I Returned with the Cheat Holy Sword

A lot had happened, but in the end, it could all be summarized in a single sentence:
"It’s a relief it didn’t turn into a huge disaster."
What happened inside the exchange hall was being written off as a minor facility glitch.

...No one would ever dream that the absurd amount of mana—enough to shake the entire Mage Tower—was coming from Vespa, who was now rolling her eyes beside Carlyle.
"Uh, um... is this really okay?"
"It should be fine."

She’d crushed Caleb without even trying. Without even realizing she was doing it.
Watching her fumble in panic out of fear of the consequences was... how should he put it?
Pretty terrifying.

It seemed like she had no concept whatsoever of just how powerful she actually was.
At least she didn’t seem to have any intent to abuse that power, so maybe that was fortunate.
And just as Carlyle was thinking that, Letty’s gaze shot toward him.

"...Why are you staring at me like that?"
When he asked Letty, who had been staring holes into him, she pointed at the object wrapped around his arm.
The artifact that had been wrapped around Caleb’s arm. A device that significantly boosted mana sensitivity.

"—Are you allowed to just take that?"
It was, after all, a treasured item of his family.
"I’ll just say it got damaged during the retrieval."

"..."
"The man owes me his life. Isn’t this the least he could offer as a reward?"
"...So you do have a sneaky side, huh?"
I’d prefer if she called it efficient.

Honestly, if he went through the trouble of saving some asshole with a bad attitude, he deserved to walk away with something.
Anyway—
"This is actually a much better item than I expected."

Even when it had been used by a top-tier mage like Caleb, its effectiveness had stood out. But reading the system’s description now, it was clearly more than that.
– Item Info
Artifact – Eye of Quiria

▶ A relic created by an ancient magical lifeform. Allows the user to perceive the flow of mana with their own eyes. Increases the wearer’s mana sensitivity, and depending on their aptitude, can be used in combat or to enhance magical proficiency.
It didn’t just help control mana better—being able to see how mana flowed was an incredibly useful trait.
When it came to supernatural abilities, so much depended on how and where you arranged the energy. If you could literally observe all of that with your eyes, then you’d be absorbing every piece of information intuitively.

“Looks like this’ll come in handy when I study magic later.”
[...You plan on studying magic?]
“You’ve gotta try at least a little of everything.”

[...You're steadily accumulating a bizarre range of skills.]
“Isn’t that the same as before?”
The upside of being a multi-regressor: there wasn’t a single field he hadn’t touched.

Swordsmanship, magic, even obscure eastern arts like shamanism or alchemy.
“Even if I can’t become a perfectly maxed-out hexagon like the Hero, I can still be a decent mini-hexagon.”
That meant his role was—

Not someone with one irreplaceable specialty, but a joker card who could be deployed anywhere in a crisis.
A lubricant that could keep any emergency situation from falling apart.
As he’d just demonstrated again, that ability to clean up after the Hero’s party's messes—honed over countless regressions—was a powerful skill on its own.

Because only someone who could see all their strengths and weaknesses with eyes closed could do what he did.
[...That’s just a roundabout way of saying you want to be omnipotent, isn’t it?]
Call it whatever you want.

Anyway.
“Just being able to sense mana clearly will help a lot.”
He stood in front of a large sphere deep inside the Mage Tower’s workshop.

The very reason he’d infiltrated the Tower in the first place—the Orb of Truth.
The object that would reveal the identity of that mysterious force that emerged every time Vespa handled mana.
“I think this’ll be really useful here.”

[But it’s Vespa doing something, not you. Will it really help you?]
“I can prepare for the worst-case scenario.”
[...So you are keeping your guard up.]

It was only natural to stay alert.
If there was one thing Carlyle had learned with certainty across all his regressions—
“Anything whose nature hasn’t been revealed should be treated with suspicion first.”

It could be a deception tactic from hell or a demon.
How many times had he seen entities disguising themselves as transcendent beings just to lead humans astray?
“...If it turns out to be something twisted, I’ll destroy it immediately.”

If something was hiding inside the mana, the Eye of Quiria’s detection ability would be invaluable.
With that thought, Carlyle turned his eyes to Vespa, who was stepping up onto the pedestal beneath the Orb of Truth.
“Alright. Let’s begin.”

At Letty’s words, intense mana began pulsing through the air.
***
To Vespa Luciana, today had been a lot.

It felt like she’d experienced everything she’d never even imagined doing in a lifetime—all packed into one day.
And now, she was about to undergo something that could only be described as the pinnacle of those experiences.
“To summon a transcendent being from another dimension, first you need perfect mental unison. You only get one shot at this, so focus.”

“Unison...?”
“I could explain the theory, but it’s long. Basically, you carve the framework of a transcendent being into a simplified form using the purest emotion as the summoning medium.”
“...Um. I don’t really get it.”

“In simple terms, we’re turning a great being into a dumbass like us. So you need to be at your dumbest.”
“...”
Ah.

Now that made perfect sense.
“It helps if you recall the most intense emotion you’ve felt recently.”
Intense emotion.

Intense emotion...
“...”
Vespa’s eyes slowly drifted toward Carlyle and locked on.

Every powerful emotion she’d felt recently had started from him.
Whenever she saw Carlyle, in one way or another—joy, anger, sorrow, or pleasure—some intense, vividly colored emotion would bubble up.
...Though mostly, they’d been positive.

What could she say?
She just felt happy when he was nearby.
“Eh.”

And then, right on cue, that familiar blue mist burst forth before her eyes.
She hadn’t even tried to control her mana or cast a spell, and yet it had surged up on its own. That was a first.
“That’s it! You’re doing great!”

“...Excuse me?”
“What you just thought of—that’s your strongest emotion right now! Keep following that thread!”
“...”

Her strongest emotion lately was the happiness she felt whenever Carlyle was around.
Well... this is embarrassing.
‘N-no... ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) no way...’

Vespa rubbed her now-flushed cheeks and closed her eyes.
It felt like she was being forced to consciously confront a feeling she’d only barely been aware of until now.
‘W-well then...’

Still, Letty said this was necessary, so...
Focus. Think about Carlyle.
‘Um, hmm, hmm... so, like...’

What if—
What if, hypothetically—
She got even closer with Carlyle, and then maybe...

Started dating him?
They’d go on a date holding hands, maybe even k-kiss...
“...”

Her legs twisted into knots.
Her whole body felt like it was heating up.
‘N-no, I can’t go that far...’

Vespa broke out into a cold sweat and tried to redirect her thoughts.
Carlyle was standing right there—thinking about this while looking at him was just too embarrassing...
“...Eeeh.”

The blue mist began to rise even thicker around her.
...As if to say she was doing very well indeed.
“That’s it! Keep following that focus!”

“H-here? You want me to focus more?”
“Keep going! Don’t stop!”
“...”

Uh.
Uhhh...
Her eyes spun like pinwheels, but still—Letty told her to focus, so she had to try harder.

Okay.
They date, fall in love, kiss... and after that—
“M-m-marriage...?!”

Just imagining it made Vespa’s face explode with heat.
No, no, she knew she was getting ahead of herself.
She didn’t even know Carlyle’s feelings. It was all just her delusions.

But still.
‘Heh, hehe...’
Somehow, just imagining living happily with Carlyle, having two kids, a peaceful home—

Her face relaxed into a dopey smile.
Wow, that’d be so nice...
Carlyle would head off to work, she’d stay home cooking for him, and at night, they’d...

‘Uhehehe, uhehehehe...’
Her smile was so loose it looked like her whole face was melting.
“Good! It’s almost fully materialized!”

And as if to match, the blue mist was beginning to take on the form of a person.
If things kept going like this, they’d successfully summon the interdimensional deity into human shape...
Letty cheered her on, and Vespa’s fantasies galloped forward like a wild foal with a broken leash.

Doing this with Carlyle, and that too...
And again, and again...
The thoughts spiraled into a frenzy of rose-tinted fantasies about their future.

And at the very end of it all—
A vision appeared.
Gray, staring at them with sad eyes.

“...”
For a moment—
Vespa’s breath caught.

‘...Why—’
Why was she showing up?
Why that expression?

Why was Vespa suddenly thinking of Gray—looking like that?
“—”
In an instant—

The color of the blue mist turned pitch black.
And just like that, the mist scattered into nothing.
“What?! You were doing so well!” Letty shouted in frustration.

But Vespa couldn’t say anything.
She just stared at the dissipating mist.
Right before it vanished—just for a second—

It had taken the perfect shape of a person.
Someone who was looking at her with sad eyes.
As if—at the very end—they pitied her for thinking that way.

And that form—
“Me?”
The being Letty referred to as a Divine Spirit—

Had unmistakably...
...looked just like Vespa herself.