Words Are Open to Interpretation
Sitri returned with yet another passage, her expression sour as she spoke.
"This time you can't cross over with something like an avatar."
"Is it that hard to obtain?"
"Of course it is! A demon of the Chief Justice's caliber has an avatar whose power is on a whole different level!"
Sitri grumbled as if stating the obvious.
From the start, Mammon Corporation's customers for Raising Intelligent Beings had never been Great Demons. Even the first passage she had procured had been one used by director-level demons of Mammon Corp, obtained by trading on Dantalion's name.
"If all you plan to do is give advice, this level is more than enough."
"Where does this passage connect to?"
Dantalion pointed at the mirror as he asked. If it led somewhere crawling with sinners, he was liable to smash the mirror again.
Sitri had already accounted for that much.
"This one connects to a sacred beast. You can use a little power, but if you push too hard the beast will faint and the link will break."
"A sacred beast... True, they excel at receiving a god."
"It's the closest one to the previous passage, so handle it gently."
There was a reason sacred beasts were worshipped as divine messengers.
Dantalion reached toward the mirror and attempted the connection.
Moments later his consciousness linked through the glass to the sacred beast...
A crow? Not the most common choice.
Dantalion praised Sitri's sense. As a creature that symbolized death, a crow meshed well with Hell.
Best of all, true to its nature as a sacred beast, the crow had three eyes.
With that wide field of vision Dantalion surveyed the night sky and tracked Yoanna's presence.
It would have been nice if she were simply sleeping soundly at home.
Wandering the night streets, is she?
Following the trail of her aura down into the night streets, Dantalion flapped the crow's wings and scanned the surroundings.
Then a crimson glow of firelight caught his eye.
The crow landed on a suitable rooftop and hopped toward the railing.
Looking down from there, he saw Yoanna slammed into a wall after taking a blow from some thug.
After gauging the opponent's level, Dantalion muttered without thinking.
"Did I give her too little power?"
"Excuse me??? What kind of insane thing are you saying?"
Sitri, watching the mirror alongside him, nearly had a heart attack.
Did he have any idea how rare beings of that strength were in the mortal world?
Seeing Sitri's reaction, Dantalion nodded.
I see. It isn't a lack of power—it's a lack of experience.
In that case it didn't matter.
If he simply filled in for her missing experience, getting her out of a crisis of this level would be nothing.
Focusing his mind, Dantalion spoke to Yoanna.
The voice reached her heart rather than her ears, and Yoanna responded at once.
She ducked, letting the sword whistle past, then drove a kick into her opponent's gut.
Confirming the man had staggered back, Dantalion shifted position to check Yoanna's reaction.
And yet...
Why is she smiling???
Her reaction was a little strange.
Yoanna's eyes were still sightless.
Yet she felt no fear at all.
No eye could ever be more precise than the one who gave her orders.
Obeying Dantalion's command completely, Yoanna took that single step.
Whoosh!
Yohaim's blade grazed her shoulder, leaving a cold sensation in its wake.
Once again his attack had been read; Yohaim's face twisted in fury.
What kind of bullshit was it that a swordsman fighting with her eyes closed was stronger?
"Don't fuck with me!!"
Regripping his sword, Yohaim swung hard at Yoanna's face.
As if she already knew, Yoanna dropped low.
Got her!
Just as he expected, his aura-clad knee shot toward her face.
It wasn't proper aura. Years of neglected training had left his aura crude and rough.
Even so, it carried enough force to shatter rock—more than enough to cave in a human skull in one blow—
"Understood!!"
At that moment crimson energy surged from Yoanna's toes.
As her foot drove toward his knee, Yohaim bit his lip.
I have to hold!
Instinct told him that if he failed to hold, the initiative would slip away.
Still, it was fine. He had already fully gauged Yoanna's level moments earlier.
If he blocked the aura-laced kick and opened distance, he could easily reverse the situation—
Crunch.
Yohaim's knee folded; shattered bone punched out into the open air.
If one had to define Yoanna's power, it was closer to holy force than aura. Her absolute faith only made that power stronger.
"Gyaaaaaah!!!"
Yohaim had no way of knowing that, of course.
Experiencing pain for the first time in his life, he screamed like a three-year-old.
The opponent is... weaker than I expected.
Dantalion felt a flicker of bewilderment.
Having never faced humans directly, gauging their strength was not easy.
"G-gyaaa—agh!?"
"Hup!"
Though the situation differed slightly from Dantalion's instruction, Yoanna performed admirably.
Closing on the collapsing Yohaim, she smashed the pommel of her sword into his jaw. Bone shattered; teeth scattered like rain.
"Guh... guhhh!!"
His screams echoed through the alley.
But the people of this street were used to screams.
Someone would feast well tonight, they thought, closing their ears and eyes while they waited for the noise to end.
And Yoanna intended to grant their wish.
"You must... be in a lot of pain."
"Kh... khuh."
After rinsing her face with water from a skin, Yoanna looked down at Yohaim.
Tears streamed from eyes filled with terror. Even knowing it was useless, he instinctively reached out a hand.
"M-mer..."
Of course no proper words could emerge.
Several teeth had found freedom, and his half-chewed tongue flopped loosely.
Yet who could fail to grasp the meaning in that pitiful sight?
Even so.
"I am not the one from whom you should beg mercy."
Thud!
Yoanna showed no mercy to a sinner.
Mercy was already in short supply even when given only to the good.
Piercing his heart cleanly and painlessly in a single stroke was the least mercy she could offer.
Watching, Dantalion nodded.
Mercy is something you bestow only on those who deserve it.
The name Yohaim carried far too much blood and sin.
The humans he had murdered alone numbered in three digits; adding rape and extortion made one whistle in admiration.
At least as Chief Justice of Hell, Dantalion found Yoanna's killing entirely justified.
"But wasn't our goal to get Yoanna to hold back on the killing?"
"Ah."
Yet the one who had pushed Yoanna into this situation was Dantalion himself; that would not do.
Coming to his senses, Dantalion steered the crow toward her.
He intended to scold her sternly for walking the exact opposite path from what he had expected.
"Savior!"
Realizing the crow was Dantalion's messenger, Yoanna dropped to her knees.
She paid no mind to the blood soaking the ground beneath her feet, nor to the blood that had spattered her face when she stabbed Yohaim's heart.
Like a devout believer offering prayer in a temple, Yoanna clasped her hands respectfully.
"I have waited and waited for this moment when we would meet again!!"
Faced with those sparkling eyes, Dantalion found himself speechless.
He had come to scold her, yet she was looking at him with a "Did I do well?" expression. What was he supposed to do with that?
Momentum stolen, Dantalion cleared his throat.
"Yes!"
Answering firmly, Yoanna disposed of anything that could identify her.
Stray hairs, footprints pressed into the dirt, blade marks that might reveal her reach—everything.
After expertly erasing the evidence, Yoanna melted into the darkness.
Watching beside him, Sitri remarked,
"Seems a bit late for that, doesn't it? You could tell people she's a gifted assassin who received special education somewhere and they'd believe it."
"Ahem!"
With nothing to say, Dantalion cleared his throat and steered the crow onward.
A city offered many places to hide.
Among them, the spot Yoanna chose was none other than the city's sewers.
Yet it was not the filthy, foul-smelling, unhygienic place one might imagine.
"This is a sewer the nobles built for their private use. They forgot it even existed and left it abandoned, so the water is clean and it's quiet."
The sewer Yoanna had made her hideout was, aside from the dampness and the moss, as clean as a clear stream.
She pulled free a loose brick and took out the items stored behind it.
Spreading a clean blanket, Yoanna removed her hood and checked the wounds on her body.
In that respect, being the daughter of a knightly house was convenient. Even if she got hurt, she could claim the injuries came from training.
Watching her carefully apply medicine and wrap bandages herself, Dantalion spoke.
"Yes. Even in the old days I often had to treat people. Minor bruises and cuts I can handle."
Albert had looked after his followers and their families with considerable care.
Of course it had not been out of any benevolent intent like a physician's. Healthy sacrifices made the best offerings; it was closer to keeping the meat fresh.
Whatever the purpose, Yoanna had once treated people.
Though not long before she herself was chosen as a sacrifice, there had been no one left to treat.
"……"
Her gaze turned to the flowing water.
Memories were like paint dropped into clear water.
They seemed to fade little by little with the current of life, yet the color never truly vanished forever.
Even memories filled only with pain sprout into nostalgia once enough time has passed.
That was especially true of the people with whom one had endured hard times; they lingered long in memory.
Yoanna turned her head without a word.
Meeting Dantalion's gaze through the crow, she shook her head.
"No. I do not resent my Savior—no, Lord Dantalion."
She had prayed to so many beings.
At first she had prayed to the gods whose names she knew. The priests always said that if one prayed faithfully, the gods would grant salvation.
When she realized no salvation was coming, she prayed even to gods whose names she did not know.
Anyone would do; every day she begged to be freed from that hell.
When even that proved useless, she prayed to the god Albert worshipped. At least that god had given Albert power.
Yet the one who answered her prayers had been a completely unexpected being.
That was why Yoanna did not resent Dantalion.
She simply wished to give thanks for her salvation and follow his will.
Truly a peculiar child.
Dantalion found her devotion nothing short of wondrous.
Her name written in the red book still balanced perfectly upon the scales of sin.
Perhaps the talent he had glimpsed that day was precisely this upright heart.
All the more reason I cannot leave her to seek hardship of her own accord.
Resolving himself, Dantalion spoke through the crow's beak.
"What do you mean by that?"
Sensing he was about to say something important, Yoanna knelt.
Assuming a posture of attentive listening, she stared intently into the crow's eyes.
Dantalion regarded her with a fond gaze.
"Things that cannot be done alone..."
Yoanna mulled over the words, lost in thought.
He was right. Even if she caught a wanted criminal, a new one would appear within days in this world.
Had the city ever truly resolved to purge its criminals, thugs like Yohaim would never have been free to run wild in the first place.
"Lord Dantalion?"
Just then, a light like brimstone flared within the crow's eyes.
The light left a single streak of brilliance before vanishing into the dark.
As the crow collapsed, drained of strength, Yoanna hurriedly caught it.
"Caw..."
"Are you all right? It must have been hard, conveying His words in His place."
Yoanna took out the bread and water skin she had prepared for when she grew hungry.
She carefully dribbled a little water into its beak, then tore the bread into small pieces and fed them to the crow.
The exhausted bird gulped down whatever entered its mouth.
The rather cute sight drew a smile from Yoanna.
While feeding the crow scraps of bread, she organized her thoughts.
I don't know what He meant to say at the end, but I understand the meaning of what He said at the beginning.
Changing the world by an individual's power alone is difficult.
Yoanna interpreted the words this way:
He means I should help people who, like me, are waiting for salvation.
Had Dantalion known, he would have nodded vigorously.
Killing sinners only increased Yoanna's karma and piled more work onto Hell's judges—why would he ever encourage that?
Yes, up to that point it was fine, but...
And I should also find people who will join me in judging this world's sins. Then we can make the world a little cleaner, at least.
Slightly... the focus had drifted somewhere strange.