chapter 42
Episode 42
Carlos, who had lost all his arms and was left with only his legs, muttered with an expression of disbelief.
“H-how… like this… this…”
The blessings that had surrounded him were long gone.
Anyway, even if he had looked around for blessings, it wouldn’t have been much help.
“His blessing…! Why, like this, so…!”
“That’s justice.”
Your injustice only fell to my justice. Nothing more, nothing less.
“What nonsense…”
“Thank you for the praise.”
“…What?”
“Don’t you understand? The more you deny my justice, the more you become pathetic and I become great, fitting to that justice.”
With a triumphant expression, I hammered the stake.
“No words of anger?”
“Grrr…!”
Carlos’s face grimaced at those words.
“Comfortable.”
Look, that reaction is gourmet, not something else.
I hunt even the fanatics of Jormungand for this taste.
“good job .”
I said to Lepentier , who was midst of taking care of the body, as I smiled contentedly.
Of course, he’s still dressed in women’s clothing.
“No, I just followed His Majesty’s orders…”
Looking around at the corpses of the fanatics with a complicated expression, Lepentier asked me.
“Your Majesty, can we consider that we have eliminated all the fanatics in the territory?”
“Yes. There may be one or two left, but there won’t be anyone actively doing anything.”
Even among the fanatics, there are different ranks, so even if the lower-ranking fanatics rampage, they have their limits to what they can do.
Unless they’re executioners like Carlos, that is.
That’s when it happened.
“Haha… do you think this is the end?”
“….”
“While the great god looks down on the insignificant, the struggles of the likes of you…”
“Oh, you didn’t shut that mouth of yours.”
I didn’t even realize I was biting my tongue.
“I’m just an executioner…! Soon this land, no, the empire… Ugh, ugh…! Ugh, ugh!”
I covered Carlos’s mouth, who was trying to mumble again with meaningless words, and scratched my head.
“Anyway, the matter is roughly resolved. Now, if we just clear out the bodies of the fanatics here…”
That’s when I was about to return to the mansion after finishing the last touch.
“Your Majesty…!”
A voice suddenly came from the sky.
And at the same time, someone fell from the sky like lightning.
Kwang!
Amidst the thick dust, the one who appeared was none other than…
“Sir Setarim?”
Sir Setarim, the leader of the Blue Shield, looked around with glowing eyes and then approached me directly, bowing his head.
“I take responsibility for not being able to protect Your Majesty by the will of the gods…”
“Ah, it’s okay. The problem is me going out without permission.”
I sighed softly as I sorted out the situation. I had anticipated that Sir Setarim would come to find me, considering the scale of the battle…
“Did you come alone?”
“Yes, I judged that the situation was urgent, so I came to you first…”
As he answered my question, Sir Setarim turned his gaze away, unable to continue his words.
At the end of that gaze…
“Sir Lepentier ?”
Lepentier was there.
Lepentier , who was wondering why Sir Setarim was looking at him with such eyes, hurriedly lowered his head.
A man, and to wear a skirt that requires too much courage for a knight.
“…”
“…”
An unspeakable silence filled the air between us.
We could only look at each other in a situation where we had no idea how to speak.
It was Lepentier who broke the silence and opened his mouth.
“N-no, it’s not like that.”
“…”
“I know what Sir Setarim is thinking, but it’s all a misunderstanding! My current attire is for the sake of noble justice…”
“…”
As Lepentier tried desperately to assert his innocence, the atmosphere became even heavier.
Sir Setarim even forgot his dignity as a master and unconsciously dropped his sword to the ground.
“Sir Lepentier …”
Sir Setarim looked at Lepentier with a calm eye, sighed softly, and said, “If it’s hard… you should’ve said so.”
“No! That’s not it!”
“There’s no need to deny it so much. I know too. Strong denial is often said to be affirmation.”
Saying so, Setarim approached Lepentier .
“It’s okay, Lepentier . We… no, we are owners of very open minds! Listen, they say the characteristic of the current generation is diversity!”
“No, Sir, it’s not like that! Please listen to me!”
As Lepentier desperately tried to assert his innocence, unfortunately, it was of little use.
What can I do.
The evidence is already laid out in front of Setarim.
And then.
“Your Majesty!”
The Knights of the Blue Shield, including Sir Alonso, who suddenly appeared in front of us, desperately looked at us.
And at that moment.
“….Ah.”
Their gaze first fell on Lepentier , who was standing awkwardly in a skirt.
Such a heavy silence descended on the area that even the silence from before felt like a coquettish act.
“S-Sir Lepentier …”
Alonso called out to him with a face of tremendous shock.
“N-no! That’s not it! The distance between what you think and what actually happened is…”
“If you had such a hobby, I would have understood and never guessed how painful it must have been for you to hide it…”
“Just listen to me for a moment!!”
Lepentier pleaded desperately, but it seemed like his words were not getting through to me as he turned his head, feeling that way.
“Your Highness, please explain! What preparations did I make to dress like this…?!”
Then, the attention of the audience focused on me.
I scratched my head and, after looking up at the sky for a moment, said,
“Um, well…”
It would be better to clearly state here that some of them were dressed like that because of my orders.
“I ordered it.”
“……”
The surrounding gazes became even more peculiar at that statement, and Lepentier also looked at me with a face that seemed to be collapsing.
And Alonso, who had been quietly listening to me, asked,
“Your Highness, is that a summary of the situation?”
“……”
Yes, it is.
—
Anyway, the misunderstanding about Lepentier has been resolved.
As there was clear evidence from the beginning that he was a member of the chaos church, the misunderstanding was cleared up immediately.
Anyway, a day passed.
The scene where the members of the chaos church were eradicated was neatly cleaned up.
So, the purpose of removing the fanatics of Jormungand from my territory was achieved.
[…That’s quite impressive.]
“I know.”
I received Celestia’s words from beyond the window.
She briefly touched her forehead with her hand as she listened to my explanation and grimaced.
[I mean it. It’s definitely a big deal to have dealt with an executor who received the blessing of a high preist, not just a member of the chaos church.]
“That’s right.”
[By the way, what happened to that executor who was captured alive? Did he provide the information you were holding?]
“The information…”
Four days ago, I remembered Carlos, who had been successfully captured alive.
Obviously, he had taken several measures to make sure that he would spit out the information I wanted from him.
And the information he gave…
“He’s dead.”
“What?”
“He’s dead. It seems like he had some kind of trigger set up. If he tried to spit out specific information, he would commit suicide.”
It was exactly as it was.
The day after I captured him alive, I tried to interrogate him to extract information related to Jormungand.
And then.
*Bang.*
It exploded.
Just as I was about to put the ‘information’ I wanted into words, my head exploded like a lie.
That’s the end of it.
Celestia grimaced at my words.
[I’m sure you knew there was something like that, right? You, of all people.]
“Do you admit it?”
[Admit? Ha.]
Celestia widened her eyes and, as if she couldn’t believe it, smiled.
[Is there any reason for me not to admit it when you knew almost no one in the church knew about it, and you provided a solution?]
“That’s true.”
Was it natural to say that?
Anyway, I told Celestia again.
“As you said, I didn’t know there was a trigger.”
[But why?]
“Because that was the reaction I wanted from the beginning.”
*Bang,* and it explodes.
From the beginning, I didn’t even think about extracting ‘detailed’ meaningful information from the executor, knowing that there was a trigger.
However.
‘I can judge whether my question is fatal to the Chaos Church or not.’
So, I threw the question with that intention, creating an environment where he had no choice but to answer in a certain way.
As a result, it exploded.
[So, you were able to get the information you wanted in your hands?]
“To some extent.”
Celestia nodded her head with a somewhat awkward expression and asked again.
[Then, are you going to share the information you have obtained?]
“I’m not.”
At least not now.
It might be better for Celestia not to know this.
[Is that so. I guess there’s nothing I can do.]
Celestia said so and sighed softly.
[Then, back to the main point.]
“Yes.”
What I mentioned a while ago was just a story that came up in the conversation.
—
The real issue is here.
[A potion that can perfectly cure my addiction symptoms. When exactly can it be completed?]
“Is something urgent?”
[Unfortunately.]
Celestia’s response was quite subdued.
[Do you remember what I said last time? About Archbishop Conwell.]
“I remember.”
Praise Conwell.
Did that old man do something? I thought it might cause a problem by now.
[I think he may have noticed my symptoms. I tried to hide them, but…]
“Is he planning something?”
[Yes. That’s why I think I need to get the cure quickly. Is it possible?]
Without answering Celestia’s question, I recalled memories from before my regression.
In this altered timeline, the future would be different from my memories. Many memories might become meaningless.
Therefore, I need to select and act on meaningful information.
So, what about the Conwell Celestia mentioned?
The Conwell I know is…
“Ha.”
When I remembered, I couldn’t help but laugh.
Why bother worrying?
I should just crush him.
At least as far as he is concerned, the information from before my regression is meaningful.
At that moment, Celestia asked anxiously.
“Is it possible…?”
“It is possible. However…”
I was already considering how to solve the problem of the Holy Kingdom, but if she’s offering a solution like this, then it’s perfect.
“I’come go myself.”
Maybe I should take a trip for a change.