Unable to Be Completely Honest (2)

In the hand that once held a morning star, now there was an unremarkable hammer.

A handle polished smooth from considerable use.

A hammer head still sufficient to strike something and leave a mark.

Holding that hammer, Alec quietly caught his breath.

Like blood circulating through veins, the dark red demonic energy that had been writhing in his lower abdomen began to swirl around his entire body.

He originally had a lot of holy power.

As if to prove that he wasn’t the youngest and strongest cathedral knight in history for nothing, Alec—who was called Johannes Spillban—had been told that if he had been born a woman, he would have been at least a high priestess level from the start. That was Alec, and so even now that his holy power had been replaced with demonic energy, his demonic energy was tremendous.

Demonic energy billowed up from his shoulders. Strangely, even though it was the demonic energy of the demon realm rising instead of the holy power of the Celestial Church to which he had devoted his entire life, Alec felt nothing unusual. For some reason, that’s how it felt.

• …Right. A demon realm knight who is the only one and everything. It’s much cooler.

  Alec smiled a bitter smile as if hearing those words in his ear again.

  Even though he had lost in an instant the holy power he had trained his entire life, Alec did not resent Yona.

  More accurately, he couldn’t resent her.

  Alec had sensed his death the moment the dagger pierced his heart. But he didn’t die and survived, so that itself was a miracle.

  At the end of such a miracle, Alec is now alive like this.

A flower of demonic energy blooming vigorously at the end of the hammer.

After briefly looking down at the vivid evidence of demonic energy, Alec slowly put down the hammer.

Having taken off all his upper clothing and bared his body, Alec quietly observed his reflection in the mirror.

Broad shoulders and defined chest muscles.

Tightly packed abdominal muscles with clear separations.

When he slightly flexed, all his muscles tensed and bulged prominently.

Muscles taut and swollen without a single loose spot.

“Hmm, this is still good enough.”

After putting down the hammer, Alec picked up a dagger from the shelf.

It’s a shaving dagger, not for rituals or anything else, sharpened keenly on a whetstone.

The blade isn’t very long, a small dagger made just for shaving.

Alec picked up that dagger and took a deep breath.

According to Alevian’s calculations, it would take about three more days for Ceres to arrive near the imperial palace in Esima, the capital of the Katus Empire.

“You, you really promised.”

“I really did promise, so don’t worry…”

Alevian wore a rather embarrassed expression.

She had already told Yona many times, made commitments, and even sworn oaths.

Alevian had said over and over that she would never betray Yona, that she would clearly walk a different path from Ceres—and that the resurrection of the Sky God should rightfully be done in the original body.

Yet Yona again forced Alevian to promise, and Alevian had repeated the same words thinking how anxious Yona must be, but at this point, it was getting a bit annoying.

“But… about Ceres.”

Yona picked up a cookie from the plate in front of Alevian and took a bite.

With a crisp sound, a sweet taste spread in her mouth.

This sweetness that must have been made by pouring honey without restraint.

“Is Ceres… strong?”

It was a question Yona had hesitated to ask many times before finally managing to voice it.

When it comes to power, there are some strong individuals on this side too.

But Yona also remembered.

When the agreement between Azrami and the Prairie Agami tribe failed, it was Alevian who destroyed that bridge in one strike.

Alevian’s power that shattered the bridge with that unidentifiable force—probably magic.

Ceres might be of a similar level to Alevian.

If so, wouldn’t it be better to make preparations on this side too—that was Yona’s thought.

To Yona’s question, Alevian sat up straight.

Then, with those blue eyes—those eyes sparkling behind her glasses—she looked directly at Yona and spoke clearly.

“Ceres is strong, Saintess. Stronger than me. As strong as the difference between the names ‘Observer’ and ‘Director’.”

“…What’s the difference in those names? Explain so I can understand.”

Even as she said this, Yona also sat up straight.

There was more she didn’t know about Ceres than what she knew, so it would be better to listen properly to Alevian now.

“An Observer is literally someone who watches. I only have enough power to protect myself. But Ceres is different. Ceres—we have a different name for the Sky God, but anyway. While that one was absent from the demon realm, Ceres has been practically supporting the demon realm, and since the Celestial Deity belatedly started supporting the demon realm, she had to go around taking care of the Grand Dukes… So she’s strong. That much.”

Yona closed her mouth.

She had guessed that Ceres was strong—but hearing that she was stronger than Alevian made her feel newly tense.

“Is she stronger than Damian?”

“She’s not stronger than Damian.”

That was a relief then.

Yona had Damian’s power residing in her, and if necessary, she also had Catsi and Berbaria.

In fact, Catsi and Berbaria were a bit unreliable, but they were still Grand Dukes, so they would surely do their part, making Yona think things would work out somehow.

“But.”

It seemed Alevian’s words weren’t finished yet.

Yona, who had been lost in thought, startled and raised her head to look at Alevian.

“If Ceres is alone, with your current power, Saintess, you should be able to face her without much difficulty. Really. Plus, with the Hero and the Saintess here, even more so.”

“…If she’s alone? You mean she might not be alone?”

“That’s right. As I said earlier, because Ceres went around personally taking care of the demon Grand Dukes, there are Grand Dukes who follow Ceres more than you, Saintess.”

Well, that’s understandable.

Yona hasn’t met all the demon Grand Dukes, and of course they’d be closer to Ceres, whom they’ve met often, than to a Saintess they’ve never even seen.

“Well, that’s not strange. It could be like that. But even so, Ceres won’t come here leading her close friends, right? Right?”

“That’s probably true, but…”

“But what’s the problem?”

“Maybe, yes… maybe there won’t be a problem. For now, it’s true that Ceres is coming alone. But I don’t know what her ulterior motive is. Ceres probably doesn’t know our situation either, but at least we know she’s coming alone, so that’s fortunate.”

“Is it really fortunate?”

Yona thought. It’s true that Ceres is coming here, and it’s also true that she’s coming alone.

However, they couldn’t know what Ceres was thinking.

There was no other reason why Yona had left Ceres alone until now.

At that time, Yona didn’t know Ceres’s intentions either, but now that Yona knows that Ceres had intended to use her as a vessel for the Sky God’s resurrection, there’s a valid reason to create a scene when meeting Ceres.

‘Ceres probably knows too, right?’

Would Ceres know that Catsi had been subjugated? The possibility was high. Even if she hadn’t seen it directly, Alevian and Ceres were said to be priestesses of the demon realm, so they would know the circumstances well, and then the possibility that they know Catsi has joined Yona is very high.

“You said three days later, right?”

“Yes. At the current speed. If she maintains the current speed, three days.”

“She might arrive a bit earlier then.”

“If anything changes, I’ll let you know.”

“Okay, got it.”

Yona felt the need to organize her increasingly tangled thoughts.

Problems that were difficult to judge alone were growing, and to sort out these thoughts, it would be best to meet Alec.

Telling Alec about the current situation and discussing what to do—after such a discussion, the situation would surely be sorted out.

‘If only that dwarf dung bag hadn’t said such strange things…’

Yona grumbled inwardly as she left Alevian’s room.

She had never thought it strange to go see Alec, but because of the weird things Bigrind had said when they talked, even meeting alone was making her nervous.

‘I know Alec… uh, feels that way about me, but…’

Unless you’re a fool, you can’t not know that.

Yona wasn’t unaware that Alec had more than ordinary feelings for her. How else could he be so devoted to her? Moreover, Alec had even tried to give his life for her, so it was even more so. It’s nonsense to do such a thing just because you’re an adventurer and a comrade.

‘…But I was originally… a man…’

In fact, there were times when she thought what meaning those memories had now.

When she fell into Catsi’s illusion, hadn’t she even had such a dream?

Just thinking about herself on that day, whimpering and crying under Alec, still made her feel like her face was on fire.

Was it three days, or four days?

During that long time, Alec had thoroughly violated her again and again. Yona hadn’t refused or said no either—rather, she remembered pouncing on him more. Although she ended up pinned down by Alec due to stamina issues, anyway, it’s true that Yona had enjoyed it too.

‘It’s funny to insist I was a man or whatever with that kind of behavior.’

Wouldn’t everything be easier if I just admitted that I was mentally disturbed?

Yona thought as she walked down the corridor.

She had claimed that she had been a man and came from another world, but honestly, she didn’t know what meaning those claims had now. Yona thought so. Before, she had never thought of being held like that by anyone, be it Alec or whoever. But now it’s different, isn’t it? Hadn’t she just spent three days of frenzy with Alec? Moreover—

‘It, it didn’t feel bad… honestly, it felt good…?’

The pleasure had been really amazing after all.

‘But still, why did Alec’s hair grow…’

Even in the adventurers’ guild, didn’t stroking Alec’s smooth head make her feel mentally and physically at ease?

That baldness was like a symbol of Alec, but now that his hair has grown thick, that characteristic and everything else has completely disappeared.

‘That bastard, if he said he’d go back to being bald, I wouldn’t refuse.’

Isn’t Alec’s face quite handsome?

Moreover, his build and strength are thoroughly manly.

That’s the ideal man Yona had always dreamed of.

And that baldness was like the finishing touch of that ideal man.

But Alec without his baldness has now become a man lacking something.

He’s still an ideal man, but it feels like the finishing touch has been removed from the word “ideal”.

‘I gave him so many hints to go back to being bald, but he couldn’t even catch on… that baldy…’

Clicking her tongue, Yona stood in front of Alec’s room door.

She knocked lightly, and Alec’s response came from inside.

“It’s me.”

• Oh— come in.

  Alec’s voice.

  Yona turned the doorknob, opened it, and stepped into Alec’s room.

There he was.

Alec’s head shining brightly in the light.

Not a single strand of hair visible—

That shining bald Alec was there.

“Ba, Baldy…?”

Yona’s mouth fell open.