To the Church Territory (2)

Three men were quietly observing Yona’s group while hiding behind trees.

The men, wrapped in deep navy robes, were intently watching the white-haired woman who particularly stood out among the group.

Especially closely observing the sleeve wrapped around her left arm, the men nodded silently to each other.

Meanwhile, Yona’s group had already moved quite far away.

Their destination was the mage community, and the place the men were facing away from was Cantatien.

“It was definitely Lord Berbaria who appeared in Lizard Den, right?”

“Without a doubt. It’s certain.”

“And that woman… no, no.”

The man who looked back at Yona’s now distant figure turned his gaze back to his companion.

“—It’s certain that it dwells in our Saint.”

“That’s been confirmed too. Lord Berbaria has taken residence in the Saint.”

“That’s right.”

The men quietly looked at each other and nodded.

With only their eyes visible under their hoods, they finally smiled with satisfaction.

“On the day the righteous saint arrives, only then will the Cheonsin return.”

“Only then will our true Cheonsin return.”

“Now that the Saint has finally embarked on the path of hardship, the Cheonsin will watch over her.”

The men recited the prayer with a devout expression.

In the forest where cold winter winds were blowing.

In that wind, the hood of one of the men was blown back, revealing his face.

• • I’m telling you, I really saw it. You know that Lizard Den up there? The pond flowing down from there was dyed pitch black, I tell you!

• • Yeah! I definitely saw it, for real. You know, that pond the Lizardmen cherish as the sacred place of the water god!

    It was that man who had been making a fuss at the inn in Cantatien.

Alec, who had slowly crawled out of his sleeping bag, yawned long and stretched.

But as soon as the cold winter wind brushed past, his stretch quickly subsided, and making a strange “ughh” sound, Alec came and sat by the campfire.

Alec was the type to quickly become alert as soon as he woke up. Unlike Yona, who took a long time to come to her senses even after waking, Alec’s ability to become fully alert as soon as he opened his eyes was amazing, but Yona handed him the stone she had been holding in her arms.

“What’s this?”

Alec received the stone abruptly. Whether it was because Yona had been holding it, or because it had been near the campfire for a long time, the stone was warmly heated, and as soon as he held it, its warmth seemed to spread throughout his body.

“It was cold. Hold onto it. I warmed it up nicely. I’m going to sleep first.”

Yona yawned long, waved her hand at Alec, and crawled into her sleeping bag. Still with one of Alec’s outer garments wrapped around her left arm, she grumbled that she should have bought a nun’s robe in Cantatien, but in fact, Alec knew.

Yona doesn’t have money right now. She has no money, and nun’s robes are expensive, so she’s probably planning to make do like this for now. Alec had thought about buying a nun’s robe for her secretly but gave up. It would only hurt Yona’s pride, and he thought she would talk to him if she really needed it.

A soft breathing sound could be heard. It must be Yona’s breath after crawling into the sleeping bag. Hearing that breath, Alec tightly hugged the stone.

‘It would be okay to say it’s a little hard sometimes.’

It must have been difficult times for Yona.

Alec recalled the moment Berbaria appeared. At that time when Lizard Den was being mercilessly ravaged by the house-sized monster called the mermaid, and the damage to the Lizardmen was enormous. If it hadn’t been for Berbaria, there probably would have been no way to handle it.

At best, they would have died, and at worst, they would have ended up wandering as the mermaid’s minions, having lost their minds.

But Berbaria appeared, and true to its name as a demon, it disposed of the mermaid as a meal in an instant, thanks to which the Lizardmen, as well as Alec and Kaiyak, are alive and here like this.

‘…Tsk.’

Having thought that far, Alec decided that they should somehow go to the church territory.

He didn’t know what the tattoo engraved on Yona’s right arm was, but it hadn’t caused any harm because of its presence. So he had thought it would be fine, but after directly witnessing Berbaria—a demon—like this, he finally realized that this wasn’t something an ordinary human could handle.

Back when he was a cathedral knight trainee, even in those days when he hated studying and tried to avoid it in every way possible, he was still forced to receive education about monsters and demons, and thanks to that, that knowledge still remained with him. It wasn’t education about what kinds of demons there were, but knowledge about how significant it is when a demon descends and how overwhelming their mighty power is still remained.

It’s impossible to live while carrying that as it is. It’s impossible to live with a demon in one’s body. Then, to extract Berbaria dwelling in Yona’s right arm and repel Berbaria, only then will Yona be at peace.

If one were to ask the best place to repel a demon, it would undoubtedly be the Infula Church Territory.

The prohibition placed on him also needs to be lifted, so there are sufficient reasons to go to the church territory.

Alec caressed the stone.

The warm temperature still remained.

‘…What is this?’

Yona looked around.

She clearly remembered that they were camping in the forest, and that she had crawled into her sleeping bag after switching with Alec.

Yet, where she was standing now was not the forest, but an extremely desolate ruin.

Here and there, flames that had not yet been extinguished were burning, dyeing the sky orange. Sparks flew brilliantly through the air before futilely fading away, and in between, gray smoke rose aimlessly, exhaling sorrow like a ghost.

Ruins where no sign of life could be felt. Yona stood alone in these ruins.

“What is this.”

Yona looked around, growling fiercely. Yet, as she clenched and unclenched her fists, her appearance revealing her anxiety without fail looked almost like a puppy standing before a lion. A atmosphere where she growls threateningly, but that appearance isn’t particularly threatening.

Yona’s golden eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for someone. The man she had been relying on the most recently, Alec. Alec’s figure was nowhere to be seen.

No matter how much she looked around, he was nowhere to be seen, and her hand that should have been touching Alec’s shoulder was making futile gestures, having lost its place.

Fear began to fill Yona’s eyes. Fear, terror, anxiety, impatience. Various negative emotions began to eat away at her heart one by one, and soon that heart began to be dyed as if sinking into darkness.

“How is it?”

A voice suddenly heard.

Yona’s heart sank at that voice. Because of this, unable to even ask who it was, Yona looked around. What she saw were ruins, what tickled her nose was the acrid smell of smoke. At the voice suddenly heard in this utterly desolate place, Yona kept looking around.

The fear of an invisible entity was amplified several times and weighed down on her. Although she clearly heard a voice, Yona’s body began to tremble with fear at not being able to see anyone.

Fear and terror always came together because they were the same word. And Yona, who had fully accepted them, had survived longer than most healers, but that didn’t mean she had become accustomed to those emotions.

“Is this the first time I’m revealing myself like this?”

The darkness of the ruins.

From the darkness behind the stone wall that had been blocking the flickering flames, someone came walking out with footsteps. A small girl, much shorter than Yona, who would only come up to her waist. A girl with black hair and black eyes, a very familiar appearance to Yona.

“Ru, Rubina…?”

Yona’s eyes widened in surprise.

Rubina, suddenly appearing in this place where she didn’t even know where she was.

“Vessel. I borrowed the appearance of the second human you were most attached to in your memories.”

Rubina’s lips twisted into a grin. And at that tone, that form of address, Yona finally realized that this Rubina was not the real Rubina. And probably, Yona thought—

Rubina smiled gently at Yona, who had lost her words and couldn’t continue speaking.

A smile full of composure that Rubina, who would be just about 10 years old now, could never make.

“…What, are you doing?”

The trembling subsided.

The fear subsided.

Yona frowned and glared at Berbaria.

Surprisingly, much of the fear subsided just from the fact that Berbaria had appeared in the form of Rubina rather than its original form.

However, Berbaria ignored Yona’s gaze with a smirk.

“Why, are you disappointed that I didn’t appear as the human you were most attached to? But even if I borrow an appearance, I don’t want to be bald.”

“D-don’t talk nonsense!”

Yona shouted loudly.

No matter what, it’s ridiculous to say that the human she’s most attached to is Alec.

Yes, it’s ridiculous.

It has to be ridiculous.

“Don’t get so excited, sit down.”

“Sit where… Huh, huh…?”

Yona, who was about to get angry asking where to sit in this desolate place, couldn’t continue her words.

The ruins where she had been, with flames rising, were gone, and suddenly the surroundings had become a garden.

A fairly well-decorated, round garden with rose vines forming the walls.

A white table and chairs placed there.

“Can’t you just sit there, vessel? No, this way of speaking might feel a bit strange.”

Ahem, ahem.

Clearing her throat a few times, Rubina—or rather, Berbaria in Rubina’s form.

“You understand, right? I am the great demon Berbaria. Every time I appear, you—sis—get too surprised, so I thought I’d try to become more familiar by changing my appearance. How is it?”

Yona couldn’t close her mouth.

She almost wished it had continued as before.

“…I see, understood. I’ll do as before.”

Rubina said this while coming to sit in the chair opposite Yona.

That appearance somehow looked dejected, and Yona found it absurd.