Just in Case
Just in Case
Evil God worshippers.
Bastards who caused all sorts of turmoil, conflict, war, and slaughter in the human world.
Bastards who grew even stronger by offering human blood to Evil Gods.
They were public enemies of the empire, top-priority extermination targets alongside black mages and demon cultists.
I knew that, due to the nature of the gods they served, they specialized in disguising themselves as people with specific social status to endlessly fuel conflict and collapse societies.
I heard that the powerful ones among the Evil God worshippers were incredibly hard to identify because not even divine magic or miracles could distinguish them, and because of that, even now, there were supposedly a great many Evil God worshippers secretly active in every corner of society.......
That was what I knew.
And of all people, the Sun Order priest who came to interrogate me was an Evil God worshipper?
What kind of coincidence was this?
My relief at having avoided dangling from a noose lasted only a moment.
"A saint!! He is a saint beyond all doubt!"
"O Saint! Heal us!!"
"My daughter is ill!! Please heal my daughter!!"
Hearing the unprecedentedly explosive shouts of the slum-dwellers, I started to think I might have made a mistake after all.
Even if I said now, 'I'm not a saint. I'm just a pitiful fuck-up flailing around trying to stop the world's destruction with eroge skills,' it felt like no one would listen to me anymore.
Still, I feigned calm.
Because I had to do this miserable act until I healed the witch.
"I must rest for a moment. Please provide me with something to eat and a place to lie down."
Anyway, I was too tired.
Healing people for two straight days really felt like a living hell.
The tension had spiked when the Sun Order people arrived, and now that it dissipated all at once, it felt even worse.
When I said I was dead tired, not even five minutes passed before a bed for me to lie on and a meal that was quite decent by slum standards were set before me.
I ate the prepared food, lay down on the bed they had somehow procured that was surprisingly soft, and fell asleep the instant my head hit the pillow.
And when I opened my eyes again.
I saw the priests of the Sun Order arrayed before me, along with dozens of holy knights and police forces armed with pistols and clubs, and I thought I simply wanted to sleep forever.
"Are you the saint of Goddess Lilia?"
One priest who looked quite advanced in years looked down at me and quietly asked that question.
I slowly sat up from my spot.
What did they come here to say?
Did they come to expose that there had been an Evil God worshipper in our Sun Order and try to steal our potential customers from our territory?
This son of a bitch came to ruin our business.
Was the ending roughly, 'You're a heretic, so die'—off with my head?
I felt like I would piss myself.
My legs gave out, and I felt like I would piss myself.
Seriously, what do they expect me to do when they show me this the moment I wake up?
"I am not affiliated with any specific Order. I am merely one who cares for the lowly. I merely received a powerful directive one day, suddenly, from someone, to do this work."
I recited the defensive line I had prepared in advance.
Meanwhile, I trembled inside.
I really would only pretend to be a saint until I healed the witch, then quietly disappear. I wouldn't poach any business in your territory, so please, just spare me.........
"We thank you. O Saint."
Abruptly, the elderly priest before me bowed his head respectfully toward me. He did not just bow; he took my hand and quietly left a kiss on the back of it.
.......What the hell is going on here?
"Thanks to you, we were able to uncover a worshipper of the Evil God. Furthermore, it has given us an opportunity to reflect upon the errors our Sun Order has committed until now."
The aged priest looked up at the sky.
In the bright sky, the radiant sun shone down upon the land.
Upon the slums just the same.
"There is no eternal shadow, nor eternal light. We had forgotten for far too long that the sun shines equally upon everyone's head."
Around the time I was just blinking my eyes, thinking I had better just stay fucking quiet.
The old priest who had kissed the back of my hand turned to look behind him.
"We interrogated the demon worshipper who infiltrated our Order yesterday!! He confessed that he had been trying to turn the Sun Order into a gathering of the greedy!! He said he sought to make it an Order for the wealthy! An Order that excludes the poor!!"
The priest bowed his back once more toward the slum-dwellers.
The other holy knights and priests followed his lead.
"Forgive us our foolishness. And forgive us also the error of pressing the saint without recognizing him. The Evil God worshipper spoke! He said that the moment the saint reached out his hand toward him, he felt his heart stop!"
Yeah.
That was because I made a mistake and cast Time Stop on his heart instead of his leg.
"With that unexpected blow, the Evil God worshipper's disguise was broken, and thanks to that, the wicked magic concealing him was said to have been undone! He feared the saint, and was executed yesterday! It is a miracle no one can deny! How could anyone doubt one who has shown such a miracle!?"
The elderly priest approached the heavily armed police officers and holy knights.
"I, High Priest of the Sun Order, Alois, stake my name upon this declaration: the saint who lies upon that bed is truly noble and exalted. Therefore, protect him. A minimum of order seems necessary."
"We shall do so. High Priest."
The old priest.
No.
High Priest Alois turned his gaze toward me.
"The police and our Order's holy knights will escort the saint. We have contacted the Order of Grace, so their priests and holy knights should be arriving. Until they reach you, Saint, we will guard you temporarily. May the sun shine upon you always. And may Lilia of Grace look down upon you."
The High Priest bowed politely and then withdrew.
I could not say anything and just stared blankly at the scene.
Because the situation resolved too well?
No.
It was because of what he said about contacting the Lilia Order.
I'm not even a Lilia follower.
I had never even said the word Lilia, so how the hell did it end up like this?!
I had just planned to loosely pass myself off as a saint in a vague way, so why had I suddenly become a saint belonging to a specific Order?!
Wouldn't those people realize the moment they saw me that I wasn't a Lilia follower at all?
They'd immediately see I was a bastard with no holy power, no faith, and no stigmata!!
And wouldn't they brand me a heretic for falsely claiming to be a saint sent by their god?
Wouldn't being burned at the stake be fucking hot?!??!?
Ah fuck, seriously.
I'm screwed.
I'm truly, completely screwed.
Where's the witch?! I need to heal only her and bolt!
"Form a line in order!"
"Do not push others! People could fall and cause an even bigger accident!!"
"The Saint needs time to eat, drink, and rest!! There will be no healing during the rest period!!"
"Children and the seriously injured will be treated first! Those with minor injuries who can endure it, wait a moment!!"
The police and the Sun Order's holy knights established order.
No more accidents occurred from people being jostled and falling over.
Looking at the slum dwellers forming orderly lines to come receive my treatment, I wanted to cry.
Why the hell did you call the Order of Grace that serves the goddess Lilia! Why!!
I couldn't even run away before the witch arrived, and if I stayed put like this, I had the distinct feeling I'd be denounced as a heretic by the Order of Grace and burned at the stake.
But if I ditched everything—treatments and all—and ran, the ending would be the world's destruction.
Ah, fuck, really.
Fuck.......
"One at a time. Come to me in an orderly fashion."
I smiled.
Not because I was happy, of course.
Witch!!
Get wind of the rumor and come find me, now!!
I was about to die!!
Hurry up!!
Time stretched on endlessly as I screamed inwardly while spending it healing people with my hands.
***
There was a name that anyone who walked the path of magic could not help but know.
The Tower of the Sage.
A place more commonly known as the Magic Tower.
Their symbol, an inverted triangle crest, was one of the most famous emblems in the empire.
A gathering of human weapons capable of singlehandedly destroying a city, and at the same time, a birthplace of knowledge and technology that advanced the empire forward through countless magical engineering feats.
Ahead of the annual regular academic conference, numerous mages and witches were actively exchanging opinions at the top of the Mars Mage Tower.
"The Shadow Research should definitely be submitted as the representative paper for our Mars branch."
"I agree. It is a paper of exceptionally high quality. It seems sufficiently qualified to be submitted as the representative paper."
Everyone was united in praising one person's paper.
And at the center of it sat a witch named Tudel.
She wore a subtle smile, as if satisfied with the praise directed at her.
The mages and witches turned to look at the Tower Master, who sat quietly on one side of the round table.
"What is the Tower Master's opinion?"
At the mage's question, Magic Tower Master Oergen gently stroked the snowy-white, lustrous beard that grew on his chin and looked at Tudel with playful eyes.
"I, too, shall make the Shadow Research the representative paper for the Mars branch Magic Tower this time. I also have no objections. After all, it was the most outstanding among all papers published recently."
Tudel smiled at those words.
"Thank you, Tower Master. I am honored."
"The honor is rather mine. That I can work with such an outstanding witch as you."
Oergen smiled and rose from his seat.
"Having one genius present makes for a pleasantly short meeting! Let us return now and rest."
The mages rose from the round table one by one.
Tudel also rose from her seat, wearing a subtle smile.
The others began to crowd around her.
"Congratulations, Tudel. You are remarkable."
"I knew the Shadow Research would be selected. Congratulations once again."
"The next Tower Master might as well already be decided! Ha-ha!"
Tudel laughed happily.
"Everyone else's papers were also excellent."
"I still have a long way to go. How on earth did you write such a paper..... I'm envious. Ha-ha-ha!"
"We believe you will continue to be an inspiration to many witches and mages! Ha-ha!"
After exchanging well-wishes and humble words, Tudel left the Magic Tower with a happy face and returned to her home.
She hadn't been able to rest properly for days because of the selection for the Magic Tower's representative paper.
Now she planned to go home and get some rest.
She entered her house with comfortable steps, closed the door, and went into her bedroom.
After casually opening a secret passage installed on one side of the bedroom, Tudel disarmed all manner of locks and spells—something that seemed like it wouldn't even be used on a prisoner's room—with passcodes and incantations, then opened the door and stepped inside.
There, a witch slumped over on the floor in a depressed state caught Tudel's eye.
The witch had four arms and over ten eyeballs clustered closely together on the left side of her face.
It was a grotesque and repulsive appearance no matter when you looked.
But Tudel looked down at her with a face of familiarity.
"Failed again? Erpa?"
"Yeah. I just can't sustain it. I feel like I'd succeed if I could just go a little further. Anyway, how did it go?"
"It was selected as the representative paper. Isn't that only natural?"
Tudel chuckled.
Then she looked at Erpa with suggestive eyes.
"No complaints, right? Erpa? That was our deal, wasn't it?"
Erpa, with her hideous and revolting body and face.
Tudel hid her appearance and helped her gain access to all sorts of magical equipment and grimoires, and in exchange, Erpa used her genius talent to ghostwrite Tudel's papers for her.
It was a secret deal known only to the two of them.
Erpa nodded silently.
"Yeah. No complaints. Just make sure my identity isn't revealed. All I want is to heal my face."
Tudel smirked and nodded.
"Ever. Never, ever come out of this room. You know what kind of misunderstandings people would have if they saw you, right?"
"I have no intention of leaving here until I heal my face and body anyway. Don't worry, Tudel."
"Good girl."
Tudel smiled at Erpa and then walked out of Erpa's laboratory.
And once again, she locked the door with double and triple layers of various locking mechanisms.
Then Tudel began to relax in a leisurely manner.
After brewing coffee and unfolding the morning paper that had been delivered earlier to read it, Tudel's eyes caught the headline printed on the front page.
[Appearance of a Healing Saint?]
[Has a new saint appeared in the Empire for the first time in 300 years?]
Her interest piqued, she read the contents, and then Tudel carefully burned the newspaper away with magic.
"Just in case."
Erpa was in a position where she had to continue working as Tudel's loyal, secret pet dog for the foreseeable future.
If she read something like this on a whim, impulsively went out into the world, and got caught, the loss would be immense.
Tudel picked up a book instead of the newspaper.
Then, she hummed a tune, sprawled out on the sofa, and began to read.