Volume 4 - CH interlude

Interlude

The time before going to sleep──

Lumachina’s room.

Rem was inspecting her equipment on top of the bed that she was given.

Storing her Summoned Beast crystals in her pouch, she put her knife and iron gauntlets near her pillow.

「…………」

「Rem, thank you.」

「What is it, Lumachina? Saying that so suddenly.」

「Thanks to all of you, I was able to come here.」

「……If you are going to give your thanks, give it to Diablo. If possible, please have the reward be in gold coins.」

「Oh, that’s right.」

「……Well, that’s only once the problem has been safely calmed down.」

A presence was felt outside of the door.

Rem quickly put on her knife and iron gauntlets.

The Head of the Holy Knights Baduta had paid a visit.

He held the candlestick of an oil lamp in his hand. Maybe because it was using vegetable oil, it had a faint flowery smell.

The size of the room, from end to end, was about ten steps big. The large bed for Lumachina and the small bed for Rem were there.

There was a chic, round table and two chairs.

There was a window, but it was closed, and hidden with a velvet curtain.

Rem was on top of her bed.

She stealthily summoned her 《Shadow Snake》, and had it hide in the bed’s shadow.

It consumed MP, but the thing that needed to be avoided when going against a high level Warrior-type was the practitioner being defeated before making a summon.

──If I leave it like this, I should be able to take the first move even if something were to happen.

Even if she couldn’t win, Diablo would notice if a disturbance were created. He would come for sure.

Lumachina sat in a chair.

「Would you like to have a seat?」

She offered Baduta the other seat.

「Thank you very much.」

Placing the candlestick on the table, he slowly sat down.

First, Baduta lowered his head.

「I apologise for coming by so late.」

「I do not mind. Having provided us with meals, clothes, and bedrooms, you have really helped us. Thank you.」

「I am happy if I were of assistance.」

「I have something I must talk to you about.」

「Yes. Since you had mentioned it before, I have come to inquire about it. I do believe that it would be best for outsiders to leave though……?」

Baduta turned a cold gaze at Rem.

Lumachina controlled him with one hand.

「Rem can be trusted. Of course, the others as well.」

「I do trust them as they had brought Lumachina-sama as far as the former Demon King territory but……I understand. Well then……Did something happen? For your ladyship, the High Chief Priest, to not have a Holy Knight escort, wear commoner’s clothes, and come to a region such as this without any advance notice, what could have happened?」

「That is……」

Lumachina had a pensive look on her face.

After thinking for a while, she opened her mouth.

「Baduta, please answer the question I asked earlier. What is the Holy Knight Unit? Was it approved by someone?」

「I am terribly sorry. It is something that I had done on my own.」

「Such a thing isn’t allowed though?」

「I shall humbly accept any punishment. However, this is a dangerous land. A Priest cannot even walk around town alone. The danger has even reached their families.」

「Is that true?」

「Seeing as how Priests are able to use God’s miracles, cases where people that try to force them to assist in exploring dungeons and where bandits that aim for their possessions appear more frequently than Demonic Beasts on the eastern side.」

Rem thought about things.

──This man, is he unexpectedly someone that we can trust?

Her impression of him has changed quite a bit from when they first met him.

Because he was the boss of a bandit-like group, her impression of him was considerably bad. Even though they had gone out of their way to come out this far, she was disappointed with him.

However, after hearing about the circumstances, it was a story that anyone would agree with.

The demand for donations was because of the shortage of Priests and the unusual Feudal Lord. Even the tyranny of the Holy Knight Unit, it was because of this place being a dangerous region. The violence against the common people wasn’t good, but it was probably better than the Priests being attacked by bad people and Demonic Beasts.

It seemed that Lumachina also trusted Baduta.

She began to talk.

「Just how much do you know of the current state of the Royal Capital’s Church?」

「Well now? I was dispatched to the former Demon King territory three years ago. At that time, well, it was high-handedly gathering donations but……that was pretty much all that had bothered me.」

「What about how they were unjustly demanding large sums of donations?」

「What do you mean by that?」

「Doing unnecessary exorcisms by saying things like “this estate is haunted”, and bestowing charms against evil spirits only to demand large donations──I had heard of such rumors. In addition to that, there were things like accepting bribes from merchants.」

「That is outrageous!」

Baduta folded his arms.

「Also, there were rumors that a portion of the Holy Knights would make false accusations of “devil worshippers” and would kill people while feigning that it was to purify them……」

「Absurd! That must be a fabrication, correct!?」

「It would be nice if it were but……」

「At the very least, such deviants weren’t among the Holy Knights when I was in the Royal Capital!」

Rem felt like she would spontaneously speak up. How she was falsely accused by the Holy Knight Sadraa and was almost killed happened only half a month ago.

The injury on her right arm became hot.

「………………」

However, what would happen if she were to say “I was suspected of being a devil worshipper and almost killed” even though she had no proof? Moreover, that Holy Knight Sadraa was erased during the Demon King revival turmoil.

He was killed by the rampaging Demon King Krebskrum, and even his corpse didn’t remain due to Diablo’s maximum magic.

Lumachina opened her lips.

「It is not like all of the Holy Knights are heavy with faith……It is unfortunate, but that is the truth. There was someone that would do anything for the sake of money.」

「Is that for certain?」

「……I was……almost killed by a Holy Knight. Head Cardinal Official Bishos had, handed over money and made that order, is what I was told.」

「Wh, wh, what was that!? Is that true!?」

Baduta half rose to his feet.

「Would I lie about that……?」

「No! Absolutely not! Ahh, how could this be……」

Baduta’s face turned red from anger, and veins rose on his forehead. His stern shoulders and gripped fists trembled.

「What absurd foolishness! So the current Cardinal Institution has been corrupted that far!」

「It is quite sad.」

「How accursed!」

His anger did not look like it was an act.

Rem did not completely trust Baduta. She was still stuck on the matter with the Holy Knight Unit.

──But, at the very least, it doesn’t seem like he is connected with the Cardinal Institution.

If he had intended on aiming for Lumachina’s life, there should not have been any need for him to go out of his way to do such an act.

Lumachina continued talking.

「In order to escape from the danger of assassination……And then, in order to obtain the strength to reform the Church, I came all the way out to Zircon Tower to rely on you.」

「So that is how it was.」

「I do believe that I am saying something unreasonable though.」

「No, I am grateful for you to have that much trust in me. Please have peace of mind! Whether they are the Cardinal Institute or the Holy Knights, I shall not allow them to lay a hand on you, Lumachina-sama!」

「……Thank you.」

She breathed a sigh with an expression of relief.

Going “come to think of it”, she asked a question.

「There is something called Marked Death Disease, correct? It is said that bruises that look like ×s surface on the body.」

「Yes. Once nine bruises surface, their lives are forfeit, or something. It is a dreadful illness.」

「An illness? Do you also believe that……?」

Lumachina made a puzzled face.

Baduta tilted his head.

「What might you mean by that?」

「I mean, isn’t that not an illness, but a curse.」

A chill ran up Rem’s spine.

Her skin got goosebumps, and the fur on her tail and her hair stood on end.

──A curse!?

Baduta held down his forehead.

「That cannot be……Are you sure that is not some sort of misunderstanding?」

「No, I heard Kami-sama’s voice. That was not some illness. There was also the smell of water. Speaking of the water in this town, there is only the lake.」

「……That is true.」

「And then, I saw a darkness submerged deep underground. I would dare say that there should be something underneath the ground.」

「……I see. That much.」

「Baduta, a large-scale sorcery that threatens the lives of the people of this town is being performed. It must be dealt with quickly.」

Rem kicked the bed and jumped at her.

「Why, would you say that! Were you not told by Diablo!?」

「In that case, please call Diablo-sama’s group here.」

Going *Eh!?*, Baduta was surprised.

「For what reason might you have for that?」

「From here on, we shall all go to the place where patients of the Marked Death Disease are. They are lined up in front of the tent even at night, correct? If it is to cure a great number of people, we will surely receive Kami-sama’s voice all the more. If it is such a strong sorcery, we will immediately arrive at its source.」

「Th, that can’t be!」

「Are you saying that it shouldn’t be possible? Baduta, the one in front of you is……the High Chief Priest, you know.」

「Uugh……」

「What is wrong, would it be inconvenient to call him here? No, how about we go to him. Rem, make preparations for the outing.」

「Fufu……You can do it when you need to, Lumachina. As expected of you.」

Rem raised her tension. She extended her fingers to the pouch her crystals were stored in.

Baduta breathed a sigh.

「I see, so you were able to go that far……This was more than I expected.」

He glared at her.

*Kurari* Rem’s field of view slanted.

──What was that!?

An intense drowsiness assailed her.

*Gakuri* She pressed her hands against the floor.

Lumachina also collapsed behind her.

With her concentration interrupted, the 《Shadow Snake》 would be called off. The crystal powered off and fell to the ground.

──What is the meaning of this!? I need to hurry, and call the next Summoned Beast!

She took a crystal in her hand, but she couldn’t exhibit the concentration to bring the Summoned Beast about.

What had happened?

Rem had 《Chantless》 used on her in the fight against Holy Knight Sadraa, and lost. That is why, she received instruction from Diablo during the journey here, and learned the countermeasure for that.

Even though she couldn’t see the flow of magical power, she practiced so that she was able to sense the activation of magic despite that.

「E, even though……you, shouldn’t have……done anything……」

「I have not done anything. I did use a just a bit of sleeping drugs though.」

The candlestick that was on top of the table.

It seemed that there was a contrivance placed in the oil lamp oil. There was probably a trick done so that it wouldn’t work on himself.

So his strange excuses were to buy time! All to make them powerless without causing an uproar……

「Kuh……」

──How frustrating.

Baduta approached them.

He stood in front of Lumachina, who had already lost consciousness. He stepped on her head with his leather boots.

「Damned little girl!」

「St, stop……」

Rem groaned. Extending her hand, she grabbed Baduta’s ankle. However, she wasn’t able to do anything more than that.

Baduta looked down at her.

「I will not kill you here. You all have strong magical power, and have a sense of justice. You are truly promising.」

「Ugh……」

What did he mean by promising?

Unable to ask him about it, Rem fell asleep.