episode_0013

*

After searching for several more hours, we decided to return to the island.

Lucia suggested we come back tomorrow, but even if Lucia’s powers were effective against the monsters, she still needed to sleep.

Shamefully, I had no way to protect her from the monsters while she slept, so I strongly insisted that we return right away.

Lucia seemed a bit disappointed but eventually accepted my opinion.

Of course, Kunat’s opinion wasn’t even asked.

Back at the beach, we loaded our things onto the boat to return.

It was so different from the day I went out alone last time.

The biggest difference would be that neither Lucia nor I got hurt at all.

We encountered about twenty monsters, but Lucia’s jet-black grip and fingernails crushed and burst them as soon as they appeared.

Lucia had no qualms about killing the monsters.

In fact, she seemed to enjoy it.

Was it the joy of moving her body as she pleased, or had her soul begun to be corrupted by the Devil?

Lucia, who had been passive about everything until a few days ago, now had white monster bodily fluids all over her and smiled faintly.

I took out a handkerchief and wiped her face, and Lucia smiled happily and willingly entrusted her face to me, feeling my touch.

Another difference was the result of the search.

Now that the threat of monsters was gone, unlike last time when we couldn’t take anything, we were able to bring quite a few supplies.

Of course, most of the food had already rotted, so we couldn’t get the meat that Sola wanted, but fortunately, we were able to find food with a long shelf life and ingredients that were still usable.

Thanks to most of the villagers’ belongings being left behind, we were able to gather quite a few farming tools and other necessities.

The search was so successful that we had to abandon the small boat we had taken when we left the island and use a slightly larger boat that had been abandoned in the corner of the village.

However, despite such a successful result, I felt complicated throughout the return trip.

What is the identity of the monsters?

Is it really the end of not only this village but all of humanity?

Why doesn’t divine power work on the monsters?

And why does the Devil’s power work?

Even if the Devil’s power is effective against the monsters, is it right for me, a priest, to urge the nuns to use it?

A myriad of thoughts swirled chaotically in my head.

The boat, shaken by the relentlessly crashing waves, further mixed my thoughts and made them impossible to organize.

I sighed and covered my face with both hands, pressing down hard.

“Um… Father?”

Then, Lucia’s voice was heard.

“What is it?”

“Are you… are you sick?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Well… um…”

I slightly parted my fingers to look at Lucia and saw her characteristic awkwardness.

A very cautious attitude and a voice trembling with anxiety.

For some reason, I was so happy to see that familiar appearance.

It was reminiscent of her before she gave herself to the Devil,

It seemed like proof that Lucia hadn’t changed even now that she had given herself to the Devil.

I replied in a gentle voice.

“It’s okay. If you have something to say, tell me.”

Lucia stroked Kunat’s back, which was placed on her lap, and hesitated for a moment.

You shouldn’t treat him like a cat like that.

He looks like a cat, but he’s clearly a Devil…

“Purrrr.”

“… Ha,”

Kunat seemed to have fully adapted to the cat’s body.

He’s supposed to be a high-ranking Devil, isn’t he?

“I’m asking just in case… it’s not like I have any strange intentions or anything…”

While I was dumbfounded looking at Kunat, Lucia began to stammer.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“…”

I took my hands off my face and smiled at Lucia, shaking my head.

“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. I must have given you unnecessary anxiety.”

Lucia seemed to be concerned about my uncomfortable expression.

In fact, my impression is so fierce that if I have a blank face or frown, it often intimidates people.

When I go into a bar, the customers get nervous when they see my face, but then they are relieved when they see my priest’s robe.

“I just have a few things to think about.”

“I see… that’s a relief.”

“Yes, you don’t have to worry about it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’m just a little tired.”

“Then… what were you… thinking about… may I ask?”

Lucia asked cautiously.

The cautious attitude peeking out from her stumbling, slow sentences.

But for some reason, I could feel a sense of unease in her question.

Lucia wouldn’t normally ask such a question, would she?

She’s being so careful and asking me what I’m thinking.

Of course, I could dismiss it as something she might ask, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the thought that it felt awkward.

What is she curious about?

No, more than that, why is Lucia taking such a bold action?

Is it because she’s being influenced by the Devil?

Or am I just overreacting?

“…Father…nim?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just… I think I’m getting a little seasick.”

“Ah, it’s shaking a lot…”

Lucia nodded slightly and carefully placed Kunat on the floor of the boat.

Then, she lowered her head slightly and looked up at me cautiously, twitching her small lips.

“Um… well… Father.”

“… Tell me.”

“I think… I’m getting a little seasick too…”

“Oh, really?”

“Maybe it’s because I’m seasick… I feel a little chilly…”

Unease.

That’s a lie.

She was fine even when we took the smaller boat to the mainland.

Even if she had a little seasickness, it couldn’t be that bad.

In the first place, seasickness doesn’t have symptoms like chills.

I might feel cold because the cold sweat has cooled down, but Lucia’s face was smooth.

I hid my suspicion and replied.

“Oh, it looks like you’re really seasick. Wait a minute. I’ll see if I can find something to cover you with…”

“No, there’s nothing to cover me with.”

Lucia cut me off immediately.

“…”

“There’s nothing to cover me with… Ah, I already… looked for it.”

“… Is that so?”

“Yes… so… Father, what I… want to say is…”

“…”

Lucia slowly got up from the swaying boat.

Her buttocks, which had been attached to the seat, carefully fell, and she slowly approached me.

Lucia sat next to me without saying a word.

“…Lucia?”

“Can I stay next to you for a while?”

“…”

What is it?

I can’t read Lucia’s intentions.

I couldn’t understand what this action meant at all.

When something beyond human comprehension happens, it’s usually one of two things.

A miracle of God, or a trick of the Devil.

I glared at Kunat right away.

Kunat was lying curled up on the floor, looking at me and Lucia with one eye open.

When he met my eyes, Kunat smiled, widening his cat eyes into crescent shapes.

I don’t know what it is, but it must be a trick of the Devil…

“…!”

At that moment, Lucia’s hand passed under my armpit.

Lucia grabbed my arm tightly and gently rested her head on my shoulder.

“Lucia?”

“I’m… cold.”

“…”

“The boat… is shaking a lot.”

“… What is this…”

I couldn’t finish my sentence and closed my mouth.

It was because Kunat was looking straight at me and shaking his head quickly.

It looked like he was urging me to keep my mouth shut.

As if I would listen to that Devil.

Just as I was about to ask Lucia what she was doing, Lucia spoke first.

“So, Father.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“What were you… thinking about?”

“Seasickness…”

“You don’t get seasick, Father.”

“… You don’t either.”

“Ah, you knew.”

“Of course I knew. I’ve been watching you the whole time since we left the island.”

“Ah, ah… hehe,”

Lucia smiled faintly.

Even so, Lucia’s grip on my arm was getting tighter and tighter.

Is the Ebony Wolf’s destructive impulse being manifested?

Even if Lucia is strengthened by the Devil’s power, she can’t hurt me.

I can’t hurt monsters, but Devils are a different story.

Lucia can defeat monsters, but she can’t hurt me as long as her power belongs to Hell.

Even if Lucia doesn’t know that fact, the Ebony Wolf knows it very well.

There’s no way it would incite Lucia to attack me.

“…Father.”

Lucia said in a slightly excited voice.

I waited for her words with bated breath.

“Aren’t you going to… answer?”

“About what.”

“What you were thinking about.”

“Why are you curious about that.”

As I reacted coldly, I could feel Lucia’s voice drooping again.

It seemed like the strength in her grip on my arm was also weakening slightly.

“I’m…”

“I’m?”

“… I’m scared…”

Scared?

“… What… are you scared of?”

“… Ugh”

Lucia shrank slightly.

Even her hair seemed to droop down.

She looked like a cowering puppy.

“Tell me.”

“…”

Lucia didn’t answer.

No, at some point, she really started to shiver, as if she was really feeling cold.

Only then did I realize Lucia’s intention.

“I see… that’s what it was.”

“… Yes?”

“Even if you have gained power, you must have been scared.”

“… What do you mean?”

Lucia sighed.

For some reason, Kunat also sighed, hitting his forehead with his front paw.

What the hell.

“Not that… I was afraid that Father… would think badly of me…”

“Ah,”

“That… was so… scary,”

Lucia’s words, which started with a trembling voice, ended with moisture in them.

“… I see.”

I realized how stupid I had been.

Give in to the Devil?

Corruption?

Ha,

“… Lucia.”

“Father… I did something bad… I gave myself to the Devil… but…”

“…”

I didn’t trust Lucia.

Because I have seen the Devil many times, I know how dangerous the Devil is.

But I should have known how kind Lucia is, having spent months with her.

Lucia has the body that was broken because of me, but she has never shown me any resentment.

Even when I apologized meaninglessly several times, she thanked me, saying that it was not my fault.

She hated her broken body enough to give herself to the Devil, but she never blamed me or held me responsible, that Lucia.

In the first place, Lucia’s desire was to run again on two legs.

Is that such an evil desire?

Is it a desire that is a sin just to have?

That’s not true.

She had been possessed by the Devil in the past.

Was that her fault?

That’s not true.

“No, Lucia.”

You idiot.

Lucia is a good person.

Like the surface of the sea sparkling in the sunlight, she is a kind and pure young girl.

I forgot that and doubted her.

“That I wield the Devil’s power… that Father would… think badly of me. So I thought that Father… would… think badly of me…”

“…”

“I was afraid of that… ah,”

I silently put my arms around Lucia’s head, who was sitting next to me, and carefully embraced her.

At the same time, Lucia’s trembling voice quickly subsided.

I put my lips to Lucia’s gray hair and slowly told her.

“How could I think badly of you?”

“Father…”

“Lucia, I don’t judge you. Like I said before. That’s something God will do.”

After a moment of silence, Lucia asked quietly.

“… If he judges… me?”

“… What?”

Lucia slowly raised her head and looked straight at me.

“Please judge me… Am I a bad child…? Because I gave myself to the Devil… can I not be forgiven?”

“Lucia…”

“Not God’s… but Father’s thoughts… I want to… know.”

“…”

“Please… answer me.”

.