Chapter 110 – Chapter 106 – The Saint and the Realm of Wishes (7)

The black hole that spat out the paper shrank rapidly.

The gaps in the space, which were reduced to the level of a human fingernail, seemed to be barely maintaining their shape.

Of course, the demon’s answer was more important to Hernan than that.

[I will try to take responsibility for the souls of you people.]

After checking the sentence on the paper, I tried to read the next one.
But there was nothing like the following.

“What is it written on? It’s dark and I can’t see very well.”

The saintess was in an ambiguous position to look inside her answer sheet, so she only raised her toes.
Hernan handed her paper to the saintess and gritted her teeth.

“I even wrote a wish ticket, but shouldn’t I have to answer in detail?”

He snarled at the black dot floating above her head.

“Besides, the souls of mankind are responsible? Then what about the rest?”

The black hole that had been floating quietly in the air swayed from side to side for a moment.
However, it wasn’t that he was trying to do something, it was an action that seemed close to ridicule.

The saintess, who confirmed her short answer on the paper, also threw her question, unable to hide her absurdity.
However, the content was slightly different from Hernán.

“What is this… By you humanity, do you mean us? Or maybe everything outside?”

She continued, displaying perplexity that was palpable even in the dark moonlight.

“What the hell is the drinker planning…”

This time, the black hole didn’t just sway, but increased its size to the size of a human palm.
And she spat out the paper once again.

[I just do it as it is. Everything is a process of finding its place.]

Hernan and the saintess quickly skimmed through the slightly longer answer this time.

[If there is someone the king cherishes, make a wish again. Ask for a miracle to make things that shouldn’t be done.]

Again, only difficult and incomprehensible words are written.

In the end, Hernán burst out with questions that had been piling up since the first answer came out earlier.

“Aren’t you the god of demons? But the souls of mankind only say that they will take responsibility?”

Thinking of the Sharpie and her children floating in front of her eyes, Hernán shouted into the air.

“Then what about the Sharpie? What about me and Sharpie’s children? Why don’t you tell me that you are responsible for the demons’ souls as well?”

According to the information the saintess gave us, demons are not responsible for the souls of demons.
She said that it was simply a record on the human side, and that it was not yet certain.

However, she replied with the tone that she would take responsibility for the souls of mankind she had just drank.

So, does that really mean that demons are not involved in demonic souls?

Oddly enough, the Demon God’s attitude of not knowing anything about demons was enough to cause anger and anxiety in Hernan’s heart.

“Please ask the god who manages the demons to take responsibility for the demons’ souls… Why should I expect a miracle for such an obvious request!”

Hernan’s shouts filled the large space.
Then, the saintess next to her flinched and hurriedly looked alternately between Hernan and the hole the demon had made.

Are you afraid of words that stimulate God?
Well, she’s the one who even whispered to me because she was afraid that the demons would hear it here.

I can’t help but worry

Even more so, such a vivid encounter with an immortal god would be normal for a mortal to feel fear.

However, it was difficult for Hernán to offer the worship and reverence he should have given to God.

“Even a mere mortal takes care of his children, so how can the only god of the race do this!”

Even to those words, the shimmering hole did not show any reaction.
Rather, it was Marina who was holding the newly born baby.

An uncomfortable feeling overlaying the nervous look on her face until just now.
The saintess hurriedly came to Hernan with that face on.

Glancing at the gap opened by the demon, the saintess quietly whispered.

“Hernan! Didn’t it say that the Demon King and his children would be all right if they made a wish? There are also children here, so let’s stop talking and doing things that stimulate the Demon God!”

At that, Hernán saw the man holding his left hand.
There was Lenny, who was frightened by the hideous atmosphere without knowing why.

When she first came here, she made it clear that she liked not only her parents, but also her brother coming here with her.
Her eyes twinkled even more when she saw the garden bathed beautifully in the moonlight.

But now the child was frightened at the sight of her mysterious void and at her father who was shouting.

Hernan bit his lip and looked at the black hole again.

Then the hole got a little bigger again and another paper fell.
Now she picked it up, thinking she didn’t even want to look at it.

[Serve me, the demon in this garden. Then I will make it easier for you and your family to make your wishes come true.]

It is difficult to say that it is an answer to Hernán’s question.
Rather, it was more like a one-sided notice.

Hernán tore up the paper, wanting to show his anger at this godless god.
But his daughter’s hand still held him, and he had to cool his head coldly.

Instead, he stared into the black hole, only burning his eyes.
The demon god behind it, the culprit behind all of this.

Thinking that perhaps they might have met eyes with the demon, Hernán looked at the slowly disappearing hole.

After a while, the black hole that had been shaking unsteadily disappeared completely.

* * *

Bathed in the moonlight, which was darker than before, Hernán calmly whispered.

“So did you feel something?”

His questions started with relatively light ones.
The saintess responded in response and answered without hesitation.

“Yes. You seem to know the source of the demon’s divine power.”

Marina whispered the same and looked down.
Perhaps she meant to look at the floor.

However, instead of the floor, Hernán made eye contact with the child lying on the parent’s lap like last time and smiled.

The child smiled silently and held onto Hernán’s clothes.
As the darkness held the hand of the frightened child, Hernán spoke to her.

“What is its source?”

This time the saintess pointed her hand underneath her.

“This place. An old god buried in this very place.”

She held her breath and continued her words.

“When he forcibly opened the black hole here, he felt the divine power of the gods pushing each other. However, after accepting the right to wish, when answering questions, I suddenly felt the energy of the old gods filling the surroundings.”

The saintess added her theological explanation, and only after she spoke, did she tell Hernán her conclusion.

“In other words, the demon god is sucking the energy of the old god here. And they changed it and used it with the same feeling as the divine power used by the current human gods.”

She looked down at her once more, as if a little scared.

“And the energy of the old god, which had escaped, rose again to its fullest. As if the being that exudes that energy is right next to you.”

“So you guessed that the Old Gods were here.”

“Yes. I think it may have been sealed.”

Hernán nodded his head.

The old god is buried here, and whenever the wishing ticket is used, the demon converts the god’s power into divine power for his own use.

To some extent, this was expected, so it was not a big surprise.
So he could speak calmly.

“Is the goal of a demon god to become an existence that freely handles divine power like the human gods?”

“Based on the evidence so far, yes. But…”

“But?”

The saintess thought for a moment before opening her mouth.

“It’s strange. The divine power used by the ancient gods, that is, the energy of the old gods, is not very different from the divine power of the current gods. The uses and methods of obtaining them are all similar to those of our gods.”

“Then…”

“Why does the demon god not absorb it as it is with such difficulty and use it after transforming it with the same power as the current human god? It’s the same old god anyway, so that would be more convenient.”

The saintess came up with many inferences about the reason, but none of them were her attitude with confidence.

“To be honest, I don’t know either. The promise that the demon god made with the old gods is the most likely candidate, but I won’t be able to know that.”

As the story progressed to that point, there was a heavy silence.
Both Hernan and Marina seemed burdened with what to say next.

But Hernán brought up the awkward subject, feeling he could not evade it.

“The question we wrote… In addition, the demon said that he would take responsibility for the souls of you mankind. I heard that you are not going to take responsibility for demons like Sharpie and Sharpie’s child.”

The saintess nodded her head.

“I think it has that meaning too. But I think it also has a different meaning mixed in.”

She whispered quickly into Hernán’s ear.

“The demon’s answer seemed to be that he would take responsibility for the souls of other human beings, not just the ones here.”

Marina pressed her body closer to Hernán as she continued to speak.
Seeing it in her darkness, Lenny reached out and grabbed her mother’s clothes.

“In other words, it means to rob the current human god of the right to human souls.”

The saintess didn’t seem to notice that her daughter was holding her.
In this way, just in case, Marina could make a sudden move and injure her child.

Hernan held her child tightly.

“It is a very serious matter. We are not at the level of falling into the devil’s amusement. Ugh?”

When the saintess finished her words and pulled her body back, the child holding her clothes moved as well.
Surprised by her weight, the saintess let out a short moan.

“Lady. So what do you want to say in the end?”

Hernán asked a question while correcting the slightly twisted posture of the child.
Marina looked at her child with a surprised expression, but she soon regained her expression and went on with her words.

“We must prevent the Demon God from gaining such power as much as possible. In other words, the right to wish…”

“Can’t I use the wish ticket?”

“Yes.”

Hernan let out a sigh so that her saintess could not hear it.

“How much should I not use?”

“Yeah…”

The saintess stopped her mouth to answer.
Hernán put his mouth to her ear as she stopped talking.

“You were going to tell me not to use any of them, right?”

“… This is a serious problem. This means that the war of the gods in ancient times could break out again.”

A war in which the human god drove out the old gods, who were indigenous gods.
Since the gods quarreled, the aftermath must have been enormous.

“You must never make a demon god think that the human god deserves a war. We have to stop the strengthening somehow!”

The saintess said desperately.

“If that happens, there will be a catastrophe that cannot be compared to a demonic invasion. Maybe even the demons can get caught up in it.”

There will be no peaceful place anywhere in the world.
And to the confusion, Hernan’s family will be a big contributor.

“So, Ernan. Please ban the use of wish tickets, and only fill 19 children…”

Hernán leaned back and removed her ear, and the saintess stopped her words abruptly.
He looked at her for a moment, then brought her mouth to Marina’s ear.

“Isn’t it saintess’ guess that demons are causing war? And when he said you humans, it could be that he was simply talking to the humans and elves here, a race he didn’t manage.”

“Eh, Hernan!”

The saintess forgot to even whisper and shouted out hastily.

“Guessing is always the worst case…”

“And on the other hand, if we maximize the power of the Demon Gods, isn’t it possible that there will be no war at all?”

“… There’s no way a demon god would have that kind of power. We cannot overpower the gods now that we have already destroyed all the Old Gods by absorbing the power of only one Old God.”

“If you think about it that way, isn’t it possible that the demon god won’t start a war even if he gathers his strength here in the first place? It’s just gaining power, which is nothing special.”

After hearing that, the saintess grabbed Hernán’s face with a rough motion unlike usual.
Like a lover kissing her wildly, she put her mouth on Hernán’s ear.

“Hernan! What does it mean for a demon god to fully control divine power? Doesn’t that mean he can gain faith in the normal way like any other god?”

Even though he couldn’t get proper divine power from the demon, the demons and not a few humans served him.

Of course, among mankind, most of those people are suppressed and disappear, but people who believe in demons keep appearing somewhere.

But what if the Demon God directly handles the divine power?

“People who are dissatisfied with the existing church can go to the Demon God in large numbers. Then the demon will become more powerful. In the end, a power struggle between the gods will be inevitable!”

The saintess now spoke as if pleading.

“I know you’ve had a hard time because of Silnia’s son or the demon’s soul. But… But please, should I use the wish ticket with the whole world in mind?”

Hernan was silent for a moment and stroked Lenny.
The child let out a pleasant breath and slowly slumped in his arms.

Silnia’s son and Sharpie’s daughter also liked it when they were stroked or hugged like this.
Not to mention Potty’s son, and Karine’s twin as well.

Thinking of the children’s faces floating in front of him, he opened his mouth.

“To be honest, I am not very interested in being a king. If Karine wasn’t a princess, she wouldn’t have entered the political arena in the first place, and she wouldn’t have come this far.”

The saintess was silent and listened quietly.

“I am… She always wanted her to be a good husband and father, not much for a world-saving warrior party or a queen consort.”

“Hernan. Being a good head of household is important, but the world the children will live in is also…”

Hernán removed her body from her saintess.

“I will try not to use the wish ticket as much as possible. But I can’t promise not to use it at all.”

He woke up hugging the sleeping Lenny.

“Stop going in. Even the kids will be tired from the night walks so late.”

The saintess bit her lip and looked at Hernán.

A man and a woman carrying each other’s children.
The two stayed like that for a while, confronting each other in a strange atmosphere.

“All right.”

It was the saintess who spoke her words first.
She stood up with a surprisingly calm face.

“I was short-tempered. I will respect the opinion of King Hernan.”

She walked over to Hernán and joined him.

“Then, shall we go down and sleep? You must have been very tired these past few weeks, so let me relieve some of that fatigue.”

“It’s okay. How long has it been since the saintess gave birth to a child…”

“Let’s go. I want to do it too, so I recommend it.”

Hernan looked at Marina’s face.
Her face looked very calm, unlike before.

Did you give up?
That would be great.

“Hernan? If you stand still, it will only be difficult.”

“… Let’s go.”

However, Hernán went down with the saintess, having a premonition that it was not so.

Even on the way down, the saintess was very close to Hernán and talked to her kindly.