The Light of the Faithful

X opened his mouth. Not many people were surprised by that — at most, only Darius and Beatrice. But right now, the silence of those two was enough.

"I stand here as a citizen of this empire and as a faithful follower of Goddess Deus Lute. I pray always for the well-being of the empire, and I pray always in faith to the Goddess."

They were not the words anyone expected from a man who, until moments ago, had been branded a demon worshipper. And so the people dismissed them as a despicable excuse. X didn't care. He simply turned a question on the crowd steeped in distrust.

"I ask you all. Would you rather I be a demon worshipper — or a faithful believer?"

It was a peculiar question. An answer surged to the very throats of the emotion-swept masses, but reason — the knowledge that one must not casually doubt the Goddess's grace — barely held it down. As the people began to stir, Beatrice, who had grasped his intent, cut in.

"What are you trying to say? Every piece of evidence and every witness points to you being a demon worshipper. Do you intend to simply appeal to emotion and look away from the truth?"

"Of course not, Your Highness. I mean to say that I am innocent. A faithful and upstanding citizen like myself could never be something as wretched ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as a demon worshipper."

"What nonsense..."

"First, I will explain the mansion incident."

X fell silent for a moment and glanced at Darius. The Crown Prince was watching him with a complicated expression, as if he had yet to pass judgment. As every gaze and every scrap of attention gathered in that brief hush, X spoke again.

"A demonic banquet, held so that corrupt nobles might obtain illicit power through a wicked potion. It is true that I was there. It is also true that I was the one who opened that banquet. There is no lie in that."

The crowd stirred at the sight of him so readily admitting the facts Beatrice had exposed. X waited until the unrest had grown loud enough, then went on.

"But all of it was for the empire. It was all a single operation — to catch the mastermind behind the demonic banquet, and to obstruct the banquet's true purpose."

"The true purpose...?"

"The potion served at that banquet was no mere Mana Awakening Agent. It was something far more terrible."

"...You!"

Beatrice, grasping what X was about to say, flared with rage in an instant. Even in a situation like this, he meant to expose a truth that demons must never reveal to one another. But X was not a demon.

"That potion was a Demon Catalyst — a demonic elixir that transforms a human into a demon in an instant. In other words, had the nobles drunk it believing it to be a mana stimulant, a considerable number of demons might well have been born that night. What chaos would have befallen the empire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then is obvious."

The sudden revelation stole the breath from the citizens. None of them had ever even heard of an elixir that turned you into a demon if you drank it. There was only one reaction a person could have to a fact that defied all common sense, and Beatrice gave it voice.

"Evidence?"

Of course the people did not believe him. Crowds do not stir for a pretty delusion — that the man branded a demon worshipper until moments ago had actually been moving to save the empire.

"I have none."

Unfortunately, X had neither evidence nor witnesses he could present. The only people who could corroborate his words were Lola and Circe, but their testimony would be of little help here. The Demon Catalyst that would have served as proof had all been absorbed into X's body that night, leaving him with nothing to produce.

Darius heard him out and simply remained silent. That was enough.

"So you intend to fabricate excuses without a shred of evidence?"

The people laughed along with Beatrice's sneer. X's outlandish claims looked like nothing more than desperate thrashing. Amid that laughter, Beatrice made a swift decision.

Any further revelations would be dangerous.

No one believed what X was saying now — but she could not afford to take any more risks.

"I will hear no more of this. We did not gather here to listen to nonsense and delusions. Deliver the verdict at once—"

"Let us hear a little more."

The one who cut Beatrice off was Darius. While everyone else had been laughing, he alone had worn a grave expression. He did not so much as glance at her as he fixed his gaze on X.

"Tell me everything you know. That is an order."

At those words, the laughter died. No one took an order from the Crown Prince's lips lightly. It was the reaction X had been waiting for.

"What I saw in the mansion's basement was a demonic elixir prepared to match the number of invited guests, cages holding beasts, and the demon behind it all."

From the beginning, X had no intention of persuading the crowd. There was no winning a fight against Andras, who had prepared all of this to incite the people. All he needed was to convince the one being capable of judging his words as truth.

From the start, his first objective had been to inform Darius of the truth.

At X's words, Darius's gaze flicked briefly toward Beatrice. Even now, she merely looked down at X with an expression of complete unconcern. Confirming that reaction, Darius, after a long moment of thought, let out a sigh and spoke coldly.

"Is that the end of your excuses?"

It's over, the citizens thought. Anyone could see he had been straining to persuade Darius — and in the end, Darius had not been persuaded. They thought this would be the end of X's desperate struggle.

"There is one misconception I must correct."

But it was not over yet.

"A misconception?"

This time, X directed his question at the masked heresy inquisitor.

"Brother Andersen. Of everyone here, you, Your Excellency the Bishop, would know best what effect a demonic object and its curse have upon the soul. So I ask you."

Andersen was displeased that a mere demon worshipper would dare address him, but he chose to show composure.

"What is it, you fallen one."

"Is it true that merely possessing an object imbued with a demonic curse is enough to corrupt a human soul?"

"Of course. A Demonic Contract, naturally — any object bearing a curse will corrupt a human soul at any time."

This was why cursed objects were taboo, and why the mere fact of possessing one was treated as heresy. Only the imperial household could handle such things, and even then only for research or sealing. For an ordinary person to own one was forbidden.

"Then one whose soul is corrupted, no matter how faithful they once were, is abandoned by the Goddess's guidance. Naturally, they would be unable to use the miracles of divine power, would they not?"

"Obviously. The Goddess does not grant miracles to the fallen. To the likes of you."

Divine power was, after all, a force received from the Goddess through prayer. The moment one worshipped a demon or one's soul was corrupted, all of it was stripped away. X reminded the people of this fact.

"Then by the mere fact that I possessed that object, my soul is said to be corrupted."

"That is so. You have forsaken the Goddess's guidance, and so her miracles will not reach you."

"That is the misconception."

At X's confident reply, Andersen faltered. His face was hidden by the mask, but the rage swelling in his voice made it clear he was livid.

"How dare a fallen one call himself a brother and defile the Goddess with that mouth."

"Brother Andersen, answer me this with certainty. That object you call so wicked — is it truly a Demonic Contract? Might you not have been mistaken?"

"What insolence..."

"Please check it once more. You may have been mistaken, might you not?"

It was an absurd request. This went beyond desperate thrashing — it was closer to giving up entirely. Andersen's examinations had never once been wrong, and knowing this well, he found X pathetic.

"Why should I waste time on such a thing? Are you suggesting there is a problem with my examination? Do you believe the result will change if I check it again? Such a hollow—"

"Do it."

Darius cut in, his tone indifferent.

"The examination shouldn't take long. If the result does not change, then do it once more before my eyes. Yes — being thorough wouldn't hurt."

"Brother Darius, that is..."

"Bear this in mind. The only reason you are standing in this place, in violation of the law, is because my patience is holding."

"...If you put it that way, I shall examine it again."

At this turn, Beatrice's expression tightened, ever so slightly. She had thought Darius was half-resigned and that things were going her way — but because of that very resignation, the situation had begun to veer off course.

It doesn't matter. I confirmed with my own eyes that the Demonic Contract is genuine.

No matter how well it was concealed, the demonic aura flowing from the contract could not be hidden from her — a demon herself. She had confirmed it before handing it to Andersen, so there was no way a second examination would go wrong.

That was what she thought — until a black light, so faint no one else could perceive it, flickered at X's fingertips.

"...Wh-what?"

Andersen, who had taken the Demonic Contract and was examining it with painstaking care, trembled in shock. He turned the parchment over, flipped it, folded it, unfolded it again, checking it over and over — and then, as if his words had died in his throat, he said nothing at all.

"Well, Brother Andersen?"

X asked him, perfectly at ease.

"Might you have been mistaken? Calling my privately compiled cookbook a Demonic Contract... If keeping a recipe to myself is a crime, I have nothing to say in my defense, but..."

The parchment Andersen had been handed held neither demonic aura nor any wicked curse. Far from wicked, it contained nothing more than a recipe for a dish.

"Kimchi, a dish from my hometown, does come out red as a demon, I'll grant you — but to look at a mere cooking recipe and call it a Demonic Contract..."

"You!! What wicked trickery have you used?! Have ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you no shame, before the eyes of every soul here and the Goddess herself?!"

Rather than acknowledge it, Andersen exploded in rage. Something that should have been impossible had occurred. The evidence that would have condemned X as a demon worshipper had changed before their very eyes, as if in mockery.

In that opening, Beatrice took the parchment and examined it herself.

The contents have changed.

The parchment couldn't have been swapped. Which meant something had altered what was written on it.

The Demon of Lies... so that's the kind of power it is.

She recognized at once that it was related to a demon's ability, but unfortunately, she could see no way to prove it here and now. For the moment, rather than proof, she would simply press him by more certain means.

"Look at him. The creature before you is thrashing to escape this crisis. He means to destroy the evidence and paint himself as innocent. But we know—"

"What are you talking about, Princess."

Once again, Darius cut in. He merely sighed, as if unimpressed.

"The only ones who have been shouting that this evidence is a Demonic Contract are you people. It has undergone no examination by the imperial household, and of those present at this trial, I see no one who has confirmed with their own two eyes that it is a Demonic Contract."

"Prince Darius! Bishop Andersen, a heresy inquisitor, certified it upon a Sacred Covenant!"

"The word of a foreign bishop who entered the country illegally. As I see it, he was simply mistaken, just as X said. Or is it something else?"

Darius's manner turned coercive as he fixed Beatrice with a stare.

"Are you telling me to accept unverified evidence out of consideration for the political pressure riding on a bishop's back? That would have to make sense first, Princess."

"Do you intend ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to look away from the demonic trickery that just unfolded before our eyes? Do you think the people will simply sit and watch?"

Beatrice intended to frame all of this as demonic trickery. The people were still restless, still struggling to know what was true — but that did not mean they harbored no questions about this sudden anomaly.

"It seems I still look like a demon to you. In that case, there is one thing I would like to show everyone here."

Of course, X was not about to let that stand.

"Brother Andersen. You said that one whose soul is corrupted cannot use the miracles of divine power. You said that because I kept a Demonic Contract close, my soul would have been corrupted. But that was wrong."

"What?"

"The opposite is true. Through my faithful belief in the Goddess, I have obtained that very proof."

At X's confident answer, Andersen faltered.

"Proof...?"

"Answer me this with certainty."

X played the card he had been holding in reserve until now.

"If, in this very place, I wish for the Goddess's miracle—"

He tapped an as-yet-unpurchased listing in the System's talent shop.

"—and if the Goddess answers that miracle and bestows her grace upon me—"

"—can I then be called a corrupted soul?"

Without hesitation, X pressed Yes.

That was the moment. The instant his points were deducted, he felt his soul connect to something vast and sacred.

Please — be worth those fifty thousand points.

Connected to an ineffable sacred presence, sensing the power and authority descending from that being, X manifested the miracle at his fingertips.

"...How?"

"Brother Andersen. You said that if you spoke falsehood, you would offer up your faith and belief to the Goddess. Then answer me."

X raised the faint light toward Andersen so that it could be seen more clearly.

That light was none other than the divine power he had so confidently declared a corrupted soul could never use.