Ch.339EP.71 – Cowardice Is Not the Exclusive Property of Villains (4)

“Sir Knight, since it’s not easy to punish that nobleman in one go anyway, right? He’s a high noble, and whether he dies or not, problems will arise. So rather than killing him, wouldn’t it be better to take away his ‘life’?”

If I told you it didn’t even take 30 seconds—no, not even 10 seconds—to come up with the plan she presented to him the day before, would you believe it?

It was an impressive reminder that even evil deeds require quick thinking.

“The essence of this plan is simple. We’ll ‘seize’ Count Lohengrin’s body using [Succubus Mystery]. Oh, don’t look at me like that. This isn’t some demonic talk about stealing his soul. Think simply. When someone commits a crime, they go to prison, right? If it’s difficult to judge Count Lohengrin by the kingdom’s laws, then we’ll judge him instead. We’ll imprison him in his own body. And in his place, we’ll use his body a bit. Rather than leaving it uselessly abandoned, wouldn’t that be better for the kingdom—no, for the world? Hoho.”

“…I find it oddly irritating how you keep emphasizing ‘we’.”

“Hehehe, for this plan to succeed, I need your help, Sir Knight. Honestly, I wouldn’t dare attempt this plan without your assistance. Even for me, this is quite a gamble.”

To summarize exactly what this scheming woman was saying:

“So you’re saying you’ll turn that count into a vegetative state, then put your other half into him?”

“That’s the summary, yes.”

“…There’s a lot I want to question, but let me ask just one thing: is that possible?”

“Yes, it’s possible. Though I estimate I’ll have to sacrifice more than 50% of my Succubus Mystery. And I’ll need to stay by his side constantly to suppress Count Lohengrin’s consciousness whenever it periodically awakens. Which means…”

“Which means?”

“I’ll need to become Count Lohengrin’s wife, sister, or daughter. Since I’ll always need to be with him, fufu.”

“…If I said that sounds like your real objective, would I be wrong?”

“Fufu, I can’t deny it. I need to live a new life too.”

“……”

“D-don’t glare at me like that.”

“Tsk, I appreciate your honesty.”

“Haha…”

At his words, Judia didn’t deny it and, “for the first time,” revealed her true intentions with a bitter smile.

And then.

“Living as a succubus has many advantages, but many hardships too… And above all, I know myself well. As long as I have this power, I’ll eventually do something bad. Something very bad… I’m a bit of a bad woman. Quite bad, actually.”

“You have good self-awareness, don’t you?”

“At times like this, you should deny it a little! Hmph! A-anyway! I don’t hesitate to do bad things. And if someday I use my succubus powers to do something bad and get caught by you, Sir Knight.”

Snip-

“That’s when my head would fall. I don’t want that to happen. If possible, I want to live a long, good life.”

Making a gesture of her head being cut off, she seemed to have revealed everything as she raised both hands and extended them to him.

“So, what will you do, Sir Knight? …Deal?”

“…I’ll need to wait and get permission first.”

“From whom?”

“From someone rich and powerful.”

“??”

…Naturally, he couldn’t proceed with such an absurd plan recklessly, so Ihan contacted a powerful figure who could approve this reckless plan and handle the aftermath.

He thought he might have to wait a while for an answer, but.

“He, he approved it…”

“…?”

“He said to contact him when it’s done. He says he’ll come personally.”

“…Hasn’t it been less than an hour since we contacted him?”

“……”

“Is the Duke perhaps very free these days?”

“…Haha.”

Luna de Brigitte laughed, thinking it was a joke, but Ihan was serious.

And so, currently.

“I hear you asked Luna if I was free?”

“……”

“Don’t misunderstand. Luna isn’t loose-lipped. But among the shadows with her, some have lighter tongues.”

“How nice. You have loyal subordinates who report even trivial matters.”

“My pride. Though sometimes it’s burdensome.”

“…You’re not really free, are you?”

“What an insolent mouth!”

Duke Galahad, Blake, laughed heartily, saying it was amusing.

The strangely free-looking powerful figure who would clean up this mess.

No, somehow he always seems free.

‘Is this country really okay?’

Ihan was slightly worried about the future of this country.

* * *

“…So it’s true.”

Blake, his expression hardened as if he had never laughed, looked at Roseth, or rather, the being that was once Roseth.

“…I greet the great lord of Galahad, master of the demon sword and guardian of the river.”

“Hmm.”

That Roseth, who had dared to cast malicious glances without knowing his place—that existence worse than a pest—bowed and showed respect to him.

Blake almost failed to maintain his expression and rubbed his brow.

Though he had already heard reports, there’s quite a difference between hearing something and confirming its reality.

“Huu, amazing. I thought there would be no more surprises…”

“……”

“Amazing…”

“…Cough.”

Pierre couldn’t suppress a cough under the crushing pressure.

Even though it was just a gaze, it felt like a red-hot iron was burning his body.

And you know what’s more surprising?

‘There’s not even any killing intent…’

Despite the absence of killing intent, just meeting his gaze was this intense.

A monster…!

Like the current head of the Ophen family known as the Sword Saint, he was called a sword genius from his youth, and after being chosen by the demon sword, he succeeded in subjugating it rather than being controlled by it, becoming the strongest Galahad in history.

Because of this, rumors of him being equivalent to a superhuman were widespread.

…This proved those rumors were not exaggerated at all.

However, Blake, who overwhelmed Pierre, seemed uninterested in him and silently shifted his gaze to examine Judia, then moved his attention to the shadow.

“You’ve verified it?”

“Here, as you can see from the graph readings, the [Mystery] wave pattern is below 40%. Considering that the average wave pattern for mystery races is 80%, it’s showing less than half the average value. This is barely better than an ordinary person. In other words, she can no longer freely wield succubus powers.”

“I see.”

“…To mention the most important part, the absurd act of creating another personality using succubus powers, like Inquisitor Pierre, or the inexplicable act of taking over another’s body like this time, is no longer possible. She’s healthier than most ordinary people and has the succubus’s characteristic charm, but even that is at a subtle level, so it would be accurate to say she’s just a human with somewhat rich potential.”

“What can be done with 40% power?”

“At most, she could peek into someone’s dreams a little. Even that would probably be impossible for more than five minutes, I cautiously predict.”

“The possibility of regaining power?”

“About a 0.03% probability. The succubus cells and Count Roseth’s body have mixed too well. It’s like mixing ash into pure milk—extracting the ash again would be impossible unless the fairy or great magician Merlin returns from Avalon.”

“That’s good news. You’re saying it’s impossible.”

“That’s right. …However.”

“Hmm?”

“If this woman and Roseth—no, Pierre—have a child, there’s a possibility a fairly strong succubus could be born. Even if not, there’s a high probability a strong succubus could be born through recessive inheritance.”

“That’s not very positive.”

The Duke’s expression immediately turned cold.

Although he had lent his authority for this as a means to punish Roseth, the ability to take another’s body was chillingly dangerous.

This verification process was absolutely necessary, and from Blake’s perspective, thorough verification was required.

In that sense, when he was maintaining a strictly cold stance that perhaps the succubus seedling should be cut down now…

“Duke, Duke.”

“…What is it?”

“I, I couldn’t help overhearing, but I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

“Why do you think so?”

Blake was a relatively generous ruler but not humane enough to willingly let a dangerous element live.

Nevertheless, he listened to the knight’s words because he was worthy of respect.

Sure enough, the knight…

“Just look at their expressions.”

“…Hmm?”

…offered wise advice.

Only then did he notice that both the succubus woman and the succubus man had expressions as if they were trying not to vomit.

They looked as if they had witnessed something horrific, as if they were trembling from a terrible plague.

Why were they like that?

“Their relationship is similar to that of the whoremonger and his sister? …No, it might be even more terrible.”

“……”

Duke Blake recalled the two siblings he had practically raised.

That relationship was, how should I put it…

“Hmm, I see, that won’t happen.”

Blake nodded, recalling memories of those troublemaking children.

“If it’s worse than those two, there certainly won’t be any continuation.”

He remembered the adorable quarrels of the two siblings who would throw his precious porcelain at the back of each other’s heads and even engage in fistfights.

“Good memories.”

“……”

…The shadows gave looks suggesting they wondered why he omitted the part where he had beaten them with a stick in anger over the broken porcelain, but they were wise enough not to voice such objections.

* * *

A time of thorough verification.

For one of the top three powers in this kingdom, it was an incredibly thorough safety check.

But conversely, because it was so thorough…

‘Is he really one of the top three?’

Arrogant yet not arrogant.

Ihan secretly thought that the perfectionism of Galahad’s people might be due to the Duke’s influence.

At that moment.

“Your Highness, he has arrived.”

“…Let him in.”

Ihan sensed a familiar presence, and shortly after he closed his mouth.

“……”

An old man appeared.

More precisely, an old priest with a strangely stiff expression.

The old priest, who still wore worn priestly robes despite being elevated to the new Pope, had an unusually stern look in his eyes, unlike his usual self.

His eyes showed various emotions, and at this moment, Ihan, the Duke, and others were carefully watching the old priest’s reaction.

However, the old priest’s eyes were not directed at them but solely at the two individuals.

“Oh? It’s the old man. What brings you here?”

“……”

“……”

“Pierre, look. Your boss is here.”

“…Shut your mouth.”

“Why are you getting annoyed at me?”

The succubus, who either couldn’t read the atmosphere or deliberately ignored it, just shrugged.

“Hmm…”

The old priest, Rafael, gazed at the girl for a moment, then spoke with sorrowful eyes.

“Pierre, is that really you?”

“……”

“…Or should I now call you Count Roseth?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“…Hmm.”

An apology with many meanings compressed into it.

Rafael felt and understood many things just from hearing that one word of apology.

Having accumulated wise wisdom over a century, as people evaluated him, he could grasp the emotions and feelings of others just by looking at their eyes, without needing explanations from anyone. And so Rafael…

“…You’re enjoying freedom and joy.”

“……”

“At the very least, you should feel some guilt.”

“…I’m already a sinner. One who has committed terrible acts that no human should.”

“……”

“Do you know? By entering this body, I also share the Count’s memories. Right now, I know this man’s evil deeds better than anyone. In fact, such punishment is too lenient for him—”

“That is not for you to judge.”

“…Even though Roseth, this apostate, is a ‘murderer’ who killed the previous Count Lohengrin?”

“!?”

“He killed his own father with his own hands because he was an obstacle to his plans—a parricide! So why…!”

Pierre listed various crimes.

Those were the crimes committed by Roseth, and among them were great evils related to the temple.

They were information that would shock the kingdom if even one were revealed, and some even thought that being sealed was a light punishment, but,

“Yes, he committed many sins.”

“That’s right…”

“But why does it appear to this old man’s eyes that you’re just making excuses?”

“……”

“…You should rather speak your true mind. Haah…”

Rafael couldn’t feel any sincerity in Pierre’s words.

There was no sign of a priest’s duty to uphold God, nor any sense of mission as an Inquisitor.

All that was visible was excuses and self-justification.

It was like watching obvious lies told by a child trying to hide wrongdoing from parents.

“You ultimately stole someone else’s life. Yet you show no sense of responsibility for such an act, heh heh… You’ve long forgotten this old man’s humble teachings, all of them…”

A hollow murmur.

Neither angry nor disappointed, his eyes showed only sorrow.

And so Rafael.

“Judia Pierre.”

Snap.

“I permanently dismiss you from the temple.”

“!!!”

“This cross is merely a shackle to you, so forget this old man and live freely according to your will.”

…He broke Pierre’s cross necklace in one motion.

“…I’ve been sorry all this time. I hope only for abundance in your heart and good fortune in your life, which has been bound only by constraints because of me.”

“……”

Pierre received his cross and watched Rafael, who wished him good fortune, unable to respond in any way.

He could only guiltily watch Rafael’s back, which somehow looked ten years older.

…Even though he didn’t deserve to feel guilty.

“……”

“…Hmm.”

“……”

“Should I smash his head first?”

“Haah…”

“…Please just get angry, will you.”

Ihan found that when a true adult gets angry, it’s the scariest thing in the world.