The Start of the Journey
“Hey…? Don’t you think we should head south first…?”
It had already been two years since I arrived here.
During that time, without stepping a single foot outside the cave, I'd learned the basics of this Rokea Continent from Lai—language, geography, common knowledge, and all sorts of other things.
She had her airheaded side, sure, but as a goddess, she was still a huge help.
“The demon lands are in the northwest Boreas Region, right?”
“That’s true, but…”
Studying was one thing, but if I stayed cooped up in this cave forever, I'd never get back to my original world. So we'd decided to head out tomorrow.
Our first destination, naturally, was the demon territory in the northwest Boreas Region. Sure, I was curious about the humans of this isekai world, but as the Demon King, wouldn't going to demon lands give me some backing? That was the plan.
But before I could even voice it, Lai was insisting we go south, which raised some questions.
“There’s nothing down south, is there? Plus, that’s…”
If memory served, it was the Gaia Empire, also called the Holy Empire, right?
“You’d die the second you set foot in Boreas…”
“Why? I’m the king.”
“Hmm… It’s our last day today, so how about some history lessons?”
Once upon a time~
Before I could even respond, she launched into her tale, and I settled in comfortably to listen. The girl usually seemed a bit dim in every way, but when she actually explained something, she told it in a pretty entertaining fashion. Her voice was soft and pleasant, too.
Long ago on the Rokea Continent, there was a war between the races.
It started as battles between individual races but eventually escalated into a war between the demons and a coalition of all the other races.
They had no choice—the overwhelming might of the previous Demon King, Radiata Versilver, forced the humans, elves, dragons, and other major races to band together against the demons.
“In the end, a party led by the elf Ariel Currie managed to subjugate Radiata Versilver.”
I lent them my power, but that party was seriously impressive. Lai wiped her nose with a proud sniff and continued.
After the Demon King’s head rolled, the cornered demons split into pro-Demon King and anti-Demon King factions.
The anti faction bowed to the coalition races. The coalition, battered from the war, formed a vassal-lord pact with them and signed a peace treaty.
That imbalance shattered the equilibrium between the pro and anti factions.
The anti faction, seizing control of the Boreas Region with the coalition’s backing, wasted no time purging the pro-Demon King demons first and foremost—to solidify their position and impress their new coalition overlords.
“The surviving pro-Demon King demons fled to the southern continent, so that’s why you need to head south…”
Well, couldn’t argue with that. Being the Demon King and actually wielding the full Demon King powers were two different things.
Facing off against the anti faction demons in my current state, still stuck with a human mindset? Just thinking about it was nightmare fuel.
“It’s not because the Gaia Empire of the Holy Empire is there and their state religion is the Church of Lai Teresa or anything, so don’t get the wrong ideaaa~”
“Nooo! It’s true! Really… I had no plans to go to your temple… That place could be dangerous for you too…”
“I seriously had zero intentions of doing that… Besides, even if I went to a temple, what could I even do there…?”
I hadn’t said a word, but she was already panicking on her own, drumming up a storm. I hadn’t suspected a thing, but she was denying it like her life depended on it.
Sure, she’d lied to me at first about summoning me here, but after a month crammed in the same space, I knew she wasn’t a bad sort. She’d admitted the summon lie was just panic over this random guy popping up—not malice.
“You wanna go to the temple?”
Temple or not, in the Gaia Empire, it was basically the imperial palace and the papal seat rolled into one. A bit intimidating from my position, but not somewhere I couldn’t go.
This was a fantasy world, after all. Temples were straight out of games, so yeah, curiosity piqued.
“No? You really don’t have to go to the temple? What if they find out you’re a demon and try to kill you? Like, nine times out of ten?”
“Nah. No clear destination yet, so let’s just add it to the list of options.”
“I didn’t mean it like thaaat… hehe.”
She denied it, but the way her lips twitched upward? Deep down, she wanted to visit the temple that worshipped her.
Put myself in her shoes, and yeah, I got it. If there was a place worshipping me, I’d beeline straight there. And Lai had spent 500 years alone in this cave—who knew how lonely and bored she’d been? Kinda pitiful.
“You’ve helped me a ton these two years. I’ll need your help going forward too. Can’t just take without giving back between friends, y’know.”
“F-Friends? You really mean it? Ehehe. It’s been ages since I hung out with someone, so it’s been nice~”
Her face flushed at “friends,” and she waved it off, but she was clearly thrilled. She sidled up shyly and cupped my head with both hands…?
“What’re you doing?”
“We’re leaving the cave tomorrow, right? Still got some continent info I haven’t passed on yet. Just friends helping each other—no pressure.”
A burst of pure white light erupted from Lai’s hands on my head, flooding my mind with knowledge. I’d heard divine power was poison to demons, but this felt warm and soothing, calming my heart.
It reminded me of before I came here—those hallucinations I’d heard stressed me out, but somehow settled my mind…
Hallucinations? Why’d I forget about that?
“Hey, Lai.”
“Hm? What?”
“Do your followers’ prayers… reach you too?”
“Umm… errmmm…”
She was behind me, hands still on my head, so I couldn’t see her face, but I could picture her blinking and frowning. Guess not.
Made sense. If gods heard every prayer, they’d all be bald from stress.
“Just curious—no need to agonize over it.”
“No, it’s not that…”
She mumbled something about how she should hear the Saintess’s prayers but didn’t, and just like that, I locked in the temple as our first stop.
No more to say. I sat quietly absorbing the knowledge infusion when another thought brushed past.
“But Lai.”
“Yeah? What?”
“If you could transmit info like this, why not do it from the start?”
“…All done. Gotta wake up early tomorrow… sleepy… better hit the hay…”
She glanced nervously, blabbered nonsense, and bolted. Looked like she’d forgotten about this method for two whole years. Made me even more convinced the Saintess who ignored prayers like hers was a wise human befitting her title.
The capital of the Gaia Empire, Hollidral.
The Saintess’s entourage was returning to the temple after a week of relief efforts for nobles and commoners alike.
“Aila Zmani! I’m gonna head over there again today too! I mean, I will!”
The pint-sized Saintess, lugging a backpack nearly as big as herself, called out to the nun beside her.
“His Holiness the Pope will be furious if he finds out.”
“He’s never caught me once? And His Holiness treats me all fuzzy? Proper? Um… umm…”
Unable to recall the word, she tapped her chin and scrunched her face. Aila smiled faintly.
“His Holiness cherishes you dearly, but if this keeps up, he will find out.”
“I’ll be back on time! Vins Hyunzen, take good care of things today too.”
“Then we’ll go collect donations from the sites we visited today.”
“Hehe, thanks!”
At just seven years old, Silvia Sunshine didn’t fully grasp what “relief efforts for the poor” really meant.
But she vaguely knew it wasn’t about using divine power—or holy power—to pamper high nobles’ skin care.
Flashing a grin through her gap-toothed smile—missing one front tooth—she slipped away from the procession, accompanied only by a single squire, heading the opposite way toward the slums.
Throughout the relief period, Silvia had been sneaking off like this to the slums to use her powers.
“Hey. You there. Come here.”
After a short walk on Hollidral’s pristine streets, Vins called out toward a dark alley.
Pedestrians glanced over at the sudden shout but narrowed their eyes at the sight of the Saintess and looked away.
Moments later, a ragged man popped out like he’d been waiting.
“Master Vins, peace be… Gah!”
“I told you not to dirty my name with that filthy mouth.”
“S-Sorry, sir. I’ll be careful.”
“Idiot.”
Vins released his collar. The man rubbed his throat, gasping, then eyed Silvia.
“Bring her back here in two hours. Same as always—you can handle it, right?”
“Of course, sir.”
“Saintess. I’ll wait here in two hours. Please be careful.”
“Yes. Thank you, Vins Hyunzen.”
Squire Vins resented the Saintess for picking the most useless tasks—ones that did nothing for his career.
He’d thought guarding her would pave a smooth path to holy knight when he first started.
While his peers mingled with high nobles alongside the other nuns, here he was—what a waste.
He shot a displeased glare at Silvia’s retreating figure as she ducked into the slum alley, then left.
“Uncle Jax. Sorry for always dragging you into this. That must’ve hurt a lot, huh?”
“Compared to the grace you bestow upon us, Saintess, this is nothing.”
“Hup!”
Seeing her stand on tiptoes, straining to reach him, Jax hurriedly backed away—he knew what she was trying.
“Aigoo, Saintess. You can’t use divine power in a place like this.”
“But it’s my fault your lip’s bleeding. This is nothing.”
“Eh, it’ll heal in a few days’ sleep. I’d rather you save that precious power for the kids who really need it.”
Despite his firm refusal, Silvia pouted but nodded at the plea to help those in greater need.
She never used it on herself for the same reason.
“Thank you, Saintess.”
“Thanks to you, we have hope.”
In a relatively clean clearing in the slums, people in tattered clothes gathered around the seated Silvia, offering thanks.
“Saintess, this child hasn’t been well lately.”
“Lemme take a look.”
She didn’t really “know” anything medical, just mimicking the nuns she traveled with.
She didn’t realize they skimped on holy power with commoners.
For simple wounds, they’d apply a tiny bit and some herbs—that was it, most times.
“Phew… For now, some fir… fir…?”
“First aid is more than we deserve, Saintess.”
“Right! First aid! We’ve gotten past the dangerous… uh, hill? I’ll check again in a month.”
“Thank you so much, Saintess.”
“Truly grateful.”
“Little Gonju has to hold on strong till I come back, got it?”
“I’m bigger than you, Saintess…”
Time in the slums flew by. Their joy at even small aid warmed Silvia’s heart.
But seeing folks dying without even that much twisted her gut.
“Sorry I couldn’t do more—time’s short. But I’ll come back. Uncle Jax.”
“We’re just grateful. Worry is you getting in trouble for sneaking off.”
“His Holiness is super nice to me? Don’t worry.”
She waved to the deeply bowing Jax, rejoined Vins, and returned to the papal palace.
Smack!
The moment she opened the papal chamber door for her report, Silvia’s body slammed into the corner.
The enraged Pope glared at her crumpled on the floor and spat his words.
“You truly find my words amusing, Saintess.”
“That’s not it, Your Holi—”
“It’s been over two years since you came here. Have I not told you repeatedly? Do not share that precious divine power with lowly scum.”
“But with a little help, we could save so many li—”
“Silence. You are barred from relief efforts henceforth. No more stepping foot outside. Not one step.”
For Silvia, already caged in the temple outside relief work, it was a death sentence.
“Donations may dip slightly, but better than giving expensive divine power to trash for free. Get out. I can’t stand the sight of you.”
Back in her room, Silvia gently set down her backpack on the bed.
Ptooey!
Her missing front tooth finally clattered to the floor, but she ignored it, thinking of the last child she’d treated.
First aid done, but without more care, he’d die.
Silvia clenched her tiny fist.