Chapter 123 - Disguise (2)

He wanted to grab her by the collar and demand what the hell she was doing. What infuriated him was that she would probably blow his head off if he tried.

So his best option was to grind his teeth, somehow stay calm, and ask...

“What. Exactly. Are. You. Grrrrrrgh...”

“... You'll dislocate your jaw.”

The Pontiff had reverted to her usual manner of speaking the moment he brought her somewhere deserted. She answered with little chuckles.

Clearly, she was a vicious monster who enjoyed inflicting suffering on others with these horrific antics...

“You remember how everything went to shit during the team competition?”

“... Yes.”

Still, when the Pontiff spoke seriously, Aiden had no choice but to respond in kind.

After all, one wrong move and everyone could have died. How could he possibly forget?

“Whoever did that will probably start making trouble in earnest now.”

“...”

That was enough to make Aiden's gaze turn somber as well.

His recent string of bizarre antics might have obscured the fact, but fundamentally, he had come here to save lives.

Of course he would be sensitive to news like this.

“Do you have any grounds for saying that?”

“Yes. It's what I'd do.”

“...”

“First, there's something we need to consider. Why do you think these pests are swarming around the succession ceremony in the first place?”

Aiden quietly frowned at the question.

'... That was definitely...'

Hadn't the game said it was a plot to overthrow the country by someone openly dissatisfied with the Holy Kingdom?

He remembered it being described as an act of apostasy committed in collaboration with demons.

That was presumably why the chapter was called Blasphemy in the first place.

“There's a little rat in bed with the demons.”

Summing up those facts precisely, the Pontiff scratched her head vigorously and spat out the words in irritation.

“I get that they've got grievances and all that. But then they should come give me shit. Why give the other innocent royals shit? What's their fucking problem?”

“...”

... Hmm.

Aiden blinked at her in surprise.

“What?”

“You were capable of such constructive thoughts?”

“... What the hell do you think I am?”

The Pontiff sighed and continued.

“Politics always leaves someone dissatisfied, no matter how good a job you do. I don't know why they feel that way, but they're probably one of those people. Still, I could understand just about anything else they did. Getting into bed with demons, of all people, is a bit much.”

She continued irritably.

“As you'd expect from followers of the God of Devouring, they basically have to 'eat' something to get stronger. And there's a morsel here that would have them positively drooling.”

Her gaze turned toward the center of the island.

The great torch was plainly visible even from here: the altar housing the first divinity, where Aiden had personally met Sier.

An object symbolizing the bond between the god of purification and humanity.

“... A symbol of a god also serves as a conduit that leads directly to that god.”

The Pontiff's eyes grew even more somber than usual as she continued.

“I don't know what trick they'll try, but the moment demons get their hands on that, they might be able to harm the god of purification directly.”

The decisive incident that had led the pantheon to seal the God of Devouring was his consumption of another god and absorption of that god's authority. As his servants, demons could do something similar.

... Which meant...

“Are you saying the demons are planning to devour Sier whole?”

THWACK!

The Pontiff flicked Aiden's forehead with divinity.

“Show some respect, brat. Respect. Is Lady Sier your drinking buddy?”

“...”

... Well, honestly.

She looked exactly like Katya, which did make him treat her casually without realizing it.

'Actually, it's not just her looks.'

There was something similar about her demeanor, too.

Of course, she seemed far more mature and restrained than Katya, but she gave the same fundamentally innocent, candid impression.

As though that was exactly what Katya would be like if some event made her grow up a little.

In any case.

“That's what the demons want, and the traitor wants revenge on the Holy Kingdom. So what goal do they have in common?”

Killing people.

Wiping out all the guards capable of protecting the altar served the interests of both the traitor who simply wanted revenge on the Holy Kingdom and the demons who wanted the altar.

And the scheme they were likely to devise right now to achieve that goal...

“They already tried wiping everyone out in one big strike and failed. Right?”

The Pontiff pointed up at the sky as she spoke.

She was presumably referring to the curtain of demonic energy Aiden had dispelled.

“But now I'm here, and so is Magnus. They'll think another big operation like that is a bad idea. So they'll get a little more covert.”

“What do you mean by covert?”

“Picking people off. Assassination.”

The Pontiff gave a nasty smile.

“Sneaking around in the shadows has always been their specialty. They'll try to thin out our numbers during the rites and disguise it as accidents.”

“...”

That was an exceedingly unpleasant prospect for Aiden, too.

A change in tactics like that might mean fewer victims, but it would be even harder to prevent.

“And that's where I come in.”

The Pontiff puffed out her chest with an “Ahem.”

“I'll participate undercover myself and stop those accidents before they happen. That's the plan.”

“... Aha.”

“That's what this body's for, too. What do you think☆?”

“...”

Barely managing to kick the rising nausea back down his throat, Aiden pressed hard on his temples.

“But do you really have to act so cutesy?”

Granted, having the Pontiff join them like that would bring the odds of an accident infinitely close to zero, but he still wished she would do something about that behavior.

“What?”

“...”

“Got a problem?”

“...”

“If I'm being cute for you, you should just grin and enjoy it, brat. You think getting cute attention from the Pontiff is something to scoff at?”

... The problem, of course, was that she wasn't remotely inclined to listen to such complaints.

▣

The Black Night rite essentially reenacted the hardships the first seeker had endured while traveling to the Grand Temple to meet Sier.

It could be called a race: an event in which participants circled the perimeter of the island housing the Grand Temple for three days and nights, overcoming obstacles along the way.

Having a royal accompanied by a student imitated the relationship between the seeker and the servants who attended him.

Of course, they couldn't recreate the fire-breathing dragon or the Pond of Obsession, which killed anyone who so much as stepped into it, that the seeker was said to have encountered. The obstacles merely resembled those motifs as closely as possible.

If they actually created such things, how would this be any different from the succession ceremonies of old, where corpses reportedly piled up with each passing day?

Yet despite Aiden's upcoming participation in an event inspired by such deadly things, Noel was in a surprisingly good mood.

The reason was...

“I think some of the royals this generation could actually overcome things like that...”

“Right. Aren't there supposed to be three incredible ones?”

On her way to participate in the rite, she had overheard a group of commoner schoolgirls chattering and squealing like little chicks.

Alester, Mylène, and Julius.

Talk of this generation's most prominent royals was something she could simply let pass without much interest. But then...

“But they're not the only royals making a name for themselves, apparently.”

“Hm?”

“I heard there's someone from abroad this time. He's accomplished some extraordinary things. And he seems incredibly close to Her Holiness the Pontiff.”

“Oh, I heard about him, too. Lord Aiden... was it?”

Noel's ears pricked up the moment she heard the two girls climbing the slope ahead of her say that.

'Absolutely. He's an impressive man.'

How could she help smiling when her husband's reputation was improving by the day?

Before the event started, Aiden hadn't known a soul in the Holy Kingdom. And now even the commoners were talking about him?

“And look at this.”

With a twitching smile, one girl suddenly rummaged inside her clothes and pulled something out.

Walking behind them, Noel stole a glance to see what it was.

'... A photograph?'

It was a photograph of Aiden.

“...”

... Well, all right.

There was nothing strange about its existence. Whatever else one might say, Aiden was becoming the hottest topic of the succession ceremony.

As Noel absently considered that, the other girl took one look at the photograph and clapped a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes were sparkling like stars...

“Oh my god, he's gorgeous!”

“Right? Right, right? Lord Alester and Lord Julius are nice, too, but there's just something about this man—”

The girl abruptly snapped her mouth shut.

... Probably because Noel had forced her way between them, looking so menacing that she might have had a ghost possessing her from behind.

“Wh-who are you...?”

The oppressive presence of someone who had cut people down on battlefields was far too much for an ordinary commoner student to bear.

As the girl trembled with tears in her eyes, Noel calmly snatched the photograph from her hand.

“...”

After studying it for a moment, Noel turned blazing eyes on the student.

“I doubt Aiden would appreciate photographs taken without his knowledge being passed around among complete strangers.”

“... Pardon?”

“Therefore, I am confiscating this. I cannot allow anyone but me to have it.”

“...”

... The question of why she was allowed to keep it rose to the girl's throat, but Noel's demeanor was far too intimidating for her to voice it.

“If you have any other photographs, I will take those as well. Do you understand?”

“... B-but...”

“I will accept no objections.”

“...”

The girl must have desperately wanted to ask who this woman was and why she had appeared out of nowhere to commit such an outrage.

Especially when Noel kept grinning oddly as she stripped the girl of her photographs one by one.

'This is just...'

... Didn't it look exactly as though she was stealing the girl's collection for her own gratification behind a plausible excuse?

The students surely never imagined they would live to have their photographs mugged out of them...

“If they're photographs of him, I'm curious, too. Might I buy a few?”

“...”

Noel's expression turned stern once more.

Another shameless little cat who didn't know her place, daring to set her sights on Aiden when Noel was right here—

“...”

... No, that was a bit too vicious, even so.

Reining in her own thoughts, Noel cleared her throat and turned toward the speaker.

A woman stood there with long silver hair falling to her waist. In stark contrast, her eyes were utterly black.

Judging by her clothes, she, too, was a commoner student rather than royalty.

But somehow...

“...”

Noel's expression hardened.

She knew instinctively.

This woman was hiding something.

“My name is Bailey Varga.”

The words fell from her lips as her obsidian eyes gleamed.

“I, too... have quite an interest in Aiden.”

... Her gaze brought the words “ominously black” to mind all on its own.