Chapter 53

The next day.

After somehow clearing up Ellis's misunderstanding, I was teaching Yuel healing magic.

Yuel, after asking me about how to handle magic power, immediately tried to activate the healing magic.

And then—

"It didn't work... I, I'm so sorry, Master... I, I couldn't do it..."

Yuel whispered in a weak voice, full of disappointment. She lowered her head, as if she couldn't face Master, and trembled slightly.

"Don't worry, Yuel. The healing magic didn't activate, but your hand glowed a little. It's enough to do that much on your first try."

...Even Yuel wouldn't succeed on her first try, of course.

However, it usually takes several years to master healing magic, so for her to produce even a faint light on her first attempt is quite impressive. She might be a genius.

Our Yuel might be a genius.

She can fight in close combat with a knife, sense danger sensitively, and has good night vision.

If she also turns out to be a genius at healing magic, my existence might start to feel redundant.

I already feel like I'm the one being protected rather than the protector.

If she can use healing magic, she can probably learn and use attack magic too.

With her magic power being continuously boosted by being with me and being a Dark Elf, a race known for its longevity, she has plenty of time to practice.

Yuel's potential is scary.

"Well, using healing magic isn't just about handling magic power; faith and knowledge are also important. If you study those, you'll be able to use it soon."

"Faith and knowledge, huh..."

While consoling the dejected Yuel, I thought about something.

Not about Yuel, but about what happened yesterday.

The purpose of the Holy Maiden, as I heard from Ruruka.

The word "purge" made me consider running away at first, but it didn't feel like it was about me.

Besides, even if I wanted to run, Ellis is here in the clinic, and she wouldn't leave this place she's attached to so easily.

I can't leave just because I feel a bit uneasy.

So, I want to gather more information about the Holy Maiden.

I'll decide what to do next after that.

...As I was thinking about such things absentmindedly, I realized Yuel was looking at me.

When our eyes met, she spoke hesitantly.

"Um, Master. If it's okay, could you read the Bible for me? I, I can't read it well..."

I remembered that Ellis said reading the Bible can deepen one's faith.

Reading specific stories about God can help one believe in His existence, or something like that.

"Bible? ...Ah, Yuel, how well can you read the letters?"

By the way, I can read the letters of this world.

For some reason, I could understand the language and writing of this world perfectly from the moment I arrived.

It shouldn't be a problem to teach Yuel.

I have no idea why I can read the letters or why I understand the language of this world.

I don't even understand my current situation, where I thought I was dead but ended up in this world.

...Well, there's no point in thinking about it too much.

There might be a reason, but I don't have enough information to figure it out.

No matter how much I think, I won't reach a conclusion.

It would be more productive to think of ways to look at Ellis's chest without her noticing.

"I learned to read to some extent while I was at the orphanage, so I can read. But the Bible has a lot of difficult words, so I don't understand it well..."

"I see, got it. If that's the case, leave it to me."

"Thank you, Master! Um, could you start from the middle of Chapter 3?"

Yuel said this with a happy voice.

However, the Bible.

I've never properly read the Bible of the Medine religion.

I don't know the details.

I know that in this country, where the Medine religion is the state religion, the content of the Bible is treated as historical fact, and the general story is about the Medine religion sealing away the evil god and its apostles.

"Um, Chapter 3... Chapter 3..."

I flipped through the pages to find Chapter 3 and saw an illustration of a man with a grand staff facing a large army of monsters.

The illustration is probably for educational purposes for children.

I was a bit curious, so I skimmed through the text. It seems to be a scene where a saint from the church is fighting an army of monsters led by the evil god's apostle, Succubus.

"Succubus..."

"Master, is something wrong with Succubus?"

When I muttered the word that caught my attention, Yuel immediately reacted.

"N-no, it's nothing, Yuel."

...Why did I say Succubus twice?

No, maybe I was trying to understand the content of the Bible for the sake of faith.

Yeah, it's good to have intellectual curiosity.

However, Succubus.

When I think of Succubus, I think of those in adult comics.

They often appear in erotic adult comics.

They show people very pleasant dreams while they sleep.

They manipulate desires to make girls aroused.

They use convenient magic to amplify the pleasure people feel by dozens of times.

Succubus, the lustful demons written as Succubus in those adult comics.

...So, Succubus really exist.

Well, it's possible that the Bible itself is a creation to establish the authority of the religion, but seeing the word Succubus made me less inclined to deny it.

I thought the content of a religious book would be boring, but now I'm suddenly interested.

As an apostle of the evil god, Succubus must be portrayed as an enemy of humanity. I wonder what they did.

Did they make girls aroused?

Did they make female knights feel dozens of times more pleasure from the friction of their armor, making it impossible for them to fight properly?

My imagination started to run wild.

"Yuel, I found an interesting passage in this Bible. It might be important for advanced healing magic. I want to focus on reading it, so please wait a moment."

"...? Okay, Master."

After reading a bit, it seems that the situation is about Succubus, who manipulates the desires of monsters to create an army, trying to attack a city.

I skipped over the unimportant battle parts and searched for passages about Succubus.

Then I found it.

[Succubus have the ability to manipulate the desires of living beings, especially sexual desires. Using this ability, Succubus command low-intelligence monsters as if they were an army.]

...No, this part isn't interesting.

I'm not interested.

I flipped through the pages quickly.

[Succubus can also manipulate the sexual desires of humans, not just animals and low-intelligence monsters.]

This is it.

This is what Succubus are all about.

I started to get excited.

"Hmm, I see."

I maintained a cool expression so Yuel wouldn't notice my excitement, and continued reading while flicking my bangs.

It seems this page describes the evil deeds of Succubus as an apostle of the evil god.

[Succubus infiltrated the city by disguising as human women and used their ability to incite the sexual desires of young women in the city without limit, causing the city to lose its functions as people indulged in sexual activities day and night.]

I regret that there's no illustration on this page.

The city described in the Bible probably resembles the world of adult comics more than anything else.

I wish Succubus would come to this labyrinth city.

I really want to see Ellis, torn between her rising desires and her sense of shame, being driven wild by Succubus.

—Suddenly.

As I continued reading, Yuel, perhaps curious about what I was reading, tried to peek at the Bible.

"This theory, though a bit old, might be applicable to modern healing magic..."

"!"

I stood up and blocked her view with a casual remark.

This way, Yuel, who is short, can't see.

I can't let her know that I'm reading about Succubus making young women promiscuous.

Yuel looked at me with admiration, as if I had said something profound.

...Still, why isn't Succubus around now?

Ah, they were sealed by the church.

Sealing Succubus is a cruel thing for the church to do.

I want to revive them.

But, they are apostles of the evil god and enemies of humanity, so I shouldn't revive them, right?

Feeling a bit of attraction to a world with Succubus, I continued reading.

[Succubus manipulated the sexual desires of the residents for years, causing a population explosion in multiple cities. The decrease in productivity due to the continuous manipulation of sexual desires and the population explosion led to famine and poverty in parts of the cities.]

When people have sex, children are born.

In this world, especially in the old times described in the Bible, there probably weren't any contraceptives, so it's natural.

[Eventually, conflicts over food and resources began among people. These conflicts escalated into a large war involving cities, countries, and humanity as a whole. Taking advantage of the weakened and disorganized humans, Succubus led the army of monsters to destroy city after city. This war led to a significant retreat in the human survival area, and one-sixth of the population at the time died from hunger and conflict caused by Succubus's abilities.]

...Succubus must not be revived.

They are truly apostles of the evil god, and their methods are too cruel.

Manipulating the enemy's population to increase and then causing conflicts over food shortages to gain an advantage is just too much.

I was hoping for something more like a double peace fantasy, but this is not it.

This is not it.

...My excitement suddenly cooled down.

"Okay, that's enough, Yuel. We were on Chapter 3, right?"

"Yes, please start from where the characteristics of Succubus are described."

"That was Chapter 3?!"

...I looked at Yuel's eyes.

She looked confused, perhaps sensing my unease.

But, it seems to be okay.

Her ears aren't red, and she isn't fidgeting.

She just wants to learn the content of the Bible, and she looks very serious.

She doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives.

She probably won't ask, "What does 'sexual desire' mean?" or "What is 'sexual intercourse'?"

...Yuel said earlier that she doesn't understand the difficult words in the Bible.

If she asks, I don't want her to ask me.

She should ask Ellis, and I should see Ellis struggling to explain while blushing.

"Master, is something wrong?"

Yuel asked with her innocent eyes, sensing my hesitation.

...Since the incident with Ruruka, Yuel has become unpredictable.

She might suddenly cross a line.

Honestly, I don't want to read the story of Succubus making young women promiscuous and having them reproduce.

Should I honestly tell her that there are inappropriate parts and I can't read them to her?

...No.

Yuel's eyes are full of determination to learn healing magic to help Master.

The possibility of her saying anything other than "I'm fine" is extremely low.

I'll try asking just in case.

"Yuel, the content of Chapter 3 might have a bad influence on you."

"I, I'm fine! I'm fine, really!"

She's quite insistent.

And she answered twice.

...I looked at Yuel's eyes again.

She seems to have made up her mind.

Her eyes are very serious.

They are filled with the sincere desire to learn healing magic.

She really doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives.

...I remember, I once fainted and was carried away by a river.

At that time, Yuel was very worried about my body.

Maybe because of that experience, she wants to be able to heal me when I can't use healing magic.

Yuel is a girl with a strong desire to improve.

It seems likely.

Do I have to make up my mind?

Do I have to decide to read the human reproduction fantasy involving Succubus to this young slave girl?

To this pure-eyed girl?

To this young girl who will probably ask, "What does 'sexual desire' mean?" within five seconds of starting to read...?

It's impossible.

I'll have to lie to Yuel and say I have something to do and can't read it.

I'll wander around outside to waste time.

But, that won't work.

Yuel will probably follow me.

If she follows, she'll know I don't have anything to do.

Leaving her behind would be cruel.

Especially after the Miss Contest and the monster attack, Yuel won't leave my side when we go outside.

I haven't been to the bar for a while either.

"Ah, Yuel, I'm sorry, but... this... um..."

...As I was thinking about how to lie to Yuel, I suddenly heard a knock on the clinic door.

It was a saving grace.

It seems a customer has arrived.

"Unfortunately, today's healing magic training ends here. Yuel, you should help Ellis with the cooking. I'll go deal with the customer!"

I couldn't stay in this room any longer.

I returned the Bible to Yuel and hurriedly fled the room.

Well, who could the visitor be?

The next update will be in about three days.