Taming the Evil Saintess

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The news that the previous Pope had abdicated, and his adopted daughter Ophelia Meredein became the new ruler of the Cathedral of the Saint quickly spread throughout the continent.

While there wasn’t an official announcement about how the former Pope Yudor had died, crowds speculated wildly about the sequence of violent events that had taken place in the Cathedral.

“Hey, did you hear that?”
“What is it?”
“They’re calling me a usurper of the throne.”

While having breakfast, Ophelia checked a small article in the newspaper and giggled.

She brought the paper closer to read. It mentioned the former Pope Yudor’s tyranny, claiming that the Saintess Ophelia Meredein, a messenger of the gods, had usurped the throne with the help of a hero.

It wasn’t entirely negative. They went to great lengths with flowery language, portraying Ophelia like a righteous bandit, similar to Hong Gil-dong who founded the Utopia nation.

Although it wasn’t entirely inaccurate, who would dare call the current Pope a usurper? It seemed like a report that needed to be dealt with since it wasn’t exactly a good article.

“No, but it’s true.”

Ophelia didn’t seem the least bit interested in the pomp and circumstance of papal authority. Just skipping out on morning mass and mingling with people was enough of a clue.

“It’s something for the devout. I’m not particularly into that.”
“Still, I think you should at least make an appearance.”

I thought it would be better to give the impression that the new Pope is devout. As soon as I said that, Ophelia made a sour face. She seemed offended.

“I am a Saintess. And even if I roam the boulevards, I’m the most devout believer in the world.”
“Ophelia, please, choice of words.”

At that moment, Cecilia dropped her spoon.

Ignoring that, Ophelia continued speaking.

“Anyway, even if I were to… you know, people would still cheer. Everyone in the Cathedral knows we liberated this place. Heck, if I told them to die, they probably would!”
“Well, that’s true….”
“And you’re a problem too.”
“Why me?”
“Do you want to see me participating in morning mass?”

Ophelia pouted and pointed her fork at me.

That little pout indicated she was sulking in her own way.

“Do you not want to see me?”
“More like, I’m just indifferent.”
“Then just keep quiet.”
“Okay, okay.”

How could I insist when she was acting like this?

Indeed, as Belwin pointed out, Ophelia possessed a legitimacy that no one could contest. Even if she committed a crime by killing the former Pope and usurping the position, her right to do so wasn’t in doubt.

It served as a reminder of how opportunistic this world was regarding religion.

“Still, it seems people from the Imperial National Church are coming today, so let’s try to keep it civil at least.”
“Are you my father? Why do you keep trying to lecture me?”
“I’m not your father, but I sure could be your lord or husband.”
“….”

Clang.

Cecilia dropped her spoon again.

Does she have a tremor or something?

Even Ophelia was no exception to the awkwardness; she quietly placed her spoon down and lowered her head.

“… Mhm. Got it… I’ll be mindful.”

Despite having seen it all, she was surprisingly fragile when it came to these types of conversations, which was quintessentially Ophelia.

*

Contrary to my worries, the meeting with the Imperial National Church was essentially led by the archbishops, including Belwin, so neither Ophelia nor I had much to add.

It seemed Commander Urdin made sure they had no intention of provoking us. Belwin revealed that the current Cathedral’s intention was wholly different from the previous Pope Yudor’s, and they seemed satisfied with that alone.

Most importantly, having Saint Ophelia in attendance was a significant point.

They couldn’t stop praising Ophelia, and slowly, her expression grew sour. Since she detested being called a Saintess, this meeting must have felt like sitting on needles for her.

“….”

Ophelia looked at me with eyes pleading for salvation, like a puppy drenched in the rain.

Of course, I didn’t want to step into anything troublesome, so I quietly slipped away.

“Albrecht.”
“How’s the meeting going?”
“It seems they won’t mind me not being there.”

Thus, I sought Albrecht.

He was interrogating two possessors captured in the recent battle, and it appeared they were siblings.

“Are they real siblings?”
“Not exactly. The bodies they’re possessing were twin siblings, but they took over on their own.”
“How tragic.”

Possessor Ruin and Luna seemed to be giving up, confessing most of the facts.

I also heard that the Hell Duke hadn’t fled to the Demon King’s Castle. Most surprisingly, the most compliant was Possessor Luna, who seemed thoroughly dissatisfied with her life as a demon-possessing spirit.

Even so, that was probably the case for most possessors.

“Y-You’re the hero, right?”
“Call me Elliot.”
“Y-Yeah. Elliot, um… You’re from Earth, right?”

Particularly, Luna longed to return to Earth.

She started talking about the current life there. She wanted to continue her previous work and kept rambling about things no one asked. Thanks to that, I learned she was from Eastern Europe, had a boyfriend in the legal field, and worked as a florist. As she rambled on about wanting to get married to her boyfriend and sue a gaming company upon returning,

“Do you not want to go back, Elliot?”

Eventually, she asked that question.

Albrecht shrugged and left, while I sighed at her.

“Well, not really thinking about going back right now.”
“Why not?”
“…Hmm.”

Being dragged into this world while crushed by the pressures of my former life, I began to see possibilities now.

It was a depressing thought for Luna, but there was no guarantee I could return to my original world either.

Even if the Demon King has the original souls of the possessors, he wouldn’t willingly send them back to the world we came from.

Of course, I kept that thought to myself and shrugged.

I tried to think of a vague way to brush it off.

“There’s already someone in this world I care reasonably about.”
“….Oh.”

Our relationship with Ophelia appeared to be widely known within the Cathedral. Her face instantly flushed. She clenched her fist and nodded vigorously.

“Of course! The Saintess in games is simply beautiful! And that Sword Saint from earlier, right? He was really good-looking! I could recognize him just by his face!”
“…y-yeah.”

This girl surely talked a lot.

She was annoying in a different way than Ophelia, that’s for sure.

“Enough chit-chat, do you know anything about Elgore on the Eastern coast?”

We needed information on the Black Water Elgore, who continued raiding the Imperial Eastern Coast.
However, Luna shook her head with a vague smile.

“Black Water Elgore is the most avoided officer among us possessors.”
“Not Idmien?”
I recalled Ian, who became a chimera merged with a manticore during the recent battle, and asked.

Luna seemed to agree, letting out a low hum but then shaking her head.
“The possessors under Idmien do suffer, but Elgore is the scariest.”
“Why?”
“That monster sees us possessors only as prey.”
“Prey?”
“I heard he eats the assigned possessors because he thinks they’ll enhance his power.”

“….”

Looking back, I remembered hearing that Black Water Elgore ate his entire pirate crew when I first encountered him.

In fact, when he seized the port city, slaughterhouses were set up all over. No human was exempt from his brutalities, so the possessors were no exception either.

“We need to kill him soon.”
“…Are you thinking of fighting Elgore?”
“I plan to take down not just Elgore but the Demon King too. I’m hoping that if it comes to that… we might find a way back to Earth.”

At my words, Luna showed a distinctly joyful expression.

However, she didn’t respond.

“Is the story over?”

Leaning against the doorframe, Albrecht was waiting.
He had good instincts. The moment he thought I’d be better suited for the interrogation, he left, and looking at my expression coming out of the jail, he seemed to anticipate what I would say next.

“We need to kill Elgore.”
“I figured you’d say that.”

Chuckling, Albrecht nodded.

“This time, I’m thinking of mobilizing the Knights of the Saint too, launching a complete extermination campaign.”

While we had pulled in the Black Eagles due to a troop shortage, now that Ophelia had taken control of the Cathedral, the story would be different.
If she were to summon the knights under the pretext of a Holy War, all the holy knights of the continent would gather.

“Then I’ll call my knight order as well.”

I nodded in agreement with Albrecht’s words.
However, he soon wore a grim expression as he looked outside the prison.

“But before we firm up our resolve, there might be a problem we should address.”
“What is it?”
“Your lady.”

Before I knew it, the title for Ophelia had solidified to “lady.”
I shot him a look, bemused, but he gestured for me to look outside.
I stared toward the meeting room where discussions were taking place.

“Shit….”

Seeing the holy knights tangled up in knots at the entrance of the meeting room, I couldn’t help but exclaim.
I didn’t need to think deep to know the scoop.
It seemed Ophelia had gotten herself into some trouble.

“This brat really has no sense….”
“Elliot, just use nice words.”
“Do you know what ‘brat’ means?”
“…Um. Contextually, it doesn’t seem nice?”

I answered Albrecht with a cheeky smile.
“It’s not a bad word. In my context, it means a girl I want to bite to death because she’s so precious.”
“….”

He paused for a moment before nodding.
“Indeed… that too is love. Are you saying ‘birds of a feather flock together’?”

I didn’t quite understand what he figured out.