Ch.145145. Ultra-Powerful Flashlight

Lilith successfully prevented the hostage situation.

Looking at the process, it was a reckless move that might have endangered the hostages, but the result was perfect, so it could be considered excellent. She must have judged that she was capable enough to handle it.

In the end, she didn’t know how to properly use a gun and chose the crude method of swinging it to subdue the criminal, but as long as nothing went wrong, that’s fine. One could say she chose a flawless method of use.

However, just when they thought the situation was over, members of the Elnos Association began swarming in like madmen.

“How many of them are there?”

“Forty-six.”

“You actually counted them?”

“I didn’t count. I just saw it.”

“Wow… Can you see them all at once too, Senior Alkine?”

“I could count if I tried… but I don’t think I can see them all at once.”

The numbers were concerning, but the situation wasn’t urgent enough to prevent them from having this leisurely conversation.

Even with increased numbers, the current Lilith should be able to handle it easily…

“Hey, hey! Ludion! Do something about this!”

Or maybe not? Why is she hiding?

It seemed she wasn’t yet accustomed to her own power.

“The Holy Maiden!! The Holy Maiden is over there!!”

“Woooooah!”

“I’ll, I’ll catch her! Me!”

Or maybe she just ran away because they were creepy.

What kind of education did these people receive to make them look so pathetic?

Well… I know why they’re acting like this.

But regardless of the reason, I don’t feel any sympathy. They’re still criminals swarming around.

So now…

“What are you doing?! I said do something quickly!”

What should I do now?

The number of Elnos Association members rushing toward us is, according to Celia, exactly forty-six.

They’re approaching with Lilith as their target, so they haven’t harmed anyone else yet, but we need to act quickly because who knows what they might do if things go wrong.

Relying on Celia’s magic as usual would be fine, but there’s one thing I can’t resist here.

“Lilith. Give me that.”

“…This? Do you know what you’re asking for?”

I want to try using the K2 rifle Lilith created.

Honestly, when a gun suddenly appears in a fantasy setting, isn’t it natural to want to try it?

With that thought, I took the gun from Lilith and… slightly adjusted my stance.

“…Is that how you use it?”

“Well, you could use it like you did too.”

Lilith seemed embarrassed as she recalled how she had roughly grabbed and swung the gun around, but that was actually a fine way to use it too. A gun is ultimately a piece of metal.

Of course, this one was created by Lilith so it’s made of divine power rather than metal… but whether it’s metal or divine power, getting hit hurts just the same.

More importantly… does this thing even have bullets? The magazine is fully modeled, so it’s confusing.

At least the structure itself is exactly as I know it… so I complete the loading process as I understand it.

It would be funny if nothing happens after all this.

Well, if that happens, Celia will solve the problem, so there’s nothing to worry about.

…Am I depending too much on Celia? Maybe I’m becoming a useless man because Celia is excessively competent.

Despite these distracting thoughts, my aim remains steady and perfect.

And with the mindset that it doesn’t matter whether it fires or not, I gently pulled the trigger…

“…Holy.”

…The world was consumed by light from the muzzle.

It wasn’t a rifle but an ultra-powerful flashlight. This was truly an unexpected result.

In the space where visibility was blocked by light, numerous noises could be heard.

“Kyaaaah!! My eyes! My eyes!”

“I can’t see!!”

People whose vision was blocked by the light were confused, sometimes bumping into things and knocking things over.

But that was insignificantly small compared to other sounds.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

“Kiyooooot!!”

“Aaaah!! It hurts!! It huuuurts!!”

Those were clearly screams of pain.

There was some strange screaming mixed in, but anyway.

“So that’s it.”

Friend-or-foe identification area attack. It’s fascinating that this applies even when the weapon’s user changes.

If it hadn’t applied, I would have been a terrorist setting off an area attack in a crowded place, so that’s fortunate.

It disappeared after firing one shot, but thanks to it, I was able to subdue all the Elnos Association members who had rushed in at once.

However, the problem is…

“Did you see that just now?”

“Who is that man?”

“Did he borrow the Holy Maiden’s power?”

People who were behind the muzzle didn’t get flashed, so they saw the whole scene.

“Holy Maiden. What should we do?”

“I don’t know. And stop bowing. It’s annoying.”

“Um… shouldn’t we leave this place first? There are too many eyes watching.”

Following Alkine’s suggestion, we decided to leave the area.

“Ah… this is the power of God.”

“It was not God who was angry. It was the Holy Maiden.”

Somehow, the situation seems to be getting bigger.

What should I do about this?

“At times like this, a frontal breakthrough is the only option.”

“I agree.”

“I’ll follow your lead.”

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m very uneasy. I think we should stop.”

Once again, the next action was determined by the principle of majority rule.

I immediately changed direction and started heading toward the center of Ritten.

///

Central Ritten.

Unlike the irregular layout of other areas, this place had a distinctly orderly feel.

It was thanks to the almost obsessive effort put into emphasizing the sanctity of the cathedral.

Given Ritten’s characteristic of having many visitors, they had judged that appearances were important. As a result, many travelers who came to Ritten made sure to visit this place at least once.

Not all of them came here to pray to God.

Sometimes for their own safety as they wandered from place to place. Sometimes to worry about the life and death of lost companions. And sometimes to commemorate everything they had lost.

This was because Ritten wasn’t such a safe area.

Located on the outskirts of the continent, near cliff areas, and with mana distributed in various places, the frequency of monster appearances was also high.

Therefore, Ritten’s cathedral valued something other than faith.

Other kingdoms didn’t seem to view this favorably… but as a result, Ritten’s cathedral flourished daily thanks to these travelers.

The occasional donations from pleased travelers were enough to maintain the massive building.

However, despite receiving many donations today, they couldn’t smile about it.

Because they knew that this large donation was tied to the major incident that had just occurred in Ritten.

“…I can’t believe it. The Holy Maiden has only been in the world for a few months at most. Even the previous Holy Maiden trained for over ten years to cover the sky.”

Inside the cathedral’s conference room.

Four elderly figures sat around a round table.

They looked plain with almost no individuality, but the dignity they exuded made it clear that they were no ordinary people.

Of course they weren’t. They were all bishop-level figures.

However, only one person was currently managing this place, and it was the one who had just spoken first.

In response to his words full of admiration, the other three also showed their reactions.

“Is there no possibility that she’s not the Holy Maiden? That the rumors were false…”

“No, that was definitely divine power. I guarantee it.”

“If you say so, then it must be certain… truly a strange occurrence.”

Even for Ritten, where all sorts of religious incidents happen, this was truly exceptional.

The Holy Maiden, who should be in the Rubetia Empire, came all the way here, which was already giving them headaches about how to respond without causing problems, but she directly intervened in a criminal incident happening in Ritten?

They had no idea how to handle this.

That’s why they had called in the other three who had retired and were resting.

“It’s certainly admirable, but let’s talk about more important matters now. What should I do?”

Expecting that these people, who had all held important positions, might come up with some clever strategy, he asked the question. After pondering for a moment, the three men spoke.

“Well, why not go and bow deeply to her? As a sign of gratitude.”

“You need to be more serious. But looking at the formality, it’s not bad. Then, taking it a step further, how about going to the Pope of the Empire and bowing deeply?”

“Why not just gather both of them and bow deeply?”

It wasn’t particularly helpful.

“I’m a fool for asking you all. Fine, I’ll handle it myself, just don’t get in the way.”

“Oh my. Of course.”

“What do you take me for, having served the previous Holy Maiden briefly? I’ve vowed never to get involved with a Holy Maiden again, so don’t worry.”

“Right. If I get involved again, I’ll have to listen to those tiresome travel stories again. Let’s end this. I want to go back and sleep.”

There was no sign of disappointment, as if he hadn’t expected much in the first place.

It seemed he had gathered them to ask if they knew anything, and if not, to tell them not to interfere.

Just as he was about to dismiss these unhelpful individuals…

Knock knock-

“Sorry to interrupt the meeting. I’ve come to inquire about what just happened.”

Such a voice was heard from outside the conference room door.

What just happened… what?

All four men sitting around the round table were stunned as they called in the person who had knocked on the door.

It was a young person they thought highly of, who was currently handling the most work at the cathedral.

“I’d like you to explain what’s going on.”

“Yes, yes…! About 20 minutes ago, another explosion of light in western Ritten…”

Surrounded instantly by the four bishop-level figures, the priest tremblingly completed his report and, upon being told he could leave, fled the place.

Looking at the door that had closed again, the bishop sighed.

“What on earth is going on? I don’t know whether to be happy or not.”

“It’s truly regrettable that such a thing happened to you of all people.”

“I too think your fate of having to be involved with the Holy Maiden is tragic.”

“Life doesn’t always go as planned. It will be difficult, but this too shall pass.”

“All of you, put those hands down first.”

When they removed their hands that had been covering their mouths, their upturned corners of lips were visible.

These old men, really.

Just as he was about to say something… the conference room door was knocked on again.

Knock knock-

What could it be?

They had just received a report about a new incident. Surely nothing else could have happened in the meantime.

Anxiously waiting for the sound from beyond the door… suddenly the door opened without warning.

The door was supposed to creak every time it was opened and closed, and maintenance was scheduled. Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off the door that opened unusually quietly and looked beyond the open door.

None of them thought that among the people standing beyond it would be the Holy Maiden they had been discussing so much.