T/N: Enjoy~!
Excerpt from Chapter 93:
“But, Madam Demirdin.”
“…Yes, Your Holiness.”
“What were you doing here?”
Once I said that, she wasn’t the only one who began to panic.
***
At my question, Countess Demirdin was at loss for words. She bit her lips, and her ears flushed intensely, then she bowed her head even lower.
“Was my question too difficult?”
“No, it’s not that…”
“Then let me change the question.”
Behind me stood not only Reneben but priests whom I had never seen before today. I glanced at them and spoke, not just to Countess Demirdin but everyone present.
“Do you know why I am here?”
Of course, they did. Those who were supposed to be assisting their respective kings and emperors in governing their lands were instead getting drunk on drugs and indulging in festivities.
The problem is that each nation tactically supported these dens of corruption but…there was no need to bring that up now.
“…N,No, I don’t…”
“Is that so? That’s too bad.”
“Y-Your Holiness…!”
I spun around and she hurriedly called out to me. However, she was no longer my concern.
As I walked closer to the priests, and Titeine approached and said.
“The Paladins are said to be arriving soon.”
“That’s good news.”
The reason I had been stalling was because the paladins, who were necessary for us to use force, had been deployed elsewhere.
Apparently, a strong demon appeared, forcing them to deploy all paladins to provide reinforcements.
“Lady Emilone.”
“Yes, Reneben?”
“Shouldn’t you tell us now what you want us to do?”
“…”
There was a dark mage below us. My role was to make sure he could not run away.
Given the commotion we had already caused, he may have already fled but considering what I saw of him earlier, I doubt he would ever run away first.
Especially when he had already directed his people to orchestrate this entire hostage situation.
“What you should do, huh.”
Just then, the path we had taken earlier opened, and knights clad in white armor stepped inside. Their faces were tense, but it looked more like nervousness at meeting the Saintess rather than tension about the situation itself.
“Knight Jerite, defender of his country, pays his respects to God’s grace, Saintess Emilone!”
A man, who looked like the highest ranking among the knight walked over, with quivering shoulders and fell on his knees, just like the priests did earlier.
Feeling awkward, I glanced at Titeine only for him to clear his throat and look away.
In the end, I sighed, realizing that they were all fellows of the same temple. Since he was following proper etiquette, then I should be proper in return.
I knelt before the man who had introduced himself as Jerite and spoke.
“May God’s grace rest upon you.”
Then, I placed a brief kiss on his forehead.
I wonder how many times the previous Saints did this. By that I mean, blessing the clergy when they knelt before you.
Granting a blessing meant sharing the Saintess’ divine power with the clergy. It meant giving them a portion of your power, even if it was only for a brief moment.
“Alright, no need to get down anymore…Everyone, on your feet.”
“Ah! Yes, yes, of course!”
I can’t even remember how many nobles were here.
I know it’s the proper etiquette, but words alone cannot describe how embarrassing it feels.
Of course, to others, I was the Saintess, so they likely saw nothing wrong but…
“Lady Saintess.”
“Lady Emilone.”
“Mm? Yes?”
Just then, I heard two voices calling me and when I turned my head, I was Titeine and Reneben.
Since they called me at the same time, they both paused, not sure who should speak first so I pointed to Titeine.
“Titeine, what is it?”
“Ah, um…I was just wondering what we should do now…”
“I was going to ask the same question, Lady Emilone.”
“Oh, that…”
I looked around, taking in the staff members of the gambling den. There were more of them than I expected, and judging by the bulges near their belts and waists, many of them were armed with swords.
I wasn’t sure if the priests could really dodge these swords, so I took a few steps forward.
As I took a few steps forward, one of the staff members instinctively reached for their waist. My gut told me everything.
A staff standing in the direction I was heading, moved their hand to their waist and I let my instincts take over.
“If you’re going to carry a weapon like that…”
I grabbed a noble who was practically being held hostage and flung them aside.
“You should be careful.”
I was worried about the noble I threw to the floor, but I couldn’t pay any attention because a sword was flying at my face.
Managing to dodge it, I grabbed the attacker and yanked them toward me. It was a woman, much smaller than me, so she was easily caught in my grasp.
I gripped both of her wrists, twisted them behind her back and squeezed. Probably unable to withstand the strength, she grimaced and dropped the sword to the floor.
“You’ve never trained in the sword, have you? Did you think all you had to do was swing at someone?”
She was likely just another pawn controlled by dark magic. As soon as I thought that, I slowly injected divine power into her body.
She began to tremble and convulse before finally collapsing to the floor. Just like the guard at the entrance earlier.
I sighed and looked over the room.
“Now, what I just did…can you do that?”
I barely finished asking the priests if they could copy me before the nobles started going into an uproar.
As people who lived sheltered lives, the moment they saw one of the staff brandishing a sword, they couldn’t stay still.
“Kyaaaa!”
“The hell is this! Let me out of here, now!”
“Saintess! That guy has a sword too!”
It’s not like I didn’t anticipate this situation. Thankfully, it seems the staff only saw the nobles as hostages, so they had no intention of harming them?
The clergy seemed to have realized this too. However, the panic of the nobles was making it difficult to subdue the people.
We had the superior numbers, and Reneben, the high priest, was here so I figured there wouldn’t be any major problems and turned to head towards my goal.
However, as expected, a clever staff blocked my way and I frowned.
“Move.”
“I can’t! Never…”
“Haa…”
Why were they so foolish? Just as I was thinking that, the man trembled and opened his mouth.
“A mere Saintess…! That person will…they’ll…”
“…?”
I reached out and covered his mouth, infusing him with divine power. He was definitely trying to say something but…
By the time he started talking, I had already flooded him with divine power, so I didn’t hear much.
***
“…I’m covered in blood.”
Alois tossed the dagger in his hand to the ground, then looked around and sighed.
“I need to clean this place up….”
The cabin reeked of blood. Anyone who saw it would know something was wrong.
Even with the barrier in place.
Should I just burn it all down? Alois briefly considered that, then he lowered himself to a squat.
“I know this isn’t enough to kill you. Stand up.”
The shape, which barely resembled a human, trembled violently.
Of course, just as Alois said, it injected mana into its body, and returned to human form.
He grabbed the man’s arm, which looked like it had never been hurt and pulled him upright.
Seemingly unable to stand, the man pleaded for rest, but no one heard him.
“Clean this place up.”
“Ahh…Please…I have no more strength…”
“Do it. If the Saintess happens to see it like this…”
When Alois looked at him with a gaze that said, ‘Imagine what I’d do to you all’, the man began to clean up with cabin with shaky hands and a teary face.
Once the surroundings were wiped clean with cleaning magic, it looked like nothing had ever happened and Alois nodded with satisfaction.
As soon as the man finished casting the spell, he collapsed to the floor and begged at Alois feet.
“Please…Please spare us. We’re victims. It’s not that we wanted to become dark mages…”
“Are you denying the power you gained by burned over a hundred bodies with your own hands and abandoning your humanity?”
A sigh escaped Alois’ lips.
“Did you think I wouldn’t know that you can’t become a dark mage without forsaking your humanity of your own will?”
Alois chuckled and got down on one knee too, allowing them to see eye-to-eye.
“I know who you are.”
“W-What do you…”
“I didn’t realize it at first, but now I see you look exactly like your son.”
The man’s face began to turn pale, and Alois calmly lowered his gaze.
“Among the nobles of Eseah Kingdom, there is one man who betrayed his country, killing over 100 people shortly after inheriting his title.”
“Impossible…there’s no way you…”
“There’s no such thing as impossible. My father was very fond of you, Count Rossertier.”
He must have hit the nail on the head because the moment he said that name, the man recoiled and started foaming at the mouth, like he was having a seizure.
The Eseah Kingdom was a nation of wealth and power that even the Empire couldn’t look down upon.
“Why are you so shocked? Oh, right. Do you know how your family is faring these days?”
This man was a traitor. He stole the secrets of the Eseah Kingdom and vanished overnight.
Alois had only thought of him as a mere betrayer but to think he turned out to be a dark mage.
“You don’t know? If I must tell you, I am the one saved your son from death.”
“Ah…Urk…”
Alois stared the convulsing man. He wasn’t writhing from grief over his family, he simply loathed hearing his past spoken aloud.
“Because no one wants to save the blood of a traitor.”
“I don’t…want to know…Ak…gahh…”
“Do you know how much chaos Eseah Kingdom was in for a while because of you?”
That incident raised so much controversy at the time, but it was resolved by Alois himself.
You see, when the king passed state secrets to the Count, it had been Alois who delivered them.
Being the child that he was, he sneakily opened the letter and removed the most intriguing sections, which happened to be the most important part…
Alois could imagine Lady Emilone’s surprise if she ever found out about this.
Looking back on it now, it was ridiculous how careless he had been as a child.
To think he had acted so recklessly.
Still, it had been what saved the secrets of the Kingdom.
“Eseah Kingdom…that mere thing!!”
“…”
“The country…! The entire continent will be united under that person!”
Suddenly, the man on the ground started shouting feverishly.
At first, Alois couldn’t make out what he was saying because the man’s tongue was rolled back but soon, he frowned and questioned.
“…That person?”
“That person is stronger than anyone. You are nothing, nothing you are…”
“…”
“In the end, a nothing like you…”
Hearing these words that sounded like worship, Alois shook his sleeve and tilted his head.
“Everything, everything is already moving according to Their will.”
“If you say it like that, that doesn’t really tell me anything, does it?”
That person, huh…
Suddenly, he recalled the group that had attacked Emilone just before they left Vermonte Kingdom.
Alois massaged his temples. Then he remembered a name that a member of the group had mentioned.
“Ronella Nestro?”
He said the name thinking ‘what if?’ and then…
“Euu…euk!”
“…!”
“Impo…Impossible.”
The figures that had been quivering intermittently on the ground reacted to that name and with newfound strength, they lunged for Alois.
They grabbed at his arms and legs, clinging desperately as if they could not afford to let go.
“Truly…who is the villain here.”
Alois muttered, shaking them off effortlessly and opened the door to the cabin.
Ronella…Ronella Nestro…
“You should all be thankful that you won’t be dealt with by my own hands.”
With that, he slammed the door shut and an indecipherable scream rang out behind him.
Advanced chapters available on Patreon~
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 100 - May 6, 2025
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 99 - May 2, 2025
- Emilone’s Temptation Labyrinth – Chapter 98 - April 30, 2025