Catching the Culprits Red-Handed
Priest Blanden, who had always treated her like a gentle older brother, now looked like an entirely different person. With a stiff, unyielding expression, he questioned the Saintess.
“What on earth do you mean by that?”
In his eyes, illuminated by the cold moonlight, there was no trace of his usual warmth—only a chilling, fanatical devotion to the Goddess.
Though terrified, Serena forced herself to speak.
“Until now, I believed everything the Church taught us without a single doubt. That the cursed spawn of the Demon Realm are not people, but wicked beasts that must be eradicated.”
“...”
“But what I've seen and heard since arriving here has left me utterly confused. They aren't monsters. They are just people, struggling to survive day by day, just like us.”
“Your Holiness...”
Not long ago, the Saintess had received a direct command from the Goddess and entered the Demon Realm with a small escort.
The Saintess's miracles, which normally purified corruption and healed the sick, could do the exact opposite if inverted: defiling the clean and sickening the healthy. Because of this, despite her vital importance to the Church, she had personally journeyed to the Demon Realm.
Thanks to that journey, she had traveled to various corners of the Demon Realm and witnessed the daily lives of the demons firsthand.
“They may look a little different from us, but they have families, they love, and they suffer. You saw it too, didn't you, Brother?”
The Saintess, who had spent her entire life locked in the cage of the Church, memorizing scriptures and being injected with hatred for demons, had finally swallowed the red pill of truth. She had mustered her courage.
“I think... we need to stop now.”
“Your Holiness.” Blanden narrowed his eyes. “I have always respected and supported your will. However, I cannot overlook this.”
“...Brother?”
“For those of us in the Church, the Goddess's will is paramount. When the Archbishop proposed unleashing a lethal plague to annihilate the demons, you opposed it, and so did I. Because I trusted you, the one closest to the Goddess.”
Serena had opposed it, arguing that a Church emphasizing good deeds could not commit such a malicious act. Blanden had supported her opposition, adding a practical reason: “What if the disease spins out of control and spreads to our own forces? Surely, the Goddess would not wish for that.”
As a result, the plague currently spreading through the Demon Realm had been kept at a relatively mild level.
“Just a little more, and it will be over. Once it is done, you will have fully accomplished the Goddess's command, and the Archbishop will have no grounds to find fault with you in the future.”
“But still...”
“Your Holiness.” Blanden glanced around their surroundings, let out a low sigh, and spoke in a hushed tone. “We are servants of the Goddess's will. We must not dare to doubt or judge the words She hands down to us.”
“...”
Faced with the heavy accusation of heresy, Serena could not bring herself to answer.
“I will pretend I did not hear what you just said. The night air is cold. Please return to your quarters.”
“Brother, I—”
“Your Holiness!” Blanden's voice cut her off, sharp and firm. He reached out and grabbed her hand. “The night has a way of breeding stray thoughts. It is only natural to feel unsettled in the heart of the Demon Realm.”
“...”
“When the morning comes under the watchful eye of the Goddess, your thoughts will change. Now, please go to sleep. Quickly.”
Left with no choice, Serena stepped down from the boulder and let Blanden lead her. Though Blanden appeared gentle on the surface, his grip on Serena's delicate hand was tight enough to crush it. It felt almost like a punishment for her transgression.
Returning to her tent, Serena pulled the blankets over her head and stared into the empty air, lost in thought.
I can't change a stubborn, dogmatic Church overnight. I was no different, after all.
She had spent her entire life following the Church's teachings without question. Until she actually set foot in the Demon Realm, she had truly believed that demons were nothing but soulless, evil, man-eating monsters.
If even the Saintess of the Church had been that blind, what of the ordinary priests, the common believers, and the vast majority of the Empire's citizens who never even had the chance to be educated?
So, I must be patient and do what I can in the meantime.
With that thought, Serena reached out and tapped the empty air.
The forum window materialized before her. Soon, Serena began browsing the gallery with practiced ease, logging in under a Fixed Nick that was incredibly familiar to all the users.
Meanwhile, the search party formed to locate the source of the infection was ready to move. The ones who had volunteered for this task were the witches.
Of course, I had no intention of exploiting them for free. The leader of the witches, a Fixed Nick named 'Spiny Lotus,' had insisted they were doing this to purify the Great Wetland and refused any reward.
But I refused her refusal.
“How dare anyone try to work for free under my watch.”
I promised to provide whatever supplies they wanted once the search was successfully completed. Upon hearing that, the apprentice witches—who had looked thoroughly unenthusiastic about being half-forced into service—suddenly got a fire in their eyes and became incredibly cooperative.
“Are the chat room assignments finished?”
“Yes, Head Mod.”
Several reporting chat rooms, divided by teams, were running simultaneously. The Ancient Demon God, RD1234, Reina, and I monitored them in real-time. Sharing their fields of vision through the 'Gallery's Eye' was an added bonus.
True to the witches' reputation for being inclusive of all heritages, their ranks were interspersed with elves, humans, and beastmen.
“The search party can't afford to get sick, so take this first.”
Items have been delivered!
I distributed three 500ml bottles of mineral water to each person. I wanted to hand out larger 2L bottles, but they were heavy and bulky, which would only hinder their movement, so I opted for the smaller ones. Instead, I left them a message.
“If you need more water, just let me know. I'll send it right over. Even if you boil the river water, it might not be safe.”
With the witches' preparations complete, I moved on to the next group.
“Next, what's the status of the skeletons?”
Plague? Who do you think you are? Skeletons, being nothing but bare bones, were completely immune to disease.
“We got lucky.”
Coincidentally, the undead division of the East Army had pulled back to the rear to reorganize after the battle of Archeinia. Although they had won an overwhelming victory, they had fought countless battles before that without a single moment of rest.
Thanks to the cooperation of 'LichLich,' the adjutant to the newly appointed East Army Commander Bernheiter, we were able to integrate the skeleton soldiers into our search party.
A search party that was immune to infection, didn't need to eat, drink, or sleep? It was absolutely perfect.
Since we had shared the vision of each team leader through the Gallery's Eye, I could check the situation on the ground with a simple tilt of my head.
“This is basically...”
A cyber tactical command center with multiple monitors. Technically, it was more of an epidemic control headquarters than a command center, but the vibe was there.
The witches and skeleton search teams, carrying their heavy responsibilities, finally merged and set off.
“Head Mod!”
“Hmm? What is it, Liv?”
“I finished studying the common language. Can I rest now?”
“Sure. Want some toast?”
“Yes!”
While Liv happily munched on her toast, the search party used the witches' teleportation magic to quickly move to the rivers. The task of traveling from the lower reaches to the upper streams of each river, testing the water for pathogens, and tracing them back to their source was a long and grueling process.
The search proceeded rapidly. Beside me, Reina marked the locations where pathogens were detected on a map. From the southernmost water sources to those dotted across the north, pathogens were being found everywhere.
“This is more serious than I thought.”
However, there was something strange about the reports.
“No obvious source of contamination?”
That made no sense. Waterborne diseases like cholera, typhoid, and dysentery usually broke out because water was contaminated by waste dumped indiscriminately in areas without proper sewage systems. But here, there were no sources of contamination, yet pathogens were detected in the rivers, spreading a disease characterized by coughing and high fevers across most of the Demon Realm?
It was impossible.
Is the concept of disease fundamentally different in this world?
As I was pondering this, a new message popped up.
Traces of a campsite were found near the headwaters of a major river. The headwaters were deep in the mountains, an isolated area without a single village nearby. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed someone had intentionally released the pathogens here.
“Is there some kind of magic or curse that spreads disease?”
“No, Head Mod. As far as I know, that's impossible. Both magic and curses require a price.” Reina shook her head.
Magic required mana, and curses required sacrifices.
“They say that in the distant past, a curse that spread a plague through a single city for a week required the souls and bodies of a hundred thousand sacrifices. But a spell or curse to spread disease across the entire Demon Realm? I can't even begin to imagine how massive the price would be.”
I told the search party to look around more, just in case.
Nothing of note was found. But just then...
A group of a little over ten people had set up camp near the water source. But...
“Huh?”
As I looked closer at the photo, I blinked.
“Wait, are those humans?”
People who had absolutely no business being in the Demon Realm were standing right there.
“Y-Yes, sir.”
The search team leader, the witch Silodi—whose gallery Fixed Nick was 'IWillBecomeTheStrongestWitch'—relayed the Head Mod's orders to her team members. A moment later...
“I can't hear a thing. Let's get a bit closer.”
I adjusted Silodi's gallery window to make it transparent and moved it closer to the group of humans. A woman in white robes and several men were arguing about something.
“...I told you! I can't do this anymore!”
“Your Holiness, please do not make things difficult. If you endure just three more days, we can all return to Aredria. Please, bear with it a little longer.”
“I'm not saying this because I want to go back! Because of me, so many people are suffering and in agony!”
“Ah, you mean those demon scum? They deserve far worse.”
“Brother! How can you say such a thing...!”
“Wow, a total soap opera.”
From what I could gather, the human Saintess and her priests were having a serious clash of opinions.
“Reina, if they receive power from a god, they don't need to pay a price, right?”
“Yes, it must be divine power rather than magic or a curse. That would explain it. But to think they would do something so reckless...”
“Keep an eye on them for a second.”
“What are you going to do?”
I pulled out the camcorder I had previously lent to the Demon King.
“I'm going to record some extra evidence.”
Since the first part was recorded using the gallery's recording function, which was capped at one minute, I planned to capture the rest with this. While filming the scene with the camcorder, I logged into the gallery to share the situation and call for backup.
“Like hell I am.”
I didn't know they were Holy Knights either. I just assumed they were ordinary priests. To be sure, I asked Reina, and as expected, she confirmed it.
“Yes, they are Holy Knights. Their years of training are reflected in their emotional scent. Five of them are Holy Knights, and one appears to be a high-ranking priest.”
“Five Holy Knights? Yeah, that's a no-go.”
The combat power of a Holy Knight was beyond imagination, and they could easily dispel magic with their divine power. They were not opponents that three witches and five skeleton warriors could handle.
While the search party retreated, I kept my eyes on the Saintess and the priests through the Gallery's Eye.
“This person called the 'Head Mod' gives medicine even to anonymous users he doesn't know! Why is our Church, which teaches us to do good deeds, the one spreading disease?!”
“How can you, the Saintess, speak the name of that abominable enemy, the Head Mod?!”
“Brother, go look at the gallery yourself! The Head Mod isn't some evil mastermind. He's a saint who distributes medicine to the sick without asking for anything in return!”
“Ah, it seems the Saintess has fallen. Blanden!”
“Yes, Father.”
“Help her snap out of it.”
“Mmph! Ngh! Gurgle!”
To think I would witness a forced gagging in real-time. As I watched the scene unfold with bated breath...
Snap!
One of the witches slipped on a steep slope, and the sound of sliding dirt and snapping twigs echoed through the quiet forest.
“...!”
“Someone's there!”
“Damn it! Catch them, don't let them escape!”
They had noticed.
“Well, we're screwed.”
Just as I was frantically opening the Point Shop to buy smoke bombs for the search party, a message popped up in the chat room.
“The Regent? Out of nowhere?”
BOOM!
As if on cue, with impeccable timing, a massive troll and about ten royal guards in black robes leaped down from their wyverns, landing heavily on the ground.
“Impudent humans! Where do you think you are, daring to crawl in here!”
Yugelt's massive battleaxe cleaved the air with a terrifying howl.