Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Proving Innocence to the Silent Saintess
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'Rude.'
Demon.
The word commonly used to refer to the demon race.
Some called them demons, others the creations of the Demon King or Demon God.
After the Demon King was subjugated by the hero and the saintess, the demon race's power had weakened to an absurd degree in reality. Even the remaining demons had heard that the saintess before them was out hunting them down.
She must have come after some demon worshippers this time too.
And yet, this saintess was calling me a demon.
'How could a good person like me be a demon?'
If anything, it was the opposite.
I was the one dragged into this world by something demonic-like.
A good citizen who had been unceremoniously dropped into this world without a single fap buddy and was struggling hard to make my own.
So unfair.
Of course, in the process, some shameful things had happened from an outsider's perspective, but wasn't the whole point of fap buddies to enjoy watching that depravity?
This world repressed desires too much, which felt weird to me.
Anyway, I'd gotten too excited and my words had veered off track.
The question was so out of left field that I couldn't get the right words out.
"I'm not a demon. There's no way a demon would be in my shop. As I said, I'm just an ordinary illusion mage."
"......"
She looked up at me.
Those suspicious golden eyes showed no sign of leaving me.
From her expression, she seemed not to believe me because of that divine revelation she'd just mentioned.
"......"
"If you have something to say, say it."
"...Can you prove it?"
Once again, her voice was barely audible.
Did all the priests serving the saintess converse like this?
I'd heard she could hardly speak for some reason, but this was just...
'Even an English listening test would be easier than this.'
I nodded to the saintess.
"Of course I can."
I hadn't done anything wrong, so there was no reason to be scared.
"But you know, even for a saintess, it's hard to stomach being insulted as a demon by someone perfectly fine."
"......?"
"If my innocence is proven, what do you plan to do for me, Saintess?"
She didn't answer.
She just shook her head.
"If you don't get it, spell it out for me."
"...I'm just doing what I must as a servant of God."
"So I get branded a demon out of nowhere with no reason and get no compensation?"
"......"
The saintess couldn't respond.
"Do the priests of the Goddess Church always operate like this? Just point fingers and if wrong, oh well? Is that how it works?"
She shook her head.
"No, right? No risk to your actions, so you poke around wherever. That's tyranny, don't you think? Violence disguised as God's name and justice."
"...Insulting God's messengers is not right."
"Then don't give me reason to insult you."
"...B-blasphemy..."
"I'll make a proposal. If my innocence is proven, our saintess has to do one thing for me."
"......"
"If you don't like it, you don't have to accept. But if I'm proven innocent, I'll formally protest to the church afterward. For treating an ordinary person like a criminal—no, a demon—based on a revelation with no evidence."
I might run a small shop as an illusion mage, but I was still one of the few in the Illusion Magic School.
Excluding my master Meiko, I was the second most authoritative in illusion magic.
Illusion magic itself had weak influence, true.
But if I spread the word through Droken that the church had branded an innocent mage a demon, it would give all mages grounds to protest the church.
"...Fine. If your innocence is proven, I'll help you with one task."
The saintess, meeting my gaze, let out a deep sigh.
"By the way, could you speak a bit louder?"
But the saintess shook her head.
"...No."
"Tch, got it."
Pushing her this far would be rude.
"Alright. So what do I need to do?"
"......"
She pointed to one spot.
Right here, it seemed.
"You want me to do it with everyone watching? Wouldn't it be better to go inside my shop? Since the revelation said a demon was in my shop, check me and the whole place."
At my words, the saintess pondered briefly and nodded.
I opened the door to welcome the new customer—no, the saintess.
"Come in."
The shop interior was filled with magic circles.
Her head tilted slightly at the sight of the bed, chairs, and various tools neatly arranged.
Her eyes wondered why there were magic circles drawn inside the shop.
"Business items. As you can see, none are demon summoning circles."
"......"
Fortunately, the sensitive items were covered with cloths or tucked away out of sight, or I might've been arrested for obscenity instead of demon possession.
I spoke to the saintess who'd entered the shop.
"But why'd you come alone? From what I know, the saintess always travels with priests to relay her will and knight orders."
"......"
"A reason you can't say? Well, no need if it's hard."
"...If you're really a demon, ordinary people couldn't handle it."
That was her reason.
She cared for her followers and priests in her own way.
Makes sense. She subjugated the Demon King herself.
Meaning she could handle any demon alone.
"Here?"
I stood facing the saintess in a spot without a magic circle engraved.
She nodded.
"...I'll say it now, so just stand still and receive the power."
"If I'm a demon, I'll vanish; if not, I'll be fine. Sounds good."
Honestly, my heart raced a bit.
Nervous?
No.
Excited.
Getting accused of being a demon out of nowhere was unfair, but thanks to it, I got a chance to experience firsthand the power of the saintess who defeated the Demon King.
A free research opportunity—how could I not be thrilled?
To feel the saintess's divine power directly?
Even better.
Plus, this chance would reveal why the Silent Saintess always spoke so sparingly, only when necessary, and in such a tiny, barely audible voice.
"Heh heh heh."
A golden opportunity for data collection.
Maybe my laugh sounded too perverted.
The saintess took a step back.
"......"
She closed her eyes and began to pray.
A massive divine power swirled around the saintess.
I watched it calmly.
A force that naturally made the beholder kneel and worship.
An absurdly dense power.
Even my master Meiko's mana felt insignificant compared to this overwhelming strength.
I could see why the saintess and hero defeated the Demon King.
'It's crushing me.'
Just from her prayer, I felt pressed down by the immense power.
When she opened her eyes again, her sparkling golden pupils brilliantly shone, drawing in all the surrounding divine power.
And at that moment.
-Purify.-
The saintess uttered the words.
Not the mumbling, dying whisper from before, but a voice filled with power.
A beautiful voice like a hymn tickled my ears.
'Divine Word.'
I figured out why the saintess held back her voice.
Divine Word.
A mighty power where words themselves carry force, making reality bend to the spoken command just by utterance.
She'd restrained her voice to control that immense power contained in speech.
'That's why she said that earlier.'
The surrounding divine power reacted strongly to her voice.
It rushed to purify not just my body, but the entire shop.
Whoosh.
The divine power from the saintess enveloped my body.
Warm like a mother's embrace, it swirled around me without any reaction.
As she said, if I were a demon or demonkin, I'd be in agony spewing demonic energy, but no such thing happened.
'Of course. I'm just a bit more honest about my desires than most.'
Sure, I had dark desires.
But was that wrong?
Being a little more honest isn't a crime, right?
The divine power passed through my body repeatedly, but for non-demonkin me, it was no different from a blessing.
Nothing happened until the divine power faded.
"It's done."
"......Wh-why......?"
The saintess stared at the unharmed me in disbelief.
The revelation had clearly come here, so the lack of reaction must've shocked her.
The same went for my shop.
The divine power circled the shop multiple times to purify it, but no anomalies occurred.
"I told you. I'm innocent."
"......Be honest. You're not a demon?"
Another Divine Word command directed at me.
I felt an unknown force constricting my body.
Invisible hands forced my mouth to move.
"I'm not. I'm not a demon."
It wasn't a great feeling, my will overridden and forced to speak by another.
"Divine Word's pretty coercive."
At my words, the saintess bit her lip in disbelief.
It meant one of the revelations she'd trusted so far could be wrong.
"Well, my innocence is proven, so now our saintess needs to help me with one thing."
The saintess nodded.
"...Yes."
I'd been curious ever since learning her power was Divine Word.
Could even that mighty Divine Word be bound within illusion magic?
Helen's spirits and Yuris's mana were nullified through distortion inside the illusion magic circle.
So, could the Divine Word of the saintess who felled the Demon King be contained too?
'Divine power can be distorted somehow. But I've never tried on a Divine Word that subjugates foes with mere words.'
I wanted to experiment.
And a perfect subject was right in front of me.
"Saintess, could you step into one of my magic circles?"
"......This one?"
"Yes. I was in the middle of an experiment."
"......"
"You're not backing out, right? I trust you won't go back on your word."
"...Fine."
"Just step into the center of the magic circle."
No survey like with other customers this time.
She wasn't a customer now; she was just someone roped into helping me due to bad luck.
No need for that survey.
'It's a simple experiment.'
The saintess stood in the center of the magic circle, and I activated it with mana.
Vmmm.
The magic circle responded to the mana and began operating, blue light rippling from it.
That was when.
"Huh?"
Among the blue light of the magic circle, a golden pattern I'd never seen caught my eye.
Wait, this golden pattern—I didn't engrave it.
What is it?
'From the saintess's divine power earlier?'
This was a completely unexpected variable.
I placed my hand on the magic circle engraved with the golden pattern.
And at that moment.
[I want to speak.]
[I want to converse normally like everyone else.]
[How long do I have to live alone, lonely, crushed by this power?]
The saintess's inner voice flooded my mind.
"Saintess, let's pause for a sec."
But she was already trapped in the illusion.
"...No helping it. Gotta go in and fix this."
To adjust, I stepped into the magic circle with her.