Not a Bad First Meeting
Not a Bad First Meeting
First, I needed to make one thing clear.
My goal was to get hit by the curse extracted from the princess's body and die alone—not to drag the unfortunate, abused older princess down with me.
To protect the princess while pulling out the Fragment of the Evil God, I obviously needed more detailed information about the Fragment of the Evil God.
I went to the White Order.
"Saint! This servant of Dulanear greets the Healing Saint."
The priests bowed so deeply it was uncomfortable, but in my current situation that was actually a good thing.
"I would like to examine records regarding the Fragment of the Evil God."
"The Fragment of the Evil God, you say?"
"Bring me all information. Conceal nothing from me."
"Of course!"
Even though I was a fake saint, the title of saint really did come in handy.
I could freely access even the White Order's top-secret archives, normally open only to the High Priest or above.
I began working through everything there, from musty old records written on parchment to recent materials printed on clean paper.
Information on the Fragment of the Evil God.
A method to safely extract it without tormenting a host whose mind and ego were already unstable any further.
And a way to make that destructive force disappear while applying it entirely to me alone, without harming the surroundings.
Was there anything like that?
I sat on the floor and, without budging, devoured and re-devoured all kinds of materials for over half a day.
The White Order's priests seemed to watch me in admiration.
"To agonize so much for the sake of Evil Eradication!......."
"Look! Behold! Even a saint from another order strives for Evil Eradication like that! Is it acceptable for you, chosen by Dulanear, to behave like that?! You must endeavor even harder!"
They even brought junior priests over as if I were some sort of field-trip exhibit and showed me off.
Not that I minded.
In exchange for reading classified materials to my heart's content, I could play zoo monkey for a bit.
And so, after nearly half a day of frantically examining and searching all those documents.
I finally found a way to safely extract the source of the curses while protecting the princess.
[If the connection to the host's soul has been loosened by relentless Divine Magic, the Fragment of the Evil God will seek out another soul nearby and begin to move. Should a person upon whom the host mentally relies be nearby, the Fragment of the Evil God will prioritize them as a target and attempt to transfer into their soul.]
[Therefore, when the connection between the soul and the fragment has been weakened, family, lovers, children—no one close must remain near the host. It will instantly transfer and settle into the new host's soul. The original host will be saved, but the long and cumbersome task of weakening the bond between the new host's soul and the fragment must be repeated.]
In other words, if I became the person Princess Iomene relied on, the fragment would leap out and burrow into my soul!
And I needed to check something.
I thought I'd skimmed something like that on that parchment?
Ah.
There it was!
After Princess Iomene's Fragment of the Evil God transferred into me.
[If one does not care about the host's soul, at least three priests can simultaneously use the Miracle of Evil Eradication to eliminate the Fragment of the Evil God within the soul. Upon destruction, the fragment will emit an intense curse that will destroy the host's soul, but immediately thereafter, the fragment shall be annihilated forever.]
All I had to do was go to the priests and ask them to fire the Miracle of Evil Eradication at me—sacrifice my soul to destroy the Fragment of the Evil God!
They'd want to prevent the world's destruction, so the priests would have no choice but to comply!
Soul shattered!
Rebirth in Korea!
Perfect.
The problem was how to make the princess come to rely on me.
The very first thought that came to mind was, couldn't I just slap Absolute Hypnosis on her and put her into an “I can’t live without Amael!” state?
But after enduring sixteen years of horrific abuse so awful you wouldn't even want to imagine it, would the older girl's mental state really be sound?
I'd heard she'd made multiple suicide attempts. I worried that if I tried to hypnotize someone in that mental state and mess with her mind, her psyche might shatter like a cookie before she ever came to love me.
It was only a possibility, but if that happened, Princess Almene, whose soul was linked to hers, would die along with her, and naturally the emperor would never leave me alone.
If I were executed by ordinary means—not through my soul being destroyed by a curse—and died with my soul intact, passing on to the afterlife, then obviously.
Straight to hell.
Fuck.
I didn't want to take that risk.
What choice did I have?
I'd have to meet Princess Iomene, do my best to soothe and coax her, make her rely on me, and draw the Fragment of the Evil God into my soul.
Then, after getting hit with the Miracle of Evil Eradication and destroying the Fragment of the Evil God, the curse bursting out at that moment would destroy my soul, and I'd be Korea-bound.
The princess would be saved.
I rose from my seat.
"Thank you for your great kindness."
"Anytime! You may return anytime!"
"Thank you."
I said my goodbyes and left the White Order.
***
That evening.
The Imperial Palace.
I arrived in front of the Detached Palace where Princess Iomene was said to be confined.
The Detached Palace, which must once have been beautiful, now looked utterly chilling.
All sorts of massive Magic Circles and Holy Relics were installed around the Detached Palace, and what looked like talismans were plastered thickly across the walls and door.
The genre seemed to be suddenly shifting from fantasy into occult horror.
"Saint. The curse is dangerous. You absolutely must wear this protective suit before entering."
Among the mages and priests waiting outside the Detached Palace, one mage held out a thick protective suit toward me.
At a glance, it looked like some kind of radiation suit.
Going in dressed like that would practically scream, I'm completely wary of you!
"I will not wear it."
"Excuse me? Saint! It is a curse! A high-grade, high-purity curse directly inflicted by none other than the Fragment of the Evil God!"
I wasn't scared at all.
I was actively trying to get hit by that curse and die, so why would I be scared?
Getting hit would actually be a welcome bonus. My soul would be destroyed outright without the hassle of extracting the Fragment of the Evil God.
On top of that, I needed the princess to come to rely on me. If I went in wearing something like that, what would she think of me?
"Wouldn't Princess Iomene be hurt if I entered wearing such a thing?"
"......"
The mage looked at me with a moved expression.
Moved, my ass.
I was just flailing around trying to get hit by a curse, die, and go to Korea.
"Her not being wounded is more important than me being injured."
After saying that, I refused the protective suit and slowly.
Cautiously, I stepped into the Detached Palace.
When I opened the door of the Detached Palace, covered in a chaotic scrawl of talismans and Magic Circles, and slowly stepped inside, the first thing I felt was a chill.
An atmosphere that felt as though, for a very long time,
not a single trace of human warmth had ever existed here.
The physical temperature of the Detached Palace was normal, of course, but it just.
It felt that way.
After I heard the sound of the Detached Palace's door closing, I took a short, deep breath.
Making the princess rely on me was the key.
A girl who'd lived through sixteen years of abuse.
Carefully.
It was important to grow closer slowly, without rushing.
"Princess Iomene?"
I wandered here and there through the Detached Palace.
But nowhere could I see Princess Iomene.
Only the excessively clean and excessively empty scenery of the Detached Palace greeted me.
The atmosphere here was like something out of an RPG Maker horror game.
- The interior of the Detached Palace seems empty.
- Where could Princess Iomene be?
- Oh!
The vibe was exactly the sort where a description box like that pops up, and then the next moment the princess is right behind you for a jump-scare.
.....Ah, fuck!!
She really was behind me!!
Startled by the sudden presence, I whipped around—and there stood a woman who looked exactly like Princess Almene, whom I'd met not long before, silently staring at me.
The difference was, of course, the wings.
A pair of massive black wings growing from her back fluttered as though about to engulf nearly the entire corridor of the Detached Palace.
Unlike Princess Almene, Princess Iomene kept her right eye closed.
That had to be the magic blocking the connection between their souls, I assumed.
Shabby clothes.
Dead eyes, empty and hollow, from which emotion was hard to read.
Expressionless.
The chilling-trinity set was complete.
Princess Iomene said nothing and simply watched me, her eyes glinting with a look that belonged to someone broken.
I swallowed dryly, soundlessly, and smiled at her.
My smile seemed to startle her.
As she flinched and stepped backward, I spoke to her carefully.
"Hello, Your Highness. My name is Jericho Amael. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Even at my words, Princess Iomene gave no reply.
Could she not speak?
The possibility certainly existed.
"You don't need to be wary. I'm not someone who came to harm you."
Coming in without the protective suit appeared to have been the right choice after all.
She was watching me with an expression from which emotion was hard to read, but at least she didn't display aggression toward me or scream.
I could count that as a relief.
"I came to treat you......"
But the next moment.
To be more precise, the very moment the word treat left my lips.
Princess Iomene turned on a dime.
"Aaaargh!!!"
She let out a beast-like shriek and convulsed.
One of her wildly flailing hands left a long gash on my forearm.
The wound was so deep you couldn't possibly imagine it had been made by fingernails, and blood naturally began spurting out.
Argh!
That was fucking painful!
Still!.......
It was bearable.
A wound?
Not frightening in the least.
I had Body Modification, after all.
[Used Body Modification on yourself!]
The split skin sealed itself, and the flowing blood vanished.
I showed that sight to Princess Iomene in real time.
As the wound disappeared in an instant, the princess—who had been screaming and shrieking like a beast—stopped screaming and stared at me.
For the first time, something you could call emotion flickered in her eyes.
Surprise.
Or perhaps fascination.
"Amazing, isn't it? I don't really understand the principle myself, but I possess the ability to heal people."
I said that in a cheerful voice, but the princess didn't answer.
It was questionable whether she even understood my words.
Simply staring at me expressionlessly, the princess seemed to possess a mental state closer to a wild beast than a person.
Suddenly.
The young princess before me looked pitiful.
Nineteen years old, barely past her Coming of Age Ceremony.
At an age when she should have been happily hanging out with friends, buying cosmetics, eating spicy rice cakes, she was instead cooped up alone inside that Detached Palace—a place seemingly ripped straight from an occult nightmare—with a pair of gloomy black wings attached to her back.
And on top of that, she seemed unable to speak.
It wasn't strange at all.
This was a woman who'd spent sixteen years being tortured.
It would be stranger to expect her to be normal.
I'd set out to make her rely on me, but if her mental state was practically closer to a wild animal, wouldn't the process of building trust go a little better if I dealt with her as if she really were a wild animal? The thought crossed my mind.
All right.
I'd do just that.
First, I slowly approached the princess.
And carefully.
As if extending a hand toward a wary cat.
I placed my hand atop her head.
She didn't move.
Just stared at me expressionlessly.
Meekly, she let me pat her head.
While I was at it, I discreetly checked her physical condition with a skill, and just as I'd suspected.
Her body, hidden beneath the shabby clothes, bore a staggering number of self-harm scars.
Beyond that, her body was so gaunt I doubted whether that was really the physique of a nineteen-year-old young lady.
Dreadful.
Couldn't I just extract and eliminate the Fragment of the Evil God using my skill somehow?
[Skill can only be used if the target is a living creature!]
As if reading my mind, the skill window displayed a notification before my eyes.
Well, that made sense—the Fragment of the Evil God wouldn't count as a living creature.
Annoying.
If I could just land a skill on it, it would be over in one shot.
Nothing for it.
First, I neatly erased the self-harm scars remaining on her body.
I also altered her gaunt frame—which looked like the result of being unable to eat or sleep properly—to match the exact physique of Princess Almene, whom I had seen the day before.
[Body transformation impossible!]
The only part I couldn't change was the wings. When I attempted to remove that section, I got the sense that someone external was deliberately obstructing the alteration, and the skill rebounded.
Obvious enough.
The wings had grown because of the Fragment of the Evil God, so it was clearly the Fragment of the Evil God interfering with the removal.
For now, this seemed to be as far as I could go.
Once the treatment was over, the princess—who let out a purr-like sound, as if her body felt ticklish—promptly stepped back and looked down at herself.
Upon realizing that the scars were gone and that fat and muscle had pleasingly filled out her gaunt frame, the princess broke her expressionless mask and wore an openly astonished look.
Seeing her flustered as she examined her own body brought a smile to my face.
That was a good sight.
Her reaction was unexpectedly cute, too.
That was enough for today.
If I pushed the progress too far all at once, it might startle her.
"I'll come again tomorrow. I'll definitely see you again tomorrow. So don't be sick, don't get hurt, and wait for me."
I smiled as I said that to her, but Princess Iomene simply stood frozen, unable to respond.
I exited the Detached Palace.
Fortunately, it seemed to have been a decent first meeting.