Joint Class: The Price of Lies
"A friend... you say?"
She had known she might face resentment.
Even so, the female knight felt no shame in her actions. It had been a rational decision, and she believed the Princess would understand.
"Yes. My friend, Claire, has become a Dark Priestess. How... how am I supposed to accept this?"
Considering the brief time they had known each other, the Princess calling them friends carried a somewhat complicated weight.
Nevertheless, the knight did not doubt the Princess's sincerity. That was simply the kind of person she was.
She was a person who could become friends with a stranger on their first meeting, and who would gladly risk her life for anyone she took a liking to.
For someone destined to carry the Empire on her shoulders, such behavior might be deemed reckless. Yet, to those who followed her, she was a leader of incomparable honor.
But right now, the Princess's goodwill was not directed at the knight.
"I will not charge you with deceiving the imperial family. I did not receive your report as a member of royalty, but simply believed your words as a fellow Academy student."
"..."
"But, I am sorry. I do not think I can... trust you anymore."
Resentment flickered in the Princess's eyes.
This was no common occurrence. She knew the immense power the imperial family wielded, and she judged the royal house more strictly than even the most hostile nobles.
If people died because a record drought brought no rain, it was the Empire's fault for not ordering water to be stored in advance. It was her own sin.
If a magical beast killed a citizen, it was the Empire's failure to secure sentries. It was the royal family's sin, her own sin.
Yet now, this very Princess was blaming someone other than herself with her eyes. That sharp, icy anger tore the knight's heart to pieces.
"...It was all for your sake, Your Highness."
A pathetic excuse. Whatever the reason, it did not change the fact that the knight had lied.
"That much, I will believe. Olivia... I believe that you, of all people, would never collude with evil."
Pain laced the Princess's voice.
"But a young girl has become a Dark Priestess. Even if she dabbled in dark magic... she was a good child."
Yurisia believed that someone becoming a Dark Priestess was no different from them dying.
"If I continue to trust you... those around me will only end up like Claire."
They did not even know what kind of demon she had contracted with.
"This is where it ends, Olivia. I thank you for what you have done for the Empire... and for me. But... I no longer wish to speak with you."
With those final words, the Princess left Olivia behind. Her mind was consumed with worry for Claire.
For a demon surely possessed her now.
"Go! Dark Arrow!"
Claire shouted, a triumphant smile gracing her lips.
You don't really need to announce what spell you're going to use beforehand...
Of course, anyone could tell just by looking. In truth, the pool of dark magic she could cast was so small that one could probably guess it without even watching.
While powerful spells required chanting, basic dark magic like Dark Arrow was instantly recognizable the moment it manifested.
However, that wasn't a significant weakness for her.
"D-Damn it! What is that?!"
The sky above the dueling arena dyed black. Claire's opponent stared up at the swarm of Dark Arrows filling the air, her face pale with horror.
"Are Dark Priestesses really this strong?!"
She was a familiar face. While not a top-tier companion character, she was a dual-wielding warrior who was decent to slot into a party when short on damage.
She had talent, but she was no match for the current Claire.
"And what's with that barrier?!"
The warrior desperately tried to close the distance, but Claire stood her ground, wrapping herself in a shroud of dark mana.
"Eek!!!"
The Dark Arrows suspended in the air rained down on the dual-wielding warrior. The match was over.
"I-I won! I won! How did I do, Wade?"
The moment the victory was declared, Claire dashed over and threw herself into my arms.
"...You did well."
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a good fight.
She only won because her opponent was merely an Academy student, allowing her to get away with such clumsy technique.
To begin with, when a warrior and a Dark Priestess fight, the mage must never allow the opponent to close the distance. Relying on barriers or other defensive measures to repel enemies was a tactic that carried inherent risks.
She should have focused on generating Dark Arrows faster to disrupt her opponent's path.
Unless she was casting grand magic far beyond her level, standing completely still was a massive blunder.
She needed to keep moving and maintain her distance.
She had to create constant variables so the warrior couldn't strike at the timing and posture they wanted.
Despite all these flaws, Claire had won.
"Whoa, what kind of demon did she contract—no, pledge herself to..."
"With that kind of power, it has to be at least an Archduke-class demon, right? Even if it's a devotion rather than a contract, to grant that much strength..."
Unlike holy power used by priests and mana used by mages, which were fundamentally different, dark mages and Dark Priests both utilized dark mana.
As long as the entity the Dark Priest served permitted it, they could freely cast any dark magic.
"Man, she's set for life. I've heard dark mages gain power easily, but to get that strong in an instant..."
"Don't even dream about it. She might be smiling on the outside, but I'm sure she has her own share of struggles."
Claire, once an ordinary student, had instantly become one of the most talked-about freshmen.
Considering she was positioned right between Princess Yurisia and Katarin, it was a remarkable achievement.
Good...
There was a limit to the power I could wield. To be precise, there was a limit to the power I could use without drawing suspicion.
But Claire, as a Dark Priestess, had no need to suppress her dark mana. No matter what happened, she could simply excuse it by saying, "The demon granted me this power."
But...
This was only the beginning. Kazot would be moving somewhere, and Katarin's actions would have introduced variables to their plans.
I couldn't afford to let my guard down just because we were growing stronger.
"How ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous."
Katarin's expression was grim.
It was a plan that should have succeeded. Wade and Claire should have died, or at the very least, survived as madmen ruined by insanity.
Why are they still alive...?
If the Princess's mercy had exceeded her calculations, their survival wouldn't be entirely strange.
But Claire becoming a Dark Priestess was a massive disaster that went completely against her predictions.
"For that girl to be a Dark Priestess in the first place... and for a Dark Priestess to roam around so freely. None of this makes any sense."
To ordinary people, even dark mages were terrifying, abnormal humans.
Yet, because of that, many people had a lowered threshold of suspicion.
They simply thought, Aren't Dark Priests and dark mages just the same kind of weirdos?
But Katarin possessed deep knowledge of dark magic, and she had actually met a few Dark Priests in person.
Those things are beasts incapable of socialization in the first place.
They were individuals who had gone several steps further than those who contracted with demons out of greed.
They lacked discernment. When they acted, they had no awareness of morality, no sense of what shouldn't be done.
While that might sound similar to a dark mage, they lacked even more fundamental aspects of humanity.
They had no instinct for survival, no comprehension that being caught would bring misery or that torture would hurt.
Infanticide, human sacrifice, murder, torture, and countless other heinous, inhuman acts.
They were true monsters capable of committing all of it without a shred of fear.
There is no way she could look so normal...
She couldn't be a real Dark Priestess. Even if she were, Claire could never have completed that devotion on her own.
Questions piled upon questions. An instinctive anxiety, coupled with a tingling sensation of excitement, filled Katarin's mind.
Katarin turned her head to look at Kellin, who was kneeling on the floor.
Just how long does this girl plan to delay choosing her master?
The incident with Wade was certainly not something those two could have resolved on their own.
An organization was involved. A highly dangerous group whose identity even Katarin had failed to uncover.
And here I thought she would be useful...
She could sense the anxiety in Kellin's eyes. It was highly probable that Kellin had somehow leaked Katarin's plans to Wade's organization.
Yet, even Katarin could find no trace of contact between the two.
"Kellin?"
"...My lady."
The female knight serving Katarin was floundering in a painful haze of dark mana, without even knowing why.
Ever since her mistress had called her name, it had been going on.
Katarin said nothing, merely staring down at her with a meaningful smile.
Kellin's pained gasps appeased her anger, if only a little.