For something slapped together, the Demonbane Bottle looked pretty convincing.
-Wow, that's so uncool.
If you set aside the letters being a bit crooked.
'What? I'm the only baby in this world with a Demonbane Bottle. That's completely unique.'
-It is not cool at all. The letters are ugly.
Elly gazed down at my face for a while, then muttered sulkily.
-It secretly makes me mad that it suits you because you're cute. Anyway, when do you grow up, Lian? Let's be an idol when you grow up.
'First of all, do idols even exist in this world? And I want to grow up fast too.'
I kept my one and only weapon, the Demonbane Bottle, at my side and never let it go.
“Oh my, he must absolutely love this bottle!”
Among the nurse and the servants, the Demonbane Bottle had already become famous as my comfort bottle.
Mother and Father seemed to sense the booger-sized speck of holy power held in the bottle, but they didn't appear to examine it any further.
They only wore excessively pleased expressions.
'Luckily, they don't seem to sense the divine power.'
-Naturally. Look who made it.
My parents did not appear to sense the divine power Elly had poured into the letters of holy power.
Which was a relief. Being born with holy power can be chalked up to a blessing, but a detectable divine power is another matter entirely.
'Anyway, making it was all well and good, but there's nowhere to use it.'
To fulfill the mission I need to run into a demon or a demon worshipper, and since the Naming Rite there's been no occasion to meet either.
It turned out the ones who'd stormed in that day were demon worshippers called the Inferlim.
If they come charging in mindlessly in a horde like that I can't catch them, so demons or Inferlim, I'd like them to show up in reasonable numbers.
Then again. People barging brainlessly into a Cardinal's house probably isn't a frequent occurrence.
All I did was lie there, but that didn't mean there were no results at all.
Whitey the Sacred Flame putting on a show at my Naming Rite must have been an enormous deal, because guests kept coming and going in the house.
And each of them would look at me at least once, share this and that, and go home.
With more people in the house, the quality of the information I could scoop up changed too!
Elly flitted around everywhere and collected all sorts of stories.
-Apparently Dabir got dumped by Sonya recently?
-It sounds like they caught a huge batch of demons a while back! The Mist Plains? They said they caught them there!
-It seems the Saint not only can't hear the god's word, he can't use his power at all anymore.
-There are seven Cardinals in total! But the Ludersk house is the strongest!
-There's something amazing in the garden. Let's go see it together later! Once you can walk!
-Apparently the hottest thing among Imperial citizens these days is making accessories out of holy stones that have had all their holy power used up.
Aside from a few, they were genuinely useful pieces of information.
“Ohh... You mean to say the Sacred Flame attacked the heathens in order to protect the child!”
Today a person called a bishop had come to see me and was peering down at me with an excessively benevolent smile.
“Ahem, that is so, Bishop Dainal. It does rather look as though our Lian will grow into a great man, doesn't it?”
“Until now the Sacred Flame has never protected anyone. Lord Elysian has surely bestowed a great blessing upon him!”
Father, the corner of your mouth is twitching.
Having confirmed Father's reaction, Bishop Dainal rode the momentum and pressed on.
“Young Master Lian is unmistakably a talent who will hold nine holy power crystals!”
“Do you truly think so?”
'Oh, boy.'
In the end the twitching corner of his mouth ascended all the way to his ear.
But.
'What's a holy power crystal?'
From the way they're talking, it sounds like some kind of clerical rank.
“Only a talent of nine crystals may rise to the position of Cardinal, is that not so? Master Lian will most certainly follow Cardinal Leilaik and become the next Cardinal of the Ludersk house.”
I don't know what it is, but a rank of nine crystals must be something tremendous.
Well, it would be. Whitey gave me a mission and divine power and holy power, all heaped up in one big serving.
'I'll look into the crystal business later.'
“Were there no Saint in this generation, one would have thought a Saint had appeared.”
“Ha ha. Whatever it is, surely it is a good omen that he'll become a great man.”
Every single visitor praises me this lavishly, so I feel like I ought to do something.
'When on earth do I get to meet a demon?'
.
.
.
Click.
Having finished receiving guests, Leilaik entered his office, sat straight down at his desk, and took up the documents.
“These are the collected records concerning anomalies of the Sacred Flame at Naming Rites.”
His hand turned the pages carefully.
However exceptional the circumstances of an Inferlim assault, the Sacred Flame's reaction had been highly unusual.
“The most recent instance of the Sacred Flame showing an anomaly was at the Saint's Naming Rite.”
“Mm. On that occasion the flame moved and shone as though casting a halo.”
He had attended the Saint's Naming Rite himself, so he remembered it very well.
Beyond that, the Sacred Flame had reacted for the Holy Emperor, the Saintess, the Inquisitors, and others who came to prominence in their respective fields.
But there had never been a case of it showing a reaction this large and ultimately being absorbed into the child.
“Is this all of it?”
“Yes. Everything remaining in the official records, compiled.”
Mm. Leilaik let out a small, low sound.
The Sacred Flame reacting is unquestionably a good omen that the child will become a great man, so he ought to be glad.
That much was obvious just from the way those who heard the news came one after another to offer their good wishes and leave.
Since it was self-evident that the boy would become a great figure, they were getting their faces in front of him early.
But.
'Lian is going to be at the center of an enormous destiny.'
A Saint cut off from Lord Elysian's voice. The Inferlim growing more active alongside it.
And then this assault, and the anomaly of the Sacred Flame.
He could not be simply glad, not with a suspicion this close to certainty that all of these things were connected.
On top of that, the Inferlim's objective was unclear.
Those who worship demons hold the insane creed of wanting to realize the demons' world within this world of men.
It might be excessive worry.
But he had an intuition that this might be connected to the Demon God, who had vanished from sight after being defeated by Lord Elysian long ago.
Yet however much he searched the records, he could find no link that connected clearly.
Just one. He felt that finding just one would do it, and that one thing would not show itself. His head ached.
Knock knock.
“I thought you might be looking for this.”
Lilliad Ludersk stepped into his office with a single sheet of paper in her hand.
Compared to the bundle of documents his aide had brought in, it was very spare.
“What is this...?”
Lilliad sent the aide out, then set the paper down on the desk.
“Information that was kept in the archive only Inquisitors may access. It concerns the holy war of five hundred years ago.”
At that, Leilaik immediately picked up the paper to see for himself.
What was written there was very short.
But the instant he read it, his mind went clear.
“The prophet.”
“That's the strong possibility.”
“Confirmation will be necessary.”
“I knew you'd say that.”
Whoosh.
Its purpose served, the paper burned away to nothing in his hand.
***
“Bwuuuah...!”
'The demons aren't coming...!'
“Ohh...!”
“Bbwuuuah...!”
'And my body is so heavyyy...!'
“Ohhh...!”
“Bwahbwah!”
'Just roll over already!'
With time drifting by uselessly and absolutely nothing to do, I had thrown myself into rolling-over practice.
Until recently my body wouldn't move at all and I could only wave my arms, but lately it had started to shift and rock.
“Bwaaahbwah!”
'Why won't this work!'
-Try hard to remember how you did it before.
That was a lifetime and a half ago. There's no way I remember.
Almost, almost, almost. It was thoroughly infuriating.
And on top of that, right now I had an audience.
“Lady Sonya, I think Young Master Lian is about to roll over!”
“Oh my, you're quite right! Aileen.”
My nurse Sonya and her assistant Aileen were letting out one exclamation after another and clapping beside me.
Having an audience really does give you strength.
I used to go on TV as regularly as eating, so as an attention whore I tend to draw more power from people watching.
“Ubuuuh...”
'Ah, just a little more and I've got it.'
-Lian! You can do it!
“Young master! Just a little further!”
With everyone cheering me on, the instant I kicked with all my might!
“Eee!”
“Whoa!”
“Bwabwabwah!”
'I rolled over!!'
I had finally rolled over.
Huff, huff. It was just a roll, and I was completely out of breath.
'A bit more practice and I should be able to crawl too...'
-Lian, you did so well!
Lifting my head with a proud, beaming face, I met three pairs of moved and misty eyes.
Elly, my nurse Sonya, and the assistant Aileen.
'Hm?'
“Young master! I'm so proud of you! You'll be crawling before long!”
Did I see that wrong?
Sonya scooped me up into the air, so I failed to get a proper look at Aileen's expression.
'Something about her face.'
How do I put it. It was a strange expression, her eyes and her mouth doing different things.
'Elly, would you follow Aileen around for a few days?'
-Yippee! That'll be so fun!
Elly had been bored, and she flew about announcing that this was perfect timing.
Elly has been stuck to my side for twenty-seven years running.
Thanks to instincts honed razor-sharp, an off feeling like this is never wrong.
If something's nagging at you, you check it.
But in defiance of my worry, nothing about Aileen turned up worth faulting.
Unless you counted her taking breaks fairly often?
'There's no way my read is garbage.'
-Still, I'm not sensing anything.
We couldn't even tell whether she was a demon or a demon worshipper.
But there's no way a bad feeling like this is wrong.
'Let's watch a little longer for now.'
And so I lived every single day with the Demonbane Bottle tucked under my arm.
Elly, too, hovered around Aileen all day long.
A few sluggish days passed like that.
Then, on a night with a waning crescent hanging in the sky, it finally happened.
Creeeeak—
A quiet night, everyone asleep. The bedroom door opened with a dismal sound.
'Elly, did you hear that?'
-Yeah, I'm hearing it and seeing it.
'Is it Aileen, by any chance?'
-Complete bingo.
I knew my instincts were still alive!
The way she approached with her footsteps muffled was not normal.
-Lian, this one's holding a knife?
Are you kidding me? That is genuinely not normal!
I'm still a wee baby, you know? Have some decency, you people!
The closer she came, the more I felt a foul energy.
'Blegh... Elly, is this a demon's energy?'
-Yeah. Unpleasant, isn't it?
'I think I'm going to throw up.'
Ugh.
It was a thick energy, as though packed solid with malice.
How do I describe it.
Malice itself, maybe. Or something born for the express purpose of emitting malice.
The first demonic energy I had ever encountered set my teeth on edge.
It's a completely different category from a ghost or an evil spirit.
What moved these things wasn't a 'grudge.'
'Urgh, I really think I'm going to gag.'
-Hey! She'll notice! Hold it in!
Urgh.
I squeezed my eyes shut, gripped the Demonbane Bottle tight in my hand, and barely managed to hold it.
What I was aiming for was a surprise attack.
The one thing a baby who can't even crawl can do is a surprise attack given everything he's got!
Right now there's no mother and no nurse to protect me.
Elly's power is weak enough to be no help in a fight. And I was always the one who fought anyway.
I took a deep breath inwardly.
Reincarnation or not, the instincts from hunting evil spirits were still alive.
I'd fought plenty of times with no visibility at all, so preparing an ambush with my eyes closed was nothing.
My physical ability is, admittedly, nonexistent. But I'm counting on you! Demonbane Bottle!
The moment Aileen raised the knife into the air, I poured holy power into the bottle clenched in my hand.
The letters spelling 'Demonbane,' visible only to Elly and me, blazed white.
The instant Aileen swung the knife, I dodged it with a triumphant roll.
“!!”
Ha ha! How do you like the roll I've been honing for this very day!
'It's too early to be surprised!'
Using the momentum of the roll, I swung my arm and threw the bottle.
Every last ounce of strength, right down to the strength I nurse with!
Aileen had bent forward to swing the knife, which made her far easier to hit.
Whoosh— TONK, roll roll roll......
Between a light bottle and the pitifully weak strength of an infant, the bottle flew gently, struck Aileen in the forehead, and dropped back onto the bed.
“Kyaaaagh!!”
The result, of course, was not gentle.
'Aaagh! Why is it gore!'
-Because you inscribed the Demonbane letters, that's why.
I did not see this part coming?!
Aileen, struck square in the forehead by the Demonbane Bottle, began to split down the middle of her brow.
Ugh, shit. My eyes!!
'When I exorcised evil spirits, sticking a Demonbane talisman on them just made them disappear!'
-You do know the 'bane' in Demonbane means to shatter? And back then the talisman had purifying force in it alongside the demon-breaking.
'Oh, it did?'
-Yeah. But you can't write any more letters anyway. Let it go.
Damn it. If I'd known, I'd have written Purification instead.
Through the split in her forehead, another face, black, was visible.
'That's the real body, right? A demon?'
-Looks like it.
It was a different flavor of revolting from an evil spirit.
Out of sheer physical disgust I fumbled for the fallen bottle and gripped it tight.
“Kyeeeek!”
Aileen, who no longer even looked human, flailed her arms in the air and shrieked.
Fortunately or unfortunately, before I could throw the bottle a second time, her head burst with a POP.
Oh no. Buying: one pair of eyes that never saw that.
That aside.
My Demonbane Bottle... is a fair bit stronger than I expected?
'One-shot kill by bottle throw. Huh? Am I not kind of strong?'
Ohhh. Absolutely killed it.
The demon with the burst head squirmed on the floor.
From the commotion outside, Father and Mother would be here any second!
The demon with the burst head melted down into liquid and stuck to the floor in a sticky smear.
-Oh?
'Whoa!'
In that instant, Elly's divine power and my holy power both increased.
It said it would settle Elly into this world!
And it actually! Worked!
'Just catching demons copies holy power!'
Hssss.
Demon bastards. Go wash your necks and wait.