182. Executioner

The imperial investigation team couldn't reach me, but the Executors—the Holy Kingdom's heresy inquisitors and investigators—could.

Not only did the Empire and the Holy Kingdom hold different authorities, but it was only possible because I, Leona, and the Flame Emperor permitted it.

That doesn't mean I like the Executors.

If anything, I can say I hate them.

Those fanatics with their heads thoroughly screwed on wrong are impossible to talk to.

What could you possibly say to people who howl that everything is Heaven's will, that everything is for the greater cause, that everything they do is justice? What could you make them understand?

Teaching swordsmanship to some random mutt passing by would be easier, faster, simpler, and more fun.

Luna, who had been the Saintess of Pnasensia, also loathed the Executors.

She used to rip into them, saying that the way they swarmed around in black clothes ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with their stubbornly tenacious lives reminded her of cockroaches.

Even so, I permitted it because there's something I want to look into personally.

The barrier that had been spread over Anketin.

That was a barrier only Pnasensia's priests could deploy.

The Cartel and the Puppet Emperor. First Prince Anton de Hermann and the Demons.

And behind them, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠suspect the Holy Kingdom might possibly be involved.

I want to believe that's not the case.

But in situations like this, the things I want to believe aren't true almost always turn out to be true.

So I called them.

There's something to confirm before I go to the Holy Kingdom.

Anyway, Mikel Dochev.

Dochev, as in...

-Yes, Hero. My name is James Dochev.

Wasn't that the family of the knight who handed over two million sel and a necklace he said was his mother's keepsake back then?

"Mikel... should I address you as 'Sir'?"

"You may call me Priest Mikel."

Leona poked me in the side, but I swatted her hand away with a tap-tap and opened my mouth.

"Yes. Then, Priest Mikel... among your ancestors, is there someone who served as a knight order commander in the Imperial Capital?"

Mikel blinked.

"...How did you know?"

I was right after all.

"Uh... I read it in a book."

"A book... you say?"

"Yes. A book. Um, among the books left by our founder... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there's a book that records the names of, uh... valiant heroes who took the field. Yes, I think I read it there... anyway, that's how it is."

This time Leona blinked.

Her expression said, "There's a book like that?"

I nodded shamelessly.

"Ahh... I see. A hero... a hero, you say... haha, for the noble Hero to remember my family. It's an honor."

I couldn't forget.

James Dochev. The knight who gave us money and a necklace. In truth, his mother's soul had been captured by Demons, and Luna and I spent three days and nights killing Demons to free that soul.

Honestly, I think Luna just bullshitted and got lucky... but when I recall the look on Luna's face back then, I don't think it was entirely luck.

-We absolutely have to save her within five days. Any later, and that soul won't be able to enter Heaven.

-We kill and kill and there's no end. Which one of those countless Demon bastards is holding her?

-I don't know. If we just kill them all, won't it work out somehow?

-Why do we have to do this shit while everyone else is out having fun? Huh? That's right, damn it, if only you hadn't gambled...!

-Didn't I tell you? Losing money like that was ultimately Heaven's will and guidance to care for God's little lamb. So stop whining and go back to killing Demons.

-Priest Yohan. That guy's got nothing. Didn't he just get lucky?

-That, too, must be Heaven's sublime will.

-...Fine. Killing Demons is always good. But at least reattach the arm properly, you crazy bitch! You put it on backwards! The arm bends the wrong way!

-Oops, I was too busy counting the coins I received... I mean, the offerings, to concentrate. Let's cut it off and reattach it quickly.

How did a family descended from an Imperial Capital knight order commander end up as a family of fanatics like this?

...Was it because Luna actually saved his mother's soul back then?

Luna's sins run deep...

"I would like to hear more about that and ask further, but unfortunately I have not come in such a capacity, so I will postpone personal talk for next time."

Mikel, who had spoken quite politely, placed her right hand over the symbol of Yurphia engraved above her left breast.

"That I walked into this place on my own two feet and speak with my own mouth is all Heaven's will—"

"Skip the useless talk and get to the point, shall we?"

Whether Mikel kept going or not, Leona, sitting with her not-very-long legs crossed, tilted her head and spoke.

Leona doesn't like the Executors either.

In the first place, is there anyone who likes that insane fanatic group?

I guarantee there's no one except themselves.

But... if she was going to act like that, wouldn't it be better to just let me do the talking? I thought, but kept my mouth shut.

If I ran my mouth again this time, I felt like I'd really get hit hard...

...Well, getting hit aside.

The expression she wore two days ago, the moment she came to save me... was enough to make me docile.

I'd been planning to lie down and fake being in pain a little to avoid getting nagged, but Leona had genuinely worried about me and shed tears, drop by drop.

Worry, anger, self-blame, relief.

Well... seeing tears mixed with such incredibly complicated emotions, I couldn't say it had been an act.

So I kept pretending to be in pain, and now here I am.

Lying for two whole days in the finest temple in the Imperial Capital, in some Emperor-something ward that only the imperial family is supposedly allowed to use.

I'm so stifled I feel like I'm going insane.

I absolutely have to get up tomorrow.

"...Understood."

Mikel nodded with a sour look, blinked once, and looked at me. Green eyes. Within them dwelled Holy Power, slightly different from Mana.

"Lady Eliarnes Eustetia, descendant of the noble Hero Arisa Eustetia. From now on, I will ask you several questions. I ask that you answer only the truth."

Eyes that discern truth from falsehood.

It's not an absolute judgment. But they say she can detect definite lies.

I don't know the principle behind it.

Luna said that truth and falsehood are whispered by Heaven, but who knows. I don't even know if God exists, and even if He does, I think He just whispers whatever the hell He wants.

What could He possibly know about my inner self, which even my own mom and dad don't know, and which sometimes even I don't know?

"I'll be the one answering. It's not the sort of thing you should be interrogating a seventeen-year-old kid about, is it?"

"Fist Demon, you are the guardian of Lady Eustetia—"

"Hah."

Leona—the Fist Demon—flooded the hospital room with killing intent.

Mikel's complexion went pale. Cracks formed in her stoic face, and her steady breathing grew ragged.

An apple that had been sitting still blackened, died, and crumbled away, and the window rattled violently even though there wasn't a breath of wind outside.

"Fist Demon? Didn't the others give you any warnings before you came here? There's no way they didn't."

"...I misspoke."

"There won't be a next time."

I couldn't tell whether "there won't be a next time" meant she'd throw Mikel out if it happened twice, or kill her.

I wanted to see how it would turn out, and if possible, I hoped it would be the latter.

"I will take that to heart and return to the main point. Leona Megenberta, are you claiming to be the guardian of Lady Eustetia?"

"Yeah. I'm this kid's guardian, her custodian, and her teacher."

"As far as I know, Duke Eustetia serves as her guardian."

"Right now, in this place, and for this 'incident,' I'm the guardian. I've also separately received Duke Eustetia's consent and a letter regarding this matter. Surely you're not saying I have to show them to you myself?"

"I must confirm."

"Do you really have to?"

Leona's Mana quietly unfurled.

Feeling that force, Mikel's eyes twitched.

Actually, showing them isn't a problem.

We really did receive the consent form and the letter.

Of course, Dad, who heard about this incident through the imperial communication crystal, said he would come running right away.

I refused.

Vacation was coming up soon anyway, and no matter how much of a duke he is, moving twice for the sake of one daughter would be too undignified, so I told him to wait.

But Dad wouldn't back down, and in the end.

We agreed that once vacation started, I'd stop by home and... spend the whole day out playing with Dad...

...Anyway, we do have the consent form and the letter.

Even so, her stubbornly digging in and pressing the issue is just a power struggle.

A thuggish way of talking—intimidating someone before the real investigation even begins.

I don't know where she learned such a vicious and violent way of speaking, but no matter how I look at it, the name Fist Demon suits her perfectly.

"I must confirm."

"What if I refuse?"

"Even so, I must confirm. That is Heaven's will, and thus Pnasensia's will, and thus my mission."

"So you'd see it even if it kills you?"

"Yes."

There wasn't a shred of hesitation in Mikel's answer.

At that, I clicked my tongue inwardly, and Leona clicked her tongue openly.

"Impressive."

Then she tossed the bundle of papers that had been by my bedside with a plop. An envelope and documents stamped with a cherry blossom seal.

Mikel nodded after seeing only the seal.

Because she knew that no one in the world could replicate that special cherry blossom seal.

"Confirmed. Then I will direct my questions to Lady Eustetia and receive the answers from Leona Megenberta."

The investigation wearing the mask of conversation began.

*****

The questions were nothing special.

She asked about what happened before and after the incident.

The smell and atmosphere at the time.

The feel and color of the Demonic Energy that had been flowing.

The appearance of the Apostle of Gluttony.

The cry it let out.

The types of attacks the Apostle used, and the identity of the student who became the Apostle's "seed."

The reason I realized what it was.

The course of the battle with the Apostle.

The reason the mountain peak disappeared.

The method used to kill the Apostle.

The whereabouts of the corpse ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that had been the "seed."

And so on. It was really nothing special, just a process of confirming things already known to the world.

Though there were questions mixed in here and there that seemed to suspect me, they never went beyond that nuance.

That was a bit irritating and annoying, but Leona's answers flowed without obstruction.

There was no need to filter the answers, and I wanted to end this conversation quickly before I snapped and killed her.

Still, for now.

At least I didn't sense any intent to drag me, to drag House Eustetia, down.

"This is my last question."

Mikel closed the notebook she had been scribbling in diligently and stared straight at me.

"As this is my last and most important question, I would like Lady Eustetia herself to answer. What do you say?"

"I'll be the one to—"

"I'll answer."

I tugged at Leona's sleeve and shook my head.

I'm not stepping up without thinking.

If I answer at least one question, don't I earn the right to ask questions and hear answers myself?

Even if I sometimes seem emotional, I, you know?

I strike when I see an opening taking shape.

From my Past Life until now, I've been a very rational, thorough, calculating person.

Leona seemed to understand my intent, because she clicked her tongue and said.

"Do what you want. But know that if I think it's going badly, I'll cut it off midway."

"Yes. Lady Eliarnes Eustetia. Among your classmates, is there a Demon?"

"There isn't."

"Is there anyone who has made a deal with the demonic?"

"There isn't."

"Is there anyone who has made contact with the demonic?"

I don't know where the line for "contact" is.

If it means contact and conversation, and being a little spellbound by that conversation, then Stella exists.

And, well, Ophelia is in a somewhat suspicious state too, so should I count her?

Of course, I'm not going to say there is.

"There isn'—"

"False."

Madness flickered in Mikel's eyes.

Her tightly shut lips twisted. Her eyes drew a strange curve as she took a step closer.

"Lady Eliarnes Eustetia. You are telling a falsehood right now. To me, who stands here on behalf of Heaven's will, you have told a falsehood. Why? What are you hiding?"

"...What would I be hiding? What is—"

"Eurasia Espirot. Stella Verheigen. Pina. Gailan. Silina de Hermann. Fabiana de Hermann. Ashtar van Chaser. Hudd van Chaser. Ophelia Blumin. Who is it?"

"Hah, you've done your research quite thoroughl—"

"Do not change the subject. Answer my question. Which of them has made contact with the demonic? What did they do upon contact? A deal? A conversation? Did they devise a scheme? For what purpose? The fall of Heaven?"

"Look here. Priest Mikel. Right now, you—"

"Lady Eustetia. Did you see it and pretend not to know, pretend not to see, avert your eyes? Are you shielding your classmates? That is, in effect, shielding and defending Demons. Have you sided with the Demons? Have you become an apostate? Right now, in my mind, I am reaching the judgment that House Eustetia has become heretical."

"Haha..."

A hollow laugh escaped my lips.

Leona's killing intent surged. Golden Mana shattered every window. The moment Leona rose from her seat—

—Flash. The light of Deceptive Body flared.

"Hey."

BOOM—!

My fist slammed into the center of Mikel's face.

Crunch. The sensation of her nose bone shattering and teeth breaking was vividly clear at the end of my fist.

"Cutting me off is fine. Suspecting me, interrogating me—yeah, I can concede a hundred times over that you might do that."

Mikel moved. Her hand went to the sword hilt at her waist. I twisted my lips and detonated my Mana, the light of Deceptive Body, once more.

"But, you fucking bitch."

Crunch— Mikel's right hand was crushed. Her shinbone broke, and her ankle twisted. I grabbed her hair as she collapsed and forced her to meet my eyes.

"Calling House Eustetia—"

The name Arisa left behind.

"—heretical is not allowed."