Episode 25
"Is... is this enough...?"
"No, sweep it again from the beginning."
"B-but... this is already the fifth time..."
Three hours had passed since I made Perloche wear a maid outfit and clean the cathedral, and she finally began to plead with teary eyes.
"Please... my arm feels like it's going to fall off... I beg you..."
—I am requesting cooperation to destroy and kill you, Frey!
"Ugh...!"
I quietly watched her, then touched my brooch to play back her recorded words. She gritted her teeth and picked up the broom again.
"...Ouch!"
But for some reason, she screamed and dropped the broom, then looked down at her hand as tears began to well up.
"I-it hurts..."
Her soft hands, having never done hard work while under the protection of the Order, were now scraped and bleeding all over.
—Shaah...
Perloche looked down at her hands miserably, then glanced at me and cautiously tried to gather holy power in her hand, but...
"...Don't heal yourself."
"What?"
"Don't heal it. Clean as you are."
"....Mm."
Hearing my cold voice, she trembled and grabbed the broom again.
I watched her for a moment, then stood up from the seat I had been sitting in and began walking toward her.
"...Do you think holding it that weakly will work?"
"W-wait a moment... it hurts too much, so I..."
"Shouldn't you hold it tightly like this?"
"Kyaaah...!"
When I reached her, I grabbed her hand tightly with a cold expression and pressed it against the broom. The Saintess screamed and dropped the broom again.
"...Pick it up again."
"P-please... I'm sorry... please forgive me..."
At the continued harsh treatment, Perloche fell to her knees and began begging. I pointed at her hand and asked coldly.
"...When did I tell you to heal your wounds?"
"I-I'm sorry... it hurt so much, so I did it..."
I frowned as I looked at her now completely healed hand, then picked up the broom and handed it to her.
"I see. Then clean until your hands are scraped again."
"Ugh..."
When I spoke indifferently, the Saintess began cleaning the cathedral again with tearful eyes.
After some time passed, I noticed the sun beginning to set and stood up, saying to her.
"...That's enough for now."
"Hic... sob..."
When I approached her to check, her hand was indeed completely unharmed without a single wound.
"...What do you think you're doing?"
"I'm... sorry..."
When I asked coldly, the Saintess bowed her head deeply and murmured. I gently stroked her hair and whispered.
"Was it that hard...?"
"Y-yes... hic..."
"...Then shall I change your tasks going forward?"
"W-what kind of task...?"
When she asked with hope, I answered with a smile.
"...It's a very simple task where you just have to hold me at night. How about it?"
".......!"
Hearing those words, the Saintess looked at me with a disgusted expression and said.
"...I will clean."
"Where? The cathedral? Cleaning the cathedral won't help me at all."
"I will clean your room..."
—Slap!!
"...I will clean Master's room."
"Good."
Only after being slapped did the Saintess change her form of address. She stumbled toward the cleaning supply closet.
"From now on, clean my room every evening. If you skip even one day, you'll regret it."
"...Yes."
"And, if you change your mind, you can always attend to me at night as well..."
"Stop."
"Hm?"
"Please... stop..."
Perloche, who had been quietly listening to my sneering voice while putting down the broom and changing clothes at the supply closet, suddenly cut off my words and looked at me with eyes full of disgust.
"Please... don't say such disgusting things to me with that face..."
"...Disgusting things?"
"Before I received the prophecy and became a Saintess... what were those words and that smile you showed me back then...?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
When I deliberately feigned ignorance and avoided the question, the Saintess's expression turned cold.
"Ha... I see. You didn't even remember what happened back then."
"...What?"
"Even if you did remember, it was probably just... a sense of superiority you felt toward an orphan always on the streets, not sympathy or compassion, right?"
"What are you talking about since earlier?"
"...Enough. I will completely give up any expectations of you as of today."
Saying that, Perloche closed the supply closet and glared at me coldly.
"I thought perhaps I could make you repent. And when the time inevitably came to kill you for ruining the Empire... I thought I should feel appropriate guilt."
"...And so?"
"But, foolish as I am, even I can now tell that all those thoughts were wrong."
"...So, what do you want to say?"
"You are a monster, Frey."
Perloche denounced me with eyes full of hatred, then headed toward the cathedral exit, glancing back at me.
"...I will do whatever you ask from now on. So please, don't spread that recording to the world."
"Then will you help with the night work too?"
"...I would rather end my own life than do that."
Leaving those words behind, the Saintess stumbled out of the cathedral and began walking through the night streets.
"Just in case you don't know... I have eyes and ears everywhere, so don't try anything foolish."
I called out to her with a cold voice.
"...My network has spread enough that I already know Cania has joined your little group."
".....!!!"
Hearing that, Perloche stopped walking and trembled, then dropped her shoulders and disappeared into the darkness.
After watching her for a moment, I used my Information Search skill to bring up the system window before me and sighed.
[Perloche Astellade's Current Emotions: Anger/Hatred/Disgust/Disappointment/Sadness]
"...Thank goodness."
A few days ago, curious about Perloche's mental state as she kept trying to kill me, I had used the Information Search skill.
At that time, instead of hatred, there had been worry in her emotions, and instead of disgust, there had been guilt.
That's right. The Saintess, too kind for her own good, was still worried about me like Isollet.
That meant even while knowing I would become the villain who would ruin the Empire in the future, even when trying to kill me... she worried about me and felt guilt.
You might wonder what sense it makes to worry about someone you're trying to kill, but if you look at the doctrines of the Sun God Order, you can fully understand.
According to the Sun God Order's doctrine, when a person dies, their soul enters a spiritual state and receives judgment in the afterlife.
The judgment follows the simple principle that good people go to heaven and bad people go to hell, but... occasionally, when an extremely evil person appears, they fall into Purgatory, the hell of demons, and suffer eternally.
For reference, that doctrine was also in the 'game settings' from the prophetic book. So it's probably true.
Anyway, Perloche, who firmly believed in that doctrine, had apparently been worrying that I would fall into Purgatory because she knew my kind side from our childhood connection.
Truly, her character is remarkable.
'...To commit such harsh acts against such a kind child, I won't be able to sleep peacefully tonight.'
However, I had no choice but to forcibly eliminate her worry and guilt.
Because in the event that will happen soon, everyone who worries about me will suffer great harm.
That's why, with this golden opportunity today, I made Perloche detach herself from me through harsh treatment and the filthy language she despises so much.
Of course, Perloche had witnessed my such behavior many times in previous iterations... but since becoming the target of such behavior herself was a first, the shock must have been significant.
And to maintain the shock she received, I must continue to torment her and utter the filthy language she so despises, so she can never worry about me again.
Once the Saintess completely hates me... next I'll have to focus on attacking Isollet to make her despise me as well.
Of course, doing both simultaneously would be ideal... but I need some time to catch my breath too.
For reference, Cania seems to have started worrying about me somehow... but as a black mage, she's safe from the upcoming event. That alone is truly fortunate.
[Villainy Points 600pt acquired! (Kind people are scary when they're angry)]
"...Hoo."
Having finished my thoughts, I weakly pushed away the Villainy Point window that had appeared before me, then slumped down on the cathedral floor and began looking at the seat where Perloche had been sitting when I first entered.
"Why on earth did you create the world like this...?"
On that seat, the Sun God's emblem was drawn largely.
"...You could have just thrown fire pillars at the Demon King like in legends. It's not like throwing fire pillars would cost you anything."
After gazing at the Sun God's emblem for a while and venting my frustrations, I stood up with an expression of resignation.
"...Will I go to heaven when I die? Or hell?"
Eventually, murmuring the topic I'd been insanely curious about since long ago, I forcibly shook off the image of Perloche suffering because of me that lingered before my eyes, and slowly left the cathedral.
Tonight, I'll need to drink some alcohol.
.
'Young master, I was slightly late..."
"Ah... Cania... hello..."
Cania, who had been practicing handling black magic power in a secluded spot and returned to the dormitory late at night, opened her eyes wide at the scene before her.
"...What is all this, young master?"
"What do you mean... it's alcohol..."
There were alcohol bottles scattered all around the desk where Frey sat and its surroundings.
"...Would you like a drink too?"
When Frey looked at her with dazed eyes from among the bottles and spoke, Cania frowned slightly and asked.
"Surely you didn't drink all this alcohol by yourself?"
"...Yes."
"You can barely handle alcohol, how on earth did you manage such a large amount..."
"...Cania."
Then Frey gave an awkward smile to Cania, who had begun approaching the desk with a worried expression while clearing away the surrounding bottles, and answered.
"...I hold my liquor well."
"Excuse me?"
Unable to believe that Frey, who couldn't even handle half a bottle let alone a full one without getting tipsy, could hold his liquor well, Cania assumed it was just drunk rambling and tried to tidy up, but...
"My mental strength is high, you see. No matter how much I drink, I don't get drunk."
"...Ah."
When Frey eventually sighed and spoke in a pitiful voice, she sat across from him with an understanding expression.
"Then you've been acting drunk all this time?"
"...Yes. Acting like a drunk troublemaker was the fastest way to be hated."
Frey said that and began pouring the alcohol beside him and downing it.
"...Drinking like that will ruin your body."
"My body's already ruined as much as it can be. A little more won't matter."
"Still, for your health..."
"It's all futile. Might as well drink my fill before I die."
"........."
Cania, who had been watching such Frey with worried eyes and trying to stop him, grasped the meaning of his words spoken in a resigned voice and lowered her head, unable to continue speaking.
"...I'll drink with you."
"...What?"
Cania, who had been keeping her head down for a while, suddenly raised her head and declared she would join the drinking. Frey began looking at her with a surprised face.
"...You can hold your liquor?"
"...Yes."
"I didn't know that. Here, have a glass."
"...Understood."
And so Frey and Cania began exchanging glasses, and for a while, only the sound of sipping filled the dormitory.
.
"...So it's true that you hold your liquor well."
"Thank you for the compliment."
Before long, alcohol began to fill the room, but the two showed no signs of stopping their drinking.
This was because Frey had the highest mental strength stat in the world, and Cania had a constitution that absorbed most of alcohol's negative effects as black magic power.
"...Cania, can I complain about my situation for a moment?"
"...Yes, go ahead."
However, unlike Cania who completely absorbed the alcohol's effects, Frey, who was beginning to be somewhat affected by the alcohol, started speaking with slightly unfocused eyes compared to before.
"...I want to quit being the Hero."
"Then quit."
"...What?"
But when Cania responded to his complaint, Frey made a face as if the alcohol had suddenly worn off and raised his voice.
"I can't just quit...!"
"Why not?"
"If I quit being the Hero, the Demon King will destroy the world..."
"Not rule it, but destroy it?"
"Right, that damned woman... she's not ruling it, she's going to burn the whole world to ashes. Ha... what exactly does she want to accomplish..."
Frey began complaining about the Demon King for a while, and after watching him for a moment, Cania opened her mouth.
"Then, why did you say earlier that you wanted to quit being the Hero?"
"...Ah, that?"
Then Frey, who had been earnestly cursing the Demon King, opened a new bottle, poured it into his glass, and murmured.
"...Because it's hard."
"...I see."
Silence flowed between the two for a moment.
"...When I used to drink like this, Serena would hit my back."
"Yes, I remember that too."
Eventually, Frey broke the silence, drinking his alcohol and speaking.
"Even though I went around acting like such a scoundrel... Serena must have still been worried about me."
"Because she was your fiancée."
"...But, after what happened... she probably won't worry about me anymore, right?"
"...That's right."
Cania, who had unconsciously agreed, realized her mistake and looked at Frey's face.
"...Cania, how much do you know?"
"...What?"
And Frey began questioning her with sharp eyes.
"Your attitude toward me... your increasingly frequent outings... the rye bread mixed with butter... putting it all together, there's only one conclusion."
"......."
"You've already figured out a lot about me. I don't know exactly how you figured it out, though."
".........."
When Cania fell silent, Frey quietly poured alcohol into his glass and spoke.
"...I went to the training ground this morning, and there were traces of your black magic power remaining slightly. You tried hard to erase it... but it's such a familiar energy that I noticed immediately."
"...I see."
"You're training to prepare for the 'Commoner Dormitory Attack Incident' that will happen soon, right?"
When Cania quietly nodded at those words, Frey smiled and asked another question.
"Good, I figured as much. So... would you tell me exactly how much you know?"
After hesitating for a moment at Frey's question, Cania quietly opened her mouth.
"...Everything."
"...I see."
The two silently clinked their glasses in the air, and Cania downed her drink with an effort to maintain a calm expression.
"...Young master?"
However, Frey was looking at her vaguely while still holding his glass.
"...Cania, do you know what your disposition is according to my ability?"
"...What is it?"
Frey set his glass down on the desk and began speaking in a low voice.
"...Loyal Retainer."
"........."
Saying that, Frey stood up and reached out his hand to Cania.
"...Let's work well together from now on, Cania."
"...Same here."
Cania took that hand and stood up, answering with a sad smile.
After watching him for a moment, Cania tilted her head and asked.
"...But why did you suddenly stand up?"
"...I need you to infuse life force before sleeping."
"You're not drinking anymore?"
"...Even if I drink, I don't feel better, just depressed."
Saying that, Frey quietly took Cania's hand and headed toward the bed.
"...Then, I'll be counting on you again today."
Cania quietly began bringing his hand to her chest, but...
"...But now that I think about it."
"...Yes?"
"I realized you can give life force from my back. The front is uncomfortable because of the chest, after all."
"...I see."
Cania looked at Frey blankly for a moment, then nodded to show she understood.
"Then, I'll begin the infusion."
"...Yes."
Eventually, Frey's life force began to flow into Cania, as it always did.
"......."
Cania lowered her head with a slightly regretful expression, then discovered the cat doll at Frey's bedside and began to smile faintly.
It was the moment when her disposition, Loyal Retainer, revealed its light.
.
"Although Irina told me to ignore this..."
Meanwhile, at that same time... in the commoner dormitory,
"...I really need to help somehow."
Irina's childhood friend Arianne was swallowing dry saliva while looking down at magic scrolls she had purchased by investing a month's worth of her tuition.