episode_0008

*

I made them go away from my door, then closed the door and stepped out into the hallway.

Kunat’s grinning face was visible through the closing door.

That son of a bitch.

He must have known they were listening outside.

I sighed and looked at them.

“How much did you hear? No, from where did you start hearing?”

“From when you said nine out of ten people outside this island are dead….”

“Ah… I see.”

“Since when could my cat talk?”

Sola threw out a joke as usual.

But her voice was filled with an uneasy tremor.

It was easy to recognize that the joke was a desperate attempt to shake off her anxiety.

If Sola, who’s usually the most daring, was like this, the other two girls were needless to say.

Confused and terrified expressions were plastered on their faces.

Well, I went out to get food and came back covered in blood, I’m talking to a devil in the middle of the night, and there are unknown monsters swarming outside.

It would be more surprising if they accepted all this calmly.

“… Please tell us what happened.”

They were demanding an explanation.

Why I was talking to a devil, and whether the outside world had really been destroyed.

It’s hard for me to open my mouth.

I don’t know much either, and even what I do know, I don’t know how to organize it.

I was racking my brains, not knowing where to start, when someone slowly opened their mouth.

“Is it true…?”

“…”

“What that cat… thing said… Is it all true? Is the world really… destroyed?”

The one who spoke was Anna, the eldest.

She was usually the most reliable with her diligence and poise, but now she looked the most confused of the three.

Of course, it wasn’t strange that she was confused.

Having come here at the late age of late teens, she had more memories of the outside world than the other two.

The faces of her family and friends would still be vivid in her mind.

She was finding it hard to accept the fact that those people she missed so much that they still appeared in her dreams might all be dead.

I tried to deny her words.

“I don’t know yet. That cat is a devil I summoned to understand the situation. But… as you know, you can’t believe a devil’s words as they are.”

Then Lucia said.

“But… Father, it’s true that there are monsters outside this island, right? That’s why you… got hurt, too.”

“…”

“Please answer me….”

Lucia, contrary to her timid attitude, asked me a rather sharp question.

I groaned softly and nodded.

“… Yes.”

“And, to get rid of those monsters… do we….”

I hurriedly cut off Lucia’s words.

“Let’s not talk about that. Because it will never happen.”

“Father….”

Handing their bodies over to a devil?

Whatever else, I could never allow that.

Of course, as Kunat said, they had no divinity.

In the first place, they were just ordinary girls who had been trapped here regardless of their faith.

But even so, I couldn’t just hand them over to a devil.

Especially Anna and Lucia, who had been trapped here because of their history of being possessed by devils.

I couldn’t hand them over to devils again.

I said with a firm attitude.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about the situation in advance. I couldn’t help it because I don’t know what all this is about either.”

“… Yes,”

“But whatever the truth is, it’s not a reason for you to be handed over to a devil.”

Anna nodded.

Having lost everything as a price for being handed over to a devil, my words seemed to weigh heavily on her.

Sola opened her mouth with a stiff face.

“But, Father… if it’s true that almost everyone is dead… what if we’re the only ones who can solve this?”

“Sola.”

“No, but it’s true. If we’re the only ones who can solve it, shouldn’t we do it?”

I shook my head.

“Even if the world is destroyed as that devil says, even if we’re the only humans left on this earth, it’s not your responsibility.”

“… Father.”

I shook my head and continued.

“We’re human. Just mere humans. There’s no guarantee that we can save this world just because we accept that devil’s proposal.”

Lucia nodded at my words and said.

“Because there are only four of us….”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Sola tried to argue with me.

“But, even a little bit….”

“No!”

I roughly cut off Sola’s words.

“… Sorry for shouting. But no is no. Absolutely not.”

“…”

“If that many people really died, it’s as good as being destroyed already…. I can’t sacrifice you for something irreversible.”

“… Father.”

“I know very well what happens to a human who is handed over to a devil… Absolutely not.”

Lucia said to Sola.

“Father… is saying that because he’s worried about us… Sola….”

“I know that much too. But….”

“First of all, we don’t know anything… It’s not too late to find out a little more about what the world is like now and then decide.”

Sola asked.

“I don’t know about the world, but at least the village near here is destroyed, right? That’s why supplies aren’t coming. In this situation, how are you going to find out?”

“… I’ll have to go out and check the situation.”

Lucia looked at me with wide eyes.

“Father, what… are you talking about…?”

She pointed to my stomach.

The tip of her finger trembled.

“Don’t you… know what state you’re in? We… thought you were going to die….”

“I don’t die that easily. Don’t worry. Lucia.”

“Father!”

Sola said to me reproachfully.

“You told us not to sacrifice ourselves, but why are you doing that?”

“Because I’m an adult.”

“Ha, we’re already adults too, you know?”

“I’m an adult, a formally ordained priest, and I’m here as your protector. Do you need more reasons?”

“Is that protector role that the Order has set important in the current situation?”

Sola had a dissatisfied expression on her face.

It wasn’t that I didn’t understand her attitude.

A world crisis has occurred, and the only beings who can fix it are a few people, including herself.

Sola wasn’t someone who didn’t know her responsibility.

Even though there hadn’t been a single ship on the sea for a month, she had been managing the lighthouse every day, which showed that.

Besides, judging from her subtle attitude, she was also the one who wanted to leave this island the most.

This situation might seem like an opportunity for her to leave the island.

I sighed and said.

“It’s not that it’s unconditionally no. It’s just that we have too little information to make a hasty decision yet. So don’t make a rash decision. First, let’s find out for sure what happened.”

Anna and Lucia slowly nodded.

Sola also had a dissatisfied expression, but she soon scratched her head and agreed with me.

“Okay. Father. But there’s a condition.”

“… A condition?”

Sola looked straight up at me and said.

“Let us hear the situation too. Directly from that devil.”

“…”

“I don’t think you’ll tell us everything.”

“Sola, that’s not okay.”

“Why?”

“Because that devil is going to…!

Sola reached out and stopped me.

“I’ll definitely make the decision with you, I won’t do it on my own. How about it?”

“…”

“And honestly, I think we need to know too. What kind of situation this world is in. We’re also people living on this earth.”

“Sola….”

“Even though it’s just a tiny, insignificant island.”

Was her usual stupidity all an act? Sola argued in such a clear-cut manner.

Even I couldn’t find words to refute her.

As she said, they were already adults who could get married, and as people living on this earth, they had the right to know about this crisis.

It was something that had to be prevented that they were handed over to a devil, but Sola had promised to make that decision with me, so this justification was also blurred.

“And Father.”

Sola continued as if driving a wedge into it.

“You possessed my cat with a devil without permission.”

“… Ha,”

“You owe me.”

Sola approached Anna with a sly sideways shuffle, whispering, “Owe, is this the right time to use that word?”

Anna, still not free from her confusion, couldn’t answer properly.

I sighed and nodded.

“Just listen. I’ll do the talking. Got it?”

“Good.”

I opened the door again.

“Did you have enough of a private chat?”

Kunat opened his mouth with a nonchalant tone.

Sola opened her eyes wide and murmured.

“A real cat is talking….”

“Sola,.. be quiet!”

Lucia brought a pointing finger to her lips, calming Sola down.

*

Contrary to my worries, nothing big happened.

Kunat gave them a slightly simpler version of the explanation he had given me.

Whenever there was a statement that seemed to be forcing them to use the devil’s power, I cut off his words like a knife.

After finishing the general story, Lucia and Sola went back to their respective rooms.

Anna, still not free from her confusion, decided to sleep with Sola in her room.

In the quiet room, I leaned against the window frame and took out another cigarette to put in my mouth.

“Aren’t you smoking too much?”

Kunat, trapped in the body of a cat, jumped onto the window frame.

Kunat had decided to stay in my room for a few days.

He said it was to help the girl who would make a contract with the devil.

Of course, I tried to kick him out, saying it was nonsense, but if I forcibly kicked out Kunat, the cat he was currently inhabiting could die.

Honestly, I think I should send him to Hell right away, cat or whatever….

“Damn it.”

I shook my head, exhaling cigarette smoke.

It meant not to mind it.

“Smoking is bad for your health.”

Kunat came closer to scratch my nerves, knowing my intentions exactly.

“Why do you keep smoking?”

I answered gruffly.

“Because my stomach is torn.”

“A painkilling effect…. It would be a simple matter to give them the devil’s power.”

“Eat shit.”

“It’s a shame, a shame. No matter how I look at it, you suit being a devil more than a cleric.”

“Do I have to say it more directly for you to understand? Shut up.”

“Hee hee hee.”

Kunat showed a hateful attitude.

“By the way, they’re really pretty kids. Don’t you think so?”

“This son of a bitch, seriously.”

“Of course, I know they’re women who came here because of their stories, but how did they gather only such beauties? Don’t you think so? Billy?”

“Do you have to be scorched one more time to shut up?”

I started gathering holy flames in my hand.

“Stop it, it’s scary.”

“Just because my power doesn’t work on monsters doesn’t mean I’ve lost my power. Keep that in mind, devil.”

“Yes, you can torment me. Just like a devil in Hell tortures a human’s soul. I know it well.”

“…”

Kunat’s nonsense was scratching my nerves raw.

I barely suppressed my annoyance, imagining pouring Holy Water on the nape of his neck.

But he was still running that mouth.

“But paradoxically, therefore, isn’t it okay for them to be handed over to a devil? You’ll be able to drive out those devils as much as you want.”

“Shut up.”

“Am I wrong?”

“The sin of a devil taking over a human’s body arbitrarily is different from the sin of a human directly trading with a devil.”

“… That’s right.”

“Their souls will fall to Hell. Don’t act like you don’t know.”

Kunat grinned.

“Hee hee hee, they’re the only humans left, we should use them frugally.”

“… My patience is starting to run out.”

Kunat slowly stretched, then jumped off the window frame.

Then he slowly circled around my feet and said.

“At least one. There was a woman who was very interested in my proposal.”

“…”

He must be talking about Sola.

Indeed, she listened to Kunat’s words in the most active attitude.

Unlike the other two girls, she didn’t have any contact with devils, so she didn’t seem to be wary of devils.

But, knowing too well what happens to a human who is handed over to a devil, I was very uneasy about such Sola.

“The decision will be made with me…. At least she won’t do anything stupid.”

“Do you think so?”

“…”

“I felt a very strong desire. She’ll ignore you and come to me.”

“Don’t you ever touch her.”

“I’m not touching her. I’m just not stopping the girl who’s coming.”

When I glared at Kunat, he slowly went into the shady corner and curled up.

I sighed and lay down on the bed again.

Outside the window, dawn was breaking.

Late fatigue poured in.

I slowly closed my eyes.

“… He’s here.”

I didn’t hear Kunat’s whisper that I heard in my sleep.

How much time had passed?

I woke up to a terrible scream that came from inside the monastery. .