episode_0245

Thud. With a sound that echoed through the room, MacHeart’s head rolled to the ground, followed by a string of excuses that were more like justifications from the sword-wielding culprit.

“I apologize for wielding the sword without permission, Princess Seraphine. As the fact that Prince MacHeart colluded with the demons became certain, I quickly took action out of fear of what he might do next.”

“…No, it was unavoidable. Even if Grandmaster Edan hadn’t done it, it was something that needed to be done soon. I’m actually sorry for causing you trouble, Grandmaster Edan.”

In reality, it was more like Seraphine had silenced MacHeart to prevent him from revealing my identity as a saint, but she didn’t seem to sympathize with MacHeart’s sudden actions.

“It’s quite bewildering to think that MacHeart used the power of the demons to change his appearance and even manipulate the memories of others to alter his own image.”

“….”

“I knew that MacHeart lacked confidence in his appearance since childhood. Perhaps his fantasies about what he lacked made him this way.”

“Princess Seraphine….”

“However, it’s unforgivable that he not only mocked Annyeja with his changed appearance but also threatened Lillith by manipulating others’ memories.”

With those words, Seraphine gestured to her knights of the Star Palace Guard, and they quickly began to retrieve MacHeart’s body.

As the knights carried away the severed bodies of Mac and Heart, Seraphine quietly looked up at the night sky and muttered to herself.

“Five years ago, when Grandfather Philipson passed away, it was probably MacHeart who was involved. Until then, I thought I wouldn’t be a target of assassination like Grandfather Philipson, but I never expected such a large-scale manipulation of perception magic.

Although only about half of the blood was mixed, it might still be a bit difficult to accept it calmly.”

“It’s only natural, Princess Seraphine.”

“And thanks to Grandfather’s passing, my heart feels somewhat relieved. Many of the questions I had about MacHeart have been answered. Whenever memories were altered, and I recalled the experiences I had with MacHeart in the past, I always felt a sense of unease, but now everything is clear to me.

Despite being of noble descent, MacHeart’s inability to recognize him by new maids or butlers, or the fact that his fiancée changed three times due to the circumstances of the other woman. It must have been the accumulation of such events that led Grandfather to make the choice to borrow the power of the demons.”

“….”

“I, as a useless younger sister, should have understood a little of the pain Grandfather was feeling….”

…Even if Seraphine could see glimpses of the future, it was only an intermittent ability, and she couldn’t see the future she wanted or important futures at will.

Nevertheless, the bittersweet smile she wore as if the current situation was her fault was just typical of Seraphine’s personality.

Well, regardless of what feelings Seraphine may have towards MacHeart, I was sincerely relieved that the only being threatening my life had finally disappeared.

Since I was reincarnated into this world, the moment when the neck of the bastard who had been tormenting me for the longest time, MacHart (if we simply look at the duration, Ethan was longer, but Ethan didn’t really threaten my life), finally fell off, I honestly felt like dancing with joy.

Of course, in this atmosphere, if I did something like that, my humanity would be questioned, so I just kept quiet.

“Man, he was really annoying.”

I wondered why I had gone through so much trouble just to catch this guy.

I almost lost my life a couple of times, and there were many other minor crises during the extermination mission.

It was an absurd story to carry out an extermination mission when we hadn’t even finished Part 2 against the boss. It was a mission that could barely proceed with two people who knew the story, including the hero.

It was a battle with more variables than necessary, such as the opponent being a royal, not yet awakened as a demon, and the fact that the saint had not yet appeared. Even at the end, this guy almost blurted out that I was the saint before he collapsed.

The only fortunate thing was that even if he had blurted it out, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

If I could silence the guards of the Star Palace, the rest of the people would already know that I was the saint, so even if MacHart’s last words had been properly connected, it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.

“….”

Seeing Seraphine sending suspicious glances my way since earlier, she probably already figured out that I was the saint. The situation itself was one where she couldn’t help but figure it out.

It’s going to be a hassle to explain. How many times do I have to confess that I’m the saint?

“But where the heck are the hero and Agnes?”

Since they’re not here, I have to take all of Seraphine’s attention.

If they’re active separately, there must be something serious going on, but there must have been a reason for them to disappear even after my call.

“I’ll find out later that it was nothing important.”

It was a matter of life and death for me, so I can complain a bit.

***

Evelyn Bridget Steiner.

That name was no longer needed for her.

The moment when the biggest reason she had been using that name to blend in among humans disappeared right in front of her.

“Darn it, darn it, darn it!”

Until MacHart informed the guests at the banquet that he had disappeared and naturally led them to the backyard, Evelyn had not expected the situation to turn out like this.

In case he couldn’t defeat that woman, Rilis, her goal was to gather as many witnesses as possible. Perhaps with his skills, he could easily deal with an average inspector who had his magic sealed, but the unexpected variable of a sword expert emerging later was something Evelyn had not anticipated.

So she was determined to gather people and somehow protect MacHart. It would have been more certain to reverse the blame after he died, but MacHart still had value to her.

Having kissed him a few times during his terrible adolescence, the guy who rambled on about true love, to whom she still had the status of a royal, and the appearance that could be slept with by most women, Evelyn judged that it was a waste to discard him now.

And that judgment turned out to be a mistake that pushed her into a corner.

Evelyn had thought everything was going well until she used the ‘Mirror of Truth’ created by the saint. The fact that Cerista was a fake saint was already widely known among the demons, and she was the one who had informed MacHart of this fact.

With the Mirror of Truth she created, Evelyn thought that the dark magic engraved on MacHart’s body would disappear, and perhaps by reigniting the suspicion of Cerista being a fake saint, she could finally get rid of the hero and that annoying woman.

However, contrary to Evelyn’s expectations, the Mirror of Truth worked with the correct trigger words, and only then could she realize that something was going wrong.

“Could it be that there was also a ‘real saint’ hidden…!”

While others seemed oblivious, in her confusion, Evelyn could clearly see it.

The Mirror of Truth had been completed before Cerista’s final incantation was memorized, and it was triggered by the woman whispering behind her.

Filled with an ominous aura and pleasing to MacHart, she was the woman Evelyn had intended to use as a backup plan for the ominous aura.

The situation of the real saint, who had not yet revealed herself, was unsettling for Evelyn.

“I need to inform the higher-ups quickly. If the Demon King resurrects with that woman still around…”

As soon as she confirmed the release of MacHart’s dark magic, Evelyn fled without looking back. She had to relay such crucial information to her fellow demon soldiers as soon as possible.

Leaving the saint behind and having the Demon King resurrect would result in the fulfillment of the ‘prophecy’ as well.

To prevent that, the Demon King’s army, which had sold the destined child to become a saint in a hidden place, blamed the saint search team in the church for creating the fake saint.

Originally, they had planned to kill the destined child, but since things didn’t go smoothly, that was the best they could do.

Thinking that the child had either lost her qualification as a saint by being sold to some slum or had died after being sold to some harsh labor camp, Evelyn couldn’t help but wonder if that resilient life was still going on.

Although she had a rather mysterious aura for a saint, Evelyn’s current concern was not about that.

What was important to her now was to inform the other demon soldiers that the saint was still alive and to finally put an end to this…

-Whoosh!

“K-Kuh?!”

As Evelyn tried to escape to the temporary demon base outside the palace, a chilling blade pierced her back, sending a sharp pain through her heart.

The strong sense of holiness emanating from the blade embedded in her body, and that power.

Even without looking back, Evelyn had a feeling that she knew who had stabbed her.

“How…?”

“I found you, Agnes! Here!”

“I told you not to call me by my real name pretending to be close.”

Gyethmyoshaygiwot Bolt.

Agnes Elizabeth Blaze.

Even in her fading consciousness, Evelyn could recognize the voice of the warrior and the mage, always being watched by the Demon King’s army.

“Well, your skills are truly worthy of the next tower lord. Not just a simple magic detection spell? You even found the demons using invisibility magic.”

“It’s a piece of cake. Don’t force me to praise you for something so trivial.”

“Anyway, I’m relieved. If we had missed them by mistake, it would have probably spread among the demons that Lillis and Edan are dangerous individuals. Thanks to Agnes, we were able to handle it without letting them slip away.”

“…Make sure to tell that to Lillis clearly. If Lillis gets angry because the promise to gather wasn’t kept properly, then it’s all on you.”

“Oh, come on, don’t tell me that.”

“…But how did you know that this person is a demon? I could only confirm it just now.”

“…Oh, well, that’s… When you become a hero, sometimes signs come down from above, and the sign that came down this time…”

‘Hurry, I need to tell them…’

…Feeling an inexplicable emotion towards the two individuals who seemed to be discussing something among themselves as if they had just completed a task, an unnamed demon quietly vanished behind the palace.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Huh?”

“Why are you acting like that, Lillis?”

“Why the sudden change, Lillis?”

“…Oh, no, it’s nothing.”

…Somehow, it feels like the ‘purity’ around this area has increased a bit.

Is this some kind of side effect of Lillis becoming a saint at this point? Or maybe it’s just a mood swing.