CH 133

[Idiot at the Front]

—The cathedral has been occupied by monsters—

This urgent news ran about in the Elf Territory and was spreading to the adjacent territories.

But the only ones acting to deal with it were the knights originally stationed in the Elf Territory, whereas the knights in the surrounding territories were forced to take the stance of wait and see.

It was due to the fact that the puppets controlled by Joseph were spreading non-negligible false information and calls for reinforcement and inciting chaos in the Elf Territory, whereas outside the territory Nanashino, who had gotten wind of the situation, was delaying the dispatch of reinforcements by unhesitantly using up all the remaining connections of the Black Sword to divert the attention of the surroundings.

Both Joseph and Nanashino weren’t conspiring with each other, they were just acting for their own benefit. But in this world where communication means were scarce compared to modern society, those obstructions were terribly effective. Even though a week had passed since the start of the incident, no decisive action had been taken to solve it.

“…………”

And now, Asanaga Ayako showed up in broad daylight and looked up at the cathedral.

On her shoulder perched a small Java Sparrow, and it was constantly rubbing its head against her cheek. Needless to say, it was Joseph’s doll, who was still working hard on creating diversions.

From outsiders’ perspective, she might just seem like a pretty girl who was loved by a Java Sparrow, but to Ayako, who knew its true identity, this situation didn’t evoke any warm feelings. On the contrary, she couldn’t help but feel disgust from the innermost part of her heart.

“……”

More importantly, Ayako thought back on why she was standing there.

The situation had gotten way off track from her original plan. Sure, she and Joseph were at fault for failing to assassinate the Saintess, but the existence of ‘that man’ played no small part in it.

Sakurai Tōru.

The first disciple of the Sword Saint, the madman who had set free the monsters occupying the cathedral, and also someone she had made a deal with.

Ayako was here because she was waiting for Sakurai.

And until he showed up, she decided to recall the deal they had made on the day they had promised to meet up previously.

—

Four days after the attack at the great library, Ayako—who had been deliberating anxiously and finally came to the decision not to give up on the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff (Punisher)’—followed Sakurai’s words and went to the hero memorial monument, which was erected to comfort the victims of the ‘Anti-Dragon Total War (Dragon Raid)’.

Ayako and Joseph, the culprit who had attacked the Saintess, were able to head to the plaza where the memorial monument was without trouble.

It was because the designated time was midnight, and in the face of the huge incident, the occupation of the cathedral by monsters, the knights were all focused on evacuating the civilians and coming up with countermeasures.

Then at the promised time, 2 am.

What was waiting for them in front of the memorial monument was Sakurai Tōru, doing practice swings accompanied by a bonfire as a light source.

“9756…… 9757…… 9758…… 9759……”

Even though he was sweating buckets—partly probably because of the bonfire heat—he continued to swing his sword while muttering some unknown numbers.

The serious look on his face was like that of a hard-working boy you could find everywhere, or to put it in a bad way, his face had no distinctive features and left no impression.

However, as soon as he noticed Ayako, that face of his gave way to a glare and a smile so wide that it looked like a crescent moon. It made Ayako feel like he had changed to a different person.

“Yo! You doin’ good~? I must say, it thrilled me that you came~!”

It would be a lie to say that she didn’t feel creeped out by his unpleasantly smiling figure.

But the man in front of her was the key to obtaining the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’… with that in mind, Ayako braced herself and went into negotiation.

But to sum up the result, Sakurai kept the upper hand throughout the negotiation.

After all, Sakurai had an overwhelming informational advantage thanks to his knowledge of the original game.

“Okay, lemme confirm it one more time just in case… You guys, or to be exact, Asanaga Ayako’s goal is to get the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’, am I right?”

The attack at the great library had raised the question of ‘why were the Asanagas targeting Saintess Cordelia?’ in his mind. And from that, he had practically figured out what they were after.

The Saintess and the Asanagas had no relation to each other in the original game. With no history between them, the reason for the attack should be the situation on the other party’s end.

Sakurai thought that the reason they were aiming for the Saintess was that her death would bring benefits to either the ‘Black Sword’ or the Asanagas.

And between two, he crossed out the ‘Black Sword’.

That was because, Joseph Asanaga, who had too much love for his daughter and little interest in the ‘Black Sword’ itself, was playing an active role.

As far as Sakurai knew, Joseph was a character who would only go to the front stage if he was ‘completely cornered’ or if it was at ‘his beloved daughter’s request’.

From that, he concluded that his showing up there was because ‘his beloved daughter Ayako had requested for his cooperation’.

And the reason why Ayako had requested the cooperation of Joseph, whom she absolutely detested, should be because she had something she needed to obtain at all costs.

He presumed that something was directly related to the reason why she worked with the Black Sword, that was her long-cherished wish—freeing herself from Joseph Asanaga.

What was it then? What would come from Saintess Cordelia’s death? How would it help Asanaga Ayako fulfill her long-cherished wish?

With the fact that backstories and even extra details had an actual effect on this world in mind, he scoured through the characters’ backstories from his knowledge of the original game.

And the conclusion he drew from that led him to a certain item with the description: ‘Stain the pure blue with the blood of the Saintess, and the color of sin it shall be dyed’. That item was the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff (Punisher)’.

(‘Stain the pure blue with the blood of the Saintess, and the color of sin it shall be dyed. This staff born from the death of the Saintess inherited the power that dwelled in her blood, changing its form. It possesses the power to give salvation to the sinful souls who wander in this world—an act that no one but the savior is able to perform. However—’ …I see, so she’s after its power to give salvation to the sinful souls.)

‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’, a weapon that could be obtained from the ‘Saintess Cordelia’s Death Event’ that occurred if you failed all quests and picked wrong choices during Ethel’s individual scenario in the Elf Territory.

Its true identity was the tall sky-blue cross that Cordelia usually carried. During the event, Cordelia’s blood smeared the cross and it turned purple.

‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’ might seem like a great weapon at first glance, what with its high correction of ‘+150% physical damage against ‘ghost’ type monsters’. However, it had a huge drawback. Its base attack power was very low, only equivalent to that of initial equipment, hence making the correction pointless.

It had poor abilities, you could only get it through a depressing event, and its affix (Punisher) was lame as well. Not to mention, its unique item special effect was mere ‘Invisibility’ and ‘Minor Regeneration’. It was, beyond a doubt, one of the few literal garbage weapons in the original game according to Sakurai’s knowledge.

But if there was a chance that the ‘power to give salvation to the sinful souls’ in its description actually worked in this world.

It might be able to affect the soul of the target, just like the ‘Soul Attack’ that Sakurai and Iris had learned. Add to that its high correction against ghost-type monsters it originally possessed, it wouldn’t be strange if the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’ were able to kill Joseph Asanaga, a demon-kin who had taken in ‘Parasite Ghost’—a ghost type monster—and had been surviving by transferring his soul from puppet to puppet for hundreds of years, for good.

Sakurai surmised that Asanaga Ayako most likely got that information from Nanashino, and knowing her, she would definitely try to get her hands on the weapon. Moreover, since the condition was that she had to kill the Saintess, she’d rely on Joseph to increase her success chance. And that was why Joseph showed up on the front stage—so Sakurai thought.

And by accepting her request for cooperation, Joseph would have to take his body away from Ayako at one point to create his puppets, which would be a brief, but great relief for Ayako.

Afterwards, she’d get the ‘Deadly Sins Holy Staff’, finish off Joseph, and quickly make her escape in the middle of the uproar caused by the assassination of the Saintess, then she’d finally be free… that should be the gist of Ayako’s grand plan—so Sakurai inferred.

Believing in the conclusion he had drawn, and with it as a premise, Sakurai had released the monsters when they were escaping from the forbidden book section. It was to create a situation where Ayako would absolutely need him to get the staff.

The reason why he had suddenly taken the Saintess hostage when the Asanagas had attacked during their escape was to confirm his guess by seeing their reaction.

What would he do if he was wrong and the bluff failed?

Sakurai would answer that question as follows.

—I’ll cross the bridge when I get there.

If his gamble hadn’t paid off, he would’ve doomed not only himself but also his allies. He was indeed a troublemaker who exceeded everyone’s expectations, both in a good and bad sense.

There’d be no guy more troublesome than him to turn into an enemy. Ayako was very unlucky to have encountered him at her most crucial time.

Anyway, with her aim discovered—including the fact that she wanted to hide it from Joseph—she was at the other party’s mercy.

While Sakurai also needed something from her side, that was ‘information on the hidden passage in the academy dungeon that Joseph used to use in the past’, she couldn’t possibly be aware of that, hence the discussion proceeded mostly according to Sakurai’s wishes.

“Ahh, Ayako. The sight of you struggling with negotiating you’re unfamiliar with is… cute.”

“Seeing this with my own eyes is really disgusting, so can you keep your love to yourself?”

“That’s beside the point. Ayako, the fact that he chose to make a deal with us means he needs something that only we can provide. And that something is probably some sort of information. Considering his affiliation, some things do come to mind, but… I will not divulge it to you. I believe that expanding your imagination and thinking for yourself will lead to your growth, and the process you have to get through to get there is very important. Now, do your best, Ayako. He’s the type of person who has his priorities straight, just like me. Poor remarks may lead to serious repercussions, so think hard before you say something, okay?”

“Don’t lump me with a madman like you.”

Joseph, who should be on Ayako’s side, actually turned out to be an enemy during the negotiation.

After all, although he was doing his best to help Ayako achieve her goal, he didn’t care in its success or failure… no, to be exact, it didn’t matter to him either way because he’d love to see the sight of both Ayako getting happy with the success or her getting sad with the failure.

Of course, he’d prefer it if she succeeded, but the expression she’d make when she failed to get what she wished for after working so hard by herself would probably be more worth seeing.

And if he could hug and comfort her while enjoying her precious expression… imagining that made Joseph couldn’t be on Ayako’s side.

Leveling idiot at the front, and self-proclaimed father behind.

As if being sandwiched between the two wasn’t enough, Ayako could only talk through Joseph because she couldn’t speak.

To rub salt into the wound, she was very lacking in terms of information. There was no way she could have decent negotiation.