Chapter 18
Magdalena, the city where the Erotic Cult’s main temple stood, lay amid fertile plains and winding rivers.
It also had good transportation routes, making it a prosperous region that would naturally grow into a major city unless ruled by an exceptionally foolish noble.
Of course, like honey attracting insects, its prosperity had drawn foreign invasions time and again.
Each time, the independent force known as the Erotic Cult had staunchly defended Magdalena.
In response, the King of Gallia designated the city of ‘Magdalena’ as a papal territory.
A place where a king recognized an independent governing authority.
A place governed by the Pope, rather than by nobles who received stipends from the king.
That was the holy city of Magdalena.
As befitted a major city, Magdalena saw a great deal of traffic, and even entering it could take quite some time.
And if you had to go through an inspection, too?
By the time you got through, the sun that had only just risen would already be high overhead.
Still, there were exceptions to every rule.
“This bears His Eminence Cardinal Mavlov’s seal.”
With a genial smile, Bishop Ronin took out a piece of parchment and showed it to the guards at the city gate.
After checking the parchment, the guards saluted smartly and ushered the Hero’s party through without delay.
Aria pressed a hand to her dizzy head and spoke with difficulty.
“We’ve finally arrived.”
She thought it had been a truly suffocating journey.
The carriage had been filled with silence, since there had been nothing for anyone to say.
If it had just been her and Ashtein, they could at least have shared a cozy conversation.
This was all because of the unwelcome guest, Bishop Ronin.
“The Saintess seems quite tired. Rather than heading straight to the cult, shall we take a look around the city and change the mood?”
At Ronin’s question, Ashtein replied listlessly.
“You call yourself a bishop, and you’re thinking of slacking off?”
“Rest is part of the work, too. Besides, Hero, you left in quite a hurry last time, didn’t you? Magdalena has plenty to see.”
“I’m not interested.”
Ronin looked genuinely regretful as Ashtein flatly rejected his suggestion.
“What a shame. I’m sure the Saintess would enjoy it, too.”
Ashtein reacted to the mention of Aria’s enjoyment.
“Aria?”
“Yes. You’ve never properly looked around Magdalena, Saintess. You’ve had quite a lot of ‘penance’ to endure as a Saintess, after all. Isn’t that right?”
Both men’s attention turned to Aria.
She couldn’t bear Ronin’s gaze, let alone Ashtein’s, so she quietly offered her opinion.
“………I’m fine, Hero.”
Hearing that she was fine, Ashtein found himself softening.
His older sister had been the same, always saying she was fine.
He knew well enough that Aria’s ‘I’m fine’ didn’t really mean she was fine.
“……Shall we look around, then?”
Ronin smiled.
“An excellent decision.”
* * *
They reached the Erotic Cult’s cathedral when the pale-yellow half-moon had risen.
They had arrived so late because Ashtein had fallen for Bishop Ronin’s coaxing and spent time wandering through Magdalena’s shopping district.
They had wasted quite a lot of time, but Ashtein was still satisfied.
Aria’s expression had relaxed compared to before.
Before opening the cathedral doors, Bishop Ronin spoke quietly.
“It might hurt your ears.”
Hurt their ears?
Before Ashtein and Aria could even react with a question, the cathedral doors swung open.
Then a deafening roar came pouring out.
Ashtein and Aria clapped their hands over their ears, bewildered by the unexpected cheering.
The moment the cathedral doors opened, they were met with a literal sea of people.
The crowd was so thick it was hard to believe so many people had gathered there.
Ashtein wasn’t fond of crowds.
He instinctively frowned and stared at Ronin.
Despite Ashtein’s hostile, skin-prickling glare, Bishop Ronin spoke as if he were enjoying himself.
“They heard that the Hero and the Saintess were returning, and came running to greet you.”
It was an almost oppressively warm welcome.
Even though the Hero had caused an incident, this many people had still gathered.
Ashtein couldn’t understand their way of thinking.
“You’re going too far.”
“I hope you won’t misunderstand. I wasn’t the one who arranged this.”
Ashtein replied sourly.
“I’m sure you weren’t. Just lead the way.”
“Of course.”
As the Hero’s party began walking, the crowd parted to either side, opening a path for them.
They looked like spectators come to admire some rare beast.
Ashtein was thoroughly displeased at having been reduced to a spectacle, but if he lost his temper here, Aria would obviously be put in an awkward position.
So what could he do?
He suppressed his anger and followed Bishop Ronin.
“If you waved to them, they’d be delighted.”
At Ronin’s suggestion, Ashtein gave him a cynical smile.
“Playing the clown doesn’t suit me.”
“What a pity.”
Unlike Ashtein, who ignored them altogether, Aria gave an awkward smile and responded to each person in the crowd.
Ashtein watched her carefully.
Ever since they’d arrived at the cult, Aria seemed more awkward and uncomfortable.
Anyone could tell, seeing how shaken she was.
‘They definitely did something to her at the cult.’
The Hero thought he ought to find out while they were here.
After the overwhelming welcome finally ended, they moved to the reception room.
Ashtein was beginning to grow tired of Ronin’s obvious stalling.
How long was he supposed to go along with this?
He asked Bishop Ronin in a somewhat confrontational tone.
“So when do I get the Holy Sword?”
Ronin replied with a gentle expression.
“You must undergo a test to obtain the Holy Sword.”
“A test?”
At the unexpected mention of a test, Ashtein’s brow furrowed.
“Yes. It’s a test administered directly by the Holy Sword.”
Ashtein snorted at that.
How dare a mere sword judge anyone?
It was outrageously arrogant.
“How many days will it take?”
“There’s no way to know how long it will take.”
The answer was as vague as Ronin’s personality.
Ashtein hated unclear answers most of all.
“Can’t I take it right now?”
“If possible, I’d recommend getting a full day’s rest first. The test isn’t an easy one.”
Tsk.
Ashtein clicked his tongue.
Nun Gina, who was following behind Ronin, glared at the Hero, apparently displeased with his attitude.
“Keep your eyes open properly before I gouge them out.”
Ashtein made a vicious threat, as if he found Gina’s behavior beneath his notice.
Aria pressed her left palm to her forehead as she watched him.
Gouge her eyes out?
Was that really something a Hero should say?
“……I’d appreciate it if you’d speak more gently, Hero.”
“……….”
At Aria’s earnest request, Ashtein remained silent until they reached the reception room.
Ronin thought the scene looked like a beast tamer handling a wild animal.
When they opened the reception room door and entered, Cardinal Mavlov was waiting for them, his corpulent frame on full display.
He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and rose from a velvet armchair.
“So you’re the famous Hero.”
Ashtein was genuinely impressed.
The monster can talk, too.
He almost drew his sword, but stopped himself.
Aria’s hand was clutching his sleeve.
Looking again, his opponent was a person.
So a human being could have a body like that.
Wasn’t he just a monster in human form?
Ashtein took his hand off his sword hilt and rubbed his neck.
“………People do call me a Hero.”
“I’ve been wanting to meet you for some time.”
Even when Ashtein spoke so casually, Mavlov didn’t seem to care.
Did all clerics practice keeping a straight face or something?
Ashtein felt an inexplicable aversion to him.
“Saintess, Bishop Ronin, Sister Gina, please leave us. I have something important to discuss with the Hero.”
It was an unmistakable dismissal.
Aria, Ronin, and Gina bowed to Cardinal Mavlov and began to leave the reception room.
But Ashtein found the situation deeply unsettling.
His instincts told him so.
So he raised a hand to stop them.
“Wait. If Aria leaves, I have no intention of talking.”
Cardinal Mavlov’s golden eyes gleamed sharply.
“……What do you mean?”
Ashtein folded his arms and narrowed his eyes.
“Exactly what I said.”
“……?”
“I can understand sending Bishop Ronin or that nun away, but Aria is different. She’s been my comrade through life and death for two months. If there’s something I need to know, then she needs to know it, too.”
At his calm words, Aria’s face turned red.
She seemed terribly embarrassed by Ashtein calling her his ‘comrade.’
Ashtein narrowed his eyes and raised a brow.
“Or are you planning to do something indecent to Aria?”
At the mention of something indecent,
neither Mavlov nor Ronin showed any reaction.
The fact that they showed no reaction
only made Ashtein more certain.
Those bastards were doing something to Aria.
“Ha ha, you’re awfully tense. I only thought the Saintess looked tired, so it might be better to let her leave early……”
A pathetic excuse.
Let her leave early because she was tired?
If that was the case, they could simply have postponed the conversation altogether.
With his head burning hot, Ashtein barely managed to speak like a civilized person.
“Once.”
Mavlov tilted his layered chin to one side.
“……What do you mean?”
“If it happens three times, I won’t hold back.”
It was a warning.
Sharp as a blade, and as keen as a beast’s claws.
A ‘warning’ from the Hero.
* * *
The Hero left the reception room with the Saintess.
That left Mavlov, Ronin, and Nun Gina.
“That Hero’s a rude little brat.”
Cardinal Mavlov’s flesh quivered.
Ronin offered the irate man an awkward smile.
“Didn’t I tell you? It would be best to avoid such blatant behavior.”
“Good heavens. Even if he’s an outsider, shouldn’t he have enough sense to read the room? How can a so-called Hero be so lacking in tact? What was that? ‘If it happens three times, I won’t hold back’? What does he think he’ll do if he doesn’t hold back? That’s the problem with these illiterate Hero types who’ve never had any experience in society. They think they can do whatever they want by relying on their strength! He may be called a Hero, but he’s nothing more than a butcher who hunts monsters, and the way he acts so high and mighty is truly unbearable!”
Ronin watched Mavlov, who kept ranting without pause, with a thin smile and a cold gaze.
Goodness, His Eminence the Cardinal must be terribly angry.
But what can I do? I rather like that Hero more than I like you.
He has a backbone, after all.
That determination not to let anyone take what belongs to him.
He looks like a fox guarding a luscious bunch of grapes.
“What can I say? He’s the Hero.”
Hero, Hero.
That damned Hero.
At Ronin’s casual words, Mavlov grew even angrier and raised his voice.
If the room hadn’t been so well soundproofed, it would have been a chance for many people to see the Cardinal’s base nature.
Ronin felt a little disappointed.
After venting his anger to his heart’s content, Mavlov asked, his fury somewhat abated,
“Phew. So, can’t you bring the Saintess to me tonight?”
His eyes gleamed with lust.
Have you taken an interest in Aria now that she’s become more beautiful?
Ha ha, you really haven’t changed.
“Do you think that’s possible with the Hero watching her like a hawk?”
“Ugh.”
Mavlov smacked his lips in disappointment.
Ronin pointed to Gina, the purple-haired nun standing quietly behind him, and said,
“If you’re so disappointed, why not take this girl instead?”
It must have been an appealing offer, because Mavlov beckoned to her.
“……Come here.”
Gina slowly looked at Ronin.
Her gaze seemed to ask, ‘Should I let him have me?’ Ronin gave her a gentle smile.
“I’m counting on you, Gina.”
“Yes, Bishop Ronin.”
Gina lifted the hem of her habit and approached Mavlov.
Mavlov’s thick fingers roamed over Gina’s waist and traced down toward her groin.
He must have been pent up for quite some time.
“Phew. Well, Ronin, you can leave now, too.”
Ronin had no desire to watch the two of them have sex anyway.
At Mavlov’s dismissal, Ronin bowed and left the reception room without complaint.
He’d made Gina do something cruel.
But what else could he do?
She was the one who’d said she would stay by his side, no matter what happened to her.
Ronin wasn’t softhearted enough to refrain from using what he had at hand.
If necessary, he was a man who could cast someone aside without hesitation.
More importantly, he had to think about Aria.
To his great delight, she was beginning to blossom with ‘hope.’
Ronin was happier about that than anything else.
He was nothing but genuinely happy.
Hope was a seasoning that made the despair soon to come richer and fresher.
When that hope swelled plump and taut, like a fruit packed full to the core, then burst like a watermelon.
When she crumpled completely, with no room left to recover.
If he could see Aria’s expression up close when that happened?
Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.
How could he not be happy?
‘Things have gone so smoothly.’
When the Hero first abducted Aria, he’d thought everything had gone wrong.
He’d thought the Hero was in poor condition.
He’d judged that the Hero couldn’t give Aria hope.
Of course, that had been a misjudgment on Ronin’s part.
‘A delightful misjudgment, though.’
He recalled the moment, just a few hours ago, when they’d wandered through Magdalena’s marketplace.
Aria might have thought she hadn’t let it show, but she’d kept looking at the Hero with lively eyes.
It was unmistakably affection.
Perhaps even love, beyond mere affection.
Either way, it didn’t matter.
Positive feelings could turn negative in an instant, like the pieces in Othello.
Wasn’t that wonderful?
The moment that hopeful face was driven into the dirt.
The moment she poured out her despair.
‘It won’t be long now.’
Goddess, can you see it?
The moment your beautiful creation’s dazzling wings are broken.
The sight of her falling endlessly into despair and sorrow.
That is the greatest expression of erotic love I can offer you.
I hope you’ll look forward to it.
The day Aria wails in anguish.
Bishop Ronin could hardly contain his anticipation for that day.
“Well then, watch all you like, Hero.”