“Garon.”
“Why did you come? Why!”
The moment I entered the room in the church basement where he would be, the bastard threw the book he had been reading.
“Why are you throwing things?”
“Why did you catch that again!”
“If it falls on the floor, the book will get wrinkled.”
The book was an ordinary copy of Lady Aria’s Words.
“Do you not want to fill your achievements?”
“What intention do you have in asking that?”
“I found a clue about the culprit behind the pet disappearance case.”
Though I had been told it had nothing to do with it.
‘It feels suspicious, though.’
My instincts were shouting that there was no way the pet disappearances had nothing to do with the evil god worshipers.
“Is that true!”
The bastard, who had been sitting in his chair, made a loud clatter as he sprang to his feet.
“Is that true!”
“Yeah. It’s true.”
“You bastard...... It hasn’t even been a full day since you arrived, and yet......”
Garon muttered as though he could not believe it.
“......At any rate, I will acknowledge that you are impressive in at least that one thing.”
What a surprise.
“So who is that bastard?”
“To be exact, I brought a clue. This.”
I threw the medicine bottle I was holding at him.
“Huh?”
The bastard, flustered, stretched both hands toward the medicine bottle I had thrown.
“Whoa!”
“Nice catch.”
Garon looked briefly at the medicine bottle he had caught, then trembled.
“What are you doing!”
“What?”
“You lunatic! What kind of bastard throws evidence around like that!”
“You caught it well enough.”
And I had thrown it very accurately too.
“What if it had been damaged because you threw it!”
“Come on. I prepared for that much.”
“......”
The medicine bottle had already been coated with divine power.
“Even if magic came flying in as a bombardment, there wouldn’t be a problem with the evidence.”
“......Even taking that into account, would it hurt you somewhere to hand it over normally?”
“That wouldn’t be fun.”
[Puhaha!]
The evil god bitch burst into laughter once again, as though she found it terribly amusing.
[As expected, you are not suited to being the believer of a boring bitch like Aria! Hahaha!]
No matter how many times I said I possessed pure faith, she would not believe me.
“So, what kind of evidence is this? A medicine bottle?”
“That’s a brainwashing drug.”
“What?”
Garon’s eyes changed in an instant.
“Which bastards are they? War? Or Lust?”
“War. The quality of the brainwashing drug is too low.”
“You mean those insect-like bastards have hidden inside this city! Where in the world......!”
I immediately pointed down at the floor.
“What?!”
Startled, Garon slammed the desk.
“Ow, you startled me.”
“Then we begin from there......!”
“You have the order wrong. We have to do this first.”
“But!”
Was he an idiot?
“We don’t know what state that place is in.”
At the very least, we had to finish all preparations.
‘And there will be an apostle.’
This guy probably did not know whether there was an apostle or not.
‘In the first place, if he knew, the Fifth Holy Knight Order would not have moved.’
Normally, even the weakest apostles were handled starting from the Fourth Holy Knight Order.
“......It is certain there is an apostle, right?”
[One hundred percent.]
“Mm? Did you say something?”
“No. Nothing in particular. Just analyze that first.”
I pointed at the medicine bottle now in the bastard’s hand.
“Understood.”
He was an expert, so I could leave it to him.
“Ah, right. And there is one more thing I suspect.”
“What is it?”
“Those bastards seem to be doing human sacrifice. Have you heard anything?”
“......What? War?”
Please say you have heard something.
‘If the possibility I thought of is right......’
From that moment on, it would be hell.
“That is strange.”
Fuck.
“Haa...... So you haven’t heard anything?”
“After all, their goal has always been chaos, not power.”
“Are you sure you haven’t heard anything? You must have caught at least one believer of the Evil God of War before.”
“Not recently.”
Damn it.
“Fuck.”
“Hoo......”
Matching my curse, the bastard sighed too.
“It seems you’re thinking the same thing I am.”
The one possibility we had both thought of.
“......Just in case, I will request support once more.”
“From where?”
“The First Holy Knight Order.”
“Good.”
Another evil god existed in this town.
“If there were no apostle, we might try handling it ourselves, but......”
“You think there won’t be one? There will be at least one.”
If they had set up something on this scale, then at least one commander should be present on-site.
“......Karix.”
“What?”
“I ask this just in case.”
The way he suddenly asked so seriously made me feel a little more serious as well.
“What is it?”
“If, while investigating this matter, anything about an apostle comes up, run. If it is you, you will be able to escape well enough.”
“You worry about yourself. You’re weaker than me.”
At my words, Garon gave a faint laugh and answered.
“I cannot even run away. So after you run, you must request help from Sir Harkan.”
“I’m just as strong as Sir Harkan.”
“You cannot even put divine power into a weapon. Then your chances of defeating an apostle are......”
......?
“I can do it now.”
I drew the mace from my back. Then I filled that mace with my divine power.
“As if you could. I know your divine pow......?”
When I filled the weapon with divine power and the weapon still did not explode, the bastard only blinked.
“Ta-da?”
“......It will not last long.”
“Then wait.”
Garon looked anxiously at the clock.
“If it lasts one minute from now, I will acknowledge it.”
He looked as though he thought it could never last.
Tick, tick, tick—
[This is a tense moment for only one person.]
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Unaware of Garon’s burning insides, the second hand of the clock had already nearly completed a full circle.
“This makes no sense! How did you suddenly...... A bastard who could not do it for eight years, just because I did not see you for a few months......”
No matter how much Garon denied reality, the second hand had already completed its full circle.
“I told you I can do it.”
“......Why are you still an apprentice?”
Good question.
***
“Pardon?”
“I told you to go again.”
“I just returned from the capital, though?”
The member of the Fifth Holy Knight Order who had come to bring me from the capital earlier looked at Garon with aggrieved eyes.
“If I tell you to do it, do it. This is an emergency.”
“......At least send someone other than me......”
“The others are busy.”
“Pardon?”
Before the bastard could object, his eyes met mine.
“Eek!”
“?”
“Under...... understood, Sir Garon! I will hurry there and back!”
Suddenly full of spirit, he saluted sharply, then immediately turned his horse’s head.
“What is wrong with him?”
It was strange to see the bastard, who had even called me “sir” despite my being a mere apprentice, suddenly become so tense the moment he saw me again.
“He is probably afraid of you.”
Why?
“I’ve never beaten him.”
“You beat me. And in front of the Fifth Holy Knight Order, at that.”
“What is that......”
Ah.
[He would be afraid. You beat down the captain of the Fifth Holy Knight Order, who is far stronger than he is.]
Was that it?
“What has my image become?”
“Do you want me to tell you honestly, or do you want me to say it somewhat gently?”
“......Gently.”
If he told me honestly, I felt like I would be hurt too much.
“A mad dog. A bastard who sends people to Lady Aria’s side in one blow. Rage disorder. A bastard who looks decent only on the outside......”
“Did I not ask you to say it gently?”
“That was gentle.”
Damn it.
“......What do they call me normally, then?”
“I can tell you if you are curious.”
“......No, it’s fine.”
Most of the modifiers were probably filled with curses so vile they were hard to even put in my mouth.
“Um...... But Sir Garon. When I go, who should I say what to......?”
“Tell Sir Harkan. Say it is a matter that requires the First Holy Knight Order.”
“Pardon? Was it that serious?”
The startled member opened his eyes wide.
“Yes. So hurry and go!”
“Yes!”
At last, the bastard’s horse began moving quickly.
“Should I have gone myself?”
An ordinary holy knight would be slow.
‘Because there is a monster forest in the middle.’
He would probably go around it unless there was no other choice, so I would be faster.
“What will you do if an apostle appears here while you are gone?”
“......You told me to run away just now.”
“That was when I did not know you could put divine power into a weapon. That changes things. You must draw attention. We need to evacuate the people.”
Was it something like great power carrying great responsibility?
“When will the analysis result come out?”
“If fast, tonight. If late, tomorrow dawn.”
Oh.
[How disgustingly slow.]
“The speed is not bad.”
The moment I said that, the evil god glared at me.
[Apostle. Are you joking? How can something that easy take that long?]
That was fast enough. She knew nothing.
“Do not talk to me.”
[No, think about it logically. Something that simple, that slowly......]
I decided to simply stop paying attention.
I had felt this before, but if I ignored her and focused on something else, I could not hear her voice very well.
[--------!]
How peaceful.
“What are you doing? Closing your eyes all of a sudden.”
“I have to focus right now. I’m meditating for a moment.”
“What in the world does that mean?”
“Then just go.”
When I waved him away, the bastard let out a deep sigh and spoke.
“I will call you once the interpretation is finished.”
“Got it.”
“Then where will you be in the meantime?”
“Why?”
At my question, the bastard answered as though dumbfounded.
“That way I can call you when the interpretation is finished, can I not?”
“Just use a communication orb.”
“Hoo...... Fine. Understood.”
[A communication orb? There is something like that?]
......Idiot.
[......Why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes?]
“Nothing.”
[Apostle...... Is that not too much? Even if I am your god, to be treated like this every day......]
Now she was appealing like that?
“Done.”
With Garon’s short words, the bastard turned around and hurried back into the church.
“How cold.”
[When it comes to filth, avoiding it is best.]
Since she talked about filth, it felt as though that coppery smell was rising again.
‘Did these bastards really hide in the sewers?’
Maybe they had not dug underground, and the coppery smell kept rising because they were in the sewers.
[Do they not say one avoids filth not because it is frightening, but because it is dirty?]
“That is why I keep avoiding you.”
Because you are filthy and smelly.
[......Y-you......! You wicked apostle! Are you not being too much to a god?]
“You are missing the ‘evil’ before god.”
[Haa...... Yes. I am used to this treatment now. Sniff, sniff.]
“What are you saying?”
When I looked at the bastard, a single tear rolled from her eye.
“Uh......?”
What is this? Was she really crying?
“No, isn’t this not the timing to cry?”
[Sniff, sniff......]
What was I supposed to do? How did you comfort someone when they cried?
“Um...... Sorry.”
[......]
Was that not it?
[Puhahaha!]
“Eh?”
[Ah...... How amusing. Did you think I was truly crying?]
The bastard floated through the sky and laughed loudly.
“Ah, damn it.”
Once again, I engraved a maxim about that bastard in my heart.
‘Listen well, Karix. Worrying about an evil god is only a loss......’
From now on, no matter what bullshit that bastard did, I would pretend not to know.
[In the first place, I do not even know what sadness is, so why would I cry?]
“......What?”
[Hmm? You do not know? Most emotions are absent in us.]
That could not be. Emotions had existed since the ancient era......
[In the first place, the concept of emotion would have had to arise before us for us to possess emotions.]
“Ah.”
But it had not.
Emotion, existence, death, and blood. They simply appeared without any order of precedence.
None came first. They appeared simultaneously.
[Well, I can feel something like joy. After all, that was what Aria first gave us. Kikik!]
“......Isn’t that more like a punishment?”
[Hmm? What is?]
If there was nothing in the world but joy, would life be happy?
If someone died, if one’s family or friend died, and one simply laughed as though it was amusing......
“Ugh.”
Just thinking about it sent chills down my spine.
[You seem to be thinking something amusing. What is it? What thought did you have?]
If, truly if, I could feel only joy.
If I could feel nothing but that, and spent my entire life searching only for joy......
“Ah! I don’t know!”
[What is this? How boring.]
This kind of philosophical thing was not my domain!
“I’m not even a priest.”
[Right. You are the holy knight of Lady Kalla, God of Blood Flame.]
My job was combat, not contemplation.
[......Why do you keep pretending you cannot hear me?]
“Ah, now that I think about it, this topic is exactly like the Evil God of Addiction.”
When I thought about the way the Evil God of Addiction lived, the conclusion came quickly.
[Apostle? Karix? Can you hear my voice?]
“There was no need to contemplate it.”
At the very least, the way the Evil God of Addiction lived was not normal.
‘......Why would anyone believe in a bastard like that?’
It was not only Addiction.
Why did evil god worshipers believe in evil gods?
They treated human lives like rags.
They could take even their own believers’ lives at any moment.
And yet, evil god worshipers believed in their gods.
The only thing they gave was a tiny bit of power.
“Hey.”
[What?]
“Why did your believers believe in you?”
[Because I am pretty?]
It was my fault for asking.