Ch.150150. There Are Two Ways to Make Someone Angry

There are two ways to make someone angry.

First is to start talking and then stop.

….

….

Anyway. Ludovic was in exactly that state right now.

“It’s not that long of a story. What happened was… ah, just a moment…”

“So, at that moment… hmm, sorry. Just give me a little more time…”

“What I saw was… well… sigh…”

What could he possibly have seen that was so incredible? I was starting to get annoyed.

Of course, Ludovic’s close friends beside him felt the same way, so there was no need for me to step in.

“Ludovic, have you finally gone senile?”

“If you’re going to speak, speak. If not, then don’t. You look like that young man who got erectile dysfunction a few months ago.”

“I feel like I’m going to die from frustration, so speak quickly. My lifespan is short enough as it is, are you trying to shorten it further?”

Even though this wasn’t an official occasion, the way the three of them freely berated each other in a gathering of important figures clearly showed how close they were.

“Wait a minute. Erectile dysfunction? I’m still healthy!”

Ludovic even flared up because he couldn’t tolerate that particular comment.

They really seemed to get along well.

Well, despite all that criticism, Ludovic still couldn’t continue his story.

As Ludovic repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, an awkward silence persisted for quite some time.

It went on for so long that Lilith, who had been giving me buffs, got tired and canceled them.

[Endurance: 8]

The ‘+15’ value disappeared, leaving only my original stats.

I hadn’t noticed while the buff was active, but now that it was gone, my body felt somewhat softer.

It felt like my muscles were being replaced with fat… quite a strange sensation.

Is this what they mean by only appreciating something after losing it? I should have appreciated it while I had it.

Anyway, at this rate, there would be no progress until sunset. So I decided to deploy Lilith, my ultimate weapon, at least for this situation.

Lilith, who had been sticking close to me, briefly looked at Ludovic, then unleashed her Divine Power and struck his eyes with it.

…Suddenly?

“Urgh?!”

“You’ve been glancing at our companion with those eyes for a while now. I’d appreciate it if you’d stop.”

“I-I’m sorry, Holy Maiden.”

Then he started showing strange behavior again, but her momentum was so overwhelming that I had no chance to intervene.

Not that I wanted to anyway.

“Please speak comfortably. I’m just a student.”

“I couldn’t possibly…”

“Talk to me like you talk to Ludion.”

“…Understood.”

…Lilith’s respect for the elderly might be aggressive in its method, but it was certainly effective.

Perhaps because he couldn’t see properly after getting his eyes zapped, Ludovic finally began to speak.

Ludovic slowly began to explain what he had seen.

“It was something I’ve never experienced in my life, Ludion. He has darkness in him that’s beyond measurement.”

So my sins run deep.

Well, this was one of the scenarios I had roughly anticipated from the moment he collapsed, so I wasn’t particularly surprised.

However, I was worried that Lilith might strike again.

I glanced at her, but fortunately, she didn’t seem inclined to do so.

Instead, Vattier, who had been listening silently, asked in surprise.

“Are his sins really that great?”

“…No. I don’t think that’s it either.”

“…You really are senile…”

“No! Just listen first.”

Having become like the boy who cried wolf for merely opening and closing his mouth, Ludovic hastily continued.

“The darkness was deep, but I couldn’t sense any fragments of sin at all.”

“How is that possible?”

Vattier’s expression suggested he genuinely wondered if Ludovic had lost his mind while unconscious.

It wasn’t an unreasonable reaction. Even Vattier, who held the position of bishop, couldn’t avoid accumulating fragments of sin. It’s hard to believe that someone with deep darkness would have no fragments of sin.

Sin accumulates just from eating crops, and fragments form from unknowingly allowing evil deeds to continue.

No matter how virtuous a life one leads, as long as one cannot satisfy everyone, fragments of sin will inevitably exist.

Me? I haven’t lived particularly virtuously, but I haven’t lived badly either.

I’ve never intentionally tried to harm others, but it’s true that I’ve thought primarily of myself.

So, I have no fragments of sin?

Clearly, something was wrong with this result.

How could one’s sins be so deep, yet have no fragments of sin?

When faced with something difficult to explain, I do what I always do – I give up trying to understand.

“So, am I a bad person or not?”

Do I really need to think about it and draw my own conclusion?

What matters now is how Ludovic judges and determines this.

After shifting all responsibility to him, the answer I got was… another shifting of responsibility.

“If I may be so bold as to ask, Holy Maiden.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

“I’d like to know why you accompany this man.”

“…What?”

From me to Ludovic, from Ludovic to Lilith.

Lilith, who had been handed the responsibility like a hot potato, looked around to see if there was someone she could pass it to, but unfortunately, there was no such person.

“Um, well… umm…”

In the end, Lilith had no choice but to give an answer she would have to take responsibility for.

“Well… because I like him?”

…That was truly an answer she’d have to take responsibility for. But now the responsibility was mine.

Wait, why did she hesitate so much just to give such a foolish answer?

Ludovic wasn’t asking about that, Lilith.

“Lilith. That’s not what Ludovic was asking.”

Well said, Celia.

Realizing her mistake belatedly due to Celia’s words, Lilith asked with a startled expression.

“Oh, this isn’t it?”

“Of course not. Why would Ludovic be curious about who you like?”

“That’s true… Wait, did I just make a public confession?”

“Well, at the point where your favorability was revealed, it’s pretty much the same as a confession.”

“Oh come on. But that and this are different.”

“You understand well.”

Lilith, seemingly unable to comprehend why she had answered that way, began frantically messing up her hair.

Unlike Celia, who was meticulous about her appearance, or Alkine, who was skilled with her hands, Lilith’s hair was already somewhat dry, and now it was becoming a complete mess.

“Hey, hey, she’s going to pull all her hair out. Stop her.”

“Leave her be. Alkine will fix it.”

“Me? Well, I don’t mind if she asks.”

In the end, Alkine ended up fixing Lilith’s disheveled hair.

…It was almost like magic how her hair texture changed with just a few touches from Alkine.

Meanwhile…

“…If he’s the man the Holy Maiden likes, I suppose I should trust him.”

Ludovic was muttering such things to himself.

He talked about deep darkness and whatnot, but it seems he’s moved past it now.

With that feeling, the discussion about my sins came to a temporary conclusion.

But we couldn’t just end it there and leave, because there was still something remaining.

The matter of Lina, the chairperson of the Elnos Association, who was still tied up and shoved in a corner.

“What’s this? Coming in a group. Just watching… ugh.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She was trying to escape quietly. I subdued her.”

I see. I had no idea.

Hmm. More importantly, I think if I use her well, Lilith’s rumors might spread less.

In reality, Lilith’s position isn’t that significant. After all, she’s only been a Holy Maiden who’s shown her face for a few months.

If what happened today spreads as is, she’ll certainly become famous, but that’s not what Lilith herself wanted, and honestly, it’s not something I would welcome either.

The moment Lilith becomes famous, there would be more than just one or two factions making moves.

If she got involved in strange incidents because of other factions, who knows what might happen.

Therefore, I wanted to minimize Lilith’s reputation from this incident, and I thought that Lina, who was tied up right in front of us, might be the breakthrough for that.

After all, the Elnos Association is such a large organization that there’s no name they don’t know.

If the chairperson of such an association disappears overnight, there would be internal divisions and all sorts of incidents… but if my prediction is correct, it probably won’t be a big deal.

From the beginning, it wasn’t a structure that revolved around Lina, so without her, everyone would just return to being wandering criminals.

There would be a brief period of confusion and power struggles, but that would be their own business.

That’s how it was in the game’s side quests.

But I couldn’t figure out how to use this on my own… so I decided to get help from the people around me.

With the question of how to handle Lina.

Vattier said:

“It might be somewhat of a lie, but wouldn’t it be good to announce that she was captured by the Holy Maiden’s power?”

I immediately rejected that.

Well, it’s a natural answer from him as a bishop, but it completely contradicted my current objective.

Next, Alkine said:

“How about tying her up with the heretics we caught earlier in a crowded place for a few days?”

I rejected this as well.

It would certainly make an impact, but there was still nothing that would overshadow the Holy Maiden’s achievements. Plus, we couldn’t just tie her up and leave; we’d need to keep watch, and we didn’t have the luxury of staying here for days.

Various other opinions were offered afterward, but nothing particularly good came up.

Sigh. This isn’t easy.

It seemed unreasonable to try to overshadow the Holy Maiden’s achievements when they had already spread.

Just as I was about to advise Lilith to just become famous and implement a seclusion policy…

Lilith spoke:

“Why don’t we just say Ludion did everything?”

What does that mean all of a sudden? Say I did everything?

“I mean, the pillar of light, the annihilation of the Elnos Association, capturing this person here. Say you did it all. That works, right?”

Hearing this, Celia began to support Lilith’s opinion as if it was an excellent idea.

“Come to think of it, there were no witnesses to the pillar of light, and technically, it was Ludion who dealt with the Elnos Association members who gathered.”

“And there were witnesses to Ludion’s activities. I think it could work.”

Even Alkine joined in.

The four elders who were listening from behind had expressions that seemed to wonder what on earth they were talking about… and I shared their sentiment.

‘Me? All of this situation?’

Not knowing what to say, I looked at Lilith, who shamelessly said to me:

“You’re going to become a saint.”

But I’m not religious.

Regardless of my thoughts, it seemed they had already decided among themselves.