Evil, At Last (2)

“Still, just seeing Rubina and leaving, the Saint and Hero must be quite disappointed.”

At James’s words, Yona silently shook her head.

Before departing today, Yona had visited the orphanage and met Rubina.

Rubina, wearing clothes much cleaner and neater than what Yona had dressed her in, was holding a white cloth teddy bear in her arms.

Yona silently looked at Rubina like that, then knelt down and hugged her tightly.

The warmth that snuggled into her chest, that warmth was now leaving her embrace.

Although her heart was full of regret, Yona knew.

That it was better for Rubina to stay here.

And that this place could give Rubina much more than Yona could.

Perhaps knowing Yona’s feelings, Rubina also didn’t say anything.

She just hugged Yona tightly.

The shoulder area of Yona’s nun’s habit became damp.

“I’m going now, Rubina. Listen well to your teachers and friends.”

Rubina nodded but didn’t follow Yona out.

With tears filling those black eyes, she just waved at Yona.

Yona also had Rubina in her thoughts with every step.

Taking one step and looking back, Rubina was there.

Taking another step and looking back, Rubina was still there.

“Should we just take her with us?”

For a moment, Yona almost nodded at Alec’s words.

But knowing that shouldn’t be done, Yona bit her lip and shook her head.

Better environment, better teachers, better friends, better meals, better clothes, better place to sleep…

Yona knows how much these things affect a child.

People of this era might not know, but at least Yona knows well.

As such, she knows that taking Rubina with them is out of the question.

“…Let’s go.”

Yona uttered an urging that wasn’t directed at anyone in particular and moved her feet.

With every step her feet touched, she could see Rubina.

Rubina quietly watching from behind.

Suppressing the urge to turn back and hug her right away, Yona hurriedly moved her feet.

She will come back.

She will come back, even if as an older brother instead of an older sister.

So it’s not a farewell.

It’s just being apart for a while.

That’s all it is.

As they crossed the main building where various beastkin and humans were busily coming and going, no one paid attention to the four adventurers.

As if there was nothing particularly strange about them, they received no attention as they headed towards a side gate far from the main entrance of the headquarters.

There were no guards specifically guarding the side gate, and the gate just big enough for two people to pass through opened with a soft sound as the handle was turned.

Alec went out first, followed by Kairoc.

Then Yona went out, and James was the last.

However, James stayed after taking one step out, while the others turned towards James.

“Well then, this is where we part. Miss Yona, stop by on your way back to Evian. I’ll treat you well.”

James smiled brightly through his protruding molars.

“Why don’t you tell me to stop by too?”

“You’ll stop by even without me telling you, won’t you?”

Watching this, Yona felt somewhat regretful.

Although partings were always a part of life, this kind of parting where they weren’t dying but just had different destinations was a first.

Perhaps because of that, this moment of parting was truly full of regret.

There were plenty of fellow adventurers who had died or couldn’t return, never to be met again.

It was common for someone you drank with yesterday to be gone by this evening, but this kind of parting felt unfamiliar.

The day Yona, Alec, and Kairoc head towards the mage community.

However, James was planning to return to his village on the way to Evian via Capatia Port, and thus was planning to stay at the headquarters until Ceres’s business was finished.

“Miss Yona.”

Yona, who had been looking up at the main building, turned to look at James as he suddenly called her.

Amidst the faint sound of the choir singing in the distance, James asked Yona after a moment of hesitation.

“…Ah, we’re not close enough to care about such things. If adventurers like us sit in such a place, we’d just feel out of place. They’ll manage well on their own, so what’s the point of attending the ordination ceremony? We’ll go our way, and they’ll go theirs.”

Yona scratched her head vigorously.

Still, she did want to go see it because they were classmates.

But she worried that it might lower Bigrin’s reputation if she did.

It’s a place where every word the priests say is tinged with dismissal towards healers.

In such a place, at Bigrin’s saint ordination ceremony, if Yona, a healer and adventurer, attended, what would people around whisper?

She didn’t want to leave even a single stain on what should be a glorious occasion.

That was Yona’s true feeling.

“Anyway, so, in conclusion—”

*

‘She didn’t come…’

I thought she would come.

Bigrin scanned the opposite audience seats intently from her waiting seat.

The noticeable ones were scattered people with black hair.

And amidst many ordinary people filling the seats, Yona’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

She didn’t think she would come, but still, she had secretly hoped a little.

Although their paths diverged after leaving the orphanage and going through the day of judgment, Bigrin still had a strange feeling towards Yona remaining in her heart.

Crying alone in the massacred village, even after being taken into the orphanage, she was afraid of getting close to people.

Fearing that if she got close to those people, became friends with them, gave them her heart — would there come a moment when she would lose them again? With such a vague fear, Bigrin couldn’t easily become close to anyone.

In contrast, that girl named Yona, who was the same age as Bigrin and newly arrived, unlike Bigrin, quickly became friends and close with everyone.

As if not afraid of losing, she quickly smiled and became friends with anyone she met, growing close, and eventually became close enough to open her heart even to the orphanage teachers.

She would say nonsense like it was her secret that she was originally a man, or that she came from another world so she would definitely return, but despite that, people treated Yona not as a strange woman but just as a unique child, or an individual with personality, or an interesting child.

Bigrin, who couldn’t help but envy Yona’s friendliness, couldn’t forget when the day of judgment came.

Healers are clergy too. Well, that’s good. I hate being cooped up in a cathedral. I’m going to make money as an adventurer and quickly return to being a man. And I’ll find a way to return to being a man while traveling around as an adventurer.

Bigrin couldn’t forget the sight of Yona laughing like a goblin, “Ehehehe.”

Perhaps it was from then.

In the end, even after this gap between healer and priest was created, Bigrin couldn’t erase her jealousy towards Yona.

That it would continue to be like this in the future.

But those feelings had now greatly subsided, and at this moment when Bigrin was becoming a saint.

At least Bigrin thought that maybe, just maybe, Yona might come.

If she came.

If Yona really came.

If she did that, and just said one word of congratulations.

Bigrin wanted to hug her with a sincere smile.

Due to the height difference, and really just a tiny bit, the difference in chest size as small as an eye booger, it would end up with her being deeply embraced, but nevertheless, Bigrin wanted to hug Yona tightly.

She wanted to say that she didn’t hate her, that she was just jealous because of her own inadequacies.

‘…It would have been nice if she had come.’

But, she didn’t come.

It’s a lie to say that she didn’t think she would come, but still secretly hoped a little.

Bigrin had really hoped that Yona would come.

That was her true feeling.

“— Thus, in this place, we officially declare Ludvik, a gold-rank adventurer born in Marlen, as the Hero, and Bigrin, a priest from the Evian parish, as the Saint, to be the executors of the Celestial God’s divine punishment.”

Pope Arkzel IV’s majestic voice echoed through the auditorium.

His voice, full of divinity, was clearly heard by everyone even without speaking forcefully.

Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap…!

Instead of the performance of a splendid orchestra, the clear hymn of the choir resounded,

Instead of thunderous cheers, small applause filled the hall.

“Well, well, congratulations. Hero, and Saint.”

As soon as Ludvik and Bigrin entered the Pope’s office after the ordination ceremony was over, the first to greet them was Ceres.

The Pope was sitting on the sofa with his unchanging benevolent smile, and Ceres, who had been sitting, stood up abruptly and approached Ludvik and Bigrin with open arms.

“Now I can freely call you Hero and Saint, right?”

The Pope nodded with a smile, and Ceres smiled brightly.

“You must have had a hard time with the ordination ceremony, Hero. And Saint.”

Ceres approached and lightly hugged Ludvik and Bigrin alternately.

Then she guided them to the sofa, and as soon as they sat down, she personally prepared tea.

While placing the teacups, Ceres looked at Ludvik and Bigrin alternately with a smile, then looked back at the Pope.

“Now it’s time to prepare for the hero’s journey, isn’t it?”

The hero’s journey.

The journey of a hero who travels the world in the capacity of a hero, repelling traces of demons, and preparing for the unprecedented disaster that the Celestial God had directly descended to warn about.

“I’m truly sorry to rush you right after the ordination has just ended, Hero.”

“Please speak comfortably, Your Holiness.”

“I could do that. I, who have promised to serve the Celestial God for life. I have kept that promise until now, so I cannot treat the Hero, who is the Celestial God’s agent, carelessly.”

“Is that so.”

What could be said if he himself says so?

Ludvik closed his mouth without saying anything more.

“Your Holiness, now it’s time for you to speak.”

“…I suppose I should.”

Arkzel IV sighed deeply.

Then he silently clapped twice, and the priests waiting around to serve all bowed their heads in unison and slowly left the office.

With everyone gone, now only four people remained in the office.

In there, Arkzel IV opened his mouth.

“…The Celestial God does not respond to any prayers. Probably, the last time He descended… Saint Bigrin, it was that time when He descended before you.”

The Celestial God who descended after coming out of the catacomb and designated Bigrin as the Saint.

The Celestial God who has given no response since then.

“Then… the first hero’s journey…”

Bigrin had a place that came to mind first.

Evian.

The catacomb in Evian.

A more detailed investigation of the demons that appeared there, twice even.

And an investigation of the traces of the Celestial God who was said to have descended there last.

These should be carried out first.

“I think I know what you’re thinking, Saint. It’s probably that place.”

At Ludvik’s strong voice, Bigrin, who had been lost in thought, suddenly raised her head and looked up at Ludvik.

His gaze turned to Bigrin, and as soon as their eyes met, he showed that usual cheerful smile.

Then he turned his gaze back to the Pope.

“Evian, right?”

“That’s right. The Hero and Saint are so wise, indeed the Celestial God’s eye for talent is flawless.”

The Pope also smiled with satisfaction.

However, in contrast, Ludvik had one more thing he wanted to confirm.

“Tracking Berbaria’s avatar, investigating the Semec tragedy… Don’t we need to respond to these things as well?”

“That’s right. The Crusader Order has already been dispatched to track Berbaria’s avatar. And regarding Semec, we have already sent messengers to the cathedrals in each region. If anything happens, the surrounding cathedrals will immediately begin tracking.”

“I see.”

“Although the demon issue is important, confirming about the Celestial God is also necessary. But this is just a request from our church, we cannot give orders to the Hero who is the Celestial God’s agent. If you have any doubts about the path you take, Hero, you may move according to your own judgment.”

Arkzel IV closed his mouth and looked at Ludvik.

Although his face was full of wrinkles from old age, that face was filled with firm faith.

Ludvik also met that unwavering gaze without avoiding it.

“Hero, you may go the path you wish to go. Whatever lies at the end of that path, that too must be the Celestial God’s arrangement.”

The Pope was saying truly burdensome words.