Level 1 Strongest Sage ~

“Ahm, Eliza. About that Halt-sama…”

They started eating, and Akari spoke to Eliza once things settled down a bit.

“As I thought, you didn’t know about it right, Akari?”

“That Halt-sama we offered our prayer to just now — that’s the name of the Sage-sama who graciously pardoned our lives”

“E, Eh?”

Akari didn’t understand.

It would make sense if he saved them.

However, was there such a thing as offering a prayer of thanks to someone because he didn’t kill them off?

“A few years ago, our kingdom waged war against the Alehim, the kingdom of the Elves. I was also a soldier of the national armed forces who marched towards Alheim back then.

“This guy here is working as a guard now, but he had been the troop commander just a while back.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“Yeah. I was pretty strong, you know?”

Eric participated in the war that the fifth royal prince of Apristos started.

However, even if it was called a war, it ended with them not being able to clash swords with Alheim, let alone casting a single spell on them.

It was all thanks to Sage Halt, the man who married the heroine and the second royal princess of Alheim.

“Halt-sama teleported our army of 100, 000 soldiers all at once.”

It took 20 days for the Apristos’s army to march to Alheim, but that sage’s spell teleported all of them back to this kingdom in just a blink of an eye.

“H-Hundred thousand people!?”

Akari didn’t have any idea how difficult magical teleportation was, but she did know how great of a feat it was to teleport 100,000 people all at once via magic.

“The mere fact that he could teleport us at will meant that he could’ve just dropped us all over the ocean, for sure. It’s a war, after all…not to mention we’re the ones who attacked first.”

“It was only later that the citizens were informed about this, but apparently, the Apristos royalty coveted Yggdrasil so they started the war.”

Initially, the kingdom’s explanation for mobilizing the army was to rescue the fifth prince that had been allegedly taken captive by Alheim.

However, that was a complete lie.

“We started that war because of greed, so of course it’s totally our fault. Halt-sama has every reason to wipe the entire army out. Moreover, he’s the sage who can instantly teleport over the distance that will normally take ordinary folks 20 days on foot.”

“He can teleport anywhere he wants regardless of the distance — in short, Halt-sama held our very lives at the palm of his hands.”

Eliza placed her hand on top of Eric’s as she sat beside him.

“Eric and I weren't married yet back then. We didn’t have any money at that time.”

“That’s when the notice said that we’re going to get paid as part of the kingdom’s army, so I told Eliza I’m gonna marry her after I return from war.”

“I tried all I could to stop this guy. But, everyone around us insisted we’re going to win the war, so…”

“To be frank, I didn't really understand what’s going on when we were teleported back here.”

Most of the army soldiers had been afraid of Spirit King Sylph at first, but they didn’t feel threatened by the fact that they had been sent back all the way to Apristos again.

Many of them even thought that they would be able to gather more provisions and other stuff before marching off again.

“However, when I returned to my house and told Eliza all about it, she burst crying. That’s when it hit me. We already died once.”

It wouldn’t be odd if they truly died.

If Halt wanted to, those hundred thousand folks would already have died.

“So I resigned from the army. I realized that there’s an incredible Bakemono roaming in this world. I didn’t want to serve a country that might wage war against him later on.”

“Actually, the plan is to run away from this kingdom, too…”

The royalty of this country didn’t give up on Yggdrasil despite realizing that the invasion of Alheim failed. They were even planning the next invasion.

Eric knew about this because of his considerably high position in the army, so he contemplated on fleeing with Eliza.

“I decided to observe things first since the head of the country had been replaced. Well, after all that’s said and done, this is still the kingdom I’m used to living in.”

“Does that mean the monarch had changed?”

“Yeah. Two months after the invasion, the fifth prince staged a coup, and part of the army also participated, although I didn’t.”

“Ehh!?”

The king and his ministers tried to push the sole responsibility of shouldering all the expenses of mobilizing the army to the fifth prince.

The prince was immediately seized and imprisoned the moment he stepped back into the kingdom.

That’s when he learned that the king and his ministers had been plotting his demise in exchange for Ygddrasil from the start.

The fifth prince wasn’t that wise, but he was quite popular for some reason. Moreover, the kingdom’s best strategist was also among his own imperial guards.

The military commander led the fifth prince, his personal troops, imperial guards and part of army and they seized the royal castle.

The citizens were aware that the fifth prince staged the coup, but in fact, it was the military commander who acted arbitrarily all the while.

As for why such a capable military strategist would go through such lengths —

It was because he had been captivated by Halt, the person who was so powerful that he could wield such extraordinary magic without any qualms, and even had the Spirit King obeying him.

“If you will allow me to spread Halteism in this kingdom, then I will make you the king.”

The strategist so incited the fifth prince.

Of course, the prince, who didn’t wish to die, had no choice but to accept his proposal.

Afterward, the fifth prince was also converted into a true believer of Halteism thanks to the strategist diligently imprinting it onto him, but —

Not a single citizen of this country knew of that fact.

And so, [Halteism] had been established as the current state religion of Apristos.

The head of that religion was no other than the monarch himself, the former fifth prince.

Of course, the strategist was the one pulling the strings behind the scene.

The military strategist firmly believed that Halt was a deity who descended on this earth. If that wasn’t the case, then it would have been impossible for him to teleport such a huge army of 100, 000 people.

He had been making preparations in secret to offer this country to Halt if he were to set his foot to this place someday.

That was the reason why [Halteism] existed.

By the way, the proselyting of Halteism had been surprisingly doing well.

It was because the 100,000 citizens who participated in the invasion of Alheim as part of the army had experienced his might firsthand.

“Halt-sama is indeed a deity that descended on earth.”

The religion had gained tremendous support from the people that Halt teleported.

These soldiers told their families and friends that they owed their lives to Halt, who made it possible for them to return alive. Thus, Halteism spread across the kingdom at such a tremendous rate.

“That’s why we always pray to Halt-sama everytime we eat. ‘We are grateful to this person for allowing us to return to our home’, like that.”

“I see.”

“So? Akari, how about converting to Halteism?”

Eric then handed a thick book to Akari.

And on the cover was —

A painting of a handsome young man with azure eyes accompanied by the Wind Spirit King.