Ch.554554. The Viscount’s Conclusion (1)

A girl with bleached white hair collapsed in front of a woman. The moment everyone confirmed that the person she pointed to was a Magia host, the madness that had consumed the crowd subsided.

In that moment when silence fell upon the street that had been filled with angry voices.

The captain of the royal guard shouted to brilliantly capitalize on the opportunity Tasha had created.

“The ability of Lady Tasha, the girl under the Baron’s guardianship, is real! She can detect Magia that even our Expert knights couldn’t sense!”

She proclaimed.

That shamefully, even knights who had reached the Expert level and mages of similar caliber couldn’t find this ticking time bomb. The girl whom everyone in the slums had praised as a devout priestess had performed a miracle to find it.

“If we unite and work together! Haven’t you all seen with your own eyes how we can instantly end the sudden unrest and threats within the territory!”

Rather than rushing into the lord’s castle in a mob, mingling with those who might become Demonkin at any moment, waiting for the territory war to end, and then being punished for treason.

Wouldn’t it be better to gather around Tasha here and maintain order to maturely overcome this situation?

Though she shouted with all her might.

“……”

The enthusiastic response the captain of the royal guard had hoped for didn’t come.

People’s faces remained silent, growing more solemn. Some just continued to darken with worry.

─If such Magia were inside my body.

What kind of treatment would I receive? Starting with this concern.

─Even so, that girl already looks too exhausted to do anything.

Tasha, who was supposed to stop the internal chaos, was now trembling with her head bowed low.

While knights urgently offered their potions to Tasha, what could they expect from her as she soaked the front of her clothes with dripping nosebleeds?

As this weighing of concerns continued.

“Lady Tasha, you need treatment at the lord’s castle right now—”

“…It’s only been one person so far.”

“The potion is just emergency treatment…! You need to quickly see a priest or someone skilled in medicine—”

“If I go back… into that castle… what about the people here…?”

After this silence ends, soon there would be another chaotic scene with shouting and cursing.

What had already happened. Having mustered the courage to create such a desperate opportunity. The hosts she had found by drawing up her Divine Power were etched in her mind, and she remembered clearly who they were.

Wouldn’t it be better to weed them out to prolong this silence?

“Ughh…!”

“Lady Tasha…!”

“Please support her…!”

Tasha, who had downed the potion in one gulp, stood up staggering.

“Lady Tasha, you need treatment immediately. Even if the potion gives you temporary vitality, walking directly into this crowd in your condition—”

“I have to do it, Captain.”

“……”

“Please clear the path before me.”

Her voice was low and deliberate, yet seemed squeezed out.

Hearing this, the captain felt an inexplicable pressure from the voice of a girl smaller and more fragile than herself.

As she hesitated momentarily, unable to respond immediately, Tasha began to move forward with the support of a knight.

“Clear the way…! Just try to bump into her…!”

“Get out of the way! You had the courage to throw stones at knights…! Why are you moving so slowly now!”

Those who had defended Tasha, who had witnessed her miracle up close, surrounded her.

With each step she took forward, they pushed people out of her way. Ready to throw themselves in front of anyone who might rush at her in excitement. The people gathered with the belief that Tasha would save them once again.

“N-not me. It’s not me. You must have seen wrong.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“No! It’s not me! Look! Where’s the Magia!”

The discovery of the second host.

“…I’m fine. After all, a mercenary who has lost his comrades and both arms has no value anyway.”

“……”

“No need to be sad. Let’s say I’m repaying the kindness you showed by feeding me when I couldn’t even hold a spoon. Actually, it’s a miracle I’ve lived this long.”

“…There must be a way.”

“If I have one wish, it’s to die as a human, not as a Demonkin.”

And then there was one who accepted his end calmly.

“If I truly am a host, please kill me before I transform into something so hideous. Will you do that for me?”

“I will remember your honorable death for the rest of my life.”

As soon as the Magia burst forth, the captain’s sword cleanly ended her life before she could feel any pain.

Except for the wound on her chest, she looked peaceful with her eyes closed.

While two correct identifications might be considered luck, no one here doubted Tasha’s ability to pick out three correct answers. Soon, the crowd began to follow her.

Since the conditions for forming a religion require a community based on faith and the pursuit of an ultimate goal using this as a pretext.

“…Even if we enter the lord’s castle, if people like that are mixed among us.”

“They say the Baron is even her guardian. Let’s follow her for now.”

Faith was directed toward Tasha who performed miracles, and a community formed around her.

“Why do we have to suffer like this…?”

“…It must be the work of cultists.”

“No, it must be the work of Viscount Akion’s side. Isn’t this mess happening because of the territory war?”

“Then they must have allied with the cultists…! Those bastards who should be torn apart…!”

The target of resentment shifted.

“Then those Demonkin—”

“They’re victims, I suppose. That’s why those knights ended with restraints instead of killing them right away.”

“These sons of bitches… once this mess is over, I’ll definitely…!”

“That all depends on that child Tasha—no, the priestess holding out.”

The ultimate goal was revenge against Viscount Akion’s family who caused this mess, along with revealing the true truth.

“…Somehow I feel that priestess will stand up for us until the end.”

All of this centered around Tasha, who continued to move forward despite frowning in pain. As faith and the will to overcome gathered around her.

Along with using the technique called “miracle,” this was too big a spark to end with just this territory war. At this moment when the possibility of developing into a religion had opened.

“Ugh…?”

Tasha felt Divine Power filling her withered heart again.

She finally looked around with a face that was beginning to regain color and realized.

‘Now is…!’

The time to alleviate the pain tormenting her.

And the moment to firmly sprout the seeds of the new religion the Baron so desired.

Tasha, who had always prided herself on her excellent intuition and quick wit, opened her mouth slightly toward those who believed they could succeed if she was with them.

“…No.”

“Lady Tasha?”

“I’m just a child illuminating the path I’ve learned for all of you.”

“…Is that what we should tell them?”

“Overcoming this terrible fate and opening a new path is not just my role, but the role of all of us.”

Soon Tasha’s voice was quickly spread by the knight supporting her.

As the most primitive and simple doctrine related to fate spread through the gossip of many people.

At the moment when the crowd psychology spread with shouts that we would create our own history.

In Baron Carpel’s territory.

“…This will work!”

Finally, a small religion took root.

* * *

I could soon hear from a soldier who rushed over urgently about what Tasha was doing.

It was definitely good news that she was stabilizing the territory where Demonkin were suddenly appearing, rallying the territory’s people who had broken free from control due to anxiety and fear, and organizing the interior.

‘I guess it’s no coincidence that the Status Window reacted.’

Just as there was a reason the Status Window chose Sione over anyone else in Sianella.

For Tasha too, there must have been a powerful hidden ability that made even the Status Window react, rather than remaining just a habitual pickpocket from the back alleys.

However, what worried me was.

‘They said Tasha’s condition isn’t good.’

Tasha, who was said to have performed miracles.

Not only was her hair bleached completely white, but she also had nosebleeds and pale skin color. Everything was concerning.

But I couldn’t leave my position here to save the capable Tasha in the current situation.

The only way to quickly resolve all these adversities was to end this territory war with a decisive victory. Fortunately, an orange flare rose into the sky just in time.

“Family head! It’s a flare from the assault team!”

The assault team had been separated to roam the battlefield to find the leaders on the opposing side.

And orange was what I had instructed them to fire when they discovered their target, from when we came from the viscount’s family to the baron’s.

“The assault team has found the enemy’s leader! If we capture them, all these numerous soldiers will naturally have to retreat!”

To this, I said to my soldiers who had also seen the flare.

“We’ll capture them and end this territory war with victory!”

It was time to end this tiresome battle.

In fact, we had occupied Akion Viscounty long ago. Breaking through those annoying soldiers, entering the territory, and reclaiming the castle walls proved we were already far superior. It was already proof that we had won.

In this situation, there was no benefit to dragging it into a prolonged battle. We had to end it as quickly as possible.

“We’re going to capture Viscount Akion!”

There was no one who could stop our warhorse as we galloped roughly.

* * *

“Do you really intend to give the magic tower to Viscount Akion?”

“Viscount Akion? Well…”

Amelie gave a small smile at her right-hand man’s words.

“If Viscount Akion returns alive, I wouldn’t mind giving it to her. The justification would be there… and it would prove that the Viscount is more capable than we judged.”

“……”

“Are you worried? That I might give the magic tower to Akion instead of you?”

“Worried? Not at all.”

“There’s nothing to worry about. At least the Akion I know isn’t that capable. Besides, she was never invited to this position, was she?”

With her legs crossed, humming a tune, she closed her eyes gently and continued.

“She’ll die. Viscount Akion will. And since she’ll be handling Magia I didn’t even order her to, she shouldn’t live.”

“……”

When she had spared Akion’s life previously, she had secretly given orders to her agents planted there.

They would use something different in the baron’s territory than what she had discussed with Viscount Akion.

“Akion’s role ends with overturning the baron’s territory once. That’s what we decided, right?”

“…A sound judgment.”

“So I’d like you to prepare what you’re doing more quickly and surely. We need to climb one step higher, stepping on Viscount Akion’s sacrifice.”

Her pale purple eyes, which opened again, resembled those of an unpleasant snake.

“Understood?”

“I will keep it in mind.”

Just as Viscount Akion was doing.

The servant who had experienced Amelie’s test in the past could only affirm her words.