#093 Path
#093 Path
The Diere clan.
Calling them a clan might be a bit of a stretch, but if a single family name has endured for over five hundred years, it would hardly be strange to call them one.
Unlike ordinary names like Jackson or Simpson, the name "Diere" is a somewhat special one.
A house that produces Saintesses.
Whether their very bloodline receives divine favor or not, the women of House Diere were famously beloved by the Azure Moon Goddess more than anyone else.
The current Saintess, Yan Diere, was one thing, but the Saintess of the distant past, "Tsun Diere," was the same.
Her personality was so different from hers that I hadn't expected it, but Tsun Diere was the very model of a Saintess... or rather, the model of a Saintess within a Hero Party.
'She was the epitome of a prim and proper woman.'
She wasn't the type to directly help me or anything.
But she was the woman who paid the most attention to the humans who had surrendered to the Demon King Army.
-These people have clearly submitted to the Demon King! But did the Goddess truly wish for them to prove their faith through death? No! The Goddess would rather have wished for them to survive, even in such a manner! For the Azure Moon Goddess is a merciful being!
After the fall of the Demon King Army.
Even though she was a Saintess of the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess, she reportedly rendered distinguished service in saving the humans who had forsaken their faith in the Azure Moon Goddess and betrayed her.
After my death.
The ones who were probably most terrified were not the Demonfolk who had followed the Demon King, but those who had chosen to become slaves under the Demon King.
And with good reason—they were the ones who had knelt before the Demon King, of all people.
Not only had they knelt, but they had broken their faith in the Azure Moon Goddess and chosen to believe in the Demon King.
-How can a human betray the Azure Moon Goddess and side with the Demonfolk!
-Those wretches are not human! We must kill them all and make an example of them to appease the Azure Moon Goddess's wrath!!
-Let us take bloody revenge by killing the traitorous humans! Let us kill those lowly creatures who grew fat by stealing the blood of nobles and royalty, and show them the dignity of status, the difference in blood!!
The victorious humanity was enraged.
They had assumed those people were living like slaves under the Demonfolk's oppression, but it turned out they had been living far more luxuriously than before in the domains of royalty and nobility.
-Did you enjoy sucking the Demon King's warm teat that much?!!
Not to mention the upper classes who had their wealth and property seized by the Demon King Army—even ordinary people who had suffered under the Demon King Army and lived in fear of death stepped forward to condemn them.
By nature, humans can't stand watching someone else have it easy while they themselves suffer.
Even without that, the mere pretext of having betrayed humanity would have been more than enough to spit in their faces, so there was no way they would leave alone those who had abandoned their faith in the Azure Moon Goddess.
Some, to seize the traitors' property and amass wealth once more.
Some, to pass judgment on those who had forsaken the faith.
Some, out of pure rage at the betrayal.
At a time when people were expressing their fury toward the enslaved humans of the Demon King Army for their own various reasons, and a so-called mass witch hunt was about to erupt, "Tsun Diere," the Saintess of the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess at the time, reportedly persuaded them actively.
Not to kill them.
That indiscriminate slaughter would set us on the same path as the Demonfolk.
What would they do if, upon dying and standing before the Azure Moon Goddess, she said, "Only those with the courage to forgive may enter heaven"?
And so, she reportedly quelled humanity's rage.
At least on the surface.
At least in the records of the history books.
"Saintess. Do you happen to know of 'Tsun Diere'?"
I had only found fragmentary records about this woman through the records written after the Demon King Army's destruction.
"I do. She is my distant ancestor and the one who taught me of the Azure Moon Goddess's mercy and benevolence. At the same time... she is someone whose name must not be spoken carelessly within the Church."
"Why is that?"
"...I'm telling you this because you are someone from five hundred years ago, Sage, but the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess truly hides a great many things. The reason I joined this party was to tell you about them."
"Understood. Please tell me what I need to watch out for."
"...We call them 'Traitors.' It's an expression referring to those who collaborated with the Demon King Army five hundred years ago. In other words, they're also called traitors to humanity, or the Pro-Demon King Faction. If you've looked through the history books, you'd know—nothing at all was known about their actual circumstances, was it?"
"...I did find it strange, and I had a rough guess. I didn't know much about what happened after the Demon King's death because I was undergoing the sealing procedures, but the history books told me that the Human Alliance had fractured."
In the parlance of the Church of the Goddess, humanity reportedly split over how to deal with the "Pro-Demon King Faction."
Should they be kept alive?
Should they be killed?
"My ancestor, Tsun Diere, wanted to deal with the Pro-Demon King Faction strictly through trials. Those who had directly joined the Demon King Army and attacked humanity were eventually executed under alliance law, and all the rest were exiled."
"Exile, huh."
"Yes. Far, far to the north. They were driven out to the snowy plains of the north, where the Great Ice Wall stands. Some cursed her, asking what difference there was between sending them off to freeze to death and killing them outright, but considering the public sentiment at the time, that was probably the best she could do as an ancestor."
Yan took a calm sip of her tea.
"What kind of person was your ancestor? Did you ever meet her in person?"
"...We met often. On the battlefield, she was someone who drew the line between public and private more clearly than anyone, but in private, even if she grumbled, deep down she was truly warm-hearted and kind."
-Ah, damn it, what are you trying to pull! You think I'll go easy on you just because of this?! Stop messing around and get lost! I don't need these damn medicines.... Haah, no. Fine, I'll take them. Don't get the wrong idea! This is for the wounded!
-What? I'm grateful, but are you sure there's no poison in this? Are you insane?! I don't care if you die, but the people in the territory you rule do!! I brought this to save those people! Don't you dare eat even one! ...Ah, no. You're not going to throw it all away just because I said not to eat it...? Huh? Right? Y-you can eat a little, but you absolutely have to send this to the suffering people there!
-...What is this. Deliberately not sending troops. Are you mocking us right now? When you could send a pursuit force and annihilate us all? Hah, pity like that is nothing but a joke.... Just watch. Someday, I will repay this humiliation for certain.
Ah.
She truly was a woman I encountered often on the battlefield.
Not a Hero, yet as strong as one.
A woman who fought me and lost time and again, yet never lost her will to fight—but who, apart from her battles with me, still looked after the people under my dominion.
The woman before my eyes was her descendant.
'After five hundred years, one's impression can change a bit.'
Five hundred years is a long time.
But what hasn't changed is the power attached to the name "Diere."
"Saintess Tsun Diere was strong enough to rival a Hero even without a Holy Sword. Especially when facing Demonfolk, even more so. What about you, Saintess Yan Diere?"
"Hehe. I'm quite strong too, you know, appearances aside?"
Yan Diere took pride in her own abilities.
"Even if Liliez has awakened her Spirit Machine, if we fought one-on-one without Spirit Machines, I would win. Because the stronger people's faith in the Azure Moon Goddess is, the stronger I become."
That was true.
A Saintess's power was, in essence, the very faith in the Azure Moon Goddess.
Tsun Diere's Divine Power had gradually weakened as she suffered countless defeats at my hands, but the Divine Power currently held by Yan Diere, in this age brimming with faith in the Azure Moon Goddess, was comparable to—or greater than—Tsun Diere's when I first met her.
Unless humanity were to be defeated by the Demon King Army and faith in the Azure Moon Goddess were to gradually fade as it had in Tsun Diere's time, it would be no exaggeration to say Yan Diere was effectively one of the strongest humans alive.
"She's more than adequate as a fighting force, and I'm sure the Hero has no particular objection to gaining a strong companion. Even if the Hero were to refuse, if the Sage approves, it will all go through."
"That's not exactly...."
"It's fine. I can tell. That in the end, everything is accomplished through the Witch. To be more specific... including where we'll go now that we're leaving the County of Odron."
"......That is my role, after all."
Deciding where the Hero Party goes—setting its course—is my role.
Therefore.
"We may be heading somewhere a bit unpleasant for you, Saintess. Will that be all right?"
"Yes. I will follow wherever you go. Even if it's...."
Yan Diere seemed to have already guessed the next destination.
"A place considered taboo by the Church of the Azure Moon Goddess. Rather, isn't it precisely because I'm a Saintess that I can go?"
The northern part of the continent.
"To the land of the apostates."
* * *
At that moment, in the lord's office of Regret Castle in the County of Odron.
"So, you're saying you intend to go north with my daughter?"
"Yes, that is correct."
At Lucius's words, Count Odron let out a low hum and stroked his beard.
"Do you know where the north is, and still say such a thing?"
"I do. It is where the human traitors who collaborated with the Demon King Army were exiled five hundred years ago."
"Indeed. And you must also know that they... are still alive even now?"
"Yes. Are they not called 'Yeti'?"
Five hundred years ago.
Following Saintess Tsun Diere's forceful insistence, most of the Pro-Demon King Faction were driven out into the snowy plains.
It was a place where anyone could freeze to death from frostbite without it being strange, so most were expected to die—but astonishingly, they survived that cold.
Becoming Demonfolk, becoming demonic beings, becoming "Yeti."
With skin entirely white and hair turned white, their appearance devoid of any human vitality, they became enemies of humanity.
And so, humanity built a great wall in the north of the continent that the Yeti could not cross, and has kept watch over them ever since.
"You might freeze to death on the way. My daughter could suffer terrible things there. And still, must you take her?"
"This is a decision Droniel made, and I respect Droniel's choice. And."
Lucius rose from his seat and bowed deeply at the waist.
"I will take responsibility for Droniel and bring her back. Safely. Unharmed. Without fail."
"...Just now."
Count Odron's eyes gleamed.
"You said you would take responsibility, didn't you?"
"Yes. Of course."
"Then take responsibility to the very end."
"...Pardon?"
Count Odron twisted the corner of his mouth into a smirk.
"Even if not as your lawful wife, a concubine is fine too. Please, just take her with you."
"...What do you mean by that?"
"That child—if you don't take her, I'm going to be in serious trouble."
Count Odron patted Lucius's shoulder with an utterly relaxed expression.
"She's a girl who declared she would live only for you and even cast aside the name Odron. Since you've decided to take responsibility, now... hmm... what was your family name?"
"......It won't be Droniel Arthur, nor Droniel Lucius. Droniel will remain an Odron."
Lucius shook his head with a resolute voice.
"I have no family name."
"Hoh, is that so...?"
"Yes. That is why I am waiting."
Lucius turned his gaze out the window with a calm expression.
"After the journey ends, I will take the family name of the woman who will become my wife."
Far off in the distance.
The members of Lucius's party, including the red-haired witch, were strolling through the garden.
"Is that so... then your name would be—"
"It is Lucius."
Lucius struck his chest as he spoke.
"I may have lived as Arthur in the village, but now, I am Lucius."