86 – Unwanted Company

For several days, I ate well and rested.

I also treated the sick from the slums who came to the temple, and in the evenings, I spent some leisurely and relaxed time with Iomene, Almene, and Erpa.

I felt like I needed to, just to endure.

The Pantheon, for reasons unknown, offered me not a single word, not a whisper. And Asmodeus’s power, dwelling within my soul, kept its lips sealed, offering no counsel. I felt a desperate need to alleviate this stress in some fashion, just to keep on living.

“Saint! This is the child you healed! He’s grown so much already!”

“I’m glad. Is this the infant I saw back then…this child?”

“Yes! All thanks to you, Saint! We named him Amarelo!”

“Haha… after, after me?”

“Amarelo is the most popular name in the capital now. All thanks to you, Saint.”

But as expected.

The conclusion that I shouldn’t stay here long kept solidifying.

The people’s devotion towards me reached a level that frightened even *me*.

“What is this statue?”

“Jonathan Karma built this structure first during the slum redevelopment project. It’s to honor you, Saint.”

A statue of myself, cradling the collapsed Iomene while gazing at the sky and weeping, stood in the very heart of the slums.

“Saint, invitations continue to arrive from the nobles. Do you have any intention of attending a banquet?”

The nobles were practically clamoring for me to attend their banquets every day, sending mountains of invitations.

“Saint, your mother and father ask if you aren’t going to hold a service?”

“Service?”

“The Order of Grace holds Mass every Sunday. Grand Priest Yodel has been in charge until now, but with you here, shouldn’t you take over? They all wish to hear your sermon, Saint.”

“Almene, I ask this with some trepidation. Have His Imperial Majesty and Her Imperial Majesty perhaps…”

“They became Lilia devotees a few days after you left, Saint. And not just His Majesty. Most of the nobles in the capital have begun to believe in Lilia, too.”

The Emperor and even the nobles were Lilia devotees, you say.

Every Sunday, the Magic Tower Temple and the vast plaza before it were packed to bursting with countless worshippers. Seeing them simultaneously chant my name before reverently clutching the Book of Grace and bowing their heads in prayer, I felt an even deeper unease.

Asmodeus.

How much faith is this damned thing currently siphoning off in real time?

I must escape.

I absolutely cannot allow it to grow any larger.

‘What on earth is the Pantheon doing?’

Asmodeus is blatantly selling the name of the Goddess of Grace and devouring people’s faith. Surely the Pantheon couldn’t be ignorant of this.

Some action should be taken, one would think, but the Pantheon remained silent.

Not a single revelation.

Not a single divine word.

The Chosen One doesn’t descend either.

Even after inquiring with the future god Lufiel’s Order, prophecies and oracles were extremely rare, and the prophecy directed at me was said to be the first one to descend upon the Order in a decade.

So frustrated, I went to the high priests of the Pantheon and asked, but they only smiled bitterly.

“We, too, do not know the specific reason. The gods have been silent for over 300 years already. We can only surmise that something grave has occurred.”

“Still, with the Saintess’s appearance, surely only good things remain.”

“It is clear proof that the gods have begun to look upon humanity again. Saintess.”

No.

It’s not.

You’re all being scammed, every last one of you.

Lilia’s Chosen One, my foot.

The Goddess Herself appeared and declared She would throw me into Hell.

The power of Asmodeus within my soul is, even now, slowly growing like a cancerous tumor, devouring faith.

The gods of the Pantheon, devoid of responsibility, tossed out a single “You’re going to Hell, good luck, lol,” and have remained silently irresponsible ever since.

It’s agonizing.

I’m going insane.

Why me? Why is this happening to me?

In the end, after exactly ten days, I solidified my resolve to leave. I couldn’t stay here any longer.

“Tomorrow. I’m leaving. Don’t look for me. Understand? Absolutely do not look for me.”

Evening.

Lying in bed, I spoke those words, and disappointment flickered across the faces of Iomene, Almene, and Erpa.

But there was no grief like before.

“We will wait, doing our very best, until you return.”

“No. I won’t be coming back.”

“But perhaps you might return, like this time?.”

“We will wait, prepared for that time.”

My girlfriends seemed to have a pretty good idea of how I was going to act from now on.

*You say you won’t come back, but you’ll stir up trouble and then come back to hug us, right?* Their expressions seemed to ask.

I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad at their expressions.

I stroked the heads of the three women and kissed them.

“Be happy.”

“Yes, that’s it.”

Perhaps it’s better they misunderstand.

I did my utmost to make them happy.

And in the pre-dawn hours of that day, as they slumbered soundly,

I slipped silently from the bed.

Unremarkable clothes, the kind that wouldn’t draw suspicion.

My rocket-shaped psychic amplifier.

With these two things, I was ready.

Food?

I could always recover my nutrition through body modification.

Shelter?

I only intended to create living space that was good enough to sleep under trees or caves.

If I truly craved a meal, I could hunt for it, I supposed.

I planned to avoid all contact with people, entirely.

I wouldn’t go to the market, wouldn’t set foot in a village.

I would live, silent as a mouse, in the most uninhabited place I could find.

I needed to steel my heart.

The Demon King was growing within my soul.

If it matured completely…

A true catastrophe.

“I love you. All of you. And I’m sorry.”

After carefully kissing the sleeping faces of my three loves, I choked down the rising tide of emotion and opened the locket containing the rocket on my neck.

The familiar hum of the psychic amplifier activating vibrated against my skin.

Now, I just needed to use time stop and get out of here…

[FUCKING SHIT!!!]

A roar suddenly echoed in my mind, so loud I nearly lost my footing and stumbled.

What?

Where is that coming from?

[Those three lying naked in the bed!! I can sense it!! They’re not virgins!!]

I hastily froze time and took a deep breath.

Surely not…

This, surely…

“Ah, Asmodeus?”

[What in the blazes is that? Whatever it is, let’s get out of this room, pronto! The stench of non-virginity is practically suffocating me!! I’m about to hurl, so hurry!!]

“Asmodeus… are you not?”

[My last memory is of those human b*stards hammering magic and metal into my hide. Never once have I been called Asmodeus. And speaking of, are they torturing me?! What are you waiting for?! Get those non-virgins out of here!! Let’s go somewhere they aren’t!!]

“Who are you?”

[I’m hanging around your neck, dimwit.]

I glanced down.

The only thing around my neck is the Psychic Amplifier.

“…You’re the one talking?”

[Yes! Just get out of this room, please!! I feel like I’m going to puke!! I’m going insane because of those non-virgins!!]

“But how…? This… this is impossible.”

Should I take it to Archmage Jürgen for an appraisal?

A Psychic Amplifier that talks?

What kind of preposterous situation is this now?

[I… I can’t take the non-virgin scent any longer… Uwaaagh. Errrrrrrgh.]

The vivid sound of retching echoed in my head in real-time, and I had to scrunch my face in disgust.

I needed to get out of this room.

Even after we left, the Psychic Amplifier kept hacking and retching for a good long while, only stopping after what felt like an eternity.

[…Never. Never show me non-virgins again. Those three women just now!! All experienced, every last one!! Their hearts, bodies, and spirits were utterly tainted by male essence!!]

“Just what are you?”

[What do you think I am?! Can’t you tell how much agony I am suffering? I’m a unicorn!!]

A unicorn?

Wait a moment.

Now that I think about it…

Archmage Jürgen did say he’d crafted the Psychic Amplifier from a unicorn’s horn.

But how could something that only had its neural pathways extracted regain a consciousness?

Is that even possible?

“How? You didn’t have a body, you were just extracted neural pathways! How could you regain consciousness again?”

[I too am exceedingly surprised right now. I cannot fathom how I possess a self.]

I began to trudge through the stagnant time.

Something felt…off.

Even when wielding the Psychic Amplifier, I always felt a drain when halting time. But now, there was no mental exertion whatsoever.

Even as I was confounded by this unfamiliar sensation, the unicorn continued to mutter in a grave voice.

[Occasionally, among unicorns, I have seen those who died in places brimming with spiritual energy, their bodies shed, wandering as spirits. But no matter how I ponder it, it seems unlikely that I would be exposed to such potent spiritual energy in the human realm.]

“Spiritual energy?”

[Aye. A place imbued with divinity. Unicorns exposed to such places sometimes become spirits. My current state seems exceedingly similar to that.]

Ah…

Is that why?

“There have been some recent events involving exposure to intense divinity. Perhaps that’s how you regained your self.”

[When I died at the hands of humans, I thought it was the eternal end. Ha ha ha!! To think I can continue my quest to seek out virgins! I am a fortunate one!]

Listening to this creature’s unsolicited ramblings, a question suddenly arose.

“So… why did you die in the first place?”

At my words, the unicorn raised its voice, as if boasting.

[I was searching for a mare to breed with. When I arrived at a place called the humans’ stable, I found many mares. Virgin mares who had yet to experience a stallion, at that!! I resolved to mate with all the virgin mares in the village!! And I succeeded in copulating with twelve mares in the village in a mere ten minutes!]

“…Ten minutes… you had relations with twelve mares? Is that even possible?”

[I only… plugged each of them once.]

“…”

[Once I’ve plugged them, they’re no longer virgins. I never plug them again. One plug and I’m done. That’s it. I never have relations with that mare again. That’s why unicorns are so few in number. Because we never have relations with the same one twice!]

I gaped, dumbstruck.

Was this really the legendary unicorn I’d heard tell of?

Its preference for virgins was beyond excessive!

“What does that have to do with being exterminated?”

[I coupled with mares and killed all of the stallions.]

“…”

[It is far better that no other being in this world exists that can take a virginity other than me. Among the stallions I slew was one that the local lord cherished, so a subjugation party was formed. I fought valiantly, but in the end… well… still, I have no regrets. I did get to plug twelve virgin mares last.]

Listening to its nonchalant prattle, my head began to throb slightly.

I had planned to live in seclusion, alone, for the rest of my life, but thanks to this creature, I wouldn’t be lonely.

[What a pity!! I can no longer even consider coupling with a virgin mare!!]

The problem was, I didn’t particularly *want* to talk to the creature.

Should I be glad? Or mournful?