Chapter 30
Silver-Haired Man
Translator : PolterGlast
The people of the city
of Volvect went to the chapel once a month. In a reverent atmosphere, they
clasped their hands together, listened to the words of an important person, and
nodded in agreement. When I was in the village, there wasn't a grand building
like this, but there were pastors dispatched to various places, and I used to
attend earnestly.
The stories they told,
besides wise lessons, were mostly anecdotes about the battles between demons
and humans, basically telling everyone that demons were scary and terrifying.
As much as the difference in appearance, these gatherings were probably a
perfect opportunity to reinforce the idea that we demons were "evil,"
I realized anew.
So, the first time
Sutra-san invited me, I ran away saying I had a stomachache. The second time,
it was a toothache. The third time, I realized it was hopeless and gave up. I
didn't want to go.
The church, the
headquarters of the chapels, was full of people licking their lips, eager to
hunt down every last demon. Ugh, I didn't want to go, didn't want to go, it was
so scary. But living in the city, praying at the chapel was like an obligation.
Not participating would be much more suspicious.
I had Ichi and the
others stay behind just in case. Even if they were hiding their forms, it was
only on the surface, so if they accidentally bumped into someone, it could lead
to "Huh? There's something here. It's really... squishy. It feels good and
makes my heart flutter, wait a minute, isn't this too suspicious?" Not
only demons, but monsters were definitely targets for extermination. My slimes,
cherish your lives.
"We will! Protect
El!" The three of them were bouncing around wildly, but "Cleaning
slimes, be quiet." I'll manage and come back, I thought, making my mental
eyebrows thick as I pushed Ichi and the others under the bed. What if they got
all shaky the moment they went in?
The village pastor had
said that the chapel was a sacred place, so demons would never attack it.
Because they were evil, they couldn't even step foot in such a place. Well, I
knew that even though my appearance was a little different and I had a unique
skill, the rest of me was the same as a human, but when I passed through the
large doors, my heart still sank. I hadn't been this nervous since I passed
through the gates of Volvect.
"If anything
happens, I'll become a pill bug," I thought, placing immense trust in my
pill bug transformation, ready to escape with a somersault. "El, why are
you fidgeting? Look, the next person is waiting," "Ah, Sutra-san,
wa-wa-wa-wait!" While I was saying that, I had properly entered the
chapel. No tingling, I felt perfectly fine. "See! I knew it!" I
laughed uhaha, but my heart was beating like a festival drum, going beyond just
dokidoki. Thank goodness!
My impression was that
the church people were pretty easy to fool. Even with a demon child like me
right in front of them, they talked about the threat of demons, but explained
that they were safe because the church was there. It was a surreal scene. When
I couldn't help but yawn, I remembered Lotus's voice, "Don't screw with
me!!!!"
――――Since you're a demon,
I'm sure you're strong, but you're in a human city, do you even understand
that...!?"
He was absolutely
right. If he hadn't helped me back then, I don't know what would have happened
to me, and aside from my adult form, if my current child form was discovered to
be a demon, it would cause a lot of trouble for the people at Harapeko-tei who
employed me.
I mentally punched
myself in the head to get my act together. I was a devout believer. Demons, get
lost. How terrifying. I'd never seen or heard of such a thing, though! My
self-hypnosis was perfect.
When I finally sighed,
"It's over," I was filled with a strange sense of accomplishment. But
when I looked at Sutra-san next to me, she had a nonchalant expression, and I
felt a huge temperature difference. That was natural. I was the strange one for
being so worked up. Calm down... calm down... usually, I would be healed by
Ichi and the others for a cool-down, but feeling the pain of not being able to
do that, my aimless hands fluttered around. "Ah!" Sutra-san clapped
her hands together in a way that clearly said, "I just thought of
something!"
"From here, the
city gate is closer than the shop, right? I wonder if Yozaki-kun is there
today. I surprised and troubled him the other day, so maybe I'll go say
hi."
It was about the time
when Sutra-san had fled back from the forest monsters and tripped while doing a
little victory dance, spraining her ankle badly right in front of Yozaki-san.
Sutra-san glanced at
me every now and then.
"Eh, ah..."
She probably felt like
she couldn't just casually go see him without a reason. I thought she should
just go for it, but that was because it wasn't my own affair. If it were my own
love interest, I would definitely be nervous. Even I couldn't just go see
Lotus. I would just sort of wait for him at the shop. When I thought that far,
I mentally thickened my eyebrows again, "Wait, this has nothing to do with
Lotus."
"Eh, El...?
Y-your face looks scary."
"Oh, ah, sorry.
Please, go ahead."
"Really? Thanks.
But, if I don't go home with El, w-will Mom say something?"
"I'll go home
slowly, so let's meet up near the shop."
Her face brightened
up. She was probably at an age where having her mother know about her love life
was complicated. I waved goodbye, and she gave a cute smile that was
appropriate for her age, her red hair swaying as she disappeared. Youth.
In the chapel, which
had become quite empty, I quietly looked up at the ceiling. As expected of the
capital, it was a magnificent building. The ceiling was densely covered with
paintings that felt like they were from a bygone era, and each one probably had
a story to tell.
Many of them depicted
trees, branches, and leaves. And then there was water. Water spots were said to
be the remnants of a god who had spilled water while trying to water the World
Tree, so they were considered extremely sacred. Since water spots existed
everywhere, I wanted to ask how much he had spilled, but I pictured the actual
god in my mind and thought, "Well, with that god, it's possible."
Like the roots of a
tree, he existed everywhere and saw everything. He could be said to be watching
human activities with amusement. He even appeared occasionally in the game. I
had actually seen him myself. I wondered if he was amused by me. He
periodically came to check on me, and even though he seemed to be keeping his
god status a secret, I knew everything because of my Appraisal skill. I didn't
want to get involved with him right now, so I pretended not to see him, but I
might slip up someday. I should tell Ichi and the others strongly this time not
to get involved with him either.
The god gave a reward only
once to those who discovered him. In the game, it varied from giving important
items to bestowing abilities. But if that happened, I would be tied to God and
end up on the God route. He was a safety net for when the protagonist's level
wasn't high enough. No matter which route you took, if you got involved with
the god in the end, you would branch off into a servant route disguised as the
God route, so he was an existence I wanted to keep my distance from.
The other party is a
supernatural being. "If I think about him, he'll come," I shook my
head desperately to erase him from my thoughts. Then, I couldn't take my eyes
off the light shining through the stained-glass window of the chapel. The shadows
mixed with red, green, blue, and many other hues were terribly radiant, and the
air seemed different there.
The stained glass
meticulously depicted a girl descending from the sky. On the ground, several
men welcomed the girl with open arms. There was someone staring intently at
that picture. I couldn't see their face from behind, but their waist-length
silver hair reflected the light and sparkled. Even though it was the same white
hair, the hue was slightly different from Yozaki-san's. For a moment, I thought
it was a woman, but considering their build and height, it was a man. It was a
terribly familiar sight.
My vision flickered.
The memories in my head seemed to overlap with what was in front of me.
"What is this? This is strange," I thought, frantically searching my
memories. Then, I somehow understood. The picture depicted in the stained glass
was exactly the same as the game's opening.
(Come to think of it,
it was common knowledge that the main character, Yuko, was a Saintess from
another world.)
It was natural since
she was summoned by the church, but the concept of another world was also
prevalent in this world. Seeing the game's opening like a work of art right in
front of me gave me a strange feeling. "Hmm," I groaned and tried to
get a little closer to see it better, when the man glanced at me. He had red
eyes.
"Eh..."
The voice that came
out of my mouth honestly wasn't even a voice. I thought I had seen wrong, but I
hadn't. His eyes were certainly red, the same as mine. The man's hair changed
color in the light, and even though his eye color was the same as mine, his
eyes were terribly deep, like they had countless stars scattered in them, and
he stared intently. He had no expression. They were endlessly dark and heavy,
and contrary to the color of his eyes, they were like a dead man's.
I was surprised when
the young man's mouth moved slightly. It was natural since he was standing
there alive, but I had really thought he was dead. Strangely, his voice came
late. It was hoarse, like he hadn't spoken in a very long time.
"El, huh?"
I heard my name, but
it must have been my imagination. Because I had never met such a person. The
man continued.
"...You're early.
Well, no matter, I'll go pick you up."
I didn't understand
what he was saying. He was using the same words, but I couldn't grasp the
purpose of his words. "Right, what was the name of your village
again?" There was no way I would answer. This person knew I had run away
from the village. Unable to escape, I remained silent. My body trembled terribly.
The man just muttered, "Ah, I remember." Scary.
It was a miracle I
didn't scream. Why did he know about me? In the first place, why was a demon in
the middle of the city without hiding his eyes? My thoughts twisted and
tangled, not understanding what was going on.
When I finally thought
I could breathe, the demon had vanished without a trace. In an instant, his
form had vanished, and I had the illusion that I was daydreaming or something.
But certainly, my fist I had clenched was damp with sweat. Even after using my
Detection and Listening skills, there was no one around.
(What was that just
now...?)
Who was that? What did
"I'll go pick you up" mean?
Unable to understand,
I fled back to Harapeko-tei. My heart was pounding violently, yet my body was terribly
cold.
Sutra-san was
delighted that she had managed to make a date with Yozaki-san, but since it was
just to treat him to a meal at the shop as I had suggested, the landlady, who
had been secretly listening, shouted, "How unromantic!" and started a
parent-child quarrel with "Shut up!"
"Well then, shall
we close the shop that day? Make the most of being alone with him, good
luck!"
"Ba-ka, you're
ba-ka, Mom! Ba-kaaa!"
Usually, I would have
laughed with the landlady at Sutra-san's scream of "Don't give me weird
encouragement!" but today I could only weakly move my mouth. I stroked the
heads of Ichi and the others who asked, "Are you okay?" and crawled
into bed with them.
I felt like something
scary was steadily approaching.
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