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Volume 7 Chapter 4 Part 10

Translation by burnt.marshmallows
Editing by Team Foxsunes

With that, silence ensued for a long time. Suddenly, that man let out a deep sigh, larger than the one that he let out just now. Everyone there, including me, started trembling. Was he planning to use magic again? Everyone put up their guards in anticipation for that. But contrary to everyone’s expectations, the wand in that man’s hand disappeared.

「……Edi?」

I instinctively called out to him, but my voice sounded so uneasy that even I was taken aback myself. Why was I so worried? I just somehow had a terrible feeling in my gut. I was fully aware that my intuition wasn’t that good or anything. Yet, it was only at times like this, my intuition had to be spot on.

My hand reflexively reached out to hold the sleeve of that man’s coat, but that man stopped me with his own hand. In my head, sirens were sounding. 

I had to say something. I had to stop him. That was what I thought. But that man had explicitly rejected me, without even saying a word. I wasn’t able to say anything. All I could do was gasp. There was no way that he didn’t notice what I did, but that man didn’t give me a second glance. 

Rather, he faced the Priest and spoke in the calm, indifferent voice that he had always spoken in. 

「I’ll let you guys take me. But in exchange, keep your hands off Filmina and the people in the Schtorenvihein house.」

「Edi!?」

「Agedilus!?」

See, just as I thought. The more terrible the premonition, the more likely it is to come true. What on earth was he saying? Both the Hero and I stared at that man, with big question marks written all over our faces. But that completely composed expression of his didn’t break down at all. Rather, it seemed that it was the temple side that was more shaken that this man would suggest a compromise. 

「H-how dare you come up with something……」

It seemed that that man’s suggestion was something unexpected for the Priest as well. I understood how he felt. If this man felt like it, he could just escape no matter the situation. That was already proven just now. Yet this man was saying that he would let himself get captured. They probably couldn’t believe someone like that completely. Moreover, that man wasn’t the Priest’s only target. 

「You are not the only one who has sinned! That defective woman who’s harbouring the Demon Lord, that monster in her stomach are the same!」

That’s right. To the Priest, the woman who took a demon’s side and is bearing the child who will become the Demon Lord was just as sinful. It probably didn’t matter to the Priest whether the baby in my belly really was the Demon Lord or not. It was obvious what his plan was that he just wanted to get rid of everything related to Pure Blackーand if circumstances permit, exploit that to help him rise up the ranks. 

I unconsciously wrapped my arms around my belly to guard it. Glancing to the side, I saw the Hero. He was usually a kind and benevolent person. But right now, he was so filled with rage that he couldn’t even speak. But before the Hero could let that anger of his explode out, that man quietly opened his mouth. 

「Go on, continue to ridicule Filmina and our child.」

There was no emotion in his voice whatsoever. It was a voice that sounded calm and soothing. So much so that one might even think that it sounded gentle and kind. But if one saw the glow in those sunrise-colored eyes of his, they would immediately be able to see that that wasn’t the case. It was a light as cold as ice. It was colder than the chill of a mid-winter wind. And that light pierced right through the Priest.

「I don’t care if your life is blessed by the goddess or whatever. I’ll make you remember how painful living really is with my own two hands.」

Eek! I could hear someone uncontrollably letting out a scream. That man’s words were directed at the Priest. Nevertheless, they instilled fear even in those around him. 

That man’s words were like a sword, piercing right through the Priest. It was only natural that the Priest’s face turned paler than green. It was white as a sheet. Even so, he tried to shout back at that man. It was in a way praiseworthy, watching him find the words to do so by making sounds like「Ah」or 「Um」. But it was just funny more than anything else.

Why did my husband, the father of the child in my belly, have to be taken away because of someone like this? There was no way that I could agree to that. No part of me wanted to. And yet. 

「There’s no way that it would disadvantage you. All you want is to do an honorable good as a Priest right? Don’t you think that just capturing the Pure Black Magic User who sided with a demon is enough for that?」

「Edi, you mustn’t! There’s no need for you to be the only one who has his innocence questioned! If you’re saying that you’re guilty than I too…….」

「Filmina」

「!」

I repeat myself again, but with the incident regarding Noct, it was officially announced that we had not hidden him or anything. We had only placed him under our supervision. There should be no reason to question whether we were guilty or not. If the days that I spent with that boy were a sin, then the one who should have been blamed was me, not that man. I was the one who invited Noct to come to the mansion. Yet, just hearing that man calling my name once,  I swallowed back my entire argument.

How unfair. How mean. Why did that man have to call my name out so sweetly and so gently at a time like this? Edi. I was about to say that precious nickname that I gave him in response. But that man gently pressed against my lips with his finger. With that, I couldn’t muster out a single word, even though he hadn’t used any magic on me.  

「Y-you’ve just been saying whatever you liked since just now…….I have no reason whatsoever to be ordered around by you!」

「Hm?」

The Priest somehow managed to force out his voice somewhat energetically. In response, that man tilted his head unnaturally. Having silenced the Priest with just that small movement, that man took one step forward, as if to guard me, as he squinted his eyes looking at the Priest.

「Let me just ask you, but in the first place」

In a pompous tone, that man spoke in a way one would to a young child who didn’t understand much. 

「If I didn’t willingly conform to you, do you really think that you guys could possibly catch me?」

You saw my powers just now right? That man said as a ferocious smile appeared on that brightly shining, beautiful face of his. For some reason, I felt as though the sound of someone taking a gulp sounded unusually loud.

The stinging tension in the air quickly took over the atmosphere. No one could look away from that man. In the midst of that, the Priest finally opened his mouth. 

「ーVery well. Please place a new Magic Seal on this foul Pure Black.」

The Priest seemed to finally come to terms with that man’s suggestion. With those words, it seemed that he had finally secured his victory. A smile that overflowed with greed appeared on his face, so much so that one wouldn’t think that he was someone who worked in a religious vocation. As he called out to his subordinates, the lower-ranked priests, they graciously took out the silvery-white Magic Seal.

It was something incomparable to the ornament-like thin bangle that that man had been wearing all this time. A thick chain connected the left and right bangles. It was basically a handcuff, like those worn by criminals. It was something that, with no doubt, made everyone who saw it furrow their eyebrows. And those handcuffs were being placed around that man’s wrists, making a terrible sound that grated against my ears.

That man didn’t fight back at all. Remaining silent, he closed those sunrise-colored eyes of his and accepted the handcuffs. The color of his pitch-black hair didn’t fade, but those slightly furrowed eyebrows obviously showed how heavy the Magic Seal was. This was a man who refused to show anything on the surface, no matter how he was suffering. For a man like that to react even a little in a situation like this, it probably meant that he was suffering from quite a large amount of pain.

However, it seemed that that response wasn’t enough for the Priest. The Priest clicked his tongue in annoyance, but there was nothing else he could possibly do otherwise so he just turned around with the lower-ranked priests and temple knights in tow. And that man too, surrounded by them, turned his back towards me and walked away.

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