The Weight of Mercy
Seraphina looked down at the girl clutching her priestess robes. Her appearance was unmistakably human. She wore a bizarre garment that barely covered her limbs, leaving her chest and stomach exposed—both of which were covered in dark bruises. Yet, there was no grotesque iron mask upon her neck. Mana flowed clearly through her heart.
Seeing the girl for the first time, Seraphina felt an instinctive surge of sympathy and pity. But...
"I... I really don't think I can do this anymore. It hurts so much. I feel like I'm going to die..."
The words spilling from the girl's mouth were not in the common tongue. Instead of the language any human should naturally speak, she uttered the gloomy, guttural cries of the Iron Masks. This was what threw Seraphina into deep conflict.
Is she human? No, how could a human survive in a place like this? In a world of monsters and Iron Masks? Then, is she...?
Seraphina's hands trembled as she aimed her Thunder Staff. The reality of the situation pressed down on her. Pulling her finger back for just a fraction of a second would end this mysterious creature's life. If she did, would she be slaying a monster? Or murdering a human?
...What if she is human? What if she has simply lost her words?
At that moment, a realization struck Seraphina. Ah. I have never killed an innocent person before.
When she killed Renatus, she had been consumed by a burning desire for vengeance. The other Hunters had been dealt with by the Evil God's beasts. Even after coming to this other world, she had only brought down thunder upon the Iron Masks. If the girl before her was truly innocent, the weight of her death would rest solely on Seraphina's shoulders. There would be no convenient excuses—no target of revenge, no divine guidance from the Evil God. It would be entirely her own sin.
"..."
"Please... please help me..."
The tense standoff dragged on. The two girls hovered in different realms of fear. One hesitated, terrified of staining her hands with blood; the other hesitated, desperate not to let her only chance of survival slip away. They stared at each other, locked in a silent confrontation.
As Seraphina's thoughts deepened, obsessively weighing the pros and cons, her finger finally began to nudge the trigger.
Swish, swish, swish.
As if mocking the suffocating tension of the standoff, tails began to wag furiously.
The beastman church members who had accompanied her as guards—Hector, Bodwin, and even Merlin—were aiming the Evil God's holy weapons with their upper bodies, but their lower halves were joyfully swishing their tails. They were making far too much noise to be ignored.
"...Merlin?"
Seraphina asked, staring at a sight she had never witnessed in her life. The old man, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed, offered a sheepish smile.
"Hahaha, my apologies, Saintess. It's just... that child has an strangely pleasant scent, you see."
The other church members quickly chimed in.
"Forgive us, Saintess. We've definitely never seen this child before, but for some reason, she makes us feel nostalgic... and happy. We couldn't help ourselves..."
"Yes, exactly! She somehow feels as familiar as a daughter, so... My apologies! I will control myself!"
Seraphina could not hide her confusion at their reactions. "A pleasant scent...? Like a daughter?"
It was a shocking statement, enough to momentarily blow away her dilemma of whether to kill the girl or let her live. No matter how wild beastmen could be, this stream of remarks directed at a battered, injured girl felt highly inappropriate.
"..."
A flash of unmistakable disgust crossed Seraphina's face. Merlin, who had been warily watching her ever since his tail started wagging, noticed the shift immediately. To preserve his dignity, the old man scrambled to explain himself.
"I-it is not like that! I do not mean in a sexual way! It is more like... an instinctive pull... No, that is to say!"
His explanation was hardly effective. It was clear that even Merlin did not understand why he felt such familiarity. His frantic babbling only deepened her suspicion. Having lived a life entirely detached from romance or the opposite sex, the old man's cheeks flushed red.
"S-so, what I mean is... um...!"
In the end, Merlin gave up trying to convince her with words. Instead, he chose to prove it through action. Just as his god did, he would demonstrate with results.
It was true that he felt a mysterious affinity for the girl. However, compared to the devotion he harbored for his god, such a trivial feeling was nothing more than a speck of dust.
The old man reached into the pouch at his waist and pulled out a catalyst—the divine gift that granted him fire, the sacred firewood processed by the Red Tower Master. Though his mana had run low from casting illusion magic, he could still conjure a small ember at any time. Rather than risk being misunderstood by the Saintess and disappointing the Great One, it would be better to burn this wretched creature to ashes—
"...Stop, Merlin."
Merlin froze, his hand still raised in the air. Seraphina had intervened. She lowered her aimed Thunder Staff and let out a deep sigh.
"B-but, Saintess! Please, let me prove my innocence! Let me show you that I have not been bewitched by this beast—"
"...It is fine. I already understand. We will take all the 'humans' here under our church's protection. Depending on their efforts, we may even accept them as members of our congregation."
"...Does that mean?"
"Yes. It is the will of our God. His gaze rests upon her."
Seraphina declared. And so, it was decided. The church members obeyed without a single word of protest. Concerns about whether it was realistically feasible or if it would pose a danger to the church were utterly meaningless in a faith that served an omniscient god.
Moreover, Seraphina's words were not entirely false. Though it was not the thick, silver pillar of light that usually signaled divine guidance, a faint trace of the God's gaze did indeed linger upon the girl. In an instant, the fate of the twenty survivors was decided.
As Hector went to call the other church members,
...Yes. The Evil God must be interested in this child as well.
Seraphina let out a quiet sigh and whispered to herself, spinning the best logic she could to convince her own mind. A girl upon whom the Evil God's gaze lingered... If they protected her, they might naturally uncover what the Evil God was interested in. Furthermore, considering the girl's strange constitution that instinctively drew the beastmen's favor, having her around would make it much easier to convert other beastmen on the Continent.
At the same time, Seraphina recalled her first day in this city. She remembered how the Iron Masks had trembled in sheer terror at the sight of the Evil God's divine gifts. The Iron Masks knew of the Evil God. Of course, mere monsters could never possess faith, but perhaps those who wore human forms could. This weeping girl, these people covered in clear signs of abuse... If they were outcasts even among their own kind, perhaps... just perhaps, they could serve the same god.
...
Having forced herself to construct these reasons and present a plausible justification for saving them, Seraphina realized the truth even more clearly.
...What an absurd lie.
She could explain it that way to the others. As long as the God's name was invoked, not even a shred of logic was required to convince them. But there was only one person whom this explanation could never fool: Seraphina herself.
She knew her own heart. Her reason had screamed at her to pull the trigger, but her fragile heart had ultimately failed to unleash the thunder. She knew she was simply terrified of the nightmares that would haunt her if she slaughtered them. Though the cold flame burning in her chest demanded vengeance, her entire soul had not yet frozen over. Seraphina had still not completely discarded her morality and compassion. Even if she succeeded in her vengeance at the cost of everything, she still feared the karmic retribution that would follow. Her mercy today was born entirely of that weakness.
How ridiculous. It's my own heart, yet I cannot control it.
Seraphina put on a calm facade while mocking herself inwardly. In the end, there was only one thing she could do.
She prayed. She shamelessly begged the great entity in the heavens for unconditional favor. Serving a cold god while refusing to let go of her warmth was a weakness that would surely bring disaster upon her one day.
But please, let today not be that day.
She prayed that these unfortunate souls before her would submit to the same god without resistance, integrate into the church, and willingly prove their faith. Even as a dozen church members began lifting the unconscious survivors onto their backs, Seraphina's prayer continued, carrying a fraction more sincerity than before.
Once the church members had finished hoisting all the "humans"—who remained unresponsive, deeply sedated by fatigue and drugs—onto their backs, Seraphina reached out to the girl who was still weeping and clutching the hem of her robe. She knew the girl wouldn't understand her words, but she hoped her intent would get through.
"Do not worry. I will help you."
Whether she understood the words or simply felt the sentiment, the weeping girl gripped Seraphina's hand tightly before instantly losing consciousness. Seraphina handed her over to Hector and stepped out of the steel monster's belly.
They had gathered everything they needed. Even the Evil God's guidance was commanding their return. Looking at the church members, their hands full of spoils, Seraphina announced,
"You have all done well. Let us return."
They had acquired the heart and blood of the steel monster, along with twenty prospective church members. Having reaped a bountiful harvest, it was time to return to the church headquarters.
The Continent. The 29th floor of the Headquarters of the Order of Order. In a cardinal's private office adorned with sacred relics of various constellations, two women sat at an ornate table and began their meeting.
The first to speak was Aurelia Vensar, the First Cardinal of the Order and Chairperson of the Consilium Ordinis.
"Miraj. Have you reviewed the materials I sent?"
The voice of the most powerful Cardinal echoed softly through the office. Her tone was strikingly devoid of emotion—a voice that carried both the hollow emptiness of an ancient who had transcended life and the chilling coldness of a ruler. Thanks to the authority of the God of Order, her voice sounded remarkably youthful, but that very youthfulness only heightened the sense of uncanny dissonance. Coupled with the golden halo drifting naturally behind Aurelia's back, she exuded a suffocating pressure that would have paralyzed any ordinary person, leaving them unable to even open their mouth.
"Yes. *Sigh...* I don't understand why another annoying issue has cropped up so soon after we got rid of Ods."
Yet, the voice that answered held not a shred of tension. It carried only annoyance, laziness, and a faint trace of amusement. The woman facing Aurelia grimaced as she spoke.
"Ah, now that I think about it, that girl was some sort of disciple of Ods, wasn't she? Honestly, he's never any help. Leaving behind such annoying loose ends."
"Do not let your guard down. Renatus met his end because of that very carelessness."
"Oh, please. I heard she came from old man Renatus's convent. Knowing his personality, there's no way he fought his own adoptive daughter seriously."
The woman's expression shifted in an instant, her grimace morphing into exaggerated outrage.
"Actually, thinking about it makes me mad. Who does she think she is, taking out old man Renatus? Technically, she's my junior, yet she didn't even wait her turn!"
Then, her exaggerated anger melted into a playful smirk.
"Well, not that it matters anyway. Anyone who isn't part of the Council is just an obstacle. In a way, I suppose we should be grateful she cleared out that old roadblock for us."
The woman's expression shifted with every passing second, displaying her emotions with vivid clarity. Yet, this very volatility made it impossible to gauge her true intentions.
Watching her for a moment, Aurelia cut her off. She allowed her leaking divine power to swell slightly, intensifying the pressure in the room as she asked:
"—I assume this attitude means you are accepting the task?"
The woman froze for a split second as if caught off guard, but quickly let out a soft chuckle.
"Of course! It's an order from our Chairperson, so naturally I must obey. Besides, when it comes to gathering information beyond the Gate, my Authority is the most suited for the job."
"Very well. Begin within a reasonable timeframe. Ensure you report back regularly. Even my eyes cannot pierce into the other world."
"Yes, I will keep that in mind!"
The woman replied playfully as she rose from her seat. Then, she knelt before Aurelia, her voice suddenly dropping into a solemn tone that contrasted sharply with her previous flippancy.
"Miraj Oleus, the thirteenth child of the Order of Order. Staking the Authority granted to me by our great God, I will not fail."
A few days later, a rumor began to circulate among the priests who assisted Miraj that the 13th Cardinal had vanished into the other world. The rumor was quietly buried in secret as all the priests who spread it met untimely deaths.