76
Chapter 76
If I had to list my specialties, several things come to mind instantly. I am a jack-of-all-trades, after all.
Disguise, magic, stealth, sleight of hand, card games... there are far too many to count on my fingers.
But if I had to pick the most useful one of them all, I wouldn't hesitate for a second.
'Pickpocketing'.
The trick of slipping one's hand into someone's pocket and stealing an item with lightning speed. Its utility is endless.
I could steal the key to a back-alley ruler's secret vault, snatch documents from the Emperor, or even swipe the hammer of Thor, the God of Thunder. For the record, all of those are based on my personal experience.
By comparison, quietly stealing a rosary from some ignorant, dull-witted savage to pull off a scam is a piece of cake.
Honestly, it was a move that was halfway a gamble. Even if I tried to do something with the rosary, there was no guarantee it would have the "seasoning" needed to make the plan work.
However, I believed.
When King of Humans John, enraged by the death of the wolf known as Scarface, left to fight the Dragon King's forces, Saint Iroel remained alone, quietly awaiting her own coming death.
There's no way she didn't know. After all, the human brain isn't just for decoration.
So, what does a human who is waiting for death do in that short amount of time?
Everyone is different, and of course, it varies from person to person... but for Iroel, who valued John more than herself.
She likely did something that would be helpful to the young boy named John. Crucially, Iroel handed the rosary to John right before she died. Based on those two facts, I placed my bet.
And I hit the jackpot.
[You aren't late today.]
The Saint's voice echoes through my rosary.
Let's get one thing straight. It is 'my' rosary. Not the 'silver' rosary Iroel gave to John, but the 'Black Aura' cross.
"Ahaha, were you waiting for me? My little baby Saint?"
[It would be a lie to deny it.]
"What exactly are you unable to deny? The first part? Or the second?"
[The first.]
"Then what about the second?"
[I am not a baby. Have you not teased me by calling me an old maid before?]
"Hehe, that's right. You aren't a baby, Saint. Since you haven't even been born yet. Should I view you as a soul? Or perhaps a baby angel?"
I tease the Saint with glee, but she doesn't seem bothered. Unlike Beatrice, who suppresses her growing anger, or Aru, who would snap at me, or Uriel, who would denounce me as an arrogant servant, or the King of Humans, who would laugh boisterously.
She simply wears a gentle smile. Though I cannot see her face right now, I can tell.
[Did anything happen today?]
"A few interesting things happened."
[May I ask for an explanation?]
"Sure, but before that, there's something I want to ask. I want to get your opinion, Saint."
Something I've been curious about ever since I heard the story of King of Humans John and Saint Iroel.
"Imagine there is a truly massive enemy standing before you."
[Yes.]
"An enemy so immense that resisting them is completely meaningless. If you fight, you'll die one hundred percent. Not just you, but everyone dies."
[Yes.]
"But a friend of yours died because of an enemy like that. Would you seek revenge?"
This is King of Humans John's perspective.
How would a Saint answer this?
[I would not seek revenge.]
"Really? That's unexpected."
[However, I would resist. That is the only way to properly honor a fallen friend.]
"You're going to die anyway, aren't you? Honor or not, your resistance wouldn't even leave a scratch on a monster like that."
[Have you forgotten how I ended up trapped in the Babel Tower in my previous life?]
Ah, right.
The Saint was the only woman who raised the flag of resistance even when everyone else surrendered to the Demon King.
In a single canyon, she held off millions of the Demon Army for twenty whole days. She even forced the Three Dukes of the Demon Realm to take action.
The King, the Queen, and... even the mad Jack. Saint Maria was a being who could mobilize three Absolute Strong Ones, even if their power had waned. The strongest Saint in history. I forgot because I only see her trivial form inside the rosary.
"Then, let's shift the perspective a bit."
[Yes.]
"Besides the friend you must honor, you also have a friend you need to protect. But this friend is even more enraged by the other's death. He's charging straight into a death trap. What would you do then?"
This is Saint Iroel's perspective.
Though there's a difference in that the opponent lacks the malice the Demon Army possesses.
[You know the stance the Holy Nation took while I was fighting alone in that canyon.]
"...Hmm."
[I would send my friend back. Even if I have to knock him unconscious to make him listen. How could I not stop someone from throwing themselves into a blazing fire?]
"But you didn't do that."
[That is because he is a Saint. He grew up under the Lord's Blessings and lived off the Lord's grace. If one cannot play the role of sacrifice at a critical moment, who would look up to the Lord or respect a Saint?]
"But there are plenty of Saints who would run away. I've seen many such people. I've even seen those who begged for their own lives by offering up their own mothers."
[That is because their discipline is still lacking.]
"Hehe, ninety-nine out of a hundred probably act that way. Though those who sell their mothers are rare.[/p]
Is that Saint Maria's answer?
I see.
"Looking at it, you seem too strict with yourself. People aren't usually like that. When they make a mistake, they find any excuse to justify it, yet they remain strict about others' mistakes."
[That is why doctrines exist. To allow dull humans to more accurately reflect upon their own lives.]
She's not wrong.
But, if goodness is something so ideal.
Why does our merciful Lord ignore the suffering of His own children?
Does He simply not want to intervene in the human world? Is the status and dignity of a God more important than the lives of His children?
Or... is He unable to intervene?
The communication time with the Saint is precious. It's a short window of only twenty minutes a day that must not be wasted.
However, my mind keeps drifting.
Thoughts of an old friend I haven't seen in nearly two hundred years. I shouldn't be doing this.
[Oscar, the world is nothing but a playground. A dreadfully boring playground where a game called fighting takes place every single day.]
[Fighting is more your taste, Kanos. I prefer performing magic.]
[Kanos, you frustrating friend. Why are you always wearing those gloomy sunglasses? Take them off. And face the bright world! The brilliant sunlight! The blue sky! Isn't it wonderful! Our pushover of a Lord prepared all this for us!]
[....]
[Sigh, so taciturn. Do you plan on keeping your mouth shut this time too? Have you developed a taste for style? Now that you're at the peak of the Imperial Family, do you feel like acting cool? You talked so much when we were young, but after waging war against the continent, you've become a complete mute.]
[...Because it's dark.]
[What?]
[Since I started the war, my world has always been dark. And it will continue to be. Rather than consciously feeling the darkness with my naked eyes, isn't it better to wear sunglasses and forget my plight?]
[I am a god. A god among gods, and the god of gods. Soon, every church in this world will praise me, and my word will become the absolute truth.]
[You are correct, Saint. Every word you say is correct.]
[Since those who speak the truth are unnecessary in my continent, my reason for killing you has only grown firmer.]
The Demon King, Kanos, consumed by pride and desire.
I wonder what that guy is doing now.
I wonder if he's even eating.
*****
"Ugh...!"
A groan escapes the blond girl's lips. A moan accompanied by red blood drips down, wetting her chin.
The girl is wearing bandages. Around her right shoulder, where the skin was completely torn away. She was attempting to stop the bleeding by wrapping tough bandages tightly.
Step—.
The sound of low footsteps pierced the girl's ears. The girl's head turned slowly, and a pitch-black creature entered her field of vision.
The creature was Demon King Kanos.
"Are you exhausted?"
"Are you actually worrying about me?"
"Why wouldn't I be able to?"
"...Right, you're the one person I should worry about."
"Three hundred years left."
"Not long now."
"Your body seems to be screaming, though."
"Mind your own business. I'll handle it."
"You're far too injured to say that with such confidence."
The Demon King raised a hand toward the girl. Whoosh—black demonic energy falling from the Demon King's fingertips flowed into the girl's body. Immediately, the wounds decorating various parts of her body healed rapidly.
"Did you just inject demonic energy into a human who serves God?"
"I am the god among gods."
"...Damn it."
"You're in no position to be picky; your next opponent will be quite a handful. The Olympian gods brought a monster. They're called Hecatoncheires, beasts with fifty upper bodies on a single entity."
"Tsk, are you actually rooting for me now?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
Thud—.
The girl stood up, leaning on knees that had been creaking just moments ago but were now completely healed.
Then, she began to walk, each step neither too fast nor too slow. She gripped the holy sword Excalibur in one hand. The heavy blade made a grinding sound against the stone floor, accompanying her path.
Forward, and further forward.
Into a darkness where one could not see an inch ahead.
A battlefield where she had fought tens or hundreds of thousands of monsters, and where she would continue to fight.
Toward the Colosseum, the Arena of the Gods.
The Unyielding Hero, Frey de Siegfried, walked on in silence.
fin
The ducal residence in the dark and deep Southern Demon Realm.
Only one creature lives there. Until two hundred years ago, two had resided there, but after one murdered two children of the Northern Duke Family and was imprisoned, only one remained.
"Haaaaaaaam—."
The lone survivor awoke from a long slumber. It was the awakening of Southern Duke King, known by the title King, who rules the Southern Demon Realm.
The oldest demon in the Demon Realm, he is an immutable sovereign ranked second only to the Demon King. Southern Grand Duke King's status is so immense that some speculate most past Demon Kings were inferior to him.
Such a being had awakened. It was an event that could put the entire Demon Realm on edge, but King himself was simply dazed.
And for good reason, since it had been two hundred years since he last woke. A brain that had been rotting away in the beast of slumber for two centuries creaked as it began to function.
"Mmmm... mmm..."
Eyes made of tomatoes scanned the surroundings. A light green cucumber nose sniffed the air, searching for information.
He was trying to determine how much time had passed.
"Two hundred years... about that long, I suppose..."
Blink, blink—.
King blinked his half-closed eyes a few times. He felt like there was something he shouldn't forget, but the memory was buried deep and hard to recall.
"What was it... Ah."
A sigh escaped King's lips. Within the blurred memory, a certain 'promise' surfaced.
"Come to think of it... that cheeky brat, Oscar or Chaos or whatever his name was, promised to bring me a new subordinate soon... Why hasn't he arrived yet?"
Even when releasing his senses beyond simple sight, he detected nothing nearby. Despite having been given two hundred years.
However, to an old demon like King.
"...I'll just go back to sleep and think about it when I wake up. Only two hundred years have passed, after all..."
Swoosh—.
To an old demon who had lived for millions of years, two hundred years must have been far too short.
King lay back down on the bed and pulled the blanket over his head to sleep. The temptation of laziness, which even a high-ranking demon cannot avoid, pulled King back into his dreams.
With closing eyes and a hazy consciousness... King muttered a sleepy murmur.
"If he still hasn't come after three hundred years... I'll go look for him then..."