Chapter 47
Erika's answer to my question was silence.
She gently rested her hand on her well-shaped chin and looked down in thought.
"I'm surprised."
"By what?"
"By the fact that I didn't consider that possibility."
Erika gestured for me to follow and began walking.
Once she confirmed I was following, Erika continued speaking.
"But isn't that a bit too much of a leap in logic?"
"Is it? From their perspective, you... just as you said, it wouldn't be strange for them to consider you an enemy of God."
At my words, Erika gave a slight shrug.
"Yes, that's true. But even so, there are ways of doing things, are there not? You may recall, but the one who tried to kill me turned into a demon, yes? That's not really the Church's usual method."
Demons—what the Church calls beings without divine protection.
The Church claims that living beings who lose the blessings of God become demons.
Where demons come from, and how they emerge, is still a mystery, so everyone just kind of accepts that theory.
But there's no evidence.
Demons are beings that appear suddenly, cause damage without clear purpose, and are then subjugated.
That's all we actually know about them.
For the Church to use such beings... yes, that would indeed be uncharacteristic of them.
But even so.
"If there's a possibility, I won't dismiss the idea."
When I said that while looking into Erika's face, she looked slightly exasperated—but also somewhat pleased.
"I understand that you're seriously concerned for me, but if you overthink it too much, those wrinkles between your brows will become permanent."
Erika laughed as she saw me instinctively touch my brow.
"Regardless of what the Church or the bishop may be thinking. For now, all we can do is wait and see, so there's no need to deepen those wrinkles, my dear husband."
*
In a modest room in Hekatai, Bishop Bival Vivarity was thinking about Shara.
He thought she was a pitiful girl.
Having to switch from the Healing Faction to the Protector Subjugation Faction despite being part of the former had to be a painful experience.
Bishop Bival knew that very well.
Because he had gone through the same thing himself.
When he was younger, Bishop Bival had also aimed to heal people as a member of the Healing Faction.
But like Shara, he had been bad at healing magic.
No matter how much he trained in magic, the only thing he got better at was attack magic.
When the faction elders told him to transfer to the Protector Subjugation Faction, he had felt both sorrow and frustration.
So Bishop Bival understood Shara's feelings very well.
Of course, unlike her, he hadn't gone so far as to master something as eccentric as syllabic magic—also known by the nickname destructive magic—despite still identifying as part of the Healing Faction.
While reminiscing, Bishop Bival found himself wondering why that girl had chosen to learn syllabic magic. No, really, why had she?
His evaluation of Shara was that she was a bit strange, but his concern for her safety and future was genuine.
That's precisely why he decided to entrust Shara to the adventurers known as Mr. and Mrs. Longdagger.
The ability to defeat three Golden Ogres without a scratch, and the spirit to donate most of the money earned from that to the orphanage.
There couldn't be better-suited adventurers to send Shara with.
Of course, he was aware that one of them was Erika Solnzari, but Bishop Bival didn't see that as a problem.
Rather than seeing it as a problem, he didn't even believe in the accusations against Erika Solnzari.
After all, she was from the Solnzari family.
There's no way someone from that family, even indirectly, would do something that would harm orphans.
Bishop Bival knew he was not well-versed in worldly politics, but even so, he had seen many strange power struggles among the nobility. He concluded this was another such case.
If this had been a matter involving another noble house, and some foolish noble had tried to harm the Priestess of Light, he might have believed it possible.
Hearing the noisy footsteps approaching down the hall, Bishop Bival smiled, wondering what kind of story that girl would bring him today.