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~Chapter 44~
“Khup—pfft…”
Usher stifled his laughter behind his hand, his shoulders trembling. The sheer amusement was too much to contain.
“Shall I now name the companion I wish the Judge to release?”
“Huh? Ahaha, Candidate, you jest, don’t you? Someone as useful as me?”
The memory of Nemesiah’s smile as she sent him outside without hesitation resurfaced. It had been bright, even dazzling, yet beneath it lay a smirk of derision.
“She’s no ordinary child…”
Usher’s eyes lowered slowly, a shiver of exhilaration running through him.
“Exquisite…”
He met the tearful gaze of the child still sobbing nearby and softened his expression with the warmth of a benevolent adult.
“Candidate?”
The child’s eyes soon grew hazy.
“Forget everything I’ve said here, Candidate. Cry freely, yes?”
“…Yes…”
With a simple spell, the child was enthralled. Usher stroked his chin, his greed swelling further.
“Can it truly be so easy to claim her?”
Unaware of the truth behind the ‘hostages,’ Usher misinterpreted everything.
A Pope candidate willing to sacrifice civilians coldly, decisively, for the sake of her mission—
“Isn’t that talent more befitting of us than them?”
All gifts bore a dual edge.
“To recruit her…”
If a leading candidate for Pope were to fall into the clutches of the fanatics, how thrilling would that be?
“I’ll take a short walk, Candidate. Cry as much as you need.”
“…Yes.”
Whistling softly, Usher stepped outside.
He was eager—desperate—to see Nemesiah again, but she had yet to emerge from her ordeal. And, having been expelled unexpectedly, he hadn’t even had the chance to fully exploit the “truth-compelling” spell within the trial grounds.
“A pity indeed… but opportunities come again.”
It wasn’t long before he encountered someone.
“What did you say your name was?”
“S-Squire of the Holy Knights, B-Bennet, sir…!”
Not as captivating as Nemesiah, but still intriguing—a potential stepping stone toward new opportunities.
A few days later.
I sat at my desk, scowling fiercely at the small object dangling in my hand.
“I told you… I didn’t want this kind of reward!”
A childish bracelet adorned with a tiny skull charm.
The very one that had inexplicably appeared in my hand after the decapitation of the dog-headed Judge.
On closer inspection, the skull had… puppy ears.
“And if I throw it away, it just comes back.”
As the first item granted for successfully subjugating a paranormal entity, it was surely powerful. But the unsettling aura made me want to discard it—yet no matter how many times I did, it always returned.
Worse, I couldn’t yet appraise its properties.
[Level up to unlock!]
That was all the message said.
“A cursed, bound item with such a sinister design… tch.”
I recalled the dog-headed monstrosities muttering about “watching me” and shuddered.
Regardless, the aftermath was proceeding smoothly.
“Candidate!!”
When Father and I finally emerged from the trial, pale-faced clergy rushed toward us.
“We’re so terribly sorry…!”
“There must have been an unrecognized anomaly in the rules that triggered the manifestation!”
To them, the unforeseen emergence of a high-difficulty paranormal anomaly—a being impossible for candidates to face—must have been a calamity.
“They had likely chosen the safest possible creature for us… only to have this happen.”
Worse, they had placed every candidate inside. No wonder their bloodshot eyes were filled with terror.
“I only let them see I was safe before promptly fainting.”
Lasting even that long had been a miracle, given the backlash from Child Actor and the overuse of Purification.
I remained unconscious for two full days, waking in my own room with Father steadfastly at my side.
“…Are you well?”
“Yeah. I’m fine now. But I’m starving.”
It was during those small, ordinary exchanges that I discovered the skull bracelet.
Father studied the item in my hand intently, then nodded with a grave expression.
“Remarkable.”
“…Huh? What is?”
“From when did you begin planning all of this?”
At the time, I didn’t understand his meaning.
Not until he continued:
“Was this the preliminary step toward becoming the perfect fanatic?”
“…What?”
What sort of insane misunderstanding was this? How could he even think such a thing?
My jaw worked soundlessly before I hurriedly set the record straight.
It seemed that after witnessing me take the lead in handling a paranormal anomaly, he had come to this wild conclusion.
“I really messed up his early education…”
He must have interpreted my actions with the cultist envoy as part of some grand plan to deceive the fanatics.
“Absolutely not! I’m telling you, no!”
“…Truly?”
“Don’t look so crestfallen! It’s not like that!”
Technically, he wasn’t entirely wrong… but my only motivation in front of those dog-heads was to get out alive.
Thankfully, unlike before, all Pope candidates were now granted rest, so the planned training sessions had been canceled.
By the time I’d awoken, nearly coinciding with the next summons, there was little chance to speak with Father further.
“Tch… In the chaos, I didn’t even get to smother him in praise like I’d planned.”
Once we returned, I’d drown him in compliments.
That thought occupied me as I once again glared down at the cursed bracelet in my hand.
It was then that someone approached.
The summoning site was filled with candidates; naturally, I wasn’t the only child present.
“They said two children perished during the trial.”
In truth, two candidates and three protectors had vanished. A bitter loss.
I raised my head, meeting a familiar face.
“Uh… um…”
The eldest among the candidates: Gidmeda.
The haughty expression he once wore was gone, replaced by a deathly pale face that betrayed the immense toll the ordeal had taken.
“Of course… He lost his protector. The trauma must be severe.”
The weight of sacrificing someone with one’s own hands was not easily erased.
I even recalled lines in which his character confessed to suffering nightmares.
“What, here to pick a fight again…?”
Not that it mattered anymore. I feigned timidity as I responded.
Gidmeda flinched.
“N-no! Absolutely not!”
According to the rules, protectors stood near the doors; should a fight break out, Father could reach me in seconds.
I cast a brief glance at the door before locking eyes with Gidmeda once more, silently urging him to speak.
“I… I just…”
He stammered, fumbling over his words.
“I just wanted to say… thank…”
“What? A gorilla?”
“No!”
