Demon in the Pleasure City
In the pleasure city of Sabron, Asa muttered under her breath as she watched me return after finally catching Jena and Charles's affair following a long tail and meting out fitting punishment to the pair. "Something... this isn't the kind of investigation I had in mind."
Meticulous evidence fabrication and logical deduction to uncover it—that was the sort of investigation she seemed to expect. But what we actually did was tedious questioning, surveillance, and investigation through my unique magic. That was all there was to it.
"I don't know what you were expecting, but digging into other people's affairs is mostly just questioning and tailing," I told her. That was reality. Those were the basics, and in most cases, adultery investigations didn't require anything more elaborate. Harboring illusions about it would only lead to trouble.
With that thought, I decided to call it a day. While I had been occupied, Ilena had come under attack. One of the gangs that ruled the city had struck, but even a gang couldn't easily overpower regular troops. And that was without factoring in Ilena's unique magic. Her blessing shone brightest in group battles. In the end, the gang was defeated, and every last one of them met their end at the executioner's block.
Other gangs would now be scrambling to hide their secret ledgers and go to ground. Ilena's work from here on would depend on how well she could track them down once they started hiding. It would probably be an incredibly tedious task—more so than what I was doing now.
As I mulled that over, I caught a scent on my way back to the inn. A strong one.
"...You. I can't just let you pass."
I grabbed a hooded woman who had been walking by.
"Is there something you need?" the hooded woman asked, feigning ignorance, but she couldn't fool my eyes or my nose. From her came...
"The stench of corpses is overwhelming. From you."
"!!!"
The reek was foul.
I tightened my grip on her shoulder with certainty. "You're a demon, aren't you?"
Whoosh!
At that moment, a tail suddenly lashed out from her, aiming straight for me, but I dodged it with a slight tilt of my head. Thud!
"Ghk!"
Seeing Asa take the blow without even trying to avoid it left me exasperated, but my body moved faster. Slash! I severed the tail with my rosary and barked an order at Asa.
"Stop the bleeding!"
"Y-yes!"
While Asa, flustered yet composed, began treating the wound, I immediately dispelled the magic flying toward me.
"!"
Her eyes widened—perhaps it was the first time she'd seen magic canceled. In that instant, my fist connected squarely with her face. Crunch!
The hood fell away, revealing a woman with neat short hair. Light purple locks. Crimson eyes filled with hostility. Even as blood streamed from her nose, she hadn't lost her fighting spirit. I was mildly surprised. I hadn't expected her to endure that.
She seemed like a stronger demon than I'd thought.
"Asa, your arm?"
When I asked about the arm the tail had struck, Asa answered confidently. "It's fine!"
...It didn't look fine at all. The limb was turning black. She'd been hit with demonic energy. If it wasn't treated quickly, she might lose the use of that arm.
"...Honestly."
There was no time. If I didn't finish off this demon and treat Asa's arm soon, things would turn dangerous.
Clink. Clink.
I slowly wrapped the iron chain of my rosary around my right hand.
"I've given up on capturing you. You."
She seemed like a fairly powerful demon, so I'd wanted to take her alive for information, but right now even that felt like a waste of time. So...
Crack.
I clenched my fist tightly and spoke. "If you endure this, I'll treat you as a prisoner of war."
Infusing the fist with mana, I drove it forward with all my strength.
—
'I can't... use magic!'
She was panicking. She'd barely managed to bring out her tail, but magic wouldn't come. More than anything...
'My fist hurts!'
That single blow had left her dizzy, her very soul ringing with pain. She realized it anew. Greg possessed the continent's finest mana reinforcement. This priest's reinforcement rivaled even that. But...
'That alone won't be enough to defeat Lord Amon.'
She racked her brain. Once the pain faded, wariness toward the man returned. What he'd shown so far wasn't enough for a human to capture Lord Amon. There had to be something more. And then...
Clink. Clink.
The man suddenly pulled out his rosary and began wrapping the chain around his fist.
"If you endure this, I'll treat you as a prisoner of war."
She was still reeling from the absurdity of those words when—crunch!—his fist slammed into her face and her consciousness snapped. That was the last thought she had.
—
Drip...! Drip...!
"...As expected, she couldn't endure it."
Well, I'd known she wouldn't. Shaking the demon's filthy blood from my hand, I examined Asa's blackened arm.
"You've been hit with demonic energy. Shall I cut it off?"
"What?"
When Asa flinched in alarm, I chuckled and drove the demonic energy out. "It was a joke."
Fortunately, it hadn't been completely ruined yet, so treatment was still possible.
"...When you say it, Father, it doesn't sound like a joke at all."
Asa grumbled even as she flexed the arm from which the demonic energy had been expelled.
"It's completely healed?"
At her delighted reaction, I offered another warning. I hoped this experience would make her more cautious going forward.
"When dealing with demons, it's best to stay on guard, Knight Asa. I hope this experience proves useful."
"More importantly... is that one dead?"
Asa asked while looking at the demon whose face had been smashed beyond recognition. I nodded.
"We won't get any information, but it couldn't be helped. She seemed like the kind of demon that would take considerable effort to capture alive."
She was a higher-ranking demon than I'd anticipated. Subduing her without killing her would have taken longer than expected, so I'd had no choice. If I hadn't dealt with her quickly and treated Asa instead, her arm would have rotted from the demonic energy—and a holy knight losing the use of a hand would have been a disaster.
"...You really do seem better suited as an exorcist, Father."
Hearing Asa's murmur, I couldn't bring myself to deny it. Sadly.
"I can't... deny it."
She was right. Sadly. Demons seemed drawn to me no matter what.
—
"!"
Lying in bed and staring at the ceiling, Linierie’s eyes flew wide open the moment Vermos's presence vanished. 'That woman was defeated?'
She had been one of Lord Beelzebub's trusted subordinates and a powerful demon who had once stood on the front lines of the war against Satan. The fact that the woman Lord Beelzebub had given to Lady Lilith as a token of goodwill was dead was unbelievable. How could a demon of her strength be defeated without even putting up proper resistance?
'This... this wasn't a joke.'
Was that priest truly such a monster? Had he really killed Lord Amon through pure skill alone? It was hard to believe. How could a human be that strong? It was impossible to believe. And yet...
'Then how do I explain this?'
Who had killed her, then? It didn't make sense. Linierie was confused.
This was Sabron, the city of pleasure—the ideal city Lady Lilith had envisioned. And yet...
'It's falling apart.'
Sabron was crumbling right now. Because of those filthy followers of Yuno. Because of humans. She couldn't accept it, but...
'Lady Lilith must have a plan.'
Even if she abandoned Sabron, she would surely gain something in return. That was why Linierie endured. In the end, everything would be resolved once Lady Lilith made her move—that belief sustained her.
—
"Demons in Sabron... Well, I suppose that's only natural."
It was an environment demons would love, after all. Hermann wasn't particularly surprised. Even so, he hadn't gone there himself because it wasn't a suitable place to operate while protecting someone. Sabron was dangerous. Hermann had no confidence in keeping Lina safe while working there.
[So what are you going to do? Head to Sabron? There might be clues about Lilith there. I'm already gathering information through my birds, but...]
'Hmm... What to do.'
At Silvestina's question, Hermann pondered. Should he go to Sabron? But even if he went now, she probably wouldn't be there. Jenkinson was in the city. So Hermann shook his head.
"I'll wait for your information. Patiently."
[Well... fair enough. Anyway, stay on standby. Your very existence is a great source of strength for the faithful.]
'Lilith... where are you hiding?'
As he listened to her words, Hermann closed his eyes. The memory was still vivid—the demon who had sneered at them while tearing his comrades apart. Her beauty hadn't registered at all. To eyes stained with hatred, even that lovely appearance had looked hideously distorted.
—
"There was a demon?"
After sending the corpse to the church via Asa and returning, Jenkinson showed Ilena, whose eyes were wide with surprise, the bloodstained rosary.
"Well, it's not surprising that demons would appear in such a corrupt place. But be careful. This city..."
It was still only a suspicion, but Jenkinson could feel it—the thick scent of demons lingering here. This city reeked of them.
"It feels deeply entangled with demons."
Almost as if a demon's will were deeply involved in its workings.
'His Holiness's judgment was correct.'
This place needed purification. In that regard, His Holiness's decision had been accurate. Then...
'Does that mean war is truly necessary as well?'
Had the northern barbarians already fallen to that extent? It was hard to believe, but doubt was growing in Jenkinson's heart. The unease that the north might be so corrupted that even the goddess sorrowfully desired war was beginning to take root.