Worries and Concerns (3)

    Worries and Concerns (3)

    There are times when you don’t want to do anything, even if there are things you need to do.

    That’s how Yona felt right now.

    Yona sat alone on a bench in the garden, staring blankly at the flowers.

    The wind gently blowing and the petals dancing on that breeze.

    The flowers were in full bloom as if to announce that early summer was rapidly approaching,

    And the fragrance of flowers was truly intense between them.

    ‘…What on earth is happening to me?’

    The foreign substance settled in her body.

    The existence of that foreign substance wasn’t particularly new.

    When she accepted Berbaria, didn’t it feel like this too, something else settling inside her body?

    So it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling to the point where she couldn’t adapt to it.

    But something different from Berbaria—an existence very close to Yona, yet not Yona.

    ‘To think that the Sky God really existed…’

    Yona got down from the bench and crouched in front of the flower bed.

    When she reached out to caress the petals, it felt as if the soft touch could be felt throughout her entire body.

    Soft, but after touching them, traces of pollen remained on her fingers.

    She knew well by now that she was no longer an ordinary human.

    Being the Saintess of the demon realm, the power residing in her body was no ordinary power.

    Since accepting Damian’s sorcery, she had been confident she could fight in any situation.

    Nevertheless, having the Sky God dormant in her body was on a different level.

    It’s natural that having power reside in you and having a god reside in you can’t be the same.

    ‘If this awakens… what will happen to me?’

    She felt like there were occasional confusions in her memory.

    Yona, who had completely lost her reason when she realized Alec had died—though he hadn’t died completely, but was about to die.

    At that moment when the reason she had been suppressing due to her meager pride completely snapped, the Sky God awakened in her body.

    Yona, who had to watch as if observing someone else’s actions, had fully witnessed the actions of the Sky God who had taken over her body.

    The Azrami imperial family melting into the bubbling foam of curses.

    They disappeared, leaving only bloody foam behind.

    And Amira, looking at her family, now gone, with dazed eyes.

    “…Urgh.”

    Yona, who had been crouching, suddenly stood up and covered her mouth due to a sudden urge to vomit.

    The nausea rising from within—perhaps it was self-loathing.

    Yona, who had said she should walk the right path as a cleric, had now become a mass murderer.

    Even if it wasn’t her own will, it was Yona’s body that had committed those acts,

    And moreover, while watching those scenes, Yona hadn’t even thought of stopping it.

    Rather, seeing those scenes, the satisfaction of getting revenge without having to act directly—

    Now returns as self-loathing that makes her want to throw up right now.

    When it happened in the church territory, it wasn’t this bad, but why is it like this now?

    “Heh, hehe…”

    A hollow laugh escapes.

    Amira’s heart is filled with demonic energy.

    Since that day, Amira had been avoiding Yona, and if they had to meet, it was only possible if Yona was accompanied by Alec. Yona, who had melted Amira’s parents before her eyes, was an object of fear for Amira, and Yona, understanding Amira’s feelings well, couldn’t say anything.

    “Life, damn it…”

    It’s a shitty life.

    A cursed life.

    For what reason—

    “What are you grumbling about by yourself?”

    “Why are you here again?”

    Yona answered without turning around.

    She could tell who had approached from behind without looking.

    Yona wiped away the saliva that had slightly leaked from the corner of her mouth and turned to look at Alec.

    “What are you doing here?”

    “I was looking for you.”

    “Why were you looking for me?”

    “I thought you might be crying alone somewhere again.”

    “You’re being ridiculous…”

    Even as she said this, Yona blew air through her nose to dispel the smell of vomit and sat on the bench.

    Somehow it felt like she was spending most of her day here, but it was a good thing anyway.

    At least these flowers weren’t plotting anything strange against her, nor were they showing any signs of dislike.

    “I guess I still haven’t shed my cathedral knight qualities.”

    Alec, sitting next to Yona, leaned back on the bench and looked up at the sky.

    He too had been thinking a lot these days.

    To Yona—although the Yona at that time wasn’t Yona, Alec, who had held her back then, now found it difficult to understand himself. Why had he held Yona back? Why had he held her back, saying she shouldn’t do that?

    It must have been Yona who was most rotten inside, but Alec had held her back from killing them due to what Yona would call meager sympathy. But if he had done that, if she hadn’t taken revenge even in that way, Yona’s heart would have been even more hurt.

    If one were to weigh the lives of those who committed crimes against Yona’s hurt feelings—

    A former cathedral knight shouldn’t think this way, but Yona’s hurt feelings are far more important.

    “…I’m thinking of giving up on the idea of being a cathedral knight now.”

    “Ugh, bitter… Why?”

    Yona, who was wrinkling her face and sniffling due to the bitter taste coming from her nose, asked Alec.

    Alec quietly took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to Yona, and Yona took it to wipe her nose and then stuffed it back into her own pocket.

    “Baldy, how many times have I told you to wash your handkerchiefs before using them… Anyway, why?”

    “Well, I’m not a cathedral knight anymore anyway. Isn’t a single demon realm knight cooler than thousands of cathedral knights?”

    Yona couldn’t help but laugh at Alec’s words.

    It wasn’t wrong.

    Cathedral knights exist in every cathedral across the continent, including the church territory.

    As Alec said, thousands, maybe even over ten thousand of those cathedral knights.

    Rather than being one of them, being the single and only demon realm knight who is everything to Yona is much cooler.

    “…Right. A single demon realm knight who is everything. It is much cooler.”

    “Right?”

    “Yeah, it’s cooler. If you were going to be that, it would have been even cooler if you were bald.”

    “What?”

    Alec looked at Yona with an expression of disbelief.

    Yona’s gaze was clearly directed at Alec’s hair, and it was a gaze that seemed somewhat resentful of Alec’s now abundantly full hair.

    “You, you’re saying being bald is cooler?”

    “Yeah.”

    Yona nodded without the slightest hesitation.

    Alec couldn’t help but be flustered for a moment.

    Saying being bald is cooler, hadn’t Yona been busy teasing Alec about his baldness every day?

    Or—

    “You, don’t tell me. Were you serious when you were joking about my baldness? Did you actually like it better?”

    “Yeah. What’s wrong with being bald? It felt nice and smooth when touched.”

    There was still no hesitation in Yona’s answer.

    No matter how flustered Alec was, Yona nodded as if it were obvious.

    “…Really?”

    “Really.”

    Alec thought.

    Looking at Yona’s expression, this is sincere.

    Alec, who had reached an expert level in reading Yona’s expressions, could tell.

    Yona is speaking her true feelings right now.

    “Hey, Kaiyak.”

    “Hmm.”

    Kaiyak seemed to know why James was calling him.

    The atmosphere surrounding this round table was so bleak and chaotic that even Kaiyak and James, who had been through numerous battles, found this atmosphere quite unsettling.

    The hero and the Saintess had suddenly barged in, and on top of that, there were Sekti and Serade.

    Add to that Alevian, who seemed somehow restless, Yona with her displeased face, and Alec wearing an awkwardly bright smile while looking at Yona.

    Except for Rubina, everyone was gathered here sitting around the round table, but the atmosphere was strange as they just glared at each other without exchanging a single word.

    “…It seems Yona has something to say, so I think we should listen.”

    “Something to say in this atmosphere. It doesn’t seem like it’ll be anything good.”

    James mumbled while fiddling with his molar.

    Kaiyak strongly agreed with those words.

    “Yona.”

    “Yeah.”

    As soon as Kaiyak called, Yona responded.

    Even with such a sullen expression, it seemed she had been listening.

    “If you have something to say, why don’t you say it? You didn’t gather everyone here just to set the mood, did you?”

    “It’s not about setting the mood… Tsk.”

    Still with a displeased expression, Yona clicked her tongue and glared at Alevian.

    Alevian, whose eyes met with Yona’s, flinched but soon looked at her own palm and took a small deep breath.

    “Hey, Ceres.”

    Alevian, called Ceres, flinched again and shook her head slightly.

    “…No, no. I found it.”

    “Oh? Then it’s Alevian. Okay, tell me. Where do we need to go?”

    James and Kaiyak couldn’t quite understand the conversation between Yona and Alevian.

    But the atmosphere wasn’t right to ask about it, so they had no choice but to keep their mouths shut.

    “…Well.”

    “Just speak…”

    “There’s something, kind of ridiculous…”

    “Where is it? Where on earth is it?”

    “Ceres’s traces…”

    “The traces what? Speak, speak.”

    Even at Yona’s irritated words, Alevian hesitated for a moment.

    In fact, for someone of Ceres’s level, even for Alevian, it’s difficult to observe as closely as she does Yona.

    Moreover, isn’t she a priestess of the same rank?

    So it took a long time for Alevian to detect, and now she had just barely found it after tracing the remnants.

    “…She, she’s coming here. Ceres is.”

    “What?”

    Yona’s face contorted greatly.

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