A Gemstone in the Garden

Caleon, capital of the Deus Theocracy.

Pope Rabb had set aside his long-neglected duties of state and was strolling through land blessed by the goddess Deusrute. The well-tended garden was lush with green, overflowing with a warm, radiant energy that seemed to cradle every living thing upon the earth.

"Your Holiness. You shouldn't be taking walks in your condition."

The attendant following Rabb lamented. He was a Holy Knight, clad in silver armor of distinguished bearing.

Rabb frowned at the words.

"Dalwin, you little brat. You're the one who put this body in such a state. You think a little walk is going to send me to the goddess's side?"

"You must consider your age. You're sixty now. Who knows what might happen."

"There's no queue for going to the goddess's side. Quit your nagging and tell me about that interesting news I heard recently."

Holy Knight Dalwin sighed and recited the report Rabb wanted.

"The Hero has awakened at Elion Academy in the Dritania Empire. Verification confirms he has indeed awakened the Hero's power."

"What? A Hero has awakened after a hundred years? Hah, well now..."

Rabb stopped walking and looked up at the sky.

"The goddess must be busy."

Dalwin waited until Rabb had finished thinking. When the Pope started walking again, he followed and continued the report.

"Additionally, we have summoned the parties involved in the recent attack to establish the circumstances. The individuals in question are scheduled to arrive at the Papal Holy See today."

"Yes, yes. A Hero appears after a hundred years, and a demon appears as well—the times must be in turmoil. That's all the more reason to know the details. We must properly understand the goddess's will. Only then can we welcome paradise."

"Your words are true. Ah, one moment..."

Dalwin checked a call coming in on his Mana Phone. He carefully stepped away from Rabb and connected it.

Rabb clicked his tongue quietly at the sight.

"That boy, the insolent thing. Get too comfortable with those convenient gadgets and you'll earn heaven's punishment. Now then... oof!"

"Wah!"

Rabb had tried to walk forward and collided with something. He tumbled backward and landed hard on his rear.

"Oof, my backside...! Who's there?"

"Waaah, ah! I'm sowwy!"

The one who had collided with Rabb was a small girl. She looked no older than five.

"Uuh... uuhh..."

The girl fidgeted in distress at having knocked him over. She'd been walking through the garden and hadn't been watching where she was going.

Seeing this, Rabb laughed heartily and encouraged her.

"Bwahaha! Little one! You knocked this old body down! You're going to be someone great!"

"Uuhh... huuh?"

"Are you hurt anywhere? Nothing painful?"

"I-I'm okay!"

As Rabb examined the girl, Dalwin came running.

"Your Holiness, what's happened!"

"Nothing of note. I merely discovered a gemstone in the garden."

"Please, maintain your dignity. The parties I mentioned earlier have arrived."

"Work time already? Tch, you love your work so much... Fine, you be the Pope then."

"There you go again..."

Rabb gently gathered the girl up and helped her to her feet. She now looked at him without fear.

"Little one, what's your name?"

"Caneria! That's me!"

"Oho, Caneria, is it. I'll remember you. Run along home now."

"Bye-bye! Pape... Your Holineff?"

"Hahaha, that's right!"

The girl gave an awkward but polite farewell and padded away. Rabb watched her with warm eyes, then turned around.

"Where are those parties?"

"Waiting in the usual place."

"Let's go."

The two of them returned faster than they had come. Passing through the inner courtyard of the Papal Holy See, they headed into its depths, and the world around them grew dark. Soon they entered a complex, winding secret passage.

Until they reached their destination, neither of them spoke a word.

After a considerable while, they arrived at the deepest and darkest place of all. A place far too unholy, far too repulsive, to exist upon this land overflowing with peace and light.

The room they entered was a brutal torture chamber. Bizarrely, every instrument of torture was wreathed in blessed light. In the center of that chamber, a figure knelt with their head pressed to the floor.

"Your... Holiness..."

"I permit you to address me by my true name. Andras."

It was Andras, the demon possessing Beatrice's body.

"Lord Baal... The fault for this matter is entirely..."

"Is it that thing's fault? Haul it up."

Dalwin pulled one of the chains in the torture chamber. Something came dragging out of a boiling cauldron in the corner of the room. Even with the skin of its entire body melted away, bones laid ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠bare, it screamed.

"AAAAAAAGH—!! Please!! Please, give me a chance to clear my name—!!"

"Flauros. Flame of Endless Agony. Was the boiling oil and the overflowing holy water more painful than your own fire?"

"Please!! Please, mercy!!"

"Enough noise. Put it back in."

"NOOOOO—!!"

Dalwin released the chain. With a rattling clatter, the scream was swallowed back into the boiling cauldron.

Hearing that scream, Andras felt a terror as if she herself were being sucked in.

Baal looked down coldly at Andras, who trembled with her head pressed to the floor.

"You're fortunate, Andras. The lump of flesh you've possessed belongs to the Imperial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Princess. It would be quite inconvenient if the princess vanished in times like these. Yes, inconvenient indeed."

"P-please give me a chance to explain..."

"That nonsense about being deceived by a demon named Berith and having all the Demonification Accelerator stolen."

Baal picked up a long iron skewer from among the torture implements. Then, slowly, bit by bit, he drove it down through Andras's left hand.

Flesh seared. A hiss of burning meat filled the chamber.

"Ghhhk...!"

Without the ring, a blade of holy power was worse than being branded with a red-hot iron.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"P-please... If you would reexamine the situation..."

"Agares. Explain."

"Yes, Lord Baal."

The demon Agares, wearing Dalwin's appearance, stepped forward. He looked down at Andras trembling in pain and continued the explanation.

"As you testified, Berith is indeed the twenty-eighth-ranked demon. But that creature is not one who participates in our grand design. He never has been. Not even once."

"But he said it was a surprise inspection...!"

"His epithet is the Demon of Falsehood. Meaning you were thoroughly deceived. We have never created an institution called an Inspection Bureau, nor have we ever ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intended to."

It was the result she had expected. Andras trembled, rage rising above the pain.

Agares continued.

"That creature has no intention of joining our grand design, but neither does he intend to interfere. Still, it's certainly strange. Berith's movements cannot be confirmed."

"Th-then that means...? Ghhk...!"

At that moment Baal pulled out the iron skewer and spoke.

"Meaning there's a possibility that the one you saw really was Berith."

He tossed the skewer into the corner, then stepped on Andras's head as he went on.

"Losing that quantity of Demonification Accelerator alone would have been grounds to fry you in that oil and holy water, but I will give you a chance."

"A-a chance...?"

"I've moved up the Grand Feast Day. A considerable number of nobles will gather at the Empire's academy. Not the trash who merely lust for power—the genuine article."

Andras understood immediately what Baal was saying. But it was a reckless act.

"H-however, Lord Baal! After this incident, the academy's security will have been reinforced, and the nobles will be on edge! I cannot possibly handle this alone!"

"You think I don't know that? You dare raise your voice."

A grinding pressure filled the chamber.

"Gyaaah..."

Andras's skull began to compress, slowly, under tremendous force. Just as the vessels in her eyes were about to burst, Baal eased his foot and spoke again.

"There will be support."

"Support... Y-yes. If there's support..."

"I will send Gremory. Know that."

"...!"

At those words, jealousy beyond terror seized Andras's entire body.

That woman...! Anyone but her...! The likes of her...!

"Oho, a fine emotion. Strong feelings summon stronger power. Thinking of defying my command? Who knows—you might even kill me."

"...!! N-no... I will obey..."

"Good."

Baal removed his foot from Andras's head. Then, as if his business were finished, he headed straight out of the torture chamber. Andras remained prostrate behind him, still trembling.

Baal stopped mid-stride and called Agares.

"Ah, Agares."

"Yes, Lord Baal."

"Throw that little one into the Blood Crucible. The mana in her body was quite useful. Her blood relatives as well."

"When you say 'that little one'...?"

Baal—Rabb—smiled brightly, as befit a benevolent Pope.

"The girl I met earlier. The one named Caneria."

"Andras, why do you sit still after suffering such humiliation? What manner of demon is that man, that you..."

"Shut up. Don't talk to me, you worthless human."

Andras was riding a carriage back to the academy. The moment she put the ring on, Beatrice's scolding started up, and she was thoroughly sick of it—but there was nothing she could do.

"And why haven't you lost your mind like the other souls?"

"It is the power of faith."

"Damn woman..."

The Soul Trap Ring had a function to seal souls whose minds had collapsed, but no function to torture a soul. Because of that, Andras had been forced to listen to Beatrice's nagging for the past several years.

This moment was no different.

"You should come into the goddess's embrace as well. Goddess Deusrute loves all creation equally."

"Demons too? What a repulsive thing to say..."

"Rather than living in humiliation, it is important to live with dignity. According to doctrine..."

"Shit, why didn't they build a mute function into this thing...!"

Andras groaned, covering ears that couldn't even be blocked. Nursing her rage, she began to lay a plan.

"I'll make them all submit. Every last one of them...! But how. That worthless Flauros is finished. I need someone to serve as my hands and feet right now... But someone who'd help me... someone who could become a demon quickly..."

Then Andras thought of someone. There was a figure widely rumored to have continued hellish training even during the school break.

"He seemed obsessively fixated on power... From what I heard, he'll be expelled if he doesn't take first in the academic rankings... He'd sell his soul if that's what it took to get stronger..."

"Of whom are you speaking?"

"I'm certain... X, was it?"

"...!"

Beatrice tensed. She did not do anything so rash as to gasp. But her opponent was Andras. Andras remembered that Beatrice had taken an interest in X.

"...Aha. Right. The human you were interested in was X, wasn't it. I'd forgotten."

"Who is X? That's a name I'm hearing for the first time."

"Too late. You damn princess."

"Nnh..."

Andras took out the only Soul Trap Ring she had left. It was the ring she had once meant to give X, and had never quite managed to.

"The Ring Circle getting exposed was that Berith bastard's doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too, I bet..."

The Ring Circle, the key supply source for this artifact, had been raided by the guard, and this was all that remained.

"I have to corrupt a soul with this and have a demon possess them."

The ring carried a curse that corrupted the soul, so once it was worn, that was the end of it. After that, she need only hand over a demon-summoning scroll and get them to use it. Then she could subjugate the possessing demon and make them a subordinate.

"My last card is this, of all things... How absurd. Still, this will be enough. With this, that woman, that swindler bastard, those Archdemon insects..."

Andras twisted her mouth into a smile. Watching her, Beatrice felt her heart clench.

X, please make it through this crisis. Prayer is all I can offer you.

"Ha, interesting. Turn me into a demon? I'm already a demon."

X snorted as he read the Synopsis.

"I've seen through all of it."

Unfortunately for her, Andras's entire plan was already laid bare.

This was X's first cheat.