Chapter 297: This Is the End (5)

"Right now. You are defending a demon. Think carefully before you act. Southern High Priest Peta Lucius."

"I told you to release her restraints. I will not accept any further objections."

My hand holding the mace twitched. The mage gritted his teeth while facing me. His gaze alternated between me and Sieri.

"We came here to subjugate the Demon King's stooges. Do you know how great of a loss it is if the mages of the Magic Tower take even a single day off from their research? We came here solely for the honor of saving the world from the Demon King. But, you want to save a demon right in front of us? High Priest. I heard rumors that you engage in lewd conduct regardless of race, but I did not know you would even love a demon. I am afraid your actions right now will tarnish the honor you gained from defeating the Demon King."

"As someone who has defeated a demon, I can easily tell who is good and who is evil. To my eyes, Sieri is a very kind and fragile child. Did you hear the report about the battlefield? Just now, the followers of the Church of Love turned into wicked demons and ran rampant. The hero and I are on our way back after annihilating all those demons. In contrast, what did you do? You sat here calculating your losses with a calculator and casting magic on tents. And then you will go back and demand of the kingdom: 'Publicly declare that the mages made a great contribution. Because we suffered.' I can understand your desire to write on your statement of merits that you killed one more demon, but Sieri is my wife. If she had done anything wicked, I would have known. Before she is a member of the demon race, Sieri is a believer of the Archdeity Church, and according to the doctrine of the Archdeity Church, we embrace anyone who becomes a believer."

"You have been blinded by love. And your remark just now is an insult to us mages."

"Haven't you been constantly insulting me since earlier? From your sarcasm about lewd conduct to doubting my abilities, you are prodding my temper in various ways as if dancing a waltz on thin ice. And you say I have been blinded by love, but Sieri is an official nun who graduated from the Archdeity Church Training Center, the hero has also encountered Sieri, and I keep the holy sword at my house. Are you saying that all these people who failed to figure out Sieri's true identity are blind fools blinded by love? Until Sieri herself denies it. Sieri is a believer of the Archdeity Church, and she is my wife. Release her restraints. This is my final warning."

The mage gritted his teeth and glared at Sieri. Then he looked at me again and spoke through gritted teeth.

"You will regret this. I will formally file a complaint with the Archdeity Church regarding this matter."

"Do as you please. Make sure to release the restraints before you go."

"Release her. The High Priest orders us to release the demon!"

The mage shouted loudly as if he wanted other people to hear, turned around, and disappeared into the barracks. The mage's subordinates approached Sieri with awkward postures. The person holding the key unlocked her handcuffs and ran away.

Sieri deeply bowed her head and could not meet my eyes. A little distance away, Soya was sweating profusely and staring into the empty air. I stroked Sieri's head and then looked at Soya.

"Soya."

"Eek!..."

As soon as I called her name, Soya trembled and immediately dropped to her knees. Her legs were uncomfortable, so just doing that seemed to hurt, but as if begging for my forgiveness was a greater matter than the pain, she rubbed her hands together and pleaded.

"I-It is all! It is all my fault! It is all my fault! I could not stop it... I am sorry! Ms. Sieri did nothing wrong!"

"...That is enough, so stand up. Soya. I am not angry."

Soya immediately stood up at my words, perhaps because her legs were truly uncomfortable. Sieri, who had been slumped next to her, suddenly began to cry. Silently shedding tears, she finally crumpled her face and sobbed aloud with kkeok sounds.

"M-My Lord... I... Heuk... Heuheuk..."

I silently hugged Sieri tight. Behind me, I heard Eve and Elsi having a conversation.

"Mermaid. Horns grew on the nun's head. Did the nun do a bad deed?"

"Well. I am not really sure."

"The nun said so. That if you hit people all the time, horns will grow on your head. Did the nun hit someone too?"

"...Did you go around hitting people in the territory?"

"...Sometimes outsiders picked a quarrel, so I hit them lightly."

It was a carefree conversation that did not suit the serious atmosphere. I hugged Sieri and headed toward our barracks. Sieri continued to be held in my arms, only repeating that she was sorry.

"I am sorry... I am sorry..."

"It is okay. Sieri. Let's go and talk first. Let's go."

I briefly left Sieri and Soya in Eve and Elsi's care and went to find Albus. Albus had started a drinking party as soon as the war ended. His face, which should have been joyful over the victory, was full of concern. Today as well, he was sipping alcohol while facing the picture of his parents. Fortunately, it did not seem like he would cry and faint like last time, so I carefully lifted the cloth of the barracks and went inside.

"...What is the matter?"

"I would like to move the barracks a bit, would that be okay?"

"I will have the soldiers move it right now."

"Yes. Please just call a few. We only need to move a few pieces of furniture."

Since the room I originally slept in was close to where the soldiers were, I planned to move the barracks as close to the outskirts as possible. The resting soldiers grumbled as they moved my luggage and the entire barracks to the outskirts. Because these barracks were scheduled to be dismantled again tomorrow, the faces of the soldiers setting it up again were full of dissatisfaction.

But it could not be helped. If I let Sieri, who was a demon, sleep near the soldiers, the soldiers would have seizures. I came back and returned to the tent with Sieri. Since it was originally a tent where three people slept spaciously, it did not look particularly crowded just because Sieri and Soya came in.

"Aigo..."

"Ugh..."

Elsi and Eve sprawled on the bed, letting out groaning sounds as if Sieri becoming a demon was someone else's business. In fact, to me as well, the bed seemed like a much more dramatic element right now than the fact that Sieri was a demon. Sieri opened her mouth as if our carefree reactions made her even more anxious.

"M-Ms. Eve? Ms. Elsi?"

"Eung?"

"What is it. Nun."

Both of them asked Sieri back with apathetic attitudes. Sieri sniffled once with a face still showing traces of crying, and then wiped her face with the back of her hand so as not to get hurt by her fingernails. Then she opened her mouth again.

"I-I am a demon..."

"So what?"

Eve was unfazed even though Sieri revealed her true identity once again. Elsi opened her eyes wide at Sieri's words and looked at her.

"Um... A-Are you not scared?"

At those words, Eve stood up from the bed again, looked at Sieri, and suddenly grabbed her own hair. Then she shouted in an exaggerated tone.

"S-Sieri is a demon? Kyaaaaak! I hate it! What do we do, husband! I am so scared!"

And after saying that while grabbing my shoulders and shaking them wildly, she looked at Sieri again and chuckled.

"Did you want me to do this?"

"A-No, it is not like that..."

"Then why? Honestly, I was a little surprised, but since my husband is a man who even fucks a dragon, I feel like it doesn't matter if one more demon is added at this point. And..."

Eve pointed at Sieri. Sieri flinched her body at the gesture. Seeing Sieri's terrified attitude, Eve bared her teeth and smiled.

"You, you were really nice to me when I first came to the territory. Besides my husband, no one in the territory ever looked kindly upon me, but you treated me well. There is no way someone like that is a bad demon. Right. Second wife?"

"Ah, that..."

Sieri started sniffling again. Eve dragged her heavy body, accumulated with fatigue, and stuck close to Sieri. As if even getting up was too much of a bother, she dragged her body across the floor to approach and tightly hugged Sieri.

"Why are you crying, idiot. You are a demon, right? You should smile like a demon."

"Heuheuk... Heuk... Eoheuk... But... Buuut... I-I thought I would be hated..."

"Aigo, okay. Do not cry."

They were a truly pleasant pair. I wiped away a tear while watching that touching friendship. Next to me, Elsi was staring blankly at the floor. I touched Elsi's shoulder and asked.

"Elsi. What is wrong?"

"It is a shock that the nun is a demon."

"...What have you been listening to until now?"

I did not want to say harsh words to Elsi, but I was so dumbfounded by Elsi reacting a beat too late that I ended up saying something. Eve and Soya also opened their eyes wide and looked at Elsi. Elsi hesitated, wiggling her fingers, and spoke.

"Demons are bad, but, um... Sieri is not a bad person. Humans have bad people, but there are good people too, like the nun and the cleric. So, um... So... There must be good demons too. Sieri is... Um, um... She must be a good demon. That is what I think."

Silence fell. Perhaps thinking that the words she mustered the courage to say were ignored, Elsi drooped her ears and grabbed my collar. Then she spoke to me.

"Cleric. The nun bought me food and taught me how to dance. She is not a bad demon. You must not kill her."

Just how much of a cold-blooded bastard does she see me as? If I had thoughts of killing over a little bit of a loss, Eve and Cellu would have long become fish tempura and been hung up on the market floor. I was so dumbfounded that I ended up laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

As if triggered by the sound of my laughter, Eve also ended up laughing while hugging Sieri.

"Ahahahahaha!"

"Ha... Hahaha... Haha..."

Soya awkwardly laughed along. Elsi looked around before grabbing me again and speaking.

"Cleric! Do not just laugh and give me an answer! Y-You must not kill the nun."

"I got it. I got it! Hahahaha! I won't kill her!"

The night deepened with the sound of laughter. It was a long, long sound of laughter that would have made our tent look like a lair of lunatics to the soldiers who had been dealing with the Church of Love followers and demons all day. After laughing until she cried for a long time, Eve asked me.

"Husband."

"What?"

"What do we do now?"

"...Good question."

I scratched my complicated head and flopped down onto the bed. Since I had acted stubbornly to save a demon, a reaction would come from the Archdeity Church. Man, it seemed the day to quit being the High Priest was approaching.