Chapter 17 - It's a Basic Buff Spell

Endings remaining until Stage 1 perks unlock: 2

A notification appeared announcing that an ending had been locked.

Number 6. Lucia's first ending.

At least this time, I knew why the ending had been locked. Given that Lucia was hostile toward Laward, it was only natural, in a way.

But why was she trying to protect me?

Did she know I'd killed Karma?

"... I see."

Meanwhile, Laward's voice turned cold. He half closed his eyes, the light of intelligence gone from them.

"If you weren't being threatened, that means you were in Houndry of your own free will."

Laward smoothly raised the sword he had lowered, pointing its tip straight at Lucia.

"In that case, you are..."

There was no time to leisurely read the ending script. That lunatic's attitude, his presence, even the look in his eyes—everything had changed completely.

"A target for purification."

... So it had come to this after all.

"There is no mercy for those who must be purified. Not even you."

"There had better not be."

Lucia spun her sword into a new grip as well.

"I've finally... found a master I truly want to serve. Lucia will protect him, no matter what."

As the situation changed rapidly, I waved my hands to dismiss the message window.

At that moment—

SWISH!

Lucia swung first.

Facing him directly, she must have been even more aware of the change in Laward's demeanor. Just before his heavy bloodlust could swallow her, she chose to strike first.

CLANG!

But he deflected it. A perfectly timed parry.

Having decided that even Lucia needed purification, Laward displayed terrifying concentration. His precise deflection threw her off balance, leaving an opening.

WHOOSH!

Laward wasn't about to miss that chance.

As his blade headed toward her neck, I mouthed a word.

Wait.

He stopped short.

It was the perfect moment to cut her head off, but Laward halted his arm, looking troubled.

"..."

At the same time, a fierce-looking man on Houndry's side pointed straight at Lucia.

"... Lucia?"

The other members tilted their heads, looking her way too.

"Y-yeah, that's... Lucia..."

"Lucia's holding that devil off!"

"Lucia! Don't lose!"

CLANG! CLACK!

While Laward faltered, Lucia's blade danced. Unaware that he had stopped because of me, she looked as though she had seized control of the fight's rhythm.

Laward, meanwhile, shifted to defensive movements now that he understood he mustn't kill her.

Their fight continued.

"Re-form the ranks! Tighten the encirclement!"

Marquis Fred's command boomed from the other side. His soldiers leveled their spears once more and closed in on Houndry.

"S-stay back!"

"Are we... all going to die after all?"

Despair returned to the guild members' faces. The reality they had briefly forgotten with Lucia's arrival was sinking in again. They raised their weapons in trembling hands.

But their expressions said it all. If anyone dropped a weapon, even by accident, they looked ready to lay down their arms one after another like dominoes.

That was the fear hanging over them.

Gripping their spears firmly, the soldiers advanced cautiously, one step at a time. Houndry, which had once swallowed up the marquisate's Sixth District, now held only the ground within the soldiers' encirclement.

The dogs that had run wild under the moonlight were caged. Even that cage shrank with every step, to the sound of the soldiers' advance.

TING!

At the same time, Lucia's sword flew from her hand. After several exchanges, she had been disarmed.

Disarmed—and defeated.

"Ah... ah..."

Houndry despaired. Even Lucia, whom they had pinned their hopes on, had finally been overcome by Laward.

"Is it... over now?"

"If only Master Karma were here..."

Hmm.

Was that enough to set the stage?

The rise and fall. The crisis just before the climax.

I pulled back the hood I had worn low over my face and activated the ring. I caught a glimpse of my bangs gradually turning black.

"Ah, ah."

Testing my voice, I found it had grown a little deeper.

"Toothless dogs. Don't you even have the strength to bark?"

I spoke in my new voice.

Perhaps my remark had come completely out of nowhere, because the atmosphere shifted subtly. I could practically feel the stares on my back.

"I came all this way because Karma asked me to take you lot in, and what do I find? Nothing but trash."

Turning my head slightly, I met their eyes, surveying them one by one as though sizing them up.

"If I'd known you were vermin cowering before the likes of them, I wouldn't have bothered coming."

The moment I finished, the mood turned ugly.

"Who the fuck is this?"

"I never heard... that Master Karma chose a successor."

"Why are you even answering him? Who has time for some lunatic in a situation like—"

Just the reaction I'd expected. So predictable it made me yawn.

"That's precisely the problem. You tuck your tails between your legs for the marquis, yet bare your teeth at your own master."

Slowly, I took out the ledger I'd stolen from Karma's safe.

The look in their eyes changed instantly.

"Judging by your reaction, you all recognize this. It's not the only thing Karma gave me. I know your pasts, and even who your families are."

I continued, waving the ledger loosely.

"It's so much useless paper to me, but I imagine the marquis would want it. He's the sort of man who would think a criminal's family ought to be buried alongside them."

"S-so what do you want us to do?"

THUMP!

I shut the ledger and tucked it back inside my clothes.

"Fight. Fight and show me your worth. Fail to win here and you die. Run, and your families die. There's only one way forward."

By now, the marquis's soldiers had formed a wall. The encirclement felt as cramped as a birdcage.

"But even if we fight... I don't think there are even fifty of us left..."

"And that fucking monster's still alive and well!"

Houndry, once nearly three hundred strong, now numbered around fifty. Laward, who had been cast as "that fucking monster," hadn't suffered a scratch from Lucia's onslaught.

I clicked my tongue and raised my hand, bringing the Ring of Disguise on my middle finger into view.

In the game, Laward would have used it to change his appearance and uncover the heroines' true feelings, or to spy on them. An item for extracting information and triggering events.

But it was too good to use only for that.

The effect of "changing mana wavelengths" had no small impact in this world.

I drew upon my divine power while activating the ring.

Originally, I hadn't intended to use holy magic. Quite apart from revealing that I was a paladin, it didn't suit the shadows of the back alleys.

WHINE!

Instead of its warm glow, the divine power gathering in my hand appeared as a dark violet light.

A light better suited to the opposite of a paladin. It was the color of those I had fought.

"If you desire it, I will grant you power."

An unsettling light spread. Passing through the ring's distorting effect, the warm light of the Goddess's faith rose as a black-red aura.

WHUMP!

I extended my arm and unleashed the dark light. Bursting like fireworks overhead, it rained down as embers. Those embers blanketed Houndry, etching themselves into their skin as the spell took hold.

What kind of paladin had I been before gaining the spirits? What position had I held in the order?

Having joined the order late, I had lacked both time and experience. So I had honed a single kind of magic like my life depended on it.

Holy magic, of the Enhancement category.

"—Bless."

A buff.

HUM!

The magic circles etched into the Houndry members' skin shone a blackish blue.

"U-uaaaagh!"

Unable to contain the power surging through them in waves, they began screaming. With nothing more than a change in appearance, a sacred buff spell now exuded an air of dark magic.

Fear vanished from their eyes. All that remained was the will to survive this place.

"With this... we can do it...!"

The men who had been cowering until now charged boldly. Even when the soldiers' spears pierced them, they fought on, trusting their enhanced muscles and sharpened senses.

The alley, which had sunk into a bleak stillness, filled once more with shrieks and clashing metal. Faced with this sudden resurgence, the marquis's formation slowly began to give ground.

For a moment, my eyes met the marquis's. He signaled to me, his gaze wavering.

If I had to read his expression, it was something like, "This wasn't part of the agreement."

I gave him a faint smile and shook my head lightly. A signal to end things here.

The marquis had no reason to accept further losses. As he had hoped, Houndry's numbers had been drastically reduced. In terms of victory or defeat, he had already won. There was no need to drive his soldiers to their deaths.

And so, the conclusion.

"Retreat! Fall back!"

At the marquis's shout, the soldiers backed away as though they had been waiting for it.

I withdrew the buff I had cast on Houndry as well. Otherwise, they would undoubtedly have pursued the soldiers and stabbed them in the back.

This was far enough.

This was the point at which we could each achieve our objectives with minimal losses.

RUMBLE!

The hoofbeats of the marquis's warhorse and the soldiers' footsteps gradually faded into the distance.

A heavy silence returned to the alley. Only the stench of blood and thick clouds of dust filled it.

"U-urgh..."

"Phew... haah..."

The blue haze enveloping the guild members dissipated as though it had never been. Houndry could only stare blankly down at their hands, now devoid of light. The lingering sensation seemed deeply branded into their minds.

Someone dropped straight to his knees with a thud. It was the man who had called me a lunatic.

Seemingly oblivious even to pain, he ground his forehead against the floor and cried out in a voice trembling with awe.

"Th-thank you...!"

That was the signal. One after another, the standing guild members crumpled to their knees with dull thuds.

It wasn't submission. It was a blind craving to be granted another taste of that sweet power.

"Please... take us in!"

"That dark power, just one more time...!"

Dozens of heads bowed at my feet. I gazed down impassively at the sight, suppressing a wry smile.

The spell they had mistaken for dark magic was C-rank. It wasn't considered high-level Enhancement magic. If anything, the paladin order treated it as a fundamental.

In other words...

... It was just a basic buff.

017

Once everything had settled down, I took Lucia to the marquis's mansion.

"... We must be careful from here on. Please stay close to Lucia."

Her right arm barred my path. Scanning the surroundings with only her eyes, she seemed to have already identified the dangers.

"We're near the marquis's mansion. Let's take a detour."

"No, we're in the right place."

"Pardon?"

"I've come to see the marquis."

"I see. You intend to settle matters with him immediately."

Lucia nodded slowly and took the lead.

"Then Lucia will guard you. Please watch your step."

She placed her hand firmly on her sword hilt and walked cautiously.

"You're going to protect me?"

"Of course."

"That's all very well, but you lost earli—"

"That was because I was tired."

Oh, did you now.

Of course you did.

"A-ahem. We don't know what traps the marquis may have laid."

"No. There's no need to be so on edg—"

"We mustn't let our guard down. Forgive me, but please stay closer. There might be a sniper."

"Would that help? Given our difference in height, my head is completely exposed anyway."

"That... is... true, but..."

Lucia straightened her back as she walked. It was an attempt to make up even a little of the difference in our heights, but it hardly changed anything.

"Lucia, you can just walk normally. It isn't dangerous here. I'll explain the details later. For now, you'd be better off trusting me. Don't regret it later..."

"Lower your voice. They may be listening."

With a serious expression, she gestured with her eyes toward the mansion's servants. As it happened, they were looking at us curiously.

Somehow...

It was embarrassing being stuck beside Lucia while she acted so solemn without knowing a thing...

She was serious. So serious that I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth.

CREAK!

The mansion's main doors opened. Lucia flinched and moved in front of me.

"The doors... are open. It's a trap."

"No, they probably just opened them for us."

"We don't know what ulterior motives they might be hiding."

As she spoke, she checked that I was right beside her.

"Haah..."

I sighed and followed her.

"I can sense murderous intent beyond the door."

At last, we were outside the marquis's room.

Murderous intent, my ass. All I could smell was warm black tea.

"Lucia will open the door. On the count of three..." she whispered.

CLATTER!

Before she could even begin her countdown, however, the door to the marquis's room swung wide open. From the inside.

In the room filled with statues of the Goddess, Marquis Fred elegantly raised his teacup from a sofa bathed in warm sunlight.

Beside him sat Laward, munching on a cookie.

"You've arrived, esteemed mentor! Please try some of these!"

"Welcome. You're a little late."

Then silence fell.

Lucia stood awkwardly with her short sword drawn. The two men watched her calmly, and not a sound passed between them.

A moment later...

"Wh-wh-what is... going on...?"

"See? I told you you'd regret it."

Lucia's face slowly, ever so slowly, began turning red. The flush spread from the tips of her ears all the way down the back of her neck.

She had probably... figured things out.

"Lucia, shall we... sit down first?"

As I spoke and readily took a seat on the sofa, Lucia stiffly put away her sword.

"Oh! Lucia, seeing you arrive with my esteemed mentor, you were on our side after all! So you were told about it beforehand too!"

"..."

"Your acting was incredible! I was genuinely surprised. You had me completely fooled. Why not try performing in a play at the academy festival?"

"No, Lucia wasn't acting or any—"

"And you prepared your lines in advance, didn't you? What was it again? 'I've already been saved'?"

Lucia's face abruptly froze.

"And... oh, 'I've finally found a master I truly want to serve,' right? That was a great line too."

Apparently oblivious to his senior's scarlet face, Laward kept praising Lucia's acting without restraint.

"Haha, those aren't things you could easily say normally. How should I put it? They're a little... cringeworthy. The sort of lines you'd never say in everyday life, right?"

Stop...

You lunatic...

"Ahaha! Who would say something that embarrassing in real life?"

Lucia pressed both hands tightly over her face. It was so red it looked ready to burst, as though the color might stain even her fingers.

"Anyway, I'm impressed by how well prepared you were. It never occurred to me to prepare lines too. I've learned something from you!"

Barely visible through the gaps between her fingers, Lucia's eyes glared daggers at Laward.

Murderous intent.

I could feel murderous intent.

Just as Lucia had said, there was definitely murderous intent in this room.

Heh.

Laward, you wonderful bastard.

Now you were lowering her affection for you all on your own.