363. The First Branch (1)
363. The First Branch (1)
- 1 -
「Saintess...! Please be quiet, Saintess—!」
Her mentor had transformed into a beast-like form, into a demon.
That sight, even for Saintess Adriana, who had experienced much, was enough to momentarily blank her mind.
She was late in deploying holy magic to subdue her; just as she was about to raise a temporary barrier to counter the approaching 'enemy'—
Dduk.
In that instant, everything stopped.
'This is...?'
Seeing Roperna not moving even after waiting for a while, Adriana could finally slowly release the tension throughout her body.
"Isn't she pitiful."
She could finally see the figure of the woman in black.
The woman stroking the cheek of the demonified Roperna in the frozen world.
"A master trying to use her disciple, unaware that she herself is being controlled."
Philia Elskopf, Libertas's soft and gentle voice was mixed with genuine pity and compassion.
"Now, do you believe my words, Adriana?"
A moment of silence passed.
Roperna still trembled as if in spasm, but the black horn sprouting from her forehead had stopped growing.
As if time had stopped, she was frozen, yet her body still continued to breathe.
Adriana stepped back and looked at Philia.
The woman in black dress was still smiling gently, her hand resting on Roperna's shoulder.
"How... can this be."
Philia answered calmly.
"This is the reality. The hands of Astaroth, the Archduke of Obsession, are already deeply extended into the Holy Kingdom."
Adriana felt strength leaving her legs.
She no longer had the strength to endure.
Slumping down, she asked in return.
"How many... why...?"
"Not everyone, but a significant number of the upper echelons have already been 'eroded'. If this continues, the rest are only a matter of time."
The purple power flowing from Philia's fingertips seemed to touch some 'source'.
As it touched, the pink energy that had been encroaching on Roperna's body vanished in an instant.
Adriana stared blankly at the woman casting magic toward her own mentor, because her own power, which would 'purify' the demon, would not help Roperna now. She harbored the irrational hope that perhaps Philia would fulfill what Adriana wished.
"... Ah...!"
As hoped, Roperna's body slowly began to change.
"Then, the fact that the Holy Kingdom is trying to declare the Fate Union as heresy...?"
"There will be influence from the archbishops, but the judgment itself has been twisted by external will."
Her hand covered Roperna's face, and as the touch moved from top to bottom, the demon appearance began to vanish from the bishop's face.
Only after confirming that even the last speck of contamination had disappeared from Roperna's body did Philia finally withdraw her hand.
The bishop had completely returned to the appearance in Adriana's memories.
Philia looked directly into Adriana's eyes.
"I have manipulated her memories. She will forget everything that happened today."
Adriana was shocked.
A cleric's mental power is protected by God.
You broke through that protection?
"Is even that possible?"
"Didn't Astaroth also do it?"
At Philia's calm voice, Adriana felt confusion.
Because it sounded as if she were saying, 'There's no way I can't do what Astaroth can do.'
But where would there be someone who could have such confidence regarding the abilities of a Demon Realm Archduke?
"Think about what has happened within the Holy Kingdom so far. Weren't there high-ranking clerics whose dispositions suddenly changed?"
'Come to think of it...'
A few faces surfaced in Adriana's mind.
The archbishops who had become increasingly obsessed with power in recent years, and the cardinals who had suddenly turned belligerent.
"All of them...?"
"Not all of them, but a significant number."
Roperna slowly opened her eyes.
The pink tint had completely vanished from her eyes.
"Uh... why am I here...?"
"You fell asleep for a while. I think it was due to overwork."
"Ah, I was so rude... I'm sorry, Saintess."
Feeling no discomfort, Roperna thanked Adriana.
It was a testament to Roperna's own 'sincerity'.
Because if she weren't someone who normally overworked herself, such a flimsy excuse would never hold.
"I seem to need to reduce my workload. Once again, I am sorry for causing trouble, Saintess."
"No, it's okay."
When Adriana answered quickly, Roperna nodded and rose from her seat.
Strangely, her gaze completely bypassed Philia, who hadn't been in the room a moment before.
As if no one was there.
"Then... I'll take my leave. Don't overexert yourself, Saintess."
"Yes, rest well."
After Roperna left, Adriana looked at Philia.
Philia was sitting on the sofa opposite, watching her with a relaxed smile.
"Now it's time for you to choose, Adriana."
- 2 -
Adriana held the teacup tightly and remained silent.
Then, suddenly, she looked at her own hands—the hands that had tried to heal Roperna a moment ago.
She still couldn't believe that those hands had instead caused her mentor pain.
Jjeureureureuk...
The soft sound of tea being poured into a cup broke the silence.
The sight of a teapot floating by itself and filling the cup.
Adriana stared at it blankly.
"... If I..."
Adriana trailed off.
Because she felt that the moment she finished the words she was about to say, everything would become irreversible.
Philia, who had been patiently waiting for her words, took something from her bosom and showed it to her.
"That's... Esther's...?"
An object that looked like an ordinary pendant.
But the moment she saw it, Adriana's pupils shook violently.
That pattern, and the familiar wave of holy power contained within it.
She could not possibly fail to recognize it. As a fellow Saintess, absolutely.
"Yes. I thought you would recognize it."
Adriana's eyes wavered.
The pendant in Philia's hand was Esther's token.
To be precise, it was a Saintess's token entrusted only to an outsider trusted enough to stake one's life on.
This token could act on behalf of a Saintess's authority.
It was an object that even an archbishop could not treat lightly, never to be entrusted carelessly to another.
"How do you have her token? That is..."
Especially for someone like Philia, a power holder of the Fate Union who brazenly infiltrates the royal palaces of other nations.
"You know Esther well, don't you?"
"... Of course."
Adriana nodded.
"She was the most respected person in the Holy Kingdom, excluding His Holiness."
Currently, Esther was the person whose standing in the Holy Kingdom had changed the most.
Once, among the four Saintesses, she was the one who received the strongest public support.
But now—
[She secretly made deals with Hysen's powerful figures and sold the Holy Kingdom's secrets.]
[She is using her position to leak information disadvantageous to the Holy Kingdom to enemy nations.]
[She abandoned the Saintess's honor and surrendered to secular power.]
[She is distorting the holy doctrine and spreading heretical teachings.]
All sorts of evil rumors of unknown origin were spreading around her, and the upper echelons weren't clarifying them.
Though it wasn't known outside, even those who knew of her were forced to reevaluate her situation.
" 'Once received'..."
Philia asked with a peculiar smile.
"Do you believe those words?"
"... There's no way that's true."
Adriana shook her head.
'... Right. There's no way.'
Esther was the one among them closest to embodying the word 'Saintess'.
In honor, and in ability.
It was strange for such a person to suddenly change, and even more strange for her to launch political attacks against the Holy Kingdom afterward.
That was why she accepted the story Philia presented relatively quickly.
"That Esther is now by my side, of her own will. Why do you think that might be?"
"That...!"
Adriana was speechless.
Officially, it was known that Esther had been dispatched to Hysen and settled there, but that was only half the truth.
She had already guessed that in reality, it was tantamount to parting ways with the Holy Kingdom.
"The Holy Kingdom's upper echelons wanted to control Esther as they pleased, but she refused. That's why she came to Hysen."
"No way..."
"Do you know what that child is doing now? She is spreading faith in Hysen. Helping people directly, giving hope to the desperate."
The voice that flowed in like a whisper was extremely seductive.
"And the Holy Kingdom is trying to call that child a 'heretic'. Why do you think?"
The air sank heavily.
Adriana felt her own beliefs crumbling.
But at the same time, a certain conviction was also forming.
"We may certainly seem like 'heretics' to you. But that does not mean the same as 'evil'. You have known it vaguely, haven't you?"
Philia approached her.
"If you truly are a Saintess, you won't be able to turn away from the truth."
"The truth..."
"Astaroth's control is amplifying the archbishops' malice. He maximizes the greed and lust for power they originally had to make them easy to control."
Adriana went through the memories surfacing in her mind one by one.
The recent events in the Holy Kingdom, the suddenly changed policies, and the high-ranking clerics growing increasingly secular.
"Then... the archbishops are..."
"Those present are puppets mistaking Astaroth's will for their own."
Unconsciously, she asked as if entranced.
"... What should I do?"
"There is something you can do."
Philia spoke with a satisfied smile.
"Bring Lucia and Clementine to me as part of the Fate Union."
"Those two..."
"They probably don't know yet. They will soon face the same situation, and if they have no information, they'll simply comply with the Holy Kingdom, unaware that they are helping demons."
Philia smiled quietly.
"Don't they also have a duty to know properly and act?"
Adriana unconsciously nodded.
She walked to the window and looked out.
A very quiet street came into view, even though it was midday. It was not peace, but tension.
'The war the Holy Kingdom is starting...'
She had felt that this situation was going wrong.
What she heard from Philia only confirmed her suspicions.
'I have to do something.'
She could not be certain if the path she was hearing about now was truly the right one.
But her 'intuition' as a Saintess was telling her that this path was relatively right.
"I am... a Saintess."
Her voice was quiet, but an iron will was embedded within it.
"I have received favor from the Holy Kingdom, and there is a promise with the Rugnisah royal family. Similarly, there is the engagement with Prince Alexander."
"Yes. It will certainly be dangerous. So I don't want to force you, either..."
"No."
Cutting Philia off, she turned around.
"All those things were for my own greed. But... I have not forgotten my duty."
Adriana faced Philia and spoke as if making a vow to herself.
"So, I will help."
Her eyes were filled with resolute will.