episode_0198

000

That day, the clouds were thicker than usual, and the weather was such that it wouldn’t have been strange if it had started raining at any moment.

As the entire landscape began to be tinged with gray, the falling raindrops evoked visions of the past.

Incessant scolding, screams full of pain.

A vile, fishy, filthy, and crude environment was all that enveloped us—a past we wanted to forget.

We had lives that could have ended at any moment.

Not born of love, nor born of need.

The reason we were born with life was merely someone’s `whim`.

We were forced to accept mud-covered breadcrumbs and were dragged off to attend to customers.

The smell of blood, alcohol, and drugs

That stench, which seemed to gnaw at our souls and make our heads throb, would follow us for the rest of our lives, or so we thought.

But, whenever I felt such despair, I found solace in her presence beside me.

My only remaining blood relative in this world, a twin like my other half.

Unlike weaklings like me, she was always confident and strong, never willing to lose to anyone.

We endured trials as if supporting each other, living as if we were the children of demons.

Perhaps, back then, we were simply waiting for death, the end of this hell, to arrive.

Until we were touched by a light so large and warm that it swallowed all our expectations.

We were rescued by the cult, and afterwards, we lived at the temple in the royal capital to become clerics.

It had only been a year since we were pulled out of hell.

Aside from the occasional throbbing of old wounds, it was truly like a paradise.

That was a fact that not only I, but she, must have been feeling as well.

Slowly opening the door to our assigned room and entering, I saw her quietly kneeling on the bed, with her hands clasped together, offering a prayer.

“Sister.”

When I called her, she twitched, her eyebrows flickering, and she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

“I told you not to call me that.”

“Ugh…”

Her eyes were cold.

There was even contempt mixed in.

A dark shadow that was absent from the feelings I had for her existed within her.

“S, sorry…”

In fact, I remembered. Her warnings, and the loathing she returned each time I ignored them.

I even knew that it was not something to show to one’s only blood relative.

But I couldn’t stop calling her by the same title. It was natural for me.

“Is… the prayer over?”

“Yes. Thanks to someone. No matter how much I pray in this state of scattered concentration, my sacred power won’t get stronger.”

Speaking with a hint of sarcasm, she got up from the bed and approached me.

Her short pink hair fluttered as she walked.

Then, she grabbed my wrist and tried to leave the room.

“W, wait. Where are you trying to go?”

“It’s training. It’s a waste of time to just sit around. You need to pull your weight soon too. To repay that person.”

At her words, I shook my head in disbelief, raising my free arm and pointing out the window.

The rain was heavier than before, making a dull sound each time it fell.

“Training…? In this rain? Y, you’ll catch a cold.”

“A holy warrior who upholds the order of the cult and brings peace to the continent can’t be defeated by rain. We’ll also be training to protect our bodies with sacred power, so come along.”

“I can’t do that yet…”

When I said that, she glared at me once more before letting out a deep sigh.

“…Ah. I see. Then, I’ll go alone. You can stay here and pray.”

“O, okay… A, and… If possible, I want to do… `that`… today…”

As I hesitated and said that, she glared at me as if she were going to kill me.

“That’s not allowed anymore! You learned that it’s a `sin` when we came here!”

“B, but… It was a natural thing there…”

I heard the sound of her grinding her teeth so loudly that I was worried.

“You and I are twins…! Blood relatives! It’s strictly forbidden by the rules of the cult for blood relatives to do that. Because it defiles the soul.”

“Y, yes, I know that…! But, I haven’t been able to do it even once since coming here… My legs throb on days like this…”

At my voice, which sounded as if I was in pain, she-

Raised her arm and slapped me on the cheek.

“Enough!! We escaped from that hell and were saved! But, what are you trying to do by continuing to do what we did in that hell…! Do you want to go back to being beasts!?”

Her piercing voice echoed, and I flinched.

“I absolutely hate it. I’m going to become a holy warrior of the cult and become a shield to protect that person. You promised to become a sword. Please, get a grip…!”

“S, sorry… I’m sorry… Sister…”

Once again, her hand swung.

“Don’t! Call! Me! That!!”

“But…! You’re my sister, aren’t you…!”

Pushing me onto the bed and climbing on top of me, she glared at me with a face like a demon and said.

“That’s wrong!! That’s wrong…! No matter what you’ve become now… You can’t call me that…! That’s an impious act that deviates from the providence of God…!”

“I don’t know… I’ve called you that for a longer time than I’ve spent here…”

“Listen carefully. I’m not your sister, but your older sister. You’re not a woman, but a man…!”

“I, I…”

She spoke as if she didn’t even like me showing such a weak side.

I could only answer while sobbing.

“I, I’m a woman…”

That’s how I thought of myself, and I wanted others to think of me that way too.

I wanted to be the same gender as her, whom I admired.

“… …You’re a demon. Denying the sacred rules and betraying that person’s favor… A demon.”

At my words, she answered that way and let go of my collar.

“I don’t want to live as siblings with a demon. Either change your mind, or disappear from my sight.”

She said that and left the room.

At the sound of the door closing loudly, I trembled once more.

What she was saying was hard for me to understand.

Just to lighten my heavy body and head even a little, I closed my eyes on the bed as I was.

At that time-

The door opened once more with a creak.

“Oh my. I heard a loud noise coming from here, so I thought someone was fighting…”

“Who…?”

When I heard a woman’s voice and raised my head, I saw a brown-skinned woman with red hair who looked to be in her early to mid-20s standing there.

She didn’t seem to be a resident of the temple, because the clothes she was wearing were different from the pure white gowns that we were wearing.

Rather, she was wearing a form-fitting shirt and blue pants. And she was a woman whose slightly exposed chest was a concern.

She adjusted the glasses she was wearing slightly with her finger, then looked at me and smiled.

“This is… Hehe. You’re interesting.”

In that sharp gaze, I felt a fear that was hard to describe.

“I’m, I’m going to call an adult.”

“Go ahead. `She` knows that I’m here anyway… But, do you, who has deviated from the providence of God, deserve to receive their help?”

At her way of speaking, as if she could see through everything about me, I could only shut my mouth.

“Little `miss`. Shall I grant your wish…?”

Her shadow, approaching me with a sweet temptation-

Was like a demon.

001

“Haa…!”

Was it because something had been suffocating her, or was it because her breathing had become rapid in order to escape from fear?

Rosaria hurriedly woke up, rising from the bed she had been lying on.

Sweat was dripping wetly from her entire body, and it felt as if her body had been liberated from being crushed under a heavy stone.

“That dream just now…”

Should I call it a nightmare, or should I call it a memory from a long time ago?

However, feeling a sense that the things she had recalled and seen were slowly and quickly disappearing into the fog.

Regarding the dream she had had, Rosaria ended up forgetting many things again.

In that frustrating situation, she felt her throat becoming parched.

“…Water…”

Recalling that there was a water bottle and a cup in the corner of the room, Rosaria muttered that and tried to get out of bed.

At that time, she suddenly felt her bed shaking.

“… …?”

Turning her head at the sudden change, Rosaria could see that the water bottle and cup that she had been about to get were on the bed.

“Huh…?”

She was confused that the things that had clearly not been on the bed until just now had suddenly appeared, but it was still late at night.

She didn’t want to make a fuss by making unnecessary noise.

More than anything, her body and head were still heavy, and she felt like it didn’t matter anyway.

She gulped down the water she had poured into the cup, calmed down a little, and lay down on the bed again.

Thinking that she might be able to continue the dream from before, she was trying to fall asleep quickly.

Without noticing the presence of metal eyes watching her.

[…Did you see that? Gray.]

“I saw it. Hermes.”

Sharing the vision of Hermes, who was possessed in the body of a newly created metal rat, Gray, who was observing Rosaria from his office, answered his partner’s question.

[That just now… Is that a transfer-type magic?]

“There was no chanting, and there was no delay for activation. It’s too high of a realm to call it magic. It seems right to see it as her unique ability that she possesses.”

Gray said that and looked at the magic tool placed on his desk.

The emerald-colored stone tablet hidden inside a small sphere was emitting a faint light.

“No corresponding information… It’s not magic after all.”

[If that’s the case… then it’s similar to what attacked us before.]

At Hermes’s analysis, Gray nodded.

Previously, Hermes had infiltrated Setos at the behest of Lyla.

The holy warrior who had attacked them under the orders of the Pope, who had noticed his presence.

If I remember correctly, her name was `Berastol`.

She too was using an ability that could not be explained logically.

Transfer was activated without delay even though she was wearing such heavy armor all over her body.

If Hermes had sent the signal even a little later, Gray might have been caught by her there.

“It’s not just similar. It would be right to see it as a different manifestation of the same ability.”

[The same ability?]

Berastol’s ability was `transmission`, which allowed her to transfer her body to another location.

Rosaria, on the other hand, has the ability to `receive`, which conversely uses her own body as an axis to summon other objects to where she is.

There are not many people who can use such advanced techniques as transfer.

The characteristics shown pointed to a connection between Berastol and Rosaria.

[…But. Did you anticipate this and ask me to watch her?]

“No way… However, humans are originally creatures who act `unconsciously`. Judging from the fact that she recalled the name of the snack `Forbidden` during the day, she may have lost her memories, but her body… or, she thought that the memories remained deep in her subconscious.”

[So, you thought that if you observed her, you could get a clue to her identity…]

However, Gray sighed and leaned back in his chair.

He didn’t try to monitor her, anticipating these results. He was only trying to find a way to restore her memories, as requested.

“Well. It was almost a fluke. But this makes things a little more complicated. …If that scary holy warrior and Rosaria are related…”

[Why was someone related to a holy warrior being held captive in a succubus’s brothel? …Various questions arise.]

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. It’s good to get a hint. But I’m afraid to dig deeper…”

Gray shuddered and once again recalled Berastol.

Her eyes, full of murderous intent, staring at him suspiciously.

The madness-filled eyes he saw inside her helmet were almost traumatic.

“And. One more thing.”

Furthermore, another question was forming in his mind.

“Rosaria was rescued from a shabby brothel in the back alleys. …However, considering the rarity of her abilities, there’s no reason for Astaroth to leave her in a place like that.”

[Weren’t the demons unaware?]

Gray shook his head at Hermes’s words.

“I don’t know about after she lost her memories. But she would have used her abilities before she lost them. In order to resist the demons, or to cooperate with them… Maybe her rescue itself was Astaroth’s-”

Just as Gray was about to say that, Hermes’s hearing picked up the sound of the door opening.

As Hermes, hidden in the shadows, looked towards Rosaria’s door, he saw a beautiful woman with white hair standing there.

[Who is she…? No matter how I look at her, she’s not a nun…]

“I don’t know… But, she doesn’t seem to be an ordinary person…”

“I felt a strange energy inside the monastery, so I came to see… This guy is…”

Hermes and Gray didn’t know it, but she was the spider god `Anansi`, who was protecting this monastery at Cleon’s request.

“I feel something unpleasant… And, something I’ve felt somewhere before… I need to examine her body a little.”

As Anansi said that and reached out to her, spider webs extended from her fingertips and touched her body.

At that moment-

Crack! Black sparks flew, cutting off the spider web, and leaving a shallow, self-inflicted wound on Anansi’s hand.

“…This is- that woman’s…”

[Ah-ah-. I never thought you’d be here. Cleon put his head to good use.]

At that time, a voice that was not hers was heard from Rosaria’s mouth.

“You…! You tricked me into defiling Uthu-nim’s relic…!”

[It’s Ishtar. I didn’t introduce myself back then, did I? You seem a little different too.]

As Ishtar, borrowing Rosaria’s body, said that, Anansi immediately tried to bind Rosaria with her threads.

But-

Slash! Her skin was scratched by the thread, and blood flowed out.

[You should stop. This child doesn’t even realize that she’s my `chess piece`. Are you thinking of killing an innocent person? Cleon would hate it~]

“Tch…”

At Ishtar’s words, Anansi unconsciously took the strength out of her threads- Rosaria’s head was moved to look out the window.

There, there was a large garden that Eustace used for training.

[Well, whatever. I had to do things before Cleon came back anyway. It’s a little faster than planned, but-]

Saying that, Rosaria- no, Ishtar smiled and snapped her fingers.

“Ugh…!? ”

A suspicious wave that vibrated the entire barrier spread out over the monastery.

A small hole was created in her spider web and in the barrier connected to the ley lines.

And that hole was like a large gate.

Connecting `this place` and `another place`.

[Gray!]

Hermes’s urgent voice. Gray looked outside through his vision.

There, there was a foreboding sign of transfer through the crack, which was yawning like the gates of hell.

What he felt was similar to what Rosaria had been doing a moment ago, but the scale was so large that a delay occurred for a moment.

And, what he saw beyond the crack was-

Women wearing black clothes all over their bodies, with empty eyes.

Each of them was exuding a dark aura of black magic.

Some of them had horns and wings that had grown out like demons.

And, standing at the very front of them was.

A woman holding a red magic spear in her hand.

Anansi glared at Rosaria, whose body was being controlled by Ishtar, for a moment, then quickly ran out of the room.

[Hehehe… Ahahaha!! Cleon. Thank you, because of you, I think I’ll be able to get my hands on the `key` easily…!]

After Ishtar’s high-pitched voice echoed, Rosaria fell back onto the bed as if her thread had been cut.

[They’re coming…!]

At the same time as Hermes’s words, Gray quickly put on his clothes and ran out of his office.

He had to deliver the message to Rubella and the people of Tromia.

The monastery- was attacked by demons.