The Second Lie
Before I fell into this world—back when it wasn't reality, but a game—players believed there was absolutely no hope for this setting. If you chose Stella and helped her ascend the imperial throne, the devil possessing the Pope's body would prepare for war to plunge the world into chaos. If you chose Anastasia and ousted the Pope, Stella's brother, who had become Emperor, would seize power and prepare for war. What happened if you chose a character other than those two? Not much changed. The only thing that differed was who started the war. No matter what you did, the outbreak of the Second War was inevitable.
But that was just in the game. What about now, when it had become reality? If we ousted the Pope and Stella became Empress, the war wouldn't happen. If both of them rose to the highest positions in their respective factions, we could continue to enjoy peaceful days. That was why I lied to Stella. To say I felt no guilt about lying would be a lie in itself, but I had no choice. If the two of them didn't cooperate and help each other, this fragile peace would quickly crumble. It was a white lie, really.
"...Counselor, I heard you were looking for me."
"Welcome. Please, make yourself comfortable."
As soon as Stella left, I summoned Anastasia. I had told Stella to keep our conversation a secret, but Stella was currently in an extremely precarious position. She might try to probe the Watcher's intentions somehow. No, she definitely would. Therefore, I needed to guide things so that my lie wouldn't end up being a lie.
"Would you like some tea? Or perhaps coffee?"
"Black tea, please."
"Very well. Though I'm not sure if it's high enough quality to suit the Watcher's refined taste."
"The Church does not encourage luxury. You need not worry about..."
"Oh, really? It didn't quite seem that way to me."
"..."
Anastasia's mouth shut tight. She had absolutely no excuse. While it was true that the Church preached frugality and shunned luxury, the Pope—the very man who was supposed to set an example—was behaving like a complete degenerate.
"T-that is..."
"Well, it's fine. These things happen."
"..."
Seeing Anastasia hang her head in silence, unable to offer a single rebuttal, I was honestly a bit impressed. How on earth did he walk such a delicate tightrope? I guess that's a devil for you.
"Are you deeply ashamed of your father?"
"...Is that why you called for me?"
"No, not at all. I was just asking since the topic came up."
The goal of the devil possessing the Pope was simple: to ruin the world as slowly and naturally as possible. If he ran amok openly, he would just waste the incredibly valuable vessel of the Church's supreme leader. Since the stolen body was already advanced in years, he was using senility as an excuse to slowly gnaw away at the Church from the inside, keeping it just barely on the verge of collapse. Go too far, and people would suspect him; act too upright, and there was no point in stealing someone else's body. His ability to cause just enough trouble to satisfy his desires without raising suspicion was truly masterclass. On top of that, he maintained just the right level of provocation to keep Anastasia from giving up hope. Honestly, he was a piece of trash, but I couldn't help but admire his sheer competence. If he weren't a devil, and if his goal weren't to watch the world burn, he would have been an incredibly talented individual.
"He is still my father. I believe that one day, he will return to normal."
"...Hmm, is that so?"
The reason Anastasia left the devil be was to save her father. She kept quiet about her father's Devil Possession because she couldn't let go of hope, and because the Pope didn't seem to be making any major moves yet. But if she ever suspected a war might break out, she would hold back her tears and strike her own father down. A contradictory soul who couldn't bring herself to exorcise the devil because of her familial love, yet was prepared to kill her father if things turned dire—that was Anastasia. And that very trait was exactly what I was targeting.
"Then those rumors must indeed be false!"
"Pardon? A-are there bad rumors circulating...?"
The fact that the Pope and the Watcher were father and daughter was already public knowledge. Even now, with the Pope's reputation plummeting by the day, the only reason he could maintain his position was due to Anastasia's devotion. In other words, Anastasia was constantly cleaning up the messes the Pope made.
"Ah, it's nothing. Just a baseless rumor, surely. Please forget I mentioned it."
"...No, Counselor. Please tell me. Even if it is just a rumor, I must ascertain the truth."
I knew that if I dropped a hint like this, she would ask me about it. That was just the kind of person she was. Fortunately, my prediction was spot on.
"Well... I really do think it's just a baseless rumor. But alright."
"..."
"Lately, there's been a rumor that someone looking exactly like the Pope has been going around assaulting women."
"...I-is that true?!"
"Oh, come now, I said it was just a rumor. I have no idea if it's true."
Anastasia asked me in sheer panic. Even though she was utterly shocked, she didn't seem to think the rumor was fake. I figured as much. Anastasia was the one who had watched the devil-possessed Pope closer than anyone else. She probably believed that devil was more than capable of doing such a thing.
"And what else was there... Ah, there was also a rumor about him taking young children to perform suspicious rituals."
"..."
"There are even whispers that he might be worshipping devils, but surely that's a lie, right?"
"Y-yes... of course. How could the head of the Church ever do such a..."
"Exactly. Please don't let it trouble you too much."
Anastasia was sweating buckets, as if she was absolutely certain he had actually committed the acts in the rumors. She was probably racking her brain trying to figure out how to clean up this mess. ...Well, it was all a lie, of course! There was no way such rumors were actually spreading. He was the Pope, for heaven's sake. If gossip like that were actually circulating, his position would be in immediate jeopardy. Even if the Church's influence had waned, it hadn't fallen that far. But Anastasia had no way of knowing that. Verify if the rumors were true? How? Asking the man himself was out of the question. The one she loved was her father, not the devil possessing his body. Going to him would only result in a useless argument. And she couldn't exactly go around asking other people, either. As someone whose job was to prevent such rumors from spreading, she would never do something as foolish as spreading them herself. ...In short, she had no choice but to believe the lie I had spun on the spot. Besides, even setting the circumstances aside, I had already earned a decent amount of her trust. After all, she believed I was the one who had managed to soothe the devil-possessed Pope. She would never suspect that a rumor coming from my mouth was a complete fabrication.
"Ah, that reminds me. Princess Stella was looking for you, Lady Anastasia."
"She was?"
"Yes. What was it again... I believe she mentioned wanting to have a private discussion regarding the Pope and the imperial family?"
"C-Counselor. I am terribly sorry, but I must excuse myself first."
"Of course, go ahead."
I smiled brightly as I watched her hurriedly rush out of the Counseling Room. She was so flustered that she left without even asking why I had called her in the first place. ...Well, that was the goal, anyway. This would do. Since they both had secrets to keep, even if their conversation didn't quite align, they would fill in the blanks in their own minds and misinterpret each other's intentions. Even if a miracle occurred and they communicated perfectly, realizing their information didn't match, it wouldn't matter. That was exactly what my Hypnosis ability was for.
"Good, very good... With this, we are one step closer to a path where everyone can be happy... Fufu..."
...Ah, right. I shouldn't laugh like that. Since I'd been told quite often lately that I sounded like a mastermind, I had decided to change my laugh first. Chuckling was the trademark of a mastermind character, after all. Maybe I should just stick to a bright smile.
"...What are you doing, Counselor?"
"Ah, Aileen. Hello. I was just practicing my smile a bit..."
"What? Why bother? Are you going on a blind date or something?"
"Well, I've been told a few times recently that my laugh sounds suspicious."
"Suspicious...? Why? It's pretty."
"R-really?!"
"Of course."
"Aileen, you're an angel...!"
Making no effort to hide how deeply moved I was, I stared at Aileen with sparkling eyes. First the Headmaster, then Stella—everyone kept calling me suspicious. I had tried to pretend otherwise, but I couldn't help but let it get to me a little.
"You can do that silly stuff later. Play with me today. I brought something fun."
"T-this is...! Ention's masterpiece, Baldur's Saga 3!"
"Well? Want to play?"
"Yes! I want to! Please let me play!"
"Good. That's the spirit."
I was already exhausted from running around managing those two. Is Aileen a god? No, she is a god. I happily played games with her late into the night.