Chapter 802 – Contempt

000

Cleon’s eyes, and all of Cleon’s sense organs, were telling him that the girl in front of him was Albaine.

When he was an adventurer, Cleon analyzed Albain’s habits, behavior, and small preliminary movements that even he himself did not notice in order to prevent him from going on a rampage.

And – above all, the weak but certain divine magic that can be felt in his body, and the attitude of not reflecting even if he makes a mistake.

On the contrary, from her attitude of trying to take her place and attack him when questioned, Cleon was convinced that she was Albaine.

“I feel bad… How did you know?”

Albaine turned to Cleon, who immediately recognized her even though her appearance had changed so much. She made a sharp accusation, and while Cleon realized her identity and was momentarily embarrassed, he loosened his collar and attacked her.

Of course, there was a dead end wall behind it, so you wouldn’t be able to escape as long as Cleon was blocking the way.

Cleon thinks.

Just a while ago, Remilia told a story about Albain.

Remilia said that Albaine was captured by the Exile Church and subjected to various human experiments.

She also said that in order to thwart the Exile Church’s plan, she placed a powerful curse on Albaine.

Then, if the curse is to change a person’s gender like it was done for other humans, then it is understandable that Albain became a woman.

What I didn’t understand, however, was why a guy who was supposed to be held captive by the Expulsion Church came all the way to Asteris in the Eastern Country and was doing work related to ghosts.

If the thoughts reach that point – Cleon is talking.

“… Did you decide to cooperate with the exiled church? Albain.”

As Cleon’s eyes suddenly became fierce, a significant level of magical power emanated from him.

The amount of magical power was such that a normal person would feel the pressure of a large rock pressing down on his entire body just by getting close to him, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he fell.

＂Tsk, tsk…!＂

And although Alvain was also somewhat resistant to such magical pressure, he felt his legs trembling due to Cleon’s black magic that instantly enveloped his body.

‘W-what is this guy… I thought he got a little stronger…’

In addition to his reduced stature as his body became a woman, Albaine did not like the fact that he had to look up at Cleon because of his height.

As he released magical pressure, he felt as if Cleon was standing in his way like a huge mountain, pressing down on him.

‘Damn… Is there really that much of a difference…!? That guy and me!?’

The biggest thing that Albain learned in the northern camp was knowing the difference between his own strength and that of others, and how to survive at a basic level. It may have been a remarkable growth.

What he felt the most was the fact that his enemy, Cleon, was tearing his pride to pieces.

But… In this situation where he was cornered in an alley, and the difference in power he felt, he could never have thought that he would be able to break through from the front and get him out of here.

Then─

＂Yeah, right…! But I couldn’t help it! Look at me! How it has changed!”

Albain suddenly knelt down in front of Cleon and pointed to himself.

It was a pitiful sight, as if a sinner regretting his sins was confessing his sins to a priest.

＂The devil who kidnapped me… And the exile church that kidnapped me from that devil again…! They said it! If you want to return to your original form, cooperate! So, I had no choice…!”

＂There is no choice. Ghosts were released into places where people lived. Is this what you mean?”

When Cleon said that, Albaine nodded his head.

And he took out something cylindrical from the bag he was carrying.

Inside, there were several magical bodies shining in various colors, and what was felt inside was something similar to a ghost.

＂…!＂

“If you inject this into a ley line, ghosts will be created artificially from there. To some extent, this guy listens to our orders… Basically, he only gives orders to run wild…”

At that time, Albain stopped his words when he saw Cleon clenching one of his fists so tightly that it hurt.

This is because it would not be strange if he was swayed by him right now.

Cleon also wanted to punch Albain in the face to shut him up, but if he did so, he might accidentally drop the cylinder and release the magical energy that is the source of the ghosts inside.

“You know, Cleon. We were colleagues at one point, right? Huh? Won’t you take me to Kuon? If it’s Kuon, we’ll be able to do something about this curse…! Well, even Lila is fine!”

The moment he said his colleague’s name, Cleon had goosebumps all over his body and had to endure nausea.

What? This is. Are you really a human being like yourself? If not – is it something else disguised as a human?

Holding back his anger as much as possible, Cleon waved his hand, and Albain, who thought it was a direct attack on him, closed his eyes tightly and mentally prepared himself to endure the pain that would follow, but-

What came was not pain, but a feeling of being confined as my limbs became heavy.

Cleon’s limbs were restrained with chains of black magic.

＂W-what?!＂

And I couldn’t help but watch as Cleon approached him and forcibly took his cylinder.

＂Albain… Did you fall that far…＂

＂… Ugh…!＂

The look on which Cleon looked at himself was the same as the look of contempt that Cuon had shown before when he was disappointed in himself.

When Alvain tried to forcefully attack Kuon, the expression he showed before Cleon appeared and knocked him unconscious.

An expression that cannot be seen unless disgust for him wells up from deep within, as if looking at filth rather than a person.

＂… What… Are you looking at me that way too…!＂

Albaine immediately became excited and raised his voice, but the next moment, seeing Cleon draw his sword once again, he closed his mouth again.

“What you did was a terrorist act that, if done wrong, could result in numerous victims? You do not understand the gravity of the sin of artificially creating a ghost, so you have no right to ask for forgiveness from anyone.”

＂Wait!? Are you going to kill me!? I am a human from Duke Tromeia! He is the son of Setos Tromeia! If you kill me, you become an enemy of the Duke family!”

“─So?”

Cleon said that and brought the sword close to Albaine’s neck.

“I become an enemy of the Tromeia family, Alvain. If you think about the tragedy caused by the harm you cause to this world while you are alive. It’s not worth comparing which one is more serious.”

‘This guy… I’m serious! Unlike back then, he is seriously thinking of killing me…!

In the past, during the last duel in Elessia, I was somehow able to survive.

It wasn’t until much later that I realized that it was because Cleon had played a role.

But now, in Cleon’s eyes, Albain was no longer his former colleague or anything else – he was a tumor itself that brought harm to the world.

“I heard it from the demon who kidnapped you. You have an important role to play in Adam’s plan. So they are taking you with them and trying to lift the curse on your body.”

“You! Then you couldn’t kill that demon!?”

Albain listens to Cleon’s words and is surprised and angry at the same time, scolding Cleon.

“I didn’t kill him. Sealed.”

“Why!? It’s normal to kill demons on sight! You useless guy! If you had killed that demon, I would have returned to my original self, not this ugly one!!”

＂Shut up!＂

This time, when Cleon threatened, Albain had no choice but to keep his mouth shut due to the force of his words.

＂… I’m begging you, please shut up… That mouth that blames any misfortune given to you on others…! “You can’t admit your own mistakes or mistakes, even once!?”

Albain thinks after hearing Cleon’s words.

＇You did something wrong? I? What? Are you saying that they should have killed you instead of expelling you then? Otherwise… You were trying to violate Kuon? It was strange because you interfered, but if you look at the cause, it’s your fault, Cleon! You, you, disguised your demon sword as a human and deceived me…! It’s you who committed the real crime, not me!

─, He shouted in his mind, desperately rationalizing himself in his mind by saying that he was not at fault.

“… Your curse will not be lifted. If the curse is lifted, that’s exactly what the Exile Church wants. And I won’t let you out of here alive. I’m sorry Kuon, but… I can’t stand your presence anymore.”

“Damn it…! Damn it! Stop it! Don’t come near me! This murderer!!”

Her desperate screams rang out, but Cleon tried to slash at her with his sword.

That is, if there was no interference.

Kaang! When Cleon thought he heard a sound, he felt something moving towards the top of the wall that blocked the end of the alley.

Looking at him with a frown on his face, Cleon couldn’t help but look surprised once again.

＂What…!?＂

It was standing there too.

A girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and clothes that make it easy to move around-

That face was the same as Albain’s who was kneeling in front of him, but I should say it had a slightly sharper expression-

At least, it seemed reasonable and intelligent.

And what she was holding in her hand, with various mechanical parts emitting blue light attached to it, stretched out like a civilian sword, and struck Cleon’s sword from a distance.

“I thought one of the clones was persistently pursuing the person responsible for the exorcism. It looks like there was a problem with personality reset.”

＂What, what…?＂

Even Albaine, who was on her knees, looks up at her as if she doesn’t know what happened, and is surprised to see that there is a face just like hers.

However, with her eyes focused, she quietly looked at the cylinder Cleon was holding in her hand and clicked her tongue.

“In addition… Until the dominant cylinder is taken away by the enemy… We need to recover problematic objects.”

With that said, as she extended her plainsword towards her bound Albane, Cleon quickly unleashed her magic to block yet another Albane.

“Wait! I think I’ll leave it that way-“

However, the divine magic that spread from that plain sword neutralizes Cleon’s dark magic.

＂This sacred magic power is… A holy sword? “A sword made by such a machine?”

In an unexpected situation, when Cleon’s magic becomes weak due to neutralization, the plain sword grabs Albaine’s body and breaks her chains.

Then, she retrieved Albaine using her plainclothes sword and spoke while looking down at Cleon.

“A magic swordsman who connects the stars. You have your role. There is no need to waste time killing unnecessary people in a place like this.”

“Wait! What on earth are you…!? Aren’t you Alvain too?!”

“I am also Alvain. But… This is not the Alvain you knew. That also applies to this entity.”

As she tried to disappear while leaving behind those words, Cleon tried to use her magic to stop her.

But-

[Beep!]

And the sound of a flute being played was heard.

It was the sound of the Banguidae announcing the appearance of a ghost.

＂…＂

At such perfect timing, Cleon glared at her, perhaps convinced that it was another Alvain who had summoned it.

“Whatever you were planning… I won’t let the Exile Church destroy Asteris.”

“It’s a story we can’t do anything about, even if we tell it. Because the gears that move the world’s fate are already moving violently and cannot be stopped.”

Cleon didn’t even watch her disappear beyond the wall and ran towards the place where the sound of her flute came from.

001

In the end, on the first day of the Five Elements Festival, we ran around Asteris and exorcised ghosts repeatedly, until the sun set.

The ghost that appeared last was quite large, and had characteristics that made it seem as if all the ghosts I had faced so far were all merged into one. Fortunately, by collaborating with the three half-ghost sisters, we were able to exorcise it without any major accidents. Br〉

And at the same time, as the sun disappeared beyond the horizon, the trees growing in Asteris began to emit a mysterious light.

＂This?＂

As Cleon finishes her final fight and returns her sword to its sheath, Aine looks around and explains to Cleon.

＂It is the light of the Five Elements Seal. The magical power of light built up while the sun is up during the day suppresses ghosts from appearing at night. It is a power that is only used during the Five Elements Festival when flowers are blooming on the trees.”

“Ha, but the consumption of magical power is so high that I can only maintain it at night. We can rest at night too.”

＂Yes, yes! Still, it doesn’t mean ghosts don’t appear completely, so government troops strengthen patrols during the night!”

After listening to the three sisters explain in turn, Cleon nodded, relieved that he could rest a little.

In the end, I searched around Asteris to see if Albaine would appear again, but she did not appear again.

It seemed like Albain’s appearance being exposed in the first place was something outside their plan.

I told Aine about her contact with Alvain, but they also said they have not been able to see the blonde girl since then, so it would be difficult to find them without a full-fledged search operation.

“Either way, everyone worked hard today. … There was no movement on the part of the Expulsion Church unless it was related to Alvain… I will ask you to take good care of me tomorrow as well.”

＂It’s us, so please take care of us. Mr. Cleon.”

After exchanging encouraging greetings, Cleon relieved himself of his duties as the protagonist of the Nama ceremony and took off her mask, replacing it with her usual glasses.

‘Kuon said he would stay at the temple during the festival… Should I buy something related to the festival for the children waiting at home…’

Feeling the same way as her father coming home from work, Cleon, walking toward the market, suddenly stops in front of a building with a sign that he would normally have ignored.

It was a rather shabby building with an old sign saying ‘Dongbang Newspaper’.

＂…＂

Come to think of it – I was so busy with work that I forgot, but in the end, Noctis didn’t come after me after that.

Well, since I had such a scary experience, it would have been a normal decision to take it easy.

It was at that time that Cleon was about to pass by the newspaper office, thinking that it would be nice if there were no strange articles published in the newspaper the next day.

＂No matter what anyone said! I’m not going to write anything negative about the protagonist of the exorcism! Pugh!”

Craddangtang! Something jumped down the stairs of the building, making a sound, almost as if it was falling, and ran outside, crashing into Cleon’s side and hitting his buttocks.

＂Ugh…＂

Cleon frowned for a moment due to the shock and vibrations echoing through his body, but then he realized that the person who had bumped into him was Noctis, who had taken off his hat unlike before.

＂… What are you doing?＂

＂S-sorry… Uh…?＂

Noctis raises his head after hearing Cleon’s voice and makes eye contact with Cleon, who is wearing glasses unlike before.

＂… Lord, Lord!?＂

She let out a panicked voice, but a man’s voice rang out from behind her.

“Noctis! Come back!”

＂…! Now, why don’t you go somewhere with me for a moment!”

Saying that, Noctis suddenly grabbed Cleon’s hand and ran towards the crowded market.

Cleon himself would have been able to resist, but she seemed to be somewhat impatient and thought, ‘There’s nothing I can do,’ and went with her.