World Saint Protection Accord!?”

Chris-san shouted in a voice laced with anger, glaring at the President.

“Do you intend to draw your sword? If you do, it will become a diplomatic incident.”

“You were the one who first insulted Fiene-sama, the Saint our nation is proud of.”

“Then it cannot be helped. Seize them!”

Rеаԁ οn ΚatRеаⅾіոɡСafе

At the President’s command, a large number of soldiers appeared from the shadows and surrounded us.

“Capture these people and throw them in the dungeon. Then, we shall demand a ransom from the White Moon Kingdom.Ah, that’s right. We must also dispose of those unidentified refugees waiting outside.”

After giving the order, the President slowly walked away.

Huh? Uhh…? What’s going on?

Translator Note

I did a bit of research on this.

In Islam, there’s a very famous sword called Dhu al-Fiqar (also spelled Zulfiqar or Dhulfiqar). In Japanese, it’s usually written as ズルフィカール or ズルフィカル.

The name in this novel is ルフィカール.

Compare:

ズルフィカール ルフィカール

While ルフィカール would literally romanize as Ru-fi-kā-ru, I believe the author intentionally dropped the initial “Zu” to evoke the name Zulfiqar.

Because of that, I’ll be using Lufiqar in this translation.

This is one of those cases where I’d rather preserve the cultural reference and the likely inspiration behind the name than stick to a strictly literal romanization.