Impure Intentions Are Nothing Short of Black Magic

I still had no idea what any of it meant… but one ending had been locked.

Ester's route.

One out of five.

Reading the ending script, it seemed to be the one that triggered when Laward accepted Ester's confession.

The ending a player could reach the fastest.

And now, the ending that had been sealed shut.

"…I did it."

I clenched my fist tight and let out a long breath.

As expected, deciding to sabotage the romance routes had been the right call.

For the first time, I had blocked an ending.

However faint the change, it was the first step toward defying a colossal fate.

If I kept this up, the protagonist and the heroines would never connect.

Once they stopped caring about romance and grew stronger instead, we could prevent the end of the world—where every human, animal, and monster alike turned into undead.

A zombie apocalypse in a fantasy world. What kind of deranged ending was that?

"Haa."

I carefully reined in the urge to go buy a bottle of wine and toast right then and there.

Barely one out of thirty-one.

It was still too early.

Besides, the message that had appeared after the ending script bothered me.

Stage 1 perk unlock.

Four endings remaining.

I had never known the game hid perks like that.

Maybe because I had only ever cleared the single hidden ending.

What the perk rewards even were, what Stage 1 meant—

Everything was still a mystery.

Well, locking more endings would naturally clear things up eventually.

Swish—

I changed clothes and stepped out into the living room of the lodging, only to find a letter from home waiting there.

The seal stamped with two crossed spears was unmistakable at a glance.

To summarize the contents:

Our house is participating in this summer's monster subjugation campaign, so come home at once.

That was it.

Ever since the regression, I had been away from home for a long time, constantly hunting down the protagonist.

It was a completely different pattern from my previous life, when I had simply stayed cooped up at the estate.

The area where the protagonist and heroines were active was the territory of some grand duke, quite far from Hasgard County.

Naturally, the me of my previous life had never come anywhere near here.

I understood Father's worry.

Even if raising talent as the youngest son was a good thing, he must have been anxious that I might go far away and cause some incident.

I couldn't tell him the specifics, but I at least had to send word not to worry.

I was preparing against both the world's destruction and our house's downfall, after all.

Scratch—

I began writing a reply.

To summarize the outgoing message as well: I'll be home soon, so please rest easy.

In particular, I made sure to inform him that I would definitely return before the Subjugation Festival—the decisive incident that would begin the Hasgard family's collapse.

I put the period in place and gently lifted the pen from the letter paper.

There was still something left to do before I went home.

Ester still seemed to like Laward even after being rejected ten times over, and more importantly, she still hadn't learned recovery magic.

Before returning home, I needed to make Ester useful.

Because a healer would be necessary for that Subjugation Festival Father had mentioned.

"Recovery magic, huh…"

I sighed and leaned back against the chair.

Unfortunately, the Academy's magic department did not handle sacred magic.

No.

They couldn't handle it.

Sacred magic.

Especially recovery magic—it was the symbol and authority of the Church.

Only clergy who had passed the Church's examination were granted the right to learn recovery magic.

It would have been nice if I knew recovery magic myself, but the only magic I had learned was enhancement—buff magic.

All-in on a single type of magic.

I had never studied recovery.

To teach Ester, the only method was somehow obtaining that grimoire and delivering it to her.

There were three ways to get a Church grimoire.

Take the Church's examination the proper way, buy one on the black market, or approach a corrupt clergyman.

"Hmm."

First method it was.

I already knew what that examination entailed, and for the current me, it wasn't difficult at all.

I stopped by a nearby monastery and said I wished to take the examination.

"That you would walk the path of glory with us, Brother, brings me true joy."

The priest who received me spoke with a plain, straightforward tone.

He had a stern impression, perhaps because of his square jaw.

"However, there is a qualification that must be possessed first and foremost in order to become clergy. Namely, a pure body. Forgive my rudeness, but may I confirm whether you possess that qualification, Brother?"

He delivered an unpleasant statement in a polite manner of speech.

Because the meaning of "a pure body" was, in short, whether I had any "experience."

The wording alone was demure, yet nothing could have been more blatant.

Had he recognized me as a noble from my attire?

And if I was a noble, he must have assumed I couldn't possibly still have a pure body.

As a modern person it was an utterly vulgar question, but since I had come here of my own accord, I had no choice but to play along.

"By all means."

At my words, the priest nodded and took a step closer.

"Then, if you'll excuse me."

Hum—

The priest's right hand radiated pure white light.

Soon after, the hand wrapped in light was carefully placed upon my shoulder.

"……"

The priest closed his eyes and concentrated.

Magic that verified purity.

I had been subjected to it a few times in my previous life as well, but it was a magic that gave me the creeps every single time I saw it.

There were two cases in which this magic was used.

One for those seeking to become clergy, and another for fiancés.

They said the fiancé case had almost disappeared by now, but shouldn't a magic this horrifying be banned?

Whoever developed it, impure intentions made it nothing short of black magic.

It deserved a global ban.

Wuum—

Even while my thoughts ballooned, the priest's magic continued.

A short while later.

"Ohh, you possess the qualification, Brother! You have a pure body!"

Well, of course.

I knew my own experience better than anyone.

But what was this?

Why did it feel so unpleasant?

"You are prepared to become clergy."

And just like that, I became a Church-certified virgin.

It was still a thoroughly unpleasant certification…

"…Hm?"

Suddenly the priest's brows curved, and a look of surprise crossed his face.

"How is this…"

He openly displayed his trembling pupils.

"Forgive me, but… may I ask your age?"

My age, all of a sudden?

I was twenty-one this year, I think.

"That is… astonishing. Within your body, Brother, lies a purity deeper than the time you have lived. As if… you have been in a deep sleep for about thirty years…"

Thirty years.

There was something that clicked about that number.

Daywin Hasgard's age was twenty-one, but if you included the time I had lived in Korea and the five years spent in my previous life, I was thirty years old.

Actual age: thirty.

That deranged magic had even grasped my real age.

In other words.

The priest was saying I had been pure for thirty years.

"You are truly devout, Brother… I have never met anyone like you!"

The priest seized both my hands tightly in an excited voice.

And he didn't stop there—he even summoned the other clergy.

"Everyone, look upon this brother! We must all take him as our example!"

Before I knew it, I was surrounded by the monastery's priests.

They placed their hands on my shoulders, used the magic, and every one of them marveled.

"Ahh… such purity…!"

"To maintain such clean purity even at an age when every sort of desire rages… the Goddess has sent us this brother for our sake…"

"Everyone! Let us pray for the brother!"

Getting my thirty-year-aged purity exposed was bad enough; now they were elevating it as if it were some kind of achievement.

These devilish bastards…

If I discarded my purity I would lose a Holy Knight's power as well, so I had no choice, damn it…

"That should be enough preparation."

I irritably brushed the hands off my shoulders.

"I will take the examination now."

"Ah, yes! Excellent! In fact, we would prefer you do it right here."

The priest who had first received me clapped his hands in welcome.

"Here, please accept this."

A moment later, he brought out a carefully kept volume of scripture.

"Once you have memorized the scripture over the next two years, you will be granted the right to take the examination. I will be rooting for you, Brother."

"I don't have that kind of time."

"We cannot go against tradition. Or is it that you do not intend to memorize the scripture, Brother? That will not do. The Goddess has spoken thus: 'In the hands of those who do not sweat, grace…'"

"'…grace shall not abide. Wind without deeds scatters the seed, and only those who have acted shall reap.'"

When I continued the scripture verse, the priest's eyes flew wide open.

"Is that not Chapter of Abstinence, Verse 17?"

"How…"

How did I know?

I might not know the other passages, but I had the Chapter of Abstinence thoroughly memorized.

One morning after I had joined the Holy Knights.

Like a healthy man, I had risen together with a certain part of my body—that sort of… physiological phenomenon.

But unluckily I had been caught by the bishop, and I was locked in the punishment room until I had memorized the entire Chapter of Abstinence.

Even now, recalling the verses of the Chapter of Abstinence made the humiliation of that time well up.

"Ahem, it seems… you have memorized the words of scripture. V-very well. Even so, it cannot be done now. Memorizing the scripture alone is not what the two years are for. During that period, one is to learn holy power."

The priest put strength into his voice with a resolute face.

"Even if you say you ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have already memorized the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scripture, wielding holy power is an entirely different matter."

When he finished speaking, the other priests nodded as if that were only right.

"I shall inform you of the examination topic. Once you hear it, you will understand that it is still beyond you."

He rolled up his sleeve and pointed to the bracelet on his right wrist.

A silver bracelet.

From that bracelet hung a cross-shaped ornament, and when the priest extended his arm, the ornament dangled and danced.

An equal-armed cross.

It was the Goddess Church's cross ornament, neat and square on all four sides like a plus sign ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠(+).

For a mere clergyman's accessory, it shone brilliantly.

On the front of that ornament was a bas-relief picture, taking a scene from the scripture as its motif.

The figure of the Goddess stacking bricks upon ruined ground.

Judging by the fact that even fine carving had been worked into a tiny ornament less than five centimeters across, it was clear the piece had been born from a master craftsman's hands.

"The examination is to recreate this with holy power. Of course, every last tiny carving, without omission. All of it."

The priest slipped the bracelet from his wrist and set it upon his palm.

"For a beginner, it is the same as carving with flowing water. Now then, Brother, if you begin your studies even now, you will be capable in two years. Ah, with someone as devout as you, Brother, even sooner would be possible."

The priest smiled slightly, as if soothing me.

"Ha."

And I, too, smiled right back at him.

"…Hm?"

The priest made a thoroughly flustered sound, as if he had never expected me to smile.

An examination that converted mana into holy power and realized a delicate ornament.

For a beginner, it would not be an easy test.

One had to be able to handle holy power freely enough that two years felt unreasonably short.

For the current Ester, who could not even control mana, it was a far-off tale.

But I had been a knight commander.

I had been promoted at high speed because the higher ranks had died one after another, but still—I had been a knight commander.

"Please have a seat. First let us begin the entry procedures. Once they are finished, you will live at the monastery and train…"

Thud—

I seized his bracelet as if snatching it away.

"…Brother?"

Then I stared fixedly at the cross-shaped ornament hanging from the bracelet, and for a moment—

Mental focus.

I sketched the ornament's details in my mind and re-carved them with mana.

Rumble—

Done.

Toward the roof where stained glass spread wide, an ominous sound rolled as if storm clouds were gathering.

"Huh?"

The priests likewise noticed the roar and looked up at the ceiling the moment—

CRASH!

A gigantic cross pillar smashed through the roof and settled down.

A shape as if a shining pillar stood tilted in the very center of the monastery.

It did not merely flaunt its enormous bulk; it had completely copied even the carvings engraved upon the priest's ornament.

No.

It had carved them even more beautifully.

"Uh, uhh…"

The priest's mouth went slack, as if he had just woken from sleep.

"B-Brother, this, what in the…"