Is It a Contract Killing?
Is It a Contract Killing?
What was my state of mind right now?
I was dying.
Could you please not bother me?
I wanted to be alone.
But my wish went unfulfilled.
"Saint. Saint."
"Aaaah! Healing Saint!! Incarnation of Grace!!"
"Apostle of Lilia! Look down upon us!! Lead us, foolish sinners that we are!!"
The moment the heresy inquisition ended, the Lilia Order people all swarmed around me, encircled me, knelt, and prostrated themselves before me over and over.
Even High Priest Yodel was kissing the back of my hand, tears streaming down his face, and then pressed his lips to my foot as well.
Fuck.
Everything was just exhausting.
You goddamn bastards.
The probability that I would get struck down by divine punishment from the goddess because of you people was rising in real time even then!!
What the hell was I supposed to do.
What the hell was I supposed to do??
No, I had even revealed that I was a reincarnator!
That I was a person from another world!
I said with my own mouth that I wasn't a saint!
I said it over and over!
Aah.
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
"I behold the first Healing Saint."
Because the Lilia Order had shed tears and drawn every last bit of attention, it seemed the countless people gathered in the Pantheon had all fixed their gazes on me.
One by one.
People who looked unmistakably like high-ranking members of society came to find me, shook my hand, and offered greetings as they passed.
In my exhausted mental state, without even knowing who was grabbing and shaking my hand, I exchanged greetings with all of them while wearing a hollow smile born of sheer disbelief.
And some time later.
Everyone had vanished from the Pantheon, and now all that remained before me were those familiar, insufferable faces.
Jonathan Karma's family and the people of the Lilia Order.
And when only Erpa, the four-armed nuclear-bomb witch, remained.
"Saint. For the past two months, in accordance with your will, we have striven to the utmost to enrich the order, but......we are still sorely lacking. Please lay the blame upon me. Though unworthy, I shall escort you to your temple."
Jonathan Karma's family approached me and spoke with great solemnity.
At those words, I snapped to attention.
Right!!
You, the historically incompetent businessman who bankrupted the doll factory!!
You were still around!!
Look at that embarrassed expression!!
He'd clearly ruined something!!
Yes!
There was still a way out!!
"Let us go."
Let's go!
Let's see how you've ruined the business!!
And if you ran your mouth blaming me for all of it, High Priest Yodel would definitely come to loathe me as well!!
Jonathan Karma!
Thank you so much!!
Thanks to you, I was finding a loophole to survive!!
"Saint. I am ashamed. Forgive me that this temple is not worthy of your achievements."
Jonathan Karma!
What the hell!
What the hell is this!
Why was a magic tower being erected on the abandoned factory site!
Why!!
***
Jonathan Karma was undeniably a capable man.
On the condition of supplying the Mars Mage Tower branch with all the elixir essential for future research free of charge, he had requested that a super-skyscraper magic tower be built on the factory site, just as the Saint had said.
Unlike ordinary structures, magic towers were buildings that had to be constructed solely through magic.
Moreover, because construction required an enormous amount of elixir, it was typically a project spanning at least five years. But the newly built magic tower temple of the Lilia Order was located where elixir—a material essential to construction—and large-scale magical power essential to building were supplied directly from the ground itself.
Thanks to that, the construction speed was fast enough to be recorded in architectural history.
In less than two months, the capital's second magic tower had soared upward, boasting a staggering majesty of over a hundred stories.
Of course, it wasn't complete yet, and there were many places that still needed work, but upon hearing that it would be finished within three months at most, the Healing Saint began to shed tears of joy.
"I need to rest. Please prepare a place for me to sleep."
After saying that, the Saint went straight to bed and sobbed for a long while before falling asleep.
It seemed that the heart worn down by the heresy inquisition had been comforted by the sight of the majestic temple in the form of a magic tower.
After gazing lovingly at the Saint for a long while, Erpa returned to the Mars Mage Tower branch.
He was truly a man like a child.
When he was happy, he wept because he was happy; when he was sad, he wept because he was sad.
Hadn't he shed tears and held her when comforting and healing her, too?
Thinking that the Scripture of Grace's words—that he was a person purer than anyone else—were truly correct, Erpa wore a contented smile and tried to return to her laboratory.
But because of the witches and mages crowding the lobby, she could go no further.
The mages and witches who had belonged to the Tudel Faction were all standing gloomily in the lobby, holding their resignation letters.
And the Magic Tower Master Oergen was silently watching them.
"Though you acted under Tudel's coercion, what you did is unquestionably complicity in attempted murder and destruction of evidence. Since it is clear you were forced by threats, I shall end this with expulsion."
"......Thank you."
Everyone nodded weakly and dejectedly.
They would try to find other magic towers, but nowhere would accept people who had helped try to kill someone.
When they thought of their futures and careers, the situation could only feel hopeless.
"Leave. There is no place for you here."
The moment Magic Tower Master Oergen declared this.
Erpa stepped forward.
"Magic Tower Master Oergen."
Everyone was startled by Erpa's appearance.
But they could only be even more startled by the words Erpa said next.
"Please let them remain at the Mars Mage Tower branch. I wish to forgive these people."
"What......what do you mean?"
"If they are expelled from the magic tower like this, a great stain will remain on their careers. Finding a new magic tower that will accept them will be a great undertaking, and even if they do enter one, the odds that they will be able to adapt properly there are high."
It was a cold reality.
The mages and witches bowed their heads, unable even to ask for forgiveness.
Erpa gazed quietly at them.
"So do not cast them out. Please help them remain here at the Mars Mage Tower branch."
"But Erpa. Those people aided Tudel in trying to kill you. Even if it was under coercion, that fact remains."
"I know. Even so, I wish to forgive them. I believe they had no choice because of Tudel's threats."
The mages and witches stared at Erpa with surprised faces.
Erpa, too, looked back at them.
Her serene and gentle face was like that of a saintess.
"......Are you sincere?"
"I am sincere. Besides, if this many researchers suddenly vanish, the magic tower's joint research projects will collapse, and it won't be good for the magic tower either, will it? The old magistrate is the better magistrate. Please let them stay. I ask this of you."
Magic Tower Master Oergen was silent for a long while at her words, then eventually nodded.
"If that is your opinion, I shall comply. However!!"
He stared at the mages and witches with a terrifying expression.
"That does not mean your wrongdoing disappears. Erpa is the next magic tower master!! If you do not offer her a proper apology and respect, then whatever Erpa may say, I will cast you out!! Mark these words well!"
After saying that, Oergen vanished from the lobby via spatial movement.
Soon, only the mages and witches—and Erpa—remained in the lobby.
Slowly.
A young witch approached Erpa.
Her face was full of curiosity rather than guilt.
"Why? Why us?......."
Curiosity came first even in this situation?
It struck Erpa as so like a mage.
Erpa chuckled.
"Because the Saint would have wished for it."
Erpa looked at everyone.
"I will forgive all of you. But that does not mean I will forget what you did to me. So I hope you will never do such a thing again, and will live walking a proper path. That is my condition for forgiving you."
Though she wore a smiling face, tremendous pressure dominated the room.
The mages and witches swallowed dryly and bowed their heads toward Erpa.
"Thank you. Erpa."
"Thank you for giving us another chance."
"We will never......never forget this."
Erpa accepted all their apologies with a composed expression.
"Return and continue your own research."
She turned her back to go up, but the mages and witches did not move a step.
"Erpa......no. Miss Erpa. We have one request."
"What is it?"
"As a gesture of atonement, we wish to go to the newly established magic tower in the slums and conduct research there. Since the distance is short anyway, we will be able to pursue new research there without abandoning the existing research we've been doing."
"I heard that they've entered a technical partnership with the magic tower and are producing elixir. Wouldn't our going there directly to transfer the technology be far better than something like a technical partnership?"
Erpa's eyes widened.
The mages and witches wore embarrassed expressions.
"We wish to be of even a little help to the Healing Saint who opened our eyes. And we thought that doing so might be a way to bring you even a little joy. A way to show our sincerity, even slightly."
"There are many witches and mages here who have researched elixir purification and application techniques. As atonement, we wish to provide the Lilia Order with some of our research results for a very minimal royalty fee. In exchange, we'd have unlimited access to the elixir gushing forth, so we think that might actually be better for the research."
"That's right. Large quantities of elixir are used every time we conduct research. If we don't have to spend research funds buying it each time, we'll be able to research far more efficiently."
"Even like this......we want to show our sincerity, Miss Erpa."
Watching them bow their heads and apologize so earnestly, Erpa felt a happiness welling up from deep within her heart.
The Healing Saint.
The Saint Amael.
Beyond healing her body and earning her recognition in society, he had gone so far as to reform those stubborn, headstrong mages.
If this was not a miracle,
then what the hell was it?
'Truly, truly, I say unto you. When the saint comes to you, you will know that it is him.'
A passage from the Scripture of Grace, which she had recently begun to read, surfaced in her mind.
Wasn't that truly correct?
"Do as you wish. The distance isn't far, so relocating the laboratories won't be too difficult."
"Thank you, Miss Erpa. We will never, ever forget what happened today."
The mages and witches said this and then vanished.
Left alone in the empty lobby, Erpa quietly placed a hand over her chest.
The Saint Amael.
The one who had saved her.
The one who made her heart pound fiercely whenever she thought of him.
'My body, my heart, my mind, my talent. All of it belongs to him.'
Erpa realized it.
The fact that she could no longer live without him.
***
"Mr. Karma? We will see to it that you can utilize our research results at a low price. If you simply allow us to use the elixir free of charge while we conduct research here, that is. It will be far better than producing through a technical partnership."
"My goodness!! We needed people with elixir purification and application techniques anyway!! Come! Come!! We'll let you use all the elixir you want!!"
"Thank you. We came to repay the debt we owe Miss Erpa. I also wish to express my gratitude to the Healing Saint. Thank you for making us reflect on our errors and become better people."
You goddamn bastards!!
Why was the business doing so well!!
Stop coming!!
But whether I screamed internally or not.
Dozens of mages from the magic tower took up residence in the newly constructed temple-like magic tower as researchers of Karma Company.
Wow.
At this level, it was practically a murder contract.
The world was shoving me toward being struck by lightning and dying.
Why.....
Why!!
Why was everything going so well!
I'm telling you, I'm not a saint!!