Chapter 137

Exorcism… that’s been a thing that’s stuck around for quite a while even after the modern world came into play.

Honestly, being an atheist, I’m not entirely sure how it was executed. Was there even a relevant department with priests assigned to it?

I’ve always thought of possession as just a form of mental illness, so I figured that such rituals wouldn’t really help the patients at all. Anyway, didn’t the demon that possessed a person fail to destroy the world?

Even in a world with Gates, it’s pretty much the same; the ones who stopped the monsters coming through those gates weren’t exorcists but people armed with guns and swords. Sure, there were religious folks involved, but even they were fighting with guns and swords, so ultimately, exorcism in this world was just a fusion of prayers and firepower.

And they didn’t even call it exorcism in the first place.

This means that the influence of the church or the hunters from our side isn’t particularly deep here.

If souls were wholly religious—meaning they had no connection to science—it might have actually been quite simple. Hunters could just ignore any soul-related aspects while dealing with things, and the religious people could just cling to their beliefs without a care.

But this world is now the age of magic and faith.

Although entities like souls and spirits aren’t exactly acknowledged as clearly existing, since a “different world” exists, it’s quite possible they do.

“So, we can’t fully believe they don’t exist, huh?”

“Does that conclusion not sit well with you?”

As I asked with a smile, Ria frowned slightly.

“Well, when you’re in a situation where you’re fighting, it’s better if there aren’t any ghostly figures around. If they can harm us but we can’t harm them, isn’t that totally unfair?”

For some reason, I found her argument amusing and considered making a joke, but Ria still wore a very serious expression.

In the end, it’s probably just her worrying about me. Since Ria’s job required her to wield a sword, it wouldn’t be too surprising if she got hurt, but she definitely wouldn’t want me, her protector, to get harmed.

“You don’t have to worry too much.”

“Huh?”

“If a ghost were to affect us, that just means we could touch them too, right?”

Even the magic power that is considered to go beyond the laws of the world and physics would follow the principles of action and reaction. If it could act on us, then we could act on it in return. Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be able to see or feel it in the first place.

If I dig deeper, it might turn into a headache-inducing discussion about quantum mechanics, so I’ll spare you the details.

“If it really were that dangerous, they wouldn’t even think about sending me. …They seem to value me quite highly at the church, though.”

After I agreed to go, almost two weeks passed.

They sent someone in advance to check the place and set up meetings with everyone who would see me. They also increased the number of bodyguards protecting me even more than when I visited the Dwarf Kingdom.

Of course, even with that, they were still facing a kingdom with a population over a hundred thousand, so numerical superiority wasn’t really a thing.

“The association sent a ton of people over, and you’ve got that sword with you, right?”

“……”

The sword strapped to Ria’s waist.

Honestly, I had requested that it look no different from the typical hunters’ swords. There’s a reason why mass production exists. It ensures better productivity, easier quality control, and allows for compatibility with various parts, meaning it can be fixed quickly if it ever breaks.

However, for some reason, right after the association took my commission, they contacted the church immediately.

Making a weapon from something that could potentially be the “sacred relic” stained with (effectively) the blood of a Saintess seemed like something they couldn’t just disregard without notifying the church first.

Plus, all the real experts on Saint Power were bunched up at the church.

The church sent a massive contingent to help out, and rather than simply modifying mass-produced parts slightly, they crafted the sword through a process where each piece was consecrated by priests, blessed by other Saint Candidates, and infused with sacred oils, effectively turning it into a holy sword.

I even heard that the oil used on the blade was blessed holy oil.

Then, just to be safe, I performed one last blessing myself, which meant that within less than a month after its creation, the sword was already being referred to as a “relic.”

“Honestly? I think the church values that sword more than me.”

“……Then, the church is under some massive delusion. Who else besides me or Ria in this world can directly manipulate Saint Power?”

Well, that may be true, but Ria responded somewhat begrudgingly to my words.

Oh, maybe that’s what it is? Just like how I dislike rising in status, Ria seems to think similarly. She is probably fed up with her father’s uptight attitude as well.

“Hmm.”

“What?”

As I chuckled, Ria tilted her head. Her face already bore the look of someone who found me annoying.

“Well, if things keep going like this, won’t Ria become a Saintess too?”

“……No, that’s not happening.”

Ria replied, almost incredulously. However, I didn’t miss the subtle worry that flickered across her face.

**

Seeing Anna giggle as if she had found a weakness in Ria, the latter let out a deep sigh.

Where did that innocence come from, anyway?

No matter how naïve someone is, their expression is bound to change a bit once they start holding power. After all, once you can do something that you couldn’t do before, your entire life changes.

Ria doesn’t read the inner workings of the church as her father does. However, she’s aware of the issues that occasionally arise inside the church that make headlines.

Sex crimes occur within the church sometimes. The perpetrator could be a priest, a monk, or occasionally even a nun. The usual victims are children. There’s no other choice; to maintain the secrecy of such crimes happening in a closed-off space, the victims have to remain silent. Children are easy targets for this manipulation.

So, Ria likely ended up so close to this Saint Candidate because her father recognized the potential dangers and put her there. Despite their bad relationship, there would still be some trace of a father’s concern for his daughter.

Having grown up in such a good environment with limited external news, it’s not entirely strange for Ria to be that naïve. The desire to leave the church while simultaneously wanting to stay inside must have played a big role in shaping her fears of the outside world—fears stemming from that innocence, Ria thought.

“……”

That’s why she was worried.

Though it was a bit of an awkward story, seeing the Pope only amplified these thoughts. In Ria’s eyes, Anna seemed to possess all the necessary conditions to step into that Pope’s position.

Wouldn’t someone try to use her? At the very least, wouldn’t they think about trying to use her?

Given that, Ria was constantly wrestling with two thoughts whenever she looked at Anna.

Wouldn’t it be safest to keep her within the church?

Or wouldn’t it be better to take her outside?

Meanwhile, the innocent Anna herself was contemplating the possibility of becoming a fragment for the church’s treasures and even suggested to Ria that she could give her body to her if it came to that.

No matter how much Ria told her not to worry, it was impossible not to worry.

“As long as you don’t become the Saintess, it’ll be fine, right? With me beside you, that shouldn’t happen.”

Ria said this with a sense of bravado.

Yeah.

The best method, after all, was to have Ria by my side. Whenever something like that comes up, I’ll just sneak Anna away or somehow raise havoc to prevent that kind of situation from happening in the first place.

In the critical moments, it’s all about protecting Anna no matter what.

……

Why I’m thinking this way, even Ria couldn’t explain.

It was simply that this girl named Anna standing in front of me, with no family and without even her own surname, didn’t deserve to be sacrificed.

Even if I couldn’t take responsibility for her entire life, Ria still just prolonged the time she could stay.

“So?”

After hearing Ria’s response, Anna smiled widely.

It seemed like she felt reassured just because Ria said that.

Seeing that expression made Ria’s heart race.

It brought her some happiness that someone would make such an expression for her. And she was worried that if she didn’t keep that promise, that expression might disappear.

…And what worried her most was that Anna would surely wear the same expression when the moment came where Ria couldn’t protect her.