CH 136

My assassination target was the Pope of Alamism.

I ran through several plans in my mind.

And I spoke up as I did that.

[I have two questions.] (Lugh)

[Do tell me. I will answer anything I can answer.] (Nevan)

[First, can I use any method I want to kill him? Or do I need to kill him in a way that hides the fact that he was assassinated, like I did for the prince?] (Lugh)

I murdered one of the princes of this country once.

When I did, I made it look like he died of illness, because the scandal of a prince being murdered itself would’ve been the trigger of a series of conflicts.

This time, the target was the Pope. So it wouldn’t be surprising if she imposed such a condition this time as well.

[Anything is fine, as long as you kill him.] (Nevan)

[Understood.] (Lugh)

Under those conditions, the best way to kill him was to snipe him at long range with a rifle.

If he was to act like the Pope, then he would have to show up before a large audience to hold speeches on several occasions.

And that would be my cue.

If I put all kinds of spells to use, I could achieve a maximum shooting range of 2 km.

In this world, the concept of long-range sniping didn’t exist.

This was a world where he may be wary of being targeted by arrows, but the archers would be stationed 200 m or 300 m away from him at most.

He would never expect something like a sniper located kilometers away. Therefore, he wouldn’t be on the lookout for sniper points, and there would be nothing to block my line of fire and protect him.

I should be able to easily shoot him in the head.

But the problem is that if the target is a demon, then I can’t kill him with a headshot.

In order to kill a demon, I had to destroy his crimson heart.

For that, I would need to hit him with【Demonkiller】to materialize his heart.

But the effective range of that spell was 20 m or 30 m at most.

Even if the role of casting【Demonkiller】on the demon and the role of sniping him were divided among us, the spellcaster would still be caught on the spot.

…And it was Dia who was in charge of casting【Demonkiller】. Dia was an exceptional mage, but her physical abilities were less than excellent, so it would be next-to-impossible for her to flee from the scene after finishing her task.

I had to think of something.

[What was your second question?] (Nevan)

[How did you find out that the Pope is a demon?] (Lugh)

[I did not expect you to ask me that.] (Nevan)

[I think it’s a legitimate question, though.] (Lugh)

[But knowing you, you wouldn’t believe a word I say, and go find all the evidence yourself, wouldn’t you?] (Nevan)

She really knew me well.

No matter what Nevan said, I would find the truth with my own eyes and ears.

[Whatever convinced the Romalungs that the Pope is a demon is likely to be useful information in itself, and it’ll make it easier for me to confirm that fact.] (Lugh)

[You make a good point. I will answer you: Lady Alam Karla asked me for help.] (Nevan)

If the shrine maiden who was connected to the Goddess said so, then the Pope was most likely as guilty as they come.

This wasn’t one of those common frame-ups, but a real call for help.

[…How did you get her SOS without the Pope finding out?] (Lugh)

[I didn’t meet her as the daughter of one of the four major dukes. I met her as the body double of Princess Farina. Royalty from Alamist nations regularly come and visit Lady Alam Karla to hear her oracles.] (Nevan)

Nevan was the daughter of Romalung, and at the same time, the body double of Farina, Princess of the Alvanian Kingdom.

[That does make sense, but if the Pope found out that Alam Karla was aware of his true identity, he would kill her. She probably considered that herself. It seems odd to me that she would rely on you for help in such a situation.] (Lugh)

[It didn’t happen overnight, you know? I had a feeling that shrine maiden would be useful, so I spent years currying favor with her. And the fact that Lugh Tuatha Dé, the man who defeated three demons, was from my country also played a crucial part in it. …It seems that Alam Karla believes that you will be able to save her.] (Nevan)

That’s shrewd.

And good news too.

Not only did Alam Karla know who the Pope truly was, but she was also on our side. As long as she hadn’t fallen into the hands of the demon, there were many ways to exploit this.

I wasn’t about to let him label me as a heretic so easily.

…Although, if the demon wanted to, he could turn Alam Karla into a puppet protected by the blessings of God.

[This is good intel. I think I’ll try to meet the Pope while also making the right preparations to protect her. I’ve faced demons more than once. No matter how well he may conceal himself, I’ll know he’s a demon when I meet him. …If possible, I’d like to meet him as Lugh Tuatha Dé, but that’d be complicated.] (Lugh)

All the circumstantial evidence was there, but I was still not fully convinced. That’s why I wanted to see the Pope with my very own eyes.

[No, not at all. You’ve defeated another demon, haven’t you? Even excluding the first one the Hero defeated, counting the beetle and the lion, you’ve killed three of them in a row. Which is why the Pope has invited you to the Holy Land of Alamism to honor you in a magnificent way. It seems he was generous enough to invite your entire class, as well as the Student Council President, to the Holy Land.] (Nevan)

“How convenient.” …As if I’d ever think that.

[That’s a trap, no matter how you cut it. He even had the cautiousness of taking my classmates hostages.] (Lugh)

[Given the timing he picked to call you over, that must be it. Isn’t that interesting, though? A battle of wits between a demon and a human.] (Nevan)

This certainly was interesting.

And the key to this battle of deception was, without a doubt, Alam Karla.

If the Pope ever labeled me as an enemy of God, it would no longer change anything whether Alam Karla announced that I was innocent or declared that the Pope was a demon.

On the other hand, if I failed to do something before Alam Karla fell under the enemy’s control, he would have me socially destroyed by means of her oracles.

When I was back in my room, I told Dia and Tarte a summary of what happened.

Since I had decided to take on that request, the cooperation of my assistants would be essential.

[Yikes…! For a demon to be a Pope, this must be the end of the world.] (Dia)

[I can’t believe that a demon has taken the form of the person closest to God.] (Tarte)

[You already know a case like that, don’t you? The snake demon Mina has infiltrated the ranks of nobility. So it’s not surprising that another of her kin has made his way into the Church.] (Lugh)

Demons were more than just powerful monsters.

That’s why they were such a pain.

[But what are we going to do, then? The odds are against us. Based on what you said, if Alam Karla falls into the enemy’s hands, then there’ll be nothing we can do.] (Dia)

[That’s why the first thing I’ll do is go and meet her. Not even the enemy should be able to anticipate me arriving by air. I’ll be on my way right after class.] (Lugh)

[This is no time to go to class!] (Dia)

There was no need to tell me twice.

This was a race against time, so obviously, I had to leave now, and not after class.

[Under normal circumstances, yeah. But we’ve got someone in our classroom with ties to the demons. If that someone does something unusual like skipping class even though we’ve all just returned to the academy, then he could be our lead to that demon disguised as a Pope.] (Lugh)

[You mean… Naoise-san, don’t you? But… I thought the demons were supposed to be at odds with each other.] (Tarte)

[Ever since the earth dragon demon appeared, Mina has been acting suspiciously. She can’t be trusted, at least not now.] (Lugh)

I could somewhat understand what Mina was thinking.

She said that she loved human society and culture, and that she wanted to eliminate the other demons, who were destroying that society.

That wasn’t a lie.

Yet at the same time, everything else indicated that she wanted to obtain the power of the Demon King. And the condition for that was to create at least three Fruits of Life made with no less than 1,000 human souls each.

Mina knew that if she tried to make them herself, she would become one of my targets.

Therefore, she chose to let the other demons produce the Fruits of Life so she could steal them afterwards.

However, out of the eight demons, there were now only four of them left, Mina included.

As far as she was concerned, only one Fruit of Life being produced after everything that happened was something she never expected. At this point, she wouldn’t tolerate a further decrease in the number of demons.

[So that’s how it is. But what will you do when you meet Alam Karla?] (Dia)

[I’ll see for myself whether she’s already under the control of the Pope or not. If she already is, then I won’t go to the Holy Land since I’ll know it’s a trap. Then I’ll change my name, and leave the country.] (Lugh)

That was how wide the influence of Alamism was.

Imagine. Not only the aristocracy and the Church, but even the entire nation would be after me. People on the streets would call me a devil and throw stones at me.

Living as Lugh Tuatha Dé would become impossible.

I would have no choice but to go to a faraway land where Alamism had no influence, or change my name and my face, and look for a chance to clear my name.

[If that happens, I’ll run away with you, then.] (Dia)

[So will I!] (Tarte)

[Do you realize that you would end up in an even more precarious situation than criminals?] (Lugh)

[I do. But I hate the idea of being separated from you even more, Lugh.] (Dia)

[And I will remain your personal attendant, Lugh-sama!] (Tarte)

Their earnest affection for me was so dazzling, and it warmed my heart at the same time.

[Thanks. I’m glad to hear that. Please stay with me when that time comes, then. I’d feel lonely without you.] (Lugh)

[Hee hee! Count on me.] (Dia)

[I will never leave your side, Lugh-sama.] (Tarte)

I was really happy to be united with these girls.

We smiled, then I cleared my throat in embarrassment.

Dia and Tarte did the same, and we tried to get back to our main topic.

[So, what will you do if Alam Karla hasn’t fallen to the dark side?] (Dia)

[I’ll kidnap her and hide her. As long as I’ve got a hold of her, anything the Pope may declare will be of no concern at all. Alam Karla is the shrine maiden chosen by the Goddess, but the title of Pope only comes from a job position.] (Lugh)

I smirked.

Once I had Alam Karla within my grasp, I would be the one with a major advantage. I could have her declare that the Pope was a demon.

[…U-Umm… Does this mean that… you will head to the Holy Land, break into the most heavily guarded cathedral in the world, and escape with one person in your arms? And all this without letting anyone identify you?] (Tarte)

[Wow…! Can you really pull this off?] (Dia)

[I will. And I have to. And after that, there’ll be that stupidly hard mission of assassinating the Pope-impersonating demon left. If I can’t even pull off an abduction, then I may as well forget about killing him.] (Lugh)

This was a tough job, but I’d still do it.

First, I would use my communication network to secure a safehouse, as well as supplies, to hide Alam Karla in the Holy Land, while also preparing myself for the trip.

This was a race against time.

But I’d do what I had to do as fast as I could.

This was the first typical assassination job I had gotten in a while.

And I intended to do it perfectly.