The objective of Rakura-san being the articles of Dokora was within expectations. It was on the level where Marito and I went ‘figures’.
It is not like I was assuming here, but in a situation where we were wary of the movements of the Yugura Church, their headquarters suddenly sent personnel, so it is natural to reach that conclusion.
A sigh leaked out. Even though this is the first seductive-looking event I have confronted in this world, the punchline arrived pretty fast.
Couldn’t we have, you know, build a nice relationship for a few days, aiming for the moment when I completely trust you? I would have had a bit more fun…
“E-Eh? Counselor-sama? Why did you sigh…?” (Rakura)
“Isn’t that obvious? You came at me all seductively and what you asked for was information…”
“T-That’s not it —Could it possibly be that the charm magic is…not working?” (Rakura)
What’s that? She casted something like that on me?
“Well, you came at me in such a manner, so you could say I was charmed in a way…”
“…”
Ooh, her face is turning visibly bright red.
“P-Please forget about it! I beg of you! Forget it!” (Rakura)
It has been a while since I have been grabbed by the collar and shaken. Aah, but this might be the first time I experience femenine physical strength since coming to this world.
“N-Now now, please calm down. I thought you were really bewitching.”
“That’s not it! That required such preliminary motions!” (Rakura)
Rakura-san appealed with tears in her eyes and a bright red face. A state that I feel she will seriously cry if I tease her any further.
I should keep the teasing in moderation as an adult.
“It is okay. I was actually charmed. Man, that really made my heart drum.”
“Uwaaaaaan!” (Rakura)
But there’s times when I lose to the allure -in a variety of meanings.
“Here, have some water.”
“Uuuh… *Sob* Thank you very much.” (Rakura)
I soothe the panicking Rakura-san and had her sit on the bed. Keep the messing around to a moderate degree.
Now then, I have to hear about the details.
“Let’s summarize it. Aside from this time’s inspection, you are also searching for something, and you approached me -the counselor candidate- to obtain information? You tried to get information from me quickly, so you used charm magic, and you for some reason couldn’t charm me.”
“…Yes.” (Rakura)
“On top of that, if you use charm magic, the memories of that time will disappear, so even though you mustered courage in using the preliminary motions of the charm magic you normally would be so embarrassed you wouldn’t want to do it, you ended up showing a shameful sight because you failed.”
“…Yes.” (Rakura)
“If you were to tempt me normally like that, you would have been able to manage even without magic though.”
Ah, she is going to cry again. If it is that embarrassing, just don’t use it. You dug yourself into that one when you tried to escape to the easy method.
“Even though it certainly activated… Why didn’t it work?!” (Rakura)
“Aah, right. Let me confirm this first but, is charm magic the type that you cast to the head of the target?”
“Eh, y-yes. To be more precise, it is a spell that lets you charm the target by interfering with their mana through their eyes.” (Rakura)
“There. Didn’t we have a talk about me having low mana? You most likely didn’t make mistakes in your motions, but I don’t have enough mana inside of me for you to mess with.”
I remember the time with the rye fruit. Use the mana of the person that ate it, construct a state of control, and invite the creature to the nest of the slime.
It has enough of an effect on animals who have questionable amounts of mana, but a certain someone who is an isekai beginner probably has around 1 mana point, so you don’t even get affected by it.
I thought at first I was simply lucky, but when I heard about how I can’t get most of the treatments from healing magic, I felt like I was in a state where my insurance was half-complete.
“No way… Then what should I… Right! If I pour my mana into Counselor-sama…!” (Rakura)
“By the way, is it really okay for me to hear that?”
Aah, her face got even redder. I pretty much get it now. It is that kind of method, huh. What’s with this airheaded beauty?
“If you are going to go that far, wouldn’t it be faster to just seduce normally…?”
“T-There’s no way I can do something like that!” (Rakura)
“But you were.”
Now then, we resume our talk after putting a second break in between.
“But why did you go through such a forceful method…? Can you please tell me if you can?”
“Uuuh…” (Rakura)
This is the gist of it.
The Yugura Church’s headquarters have sealed the taboos and Demon Lord related records.
Someone might one day stretch their hands onto the forbidden and the Demon Lord might appear again. This is a last resort in order to oppose such a situation.
But Dokora -an Anbu of Mejis- managed to steal one of those books. She hasn’t been told the specifics of it, but it apparently has information related to necromancy written in it.
It is inferior to resurrection magic, but necromancy is also one of the forbidden spells. The Yugura Church chased after the trail of Dokora in order to avoid the spread of it.
And then, they found the bases when he was in Gahne. They found traces of Dokora trying to learn necromancy there.
They lost his trail after that, but a request from Maya-san to Mejis for data came in.
A man with one arm and the possibility to be able to use necromancy; that was without doubt Dokora.
Dokora had already lost an arm by the time he was escaping the chase of Mejis. After that, the Yugura Church requested the search of the book.
It is because Dokora being able to use necromancy at a high level had a high chance of this meaning that he brought the book to Taizu after all.
But the book was not found even when investigating all the lairs. Headquarters ordered Maya-san to continue her investigation, but there were no results.
There should be, but they can’t find it. People voicing their suspicions towards Maya-san began to be raised.
A capable person was dispatched from headquarters in the form of Rakura-san in order to clear those suspicions.
“Capable?”
“I-It is true! I have learned many high rank spells, and I am a purification magic specialist. I can deal with undeads even on an army scale!” (Rakura)
Of course she would be capable then. Even the knight division with the most numbers in this country were having trouble against the undead after all.
And yet, this degree of airheadedness is weird. Is it actually an act? If that’s the case, what a crafty…no, she could have just succeeded in her first attempt at seduction if that was the case.
But after hearing this, it makes me think about how important compatibility is. Rakura-san’s strength is honestly low. She is most likely on the same level as me… Let’s throw away that sad outline.
In that case, she wouldn’t be able to deal with the attacks of the knights brought upon by their inhuman movements.
But those knights don’t have a decisive move against undead. However, a cleric can slaughter the undead one-sidedly -they are already dead though.
The gorilla that defeated them in one hit can’t fit in the category of ‘compatibility’, so let’s just put her in the exceptions.
“And so, you finally got the chance to act outside the eyes of Maya-san. You met a certain someone who you might be able to get useful information from if you used charm magic, and that brings us to the present.”
“Yes…” (Rakura)
“So you just self-destructed because you got hasty!”
“Cause cause cause, I thought such a perfect opportunity could only be called the guidance of God!” (Rakura)
“Even if that were the case, I can accept it until the part of the charm magic, but I don’t know about how you went straight to your main objective without even confirming whether the charm actually worked.”
“It hasn’t failed until now!” (Rakura)
We were really on guard against the Yugura Church to be honest. Marito and I discussed a variety of countermeasures over and over to act with the utmost caution, so this level of carelessness is pretty rough on me.
“Uuh, I failed in my stealth mission and I even showed a shameful sight… I am done for… Now that it has come to this…” (Rakura)
“If you are going to kill yourself, please do it in your own room. I will speak in taverns about your gallant figure in your last moments.”
“You really mean that, don’t you?! If you tell me that, I wouldn’t be able to die even in death! I would turn into an undead!” (Rakura)
Despite this being the joke of a pure white cleric, that was pretty black. Please rest in peace.
But it would worsen my quality sleep if she were to make me the cause of death. Let’s do a follow-up.
“There’s no need to get involved in stealth. Maya-san should have been able to tell that she is being suspected if a person from headquarters is coming at this time. Then just declare it quickly and search for it with no shame. Why are you trying to search for it all secretly?”
“If a book with information about forbidden magic were to be known, there’s the fear of people wanting it appearing.” (Rakura)
“Hasn’t Maya-san already been told about the existence of the book by headquarters?”
“…Right.” (Rakura)
Rakura-san hammered her hand. Give me back the effort I put in my formalities in the morning. I was dealing with you as if you were a skilled assassin, you know?
“Aah, but if Maya-sama were the one hiding the book…?!” (Rakura)
“Even if that were the case, it wouldn’t change the fact that she is hiding it. You would actually be able to seal her movements if you were to declare it instead.”
“…I see.” (Rakura)
Rakura hammered her hand.
Who was the one who appointed her?! That person has no qualifications to pull any stratagems!
“Haah… I am off to sleep.”
“No way! You are not going to help me?!” (Rakura)
“Let’s remember what you did just now, okay?”
“Please forget that. Forget.” (Rakura)
“No way in hell I will!”
“Hasn’t your way of speaking gotten a bit ruder?!” (Rakura)
“Dressed up personalities are only used for the people you have to use them on.”
“Uuhh, even though I thought Counselor-sama was a wonderful person…” (Rakura)
“Thanks. You were also wonderful, Rakura…were.”
“Your honest feelings are stabbing me and it hurts!” (Rakura)
“Good grief… I got it, I got it. I will ‘help you search for the book’. Fine now?”
“Really?! Thank you very much!” (Rakura)
I have no intention of sharing the fact that Marito already has the book though.
I left it hazy by using the flow of the events, but I managed to slip away from answering the question ‘do you know about the book?’.
“Ah, by the way, do you know something about the book?” (Rakura)
Or not. This woman really betrays my expectations in every aspect.
“On the other hand, I am the one who wants to hear about this book. Do you have information about its appearance?”
“Uhm, I heard it is an old book with writing in a language never seen before.” (Rakura)
“The inside too?”
“Yes. It is apparently not easy to decipher it.” (Rakura)
“I have not read such a book in Taizu.”
“I see…” (Rakura)
Safe. I hesitated for an instant there. I have seen the title several times already, however, I have not read the contents of it yet.
The issue would be that I was on the verge of saying: ‘I have not read such a book’. This would be a lie.
It is because I know it is written in Japanese. I have obviously read books in Japanese in Japan.
In the case I add the words ‘in Taizu’ later, it would technically be like trying to take away the lie after the fact, so the lie detector might have caught it.
I need to test out how effective it is and how much I can get away with, but I would like to avoid dangerous scenarios like this one. Even if I can deal with it, there’s no doubt it is a troublesome power.
“Do you have no way to search for it?”
“Yes, I do have one in a way. There’s special mana imbued in that book, so there would be a reaction if I were to put up a dedicated barrier for it.” (Rakura)
“I see. So that’s why you were going around arranging the setup for the barrier in the churches, huh.”
“Yes…wait, how could you tell?!” (Rakura)
“Wolfe told me that your luggage was getting lighter bit by bit. The contents didn’t give off the scent of food, and there were things like stones inside of it. You probably even made a simple altar in the villages that didn’t have a church with the excuse ‘it is so you can at least offer your prayers’. I can imagine that.”
Wolfe’s ears and nose are not your average ones. I can only be impressed at this wolf demi-human.
When I asked her to tell me the differences and changes, she told me about the luggage of Rakura too.
It is easy to imagine the actions Rakura might take by seeing her cards and knowing her objective.
“Is that barrier big enough to cover a whole village?”
“Yes. Ah, but it causes no harm to them. On the contrary, the mana from the barrier corrects disturbances in your internal mana, and gives you benefits like recovering your fatigue and beautifying you. A really useful thing.” (Rakura)
‘I have not seen minus ion products lately’ -is the only comment that comes to mind here.
“There’s a lot of knights from Taizu that have magic seal stones embedded in their weapons. Does that contraption of yours not get affected by the magic seal stone?”
“Right. The core of the barrier would be affected by the magic seal stone and get undone. However, the mana released from the mana simply has those properties, so it is okay.” (Rakura)
So that means it is okay as long as they don’t bring weapons inside the church, huh.
It resembles the method of Dokora. No, they are from the same country to begin with, so it might be natural for their methods to be similar to a certain degree.
“You guys can tell even if it reacts at a long distance?”
“Yes. When the mana of the corresponding book touches the mana of the barrier, it will create a resonance, and will release a characteristic super expansive wave of mana. If we detect that, we will be able to tell which barrier it was that reacted.” (Rakura)
Complicated methods have increased. That said, using the properties of mana feels like the method to avoid the existence of magic seal stones.
But can’t you create a pretty dangerous weapon if used with bad intentions?
I don’t specialize in this field, so I don’t know what kind of special properties are born when new mana is born from different properties.
“If there’s no reaction after setting it up in all the villages, it would mean that it isn’t in the villages for now, right?”
“Yes. If we set it up in the Taizu capital last, we would be able to confirm all the places where people are.” (Rakura)
“Well, that’s true, but will you get permission for that?”
How many countries would there be that would say okay when asked whether they can set a barrier of their own country in it?
It does output something similar to minus ions though…
“…Can’t something be done with your help, Counselor-sama?” (Rakura)
“I am a candidate after all. I have no such authority. I think I would be able to consult with the king about it, but I won’t be able to tell whether I can get an agreement unless I ask him.”
“That alone is enough!” (Rakura)
“Next would be setting it up in the city. Let’s search for good places together. But if it is a matter of this importance, you should act more carefully.”
“About that…I saw the amount of mana you had and thought it would be safe…” (Rakura)
“Oi, Rakura, I will eventually betray you, ya hear me?”
“Ah?! You said that for real!” (Rakura)
And this is how I formed a weird alliance with Rakura.
“Hah! You have been calling me without honorifics by the time I noticed?! Even though I am older!” (Rakura)
“That bit is getting old.”
The next day, we went around the villages and finished setting up the contraptions. We took 2 days to go around the villages on the west side, and we went around the east side villages on the 3rd day.
But despite setting them up in all the villages, she didn’t find the book. It is in the castle, so that’s obvious though.
I can’t help her out in the current stage, so I continued doing work resembling a counselor candidate.
“But with knights stationed in these many villages and the work at the capital, the chivalric order must be busy. Do they even have enough people?”
“Right. The knight apprentices are helping out in a variety of miscellaneous work too at the capital though…” (Ilias)
“Rakura, I heard that the appearance rate of monsters in Mejis is high, but how do they deal with that?”
“Let’s see. We would offer rewards for parts in the body of the monster, and would ask adventurers to deal with them. The villages would also have temporary contracts with them to safeguard them.” (Rakura)
“I see. So you are leaving the monster subjugation to the specialists.”
“I would like our country to imitate that, but not many adventurers come to Taizu…” (Rakura)
Monsters rarely show up, so adventurers can’t get a stable income.
It would be difficult to have a similar way to manage this as Mejis. I would like an element to call adventurers to Taizu.
“By the way, since when did you two get close?” (Ilias)
“No, it is not like we have gotten close though.”
“Aren’t you talking to each other as if you have opened up your heart? You are also calling her without honorifics.” (Ilias)
“That’s because this girl—”
“About that! I wanted to form a friendly relationship with Counselor-sama the same way as Ilias-sama, so I asked Counselor-sama to call me in that manner. I requested him to speak to me in a more informal manner!” (Rakura)
“I-I see.” (Ilias)
“No, it is simply because my evaluation of her has plummeted.”
“Why can’t you match up with me?!” (Rakura)
“I wouldn’t be that happy to match up with you and get thanked. Staying misunderstood** would be more amusing instead.”
“How can you say that honestly?!” (Rakura)
“…Seriously, what in the world happened?” (Ilias)
“Shishou~, Wolfe would like to have the same as Ilias and the others.” (Wolfe)
I silently beckon Wolfe over, have her sit close to me, and pat her head.
“Listen here, Wolfe. It is true that your position is in the minority and different from everyone else. But there’s no need to go out of your way to worsen your evaluation. Learn to choose who to imitate, okay?”
“But…Shishou, you are always only kind with Wolfe.” (Wolfe)
“It is not like I am being especially kind with you, Wolfe. It is just that the others are low. That’s why I am being natural with you, Wolfe.”
“…Okay!” (Wolfe)
“Wait a moment. Does that mean your evaluation of me is bad too?!” (Ilias)
“You thought it was good?!”
“Don’t get surprised!” (Ilias)
“I am an intellectual. Don’t think my evaluation will increase easily towards someone who solves everything with brute force.”
“Ugh… But it is not like I am an idiot. I am an intellectual to a certain degree!” (Ilias)
“As long as you immediately jump into the decision of ‘it would be faster to do it by force’ every time, I definitely won’t acknowledge you as an intellectual, you muscle-brain gorilla!”
“What’s a gorilla?!” (Ilias)
We returned to the capital of Taizu after that. Rakura told Maya-san about the situation at once.
“Of course that would happen. It can’t be helped. I myself would like to clear up my suspicions, so do your best, Rakura!” (Maya)
“Ah, yes…” (Rakura)
And so she got permission to do as she pleases. The obstacle to act in the city has disappeared with this.
“Maya-san, you knew about this pretty much from the very beginning, right?”
“Of course. It would be weirder to not know.” (Maya)
“Right.”
————————–
The holy grounds of the Yugura Church that exist in Mejis. The place where the hero pledged to defeat the Demon Lords and the place where the Grand Church of the Yugura Church was built.
Within the most cramped and simple room in that giant Grand Church, there’s the Pope of the Yugura Church, me, Euparo Rosareo.
I don’t have a liking for the extravagant and gaudy. However, the Yugura Church is the religion with the most people.
Due to this, the Grand Church towers as the leading construction in this world, but my office room is a recreation of the workroom that I had been assigned to in my younger days.
And one of the archbishops was called to this room.
Ukka Kenuku is at the left-wing of the Yugura Church, and it is the person that sent Rakura to Taizu.
“So, that’s why you sent Rakura Salf to retrieve the book, huh.” (Euparo)
“Yes, that’s exactly the case, Pope-sama.” (Ukka)
“…If my memory serves right, she should be a super outstanding cleric. She has learned almost all of the purification spells that are the quintessence of the Yugura Church at that young age, and her achievements in devil hunting are certain.” (Euparo)
“Yes, that is correct.” (Ukka)
“I also remember that her other talents are tragic as if that lone talent of hers had robbed her of every other one.” (Euparo)
“Yes, that’s exactly right.” (Ukka)
“Why did you choose her…?” (Euparo)
I sighed. Can a battle oriented cleric like Rakura be able to do her job of retrieving the book properly? No, it would be impossible. I have seen Rakura once after all. It would be a bit impossible for her.
“Am I the only one who can predict that Maya will be able to see through our objective completely?” (Euparo)
“No, that’s our aim from the very beginning.” (Ukka)
“…Got it. The work of going through this rally of questions and answers is a waste of time, so tell me everything in one go.” (Euparo)
“We plan on having Rakura search for the book as a front. The Taizu archbishop is a woman with a sharp mind. She will most likely notice it is an inspector sent there no matter who we were to choose.” (Ukka)
“Right. Being able to climb all the way to archbishop at such a young age is not just for show.” (Euparo)
“That’s why we have to turn it around. By sending Rakura whose intentions would be discovered easily, we will have Maya notice, and have them do the search with that in mind.” (Ukka)
“But was there any need for it to be Rakura? If you sent someone more suitable for searches—” (Euparo)
“Fufufu, there’s the need for it to be Rakura. If someone as clumsy as her were to be sent as an inspector, Maya would lower her guard, thinking we don’t consider this matter too serious. That’s our aim!” (Ukka)
“…So you have sent someone else in secret.” (Euparo)
“That’s our Pope-sama!” (Ukka)
Ukka praised me with an exaggerated reaction. Who was the one that made this guy an archbishop? -Right, me.
No, this guy may act like this, but his connections are seriously incredible.
The one who is shouldering most of the avenues for the Yugura Church to raise money is Ukka. He has the strong point of others not being vigilant of him because of that personality of his.
Meaning that he can get along with most people. His achievements in those fronts are so big they can’t be made light of, so the current state of things is that other archbishops have no choice but to shut their mouths.
“We have already sent Anbus of Mejis to Taizu. In the time when Rakura is standing out with her coarse search, the Anbus will be searching in the shadows and will obtain that book. This is my plan! People lower their guard when given an answer. We will take advantage of this!” (Ukka)
“…Well, you have a point. If you are properly using skilled people, I have no complaints. But try to avoid aggravating our relationship with Taizu.” (Euparo)
“Yes, leave it to me.” (Ukka)
At any rate, this guy not only has wide connections in Mejis, but also connections with the Anbus?
Did they have a great chat in a tavern or something?
“Fufufu, my plan won’t ever be noticed. It is perfect after all!” (Ukka)
——————————–
“They must have sent someone else.”
“Right. That’s the only possibility I can think of.”
That night, I went to the place of Marito because I needed to report this, and discussed what actions Mejis could take.
“I doubt it is another cleric. The possibility would be a merchant or an adventurer.” (Marito)
“The difficulty of doing an investigation when they are strangers would be high. There’s the possibility they are using the Anbus of Mejis?”
“Right. If they have the ability to disguise themselves, there’s even the possibility that they would infiltrate the castle.” (Marito)
“Looks like there’s a need to form a countermeasure. Right, I ended up being an assistant of Rakura. It is okay to let her swim around, right?”
“Let’s see. Use her well.” (Marito)
“Gotch— Understood. And so, what should we do about the book?”
“Judging from what you told me, they are going to be setting up barriers outside the castle, right? We won’t be able to bring it outside in that case. Me or Lord Ragudo will continue keeping it in our possession.” (Marito)
“It might even be an option to begin the deciphering of the book with the premise that it will get retrieved.”
“Right. But the person that sent Rakura must be pretty bold. It is practically as if they have publicized to Taizu that they possess books related to the forbidden.” (Marito)
“They were prepared for Maya-san to discover this, but didn’t expect the information to leak to Taizu from Rakura… No, there’s no way that’s the case.”
“They most likely compromised to a certain degree, and tried to stop the worsening of relations with Taizu. I guess they are upright in that front. I kind of like that.” (Marito)
————————————–
“You told the counselor candidate about the situation?!” (Ukka)
Ukka heard the report of Rakura and was dumbstruck. They are using one of the secret arts of the Yugura Church to communicate at long range by using a crystal.
The places where it can be used are limited, but it is set in most of the Yugura churches where a bishop or higher are stationed.
“I-It is alright! I told him about the situation and he said he would help me out with the search of the book.” (Rakura)
“Ooh, that’s wonderful.” (Ukka)
“He is someone who does his work very seriously, and he is also someone who is friendly with Maya-sama. I am sure he understood the seriousness of the situation.” (Rakura)
“Umu umu, you were blessed with a good helper! But don’t forget to keep his mouth shut.” (Ukka)
If Euparo were here, he would be holding his head in pain, but there was no one to retort here.
“Rakura, a big disaster might be impossible to avoid if the necromancy written in that book were to be spread to the world. Put your heart into it!” (Ukka)
“Yes, I will do my best to answer your expectations, Ukka-sama!” (Rakura)
The transmission was closed off. Ukka was surprised by Rakura’s unexpected action, but he was satisfied with the results.
He even thought she might be able to find the book faster than the Anbus.
“Ukka-sama, may I?”
“Umu, it is you, huh. Go ahead.” (Ukka)
A visitor appeared at that moment; a single young man.
“A call from Rakura?”
“That’s right. It seems like things are going better than expected with Rakura. She might even find the book faster than the Anbus you arranged.” (Ukka)
“Well well. But I wouldn’t mind that result either. There’s no harm in a member of the Yugura Church showing results when moving in public after all.”
“Umu, that’s right. And so, did you have some business?” (Ukka)
“Yes. I would like a few more people helping out the man that is moving in the shadows. I have come to get permission for this.”
“Fumu, Rakura has gained an ally in the local area too. It would be hard to obtain the help of the locals if you move in the shadows. Go ahead and dispatch them as soon as possible.” (Ukka)
Ukka swiftly signed the papers that the visitor prepared.
“I will do so at once then.”
Saying this, that visitor left the room. Ukka stared into empty space after seeing him off.