Cooperation
Cooperation
Fortunately, thanks to Yekaterina not throwing the first punch, no friction arose between the party members who came running up behind her and the Saintess.
That didn't mean things suddenly became warm and friendly. My insistence that she'd helped us eliminate the cultists was enough to win a temporary truce, but most of the group still didn't look kindly on the Saintess or the Demon God Church's heresy inquisitors.
Yeah, most of them. Which meant, in other words, that some people showed surprisingly favorable reactions.
"Mm-hmm. I see. She's a good person."
Maybe it was to be expected. Asilie, who'd already shown no particular aversion since I wasn't displaying any hostility, seemed satisfied to have it reconfirmed that I wasn't some racist, crazed murderer, smiling even as she shook hands with the Saintess. Sen, who had no prejudice against the Demon God Church to begin with and whose innate Pulling-brand batshit friendliness had started bubbling up, was delighted at the chance to actually converse with Demonfolk. Seneran's eyes had outright begun blazing with anticipation at the prospect of hearing about Magic Power directly from a member of the Demonfolk. Those reactions I could understand. But the last one was unexpected.
"Ahaha! Sorry about that! Still, from my standpoint I think it was the best choice, so don't take it too hard!"
After hearing me out, Yekaterina—the 'civilized warrior'—clapped the Saintess on the shoulder without a moment's hesitation and acted as warmly as if they'd been friends for ten years.
It was an intellectual's demeanor truly befitting the name civilization warrior, but knowing the average perception of Demonfolk in this world, her heartiness was a response well outside my expectations.
Rellie was actually getting anxious enough at her lack of distance to warn her, but Yekaterina didn't care one bit.
"She helped us with that explosion, and used holy magic to assist in the fight. At the very least, she's on our side right now, isn't she?"
"But she's a member of the Demonfolk..."
"What's wrong with being Demonfolk? The horns? Our people believe some of our ancestors had dragon blood, so horns aren't much of a concern to us."
Come to think of it, I recalled hearing something about Ravil having a Dragon Blood Clan or something. I suspected a rather simplistic train of thought had been running through her head: dragons have horns too, so isn't it basically the same thing?
"More than anything, didn't she throw herself into the initial explosion to save us? If she took action like that without it being an anticipated situation, then she's a good person, race aside. Even if we might one day end up fighting each other elsewhere over our beliefs."
Good lord. That was so damn cool. Yekaterina, whose face usually leaned more toward the gentle and cute side, looked unbearably solemn and beautiful.
I nearly gave her a standing ovation without realizing it. I really wished the people of this world would watch and learn.
"I am Deoni Bire. A heresy inquisitor of the Demon God Church."
After the flurry of opinions had been sorted out, the Saintess gave a brief self-introduction. She seemed to have decided to hide the fact that she was a Saintess. Wrapping it up cleanly with the explanation that she'd simply come here with her comrades because there had been a revelation to execute demon worshippers who falsely used the Demon God's name, she then naturally pointed at me, her ally in the fight, and asked for help.
Fortunately, my comrades didn't find the scene particularly suspicious. Maybe because they were all adventurers, they were remarkably accepting of a friendly relationship born from cooperation. Asilie did twitch her ears as though she'd sensed something odd, but once I agreed, she left without comment with the others to search the desiccated corpses and the ruins—or abandoned dungeon, or whatever this place was—and collect anything valuable.
So, in the awkward silence that stretched out once the party had cleared off, I decided to broach the subject first this time.
"So, now that we can set aside our worries about the Saintess and those folks... may I ask how the Saintess can help me, as Lady Epaga said?"
I'd stayed behind with her under the pretense of helping investigate the altar in place of the unconscious heresy inquisitors, though the altar was nothing but a meaningless pile of rubble now. As I casually helped the Saintess, who'd slung her shield onto her back, lay the felled inquisitors down comfortably, I tossed out the question lightly. But the Saintess didn't answer right away—maybe she hadn't exactly thought of anything either.
"Of course, I'm not asking you to help right this moment or making any unreasonable demands. It's just that since Lady Epaga directly said so, I wondered if you might have some inkling."
I tacked that on in case she thought I was pressuring her, but it didn't seem related. She still wore an expression of sorting through her thoughts.
"Lady Epaga strongly emphasized cooperation. Because the situation was urgent, many things were left unsaid after that... but that one point, she stressed above all else."
Turning her eyes to me as she straightened out the last heresy inquisitor, the Saintess continued in an exceedingly calm manner.
"I judge you to be the Hero chosen by Lady Epaga, and I intend to help you in every possible way."
Though for me, it was a bombshell.
Me... the Hero?
If Siegfried passed by and heard that, he'd slap the ground laughing his ass off. Maybe that thought showed on my face, because the Saintess slowly shook her head and added an explanation.
"To be precise, it would be more accurate to say I judge you to be 'a being equivalent to a Hero.'"
"Is that... really alright?"
"Well, I'm not announcing and supporting you as a Hero to the whole order, so wouldn't it be fine? Helping you is strictly limited to my own individual capacity."
Listening to the Saintess, this revelation itself had been an extremely unusual and secretive form, something not even found in the order's records. She hadn't been able to properly explain it even to her fellow heresy inquisitors and had practically dragged them along, so in her opinion, even when they woke up, there was a high probability it couldn't be publicly announced on a large scale.
Given that even I found it hard to believe the situation myself—a human living in a place with almost no ties to the Demon God Church, receiving the Demon God's direct blessing and even being reincarnated—I could fully grasp what her words meant. In the end, as we were roughly fabricating and getting our stories straight about what we'd tell them when they woke up, the Saintess looked deeply apologetic and offered her regrets.
"I'm not at all comfortable having to dress things up as if I helped you when you slew the demon alone. I'm sorry."
"It is all by Lady Epaga's guidance, so please do not trouble yourself."
"...Were you perhaps already inclined toward the Demon God Church?"
I answered with the utmost sincerity, but it must have been a hard reaction for the Saintess to swallow. I knew all too well why that somewhat off-the-wall question had popped out, so I shook my head and answered.
"I believed in a god, but I did not know that being was Lady Epaga. If Lady Epaga had not spoken, I would have nothing to tell you on this matter just yet either."
It is undeniably strange, no matter who's looking, when some guy who's lived his whole life in a country where their religion could never possibly spread suddenly converts the moment he hears the god's name and message. But even so, I can't exactly say, 'Actually, I'm from another world, I have the experience of dying and being reborn, so I have no choice but to pledge my absolute loyalty to Lady Epaga,' now can I?
More than anything, even if Lady Epaga herself gave the nod, the one who deserves to know that fact among those around me first is Asilie. Even if the Saintess heard my story and showed absolute trust and faith, that was one thing I couldn't concede.
"Mm. That is fine. As you guessed, it is a very... mysterious matter, so I asked without thinking."
Fortunately, the Saintess clearly maintained the boundary.
After that, we exchanged a few short bits of conversation to get a feel for each other, then decided to examine the completely collapsed altar, just in case, before the heresy inquisitors woke up. The first thing to catch our eyes was an unidentified something that looked like a lump of red flesh.
It was a vile lump, smaller than a fist, sitting atop the pile of stones where I'd last placed that demon bastard's head. As soon as she saw it, the Saintess spoke.
"This seems to be a demon byproduct. I've only heard of them in stories; this is the first time I've seen one."
"Leaving behind shit like this... that bastard was utterly revolting from start to finish."
Maybe my frank reaction and tone didn't sit well with her, because the Saintess shot me a sidelong glare with narrowed eyes before shaking her head and starting to pick up and examine the disgusting lump of flesh.
"Is it safe to touch that carelessly? Just looking at it, its Magic Power level is no joke."
"Huh? You can see that?"
"Yeah. I can see it. Though I don't know if it's a blessing given by Lady Epaga."
Since we were in a position of having to cooperate with a god between us, I figured there was no particular need to hide it and said so openly. At that, curiosity flickered in the Saintess's eyes.
Could this young lady be the same sort of person as Seneran...?
This Saintess, her curiosity was something else.