A Dark Fantasy Spy

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A month ago.

“Huh?”

Luzia, lifting her shirt, couldn’t conceal her bewilderment.

She was wearing bright blue surgical gloves that clashed with the religious symbols around her. Fully geared and sterilized against possible infections, Luzia let out a dazed sound in front of the patient.

“What’s wrong with you?”

It was an ordinary day, no different from usual.

Chasing after clues from suspicious incidents in the Northern Regions and tracking demons was what filled my days.

I often found time in my busy schedule to visit Luzia. It was because of her warning that even if full healing was impossible, I shouldn’t leave wounds inflicted by demons untreated.

“The wound… it’s completely healed…?”

However, as Luzia was about to remove the decayed tissue and apply holy water and ointment, she widened her eyes in disbelief as she checked the wound.

It had completely vanished.

The rotting wound was long gone. The darkened skin had returned to its original color, and the grotesquely scarred flesh was filled out as if it had never happened.

Confronted with the freshly healed wound, Luzia clasped her hands together and offered a prayer, thanking for the healing of the scar left by that evil entity.

But blessings and curses were merely a sheet of paper apart.

Just as we overcame one significant hurdle, another one loomed ahead.

“Luzia, this seems to be…”

“Yes, it appears to be the aftermath of that day.”

The healing of the wound happened right after Luzia and I had shared a bed. What a curious timing.

We had no idea what mechanism had healed the wound. Yet, one thing was clear: that moment had played a crucial role.

At that time, we faced two choices.

Firstly, to acknowledge the fact that I had slept with Luzia.

Sharing a bed with a healing priestess had excellent effects on wound healing. This was a tale passed down among priests and was also enshrined in the Holy See’s regulations.

However, the moment I accepted this fact, a huge uproar would follow. Luzia was a saint of the cult slated for canonization, after all.

Even if I made excuses that we hadn’t had sexual intercourse, people wouldn’t believe it. The Military Intelligence Agency would summon me for inspection without delay, and Luzia would also face suspicion from the bishopric and the cardinalate.

Leaving that aside, violating regulations without the Church’s approval was a crime even high-ranking clergy would shun.

In the end, we had only one option left.

“Let’s keep it a secret.”

Hiding the fact that Luzia and I had shared a bed. Lying was a grave sin for a priest, but we had no other choice.

“…That seems wise.”

“Are you okay with this?”

“I’m fine, but… I worry about my sister. She’ll be greatly shocked if she finds out.”

“Don’t worry.”

Ultimately, Luzia agreed to keep our relationship a secret.

Not for her own safety, but for the precious people who cared for her.

The problem was,

“Y-You bad bastard! How could you do this?!”

“Wha—!?”

“I trusted you…! I believed in you, Colonel…!”

I had been discovered.

—

Episode 14 – One Religion, One Faith, Two Saints

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Squeak! Sparks flew as flint struck.

The oil-soaked wick met the spark, igniting a flame. The flickering fire mingled with finely crushed leaves and transformed into smoke, diffusing through the filter as the toxic fumes seeped into my lungs.

A chalky gray cigarette smoke swept past, leaving a musty and spicy taste in my mouth, along with a hint of iron.

As I exhaled the smoke, I hunched over and spat out blood-tinged saliva onto the floor.

“……”

If a believer had seen it, they would have been horrified, but no one reproached me—not even the clergy seated across from the blasphemer who sullied the cathedral.

Sitting back in her chair, Saint Veronica gazed at me with a blank expression, saying nothing. Perhaps she deemed me unworthy of her words, or maybe she lacked even the energy to be angry—either way, I couldn’t tell.

“Fuh….”

Thick cigarette smoke billowed between my red lips. As the gray smoke lazily drifted upwards, the cigar I exhaled from my mouth squished like a deflated balloon.

“Colonel.”

Veronica, puffing out the smoke, casually brushed back her hair and scratched her forehead. The stub of the mini cigar precariously dangled between her delicate fingers, yet she didn’t seem to care a bit.

“Colonel.”

“Yes.”

I answered while lowering my head at her repeated call, resembling a sinner.

“Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

“……”

I kept my silence, burying my head down like a shy chick. Perhaps seeing me like that was too pitiful for her.

Veronica, gulping down her smoke, abruptly tossed the cigar onto the floor. Her priestly black shoes crushed the half-burnt cigar, tainting the cathedral’s floor with the harsh scent of the cigar.

“You dared to mess with my sister, huh?”

Her vulgar words followed.

‘Mess with’? Such a crude expression could hardly be used by someone in holy orders.

My face, glaring at Veronica with her veins popping, suddenly flashed a memory of what a demon had spat earlier. ‘That lewd gunman,’ was it?

Indeed, that rang true.

“Ugh, seriously!”

Veronica, who couldn’t contain her anger, raised her arm as if about to slap me.

Instinctively, I raised my arms to protect my head, bottle-necking my grievances as I shouted.

“Stop! Stop it!”

“Stop what?! Don’t take your hands away?!”

“Just stop hitting my face!”

Just after witnessing the scars left by demons were completely healed, Veronica, who had been keeping her composure, lost her cool.

This was a wound that even she, with her superior skills among priests, couldn’t easily heal. If she couldn’t soothe the marks left by demons, then surely no existing priest could dare to remove them.

Yet, the demon’s scars were now entirely healed.

What could this possibly mean?

“To heal that, a talented priest must be involved, right? Is there anyone skilled in the continent besides me? Then this means my sister healed your wounds, Colonel! If that girl, who’s far from my level, did it normally, this doesn’t add up at all!”

Exactly.

Luzia was indeed far lacking in skills compared to Veronica. Though she might have room to grow, a priest’s healing ability wouldn’t easily improve by just a few prayers.

So how could Luzia have healed me?

The answer came from Veronica’s lips.

“Then, it can only mean that you slept with my sister!?”

I shut my eyes tightly as Veronica’s fist filled my vision.

Right after the fact of our bed-sharing with Luzia was exposed, Veronica launched a relentless onslaught upon me. It was a reprisal against the rogue who had sullied the purity of her beloved sister.

Veronica shoved me into the confessional and beat me with her hands and feet. The hits were so fierce that sparks flew, turning my vision white.

Before entering the Information Agency, I had completed training to withstand torture and had gained practical experience while traveling abroad, but still, I was completely beaten by Veronica without a peep. There was simply no other way.

The sight of Veronica swinging her fists was no different from a redneck chasing after a boyfriend who had just snatched up his precious daughter.

The vengeance of a woman whose beloved sister had been played with was terrifying indeed.

“Fuh, fuh….”

Veronica managed to quell the rage boiling inside her with a long sigh. That was precisely when the unrelenting violence ceased.

Shaking hands dropped down, and Veronica, seemingly exhausted, plopped down into her chair.

“My poor sister….”

Her watery voice echoed through the cathedral.

The image of her a moment ago—acting like a thug—was nowhere to be found.

Veronica looked ready to burst into tears as she covered her face with her palms.

“I should have trusted someone dependable… What’s going to happen to Luzia now…?”

“……”

“Oh, Father….”

The saint, sitting in front of the altar, desperately called for her father. Yet the statue representing God on the altar remained silent.

An awkward silence filled the surroundings, and finally, I broke the tension with a feeble justification.

“Umm, Veronica. I understand your concern for Luzia, but we’re really fine….”

“Shut up already!”

Veronica erupted like a volcano.

“Is that really something to say right now? No matter the oracle, how could someone with a bright future get entangled like this?! After showing her disgrace, what’s ‘We’re all good’ supposed to mean?!”

“…That’s a bit too harsh…”

“Too harsh? It’s you who’s too harsh! I’ve told you countless times to take care of my sister!”

Her finger stabbed toward my face as I instinctively stepped back. But Veronica took a step forward, jabbing her finger at me repeatedly.

In her rage-filled eyes, nothing could stand in her way.

“But you still touched my sister?!”

“……”

“Go on, speak up, Colonel.”

Veronica’s voice was menacing. Though I often called her crazy, this time felt different.

“What was it that you found so appealing about Luzia? Huh? Her youth? Her pure personality? Or was it how nice she was to you? Just say it.”

“Ah, no… Just calm down…”

“Calm down? What do you mean calm down?!”

Bang!

Her fist slammed down on the altar, causing the relics placed atop to rattle.

“Do I look calm to you?!”

Veronica went wild.

She struck the altar with her fists, stomped her feet, and even thumped her chest in frustration, shaking me back and forth by my collar.

“My sister… do you know how I raised her…?”

Then suddenly, she collapsed over the altar, murmuring with tears in her eyes.

“Take responsibility! You shameless scoundrel…!”

I thought as I was tossed around by her rage. It seemed Veronica needed a therapist rather than a priest.

Her fluctuating emotions of anger, sorrow, and despair made it apparent she wasn’t quite in her right mind. Of course, I wasn’t in mine either.

Eventually, I raised my hands in surrender.

“Okay, okay! I’ll take responsibility!”

That was the most rational and logical answer I could muster.

But who said that? When dealing with a madwoman, logic didn’t apply at all.

And thus, that statement became reality.

“Wh-Where do you get off speaking blasphemously, huh?!”

Veronica smacked my head with a scripture laid upon the altar.

“Aww…!”

Holding my head, I rolled on the floor. Veronica, tightly gripping the scripture, snorted like an enraged bull.

“How dare you toy with my innocent sister…!”

“Th-That’s nonsense….”

“Shut up!”

Just as I was about to protest, her palm struck my ear. With one hand gripping my earlobe, she hurled the scripture back onto the altar.

“Ugh, this isn’t good.”

“……”

“Honestly, I can’t let you near my sister at this rate. Who knows what mishap you’ll cause?!”

What was that supposed to mean?

Before I could ask, Veronica began to move.

She yanked on my ears and strode ahead with firm steps, heading deeper inside the cathedral. At the end of that long hallway was the confessional.

Veronica shoved me into it.

Then, as if suppressing her fury, she exhaled harsh breaths as she stepped into the confessional.

The door began to close.

“Prepare yourself. I’m going to straighten out that mental state of yours!”

With those words, the confessional door slammed shut.