Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Question
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I'd reached the place without issue, but my manner of arrival was so horrifying that even the demon worshippers recoiled in shock. I had to spend a full day locked in an empty house undergoing interrogation.
They wondered why my face hadn't melted away, but the aura I exuded was identical to theirs, so I dispelled their suspicions far more easily than expected.
The excuse I fabricated wasn't anything special.
I leveraged the commotion in the capital.
I claimed to have originally been a demon worshipper lurking in the capital.
After that incident broke out there, I'd barely escaped and made my way to this place I'd only heard about in stories.
There was no way for them to know the truth.
Right after I fled, the capital had been sealed off until every last demon worshipper was rooted out, and anyone even remotely suspicious had been burned alive.
Even if I lied, they had nothing to cross-check it against.
After an endless barrage of pointless questions and answers, I was finally released the next day.
"Ugh..."
Stretching tiredly, I looked around.
Yesterday's events had unfolded so bizarrely that I hadn't gotten a proper look at my surroundings.
The area was thick with unpleasant auras that made my brow furrow instinctively, but the landscape they'd crafted was impressive enough to inspire awe.
They'd carved caves into the rocky mountainside to serve as homes, and there were dozens upon dozens of them.
The path to get here had been terrifyingly steep, yet once I arrived, the slope leveled out into something surprisingly gentle.
Gentle enough to make me think people could actually live here comfortably.
But that was all.
It was a rocky mountain, after all.
In an environment where nothing could be grown for food, how did they procure their supplies?
I had to find out.
My goal in coming here was to extract information, and that included details like this.
If I returned empty-handed with no intel, or if someone came looking for me...
And if I had nothing to report...
Then those people would assume I'd defected to the demon worshippers' side.
A simple misunderstanding between individuals might be one thing.
But creating a "misunderstanding" with the temple was absolutely out of the question.
They wielded enough power to burn people alive on mere suspicion, and the temple's influence spanned the entire continent.
"Mad sister."
"...You can just call me normally."
I turned around with an awkward expression at the grating voice calling me from behind.
Despite perfectly fine stairs being available, they'd been calling me that ever since yesterday's cliff climb. It was a bit embarrassing and cringeworthy.
My small frame meant less weight on my arms.
That allowed me to succeed in the climb despite my nails all breaking and bleeding.
"Is climbing the cliff that impressive?"
"...D-Does it not look impressive?"
The demon worshipper I'd first encountered closed his eyes as if reliving the moment, then shuddered violently.
"Only a madman would attempt to scale this mountain without any gear. You yourself are that madwoman, sister."
"...I just couldn't find the stairs."
"Failing to find the stairs is when normal people give up."
"...Ugh."
I bit my lip, never expecting to be out-logicked by a demon worshipper, and turned my head away.
That said, the demon worshippers gathered here...
There had to be well over 150 of them at a glance, yet they lived surprisingly ordinary lives.
Before arriving, I'd imagined a hellscape like a goblin village, so this was unexpected.
"In any case, it was mealtime, so I came to fetch you, sister. Come with me."
"...Mealtime."
"You haven't eaten anything since yesterday, have you?"
His unexpectedly kind words left me unsure how to react.
More importantly, they had set mealtimes.
Ration distribution, maybe?
I hoped it was proper food.
It couldn't be human flesh or something, right?
If they served human flesh as food, would I have to eat it?
Various thoughts swirled as I meekly followed the demon worshipper toward the largest of the dozens of caves dotting the area—a path I couldn't back out of now.
They were distributing food there.
It was ordinary.
Bread, thin soup, and a few fruit pieces for dessert.
It felt a bit meager for a meal, but it was incredibly normal.
"Do you haul supplies up the stairs? That amount for over a hundred people seems like a lot."
"Dozens go down and back repeatedly, and it lasts us two or three months at least."
"...Pretty ordinary."
"Ordinary indeed."
No magical methods or anything like that.
It was so ordinary it was almost suspicious, but prying too much would raise flags. Better to gather what I could on my own first,
and only subtly ask about the rest.
With that, I received my bread, soup, and fruit, sat in an appropriate spot, and ate.
The hard bread and soup were tough for someone like me who'd been eating well after recently earning money, but it was edible.
After finishing, I surveyed the surroundings again.
How much time passed?
I uncovered a shocking truth.
"...This is just a normal village."
Of course, I hadn't examined everything yet.
There could be some horrific secret I hadn't found.
Given they were demon worshippers, I couldn't dismiss the possibility.
But on the surface, there were no issues.
They were demon worshippers, yes, but their devotion to demons seemed exceedingly shallow.
Upon closer inspection, they were all people who'd been dying day by day from illnesses.
They'd undergone the demon worshipper ritual with consent, curing their diseases in the process.
But that was it—their cure. They'd become monstrous in appearance and aura, unfit to live among normal people.
So they'd relocated here, provided by their savior, and were supporting each other to survive.
"Then I need to find the one who built this place and healed them."
No need to go far.
He'd made his home at the mountain's peak.
However, to the people here, he was their benefactor who'd granted them new life despite their ugly forms.
The path to him was always guarded by at least three people.
To pass, I'd need to earn their trust.
Otherwise... circle back, scale the cliff again, and sneak in through the window like before.
"Supplies come from family?"
"That's right. They know we're alive, so even in their poor circumstances, they send a little so we won't starve."
I learned the source of supplies from a demon worshipper raising chickens.
Despite my sudden odd question, he kindly answered, and watching him, my mind grew increasingly troubled.
On the surface, there was nothing problematic.
They were just people who'd sought treatment, ended up hideous as a side effect, and voluntarily secluded themselves in the mountains to avoid harming others.
"...Hmm."
Troubling.
I'd observe a bit more first.
This place was too unique to grasp in a single day of wandering.
I had to stay sharp, remembering that everything visible could be a facade.
The most vicious villains often masquerade as kind on the outside while harboring cruelty within.
Time passed, and night fell.
As a mountain village, it was bitterly cold. I entered the cave where the female demon worshippers stayed and spent the night staring at the ceiling.
The disgust and revulsion of feeling bugs crawling over my body chased away any sleepiness.
Eventually, when everyone had fallen asleep,
I slipped out of the cave and looked up at the sky.
The sparkling stars embroidered across the heavens were breathtakingly beautiful, but my situation dulled the splendor of the night sky.
Even if I resolved this matter successfully, what would come next?
Could I even handle it?
No, before that.
"...I wonder if I can survive here."
Rie's voice didn't come.
She hadn't logged in to check my location yet.
So, for now, it was fine.
Ideally, I'd gather intel quickly and escape before the saint arrived.
But the situation didn't look that easy.
My chest felt tight, and my gaze naturally drifted to the house at the highest point—the one that could resolve all these questions.
This was the only proper house amid the caves.
I sighed and started walking.
"...What in the world."
A man with a remarkably intact appearance stared at me in shock.
"You've had a rough time."
I'd bypassed the guarded path entirely, scaling the cliff again to slip in through the window.
My small build made it possible.
Come to think of it, I hadn't realized it before, but I seemed to have a talent for this sort of thing.
I shrugged, pressed a finger to my lips with a "Shh," and the man nodded despite his indescribable expression.
"I came because I have questions."
If something's bothering you, the simplest way is to ask directly.
I had no intention of taking needless detours when the direct path was available.