Chapter 44

"May I ask one thing? Why the lie?"

Selena asked Tika, who was kneeling on the stone pavement.

Tika knew my name. She must have been told that I was here.

But just now, Tika said that she had been told that almost all the people here were demonized emblem bearers. Selena probably wanted to point out the contradiction in her words.

I answered Selena.

"Would you believe someone who prefaces their words with 'I'll be honest'? Tika was testing me."

"Testing?"

I nodded at Selena's tilted head and turned to Tika and Nate.

"I'll be honest..."

I ended up prefacing my words as well... embarrassing.

"I saved your lives because I empathized with your situation. Even though you tried to kill me and lied to the end."

"You would do so much... I thought you were a magnanimous person. That's why I believed you were worthy of my life. But, what do you mean by 'situation'?"

In response to Tika's question, Elicia answered for me.

"Lord Alex wants to create a place in this Tiars where people like you, who bear the dark emblem, and demons can live. He knows of your suffering."

I was a bit surprised.

Elicia had perfectly articulated my thoughts.

When I went shopping at the imperial capital's convent, I told Elicia that I wanted to bring Lise and others who bear the dark emblem to Ars.

...Elicia seemed to have fully understood my intentions.

However, Elicia glared at the two of them coldly.

"To be honest, I can never forgive you. But... you have been given life by Lord Alex. From now on, you must devote your lives to Lord Alex alone."

To be honest... Elicia must have had her own thoughts about their situation.

Tika looked up at me with a serious face.

"That's what we intend... from now on, the two of us will live only for Lord Alex!"

"Live."

Nate also bowed deeply.

Seeing the two of them, I nodded.

"Thank you. I won't let you regret it. But first... can you tell me about the mastermind?"

"Yes. The one who ordered the assassination of Lord Alex was... the High Priest of the Imperial Capital, Burius. Of course, he didn't say it directly, but through a secret letter."

The High Priest of the Imperial Capital is an important position that oversees the temples in the capital.

Those who hold this position often become the Pope, the highest authority in the Lux religion.

In fact, before I restarted, Burius, the High Priest of the Imperial Capital, had become the Pope. He was supposed to become the Pope in five or six years.

After becoming the Pope, Burius began to openly challenge the emperor and strongly demanded the introduction of a class system based on emblems.

The great rebellion in the imperial capital on the last day before I restarted was, in my view, also orchestrated by the Pope to install my younger brother, Louis, as the new emperor.

And this Burius, needless to say, is a member of the Holy Order. He had publicly declared himself a member of the Holy Order and was undoubtedly a high-ranking official.

Tika looked at me with a slightly puzzled expression.

"You're not... surprised?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Burius has a significant influence within the imperial government. Being targeted by such a person, one would normally be more anxious.

"No, I probably thought Burius was a member of the Holy Order. It's natural for him to want to kill those who bear the dark emblem."

"That's true... we bear the dark emblem, so we would have been eliminated eventually. No matter how many demons we exorcised or enemies of the temple we eliminated, we would have been..."

Tika brought her hand to her chest and stared at it.

"The secret letter said that if we failed and returned, we wouldn't know what would happen to our convent companions. They all bear the dark emblem like Lord Alex and me..."

The dark emblem...

I also focused on Tika's emblem.

"【No Moon】..."

Tika tilted her head.

"Huh?"

"No, your emblem is called 【No Moon】. Aside from dark magic, it allows you to disappear... like the magic spell 'Invisibility.' It seems to be particularly effective in dark places."

"...【No Moon】? 【Invisibility】? What is that?"

"Ah, no... in short, Tika's emblem seems to benefit stealth actions."

Elicia said to Tika, who was gaping at my words.

"Lord Alex can decipher the dark emblems."

"R-Really... well, I've been doing this kind of work for a long time."

Nate muttered in response to Tika.

"I see. Indeed, Tika sometimes disappears without a trace."

"Nate, you're the same, aren't you!"

"Maybe... Nate's emblem is 【Shadow Hawk】. It's not as good as 【No Moon】 for disappearing, but it excels in hunting and combat. It seems to be particularly effective in dark places."

Nate proudly showed Tika a smug face.

"...What, are you boasting?"

"It means I have more presence than Tika and a stronger combat emblem."

"I always win in training!"

Ignoring the bickering duo, Elicia said.

"You both have emblems suitable for assassins. Indeed, Tika's movements were almost invisible, and Nate's marksmanship was impressive."

"Well, even if you're good at combat, you're not quite ready to be assassins..."

Selena also muttered in exasperation.

In the midst of this, Elicia said firmly to me.

"Please leave the training of these two clowns to us! We will train them thoroughly to serve Lord Alex well!"

"Please, don't go overboard... Tika, Nate."

At my words, Tika and Nate stopped arguing and knelt.

"Officially, you will be declared dead in the demon realm. That way, your convent should be safe for at least a while."

"Thank you... we are already dead. From now on, we will live only for Lord Alex."

I don't really want that... but Tika and Nate's abilities are appealing to me and Tiars.

I will ask for their help.

"Yes... I believe your words. And when Elicia said 'I'll be honest,' she meant it. I want to bring the people from your convent to this island eventually."

"R-Really...?"

Tika's voice trembled.

Nate also opened his mouth hesitantly.

"Of course, I think they will have to serve me."

Tears welled up in their eyes at my words.

"...I will definitely persuade them!"

"...Long live Lord Alex. Lord Alex is super cute."

Tika and Nate bowed deeply to me.

After that, I gathered more information about the Holy Order from Tika and Nate.

It seems that the Holy Order has already surpassed ten thousand members in the empire. Including supporters inside and outside the empire, they likely have hundreds of thousands of combatants...

They will continue to persecute not only me but also those who bear the dark emblem and demons.

I want to make this Tiars a bulwark against such people...

And eventually, I want to live a comfortable life on this island.

To achieve this, I need to make the island more livable and earn money.

I stayed on this Ars Island for a while, focusing on the creation of magical devices.