221-215 Their choice

I couldn't hide my surprise that Lucy, who cared about me and treated me like a brother among the members of the War Maiden Holy Knight Squad, and Elizabeth, who taught me how to use the twin swords, suffered.

This is because I didn't expect these two to have turned into the demon race.

If the sanctuary circle were to be stretched over the entire training grounds, even these women might have disappeared.

If you think about it that way, it would have been difficult for Lumina-san and the others to maintain their current relationship.

I decided to ask Lumina-san about the two of them, patting myself on the back for that.

''Are the two of you human race supremacists, or are you related to the Duchy of Brange or the Illimassia Empire?''

'Elizabeth is certainly from Brange, but Lucy is from the St. Surreal Cooperative. And it's not supposed to be human supremacy. More importantly, why are the two of you suffering so much?

You know it's because of the magic I unleashed, but Lumina-san didn't blame her for it, but she confirmed the situation of the two of them.

''........It's because they are demonized, or close to it. Do you have any idea of the possibility that the two of you are spies for the Executive Branch?

'It can't be true!

This is the first time I've seen Lumina-san distraught, and I can see how much she trusts the girls.

Once I checked the battle situation of the masters, most of the members of the knights remained frozen, as if they hadn't been able to swallow the situation, and the masters hadn't been able to catch up with the knights who were struggling in pain.

The leader Brutus and the three knights managed to stay standing, but the other dozen or so knights had collapsed in pain, as had Lucy and Elizabeth-san.

'Lumina-san, there is a way to help them both. But to do that, I need assurances that you are not a spy. Let me swear that my pledge is not a spy. The penalty should be something easy to understand, such as a sleeper attack if you lie.

Okay.

I thought Lumina-san stared at me for a moment, but sometimes people can be transformed just by not seeing each other for a few years, and sometimes you can't even notice it when you're near them.

I didn't want to think about them betraying me either, but even so, the fact that they had turned into the demon race made it impossible for me to get carried away with my emotions.

I just hope that they are not on the side of the executive branch.

''Lucy, Elizabeth, you've heard about Luciel-kun, haven't you?　Swear you're not a spy. The penalty is a freeze on the Holy Knight's job.

What?　Lumina-san forced a very heavier penalty than the one I decided on.

This must be the trust I have in the two of them.

If you think about it, the number of people in the War Maiden Holy Knight Squad hasn't changed since we first met five years ago.

There has been no addition, nor has it decreased.

The unity must be strong.

''Chi, I swear.

I swear it.

In order not to betray her trust in Lumina-san, Elizabeth and Lucy immediately agreed to the pledge.

Then her body glowed for a moment, so the pledge was complete... but Lumina-san made a big mistake here.

''Lumina-san, even if you lied about that pledge, we can't know if you've been frozen because we can't appraise your status, and we can't judge.

What?

Well, that's okay.

I chuckle and add magic to both of them in the way I treated Lord Wisdom in Nerdal.

''You don't need to ... check?''

Lumina-san peeked at us worriedly, but they replied immediately, and aside from Lucy, Elizabeth-san always blushes when she lies, for some reason.

I noticed this in the exchange between Elizabeth-san and Saran-san, and I had actually learned from Saran-san that she usually blushes when she tries to tell a lie.

He didn't even bother to tell Lumina-san that she was spoiling the story, so he treated her with a laugh.

'I've already confirmed the trust between Lumina-san and the two of you. Besides, there's a guy over there suffering and trying to say that the two of you are in a situation where you're turning into a demon race, so please don't worry, I'll heal you both and then lock you up.

''Heck, it's useless. No matter how much of an S-grade healer you are, there's no way someone who's been injected with the demonic factor can turn back into a person.

As I was beginning to heal, Brutus heard me earlier and scoffed at the fact that healing was impossible.

He seemed to really know that these two were turning into the demon race.

So if we can tighten it up, we'll be able to get to the mastermind with a pretty good chance.

I was convinced of that.

'd*mn it, Luciel-kun, do your best to treat the two of them. I'll go and take out Master Brutus and Brutus.

As I was thinking about such a thought, Lumina-san trembled with anger at the words Brutus had said, and put on an atmosphere of cutting down at any moment.

''........Are you alright?''

'I think I'm a pretty strong guy despite how I look.

Then the treatment is over, so let's do it together. Also, if possible, I want information, so please limit it to half-kill.

'No, I'll take this place down by myself...?　What did you just say?

'The treatment is over, so let's half kill him with me.

Are you done?

Yes. You can both get up now, can't you?

When I told them that, they got up to check their bodies.

Lumina-san cares for their bodies as she shakes.

'Lucy, Elizabeth, are you okay?'

'Yes. There is no pain in my body, and the malaise of the last few months is gone like a lie.

I feel loosened up.

Good. Good. That's really good.

The two of them began to laugh and tell Lumina-san, who was about to cry, about their condition.

There, everyone else from the other War Maiden Holy Knights who had gathered around Catherine-san also gathered.

The knights of the Order remained stationary from earlier, and since they didn't seem to have any intention of capturing her already, they decided to leave her alone and focused their attention on Brutus.

He had a feeling that he would surely know the cause of the malaise that the two of them had been suffering from for several months now.

'Now that you two are back in person, I don't know what the plan was, but I'm sure this will allow me to take you guys down and get some information out of you.

Bah, that's ridiculous. You couldn't undo a curse even if more than ten high-ranking healers showed up. And you can't do this by yourself...

'Have you tried to break the spell?　

Brutus began to be violently distraught, but he wasn't the only one.

Yes. The knights who had been turned into demons who had been beaten up by their masters were also apparently shaken up by the possibility that they might be able to return to being people.

It was as if they no longer felt the will to fight.

I'm going to try to make a bad decision here.

'I'm already a sage, not a healer, so maybe that's why I was able to break the spell. However, I won't go out of my way to give a cure to those who oppose me. Now decide for yourself whether you will be killed as a demon race or return to your human form and wait for the Pope's judgment.

At that moment, the training ground shook with a gurgling sound.

An enemy attack in the middle of a persuasion?　I was about to send an icon tat to my mentors when I found the culprit who caused the earthquake.

'Dolan, Paula, what are you doing?'

No, I just thought if I'm going to fight demons, I'll take on the strongest golem I can find.

"Are demons not men?　If so, can I crush it?

Paula tilted her head to ask, but it was a ten-meter class golem that far surpassed the five-meter class golem she had made appear in the labyrinth in the past.

If she was stepped on by that thing, she would definitely die instantly.

Feeling that the seriousness of the air had gone somewhere, he decided to regain his composure and give an ultimatum to Brutus and the others.

''Decide if you want to be cured and return to humanity, or get stepped on by that golem and go to the other world. Let the Knights make their attitudes clear, too, whether they are going to join the executive branch or the Pope.

Then the golem would take a few steps forward.

With the ground shaking each time, they would have to make a decision.