Commendation

Without taking my hand off the hilt of my sword, I stared at the human bomb before me, mulled it over for a long while, and finally understood the situation belatedly.

She was a person with a few screws loose, but the point was that Teneasi harbored no prejudice against the Demon God and placed absolute trust in the effect of that lie detection Holy Art. As a result, she could spit out that bizarre answer without batting an eye.

From the start, it was contradictory to even consider the possibility of threatening the Hero while not believing that the Demon God's champion would unconditionally help the Demon King. By that logic, every person in the world was a potential murderer of the Hero. But if I assumed she hadn't come here convinced that I might threaten Siegfried, but simply to confirm whether there was a 'possibility' of it, trusting the Holy Art, then things fell into place.

Even though I didn't know the mechanism behind it, it must have demonstrated a nearly perfect accuracy in reading the sincerity of the other party. That was why she acted like that, and that was why from the moment we conversed, a hypothesis like "But you might do that." became meaningless to Saintess Teneasi.

Because once we had a conversation, she could know for certain that I wouldn't.

It was a sense I could never understand... but since I couldn't even comprehend a world where people sensed Mana and aura and gauged their strength, there was no point in me arguing about it. I suddenly felt all the energy drain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠out of me, and while I stood there deflated, Teneasi cautiously took something out and handed it to me.

That attitude, somehow timid yet reeking of a truly apologetic nuance, made me unconsciously want to smack her one.

"As an apology for the rudeness just now, I'll give you this."

"Is that all you call rudeness... haah, what is this again?"

Once I received it, I found that I was holding three objects like glass beads wrapped in some elaborate silver craftwork. Something shimmered inside, but I couldn't tell what. When I looked at her with a gaze demanding an explanation, Teneasi scratched the back of her head sheepishly and spoke.

And that strangely embarrassed attitude made my irritation spike in an instant. Already, I could find no trace of tension in her whatsoever.

"It's a kind of potion I made by gathering my Divine Power. Since it's not made with holy water as a medium but condensed Divine Power itself, you can use it anytime as long as the holy artifact protecting its exterior isn't damaged."

At her explanation, all sorts of thoughts started swirling in my head. Crazy bitch or not, a saintess was a saintess. If it was a specially processed potion made by Teneasi herself, it wouldn't be inferior to a blue potion.

"How effective is it?"

"To the extent that you can be saved as long as you're not dead...?"

Seeing the silver light gone from Teneasi's eyes, I heaved a deep sigh.

I could understand being prepared to give your life to protect someone precious. If I were in a similar situation, I would have agonized over it too. But I hadn't threatened Siegfried's life; on the contrary, I had been helping him. Trying to repay that with a self-destruct was a clear overreaction.

If I had intended to kill him, I'd had plenty of chances. Forgetting all that and jumping to conclusions because of a moment's anxiety was unquestionably Teneasi's fault.

It might seem similar to what I've done so far, but I could swear before Epaga that in my fucking life I've never pulled this kind of shit on someone who helped me.

Thus, I couldn't just let it slide. At the very least, there had to be a price for that rash behavior. I was mulling over it when she handed me these, so thanks to that, I didn't have to think about it anymore.

"There should be."

So I momentarily detonated the Magic Power I'd been circulating through my body and used the burst of acceleration to draw my sword.

My nerves, already on edge, were further enhanced by Magic Power, to the point that even Teneasi's oblivious blink seemed to happen in slow motion.

And in that fleeting instant, the tip of my blade, freed from its sheath, was swung toward her throat.

"Uh...?"

Without even a chance for Teneasi to open her eyes wide in surprise or react properly, blood spurted from the left carotid artery of her neck.

◈

Potions generally produced by the Church were based on holy water. When applied, wounds healed; when ingested, internal injuries healed—they had the kind of efficacy that shady quacks would claim. But that was merely an acceleration of recovery, not something that could recreate what was lost.

For instance, blood that had left the body. That was why, no matter how many potions you had, you couldn't chug them like water ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and keep fighting.

What made the difference was the quality of the potion. The basic mechanism of drawing upon the body's own recovery power was the same, but the difference lay in how efficiently it healed without burdening the body. Beyond that, the grade ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was divided by whether it could perfectly restore injuries as if receiving a healing Holy Art.

In that sense, the blue potion was considered high-grade.

The reason it wasn't top-grade was that it couldn't match the efficacy of the top-grade potions produced by each church. Those were things close to the realm of miracles, with only a few in existence, yet they exerted an effect rightfully called tier-zero, so even the wizards who made blue potions didn't object. However, since it boasted semi-permanent preservation and excellent recovery ability, it could be called the very highest of the high-grade potions.

If the performance of the item Teneasi handed me was at least that good, it was sufficient to resolve this situation. Having concluded that, I swung my sword, without a single inch of error, cutting her carotid artery.

The wound was shallow. Of course, even so, if left alone, it was enough to die within a dozen seconds. Belatedly, the saintess checked the blood spurting from her neck in time with her pulse, instinctively clamped her hand over it, and looked at me with trembling eyes. Unlike a moment ago, those eyes were shining silver.

She wasn't using a healing Holy Art to treat her neck, but the lie detection Holy Art.

Thanks to that, I became certain of the hypothesis that she had merely relied on the lie detection Holy Art, and I sheathed my sword, then gave a short, quick explanation.

"This is a warning."

I didn't believe she'd fully understand my intent from that single phrase. I merely uttered it because I only needed her to know that I wasn't trying to kill her right there and then. Then, near the flustered Teneasi's neck, I took one of the beads she had given me, and belatedly asked a question.

"But how do you use this?"

Whether she was pondering my words and actions or not, Teneasi's eyes, which had been darting about, quickly regained composure. For all her faults, a saintess of an established order was still a saintess; apparently her social awareness wasn't completely hopeless.

"...Ju-just squeeze it with some force."

"So the craftwork breaks the glass and activates it. Understood."

Low risk of cutting my hand, that's nice. I crushed the bead faster than Teneasi could nod in agreement to my muttering.

No grand burst of light swelled out with a poof! If I had to compare, it was close to a silvery sparkling mist. At the same time, I felt the bead in my hand slowly vanish, as if dissolving into the mist.

"This is... the realm of divine authority?"

"Well, I am a saintess, after all."

It was a crazy conversation. Neither my words while healing the carotid artery I'd slashed with my own hands, nor her reply so nonchalantly after being attacked were appropriate. But Teneasi, seeming to already understand what I intended, showed no hostility, even lowering the hand that had blocked her carotid artery, maintaining her composure.

And the source of that composure seemed to be her belief in the bead potion. In truth, I was inwardly admiring the saintess's power that I was encountering firsthand.

The phrase 'remarkably effective' must exist for times like this.

"Can anyone do this?"

"No, not at all."

The blood that had gushed out was vanishing. Not that it was flowing back into her neck. But the meaning of the disappearing blood during the healing process was clear.

"It rewinds time."

I didn't know what process it went through, but her healing art restored even a person's blood. Well, that's why it was the realm of divine authority.

"...Amazing. Zeke mentioned a similar impression."

Thanks to that, I, who had planned a major afternoon cleaning to wipe up the blood, could nod in satisfaction while looking at the clean professor's office and her neck. With this level of performance, it was enough to escape death twice, making it a reasonable mitigating factor. Thus, I notified her as flatly as possible.

"I don't give a single fuck how much you, Saintess, depend on the Hero or how important he is to you. But if you pull this kind of bullshit again over some half-assed suspicion, don't forget that even if it means getting struck by lightning from the Goddess of Light, I won't let it slide like this again. What you just did could have made your very existence as a saintess a reason for me to become hostile toward the Hero."

Teneasi showed none of the obvious reactions like getting angry at me, glaring, or gauging my mood. Instead, as if nothing had happened, she displayed another vacillating demeanor, only bowing her waist and repeatedly apologizing. That attitude, with a screw loose, made me frown reflexively, but I just waved my hand and dismissed it.

"Seriously, what kind of pointless mental suffering is this... So, your business is done?"

"Ah! My business is done, but there's still the matter the First Princess asked me to handle."

What the hell. I guess she really was a crazy bitch.

She'd been prepared to die together with me, and yet she'd accepted a request meant for the possibility that things ended peacefully? That was the moment my assessment of the Imperial Divine Council's saintess definitively shifted from an airheaded coward to a genuine yandere psychopath.

She's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the saintess you chose, Siegfried. I don't know anymore, so hang in there with sheer guts and grit.