Demon Follower (1)

‘Ah, really.’

The priest with the title of Instigator.

Ceres, Ceres Orcamaine, who plays the role of the priest of the demon realm.

She was now frowning, trying her best to suppress the rising irritation.

Her title, Instigator, also carries the meaning of Designer in another sense.

As such, she loves meticulous design that considers and plans for various variables to finally make things flow as she desires.

Until now, there had been no problems.

Most variables were under her control, and she had succeeded in modifying and supplementing minor issues to finally put them on the desired trajectory.

But that has just failed now.

Now that a variable she hadn’t anticipated at all has suddenly appeared, the smile that was always on her face has completely disappeared due to the rising irritation.

‘So she’s a saint after all…’

The original plan had gone completely awry.

The plan to frame Eize with charges of concealing an apostate after arranging for her to meet Yona.

And then to imprison her in that state, weakening Eize both physically and mentally through long imprisonment,

And in that state, to present Eize’s death to Yona when she returns from Katus—

That would have been perfect.

Yona, with her self collapsing and unable to maintain her sanity, would surely go berserk, losing her reason.

In that state, she would destroy the Evian diocese, and further, pour out unquenchable anger towards the entire Celestine Church—

But that plan has gone awry from the very beginning.

Bigrind, the saint said to be directly appointed by the Celestial God.

Saint Bigrind, with a small stature, extremely timid and fragile, without any will of her own.

She didn’t expect such a person to suddenly show such firmness, should this be called her mistake?

‘Alistain, that idiot…’

Ceres bit her lip, suppressing her anger.

Strictly speaking, Alistain was the one who acted most foolishly.

She couldn’t understand why he tried to arrest Eize in front of the saint, but because of that, it’s true that the saint suddenly became more assertive.

“So I’m saying we don’t need to continue tracking the apostate right now, Hero.”

Bigrind, who seemed to be obsessed with the idea that she should always be gentle and kind—

She was now arguing in front of the hero that they should return to the church territory immediately.

“Saint, I really don’t understand what you’re saying. Are you saying there’s something more important than tracking the apostate right now?”

“There is. There are many others who can track the apostate besides us. Isn’t that right? Besides, it’s already been several weeks since we set out to track the apostate. Have we achieved any results during that time? If High Priest Eize here hadn’t directly reported to me, we would have remained unaware. And to capture white-haired girls in the name of catching the apostate, does that make sense? Is that the will of the Celestial God?”

It was truly eloquent.

Bigrind was expressing her opinion to Ludvic without any hesitation, to the point where one might wonder if this girl was originally this good at speaking.

“We must stop this madness first. I need to persuade His Holiness the Pope. They only capture white-haired girls, but no one has seen those girls return. Is this how things should normally operate?”

Girls with appearances similar to the apostate.

The characteristics of those girls were all the same.

Orange eyes, or white hair.

The current situation where such girls are frequently captured and dragged to the church territory, but no girl has been reported to have returned.

“Isn’t this the fastest way to find the apostate, Saint? Besides, if not us, how do you propose we deal with the apostate when we encounter her?”

“Hero.”

Bigrind closed her eyes.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

“—Then, what has the Inquisition been doing all this time? Are you saying that even the apostate can’t be dealt with unless the hero or saint steps in? Then what exactly is the Inquisition for? If the organization created to stop apostates can’t even defeat an apostate, shouldn’t the head of the Inquisition be ashamed before the Celestial God right away?”

“That’s…”

Ludvic was at a loss for words.

Bigrind’s words weren’t particularly wrong.

“I have a duty to expound the will of the Celestial God, to ensure the Celestine Church follows the right path. I cannot allow this noble tower that the Celestine Church has built over hundreds of years to crumble because of one apostate. I must meet the Pope to stop this madness immediately.”

Bigrind’s will was resolute.

At least, it was evident from her gaze, now confidently facing Ludvic, unlike before.

She was no longer the fragile and timid Bigrind who couldn’t face Ludvic directly and would lower her eyes whenever their gazes met.

Bigrind, looking straight at Ludvic with a direct and upright gaze.

Her eyes were full of determination.

“…Very well, Saint. If that is your will, then that’s what we should do.”

‘Damn it.’

Ceres inwardly cursed after listening to the end of the long conversation between Bigrind and Ludvic that followed.

In the middle of the night, with even the moonlight obscured by clouds, this night was sinking into starlight without even a speck of light properly falling.

The corridor she was now walking through was filled with silence, without a single person stirring.

Even the sound of Ceres’ footsteps walking down that corridor couldn’t be heard.

Such a deep night where no sound could be heard, even though she was walking down a corridor where no one was present.

Ceres was looking for a way to control the anger that was surging up maddeningly.

It was already done, and once the groundwork was laid, the rest was supposed to follow naturally.

Bigrind’s sudden change had ruined all plans.

‘…Should I just kill her?’

Even if she’s a saint, she’s just one girl with no divine power of her own.

A saint who is nothing more than a small child with such a tiny frame.

If attacked while sleeping, it would be easy for her, the priest of the demon realm, to take off the head of the saint.

But she couldn’t do that.

It was absolutely, absolutely impossible to make everything irreparable afterwards because of a moment’s temper.

She had no choice but to somehow rearrange the board again.

‘I shouldn’t have trusted that idiot Alistain.’

She shouldn’t have trusted the branch head of the Inquisition in this backwater place to begin with.

But regret, no matter how quick, is always too late.

“Oh my, isn’t it Elder Ceres?”

In an instant, the anger disappeared from Ceres’ face, and a gentle smile slowly appeared.

It was a mistake if it was a mistake to miss the presence approaching from the opposite direction.

High Priest Eize, one of the people she least wanted to encounter right now, was approaching her with a bright smile.

“High Priest Eize. Why aren’t you sleeping at this late hour?”

“I’m on my way back from checking on the cathedral orphanage. It’s a cold season, so I was worried there might be children who kick off their blankets while sleeping.”

Eize gave Ceres a full smile and lightly bowed her head in greeting.

“You’ve had a hard day today, High Priest. I hear there were many incidents.”

“That’s how it turned out. The Saint is quite intelligent, I nearly got into big trouble.”

“I see. It seems the Saint and the Hero are returning to Infula. However, they need to have a conversation with Bishop Pobi, so it looks like they’ll stay for a few more days.”

“I see… So that’s why.”

Ceres looked at Eize with a puzzled expression.

What does she mean by ‘that’s why’?

The thought that another thing she didn’t know about might be happening suddenly made her feel very unpleasant.

“There’s a relief event planned in the back alleys of Evian in a few days. I heard there have been starvation deaths in the back alleys due to the recent Dark Covenant incident. While preparing, we’ve sent some food urgently, and soon we’ll hold a full-scale event. The Saint has indicated she will attend at that time.”

“A relief event…”

Ceres seemed to be thinking about something after hearing those words.

After waiting for a moment with no response from her, Eize called out to Ceres again with a suddenly puzzled expression.

“Elder?”

“Ah, yes. I apologize. I was just thinking how befitting of the Saint it is.”

“Isn’t it?”

Undisguisable joy appeared on Eize’s face.

She remembered Bigrind as an unstable child in many ways.

She had been very worried when such a girl became the saint, but now it seems she has finally grown further as a saint, which brings her great joy.

“Yes. I think so too, that it’s befitting of the Saint.”

Thinking that perhaps she could very naturally eliminate the saint, Ceres smiled brightly.

After all, unfortunate incidents can occasionally occur during back alley events.

And the fact that the Saint happened to be there, that’s also possible.

Even with ironclad security, such things can happen.

“I need to meet Big. If it’s Big, she’ll surely stop this madness.”

Yona’s will was resolute.

The cargo carriage she saw was full of white-haired girls, which made Yona momentarily speechless.

Then she immediately grabbed Alebbian by the collar and pressed him to explain what was happening, and finally Alebbian had no choice but to explain with a long sigh about what was currently happening.

As a result, the carriage was now on its way back to Evian.

It would take as much time to return to Evian as they had spent nearly three days heading towards Lukasia, but unlike before, if they kept going without stopping in between, they could arrive much faster.

Yona, having common sense, didn’t talk about storming into Evian.

Hiding near Evian and waiting, then meeting Bigrind to talk when the hero’s group arrives in Evian—

That was Yona’s plan.

“But it could be dangerous. Rather, if we go to Katus first, and after absorbing the demon…”

“Shut up, Alebbian. You want me to watch all those children being sacrificed because of me? You’re crazy. I can’t do that. It’ll be resolved if I meet Big.”

It’s admirable that Yona is holding back so much.

Alec thought so as he stared at Yona.

Yet, perhaps unable to completely subdue that anger, demonic energy was vigorously rising from the corners of her mouth.

“…The Saint might know too, Yona.”

Even Kaiyak stepped in to stop Yona.

Returning to Evian, and meeting the hero’s group — there could be dozens of worrying points about this.

But Yona pretended not to hear Kaiyak’s words either.

“Alec, do you think so too?”

Alec, who had been quietly watching Yona.

He too had once belonged to the cathedral, and though he’s said to have left now, he’s essentially still a cathedral knight.

He wasn’t unaware of what fate those girls might meet if dragged to the church territory.

Is it urgent for Yona to become stronger by going to Katus?

Or — as Yona says, is it better to meet the saint and stop this madness?

Alec was also internally shocked.

He didn’t know the Celestine Church would go this far, no matter how crazy they were acting.

“I think you’re right, Yona. We must stop the sacrifice of innocent girls.”

“Right. So don’t try to change my mind. Let’s go to Evian. We need to go to Evian, wait nearby, and meet Big. Mr. James, can you help?”

“Of course we should. It’s only natural.”

James couldn’t hide his hardened face either.

He was full of questions about whether this could even be called a religion after doing such things.

“…Alright, pretty one. Let’s do as you say.”

At Alebbian’s words, Yona let out a soft sigh.

It was because she had been inwardly tense.

And as the tension eased, she suddenly caught on Alec’s words.

“…Hey, Alec.”

“Yes?”

“About what you said… ‘innocent girls’.”

“Yes.”

Alec looked at Yona.

Suddenly feeling that gaze was truly burdensome, Yona felt her face turning red involuntarily.

“…You, you don’t mean anything else by that, right? I mean, if it were boys instead of girls…”

“What do you mean?”

Alec asked back instead.

But Yona couldn’t bring herself to explain about that statement.

Yona was also aware that associating another meaning with those words was somewhat strange of her.

“…Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Avoiding Alec’s gaze, which seemed to be looking at her as if she had suddenly said something strange, Yona felt deeply self-deprecating.

She felt foolish for trying to ask if he would have said the same thing if it were boys who were captured instead of girls.