"...And when you did come back, you weren't afraid of me," Sasha finished. "You were only concerned for my safety. That's why… I decided that you deserved to know the truth… all of it."
Back in the present, Sasha and Elt were both blushing.
"Sasha… you, actually like me…?" Elt said. He'd been left dumbfounded by that part of Sasha's explanation, only now starting to find his words again.
There had been no need for Sasha to reveal that fact. But when she'd reached that point in her explanation, the words had come tumbling out seemingly of their own accord.
Is this Eros' influence? Or… just my own… jealousy?
In between Elt's return home and Sasha's detailed explanation, the two of them had sent out a letter to Wilmarina Noscrim discreetly notifying her of what had happened. Sasha would never have done something so risky on her own, it was Elt who'd persuaded her.
When I saw the confidence in his face, his belief that she'd be able to help… I wished it was directed at me, no matter how bizarre and selfish that sounds…
Though in any case, it seems like she's busy enough as it is…
When Elt returned, he'd also brought news of chaos in the Senate, news overheard from a dozen colleagues and passers-by. Everyone had a slightly different version of events, but the few consistent details were Wilmarina leading an uprising against many corrupt family heads, and the king was now meting out punishment after punishment.
But Sasha couldn't remain lost in thought forever. She eventually said, "I do, Elt. I've been hiding it for much too long, but it's the truth."
Elt lowered his head. "I… I'm not sure what to say. Sasha, I… I don't think I deserve someone like you."
"I've always been told about how I deserve more than living in the slums," Sasha said. Her new tail flicked around nervously. "I never cared for that, and I've even less reason to care now. I… might be a monster now, but I think you deserve to know the truth."
As a monster, Sasha ought to kill herself or let someone else do that task. She certainly shouldn't be trying to… to tempt a human like this.
Yet for a moment, Sasha imagined running away from it all. She imagined taking just the orphans, human and monster alike, with her to some country. There, they could live free without caring about what happened to Lescatie. There, she could live together with the man she loved…
...but that could never happen. She and Elt both had too many attachments in Lescatie to simply leave.
"I'm sorry for pushing this on you, Elt," Sasha continued. "I'll accept your answer no matter what it is."
One part of Sasha hoped that Elt would turn her down. As a monster, she didn't deserve to be with a human like him. He deserved better.
Another part of her hoped, selfishly and blasphemously, that he would accept.
Eventually, Elt said, "I can't… I can't. I'm sorry, Sasha, but I'm not sure what to do…"
"Then I'll wait until you can give me an answer," Sasha said. "And, again, I don't mind what that answer is."
Realistically, they didn't have the time to wait. Druella wouldn't just sit around patiently for them to resolve their personal issues. But since Sasha had thoughtlessly burdened Elt with her confession, she didn't want to hurt him further by forcing him into a quick decision.
"But, Sasha, what will you do now?" Elt asked. "You can't go outside anymore…"
That was indeed a pressing issue. With the approaching threat of a monster invasion, Sasha was even more likely than usual to be called on to fight. It was a stroke of fortune that it hadn't happened already. Even if they could get Wilmarina to cooperate, it would still be hard for Sasha to keep hiding.
"...One idea that comes to mind is to disguise myself as a human," Sasha said uncertainly. "But I have no idea how I might do that. It only occurred to me since Druella already did that—"
Elt suddenly flinched. He reached a hand into one pocket.
"Elt?"
"Sorry, Sasha, I wanted to mention this earlier," Elt said. "But when Lisia and Emiyu told me what happened, I was just… too shocked to bring it up…"
From his pocket, Elt took out a large white pearl glowing with faint red light. It was partly wrapped in a folded rag so that it didn't contact Elt's skin.
"That's… the pearl that Druella gave you?" Sasha said, her eyebrows shooting up in alarm. "But I thought you buried it out in the forest!"
"We did, but… when I left training today, I decided to go back out and pick it up," Elt explained. "I thought… I thought that just having it wouldn't be dangerous, and we might learn something new if we could talk to… her, again."
Elt looked at the pearl with an expression that suggested he was considering breaking it. The reason for that was obvious.
"It's not clear if she had anything to do with my transformation," Sasha said. "Either way, you made the right choice in bringing this in, Elt. There would be no need for her to make this a trap, not when she can already sneak into Lescatie as she pleases…"
Sasha looked at the pearl and came to a decision. Even if Druella turned out to be working with the Fallen God, confirming that fact would still be better than remaining ignorant.
Taking a deep breath, Sasha touched the pearl and said, "We wish to speak to you… Druella, fourth-born of the Demon Lord's progeny."
Nothing happened for a few seconds. Then an image of a white-haired succubus, roughly a fifth as tall as the real thing, blinked into existence above the pearl. Both Sasha and Elt recoiled away from it.
"Sorry, I was just in a meeting…" Druella said. Her voice was much more… normal than Sasha expected. "Wait, you must be Sasha Fullmoon? But who turned you? I haven't heard anything about this!"
Sasha and Elt exchanged glances. It sounded like Druella was genuinely surprised, but she could always be a good actor.
"You really had nothing to do with this?" Elt asked sceptically.
"I've only just learned about it," Druella replied. She peered at Sasha carefully. "In the first place, it's illegal for us to convert a human against their will, and I doubt you changed your mind about monsters so quickly… And what sort of monster have you become? You look like a dark priest, but I've never heard of any with pink wings and tail..."
"I was contacted telepathically by someone who claimed to be the Fallen God," Sasha said.
Druella's mouth gaped. If she was acting, she would have to be very good at it, for Sasha hadn't seen even the slightest hint of deception so far.
"Partway through, I was also contacted by someone claiming to be Eros," Sasha continued. "Since the Fallen God wanted me to… teach unspeakable things to these children, I decided it would be better to choose the only alternative available. And… I ended up in this form."
"A dark priest… who's instead sworn to Eros?" Druella said. "A… love priest? A heart priest? Well, now's not the time to think about names… This changes many things..."
Druella brought a hand to her chin in thought.
"Alright, I'd like to make a request," Druella said. "I want to visit the room you're currently in, so that I can examine you. But if you don't want that, that's also fine."
Sasha and Elt exchanged glances again. It was obvious that neither of them wanted to meet the lilim in person.
But if she has ill intentions for us, she would hardly need our permission…
"If Elt does not disagree, then you may visit," Sasha said.
"...I'm fine with it as well," Elt added.
The illusory projection of Druella disappeared. In the next instant, the genuine article appeared in the room with a flash of red light.
Sasha swallowed in nervousness as she beheld the physical form of Druella. The lilim was suppressing almost all of the demonic energy that would normally leak from her body, but even this was a fearsome display of skill. Another such display was her casual teleportation into the room.
Druella was also dressed in a far more shameless manner than any of the monsters Sasha had seen. While she already knew this, and knew that Elt had seen her already, Sasha felt the urge to cover his eyes from the obscene sight.
Though at this very moment, Druella looked at Sasha with seemingly nothing but concern and curiosity.
"Hmm…" Druella said, approaching Sasha. "It doesn't look like you have any lingering influence from the Fallen God… it's all been supplanted by Eros' influence."
Elt stepped protectively in front of Sasha. It was a pointless gesture, yet undeniably brave… and also undeniably bad for her self-restraint.
"Thank you, Elt, but I should be alright," Sasha said. She tugged on Elt's arm to move him aside, trying hard to not think about the pleasant warmth of his body. "Druella... what does that influence entail? She simply told me to spread 'real, honest love', but…"
"According to everything I know, Eros is what you might call a hopeless romantic," Druella replied. She started circling around Sasha. "She lives for the purpose of creating and maintaining happy couples. Her servants—cupids, apsaras and houris—all work to carry this out in their own ways."
Sasha looked at Elt out of the corner of her eye and blushed again. She tried to hide this by bringing a hand to her face and coughing. Judging by the infuriating smirk on Druella's face, she failed to hide it at all.
"But Eros is a neutral god with respects to humans and monsters," Druella said. "She hasn't told you to betray Lescatie for our side, has she?"
"...No, she has not," Sasha confirmed. "Then I will ask another question. Who is the Fallen God to you?"
"An enemy," Druella replied. She grimaced. "Not a personal one, more an enemy to the vast majority of monsters. Her doctrine of unrestrained pleasure is actually considered as sickening to most of us as it is to you."
Other followers of the Order would have argued against this, thinking that monsters had no standards of decency in the first place. However, both Sasha and Elt now knew that monsters were fundamentally the same as humans.
"One thing the Fallen God enjoys doing is targeting priests of the Chief God, breaking them with pleasure and corrupting them into dark priests," Druella said. "Who go on to corrupt others in turn. I should have known this might happen…"
Druella did something entirely unexpected: she bowed her head.
"I'm sorry. You at least deserved a warning…"
"T-There's no need for that!" Sasha said, waving her hands and wings frantically. "In the first place, I would certainly have doubted any warning!"
"Well, at a minimum, I can tell you everything I know of the Fallen God, and you can warn the rest of Lescatie that she might try this again," Druella said. She pulled out a quill and a piece of paper from her own shadow, then the quill began writing on the paper of its own accord. "They would trust the warning more if it came from you."
"I… could do that, but it would be limited to the form of letters," Sasha pointed out. "I can hardly go outside in this form."
"Then I'll add in instructions on how to take on human form," Druella said. "It's easier than it sounds. Essentially, you concentrate your energy into the inhuman parts of your body, then imagine yourself in a human form, which should be easier for you since you were human until very recently. You'll just need a little practice."
A monster pretending to be human… one of the most terrifying things imaginable to followers of the Chief God, Sasha thought. Even if I suggested it before, to actually do it myself… well, I suppose it's no worse than aiding monsters while pretending to be a faithful hero...
When she was finished, Druella handed the paper, now covered in dense lines of text, to Sasha.
"T-Thank you…"
This entire day had been surreal. Sasha had first been caught in a struggle of gods, then turned into a monster, accepted by people she feared would reject her, and was now meeting with an oddly helpful lilim.
"And, to try and gain a little trust, I'll share our basic plans with you," Druella said. "We hope to make Lescatie into a monster-friendly nation with the agreement of its people."
"Agreement!?" Sasha and Elt exclaimed at the same time.
"It sounds absurd, I know that," Druella continued. "But you, a hero formerly dedicated to the Chief God, realised the truth about monsters a long time ago. I assume you've revealed that part now?"
"...Yes," Sasha admitted. "To Elt and to Primera as well. And the orphans we care for in this church… I haven't told them about that monster orphanage, but when they found me after my transformation… they didn't reject me."
"So it's not an impossible prospect at all… just a very difficult one," Druella said. "Most of Lescatie's people value themselves and their loved ones more than the Order, or am I wrong about that?"
To Sasha's chagrin, she couldn't deny this. Lescatie's aristocracy had been self-centred since before her parents' generation. As for the lower classes, Elt—and his colleagues—demonstrated that they weren't any more faithful. They went about their lives hoping for regular income, good health and happy families. If they could have those things with monsters in charge…
But even then, they've been raised to think of monsters as pure evil, Sasha thought. Overcoming that wouldn't be easy, not without… great upheaval?
"Wait, the things Mar—Lady Wilmarina did in the Senate, was that part of your plan as well?" Elt asked. He'd come to the same conclusion as Sasha just did.
"No, she came with that idea all on her head," Druella said. "That was another surprise for my side. Really, just how much does that girl love you?"
Elt blushed to the tips of his ears. "Mary—Lady Wilmarina doesn't l-love me! We're just childhood friends!"
Druella glanced at Sasha, who found—much to her annoyance—that she sympathised with the lilim.
Out of everyone aware of his relationship with Wilmarina Noscrim, I suspect he's the only one who thinks that way.
...Though, if he doesn't reciprocate her feelings yet, does that mean I still…?
Sasha shook her head to get rid of that terribly selfish thought.
"Anyway, your childhood friend seems to be trying to reform Lescatie from the inside so it's more effective at fighting monsters," Druella said. "I actually welcome her efforts, since one of my side's other goals is fixing up Lescatie's problems. If that sounds suspiciously altruistic to you, I'll mention that a stronger Lescatie would also make a better trading partner and be better for our own reputation."
"...But there's no way Wilmarina or the others would agree," Elt argued.
That was a good point. Even if most of Lescatie didn't live up to its standards of faithfulness, heroes tended to be an exception, perhaps because they were blessed by the Chief God.
"At some point, I'll have to speak to her in person," Druella said. "When that time comes, I'd like you to accompany me."
"Even then, I don't think she would ever change her mind," Elt said. "She's been training hard for years to—" he winced, presumably remembering that the Demon Lord was Druella's mother, "—to be a hero of Lescatie."
"And if you claim to have peaceful intentions for Lescatie, why are so many monsters gathering in its outskirts?" Sasha asked.
"If there's no other option, I suppose I can show her the outside world like I did with you and Hero Primera," Druella said. "As for the reason why so many monsters are gathering here, while I won't deny that there's fighters among them, most are actually aid workers."
"Aid…"
"...workers?"
"I guess that's a term you haven't heard before," Druella said. She held up one hand and an illusion of a red slime appeared above it. "Then I'll try showing you a few examples. This is Falas, a healer. She's come here to eventually help treat the sick inhabitants of Lescatie, those who've never been able to get proper care."
That struck a personal chord in Sasha. While she'd always done her best with her own healing magic, there were limits to what one person could do for tens of thousands of slum-dwellers.
Then Druella changed the illusion to an orc holding a hammer and chisel. "This is Bella, a stonemason who also has some skill at carpentry. She hopes to build new homes for those in the slums."
The slum-dwellers might be resourceful, but there was only so much they could do with limited tools, materials and training. Whenever a shack blew down in a storm or burned down in a fire, they'd be lucky to rebuild something of the same quality.
The illusion was replaced by a human man—or possibly an incubus. "This is Zachariah. He's a scholar of agriculture, of farming, and he has some ideas about how to improve your farming practices."
That would be useful now and even more useful if Druella succeeded. Lescatie received much of its food and other supplies as donations from its neighbours, donations that would be cut off if the country fell to monsters.
Druella went through half a dozen more examples in this manner, then said, "That should give you a decent picture of what we plan to do here. I could bring you out to our camps, if you'd like to take a look for yourself."
"That's… Thank you for the offer, but we can't leave the church unattended," Sasha replied.
In theory, only one of them could go with Druella to observe the monster camps. However, neither Sasha nor Elt would let the other go alone into uncertain territory.
"In that case, and unless you two have any more questions, it's time for me to leave," Druella said. "Call me again if you need me. And, again… I'm sorry for what happened to you, Sasha."
These words were delivered in a sincerely apologetic tone that unnerved Sasha for the tenth time today. Then Druella disappeared in another flash of red light.
Sasha and Elt were silent for a few moments. When they were certain the lilim was gone, they slumped down on the bed in exhaustion.
"...Just how much of that was the truth?" Elt wondered out loud.
"I don't know," Sasha replied. "I'm not sure if we'll ever know…"
The Sasha of the past might have tried attacking Druella in a suicidal charge, one of the few ways a monster could possibly redeem herself. Now… after becoming aware of the true nature of monsters, and spending a few hours as a monster herself…
"Should we have accepted Druella's offer?" Sasha said. "The church would be safe for a little while in our absence… though after saying that, I'm wondering if my mind is being influenced…"
"No, I get how you feel as well," Elt said. "I remember what I saw in Court Alf, and I keep wondering if Druella's really telling the truth about… about everything."
Reallly… even the thought of a lilim telling the truth should be evidence that we're being influenced… and yet, despite a lifetime of determined faith, I'm wavering…
Sasha could imagine alternate possibilities. While Druella was obviously powerful enough to take Lescatie by force, she might consider it more fun to manipulate its people into willingly switching sides. That would fit the typical image of a lilim among followers of the Order.
But Sasha herself was no longer a follower of the Order. In truth, she'd abandoned that for months, starting from the very first time she'd given aid to monsters. Her current form was simply a reflection of that fact.
To spread real, honest love… Just what does that mean? The only good example I can think of is…
Sasha remembered her parents. They'd founded this orphanage together out of a shared desire to help Lescatie's people, going above and beyond the usual definition.
They had slept together in this bed. The very same bed she and Elt were now in.
Sasha sprang out of the bed immediately.
"Sasha!? What's wrong!?" Elt asked.
"I… I was just thinking that we need to make sure all of the children are tucked in for the night," Sasha replied.
While Sasha could no longer meet Elt's gaze, he didn't seem to be feeling the same sense of awkwardness. It seemed he was still affected by Druella's recent visit.
Yet I'm acting this way… Is this because of Eros' influence?
Or, deep down… is this my true self?
A priestess of the Chief God ought to be chaste and devoted to all of humanity.
A priestess of the Chief God also wasn't supposed to help monsters. And according to much of Lescatie, she wasn't supposed to spend her time among her social inferiors.
The question now was: how was a priestess of Eros supposed to behave?
-ooo-
Within the royal castle of Lescatie, a young woman with long black hair waited for her opportunity.
Half an hour passed in this manner. Servants occasionally walked past Kirsch's location but none noticed her presence. This was because of an invisibility spell currently in effect on her body.
Eventually, her keen ears heard the sound of a doorknob beginning to turn. Her chance had arrived.
With quick yet silent footsteps, Kirsch turned around a corner. Ahead was a door with two soldiers standing guard, one of them currently in the process of opening said door.
Kirsch slid underneath a soldier's arm and past the open door, reaching the room on the other side. She kept a hand on the hilt of her sword throughout; if she was detected, she'd have no choice but to silence these witnesses.
Fortunately, neither of the soldiers noticed anything wrong. The one who'd opened the door shut it again, having completed his routine check on the prisoner.
Kirsch still maintained her invisibility spell. She knelt down in front of the middle-aged man sitting in the room, then whispered, "I have come, Sun Priest Noscrim."
The Sun Priest showed no surprise at the invisible intruder. He simply nodded and whispered back, "I knew you'd find a way in, Kirsch."
"First, I must apologise for my failure to stop your daughter," Kirsch said. "I was on a mission to investigate recent monster activity, but had I known—"
The Sun Priest shook his head. "No, if you'd been there, you wouldn't have been able to do a thing. It's clear that far too many in the Order of the Holy Ice Flower are consumed by foolish notions… You would have stood out if you'd tried arguing against them."
"Still, I could have informed you of what they were planning."
"If anything… it is my fault," the Sun Priest said. "I should have taken more precautions with my records. Or perhaps not kept any records in the first place… but that would have been impractical, with the amount of work I deal with… used to deal with. But none of that matters now. I have a new mission for you, Kirsch."
Kirsch bowed her head. "I will carry out any request, Sun Priest Noscrim."
The Sun Priest picked up a goblet from the table. It was filled with water instead of the wine he preferred in private—a subtle insult, presumably. Still, he took a sip from it.
"It's clear that Wilmarina would never have done... this on her own, not without external influence. Kirsch, I presume you have investigated possible culprits after returning from your mission?"
"I heard that Lady Wilmarina met with others in the Order in the days leading up to that Senate meeting," Kirsch reported. "They were—"
"No, those would be meetings to plan their little rebellion," the Sun Priest said. "Or possibly about completely unrelated matters. No, they wouldn't cause my daughter to change so drastically. What did she do that was unusual, different from her everyday routine?"
"In that case… three days before the Senate meeting, a messenger sent by Hero Mersé arrived," Kirsch reported. "He was somewhat unusual due to being a common soldier instead of a hero or high-ranking knight."
The Sun Priest tightened his grip on his goblet to the point of his knuckles turning white. "Who. Was. He?"
"I'm afraid the servant who told me this didn't know his name," Kirsch said apologetically. "The only other detail she knew was that he has untidy red hair. I could go and investigate further if you wish."
"No… No, that's already enough, Kirsch."
The Sun Priest was now breathing heavily. He'd been calm and collected for as long as Kirsch knew him. Even being disgraced and imprisoned hadn't robbed him of his dignity… until now.
"Sun Priest? Are you feeling ill?" Kirsch asked, almost forgetting to keep her voice down.
The Sun Priest put a hand over his eyes and gradually brought his breathing under control. "I… no. This is not an illness. I'm just… thinking that I should have dealt with this problem a long time ago. I thought he was dead by now..."
"It may be late, but I can deal with him now," Kirsch suggested. "I will not let you down, Sun Priest."
"Yes… Yes, do that, Kirsch," the Sun Priest said. "Find that red-haired upstart and eliminate him. Make it look like an accident, or if you can, frame it as a murder by someone else, perhaps a monster or one of the thugs of the slums. I leave the details to you, Kirsch. Do whatever you think is best to make my daughter realise the error of her ways."
Kirsch nodded. "It will be done."
Her mission was received. Kirsch still had to wait another hour for a guard to open the door again so she could slip out.
During the wait, Kirsch and the Sun Priest continued to be the only ones in the room. She did not speak up; from the moment she'd been taken from her orphanage, she'd been trained to be an ideal killer for House Noscrim.
Her master, however, was a different story.
"You said you were investigating the monsters earlier?" the Sun Priest asked after a few minutes. "Did you learn anything new?"
"Nothing in particular," Kirsch said. "I heard rumours of various monster sightings, but all of races already known in our existing intelligence."
"Still, the consistency of the rumours suggests there's some truth to them," the Sun Priest said. "When I take back the reins of power, I must ensure Lescatie is well-prepared…"
The Sun Priest held up his goblet and observed the water swirling around inside.
"I fought against monsters in my youth, so I am aware of their true nature. They are no longer the bloodthirsty, savage beasts of the past… no, they've become something far more insidious. Not only do they exploit the baser desires of humanity, they now trick humans into joining their number, making them even more powerful, even more dangerous. And those former humans actually enjoy their situation, willingly accepting servitude to Demon Lord Lilith."
The Sun Priest looked directly at Kirsch. His eyes were filled with a blazing strength, the kind that had allowed him to claw his way to the top of Lescatie.
"Fighting the monsters of the present era needs more than physical or magical strength. It requires the strength to do what must be done, to keep humanity in line, to disregard emotional impulses. You must succeed, Kirsch. Unless Lescatie is brought back into order, it will fall to the monsters."
"Understood. I will not return until I have succeeded."
Eventually, Kirsch's chance to leave arrived. She stealthily slipped out the door and made her way towards the exit of the castle.
Kirsch had killed over a dozen of Lescatie's citizens for the sake of Lescatie's stability. This one wouldn't be any more difficult, but it would be the first time that Kirsch eliminated someone directly connected to one of her compatriots.
Yet she felt not even the slightest trace of hesitation. She only felt a quiet resolve to carry out her mission.
More than ever before, I cannot afford to fail. The future of Lescatie depends on the Sun Priest regaining his position.
Kirsch clenched her sword. It was a magical sword of the highest quality, a gift from Sun Priest Noscrim on the conclusion of her training. Supposedly, it possessed a mysterious power that could only be unleashed in times of direst need.
She wouldn't need such a power for her current mission. However, if it could be unleashed, it would be useful against the monsters that now approached Lescatie.
...I do hope Lady Wilmarina comes back to her senses after this. I hope they all do. We must fight together if we want to protect Lescatie…
A weapon wasn't meant to have personal desires. Kirsch had long since discarded her desires for companionship, for romance, for material wealth, even for self-preservation. The only desire she had left was to preserve Lescatie.
This was for the good of her compatriots. She could never reveal her mission to them, but they would be better off focused on the true enemy instead of being selfish and petulant.
For their own good… I must eliminate any distractions...