Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Saintess Joins and Despair Revealed
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And a day later.
The Saintess clasped her hands together before us as we visited once more.
Looking up at the heavens—or rather, the ceiling—as if in prayer, she opened her mouth in a holy pose.
"The reeve... elation... has... desceeended. A reeve... elation... to traaavel... with youuu allll."
Interpreting the garbled voice of the Quad wrangle, it went like this.
'I knew it.'
The revelation she mentioned before my regression had been a lie too.
I tilted my head and asked.
"You said revelations don't come out like ordering from a menu."
"I said they sometimes do come out that way. Just like the day before yesterday."
"I see."
"That's right."
"Did you get permission from the Pope?"
"Yes. Of course I did."
Since it wasn't the Quad wrangle's voice, it seemed to be true.
The revelation held absolute sway even over the Pope, enough to permit the Saintess to join a mere adventurer party.
But that very revelation was a lie.
Was it really okay to use something called the voice of God for personal gain like this?
Then again, with a fake Saintess, what did it matter?
Rennel rolled her eyes and asked.
"How did you get permission in just one day? The Papal Court is hundreds of kilometers from here."
"You don't think the Papal Court has even one long-distance communication magic tool, do you?"
"The Papal Court hates mages."
"They don't hate the tools they make. And it's only the stiff-headed higher-ups who hate mages. Not me."
Rennel shut her mouth.
Then it was Chris's turn.
"Are you really going to join us?"
"Yes. Revelations are absolute."
"I'm sorry to say this, but honestly, it's a burden."
"Even a noble like Sir Chris has joined this party. What would stop a Saintess?"
"P-Please, about my family..."
"Come to think of it, Sir Chris. When are you returning the God's Mirror?"
"......"
Chris fell easily.
The Saintess turned to me and said.
"Take good care of me from now on, Hero."
"Hero?"
"You're the Hero, aren't you?"
"That's a term from the Sloth Demon King's mouth. Is it okay for you to use it, Saintess?"
"It has a nice ring to it. A nice ring."
She was thrilled.
I decided to pretend to be troubled.
"Give me a moment to think."
"Huh? Why the sudden change? You were the one who suggested we travel together."
"On second thought, it seems a bit much."
"It's not too much. Even Grandpa Pope approved!"
"Then let's pretend it never happened..."
"No. Wait, wait."
She grabbed my arm tightly.
Almost hanging onto it.
"I've said it many times, but revelations are absolute. You have to accept me into your party. Ignoring a revelation is blasphemy!"
"Hmm."
"What's the problem? Traveling with me means no worries about injuries or illness. I'll make sure you never get hurt at all."
"I'm just worried that this reward quest might get replaced because of the revelation. If I have to welcome you as per God's will anyway, won't the reward I was supposed to get just vanish?"
"Tell me any other reward you want. I'll make sure you get it."
At this point, I decided to stop joking.
So I smirked and nodded at Chris.
"Chris. That thing."
"Yes? What?"
"Are you serious?"
"...?"
"She is. The God's Mirror. The God's Mirror."
Chris snapped to attention and rummaged through his luggage.
I unwrapped the neatly folded cloth to reveal its contents.
The Saintess's eyes wavered for a moment.
"Could you repair this for me? And while you're at it, let's forget we broke it."
The Saintess fell silent for a long while.
But only briefly.
She staggered and slammed her hand on the table.
"I got tricked..."
And so, we welcomed the Saintess into our party.
But that didn't mean we left Bardlin territory right away.
We stayed in Bardlin for another week.
That week was quite busy.
First, the Saintess went around the territory to check if anyone still hadn't recovered.
The result: everyone was healthy.
With the Disease Demon King's death... or more precisely, loss of consciousness, all the diseases he spread seemed to have vanished.
The Saintess immediately summoned Lord Bardlin back to the mansion and expressed her gratitude and rewards.
Then, with the mages borrowed from the lord, she inspected the frozen Demon King.
The mages confirmed it would hold for at least a hundred years, and she smiled faintly.
Say what you will, she was a true person of character, happy at the sight of an incapacitated Demon King.
Meanwhile, we stopped by Bardlin's Adventurer Guild to report the capture of the Disease Demon King.
"You caught that rare possession-type Demon King... the one that tormented humanity for two hundred years. Incredible."
With the frozen Demon King on grand display in the territory, we didn't need special proof or witnesses.
Moreover, with the Saintess vouching for the capture, we easily secured the guild's rewards and promotion points.
Rennel jumped straight to B-rank adventurer, and I became an A-rank adventurer.
While at it, we registered Chris as an adventurer and got his card.
We kept the name Chris the same but gave him the alias Pristin for the family name, just in case.
Chris Pristin.
His rank was also B, thanks to the Saintess's vouching and this exploit, same as Rennel.
I stared at his registration card and asked.
"How many family names do you have?"
"T-Two... two?"
"That's three."
"Two."
Whatever.
There were other minor episodes too, like the Saintess throwing a fit to refuse the Papal knights who insisted on escorting her since she'd be traveling with us from now on.
Or Rennel diving into the reward gold she'd received from the guild, spread out on the bed.
And a week later.
The Saintess repaired the God's Mirror.
That evening, after the God's Mirror was repaired.
We gathered in the inn room.
This time, "we" included the Saintess.
Rennel, who was blatantly showing how awkward she felt, asked.
"For such a noble person to come to this humble... no, this shabby place."
"Don't feel so uncomfortable. I'm a comrade now."
"That's why I brought it up. If you travel with us, you'll realize this rundown inn is paradise. Are you really okay with that?"
"Of course. I'm actually looking forward to it."
Rennel gave an awkward smile.
She still couldn't accept the Saintess joining the party.
Rennel misunderstood, thinking the Saintess lived a life of luxury and extravagance.
Given her position at the pinnacle of the Empire, it was a reasonable assumption.
But thanks to my pre-regression memories, I knew the Saintess's unpretentious—nay, carefree—nature, so it was just an amusing misconception to me.
For reference, I'd told the Saintess everything about the Deception Demon King incident without holding back.
In other words, that after killing the Deception Demon King and returning to the room where his little brother was supposed to be, the brother was gone and only the shattered God's Mirror remained.
Despite it being quite a shocking truth, the Saintess reacted calmly.
"No wonder Sir Chris was sweating bullets every time the God's Mirror came up."
"W-Was it obvious?"
"Of course. You had that 'please let it slide' look, so I didn't ask. Twice."
She might seem a bit scatterbrained at times, but at her core, she was considerate and caring.
The Saintess asked me.
"Are you really okay with this? With me here."
"As you said, you're a comrade now. So we should share one of our goals. That's fine, right, Chris?"
I'd gotten his consent yesterday already, but I asked again just in case.
But Chris didn't answer.
All his attention was fixed on the God's Mirror.
"It's ready. Please show us."
"Got it."
The Saintess lightly tapped the God's Mirror.
Strangely, ripples spread across it like touching a calm lake.
'One of the God's Mirror functions.'
The ability to store and replay the last reflected image.
I tensed up and peered into the mirror as well.
Soon, a figure appeared there.
At the same time, the mirror tinted red.
'This is my first time seeing it in person. They said the God's Mirror glows red when it reflects a Demon King.'
Well, I already knew that figure was a Demon King.
Not just any, but an Arch Demon King.
The question was identifying which one.
I looked closely into the mirror again.
'Huh? I can't see it.'
I couldn't "see" who that figure was.
But it wasn't obscured by the Quad wrangle.
What did that mean?
A sudden realization struck me.
At that moment, Rennel spoke.
"We can't tell from this."
The inn room in the mirror was pitch black, all lights out.
Moreover, Chris's brother, who held the mirror, was standing with his back to the window.
On a moonless night, even that faint moonlight was blocked by his body, making it even dimmer.
Chris sighed.
"No idea... Even if we could see the face, Demon Kings can alter their features, so it wouldn't mean much."
"Demon Kings don't change their faces often. Especially higher ranks—they consider hiding from human pursuit by changing faces shameful."
"That's true, but."
"Still, it's too dark to identify. We'll have to analyze it over time."
I shook my head.
"No. No need for analysis."
"Huh?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"That's probably the Despair Demon King."
The Despair Demon King.
Rank 9, one of the four Arch Demon Kings who formed factions, including the Sloth Demon King.
Chris gaped.
"How on earth did you figure it out? None of us could."
"The Despair Demon King has one peculiar trait. He doesn't hide his true form."
"That's right."
"That's how I knew."
"No, it's so dark you can't see anything, true form or not..."
I couldn't see it either.
But not seeing due to darkness is different from not seeing due to Quad wrangle obscuring it.
There wasn't a trace of Quad wrangle on the figure in the mirror.
'Normally, Quad wrangle thoroughly hides even reflections in mirrors or water.'
The changed nature of Quad wrangle post-regression was that it only hid fakes.
If it still hid reflected images, then that Arch Demon King in the mirror wasn't wearing a fake face.
And there's only one Demon King known to openly show his true face: the Rank 9 Despair Demon King.
'Chris must have been in a tough spot pre-regression.'
The repaired God's Mirror gave no real clues in the end.
What I noticed was solely thanks to the absence of Quad wrangle.
Pre-regression Chris probably had zero hints.
Yet he never complained to us about it or interfered with our journey or schedule.
'Ah. Not completely zero, huh. Come to think of it, back then...'
Suddenly, a pre-regression memory surfaced.