I Returned with the Cheat Holy Sword

“...Are your arms and legs doing okay?”

It wasn’t something you often saw—the Gray Cardinal worrying about someone else.
But at the very least, the ones lying here under the watch of Pale Moon were people worthy of receiving such concern.
After all, they were the ones the Hero herself had creatively bent into all sorts of unnatural shapes.

To get them back into a state where they could even hold a conversation, the Orthodox Church’s medical priests had to dump obscenely potent drugs on them like rain.
Which meant, clearly, Felix had zero intention of wasting time.
“Who sent you?”

“......”
And the unfortunate thing for Pale Moon was this—
That the first person they saw after being patched up was none other than the Gray Cardinal.

He was puffing on his pipe with a soft smile, but what stood before them now was, in a very real sense, a bomb on par with the Hero.
Where the Hero could physically rip them apart, this man could just as easily erase their very existence through sheer authority.
“You couldn’t possibly not have known that was what I was looking for. So who the hell told you to intercept it mid-delivery?”
No threats.

No raised voice.
No vulgar words.
And yet—everyone in that room would’ve felt it.

That cold shiver crawling across their entire body.
Thieves, mercenaries, informants...
The areas Pale Moon operated in might be varied, but they all shared one thing in common.

An extremely sharpened instinct for what would get them killed, and what might let them live.
And at that moment—
Every one of those instincts would’ve been screaming.

Don’t lie.
This is ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) your last chance to live.
And in that regard...

“Your Eminence... Are you familiar with the name ‘Black Lion’ by any chance?”
...You had to admit, cutting right to the main point was the smart thing to do.
Unfortunately, the moment that name was dropped, Felix’s expression twisted into a scowl.

The Black Lion.
A title that referred to the Northern Marchioness of the Empire.
The fact that she’d been permitted to include “lion,” the very symbol of the Empire, in her title made it clear just how powerful she was—a great noble whose standing was on par with the Imperial Family or the Duke of Chasefield.
And yet—
There was a far more infamous nickname she carried.

“...The Emperor’s Hound.”
Felix muttered it like a curse, lips curled into a bitter smile.
The Emperor’s Executioner.

The card pulled out whenever the Emperor wanted to set an example.
A woman whose cruel, shadowy methods had earned her the contempt and fear of many—but for Felix, that name carried something very personal.
Because she was—

“The one who personally erased every record related to my father under the Emperor’s orders.”
His voice dripped with venom.
“So you’re saying... an old friend of my family decided to stick her nose in my business out of nowhere? Well, isn’t that just heartwarming.”

A long, terrible silence.
“...So why’d she come to you people for this kind of job, anyway? She’s not the type to pick fights in such a petty way.”
“She didn’t seem to have any hostile intentions. Just... seemed like she really needed that material.”

The rare alchemical ingredients the Marquess Anastasia bought at auction were the kind that had dozens of possible applications, each one valuable in its own right.
So sure—maybe it wasn’t intentional. Just a simple case of overlapping interests.
That was the logic, anyway. It made sense. The ingredients were certainly rare enough.

But what came next was the problem.
“What’s she trying to do with it?”
“Forgive me for skipping the details, but I thought you wouldn’t appreciate any long-winded detours. In short—she’s looking for someone. That’s why she started this.”
“Someone? What kind of person?”

“The Black Lion Marchioness is convinced... that someone from Your Eminence’s family is still alive. That’s who she’s searching for.”
Felix’s entire body froze.
“What?”

“...Specifically—”
One of the Pale Moon members hesitated.
He’d seen the killing aura flare across Felix’s face and instinctively swallowed dry before continuing.

“...She believes that someone you likely don’t even know about—your younger sibling—is still alive.”
“......”
“She seemed utterly convinced of it.”

—Clatter.
The pipe in Felix’s hand slipped and rolled to the ground.
***

“Whoa. So this is the stuff?”
Vespa’s eyes went wide with curiosity as she spoke.
Her gaze was locked onto the blue vial Carlyle held in his hand.

It was a potion—a mutagen, carefully formulated to alter the “form” of the Black Mirror Beast.
Crafted from materials stolen from Pale Moon’s base and processed as originally intended.
...Judging by how deeply traumatized they were by the Hero’s rampage, the Pale Moon members returned the item with a full bow, hands rubbing together as they promised to help anytime if needed.
Still, something about it had struck him as odd.

“The Cardinal didn’t look so great...”
He’d seemed deep in thought the whole time, and when asked about it, he’d just muttered he’d explain later.
Even during the exchange, Felix had watched Carlyle with an unusually sharp gaze...

“...Well. I’m sure he’ll tell me when he’s ready.”
Carlyle figured their relationship had reached the point where Felix would eventually open up.
...Whether that was a good thing remained debatable.

Anyway.
“Will this much really be enough...?”
Vespa had descended to the surface and was now glancing back and forth between the massive Black Mirror Beast and the small vial in Carlyle’s hand.

Honestly, it did seem strange to assume such a tiny dose could trigger any meaningful transformation in a creature that large.
Carlyle didn’t disagree with that impression.
“...Well. Guess we’ll find out.”

After all, this was a product made by combining every last drop of that hard-won rare material. Might as well trust it once.
He raised his hand and waved side to side in signal, and the Black Mirror Beast swayed left and right in sync with him.
...Adorable.

“God, it’s so damn cute.”
“......”
Panhaima shot him a cold glare like he was being ridiculous, but Carlyle just gave a calm nod.

Definitely made the right call raising it. Yup.
“Alright!”
Carlyle clenched his fist.

The Beast opened its mouth wide with a big “Aah!” in response.
He chucked the vial like a fastball—
It sailed in a perfect arc and landed cleanly in the beast’s mouth.
Then—

-!!
A dazzling light exploded from the Black Mirror Beast’s entire body.
Just as the alchemists had promised, the effect was real.

“...But what exactly does it turn into after transforming?”
“Who knows? I was never told.”
Carlyle tilted his head in response to Panhaima’s question.

They’d only said the beast would take “human form.” No details beyond that.
“They did ask me for input, though.”
“Input?”

“Like, what kind of form I’d prefer it to take.”
He’d made two very specific requests:
Please don’t make it too big.

Make it something most people would find approachable or likeable in appearance.
Considering the beast’s size, if it simply turned human proportionally, it’d be a giant. Hence the first request: make it normal sized.
And since they had no idea what the transformation really entailed, the second request was to make it aesthetically pleasant and socially acceptable.

Those were the conditions.
So—
When the light pouring from the Black Mirror Beast finally vanished, and something flopped softly onto the ground...

“......”
Carlyle instantly realized something had gone very wrong with the interpretation.
“......”

“......”
Panhaima and Vespa slowly turned to stare at him in horror.
Lying before them was a tiny child.

With long, ebony hair trailing to her feet—
A doll-like little girl, impossibly cute and small.
“Comrade... are you saying you specifically requested this form?”
“...Wait. Wait, wait! I can explain!”

No.
...No.
Technically, it did fulfill both conditions perfectly.

“Don’t make it too big” → Very much not big.
“Likeable appearance” → There couldn’t be many people who disliked something this doll-like and adorable.
And yet—

If this form was something Carlyle had personally requested...
“......”
No. Just—no.

Watching people quietly backing away from him, Carlyle began to sweat buckets.
“Kyahaha!”
Meanwhile—

The transformed Black Mirror Beast—now a little girl—ran straight over and clung to his leg with a big smile.
She nuzzled her cheek against his leg affectionately, rubbing back and forth.
An unmistakable display of affection and attachment.

Radiating joy, innocence, and cuteness—
Just like her adorable demeanor when she’d still been a monster.
...Though, of course, her body still carried the devastating physical power of a disaster-class beast.
Even with his physique enhanced by the Holy Sword, Carlyle was pretty sure his leg was about to snap. She was clearly just being playful, but her strength was absurd.

“......”
Still—
Let’s be real.
This... looked real bad.

Panhaima and Vespa now wore outright horrified expressions.
“Y-You sick bastard! You planned this? You wanted to make a kid like this and do stuff with her—?!”
“...I did not.”

Seriously. I swear.
Whether she understood his feelings or not, the little black-haired girl started crawling up his body—still nuzzling him.
She clambered up onto his shoulders and began playing with his hair, beaming.

Carlyle! Carlyle!
Every action overflowed with affection.
“...Comrade. Was this your taste all along?”
“...Carlyle, so this was it? I knew no one could be that oblivious by accident...!”

“All that ‘I’m gonna raise her, I’m gonna raise her’ talk... it was because you wanted this exact form, wasn’t it—?!”
“...It’s not. I swear it’s not.”
Please.

Shut the hell up and get her off me.
Please.