episode_0069

“What were you thinking?”

As soon as the horrifying and shocking Ethics class ended, I quickly approached Cecilia and asked. I had intended to sound as calm as possible, but without realizing it, my voice had turned rough.

“My, my. I don’t mind telling you, but are you really sure this is the right place for such a discussion?”

“Tch.”

As Cecilia had pointed out, she was already surrounded by students eager to question the intent behind her earlier presentation.

Of course, none of them had the nerve to step ahead of me—the heir to the Grave dukedom—to speak to her first. But even so, this wasn’t the place to have any meaningful conversation.

“Follow me for a minute.”

“How bold of you.”

“Dave, Cheryl! You two, hide yourselves!”

Ignoring her teasing remark, I grabbed Cecilia’s completely unembarrassed hand and hastily dragged her out of the classroom.

A quick glance back revealed Dave and Cheryl were trying to push through the crowd to follow me, but they weren’t having an easy time.

Unlike us, those two probably thought they could handle the attention. Cheryl, however, waved us off as if it were nothing.

“Go ahead. We’ll handle this.”

“Indeed, Young Master Grave!”

Considering how confidently they spoke, I had no intention of making some tearful dramatic scene.

“Follow me.”

“Where exactly do you plan to go? Do you really think there’s anywhere in this Academy to hide?”

“The student council room.”

“Ah.”

Cecilia nodded.

“Reasonable. I’ll follow.”

That room would allow us to talk without interference.

At this time of day, the council president would likely be busy working, but questioning Cecilia’s intentions was far more urgent right now.

After several minutes of frantic running to shake off other students, Cecilia and I practically tumbled into the student council room.

“Haah… haah… haah…!”

“Huff… huff… What about Dave and Cheryl? You must have some plan, judging by how recklessly you ran.”

“We can contact them separately. It’s not like they know much anyway, so even if they get grilled, it won’t be a problem for us.”

“Huh?”

The council president, distracted from his documents, stared at us with a dumbfounded expression.

As adorable as that look was, I didn’t have time for banter. Silently, I gestured toward the door we’d just entered.

“President Mind if you clear the room for a minute? Cecilia and I have something to discuss.”

“What? But there are still documents left to—”

“We’ll take care of them. Why don’t you go inspect the Academy for a while?”

“I’ll hold you to that! Then, I leave the remaining duties in your hands!”

Seizing the opportunity, the president vanished from the room in an instant.

“Wow, quick on his feet.”

“That’s just how he is. Locking himself up in here stamping dull paperwork doesn’t suit him—chasing troublemakers or inspecting campus security is more his style, don’t you think?”

“No matter how you spin it, that guy never should’ve been president…”

“Then all you have to do is find someone better suited than him next time.”

“If I have my way, one of you will be sitting in that seat next year.”

“I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Empty words, of course. At worst by the end of this year, or at latest by mid-next year, the Demon King’s army would begin their full-scale invasion.

Because of that, third-years and even some second-years with notable combat abilities would be drafted straight into the Allied Forces. At this rate, Cecilia would probably accept any request I made of her—even for the future.

Not that anything like that would ever actually happen.

Eventually, I steadied my breathing and had no choice but to glare at Cecilia.

“Now then, I have to ask—what the hell was that stunt earlier?”

“‘Stunt’? That hurts. I was only trying to help Eric. If the Church’s corruption is cleansed, wouldn’t we stand a better chance against that looming catastrophe?”

“It’s too early! What we agreed on was exposing Priest Gillis’ bribes and the other priests’ crimes—nothing more! We were supposed to investigate the demon pits and their misuse later, once we had solid proof. And acting recklessly like this could—!”

The private use of the Church’s demon pits had already spread nationwide. In such a state, eradicating all of them with just my power or Cecilia’s would be impossible.

Worse, if they regrouped and retaliated, we’d be forced onto the defensive.

“So you don’t deny it needed to be done.”

“According to the future I saw, the Church won’t acknowledge their sins and attempt large-scale reforms until at least half a year from now! Tampering with that recklessly could spell disaster!”

What if the Church excommunicated Cecilia? Once excommunicated, she could never again enter a cathedral housing holy relics.

If that happened, short of stealing the relics outright or triggering a massive incident that toppled the Church itself, Saint Cecilia would become a future beyond our reach.

Someone else becoming the Saint instead?

That future couldn’t—shouldn’t—exist.

“You must become the Saint. No matter the cost, I’ll take responsibility for it!”

“No need to worry. I acted after careful consideration.”

“Consideration? Really? Do you have any idea how many Church spies are planted in this Academy to say something like that?”

Though the Academy was meant to nurture the Empire’s future, precisely because of that, various factions had spent effort co-opting, enticing, and even coercing those within to bring them to their side.

“You’re quite sharp.”

“I was insane, not stupid. Even now, students and professors bribed by the Church are probably scrambling to relay the news. You think you can catch them all before they cover their tracks?”

“Of course.”

Cecilia answered without hesitation. No matter how capable she was, there were limits to what one person could do alone. So her confidence could only mean one thing.

“Don’t tell me you—?!”

“As expected, you catch on quickly. Saves me the trouble of explaining.”

Cecilia hadn’t just asked the students to help reform the Church.

“You’re trying to justify it—?!”

“They’ve probably already smashed the demon pits apart. Honestly, those kids are so passionate, it took some effort to rein them in.”

“Does… Chris know?”

“Hm? That child knows nothing. She’s too busy preparing for today’s gathering to spare a thought for anything else. Well, it did give me free rein to move, though.”

Cecilia had likely sent her loyal inquisitors to the demon pits.

That meant the pits would be suppressed before the Church could act.

Still, even if the Saint exposed the Church’s corruption, commandeering their inquisitors without permission was undeniably wrong.

“Even if you explain your reasons to the students, how will you justify knowing the locations beforehand?”

“I’ll throw your own words back at you, Eric. I’m not stupid, remember? Of course, I staged it so they’d look like accidental discoveries. The Church’s reach is limited, so I framed it as a large-scale vacation to those locations.”

“Vacation?”

Those violent fanatics?

“Girls their age should be enjoying their youth, shouldn’t they? Staying cooped up in dreary churches would be such a waste. So if they happened to stumble upon a demon pit or two during their trip, well—what could they do?”

Cecilia smiled sweetly.

“No matter what anyone says, they’re devout devotees who never forget their duty to the Goddess.”

Your fanatics, you mean, I wanted to say, but I forced myself to ask the next question.

“Fine. I get what you’ve done. If things go your way, the Church’s reforms will succeed. You’ve probably already secured the ledgers managing the demon pits. But even so, this was unnecessary! You still needed to bide your time a little longer. At least until you’re officially recognized as the Saint—then it would’ve been—”

“That would be too late!”

“What?”

“I’m saying that would already be too late! It’d take at least another year for that to happen. And I know—the people truly running this Empire won’t move unless fire is at their feet. Am I wrong?”

“Ugh…”

“I don’t know how accurate your prophecies are, but I can tell. If things stay like this, you’ll be the only one suffering in the end!”

I was the one suffering now, arguing with Cecilia. Pressuring the Church to reform would lessen my burden. She probably thought she was helping me in her own way.

But—

“Who asked for your help?”

“Huh?”

“I told you. I’ll handle things myself.”