Translator: Nox

47 - Marquis Maron

Episode 47

“Cyril.”

“Trust me and my men.”

What’s more, there was even a Cardinal dispatched directly from the Order.

One might wonder why a Cardinal would be in a rural area rather than the capital, but Enif was the closest city to the Contaminated Zone in Kasnatura and a place frequented by the most devout farmers. Therefore, the Order paid special attention to its management.

“Cyril, there’s something I’m curious about.”

“Anything, please ask.”

“You don’t have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. I don’t want to upset you because of my curiosity.”

“Haha, Asta. There’s probably nothing you could do that would ever upset me.”

“How close were you to Sorceress Hayley?”

Hayley.

As that name escaped Asta’s lips, the expression on Cyril’s face, which had been adorned with a beautiful smile, vanished in an instant.

He hastily tried to feign composure, but Asta didn’t miss the fear he had betrayed.

“Hayley was…”

Cyril couldn’t open his mouth easily. He could have brushed it off by saying he didn’t want to answer, but he couldn’t do that, especially since it was Asta who had asked.

He said in a low voice, as if in great pain, “The woman who loved me.”

“Loved you?”

“I thought we were friends. But at some point, she became obsessed with the power of Demons… By the time I realized it, she had already become an irrevocably evil being.”

“Cyril.”

“It’s my fault. I should have stopped Hayley by any means before she became like that.”

“It’s not your fault.”

However, even as she comforted Cyril, Asta had one very strong question.

‘All the evil deeds that Hayley committed in Nieve benefited you. But you really didn’t know anything?’

She wanted to ask. But the pain etched on Cyril’s face was too deep, so she could only comfort him silently.

“It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

Asta thought to herself that she would have to find out the truth through other means.

In Cyril’s eyes, as he looked at her, an unbearable anxiety was taking root.

Cyril’s confident assertion that Demons would never appear was proven wrong. Before a day had even passed, a farmer ran to the gates of Enif, weeping that a monster had appeared in his house.

The monster was a Demon. And also the farmer’s wife.

Being poor, they couldn’t afford the expensive land near Enif, so they lived by farming little by little on the border of the Contaminated Zone. As a result, not only did they have to carry their meager crops all the way to Enif every time, but merchants would often cheat them out of their worth, saying that the crops came from near the Contaminated Zone.

The farmer’s wife gritted her teeth. Just a little more work, just a little more saving, and we can get out of here.

She went deeper and deeper every day to gather herbs, and then suddenly, she became a Demon.

“Please save her! Please save her! My wife doesn’t know anything. Where is the Cardinal? Please, save my wife! Please!”

The sound of the farmer weeping on the ground filled the streets of Enif. People pitied him, but they were afraid of catching the tainted energy and didn’t dare to approach him.

“The Cardinal will help you, so please wait a little longer.”

The Holy Knights of the Order only repeated the word ‘wait’ to the farmer. But until the farmer, exhausted from crying, vomited blood from his throat, the Cardinal’s expensive face could not be seen.

Then Asta mounted a horse.

“Where is the location?”

Her hood slipped down, and her beautiful hair fluttered in the wind. Receiving everyone’s attention, Asta shouted, “I am Asta Rosa, Princess of Kasnatura! Ventus! Show yourself, for we must subjugate a Demon!”

Whoooooosh.

From the vast plains, from the sky that touched them, a huge bird appeared. It was the King of Wind Spirits, with wings as white as clouds.

[Asta. My contractor.]

“Let’s go, a Demon has appeared!”

[Finally!]

Ventus roared in great anger and soared high into the sky. Then, he began to fly at a rapid pace towards the place where the Demon had appeared.

“Follow me!”

Asta led the way, followed by Cyril and his knights. The citizens of Enif cheered and engraved the Princess’s name in their hearts.

Now that things had come to this, the Order could no longer remain silent.

* * *

I found out about the Demon’s appearance in Enif.

With Rango’s help, I entered Enif, gave a fake name, and secured a place in an inn. Unfortunately, less than a day later, I heard that a Demon had appeared.

Reikart came running quickly and said, “Let’s go.”

“Why?”

“Why?”

When I asked why I had to go, he asked me why I didn’t want to go.

We stood staring at each other blankly for a while before saying at the same time, “It’s easily solved if you just extract the Magic Core.”

“I might get exposed as the evil Sorceress Hayley and have my head chopped off.”

Oops. Reikart quickly nodded, realizing he hadn’t considered that.

“That’s true. Let’s not go.”

“Asta will take care of it anyway. The King of Wind Spirits will be fighting with all his might, so I’d just be a hindrance if I went.”

“I’ll go alone.”

“Why you again?”

“I’ll subjugate the Demon, kill Cyril Vandision, and then go home.”

To my ears, it sounded like he was saying, ‘Let’s buy corn, buy carrots, and buy a chicken to take home.’

It seemed like my Omnivore wanted to catch the Demon, but I thought there was no need to worry since Asta and Cyril were there together.

This world is ultimately a novel that exists for the protagonists. No matter how great the Demon is, what can a one-time extra do in a place where the female lead and the male lead are together?

“I understand your concern that people might die, but we have other things to do.”

“What things?”

Reikart asked. He had now reached a point where he wouldn’t really object or oppose no matter how absurd the things I was about to do were, so I could be honest.

“There’s something I need to steal from the temple.”

“What is it?”

“A list of the people who have been thrown into the Contaminated Zone by the Enif diocese so far.”

Reikart was momentarily speechless, staring into the air. It seemed like he was weighing which was more important, subjugating the Demon or securing the list.

I wouldn’t have stopped him even if he had said that going to catch the Demon was the priority.

“Let’s go.”

But Reikart reached out his hand to me.

“Did you find out where they hid it in the temple?”

“Rango told me.”

“It’s dangerous, so have that assassin go and steal it alone.”

“He has to follow Asta.”

Rango wanted to stay in Enif and steal the list instead of participating in the Demon subjugation.

But I advised him that if Rango didn’t step up bravely at times like this, he wouldn’t be able to maintain the ‘excommunicated but righteous priest’ role he had set up.

Because someone would be suspicious.

And one more thing.

I grinned as I belatedly watched the Cardinal and the Holy Knights begin to march down the street.

“They’re all going to follow, aren’t they? The temple will be empty.”

“Ah…”

“The Princess of Kasnatura has revealed her name and set out to subjugate the Demon, so what will people think if the Order just stands by and watches? They have to follow and kneel down and pray as a group.”

“Will that be effective?”

“I don’t know.”

I don’t remember reading any passages about God responding to them, so maybe God bought silicone earplugs to avoid hearing their prayers because He resented them.

We had to leave Enif quickly after stealing the list, so we had already loaded a lot of things onto the wagon.

Now there’s no need to worry about anyone starving to death in Maron Keep. Because we succeeded in growing potatoes!

“Let’s go.”

I took Reikart’s hand and stepped out into the street. The temple could be seen in the distance. The roof was round and high.