episode_0049

49.

“Ah, there’s something like a charm attached near its neck.”

Looking where Hanna pointed, a charm truly was attached to the imp’s neck.

“A charm… the act of a heretic, it seems.”

“Heretic?! Hmph. Th-that’s not it!”

The voice clearly faltered, shifting to a lower tone.

“Demons are targets for extermination.”

“Really, just wait a minute!”

First, I surrounded the area with divine power to prevent the demon from escaping. The charm might allow me to hear the conversation, if not see through it, but whatever.

Curiously, it didn’t attack. A normal demon wouldn’t hesitate to move or watch cautiously. It’s being affected by something.

It seems best to wait for the voice’s owner.

I have a feeling the reason the heresy inquisitors appeared might be because of this heretic.

“What kind of people are heretics…?”

“They are people who worship gods other than the God. …Was that a bit difficult to understand? Explaining it would take all night, so I’ll just briefly explain this type.”

Hanna nodded.

“Those who use charms are priestesses. They worship nature, not the Goddess. I’m not an expert, so I don’t know the details, but it’s closer to an ideology than a religion, so I understand we’re not openly hostile towards them.”

“Priestesses… I’ve heard there’s something similar in our world. But they don’t have supernatural abilities…”

“However, that’s only the Pai Church’s view, and the Fried Church will definitely define it as heresy. …Thinking about it now, straying from faith is undesirable.”

“Ah, so you will… handle it?”

Erina answered with a smile. Spreading faith is her mission.

“Hoo… hoo… Wa-wait!”

“Eh…? I-I’m a man?”

“No. Look closely. I’m only concealing my chest with a bandage.”

“My, apologies.”

The priestess, who arrived in a single bound, wore a distinctive outfit with the red front almost undone, revealing her clavicle and even her chest in a rather indecent display.

Unlike the light voice and mannerisms heard earlier, she had rather dull cherry blossom-colored short hair, giving off a masculine image.

Trying to maintain a cool and calm voice to match her image seemed unnatural.

“So, you are a priestess, correct? What’s your relationship with this demon?”

“I was experimenting. A charm experiment. Are you… perhaps a nun? Not Fried Church, right?”

Sweat trickled from her forehead down her clavicle. Despite being female, she possessed a naturally captivating beauty. The jeweled earring on her right ear was quite fetching.

“No. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re a heretic.”

“Oh my, from my perspective, you’re the heretics. Of course, I don’t actually think that way.”

The priestess drew elaborate figures in the air, and a faint blue light hit the divine barrier Erina had put up.

“This thing’s movements and thoughts are restricted by the charm. The power is somewhat different from your divine power, isn’t it? Lately, there have been a lot of these demons… I have no choice but to manage them.”

“Bu-but rather than troublesome management, extermination is…”

“According to our teachings, this too is killing. It’s like assisting in killing, but if the charm’s effectiveness becomes clear, I intended to… ask you nuns to finish them off.”

“Why the past tense? It means the experiment isn’t perfect.”

The priestess nodded. Her sharply gleaming silver-white eyes were beautiful.

“Yeah. I almost succeeded, but the magical energy suddenly surged…. Anyway, I’d appreciate it if you kept it a secret.”

“Even if we remain silent, the heresy inquisitors are already active, aren’t they? Right, Hanna-ssi?”

“Yes. Besides, the Knights seem to be looking for the Fried Church for some reason. I don’t know, but it doesn’t seem like just an experiment…”

“What? Damn… this is a big problem. I wouldn’t want anything harsh to happen, but I hate inconveniences.”

Even the way she slightly bit her lip was quite handsome, Hanna thought.

She’s shy and usually bad at striking up conversations, but it’s a handsomeness that makes you want to talk to her at least once.

“Shall we get off the main road? I’ll exterminate the demon. Light!”

With a pained cry of “Kieek,” the imp was enveloped in light and lost its form.

“……Let’s. There’s an abandoned place where people don’t come around here.”

Being seen by either the priestess or Erina wouldn’t be good, so they headed to a secluded area.

Hanna followed closely, a slightly worried look on her face.

‘Huh? Why does this place feel familiar? …This old building must be my imagination.’

Following the priestess’s directions down a side path fairly deep, they reached the entrance of a mountain range where an old building, arguably a ruin, was abandoned. A river flowed gently, making it seem nice to live by, but it had become abandoned land due to magical energy influence. It’s now mostly gone thanks to a purification ritual.

“I should properly introduce myself first. I’m Kira Katrina. Call me whatever. You can call me bitch if you want.”

“Oh my. We don’t use such harsh language. Kira-ssi will do, I think? I’m Erina.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Kira-ssi, what were you doing here?”, Hanna asked.

It was an abandoned place but showed signs of human habitation, leading to her assumption that Kira had lived there.

“Oh, nothing much. Priestesses always live out of sight. I’ve just been living nearby for generations. But you…? You don’t look like a nun. You don’t have divine power.”, Kira asked Hanna.

“Ah, I’m… I don’t know if you’ll believe it…”

“She is a messenger of the Goddess. The Goddess sent her to this world herself.”, Erina interrupted Hanna and answered instead.

“…Ho-oh? I haven’t seen a face like yours around here. Well, even if you say that, I don’t believe in your God.”

Kira walked inside the old building. After rummaging around for a moment, she brought out a bundle of charms.

“Since you’re a nun, you’ll know. That there’s still magical energy here.”

“Yes. ……You seem to be suppressing it to some extent.”

Erina recalled sensing magical energy at the place where she met Hanna. And this building, though its appearance was slightly different, felt somewhat similar.

“Hanna-ssi, do you happen to know this place…?”

“Eh? Ah, no. I feel like I recognize it…. But it’s too run-down, I can’t tell for sure…”

“…? What do you mean?”

Erina casually recounted her meeting with Hanna, omitting the time element. That part of her time-traveling story is a bit too early to reveal.

“Hmm. But this place has been here for at least five generations. I don’t know beyond that, but the magical energy started overflowing recently.”, she said, tidying her hair.

“Then…, Ah, I’m getting too chatty. I should restrain myself.”

“What’s wrong? Ultimately, we work for the world. That’s what religious people do.”

“The world…. Yes. Kira-ssi, how about believing in the Goddess for the sake of the world?”

Erina firmly grasped Kira’s hand full of charms. Her pitifully loving expression was breathtakingly beautiful.

Kira barely managed to free her hand and scattered the charms around.

“I’ll consider it. But not now.”

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry. I can’t just leave it as it is.”

The scattered charms emitted a blue light, rising to different heights in the air.

Instantly, the lights connected, forming patterns. Soon, a magical circle-like formation surrounded the patterns and encircled Hanna and Erina.

Hanna, her eyes full of curiosity, clung tightly to Erina.

“It won’t hurt…. It’ll just make me hazy…”

“Ah. So that’s why you said I could use foul language without worry.”

“Yeah. You’ll only vaguely remember that something bad happened to me.”

“But if that’s the case, I will report you, you know?”

The blue light intensified, and an inexplicable wind caused Kira’s loose clothing to flutter wildly.

Yet, Erina remained calm, her smile unwavering.

“Just hide your body, that’s all. …Well, then, goodbye!”

“That’s clumsy.”

As Erina clasped her hands together in prayer, the blue light vanished instantly, and the wind died down.

“Wh-what?!”

“Do you people not know how to measure the size of divine power? Normally, we shouldn’t use our power on people, but… this is a rather special case, so it can’t be helped.”

Seizing her surprise, rings of light fastened around Kira’s wrists, her arms constrained in the air like an upside down ‘ㄴ’.

Her strength wasn’t sealed, but if she attempted to use the blue light technique, it would be neutralized by the divine power. Even struggling was prevented, her posture fixed by the rings of light.

“Wh-what…? How…?”

“It’s my first time using it on a person… but it works♡ Does it hurt?”

As it’s an attack technique reacting to magical energy, it doesn’t cause pain. It only restricts movement.

“Ar-are you planning to let me go like this? I was wrong. I won’t do it again, so let’s settle this amicably…”

“Hanna-ssi, please take off Kira-ssi’s top.”

Erina calmly cut Kira off and instructed Hanna.

“It’ll be hard to just take off her top, won’t it?”

“It’s okay. Only the bound person can’t move, think of it as playing with a doll.”

“Wai-wait a minute, what are you guys talking about?!?”

“Don’t you want to be happy?”

Erina gently rested her index finger on her soft lips and smiled sweetly.