Chapter 57
Episode 14: The King and the Crown Prince
In the audience chamber of the Kingdom of Leone, Crown Prince David arrived to meet the king.
「David, what have you been doing lately? I’ve heard reports from your aides, and your behavior is beyond outrageous.」
「About that, please look at my arm.」
David showed the king the 【Countdown of Life】 engraved on his arm.
「What of that number?」
「This is a curse called the 【Countdown of Life】. When the engraved number reaches zero, my life will end. I found the Heavenly Child of Sylvania and tried to capture her… but instead, I was cursed. She is a demon. A harbinger of disaster who must be dealt with.」
「The Heavenly Child is still alive? You tried to capture her without reporting to the king, and you got cursed?」
「I feared she would escape if I wasted time reporting, so I planned to inform you after the fact. The Heavenly Child is alive and hiding within the kingdom. That’s why I’ve been scouring each city, one by one.」
「You are not the king! The information about the Heavenly Child, which is the top priority of this kingdom, was handled solely by you, the Crown Prince?」
The king’s highest priority was to control the Heavenly Child in order to rule the world. Yet the Crown Prince had acted on his own, failed to capture her, and ended up cursed. Worse, his life would end in 180 days.
Despite this, his calm and composed attitude revealed just how far out of touch with reality he was. The king realized that the Crown Prince was no longer fit for his position and began contemplating stripping him of his title and choosing a new successor.
However, no crown prince had ever been stripped of the title in the kingdom’s history. The king decided that the only option was to replace him upon his death.
「David, your recent blunder warrants the removal of your crown prince title. However, I will forgive you if you can put an end to the monster uprising in the provinces. Leave immediately! I will take over the investigation of the Heavenly Child myself, so rest assured.」
「Understood. I’ll swiftly bring the monster uprising to an end.」
The king, assuming that David would die before the countdown reaches zero, began preparing to select his successor. He also started gathering information to locate and capture the Heavenly Child, who was said to be hiding within the kingdom.
David, convinced that the Heavenly Child was behind the monster uprising, set out to the provinces, intending to quell the disturbance and simultaneously eliminate her.
There was no doubt that David’s actions would fan the flames leading to the collapse of the Kingdom of Leone, which Celestia aimed for.
And thus, the day when Celestia would face off against David, who had killed her mentor Mystique, was drawing near.
–
Episode 15: Celestia’s Justice
After the destruction of the main road, there have been no reinforcements until the repairs are completed. Naturally, this has also affected the flow of goods, causing shortages in supplies.
Despite the danger, merchants are using smaller paths to transport goods by cart. However, since these roads are not well-maintained, they often face attacks from monsters and bandits along the way.
I learned that the lives of ordinary citizens, who were living peacefully, are now being disrupted. When I consulted Brad-san about this, he told me that there isn’t much we can do until the kingdom collapses.
That may be true, but my sense of justice couldn’t accept it… So, I decided to head out and eliminate the monsters and bandits with my familiar spirits. Though Brad-san opposed me, saying it would delay the kingdom’s collapse, I managed to persuade him, and he eventually gave his approval.
〚Roha, remember, we’re not going after people traveling by cart. We’re only targeting monsters and armed bandits around the smaller roads, okay?〛
〚Understood. And if we encounter any monsters with magic cores, I should report to you, correct?〛
〚Yes, thank you♪〛
With my familiars, we began searching the areas around the smaller paths for any monsters or bandits. After some time, we heard the sounds of humans fighting. We hurried to the scene and found that a group of merchants traveling by cart was being attacked by bandits.
By the time I arrived, it was too late—the driver and the merchant had already been killed. What I saw were some bandits trying to steal the cargo, while others were assaulting the woman who had been traveling with them…
「P-Please… stop…」
「After all of us have had our fun, we’ll sell you off as a sex slave!」
『Zowa!』
A surge of furious anger rose within me as I witnessed the bandits’ cruel actions. I infused magic into my right eye and activated my Mystic Eye.
「By the command of Celestia Z. Sylvania: May the power of Lustful Asmodeus force those who commit such merciless acts upon innocent women to continue copulating until they die!」
The men, against their will, began engaging in intercourse with each other under the power of Lustful Asmodeus, their agonized screams echoing through the air.
「S-Stop it…! Aaaagh!」
「Damn it, why am I… doing this to a man…!? Please, make it stop!」
「Enjoy yourselves until death claims you♪」
Leaving the bandits with those parting words, I rushed over to the woman who had been assaulted and used healing magic to mend her wounds. I then repaired her torn clothing with alchemy and handed it back to her.
「Thank you so much…」
「I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner… It must have been awful.」
「No… You saved me from becoming a sex slave…」
「It should be safe from here to the city, but be careful on your way back.」
「Um… What is your name?」
The woman I rescued asked for my name. Wanting to send a message to the kingdom, I decided to reveal it.
「I am Celestia Z. Sylvania, the one who seeks vengeance upon the Kingdom of Leone.」
After saying that, I used teleportation magic and disappeared.
From that point on, I continued to rescue those being attacked by bandits and monsters. After each rescue, I revealed my name and teleported away. Before long, rumors began to spread that the Saint of Sylvania had returned to take vengeance on the Kingdom of Leone.
–
Episode 16: Confrontation
As Crown Prince David left the royal capital to quell the monster uprisings in the rural areas, he began to hear the name “Celestia Z. Sylvania” with increasing frequency.
「Celestia… Is that the name of the Heavenly Child? Even if people worship you as a saint, you are still a demon. I’ll find you soon enough and kill you!」
「Your Highness, we’ve received information that the saint appeared two days ago. She apparently rescued some merchants who were attacked by monsters on a small path. Shall we proceed?」
「Of course. We’ll disguise ourselves as traveling merchants and move. If monsters attack, she might come to us.」
Since she had only targeted military forces, David figured they could exploit the Heavenly Child’s goodwill by pretending to be traveling merchants. After changing quickly, they headed in the direction where the saint had last been sighted.
The path wasn’t fully paved like the main roads, making the going tough for David and his party. The central knights had little experience traveling on such rough roads. As they pushed forward, monsters suddenly ambushed them from the side.
「Wooooo!」「Grrr…」
「It’s a wolf pack! Protect His Highness!」
Since they were disguised as merchants, they weren’t heavily armed and lacked shields. They tried to fight the wolves with their swords, but their inexperience in monster combat led to injuries among the soldiers.
「Ugh!」「Damn it, there’s too many!」
There were five wolves, which an adventurer party could have easily handled, but the knights, inexperienced in monster battles, struggled and began to fall victim to the wolves’ fangs and claws. Just when it seemed hopeless, the wolves were all swiftly taken down.
「It looks like there are injuries, but no one’s dead, so I made it in time, huh?」
Right after the wolves were defeated, a young girl turned toward the disguised merchants and spoke. It was Celestia, a beautiful girl with platinum blonde hair that shone with a divine radiance.
David, upon seeing her, was momentarily captivated by her beauty but quickly refocused.
『…That’s a demon. If I kill her, maybe this countdown will stop.』
「Listen up, when that girl comes closer, strike her down.」
「Yes, sir!」
David quietly issued orders to his soldiers, assuming that Celestia would approach them to heal their wounded.
「Hey, directing such killing intent at someone who just saved you isn’t a good look, is it? You’re soldiers of the kingdom, aren’t you?」
「Tch, she caught on. Kill her!」
Realizing their bloodlust had been detected, David gave the order to attack despite the distance. The soldiers raised their swords and charged at her, but Celestia quickly created space between them, moving with precision.
「Huh? And the one acting all high and mighty behind them… Isn’t that Crown Prince David? You’ve really come all this way just to be killed by me, huh?♪」
Celestia’s expression turned cold and cruel.
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