Chapter 1: Do You Admit Your Guilt? I Admit You’re a Fool!
“[Stella, sister.]”
I wanted to say, “Please go away, I feel like I’m going to lose my mind every time I see you.”
No, I had already been saying that continuously through my words and actions.
It was just that Aria kept calling me.
Why was she calling me?
Was she going to get angry?
Was she planning to yell at me for ruining everything because of my foolishness?
Perhaps she was going to mock me for acting like I could go up against a high-ranking demon with such pathetic skills, despite not being able to face her properly.
Or maybe she was simply calling to tell me to take responsibility.
…
No, it couldn’t be that.
I actually knew.
I had a very good idea of what Aria wanted to say to me.
It was a fact that was clear to me from the way she had been for the past week, even though I had only realized it recently.
There was no way I could be unsure of what she would say.
I just wished I didn’t know.
If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t have to feel this way.
It would have been better if I were a bit more blunt.
“Stop it… Please don’t call me anymore… Just… please…”
I would rather she hated me.
If she looked down at me with a cold expression and erased that kind smile, it might have soothed my heart.
The fact that I was pushing away the first person who had shown me kindness would tear my heart apart, but at least I could think it was because of my actions, so it would be somewhat easier on my heart.
But…
But still.
“Please don’t look at me like that…”
Isn’t it a bit too much to look at me with an expression full of pity?
Why in the world are you looking sorry for me…?
Why!
“[I’m sorry… Stella, sister.]”
Why am I the one who should be apologizing yet she is the one apologizing first?
Why!
“I would rather you hate me… Just don’t forgive me…”
If that were the case, I could have kept my heart easy.
Why is she apologizing to me when I’m the one who caused this…?
I just wanted to tell her to be angry.
I wanted to tell her not to forgive me.
But Aria didn’t let me say such things.
…
“…”
“[Stella, you did nothing wrong. It’s my inadequacy that caused this…]”
That can’t be…
The opponent is a demon.
I’ve read in books that even if it takes on human form, it’s a high-ranking demon… No matter how strong a saint’s divine power, it would never be easy to confront a high-ranking demon alone.
If that were not the case, she wouldn’t have been having such a hard time dealing with it from the magical perspective.
Yet Aria was comforting me by shifting my fault to her own.
“Ugh… Hah…”
My vision began to blur.
Her arms were so small compared to me.
In fact, the size difference was enough for me to hold Aria tightly.
‘… Like a mother.’
Was this how my mother’s embrace felt before she passed away, when I was still able to think?
Despite the huge size difference, I felt warm as if I were in my mother’s arms.
I couldn’t contain the rising emotions.
Honestly, saying my heart was at ease was a lie.
In either case, I would probably feel like my heart was being torn apart.
Though we’ve only known each other for a short time, I felt a family-like connection that I had never experienced before.
For me, Aria was someone like family.
I had met someone who saw me as I truly was, not as a cog in the Magic Tower’s research or an adventurer who could die at any moment.
Of course, to Aria, I might just have been a roommate she would be spending time with in the future.
However, she still showed kindness even to someone like me.
She threw herself for someone no different from others.
Though it was only for a day, she felt like someone family-like to me.
I had hurt someone like that.
It would be an action I could justifiably hate, even if it were family.
I completely ruined things with my foolish mistake, causing immense pain that could almost lead to death, yet Aria was still being kind to me like family.
“Ugh, huh… Hwaaah…”
In the end, I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore.
Tears I had thought had dried up, something I had never cried out in my life, were flowing from my eyes.
I was overwhelmed with emotions I had never experienced, feelings swirling within me that I could not control.
Emotions I had bottled up my whole life gushed out like a flood.
“[You can cry as much as you want. It has been hard for you, hasn’t it?]”
It wasn’t.
Compared to Aria, I probably hadn’t had it that hard.
For a wizard who had lived a life of pride, it was too much to bear.
But for today…
For today, I just wanted to stay like this.
For today, I wanted to be comforted.
For today… let’s just stay like this.
“Yeah…”
But…
I shouldn’t just act like a child.
Aria is a saint.
She is someone who will one day defeat the Demon King and bring peace to this world.
If I wanted to stand beside her, I shouldn’t be a burden, at least.
‘A burden…?’
Right now, the only thing I could do.
To ensure this never happens again, the only choice before me was clear.
“I… will do my best.”
I vaguely remembered the magic of the great wizard that had appeared not long ago.
A transcendent magic that accomplished its will merely by speaking, manipulating the world itself.
It was the ‘unique magic’ that could only be created by one who had attained the realms of the great wizard.
The goal was set.
I vowed inside myself that I would definitely achieve my goal.
*
In a dark room.
In the center, a dark-skinned humanoid demon filled with all manner of restraints was panting as it sat in a chair.
“Ugh…”
There was a man watching the demon with a look of annoyance.
Holding a mace to judge heresy, the man clicked his tongue while glaring at the demon before him.
“Damn demon bastards… they can never take a good path.”
“Khaha… a lowly human who lived a life caked in the peace of the era, never having seen a demon… Kuhaak…!!”
“That’s true. It is my first time seeing a demon.”
“Ugh… ugh…”
The demon looked down at its severed arm with trembling eyes.
Divine power was pouring out from the severed end, forcing its body to revert with divine energy, causing it pain.
“But you know…”
The man walked closer to the demon, staring into its eyes filled with insanity.
“Even without being a demon, there are plenty of bastards like you lying around.”
Those who judge heresy, to be more precise, their targets were black wizards or demon worshippers.
Naturally, even if it wasn’t a real demon, he had seen countless human beings who were demon-like.
He was well accustomed to dealing with such people.
“Just confess quickly. Then you can go comfortably to the side of the divine, and I’ll get my information… it’s a win-win, isn’t it?”
“…”
“Seriously. You won’t listen to reason, huh?”
“Kuhaak…!!”
“Ha… no matter how strong a demon it may be, there’s no way it could create such finely crafted barriers as to deceive even a great wizard…”
Just as it was more painful for a human with divine power to accept the demon’s magic into their body, the reverse was also true for demons.
The only reason he chose such a method of torture was solely because the saint, whom he fully respected, Aria, had suffered from such an attack from a demon; it was a painful method.
Still, despite receiving pain that would almost make one faint, the demon kept its mouth shut.
The man’s expression grew more complicated.
“Well then, I must increase the intensity of the torture…”
Then it happened.
“Khukuku…”
The demon let out a low chuckle.
“What’s this, what’s going on…” the man turned to the demon with a look of unease.
To be precise, his heart region was filled with an ominous energy.
“Though… ugh… the mission has failed, I’ll at least take you with me…!!”
Wait a minute,
The man, sweating coldly, turned toward the tube connected to the divine energy.
Could it be…
‘Did it transfer its magic using divine power?!’
It couldn’t move freely thanks to the restraints, resulting in it being guided by divine power.
A carved amethyst jewel began to protrude from the demon’s chest, and a magic circle spread open.
The man wasn’t a wizard, but he could at least tell this magic was extraordinary.
“Watch over me, Demon King!!”
As the demon’s voice filled with evil rang out, the amethyst began to shine darkly and was about to explode.
‘What the…’
For some reason, the magic did not activate.
The demon, breaking into a cold sweat, was about to speak.
‘Words… won’t come out…?!’
This is…
This phenomenon is…
This magic…!!
“What is this.”
The moment the voice was heard, the demon’s consciousness froze in place.
It was the voice of someone who shouldn’t be here.
“Ah, Argen-sama…!”
“Indeed… did you almost die just now? I was curious and came, and it seems I made it just in time.”
“Th-thank you…”
Again…
Again this magic…!
No, it can’t be!
I can’t let it go like this!
How have I hidden it!!
‘Grrr…!!’
“It’s useless. I’ve only stopped the flow of time in your body. You were in danger, but at least I’ve avoided a troublesome matter.”
The pink-haired girl, Argen Isis, bit down on the candy she had been sucking on, then moved her empty finger.
As she did, the amethyst jewel protruding from the demon’s chest was pulled out and flew into Argen’s hand.
The demon stared in disbelief.
“What… shall I take a look at what you know…?”
The girl said this and brought her hand with the magic circle close to the demon’s head.
‘N-no way…!!’
Realizing what she was about to do, the demon struggled with all its might to escape, but since the time of its body had stopped, it was impossible.
With wide-open eyes, on the verge of losing everything it knew, the demon’s eyes rolled back.
‘Kraaaak!!! Damn you, you bitch!!!!’
However, no voice came out.
Argen laughed mockingly at the demon’s desperate state.
“You’re going to endure a time far more terrible than the pain you inflicted on the saint Aria. Be careful; your mind might crumble from the torment.”
At last, the magic hit the demon’s head, and it lost consciousness.
“Well… it’s not my concern.”
It was a pathetic end for a high-ranking demon.
