Arhen's Treasure (4)
I wondered if that was enough.
They had asked me to tell them about what happened in the Demonic Realm, but having spent two full years there, I honestly had no idea where to even begin. Still, I couldn't very well lie when they looked so earnest, so I gave them a rough summary of the things I had experienced and the duties I had carried out.
“…”
The more they listened to my explanation of the Demonic Realm, the grimmer their expressions became. It was as though they were listening to something mortal ears were never meant to hear.
Well, I figured that if I was going to tell the story at all, I might as well be thorough. So I recounted everything without filtering a single detail—what kinds of demonic beasts lurked there, and what horrors were considered everyday occurrences.
It wasn't as if a battle broke out every single second, nor did people die in droves every waking hour. The Demonic Realm was, after all, merely an ecosystem carved out by beasts that had crossed over from the Demon Realm. The Grand Duchy's role was strictly to prevent those abominations from spilling down into the Empire. Their duties amounted to culling the creatures whenever their numbers swelled out of control, or hunting down the rare monstrosities capable of breaching the towering barricades that kept ordinary beasts at bay.
However, the entrance to the Demonic Realm was colossal, and the monsters crawling within were inexhaustible. While the frontline soldiers fought at their assigned posts and had regular rotations of rest, I had to dash from one outpost to another to heal the wounded. I never had a single day off.
Naturally, Danas, who was glued to my side the entire time, suffered just as much without a moment of respite. And because of me, he was forced to look at an endless mountain of gruesomely mangled corpses.
As I've mentioned before, through my gamer perspective, a pulverized human looks like an unrendered 3D model splitting open and spilling its internal assets, so it doesn't gross me out nearly as much. But for an ordinary person, the reality was entirely different. Danas had suffered terrible psychological trauma because of it.
[Of course, the side of the Demonic Realm you will be shown will be far more pleasant than what I have described.]
How could they ever expose first-year students to such carnage? They would likely give us a guided tour of the outer perimeters where only the weakest demonic beasts nested. Even the current Grand Duchy struggled to handle the high-tier monsters lurking deeper within.
Oh, hunting down one or two of them was nothing, of course. But what made the Demonic Realm a living hell was the fact that such terrifying monsters existed in countless swarms. Furthermore, no matter how formidable the Grand Duchy was, the number of elite soldiers capable of taking down an advanced beast or higher was remarkably small. If supreme-rank beasts were to emerge from multiple fronts and march on the Empire, holding the line would be nearly impossible. Granted, if things ever deteriorated to that point, it would mean a catastrophic anomaly had ruptured the Demonic Realm, and the Grand Duchy wouldn't be able to stop it alone anyway.
'And that very catastrophe is scheduled to happen soon enough.'
The boss of this semester was slumbering right there. If only to obtain those indispensable items, going there was non-negotiable.
“I'm sure it will be,” Evan said, praising me with an expression full of admiration. “Because you worked so hard all that time, Aria.”
Why was he acting so embarrassing out of nowhere…?
“To think… such a place existed within the Empire…”
Uriel, who had been listening more intently than anyone, wore a look of bitter mortification the moment I finished my tale. In her mind, she was probably trembling with the righteous indignity of her weeping blade. The Empire's noble Princess Knight…
In the game, she was one of the recruit-able companions for the Hero Party. With her balanced stat distribution and overwhelming tanking capabilities, she was practically mandatory for any stable subjugation raid. Her motivation for joining the fight against the Demon King was purely to strike down the threat encroaching upon the Empire's peace—a motive so noble it bordered on pristine. Unfortunately, the Demonic Realm was not a place the current Uriel could conquer simply because she willed it.
It was true that she possessed staggering talent and strength, having inherited the thick, potent Blood of the Imperial Family, and she was certainly leagues ahead of her peers. But in her current state—not even having finished her first semester—stepping into the Demonic Realm would mean staking her very life just to defeat a single advanced demonic beast.
In fact, based on our party's official level, setting foot in the Demonic Realm was entirely out of the question. The final boss appearing this time was effectively designed as a tutorial raid due to its role as the very first boss in the storyline. But that was strictly how it worked in the game. In reality, we would be facing a calamity capable of bringing about the fall of the Empire single-handedly, so letting our guard down was out of the question.
Of course, no one here knew that except for me. I had already informed Asselina just in case, allowing her to prepare countermeasures in advance, so I wasn't overly worried about immediate danger.
While I was contemplating our next steps and deciding who should receive the loot from this raid, Stella mumbled beside me in a pitiful, sorrowful tone.
“I heard rumors that the people of the Demonic Realm treated you like an actual goddess, Aria… but I had no idea it was that severe…”
Well.
To be fair, I didn't think it was all that strange. In a wasteland where people dropped dead day after day, a girl suddenly appeared out of thin air and resurrected anyone she laid hands upon. To those soldiers, I must have looked like a genuine deity descending from the heavens. However, because I collapsed and spat blood before their very eyes the more people I saved, the people of the Grand Duchy had begun to harbor severe doubts about the Saintess's divine authority—and, by extension, rather venomous opinions of Goddess Rumania.
I had overheard them whispering a few times in the past.
The relatively mild remarks called her a crazy wench who dumped all her burdens onto a fragile girl because she lacked the spine to sacrifice herself for her own creations. Others called her a depraved sadist who got off on watching her own child writhe in agony. And in the worst cases… well…
Some of the things they said were so vile that I genuinely worried the Goddess might revoke my divine power if I even listened to them. But since they weren't citizens of Varkan and didn't follow the faith of Rumania, no Heavenly Punishment ever struck them down. Seeing them casually spout heresy that would have sent the high priests of Varkan into a blood-foaming frenzy, I realized that religious reverence in the north had truly hit rock bottom.
'Hmm… I really am disqualified from being a clergyman.'
And the most amusing part was that it was entirely my fault. Going around saving people to satisfy my own masochistic desires was fine and all, but as a Saintess, my duty was to inspire people to believe in God. Instead, they completely distrusted the deity and ended up worshipping me as an idol. Even if it hadn't been my intention, the Goddess probably hated my guts.
Then again… was that really my problem?
It just sort of turned out that way. If she didn't like it, she shouldn't have given me a divine authority that forces me to absorb every single injury I heal. Sure, I ran around treating people because I secretly derived immense pleasure from the agonizing torment, but from an outsider's perspective, it looked like an act of unfathomable, supreme martyrdom. Besides, running around healing people with a curse like this was hardly a walk in the park. It was honestly hard to believe the previous generations of Saintesses had endured it at all.
I had initially built this character with extreme roleplay handicaps purely for a concept run, only to get dragged into the game itself. But in the end, I had become a Saintess and saved countless lives, so all's well that ends well, right?
“The Demonic Realm…” Evan murmured, his face clouded with deep, complicated contemplation.
'I guess I should wrap up the story here.'
Everyone was keeping quiet out of consideration for me, but because I had recounted my time in the Demonic Realm in such vivid, unvarnished detail, their complexions looked terrible. Continuing to dwell on such bleak topics would only dampen the mood.
[Why don't we all go out and have some fun together after class today?]
For now, I needed to foster some camaraderie so we could properly form our party. I felt a little guilty toward the Emperor of the Empire, but Uriel's presence was an absolute necessity if we wanted to subjugate the Demon King safely. She might be his precious, doted-upon youngest daughter, but…
'He used my sacred name, so he has to pay the price.'
For the record, my brand value was astronomical—I was the living symbol of the Holy Kingdom of Varkan and worshipped as a living god in the Demonic Realm. If he intended to exploit my name in the future, he definitely had to pay a rental fee in the form of his daughter.
'I have to recruit her, no matter what.'
Above all else, Uriel was breathtakingly gorgeous, fitting for an imperial princess, and possessed an incredible, voluptuous figure. While Stella was certainly more endowed than my current flat-chested body, she was still on the slender side, leaving something to be desired. Uriel, however