Episode 217
- Shh, shh.
Having received the document from Serena, I frowned and began flipping through the papers.
- This document is classified as top secret, and for the next 1000 years, viewing is prohibited except for the Pope and the Bishop Representative Delegation.
- In violation thereof, the viewer shall be punished in the name of God.
Then, the terrifying words written on the first page came into my view.
"Don't worry, it's just the nonsense the Order always spouts."
Thanks to that, I flinched slightly and looked at Serena, who was wearing a relaxed smile.
"They cannot perform miracles. The only one who can communicate with God and perform miracles is Saintess Perlotche, not the Order."
"Hmm."
"For example, the divine power they use isn't power given by God, but merely one of the world's laws. It's no different from mana or aura."
"You know that's quite a dangerous thing to say, right?"
"But I proved it a few years ago."
Saying that, Serena began writing down various formulas with shining eyes.
"Look, the elemental arrangement of 'divine power' and the elemental arrangement of 'mana' are fundamentally no different. The only difference is how much miracle power is added..."
"Enough, enough."
"In the first place, if you think about it, the moon mana I use, the star mana you use, and the sun mana Klana uses were all granted authority directly by God, so you could say they're more divine..."
"I said enough?"
Lulu and Miho, who had inadvertently learned a great secret of this world, stood with dazed expressions.
Considerate of them, I hurriedly covered Serena's mouth, and she smiled sweetly and kissed my hand.
'...Did she calculate that action?'
Feeling like I'd been manipulated by her somehow, I frowned slightly, then tapped my finger on the table and continued reading the documents.
- To activate this document, the consent of 3 or more bishops must be obtained first, and additionally, someone equal to the Pope must personally grant permission.
"See, if these people were truly holy... they would have asked God to send divine punishment if this condition was violated, right? But they deliberately used 'magic'? Just looking at this, you can tell what kind of group they are..."
"Enough about that. How were these conditions resolved?"
Hearing those words, Serena said with shining eyes.
"Three bishops... my friends used a bit of physical force, my kind requests, and Miho's abilities shined."
At those ambiguous words, I tilted my head, and Miho, who had her arms crossed beside me, answered gruffly.
"My blind companions in human form kidnapped the bishops and tortured them. Of course, they weren't easy either, but two of them, this crazy human destroyed their doctrines with logic and made them abandon their faith."
"M-Miho."
"But the last one held out to the end, so I absorbed their life force to the limit while torturing them. After about a week, they couldn't hold on anymore..."
Having been bored with a peaceful mountain village, Miho had run away from there and was spending quite satisfying days as Serena's detective assistant.
And thanks to that, Miho, who had been explaining the operations of the past few weeks with increasing intensity without realizing it...
"...Eep."
When Serena pinched her side, she trembled and closed her mouth.
"A-all three were trash. Child abuse, sex trafficking, tax robbery... they deserved to die..."
"That's the same for that one too... eek!"
"...A-anyway! That's not what's important. Please turn to the next page."
Hearing that, I was about to turn the page where the magic circle had been neutralized and was now charred black, but a question that came to mind made me ask.
"By the way, how did you get the Pope's permission?"
"...I gave him banana milk."
"What?"
At those words, I made an incredulous expression, and Serena covered her mouth with a fan and gave a charming smile.
"He smiled brightly and said 'Feel free to look!'"
"...The Pope?"
"Of course not. If that were the case, I would have plunged a dagger into his throat, operation or not."
Holding my head at the increasingly incomprehensible circumstances, I soon asked with shining eyes.
"Come to think of it, the condition is listed as 'someone equal to the Pope'?"
"Hehe."
"Then don't tell me, Perlotche?"
When I asked that, Serena smiled brightly and spoke to Miho who was pouting and crouching beside her.
"See? My fiancé pretends to be a fool. Actually he's a genius, my husband-to-be."
"I-I know that much. And he's not your husband yet, is he?"
Listening to their banter with a faint smile, I looked at the documents and asked again.
"But why did they specifically write 'someone equal to the Pope'? They could have just written the Pope. They unnecessarily weakened the security."
"Wow."
After those words ended, Serena, who had turned her gaze from Miho to me, looked at me with a blank expression and murmured.
"So smart..."
"Is that something you should be saying? Human?"
"Hehe... really cool... I really like you, Frey..."
From what she was saying, it seemed there was a reason. But since we haven't been making progress for a while, at this point...
"Hmm, so there exists someone 'equal to the Pope' in the Order, right?"
Suddenly Serena, changing her expression to a dark one, spoke.
"Using Perlotche was a forced trick. What they intended was naturally not the Saintess, but that 'equal one'."
"Can you be certain?"
"...You'll understand when you see that content. That Perlotche has nothing to do with the Order's darkness."
Saying that, Serena crossed her legs and spoke seriously.
"Anyway, someone equal to the Pope, whose identity is unknown, and who can view this top-secret document... what kind of existence would that be?"
"The mastermind behind everything."
"Correct! Miho, my fiancé really is a genius!"
When I answered with a soulless voice, Serena clapped her hands like a seal and started squealing while grabbing Miho beside her, and I completely turned my gaze from her and began concentrating on the documents.
"".............""
And so, quite a long time passed.
- Thud...!
My head throbbed quite a bit. What did I just see? Too much information came in. All at once.
"A-are you okay?"
Serena looks at me with worried eyes. Why is she doing that? I don't want to see that expression on her face. I only ever wanted to give her smiles...
"...Mmm."
The countless distracting thoughts in my head vanished in an instant, and a refreshing feeling took over my body.
'Mind manipulation?'
For a moment, I suspected it, but I shook my head. If it were ordinary mind manipulation, there's no way I wouldn't have noticed. In other words, this current situation originated from the document I had spread open.
"If you look at the page you have open now, you'll find that a vast amount of information is transferred to the brain at once."
"Hmm..."
Having heard Serena's explanation, I nodded and spoke in a quiet voice.
"I'll keep this."
"Yes."
Serena answered without a moment's hesitation.
"Human, are you crazy? A document that important..."
"The client gave it. We must follow the client's orders."
Looking at her as she said that with a smile, I fell into thought for a moment.
'The Order bastards are doing something interesting.'
This document... if it hadn't been me or Serena, it could have been dangerous. Since her mental stat and mine both exceed 9, we can withstand this much easily, but...
"Hehe."
Like Lulu beside me with a mental stat of 1.
"What are you looking at, human."
If Miho, who similarly has low mental stats, had seen it, there might have been problems.
How do they manage to use such techniques close to perception destruction? As expected, the Order bastards aren't in their right minds.
- Extract the sealed Sun God's soul and administer it to the prepared child.
- Her divine status and original consciousness cannot be erased, but if the operation succeeds, the 'prepared child' can be elevated to main god status.
- If that succeeds, the true sun shall rise in the sky.
Just looking at the messages floating in my head now, I can tell.
Who would believe that those who claim to serve the Sun God were planning to bring down the Sun God himself?
"Never mind about the Holy Knight's identity. What about all the Order's secrets?"
"We found out quite a lot. Even now, we're extracting... no, persuading them to get more information. The important parts are summarized on the later pages of that document."
Feeling uneasy at the scale being larger than expected, I nodded at Serena's answer, then stood up and spoke.
"Good work, Serena."
And the silence that began to flow.
"T-th-that means..."
In that silence, Serena grabbed her heart that felt like it would burst and asked me.
"A d-date. You're saying we'll go on a date, right? Right?!"
"......."
"I've been waiting only for today."
Saying that, Serena came running to my side chirpily.
"Look at this. I even bought new clothes. New accessories too..."
With an excited expression, she clung to my side and began talking.
"I even memorized the date course! I calculated hard for a week and found the most perfect method? You'll be surprised when you see. And I reserved all the shops! Musical performance too, and the proposal too... ah, hm."
Then she made a slip and blushed, and I looked at her and said:
"We're not going on a date."
With a soulless voice, I dropped that one word.
"A-anyway, you just need to bring your body! I'll take responsibility for today and... huh?"
At that, she froze mid-sentence while bouncing around.
"Ah? Huh? What?"
Whether her high-performance brain had broken down, Serena stood frozen in place for a while making dazed sounds.
".....!"
Belatedly, she made an expression as if she'd lost her country, her mouth falling wide open.
"I reserved everything... the proposal event too, heek, I planned it all..."
"......."
"It would've been fun... really really fun... if not, even just an hour together would've been nice..."
Finally, her eyes welling with tears, she began mumbling in a pitiful voice.
"...Sigh."
Thanks to that, my heart started pounding, and I bit my lip tightly to not show it.
"Not today."
I said, turning my gaze to the side.
"I'll postpone the date to next week. Today I'm busy."
"Ah."
"Why did you decide the date time on your own anyway? Displeasing."
Hearing those words, Serena let fall the tears she'd been holding.
"Phew....."
Finally sighing in relief, she sniffled.
"I thought... I thought you wouldn't do it... the date..."
"Today I have to spend time with Lulu. So don't disturb any further and leave."
"........"
When I said that to her again, she began quietly glaring at Lulu.
"...Then."
Then, rising from her seat with a regretful expression, Serena said:
"Ah! That's right!"
She clapped her hands and began speaking:
"We have to carry out the request!"
"Request?"
At my question, tilting my head, her eyes began sparkling.
"Yes! The Imperial Family, the Order, over half of the great nobles, and the Empress. And even that damn Rose bitch... ahem, anyway, quite a lot of people have entrusted requests about you."
"So?"
"Starting now, I'm going to investigate your mansion!"
With a bright expression, she said that, then murmured in a trembling voice as she walked away.
"Frey's house... how many years has it been...? Anyway, I'll memorize all the layout this time... since I'll become the mistress of this mansion later, I need to figure out the structure in advance..."
"...I didn't give permission."
"I-I can't help it! All the corruption and wrongdoing you committed needs to be forged and manipulated! It's essential for gathering evidence!"
"......"
"There are still things the investigation team hasn't taken, right? I'll launder everything. So no one can dare take you away..."
I listened to her fading voice with my eyes gently closed.
"...Lulu, help Serena."
"Yes."
"Aren't you going?"
"...I'm going, human."
In a quiet voice, I sent the girls who were beside me out of the living room, and fell into silence.
- Thump...!
Was it because my mind briefly wavered earlier?
"Hmm."
For some reason, my heart began to ache again.
.
Meanwhile, at that time.
"Kuh, keugh..."
"Haa, haa..."
Inside the Imperial Palace, a training ground only usable by the Imperial Family.
"N-not bad... Klana?"
"......."
Klana, looking down at the 2nd Princess who was miserably crushed beneath her, declared in a cold voice.
"By the duel agreement from a day ago, I have just become 3rd in line for succession. Do you agree?"
"...If I refuse?"
"I'll kill you."
Hearing those words, the 2nd Princess raised a white flag and said:
"I surrender, I'll surrender. I only fought you because my older sister forced me... I have no interest in the throne either. I just wanted to live peacefully..."
Looking down coldly at her, Klana wiped the blood from her face with her hand, then licked it off.
"Mmm..."
She radiated an intense aura enough to make the 2nd Princess's retainers watching from the sidelines flinch.
"According to the agreement, from now on, you all serve under me. Anyone object?"
""...We have no objections.""
Having achieved complete victory, only then did she smile quietly.
"Irina is coming."
"...Grr."
When her confidant quietly whispered in her ear, she gritted her teeth and murmured coldly.
"That chest-only fool... daring to do that with Frey... I've only kissed him..."
Briefly looking down at her own chest with a gloomy expression and mumbling.
"And, the 1st Princess invited Frey to her birthday..."
"Grrrr..."
Hearing her confidant's continued words, her eyes flashed and she whispered coldly.
"...Shall I kill her?"
The confidant's face turned pale at those words.
"......!!"
And the same was true for the retainers present.
Setting aside the problematic nature of such statements, Klana's intensity was simply too terrifying.
"Uh, and lastly..."
Thanks to that, in the training ground where the atmosphere had turned cold in an instant, her confidant reported while watching Klana's expression.
"The herbs and spiritual medicines you ordered... and the stamina-enhancing items you specially requested... have just arrived at the port..."
"...Send them all to the Starlight mansion."
"Pardon?"
When the confidant tilted her head at those words, Klana quietly averted her gaze and murmured.
"Buy everything on the market too and send it."
"Well..."
"Search through the Imperial storehouse too."
"......."
"Hurry. Send all the good stuff."
And so, a brief silence passed.
"The reason you're going that far..."
"There's a very important reason. So just follow quietly."
To the confidant asking with a greatly flustered expression.
'Somehow I'll save you... even if I have to use all my power.'
After saying that coldly and turning away.
'But just in case... I must definitely use this opportunity to...'
Heading confidently toward the exit, lost in thought, Klana's face was:
'...I'll conceive the child who will become the next Emperor of this nation in my womb.'
Already turned bright red.
"In just one attempt."