The Succubus's Confession
"So, next question—where did this succubus come from?"
"Then why were you alone in the Empire?" I asked. She was almost certainly part of the Demon King's army, though there was a chance she was a wild succubus. When the war with the Demon King broke out, the wild ones had disguised themselves as humans, terrified their arrows might be turned on them instead. This woman had clearly failed to play her part in time, which meant she was likely one of the Demon King's forces.
"I… I was originally under the Succubus Queen, the commander of the Twelfth Legion…"
"The Succubus Queen. That would make her the vanguard of the Empire's invasion."
"Y-yes. That's right."
The Succubus Queen. The queen of all succubi. She was one of the few demons who had actually made the species look threatening.
"I remember the Imperial Army holding the border. The Hero Party went in as reinforcements and even cut off one of the Succubus Queen's arms, didn't they?"
"Y-yes. That… that happened."
The succubus hung her head low.
"What was your mission? Now that I think about it, the Succubus Queen's forces were rather small back then."
Succubi weren't combatants by nature. Naturally, the ones under the Succubus Queen's command weren't fighters either. There couldn't have been many of them to begin with.
"At the time, our unit planned to raid villages near the Empire's border to increase our numbers."
"Don't tell me you were going to turn the men right there?"
"Yes. The area where the Imperial Army was stationed was more of a fortress than a village, and it had been a long time since any of them had seen a woman…"
They really had some nerve.
"You thought they'd be easy to corrupt, I suppose."
It was an absurdly reckless gamble. Back then, the Demon King's army had been riding high after cutting off the Empire's supply lines to the Kingdom. They must have thought it worth attempting.
"You were trying to turn the men into incubi."
Claire answered with clear disgust. Unfortunately, that wasn't quite right. Incubi weren't in high demand during wartime. Well, not entirely. There had been cases where incubi took advantage of husbands away at war to seduce Imperial women and turn them into succubi—and some had even succeeded. But since women weren't soldiers, it did nothing to weaken the Empire's fighting strength. A succubus, with her ability to charm both men and women, would have been far more efficient.
"If you wanted efficiency in a war where men made up the majority, turning them into succubi would make more sense."
"Huh? If they're men, don't they become incubi?"
I'd been wondering when that question would come up. Apparently, Claire didn't know. Men didn't automatically become incubi just because they were male.
"Women become succubi when they fall, men become incubi. That's the common belief, but succubi can actually turn men into succubi too. Though I have no interest in the details of how."
I'd seen it once before. Bandits had been rampant along the Kingdom's borders. When war made life difficult, bandits were inevitable. The Kingdom sent troops to deal with them, only to find succubi claiming to be the bandits themselves. Women were already rotten at the core, or at least the ones who had been carefully corrupted over time usually retained their sanity after becoming succubi. Men, however, kept their original personalities at first. Thanks to the succubi admitting they were bandits, the Kingdom had successfully "eliminated" the thieves—ironically, with the succubi's help.
"Turn men into succubi, then use those succubi to turn more men."
Even that plan was difficult to pull off.
"A very succubus-like strategy. But your plan failed, didn't it?"
"……Yes."
The Hero Party had access to information about the war between the Demon King and humanity. According to the Imperial commander at the time, the succubi's plan had failed thanks to the Hero Party's support. Even if the matter had already been settled on our end, it wouldn't hurt to hear the succubus's side of the story. Who knew? There might still be remnants out there. Now that I was Olivia, I intended to act as an Imperial citizen.
I knew there weren't many succubi capable of turning men into succubi. The picture was becoming clear.
"It's obvious. The Succubus Queen sacrificed one arm and fled, while the rest were either killed or scattered across the Empire while being pursued. Then you found Lily and made a contract out of desperation, only for the Demon King to die and you to target something in Atelina instead."
She must have planned to lure men in Atelina. It would have been a solid strategy—if only she hadn't chosen Lily.
"Yes."
She was finally starting to understand what I was saying.
"Good. You can say the same thing in front of the others, can't you?"
"Th-that's basically asking me to die!"
No, it wasn't asking her to die. I was offering her a way to live. Wasn't I?
"If I take you in as a new recruit, that's the end of it. It's do or die either way. You have no other options, and Lily won't help you."
"That's—"
If she wouldn't talk, she'd have to be hit again. Smack! This time, I struck her lower abdomen properly. She couldn't even scream properly from the pain. If I hit her again, she might not even be able to function as a succubus anymore.
"I said we'd take it easy, didn't I?"
"Kuh! I-I was going to talk…"
Really? Then she should have talked faster.
"If you swear a blood oath with me never to return to the Empire, I'll consider releasing you outside its borders. If you want, I can even restore your spirit energy."
"Ugh…"
Since she didn't answer immediately, she'd need another hit. Still not fully conscious? I brought the mace closer.
"Or would you rather die?"
"I-I'll listen! So put that mace away!"
I didn't feel like it. I might swing it if necessary.
"You'd better listen carefully. Next time, I'll smash your stomach so hard you won't even be able to play at being a succubus."
"How can you say that when you're a woman too?"
A woman? What nonsense. Well, the shell was female, so I'd acknowledge that. I'd acknowledge being Olivia too. But did I have to care about some demon bitch? Ridiculous.
"Why should I care about a demon?"
"Kuh…"
What was she going to do, glare at me?
"So, what's your answer?"
"F-fine! I'll do it! Just keep your promise!"
Good. If she behaved, there was no reason I couldn't keep my word. Now, time to use the Saintess's authority. I looked at Claire, who was wiping the pitiful succubus's body, and spoke.
"Claire? Contact the Student Council. Tell them the Saintess is summoning them, along with the Atelina nobles."
It was time for my first real act as Saintess. A magical Saintess, that is.
# Student Council
Aslan arrived at the Student Council early in the morning, only to be met by Olivia's maid. And the maid said something absurd.
"Wait, so what did you say?"
"My lady has summoned the Student Council using her authority as Saintess."
Huh? The Saintess's authority?
"The Saintess's authority?"
"Yes."
The Saintess's authority. Well, that wasn't bad. But no matter how he looked at it, he was the crown prince of this nation. Wasn't this going too far? He was the crown prince, after all. He needed to say something sharp here.
"I see. The Saintess's authority. Does the Saintess's authority rank above the Imperial family?"
No matter how he thought about it, the Saintess's authority couldn't possibly surpass the Imperial family.
"In an academy where all statuses are equal, what meaning does the Imperial family have? That's what my lady prepared as her answer in advance."
An answer. Quite thorough. But there was one contradiction.
"How thorough. Then Olivia herself isn't a Saintess, but a student."
"According to Atelina law, there are no status restrictions regarding the Saintess. That's what she said."
She certainly knew how to talk.
"But the Imperial family is equal too—"
"If it bothers you, become a Saintess yourself. That's what she said."
Right. He knew it. That was just like Olivia. Aslan, who had grown accustomed to this new Olivia rather than the one he'd seen before, nodded with a calm expression.
"Yes. That sounds like her."
"If anyone refuses the summons, no matter who they are, she will brand them as connected to demons and swing the 'Magic Mace' in the goddess's name."
Justice's mace? What was that supposed to mean? Surely she didn't mean the mace she'd been carrying. If it was a mace, it was just a mace—why call it a magic mace? Aslan had many things he wanted to question seriously.
"A mace is a mace, what's this magic—"
"She insisted on hearing your answer."
Not just an answer—an order. Maybe it wasn't just Olivia who had a problem, but this maid too.
"Understood. You may go."
"Yes. Then I'll take my leave."
The maid gave a short reply and disappeared. As expected of an Ashtarte maid, she was quite capable.
Once the maid left, Aslan let out a heavy sigh. A summons in the Saintess's name.
"A summons in Saint Olivia's name, huh."
"We shouldn't respond," Rilera said, standing beside him. Rilera had no choice but to change her perception of Olivia. From a simple villainess to an arrogant yet capable existence. She'd started seeing her as a rival, but Olivia's dismissive attitude toward her people gave her no reason to comply.
"The Church has been corrupt for a long time, hasn't it? She's definitely trying to bind us with the Saintess's authority."
"That seems impossible."
"What?"
"It's related to demons. If we don't respond, she'll consider us all in league with them."
In league with them. So now she was going to abuse the Saintess's authority without restraint.
"Hah. What kind of—"
"Whether it's that or not, we have no choice."
"This is exactly why she shouldn't have become Saintess."
"But looking at Olivia's recent actions, it doesn't seem like she's lying."
Recently, she'd shown that even if she wasn't at Saintess level, she at least had some ability.
"So you're saying she really sensed something related to demons?"
"It's possible."
"No, even so, surely not."
Rilera shook her head. No matter how capable that woman was, that couldn't be it.
"Yuria, what do you think?"
The baton passed to Yuria.
"I'm not defending her, but looking at her recent actions, there were more than one or two suspicious points."
Yuria agreed. She'd even become a Saintess. There was no denying it. But Rilera remained negative. Because if she thought about what Olivia had said at the Saintess appointment ceremony, there was no way she could be considered a Saintess.
"No, fine. I'll acknowledge that she's changed recently. But she's not a Saintess as a person. Common sense dictates that a Saintess who grins viciously while holding a mace at her appointment ceremony doesn't exist in this world. Saintess Cyria showed a desire for peace in the human world, and the Holy Kingdom's Saintess expressed her ambition to spread the goddess's faith throughout the world. That woman said she'd beat people up."
Even if she was a corrupted being in league with demons, beating them up so crudely—did that really suit a Saintess? What part of that was saintly? It was more like a street thug.
"Well, I think the same about that. So, are you not going?"
Aslan frowned.
"That's—"
"If we don't go, she'll find some excuse to brand us as in league with demons anyway. It's obvious she'll say something like 'You should have come if it bothered you.'"
The answer was clear without even thinking about it.
"Ah."
Now that he thought about it, that made sense. If they didn't go, what kind of excuse would she come up with? If they didn't go, she'd definitely pull some underhanded trick.
"So even if we don't want to go, we have to. Either way, it'll be disadvantageous for us."
But the Student Council still hadn't anticipated it. They never imagined that the Saintess's summons would be the place where Lily would be judged.