The Sun and the Moon – 1

“It’s been a long time, Helga. Four days have passed, have you been well?”

I waved my hand towards Helga, who approached hesitantly. From behind her, I heard chuckling. The squad members were looking at us with playful gazes.

Helga bowed her head deeply, her face filled with shame and embarrassment. There was no trace of her previous dazed appearance.

“……Yes, I have been well. I am truly sorry for acting so presumptuously.”

“No need for apologies. I understand completely. That’s why I deliberately waited until you were okay, didn’t I?”

I could hear the snickering of the regular squad members from here. Most of them were telling her to boldly approach me, just like she did back then.

Helga could only tremble, unable to even properly retort.

‘Should I have told her?’

Watching her, I felt a little sorry for her. It probably meant they were close enough to tease each other like that, but there was also the fact that Helga’s face was bright red, as if it would burst, which made me feel even more pity.

Moreover, I had also learned that all those actions stemmed from her favorable feelings towards me.

‘I never thought that would apply here too.’

Demons amplify fundamental human emotions.

Even when I used the book to kill Aurora’s father, he didn’t immediately rush at the book as soon as he saw it. Instead, he was provoked by lies that stirred his desires, and only then did his eyes truly go wild.

According to Stella’s explanation, Behemoth’s ability, enchantment, was similar.

The fact that Helga, under the enchantment, clung to me like that meant that she had always thought highly of me. Of course, not in a romantic sense, but in the sense of a good superior.

It was easier to think of any positive emotion simply transforming into sexual desire. Demons were such beings.

Of course, it wouldn’t be impossible to stir desire even without any prior favorable feelings, but as in Helga’s case, rushing at someone as soon as they saw them was almost unheard of unless the demon specifically intended it, the explanation added.

This was especially true if Behemoth was in an incomplete resurrected state.

The people of this city, who merely stared at me as I passed by, were a prime example. They only stared intently at me; they didn’t try to do anything directly.

‘I guess the enchantment I experienced in the game only shares the name.’

This was the conclusion I reached after hearing Stella’s explanation. Its nature was completely different from the status effects seen in the game.

In the game, Behemoth used enchantment to gain power by making humans worship him, which is why almost everyone who fell under the enchantment was judged as a heretic.

Regardless of the cause and process, the result was that they ended up worshipping a demon. So, no matter how quickly the player moved, there were an enormous number of victims.

However, the enchantment used by Behemoth here was, frankly, closer to a concept of lust than enchantment. It was unclear what other “mode” was at play.

‘Perhaps Iris too…….’

Iris’s case was similar. After hearing Stella’s explanation, I naturally understood why Iris’s symptoms were much more severe than Helga’s.

The favorable feelings Iris held for me were much greater than those Helga held. Although we hadn’t spent much time together, I had practically saved the Silver Dawn Knights.

I had killed that former lord, giving them a chance to breathe, and eventually even helped them return to the Imperial Palace and reclaim their original positions. It would have been stranger if she didn’t have good feelings towards me.

Since those good feelings were entirely transformed into sexual desire, it was somewhat natural that she clung to me much more actively than Helga.

‘I hope she doesn’t act awkwardly when I see her again. Otherwise, Rije might interrogate her, asking if they were making out while she was gone.’

As soon as Iris, whose body had recovered, heard the explanation that her actions were due to favorable feelings towards me, she immediately ran out with a bright red face, saying she had completed her mission and would return.

Thanks to that, she didn’t hear the explanation that “favorable feelings” didn’t necessarily mean only love, but included all positive emotions.

‘Well, she probably understood it well enough.’

Iris wasn’t a child; why would she necessarily think of favorable feelings only as love?

“Honored Guest-nim, are you all prepared?”

Stella approached me with a bright smile. I looked back at Helga.

“They say so, how about it, Helga?”

“It’s perfect.”

Helga, who had barely escaped the teasing, quickly replied. The squad members also wiped the smiles from their faces and took their positions.

“Yes. We are also finished.”

Behind Stella, who spoke with a bright smile, battle nuns holding flails and shields stood in formation as if they were one body. Their shields gleamed, reflecting the sunlight.

Selene’s position was right next to Stella, and behind her, battle nuns holding rapiers in one hand and wearing translucent tights and underboob leather jackets stood in a line.

Perhaps following the personalities and appearances of their superiors, they were exact opposites of each other.

“How about Inquisitor-nim?”

Stella smiled sweetly and shook Behemoth’s head, which she held in her right hand. This situation was very special, so it was to be purified after being recorded in the archives.

The demon’s head was tightly wrapped around the eyes with a white veil. This was because it had been revealed that Iris fell under enchantment by making eye contact with Behemoth.

There would be no problem if one possessed divine power, but it was a precaution for any unforeseen circumstances.

And this too was scheduled to be recorded in the archives. It would be the first time someone without divine power had made eye contact with a dead demon.

It was natural, as this was the first time a demon’s corpse had been left behind after its subjugation.

“Good. Everyone, prepare. You will return to the capital first.”

“Won’t Captain-nim come with us?”

“I have some business in the Holy Nation for a while. Nyx will have the report to be submitted to Lord-nim, so get it from her. Helga, you just need to go to Lord-nim’s mansion and deliver it.”

“I understand.”

We prepared to leave this city in just four days. In the game, the Inquisitor stayed for quite a long time, but now there was no need for that.

Unlike the game’s story, where Behemoth was fully resurrected and caused serious damage to the city, now it had only partially resurrected and was subjugated immediately upon awakening, so the damage was quite minor.

Enough to conceal the true nature of the incident and pass it off as a mere commotion caused by demon worshippers’ resurrection.

For reference, all the men were confined in the basement of the building. It wasn’t hard to imagine what the women had done to the men in the basement.

The reason the women collectively committed such acts was covered up by saying it was due to the wicked power of the demon worshippers.

It was a very convenient, all-purpose incantation.

“I will be back shortly, Inquisitor-nim.”

“Of course. I’ll wait as long as you need. Please go and come back.”

I left Stella and Selene behind and headed towards the shack that wasn’t really a shack, where Nyx resided.

Nyx, who was sleeping soundly in the bed, sat up as soon as she heard footsteps approaching the bed. Her chest, reacting to the movement, swayed precariously as if it would pop out of her shirt.

Nyx rubbed her eyes a few times, looked up at me, and smiled eerily.

“Heh, hehe…… Hello?”

“So it’s the formal speech side?”

“Yes, hehe. Because I came out yesterday.”

Nyx, having woken up, giggled and clung to me. I carried Nyx, dangling from me, out of the shack. The eyes of a few squad members widened at this sight.

“We’re going back to the capital now, are you ready?”

“Ah, is that so? Hehe. I understand.”

As her small finger flicked, black flames poured down and incinerated the shack. It seemed there was nothing inside she needed to take.

It looked like there was quite a lot of stuff in there, though.

What was curious was that the black flames were only burning the shack. Even if green wood doesn’t catch fire easily, the piles of fallen leaves nearby were perfectly fine.

“Hehe, see you later.”

Nyx, who had cleanly incinerated the shack, waved her hand at me, preparing to teleport. Soon, the magic circle emitted a black light, and Helga and the regular squad members disappeared entirely.

After confirming that even the traces of the magic circle had vanished, I returned to where Stella and Selene were waiting. When I returned alone, the battle nuns’ gazes changed to a very burdensome kind.

“It’s an honor to serve you once again, Honored Guest-nim.”

Stella approached me with a bright smile. Beside her, Selene was approaching, holding a divine catalyst imbued with a faint full moon in her hand.

“His Holiness the Popes will be pleased.”

“……Rije, can I speak with you for a moment?”

Iris, who had returned to the Imperial Palace, reported to Caecilia, then first sought out Rije. Rije, who was resting in her room after finishing her work, growled as soon as she saw Iris.

“Did you enjoy your date with my lover while I was gone? I bet it was just dripping with sweetness, wasn’t it? Huh?”

Claudia chuckled, watching them with her hand on Erica’s shoulder. She knew that Rije wasn’t truly angry. This was merely a light complaint.

Erica, who was polishing her armor, only frowned at Claudia, who was pressing down on her shoulder, but showed no sign of stopping Rije.

“……It’s about Delta, Rije. I’d like you to hear it.”

Rije’s expression changed, pausing. Claudia and Erica also stiffened their expressions and changed their postures.

Iris’s hardened face, something related to Delta. It was a combination that inevitably led to ominous thoughts, even if one didn’t want to.

Rije’s voice rose slightly.

“……Why? Did something happen to Delta?”

“That is……”

As Iris hesitated, Rije, unable to bear it any longer, strode towards Iris. She then firmly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer.

“I asked if something happened to Delta! Why can’t you answer?”

Here, there were two facts that Delta had overlooked and failed to consider.

“I……”

The first was that he hadn’t explained the enchantment itself to Iris, preoccupied with thinking about why the corpse could cast enchantment and why its effects varied from person to person.

“That, Delta……”

The second was that Iris had arbitrarily drawn conclusions about her own state by combining her past actions with the word “favorable feelings” from Stella’s explanation.

“……I think I like him.”

ㅡCrash!

The helmet, which had just been polished, rolled with a loud noise onto other parts of the armor.