Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.
Translator: iveyra | Editor: Ms. Sheep\n\n
âThatâs Calitus, isnât it? Thatâs Captainâs sword.â\n\nIs the young man in front me also a member of the Special Task Squad?\n\n âI just borrowed it temporarily.â\n\n âYou borrowed it?â\n\n The young man voiced his doubt and looked at me suspiciously. Well, no wonder he would be suspicious.\n\n âThen, do you think I could steal it? From the leader of the Special Task Squad?â\n\n âHmmâŚthatâs also not possible.â\n
After hearing my words, that brat nodded his head. Sigh⌠the leader of the Special Task Squad is not someone I could steal or even forcibly snatch something away from. So, without a doubt, I must have definitely borrowed it.\n\n âBut, why did Captain willingly lend Calitus to you, Miss?â\n\n âI wanted to beat up a damn brat from the Special Task Squad.â\n\n âHuh? Which one?â\n\n âA thinly-built brat with yellow hair.â\n\n âOh, Clauen?â\n\n ClauenâŚ? Is he a circus performer? Seems like itâs not his real name. I smiled brightly at the young man who was coming towards me.\n\n âDo you know where he is?â\n\n âIf he really ran away, then he definitely wonât be around here anymore. And also⌠who are you, Miss?â\n\n âCaâ Silla Epheria. The eldest daughter of Count Epheria.â\n\n Just now I almost introduced myself as the Captain of the Holy Knights, Roel.\n\n âOhh, that one⌠Iâm Lather. Usually people call me Lathy.â\n\n Rather than trying to remember his name, Iâm much more interested in the words he said in the beginning. What did he mean by âthat oneâ?\n\n âLathy, it seems like you know something about me.â\n\n âHm? Did the Captain not tell you anything Miss? Even though Miss has been brought here? Captain definitely has confirmed that Miss is not the one. Otherwise, Miss wouldnât be able to borrow Calitus.â\n\n âNot the oneâ? That damn circus brat also said something similar. I was about to ask Lathy for some information but I decided to look for Captain Jullius instead. He must have known in detail, right? Before that⌠I stared at the Special Task Squadâs headquarters which couldnât be considered to be smallâŚ\n\n âLathy.â\n\n âHm?â\n\n âDo you know where Captain Jullius is right now?â\n\n I was too focused on chasing that damn brat that I paid no attention to my surroundings and I didnât know which door I had come from. Lathy burst out laughing when he heard my dejected voice, then he beckoned me to follow him.\n\n The place we were going to was an office on the second floor. He brought me right in front of the officeâs door, then he quickly turned around to run away, after saying, âThe Demon King is inside that room!â\n\n Demon King? Itâs impossible there could be a Demon King inside the Capital, let alone inside the Imperial Palace. That must be someone else, right? I raised my hand and knocked on the door.\n\n âCome in!â\n\n The voice that came from inside was unfamiliar to me. If thatâs not Captain Julliusâ voice, then who he might be? The Demon King? As I opened the door and walked inside, I saw two men there. One of them was Captain Jullius and the other one was a man with bright red eyes and red-hair who was wearing a neat uniform. I stared at both of them one after another and raised the sword in my hand.\n\n âThe swordâŚâ\n\n HuhuâŚIâm not willing to return it. But I couldnât steal it, could I?\n\n âI come here to return this.â\n\n âCaptain Jullius Rizar.â\n\n As soon as he recognized Calitus in my hands, the man who was wearing uniform, had a frighteningly gloomy face. He moved his gaze to Captain Jullius and spoke in a low voice.\n\n âCalitus is a symbol of the Special Task Squadâs Captain and also a sword that was bestowed directly by His Majesty. Not only you recklessly leave it in random places, but you even lend it to a stranger you only just met? It doesnât make any sense at all. As your assistant, I canât stand it when my superior become too lax.â\n\n â⌠itâs not allowed?â\n\n Captain Jullius pouted a bit while mumbling and I felt a bit guilty inside my heart. Captain Jullius kindly lent me his sword, even though I broke the holy sword into pieces. Although it could be restored, I still felt guilty about it.\n\n âOf course itâs not allowed. I hope there wonât be a next time.â\n\n âUnderstood.â\n\n Arghhhh!! It felt like I was being scolded. Suddenly I felt like I could clearly hear all the usual scolding from the Church elders and Cardinals in my ears. Captain Jullius, I feel you. As a leader, the presence of an assistant is similar to a leash that bind your movements. A leash that can be painful when it was tightly pulled. \n\n (T/N:basically itâs similar to a dogâs leash. The meaning is the assistant always corrects/warns/scolds/restricts,etc the leader from acting recklessly. Similar to the relationship between an owner and his pet xD)\n\n I secretly watched the assistantâs mood and moved closer to Captain Jullius. Now I have to return the sword, butâŚ\n
Sigh⌠itâs really hard to part ways with this sword.\n\n âUghhâŚbye bye love!â\n\n With a disappointed face, I handed the sword to Captain Jullius. Although our time together was short, I will never forget you⌠duh, I feel a bit guilty towards Altaire. Donât worry Altaire, I still like you. No matter what, a partner that goes through thick and thin together is still the best. Itâs a pity that you broke at the last moment. Well, mainly itâs my fault that you got broken into pieces.\n\n âThank you for lending your sword. Although I was still not able to beat up that annoying brat.â\n\n âHeâs an expert at running away.â\n\n Did he purposely lend me his sword because he knew I wouldnât be able to catch that brat? Well, I also wouldnât lend that powerful sword if I knew my subordinate wouldnât be able to get away. Well, whatever. The main thing is I had already returned his sword. Now back to the main problem. I stared at the two men before me.\n\n âWhy did you bring me here?â\n\n Why did he suddenly appear as my witness and then bring me here only to launch an attack on me? Thinking about it, itâs very suspicious to see Captain Jullius pacing back and forth near the solemn assistant. I had a hunch that Captain Jullius had been deliberately hiding somewhere to monitor me rather than accidentally witnessing me jumping out off the window on that day.\n\n The assistant started to talk after hearing my question.\n\n âMiss Silla Epheria.â\n\n âYes?â\n\n âWhat Iâm going to say after this is confidential. Miss must keep it a secret.â\n\n âYou must know that I donât have anyone to talk to anyway. In the mansion, thereâs only a single maid serving me.â\n\nI hadnât met the Count and or my step-sibilings, but other than Sofia, all the people in the mansion regarded me as someone who didnât exist. If by any chance we bumped into each other, never mind greeting me, they wouldnât even bother to look at me. The assistant shrugged his shoulders when he heard me.\n\n âWell, anyway it will be your loss if you tell others about it.â\n\n âOh? How curious.â\n\n The assistant kept silent for a moment before continued to speak.\n\n âThe Demon King who cursed the Crown Prince is affiliated with Count Epheriaâs household.â\n\n â⌠What?â\n\n âIn other words, it means that chances are very high that Count Epheria intended to harm His Highness the Crown Prince.â\n\n I widened my eyes instantly as I failed to conceal my surprised feeling. Huh⌠hmm⌠after some consideration, it is indeed possible! Damn! Why didnât I ever think this way? Surely, a Demon King rarely made a contract with only one person. The more they desired to possess human souls, the more they would bind them with a contract at every possible opportunity. In this case, perhaps Count Epheria really made a contract with the Demon King with the purpose of cursing His Highness the Crown Prince, but stillâŚ\n\n It canât be classified as a normal contract in which a nobleman used his own blood-related daughter as the sacrificeâŚ\n\n If not for some special requests in return, it would be better to kidnap orphans or stray kids, and then coax them into a binding contract, and later discard them after itâs all done. Itâs less risky and additionally there would be no complicated aftermath. However, using his own flesh and blood as the sacrifice, regardless of whether there is any affection or not, was a dangerous move. Using his own flesh and blood meant that he needed to confine her inside the mansion as a precaution and it would become a bigger problem if he got caught. Furthermore, it could raise the Churchâs suspicion if all of a sudden a noble died at a young age when the contract is completed.\n\nHowever, someone could ask for a bigger demand if he used a young noble lady as a sacrifice. There are also some limitations on how much power could be absorbed by the Demon King. The more talented and young the sacrifice, the higher her value will be. That means the contract was made recently⌠did Silla agree to it? I have no idea.\n\n SighâŚno matter what, I was now faced with dire matters.\n\n âThen, the reason I was attackedâŚâ\n
âTo confirm something. Right now the most suspicious thing that could have been used as the contract payment from the Count is none other than Miss Silla Epheria. The sacrifice used to fulfill the contract usually receives a weak barrier from the Demon King, so we had no choice but to offend Miss to confirm it. And the result is that Miss is not the sacrifice because you used holy power.â\n\n ⌠Youâre right though. To be precise, this body is the sacrifice, but not my soul. Even so, I canât bluntly admit this and give them compliments like, âYouâve guessed it right! Awesome!â\n\n Since I didnât say anything, the assistant asked me, âThat aside, I heard Miss used holy power well.â\n\n The methods of using holy power are only known by the clergy and can only be taught by the clergy. Although sometimes it could be taught in secret, this practice was strictly prohibited to prevent others from using the power bestowed by the Goddess for the wrong cause.\n\n âAh, actually my dream is to be a clergy.â\n\n Thatâs not a lie.\n\n âAnd in the past, I met Sir Roel by chance.â\n\n âThe leader of the Holy Knights Squad?â\n\n âYes. As both of you know, my familyâs condition is kinda messed up. Thatâs why Sir Roel taught me a bit about holy power to protect myself. The holy knightsâ method of using holy power isnât so significant so as to be a secret anyway.â\n\n The holy knights could use their holy power because itâs resided inside their bodies and they could learn how to use it by themselves without much instruction. In short, this type of holy power is only useful for its ownerâs body, as opposed to those priestsâ holy powers which were used to give blessings and heal others.\n\n âSir Roel even said that he would arrange for me to join the Church after he returned from his mission, butâŚâ\n\n I looked down and covered my face with my hands as I faked some tears. I know this is silly but how could they know anyways? In any case, it was me all along. The present Silla and the dead Roel are both me. Well, letâs just assume that I made a promise to myself then! It wonât become a lie if I think that way.\n\n âIn conclusion, Miss Silla Epheria can use holy power so she has no affiliation to the Demon King.â\n\n âYes. Of course.â\n\n To be honest, there is a connection and Iâm the one who beat up the Demon King until he was black and blue. Sigh⌠and I only needed one last hit to end it allâŚ\n\n âThen, can we ask Miss to cooperate with us as a spy in the Epheria household? Although we already have someone, it would be better to have another spy who is the member of the household itself even though sheâs unfavored.â\n\n âYou already have someone? May I ask who it is?â\n\n âThatâs a secret.â\n\n Did he imply that I was not trustworthy enough to be informed of who the spy is? Hmm⌠acting as a spy inside the familyâŚ? Itâs not a bad offer. ButâŚ\n\n The problem might become even more complicated than it already is if they discovered I was the sacrifice for the contract.\n\n Thatâs the biggest problem I might face in the future. Someone who made a contract with the Demons would received a death sentence or be exiled. It wouldnât be a problem if I could prove myself as Roel, who had gotten my soul switched with Sillaâs. But, they wouldnât believe me if I said this anyway. They would definitely think I made up some lies so I wonât get exiled.\n\n For now I can free myself from suspicion because I can use holy power but⌠if the contract was made before Silla was born, all my efforts will be futile.\n\n Someone who had awakened his holy power couldnât be used as a sacrifice and bonded contract with demons, but it would be a different matter if the contract was made before you awakened your holy power. No matter what, the details of the contract with the Demon King must not be known before I can meet with the High Priest and prove my identity. Duh, what should I do? Should I just barged in to the church tomorrowâŚ? Wait! I stared at Captain Jullius and the assistant with bright eyes.\n\n âI will become your spy if you guys can fulfill my only request!â\n\n âRequest?â