Volume 5 - CH 2.2

The same night she met Iris and the others, Ilmina Heilig had a meeting with her father, Pope Liebert Heilig.

“My God, Princess Iris is here?”

“Yes. Although with her fiancee…”

At the mention of Ilmina’s words, Liebert, who was dressed in white formal wear, opened his eyes.

He had not received any information that Iris, the princess of a neighboring country, had a fiancee.

“Who’s the fiancee? Was it a noble from the Kingdom of Perdis? Or perhaps someone from the empire?”

At Liebert’s words, Ilmina shook her head in denial.

“Not exactly…does dear father know adventurer Haruto?”

Liebert nodded “Yea” at the name.

He knew of him because he had attended the meeting of kings of various countries held when Haruto was promoted to EX rank.

“Of course.”

“Oh, I see.”

Liebert recalled the footage shown to him at the meeting.

His jet-black appearance, laying waste to tens of thousands of enemies, was worthy of being called the ‘Demon King’, as his name implies.

Although I thought it dangerous to give him the unprecedented EX rank because of his mighty power, Dillan Arclaidh Perdis, King of the Kingdom of Perdis, approved his promotion.

“…Wait, is that person Princess Iris’…?”

“Yes.”

Ilmina nodded silently.

Liebert, upon receiving this information, considered the possibility that the King of Perdis might have adopted Haruto as a military force for his country.

The fact that he could annihilate an entire army by himself in a time of war would have a great impact if he were to join forces with a single country.

“Have you met Master Haruto, Ilmina?”

“Yeah, briefly.”

“So, can I ask you your opinion, Ilmina? Now that you’ve spoken with him.”

“Okay.”

Ilmina continued.

“Well…from what I saw he didn’t look anything special, but I could tell he holds enormous power within him. Iris has a good eye for people. The fact that Iris likes him means that she can trust him with her whole heart. He doesn’t seem like a bad person to me…but rather, someone desperately trying to live.”

If someone interfered with his beliefs, he would not hesitate to kill them. Ilmina intuitively sensed that kind of desperation to live.

“I see.”

Liebert nodded at his daughter’s words.

Ilmina is a good judge of character, and if she says so, it must be true.

“Do you think that if war breaks out between the Kingdom of Perdis and other countries, Master Haruto will participate?”

“I don’t know. But if someone he cares about is involved, he would probably join in. I don’t know which side he would be on, but I think he might take on all the countries they’re at war with…”

Hearing this, Liebert could only hope that there would be no war in the future.

Then he changed the subject.

“Well, was it just the two of them?”

“No. Asha, Iris’s attendant was also there. Along with his fiancee, an adventurer named Finne, and his other fiancees, Ephyr and Suzuno.”

When Ilmina mentioned the names of everyone present, Liebert nodded his head curiously.

“I would like to meet and have a chat with them if possible.”

“I’ll tell them that the next time I see them.”

“Good. Let them know they’re free to come by anytime.”

“I will.”

Then came a knock on the door.

“Your Holiness, it’s Alben Mardas. I’m here to make a report.”

“Come in.”

“Excuse me.”

A man in his early forties entered the room. He was Cardinal Alben Mardas.

“Oh, you are here too, Lady Ilmina.”

“Yes. We’re just having a little chat.”

“I see. In that case, sorry for the interruption.”

“Oh, not at all. You’re here to make a report, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“What’s this about?”

Liebert asked, and Alben opened his mouth with a serious look on his face.

“Right. We have been experiencing a number of disappearances recently.”

At these words, Ilmina and Liebert’s faces grew tense.

It was a problem that had been plaguing them for some time now.

“Please continue.”

Liebert urged Alben to continue.

“Sure. According to the information we have received, there is a group of people who are collecting sacrifices to perform a demon-summoning ritual.”

“Say what? A demon!”

Ilmina was so surprised that she screamed out loud.

She wasn’t the only one. Liebert was equally surprised.

——Demons.

A spiritual life form that exists in hell. Demons have overwhelming power, but cannot exist in this world because they do not have a physical body.

However, they can be summoned——made manifest in this world by offering a sacrificial body.

It is also said that by offering a different price than the price of the summoning, the demon can grant wishes.

There are different ranks of demons, the highest being the kings and the dukes. Next are the high-ranking demons: counts, viscounts, and barons. Below these are the lower demons.

Even a high-ranking demon is as powerful as an army, but the power of the highest-ranking demon is so great that if a duke-class demon were to appear, it is said that they could level a country.

And they are trying to summon such a vicious and powerful demon.

Liebert asked Alben calmly.

“Cardinal Alben. Do we know anything else about this group?”

“No, I’m afraid not…”

Alben shook his head apologetically, but continued with “but”.

“I have a feeling they’re not far from performing the summoning.”

“Then, we must deal with this as soon as possible——”

Ilmina said in a panicked tone, but Liebert tolerated it.

“Ilmina. calm down. We’re going to figure it out.”

“Ye, yes…I’m sorry, I lost my composure for a bit.”

Liebert knew that she was speaking out of concern for the people.

“Cardinal Alben. I want the captain of the Order of the Holy Knights here.”

“Understood. Please wait a moment.”

Alben left the room.

Ilmina asked Liebert.

“Why are you asking for the captain of the Order of the Holy Knights?”

“I want to discuss how to deal with the situation. I am sure he will come up with some kind of plan.”

After a while, there was a knock on the door.

“It’s Alben. I have brought Captain Gawain Hazark of the Holy Knights.”

“Please come in.”

Alben opened the door and walked in. A figure of at least 180 centimeters tall, dressed in white and silver armor, stood behind him.

He had short platinum blond hair and eyes as blue as the sky. He’s a beautiful young man in his early twenties with well-proportioned eyes and nose.

He is Gawain Hazark, Captain of the Holy Knights of the Holy Land of Belifaire. The strongest Holy Knight of the Holy State of Belifaire, and his name is widely known throughout the world.

When Gawain came close to Liebert, he kneeled down and bowed.

“I, Gawain Hazark, have come before your summons.”

“I’m glad you came.”

“Yes sir. So, Your Holiness, what’s the matter?”

Gawain looked up.

Liebert told Gawain what Alben had told him earlier.

“——So, that’s what we’re discussing.”

Gawain nodded as he listened.

“I see. Then, shall we mobilize the Knights and search everywhere?”

Liebert shook his head and opened his mouth

“No, that would cause unrest among the people. I would like for us to handle this as quietly as possible.”

Ilmina then asserted as she followed up Liebert’s words.

“Is that possible…?”

“Sure, I mean, we’ll have to come up with some kind of measures of course——”

And so, after a long deliberation, they decided on…

“So, the Knights are to blend in with the general public and gather information about this organization. I ask that all information be passed on to me. Cardinal Alben, too, please continue to gather more information.”

Gawain and Alben nodded at Liebert’s statement.

However, Ilmina had a bad feeling about this matter.

But all she could do was heal people with holy magic and pray. She had no choice but to leave everything else to others.

She went to the chapel of the cathedral, got down on both knees in front of the statue of the goddess, and prayed.

——May nothing bad come out of this.

～

In a certain basement in the capital of the Holy State of Belifaire.

Around a round table set up in the center of the room, five people wearing black hoods were seated.

In the center of the round table, a candle was lit, illuminating the dark room.

Amidst the silence, one of them opened his mouth.

“How are the preparations coming?”

It was a very low, middle-aged man’s voice.

“Everything is going accordingly. Preparations for the demon summoning are almost in their final phases. All that’s left is the sacrifice required for the ritual.”

“The sacrifice, huh…?”

The number of people to be sacrificed for summoning a demon can be any number of people. But the better the quality, the higher the rank of the demon to be summoned.

The best sacrifices were those who were compatible with demons, those who possessed hatred or strong malice, and conversely, those who had pure and noble souls.

“We can’t afford any mishap with the preparations.”

“And the sacrifice…”

“Yeah, let’s use the saint. Then we can summon the highest-ranking demon. Killing her might cause problems, so we will use only her blood, and we can prepare other sacrifices.”

Everyone nodded.

“…In that case, I will secure the saint myself.”

“Are you up to it?”

The saint has a lot of personal security.

It would be close to impossible to snatch her from under their noses, yet the man nodded confidently.

“The saint is always in the cathedral. I can easily abduct her from there.”

And then the man shared his plan.

“——that’s the plan, so, what do y’all think?”

“I see. Let’s go with that.”

Hearing the explanation, the four men nodded their heads. They thought it had a decent chance of success.

“And if you fail?”

“I will be executed for sure. But rest assured anything related to the organization will die with me.”

“Needless to say.”

“Then, we’ll carry out the plan on the next full moon. Any questions?”

Totally Silent.

The man took the silence as an affirmation.

“Dismissed. Glory be upon us!”

““““——Glory be upon us!””””

Then they all smiled wickedly, as if possessed by something.