Chapter 19 - Lost Lamb (4)
Lost Lamb (4)
Translator : Elizabeth
──────────── 【 You have absorbed Holy Power 】 ──────────── ──────────── 【 Holy Power has increased! 】 ──────────── ──────────── 【 You have absorbed Holy Power 】 ──────────── ──────────── 【 Holy Power has increased! 】 ────────────
. . .
The square turned into a shambles in an instant.
Starting with Joachim, all the priests suddenly began to jump up and down from their spots. Watching that chaotic scene closely, I tilted my head in puzzlement.
"Th-This is a dream..."
"This is a dream, right?! It is, right? Please say it is!!"
"Ah, no... No matter what I do, the Holy Power doesn't return..."
Brushing off the dirt on my body, I slowly stood up from my spot. However, despite that, the priests still didn't give me any attention.
"Why... Why...!!"
"O Goddess!! What wrong did I commit..."
"Please forgive me, Goddess..."
The killing intent that filled the square turned into wailing mixed with screams in the blink of an eye. Even throwing away the staffs they held dearly in their hands. With their heads buried in the ground and bodies trembling, they looked just like sinners abandoned by the Goddess.
"......."
Don't tell me this is... similar to Lumina's case, did I absorb these people's Holy Power unconsciously? I didn't particularly intend to steal it, nor did I do any action. Why did this happen...
Slide...
I carefully picked up the wooden goddess statue Joachim dropped on the ground. Then I stood blankly on the spot again and looked around slowly once. Although I still don't know well how it happened. Anyway, thanks to absorbing the Holy Power, I escaped the crisis of being dissected, so I should consider it fortunate for now.
"You were punished for trying to drag away an innocent person blindly."
"...Punished?"
Joachim, who was staring blankly at only his palms with a vacant expression, murmured quietly.
"You should have looked into it properly."
"To call a demon unholy beyond measure a person... It's so absurd I can't even laugh..."
"Although the outside is a demon without fail, the inside is a human."
I possess the fraudulent magic, [Evangelize], which can share absorbed Holy Power with others. With this magic, I made May, who was just an ordinary child, my Lamb. And at the same time, I made her a walking sanctuary where no monster can approach within a 1km radius.
In other words, the only one here who can return the priests, who have completely lost their minds after having their Holy Power stolen, to their original state is me. If they want to regain their Holy Power, they should try to look good to me even now.
"It's a bit funny for me to say this myself, but... I was chosen by the Goddess."
"Wh-What...?!"
"If you want to regain your stolen Holy Power, apologize sincerely to me even now..."
"Shut up, you unholy thing──!!"
Just as I was explaining the situation calmly and trying to demand a sincere apology. Joachim's rough shout, as if he lost his reason, rang out like a lion's roar throughout the chaotic square.
"Chosen by the Goddess? How dare a mere demon utter such terrible nonsense...!!"
Joachim, who forced his staggering body to stand, immediately clenched his fists tight. He glared at me fiercely with an expression as if looking at an evil spirit. Then he drew the auxiliary silver dagger at his waist without hesitation.
Although the blade was trembling finely because he lost his Holy Power. The killing intent dwelling on its tip was still eerie.
"How dare you insult the Goddess with that dirty mouth! Not only did you steal Holy Power, but now you even covet the position of a Saintess!"
"I didn't steal it. It came in by itself."
"Don't make me laugh! That ominous goddess statue you are holding must have stolen our Holy Power!"
Joachim's eyes were dyed red with bloodshot veins before I knew it. His focus was disturbingly scattered, and his leaking breath also became quite rough. Having the Holy Power built up over a lifetime disappear like dust in a single moment... Honestly, it's not unreasonable to be completely broken like that.
But, even so, to say this wooden goddess statue stole the Holy Power is a bit...
"...Eh? Is it?"
When I first heard it, I definitely thought it was nonsense. But thinking about it calmly, it doesn't seem like such an absurd story either. Because there was a goddess statue nearby when I absorbed Holy Power from Lumina too. Just now, Joachim lost his Holy Power as soon as he touched the wooden goddess statue...
The timing is too exquisite to dismiss all this as simple coincidence.
That means──.
"Executioner Priest of St. Haven Papal State, Joachim. Your Holy Power has been taken away too."
Just at the very moment I was setting up various hypotheses in my head and continuing serious contemplation. Lumina's meaningful voice came quietly from behind my back out of nowhere.
"I never imagined I would meet the Executioner Priest in a place like this."
As soon as Lumina, who appeared suddenly from somewhere, stood side by side next to me, my body floated into the air immediately.
"If you do not wish to turn our Dawn Knights into an enemy, withdraw that silver dagger in your hand immediately."
Captain Orban's low and dignified voice followed. My body floating in the air was embraced snugly into Captain Orban's arms as it was.
"Huh?"
Captain Orban adjusted holding me carefully as if handling a very precious treasure. And immediately threw a cold gaze toward Joachim, who looked burdened even to stand still.
"No matter if one carries the name of the Papal State on their back, we never forgive anyone who threatens the Saintess's life."
Where on earth did his usual benevolence disappear to? Captain Orban opened his mouth calmly with a cool voice filled with sincere anger. It seems he is really angry.
"D-Dawn Knights...? No, why is the Dawn Knights siding with a dirty and abominable demon..."
"Shut that mouth, Executioner Priest. Who are you calling a dirty and abominable demon right now?"
Following Captain Orban, this time Lumina spoke coldly.
"W-What are you? Who are you to be wearing the Holy Knights' armor?!!"
"My introduction was late. I am Lumina Evangeline, of the Holy Knights directly under St. Haven Papal State."
"You were really a Holy Knight...?"
"Yes. It is not unreasonable for you not to remember me, who is nothing but a low-ranking member even within the Holy Knights."
Lumina spoke calmly and took a small breath once.
"However, no matter if we are in the same Holy Knights and you are a superior, if you try to harm Vivian-nim, my sword will no longer show courtesy."
At Lumina's sharp declaration, Joachim's complexion turned pale immediately. He looked alternately at me embraced in Captain Orban's arms and Lumina as if he couldn't believe it, and trembled his lips.
"Wh-What on earth does that... Are you out of your mind right now?!"
"Did you ask if I am out of my mind?"
Lumina's remark cold as ice. Her hand was already gripping the sword hilt at her waist tightly.
"Do you really not know who is insulting the Goddess's will the most in this place right now?"
At Lumina's sudden counter-question that followed, Joachim's expression stiffened bewilderdly once again.
"It seems you lost your reason along with your Holy Power. This child you just tried to harm is..."
But Lumina continued speaking in a calm tone as if his confusion was of no concern.
"The Goddess's Agent whom we all must serve."
As soon as Lumina's declaration-like words ended, the square was immediately submerged in a strange silence. Joachim's two eyes were still red with bloodshot veins. But at the bottom, fear and confusion that lost their way were stickily tangled. It was an expression as if facing the end of the world.
"G-Goddess's... Agent, you say...?"
"Don't tell me you didn't see that majestic flash that covered this place?"
"I-I saw it...! But anyone could see that was the Goddess's authority!"
"You should have seen properly who was at the center where that authority manifested."
Two people watching silently while holding me in Captain Orban's arms. Their story was quite weighty and profound. But to me who has to watch that appearance, all this situation approached as discomfort like sitting on a cushion of thorns. I could only silently examine the surrounding mood.
Then──.
"It is alright, Saintess-nim. We have come, so you may rest assured now."
Captain Orban's low and soft voice suddenly ringing in my ear. The moment that affectionate voice touched my ear. Goosebumps broke out all over my body as if electrocuted, and my shoulders shook greatly.
"Saintess-nim, are you cold? Or is the gaze of these impious ones unpleasant..."
Captain Orban putting more strength into the arm holding me and immediately glaring at the surrounding priests murderously. Just by his gaze brushing past, the priests prostrate on the ground freaked out and curled their bodies lower.
"No... It's just because I suddenly got goosebumps."
"Goosebumps, you say... As expected, because of the gaze of the impious ones..."
"......."
I got goosebumps because you suddenly whispered in my ear. But since he keeps misunderstanding it as because of the priests, I have nothing to say.
"It's fine, so please put me down now. It's getting embarrassing."
With that blunt remark as the end, I escaped from Captain Orban's arms without a bit of hesitation. Captain Orban's gaze, pausing as if flustered, stuck staring at my back. But I have no time to mind that gaze right now. Because a much more significant and urgent matter lies before my eyes.
"Everyone, I have something to tell you briefly. Please pay attention for a moment."
Lightly tidying up my disheveled clothes, a remark spat out calmly toward the confused priests. At that moment, the gazes scattered everywhere focused on me in the blink of an eye.
"Is everything dark before your eyes at the thought that you were abandoned by the Goddess?"
However, despite that, I maintained my composure until the end and opened my mouth calmly.
"I guess so. Since the power you believed in all your life suddenly disappeared."
The priests sobbing repeatedly with their heads buried in the ground. And even Joachim glaring at me fiercely as if to eat me──. Everyone who was deprived of their Holy Power in an instant raised their heads with blank expressions and stared at me intently.
After a short silence like that.
"But don't worry. Your Holy Power didn't disappear, it was just confiscated for a moment."
I caught my breath briefly and opened my mouth again.
"I will return it to you. Your Holy Power."