episode_0081

The moment Serena relayed my message via telepathy, Sophia immediately reacted.

“Ah, I’d forgotten about the demon.”

She shaped her right hand into a cannon and fired a massive divine laser.

“KUAAAAAH!!!”

A demon, vulnerable to divine power, was obliterated in a single hit.

…Or so the act implied—thus ended the demon’s performance.

‘Now, to stage the scene.’

I sprinkled ashes—made from burning monster corpses—over where the demon had been.

No need to overdo it.

Just a light dusting would complete the crime scene.

‘Sonic the Jet.’

‘Reduced to ashes by a divine laser so intense it could burn even the marrow.’

Something like that?

Good.

Now, time to head over there.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

I sprinted toward the direction of the hero’s party at full speed.

‘No one’s watching me.’

Every citizen was staring at Serena and Sophia.

No one had eyes for me.

Whoosh! Whoosh! WHOOOOOSH!!!

To buy time, Sophia fired several more divine lasers indiscriminately.

Then, spreading her wings, she took flight.

Confirming Sonic the Jet’s fate mid-air, she declared:

“One of the Four Heavenly Kings, Sonic the Jet, has been confirmed dead.”

“It’s safe now.”

“WAAAAAAAAH!!!”

One of the Demon King’s top executives had been rendered helpless by an overwhelming divine barrier, then utterly annihilated with just a few laser shots.

An overwhelmingly one-sided victory.

At this point, it’d be strange if people weren’t cheering.

This proved that as long as the hero’s party was here, the Demon King’s army was nothing more than a minor annoyance.

…With that thought in mind, I arrived at my destination!

(Huff…)

(Now that I’m here, introduce me.)

(Got it!)

And so, she did.

(The demon’s been dealt with, so let me introduce one more person.)

“?”

“One more?”

Everyone focused on Serena’s words.

(He isn’t part of the hero’s party, but he guides them—Cain, their navigator.)

“Name’s Cain.”

“The navigator for the hero’s party… and, uh…”

Honestly, I wanted to declare publicly that he was basically their mentor—someone extraordinary.

But…

How should I put it…

My conscience was nagging at me.

A mere D-rank adventurer trying to mentor them? People would call it nonsense.

So, I planned to just say he was their navigator and leave it at that.

But then…

“He’s the mentor for all of us.”

“Huh?…”

Elris spoke up.

“Thanks to ‘Mentor,’ I was able to awaken as the true Saintess and grow this strong.”

Sophia also emphasized the word mentor.

(The hero’s party became this strong because of your exceptional guidance.)

(As the Goddess of Light, I shall formally recognize you as a ‘Sage,’ ensuring your honor is upheld.)

Serena even went so far as to bestow upon me the title of Sage.

Hmm…

A Sage officially acknowledged by a goddess?

Not bad at all.

‘With this kind of reputation, I’ll get bonus points when confessing to Marianne.’

A D-rank adventurer proposing marriage?

Or a god-certified Sage proposing marriage?

The difference in impact is obvious.

Of course…

There’s always the chance she’d refuse, saying someone too remarkable is intimidating.

‘But if she’s that type, I can naturally approach her as just a D-rank adventurer.’

With only one card, you’re limited to one strategy.

But with two, you can choose the more effective one.

…Having finished that calculation, I confidently declared:

“I am Cain, mentor of the hero’s party.”

After announcing the hero’s party, we exchanged brief greetings and prepared to disband.

…But just before we did, I added one last thing.

(Blacksmith Eden Smith.)

(That was true craftsmanship worthy of a Sage’s recommendation.)

I publicly praised the blacksmith who had made countless cooking tools for us—free of charge.

At that very moment…

The blacksmith burst into tears.

“HUUUUOOOOOH!!”

“To be praised by the Goddess of Light, Lady Serena!!! Blacksmith Eden Smith!!! I can die without regrets now!!!”

They were tears of joy.

Whoosh!

Divine energy erupted from his body, glowing so fiercely it was almost blinding.

He’d always been a fan, but now—having been acknowledged by his idol—he’d evolved into an ultra-devoted supporter.

“The Goddess herself recognized him, and the Sage recommended him?!”

“Then my sword…!”

“And my shield—I beg of you!!!”

This was a gathering of knights pressuring the Pope.

And in front of all of them, a goddess had just praised him as the finest blacksmith?

Yeah.

No way anyone could resist.

A knight who didn’t seize this chance to request the ultimate weapon from the best blacksmith wasn’t a true knight.

Because of this, the blacksmith screamed in ecstatic delight.

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

“The Goddess of Light, Lady Serena, has acknowledged me! This craftsman’s work doesn’t come cheap, knights!”

“Name your price! I’ll pay anything!”

“I’ll give my entire fortune!”

“I’ll sell my house too! Just forge me a sword!!!”

The same man who said he could die without regrets now had no trouble sniffing out profit.

But I didn’t blame him.

‘He gave us stuff for free—he deserves to make up for those losses.’

Passion is passion, but life is life.

…With that thought, I retrieved my beam projector and took my leave.

Gathered at the inn, we packed our belongings.

“Cain.”

“We’re done here in the Holy Nation, right?”

“All finished.”

“Just one last thing left.”

“One?”

“Gotta settle things with that Succubus Queen bitch.”

“Ah… the deal where we take all the Pope’s wealth and return her horn, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Exactly.”

The final task involves stuffing all the Pope’s treasures and the war supplies meant for the Demon King’s army into a subspace bag and retrieving them.

Once that’s done, we return her horn and set her free—as promised.

…Or so we said.

That’s only if she actually succeeds.

Beep!

“Oh… signal’s here?”

“Signal?”

“Golden Sun promised to send one once the job was done.”

Green if things went smoothly.

Yellow if ambiguous.

Red if failed.

A simple magical device for color-coded communication.

“Let’s see.”

Green.

Nice.

Success.

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To savor the look on Succubus Queen Bestia’s face when she realizes she failed.”

Hours earlier.

Succubus Queen Bestia, having packed everything into the subspace bag, was heading toward the Dark Mage’s hideout.

‘Easy~ So easy~’

Sneaking into the Pope’s vault while he was gone was child’s play.

That idiot.

When I asked him how to open the vault, he just told me.

Thanks to that, things went smoothly.

‘Getting to the hideout is just as simple~’

Dragging a cart loaded with treasure would’ve been suspicious no matter what, but…

I was given a subspace bag.

An ancient magical artifact that maintains its small form even when filled with mountains of treasure.

Because of this, I breezed past the guards.

‘Not that there were many stopping me~’

No clue what was happening in the Holy Nation, but even the guards had all rushed to the central square.

Thanks to that, scaling the outer wall was effortless.

‘All that’s left is handing over the bag at the hideout and getting my horn back!’

Just one more thing.

…Or so I thought, sprinting down the path—

Bang!

“Urgh!…”

A sudden gunshot. A hole pierced through my leg.

Thud!

My legs gave out, and I collapsed.

“Thanks for the meal!”

A strange man snatched my bag and bolted.

“?”

Ran off with the subspace bag?

“???”

The bag I was supposed to trade for my horn—stolen?!

“H-H-Huh?!…”

Losing that meant breaking the contract—and forfeiting everything.

In other words…

That bag was my life.

“N-NOOOO!!!”

I desperately writhed, trying to get up.

But my legs wouldn’t listen.

‘Poison?! Paralysis poison?!!!’

That wasn’t just a bullet.

It was laced with paralytic venom.

“Move! MOVE!!! If I don—”

The thief had already vanished with the bag.

“Ah… AAAAAH!…”

Mission failed.

Robbed by some passing bandit.

“Ha… Hahaha… No way…”

A random bandit stealing only the subspace bag and nothing else?

No way.

A real bandit would’ve stripped me first!

What kind of bandit steals just a bag?!

‘This has Cain that bastard written all over it!!!’

…I screamed internally.

Then—

“Hey.”

“……”

That bastard Cain showed up.

Wow.

Perfect timing.

How’d he arrive right after the bag was snatched?

“Mission failed, huh?”

Wow…

I hadn’t even said the bag was stolen, and he already knew.

Not even trying to hide it, are you?

“Piece of garbage.”

“That all you got for last words?”

“Huh?”

“I’ll give you a chance to curse some more.”

“YOU DAMN BASTARD! I’LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!! TRASH WORSE THAN A GOBLIN!!!”

“Hmm~”

“That it?”

“What?…”

“Keep going.”

“A loser’s curses are the ultimate praise!”

“??????”

“Ahh…”

“The sight of a defeated foe desperately spewing insults—knowing this is all they’ve got~ Haa… Thrilling.”

“……”

Tears welled up.

Seeing his face light up at my last-ditch curses made me feel utterly powerless.

“What? No more? Can I kill you now?”

“Just… kill me already… you trash…”

“Aww~ Lord~ Another soul ascending~”

The trash named Cain grinned and said:

“But before that, gotta take this.”

He reached out.

“Hand over the Succubus Queen’s Essence.”

“My… Essence?…”

“Yeah.”

“Y-You… want me to surrender my people’s ENTIRE history?! KILL ME INSTEAD!!! JUST KILL ME!!!”

There’s no way I’d give up the Succubus Queen’s Essence.

This is my people’s legacy.

The condensed history of our kind—passed down from the first queen to the last.

I may die here,

but the Essence will return to another succubus.

Even if I die in vain,

the next queen will inherit my strength and destroy you!

That’s how it should be—

“We had a contract.”

“Mission failure means surrendering everything.”

“N-NOOOO!!!”

The contract forcibly extracted the Succubus Queen’s Essence and delivered it into Cain’s hand.

“The Succubus Queen’s Essence! Mine now!”

“AAAAAAAH!!!”

“JUST KILL ME!!! END IT HERE, YOU DAMN BASTARD!!!”

“Sorry, no can do.”

“I went through the hassle of making this contract just for this.”

“W-What?…”

“The Essence can’t be obtained unless the owner directly hands it over.”

“S-So…”

“Exactly.”

“From the start… you were after this.”

“B-But why?…”

“Obviously…”

Cain leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Would I tell you?”

Stab!

With a grin, Cain drove his sword through my heart and said:

“Third Bloodstone—Gotcha~”