Whispers of a Scheming Demon - Chapter 23

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Hydrogen B

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Whispers of a Scheming Demon ◈

Chapter 23: Resolve

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A proposal to abandon his humanity for his daughter. It was not one anyone could easily accept.

After hesitating for a long while, Gaf finally opened his mouth.

“I...”

Johan raised a hand, stopping him.

“You don't need to answer right away. I'll give you time. On the night of the operation, stand before the castle gate if you accept my proposal. If you don't come, I'll assume you've left Ilea.”

Johan turned away.

“Whatever you choose, I will respect it. Make a wise decision.”

Leaving only those words behind, he exited the room.

Johan headed straight for Narak's Forbidden Archive.

There were many things he needed to prepare for the operation.

* * *

Inside a guest room of the lord's castle, an angry shout rang out beyond the door.

“What?! You released the apostate?! What authority do you think you have?”

The owner of that sharp voice was none other than Archbishop Hiles. The usual benevolent smile was gone, leaving only extreme hysteria behind.

“The girl named Ilea was not an apostate. I could not sense a demon, nor even the faintest trace of Demonic Energy.”

Even if a demon noticed something was wrong and fled, a faint trace of Demonic Energy would remain in the host's body.

But Ilea was clean.

There was not a speck of impurity within her.

Shaperia had no choice but to acknowledge her mistake.

“She was innocent. This happened because of my misjudgment, so I wanted to correct it.”

Archbishop Hiles shrieked.

“You stupid bitch!”

Smack!

The archbishop had struck Shaperia across the face.

“The Great Saint Church does not make mistakes! Even if there was an error, it must never become known! Our honor is directly tied to the Great Saint's authority! You have committed a terrible act of blasphemy! As if making a mistake was not enough, you have sullied the Great Saint's name as well!”

Cover up mistakes and preserve appearances.

That was the Great Saint Church's way.

Shaperia was expected to deny her mistake and press on.

She held her flushed cheek.

“Admit your mistakes and correct them. Isn't that what the Great Saint always emphasized?”

The archbishop's face twisted.

“I raised you, a stray, like a proper person, and now you dare to defy me openly! How dare you try to lecture me?!”

Books and documents flew toward Shaperia.

“Get out! Get out of my sight!”

Though struck by the books, Shaperia calmly made the sign of the cross.

“...I will take my leave.”

She turned around and left the office.

Even as she walked down the corridor, the shouts and curses followed her.

Ignoring the humiliation as best she could, Shaperia sank into thought.

‘I should have covered up my mistake?’

They would maintain their authority by tying an innocent person to a torture rack.

It was such a disgusting and ugly method that she could not accept it.

‘That is only the archbishop's view. The Great Saint Church must be different.’

Was it not an organization that always preached justice? Even if some rotten parts existed, its foundation would be pure.

The archbishop's values could not apply to the entire Great Saint Church.

She had to believe that.

Just as Shaperia was about to make the sign of the cross, someone spoke to her.

“You incurred the archbishop's anger because of me.”

A beautiful silver-haired girl was waiting for Shaperia at the end of the corridor.

“You are...”

“My name is Ilea. Until a few hours ago, I was suspected of apostasy.”

A look of self-reproach crossed Shaperia's face. She gave a small bow.

“I am truly sorry. I made an unforgivable mistake.”

Ilea shook her head.

“You reconsidered your judgment, Shaperia. That is a kindness rarely granted to someone as lowly as me. Thank you for finding the courage to do so.”

“Thanks are unnecessary. I only did what I should have.”

“Would everyone else think the same?”

“...Anyone in the Great Saint Church would have acted as I did.”

“I see.”

A shadow fell over Shaperia's face.

Ilea smiled gently and changed the subject.

“That was a needless question. I actually came here for something else.”

“Please, tell me. If you wish to resent me, I will accept it.”

“I have no complaints. Besides, how could I dare speak rudely to a Holy Knight?”

“I have not become a Holy Knight yet. Nor am I of noble birth. You need not be so formal with me.”

Ilea had already roughly noticed Shaperia's status.

Most commoners could not hide their rawness no matter how hard they tried.

Their gait, table manners, pronunciation, choice of words, and more. Unlike nobles, who maintained an artificial dignity even in everyday life, commoners pursued only survival and convenience. The distinction between them was inevitably clear.

The environment one had lived in seeped into them like a personal scent.

Shaperia was no different. She carried the scent of a commoner.

She had hidden it fairly well, but anyone sensitive enough could easily notice it.

Ilea spoke.

“If you are not a noble, then those eyes of yours must be a power bestowed directly by the Great Saint.”

“That is correct. It is not a power I inherited from my parents.”

Shaperia possessed the Appraising Eye, a power that detected demons.

It was the ideal power against demons. Such power was usually passed down through bloodlines, and those with the right of inheritance were treated with respect by all.

In other words, anyone with the Appraising Eye would normally be a noble.

If a commoner possessed it, that person had been chosen as the Great Saint's messenger.

Ilea nodded and murmured softly.

“Now I understand.”

She had memorized every power and family that could threaten her identity.

House Balderian's Demon-Detection Art, House Aeris's Demon-Slaying Soul, House Theon's Mad Demon Constitution, House Tarun's Evil-Extinguishing Holy Spirit Formula, and so on. Yet none of them possessed the power Shaperia had.

Ilea had no way to prepare for it.

She spoke.

“If it is not too rude, could you tell me exactly what kind of power it is?”

Johan had told her it was simply an eye that detected demons, but it might possess another ability as well.

Confusion crossed Shaperia's face.

Ilea responded with a harmless smile.

“It is only ordinary curiosity. You may refuse if you wish.”

After hesitating, Shaperia answered.

“It is a power that finds hidden demons.”

“Then you saw a demon within me.”

“As I said, it was a mistake. I am sorry.”

“Was it really? Look again.”

Ilea stepped closer to Shaperia, until their breaths nearly touched.

“What do you mean, look again...?”

“Go on.”

Ilea lightly clapped her hands.

At the same time, a small formula appeared above Shaperia's head.

Shaperia did not notice.

“What can you see now?”

Ilea's clear blue eyes filled Shaperia's vision.

“I, I do not know.”

“Let me help you.”

A transparent, pristine sea began to ripple.

As though a volcano had erupted from the depths, the surface churned violently.

“Does it look different now?”

Ash crawling up from the depths clouded the sea.

Ilea's eyes were no longer blue.

They were murky and heavy, like an abyss steeped in malice.

Fear and revulsion struck Shaperia.

She shuddered with a groan.

“You can see my true nature through your eyes.”

Ilea was fully revealing her Ghost Soul, the soul of a Witch.

Ordinary eyes could not distinguish a Ghost Soul.

Shaperia was different.

“W-what is that?”

The silver-haired girl before her was not a demon. She was similar, but the difference was great.

“You are looking at a Witch.”

“What are you talking about...?”

“Now that I see it, everyone has underestimated you. Your power is not merely for detection. It goes beyond that. It sees through a target's true nature. Fairies, Witches, even dragons transformed into humans cannot escape those eyes.”

Ilea gave a quiet laugh and added,

“Yet you think they only detect demons. Your ignorance is fortunate for me.”

Shaperia could not understand Ilea's words.

She simply moved by instinct.

She had to eliminate the malice before her.

The moment she gripped her sword hilt, Ilea clapped again.

“That is enough.”

The formula above Shaperia's head vanished.

Ilea spoke.

“Can you see anything now?”

Shaperia shook her head.

“As I said, it was my mistake. You are more innocent than anyone.”

“That is a relief. It was an interesting conversation.”

Shaperia looked at Ilea in confusion.

“Did you not say you had another reason for coming?”

Ilea smiled.

“I just took care of it.”

Shaperia remembered nothing.

One minute of memory had vanished.

It was the Short-Term Memory Erasure Formula. It was advanced magic, but a Witch was more than capable of casting it.

Ilea gave a slight bow.

“I hope we meet again someday.”

Shaperia scratched her head with an uneasy expression.

“...Very well. I hope our next meeting can be for something pleasant.”

“That is an unlikely wish.”

Ilea murmured quietly, then turned away.

With every step she took, the smile disappeared from her face.

Her pale face hardened like wax.

‘What an annoying power.’

Eyes that saw through one's true nature. Shaperia could not use them properly yet, but with time, she would learn.

Even if Ilea did not reveal her Ghost Soul, Shaperia would discover it herself.

She was a truly deadly natural enemy.

* * *

Time passed quickly.

As autumn leaves fell and scattered, a chill filled the territory.

Winter was approaching.

It was a season when farming and hunting were impossible. The people had to survive for several months on stored food, yet their granaries were empty.

The Pilgrimage Party had stayed in the territory for several weeks and stripped it of a great quantity of grain.

As if that were not enough, they demanded enormous offerings.

They held scriptures instead of swords, but they were no different from a band of robbers.

Irritatingly, the Pilgrimage Party began preparing to leave as winter approached. They intended to spend the harsh winter in the prosperous royal capital.

The afternoon before their departure, Johan left the castle early.

At the castle gate, he looked at Rail.

“Do you think Gaf will come?”

No answer returned. Mounted on his horse, the blond knight merely looked down at Johan with dead eyes.

A puppet with no will of his own. Rail was not suitable company for conversation.

Clicking his tongue, Johan searched through his backpack.

‘Let me check my belongings one more time.’

The backpack was full of sacred relics from the Forbidden Archive.

‘I have not forgotten anything.’

He had to use every available means to kill Kryll and Shaperia, then seize the Great Saint's corpse fragment.

It would be difficult. He could not even count on Ilea's help, so mistakes were unacceptable.

Depending on the circumstances, he might have to abandon the Great Saint's corpse itself.