I Became the Servant of the Blind Wicked Woman

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A shabby-looking man appeared in front of us as we headed to the promotion examination hall. His body was covered in wounds, and his torn clothes showed that he had been through considerable hardship.

At a glance, he didn't seem to be infected with the Silver Thread. How did he get hurt like this?

"This is the Ten Towers emergency rescue team. We are moving to a safe location. Would you like to join us?"

Niobe stepped forward and asked. It seemed she had already assessed that the man was not a host of the Silver Thread.

No matter how naive, a Blasphemia agent was still an agent. I was impressed by her quite good eye as the man spoke.

"You…"

"You're from Blasphemia, aren't you?"

"…Excuse me?"

Niobe's response was a beat too late. The man's hair stood on end as his entire body became enveloped in fighting spirit.

Damn. Considering he's looking for Blasphemia, there's about a 90% chance he's a priest of the Cult of the Vanished Gods. I asked Lampades with a glimmer of hope.

"Do you recognize that face from the mercenary industry?"

Maybe he was a fixer hired for some secret mission by Blasphemia and only angry because the client didn't pay him.

"No. I've never seen him before. I've been out of the industry for quite some time since I established my tower, so he might be a rising star who appeared during that time…"

Lampades charged the tools wrapped around his body with magic while keeping an eye on the shabby man.

I stifled a sigh. Is he really a priest? I thought he might be a fixer since he was using fighting spirit.

In this world dominated by magic, those who wield fighting spirit are limited. Magic's supremacy is so absolute that fighting spirit feels like a refuge for those sidelined by magic.

It's relatively common among fixers to see fighting spirit users. Most of them use it as an emergency measure or auxiliary equipment for physical enhancement when their magic runs out.

So there's some chance this guy might also be a fixer…

"Blasphemia scum! Where are the members of our cult that you kidnapped?"

Nope. He's definitely 100% a priest of the Cult of the Vanished Gods.

'A priest who uses fighting spirit.'

I recalled information about the gods. It wasn't uncommon for priests to learn other supernatural abilities to hide their divine power.

But the level of skill he displayed was not something that could be achieved with fighting spirit learned merely as a cover. It was clear he had trained seriously.

A warlike god who encourages not only divine power but also the training of fighting spirit as a virtue. It wasn't hard to guess which cult this man belonged to.

"If you won't answer…!"

Red light swirled in the man's grasp. The children following us trembled at the menacing aura.

I quickly sent a message to Kine, instructing her to act, and then stepped forward.

"Let's stop there."

***

The man with the smiling face took a step closer. His steps were ordinary, without any particular aura or pressure.

'I can't sense any magic…!'

But that normalcy felt rather strange.

The priest of the Vanished God could identify the girl mage because of the magical tools that Ten Towers agents carried.

The life signal detection device issued to agents by the Ten Towers. The priest had memorized the pattern of the magical field emitted by this device.

Usually, the output was so faint that it would be hidden by the agents' own magical fields. However, a priest who had clashed countless times with the minions of the Ten Towers could detect the faint magical field of the device within the human magical field.

This man had no such traces of magic. Complete silence.

None of the Blasphemia agents he had fought could hide their magic to this extent. He must be an incredibly skilled mage.

"Are you the one in charge here?"

"To some extent, I suppose," Orthes replied, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"Let the people behind you go. Let's talk just the two of us. They are just a poor newbie and some unfortunate people caught up in the terror, aren't they?"

"Hah. Have you ever let any of us go? Did you ever spare even one child when we begged for their life?"

Niobe recoiled at the man's fierce aura, but Orthes remained unfazed.

"If you act like this, you'll never find out where your followers are."

"…"

He couldn't accurately gauge the level of the Blasphemia agent in front of him. But he instinctively knew this would not be an easy fight. If reinforcements arrived during the battle, it would be tough to achieve a complete victory.

"Fine. I admit time is not on my side. But why should I trust you?"

"…I'll be your hostage."

It was Kine who resolutely stepped forward from behind Orthes. The gazes of the people escaping with them were fixed on her.

"I don't really understand what you're talking about, but…if I become your hostage, this person won't be able to act recklessly, right?"

The priest of the Vanished God glared at Orthes. Orthes nodded calmly.

An implicit agreement was reached. Kine gradually walked forward.

***

Lampades, the only one who knew the relationship between Kine and Orthes—the corporate scholarship student and the secretary of the corporation—was shocked.

'That bastard…?!'

Did he just offer up his company's scholarship student without hesitation?

'No. Could a child come up with the idea of becoming a hostage on their own? Could Orthes have instructed her?'

How could someone be so ruthless?

"I'll be the hostage instead!"

The distance to the promotion examination hall wasn't far, and with the mage and admission officer from the Ten Towers rescue team, Astraphe would surely arrive safely.

The admission officer, upon hearing Lampades' plea, also raised his hand. It was an expression of his professional ethics as an adult to protect the child.

"No. Even if you experienced mages disarm right now, you'd still have your fangs unless your magic was sealed. Leave at once. Now!"

But the priest of the Vanished God rejected their offer. As the adults bit their lips, Orthes' voice was heard.

"Everyone, please take the other children and go to a safe place. I will handle this situation."

"Rescue team leader…!"

The admission officer choked up.

He believed Orthes, who came with Niobe, who introduced herself as part of the emergency rescue team, was Niobe's superior. Despairing at his helplessness in protecting the students, he bowed his head and pleaded with the Ten Towers mage.

"Please rescue her safely. That child, that child…!"

The admission officer had briefly heard about Kine's past while inquiring about her prosthetic hand. A child with a kind heart, willing to sacrifice herself for others despite her unfortunate past, shouldn't lose her life to a fanatic.

Orthes nodded solemnly.

Lampades squeezed his eyes shut at the convincingly natural act.

***

While Kine slowly walked forward, Orthes whispered to Niobe.

"Don't report this incident to the higher-ups. There are rumors of traitors collaborating with the fanatics. Like with the magical locomotive incident in the Charlotte branch, I will personally report to the inspector general."

Niobe felt a strange tension beneath Orthes' smiling face. It was the burden of a person handling a task on which the organization's survival and innocent lives depended.

"All you need to think about now is safely evacuating these people to a secure location. I'll ensure that child returns safely."

With respect and encouragement, Niobe nodded.

It was only after the Musaeion applicants and other mages had disappeared that the priest of the Vanished God began to move. He picked up Kine and moved in a complicated trajectory to evade potential pursuers.

Orthes cursed inwardly at the overly cautious priest.

'Damn. That paranoid bastard. The surveillance cameras aren't even working, yet he's acting so paranoid.'

The man stopped running. Orthes, who stopped right after, thought to himself.

'Once I leave Elysion, I'll have to hole up in Etna City for a while.'

***

The priest, with Kine in front of him, glared at me.

"Where have you taken our cult members?"

Damn it. Why am I playing a role I never wanted?

But this was also an opportunity. The skill to single-handedly invade Elysion was not ordinary. He must have a high position within the cult.

If I could manipulate him well, he could be a significant asset in the upcoming conflict with Argyrion.

…Though his intelligence was somewhat worrisome given he invaded Elysion alone.

"First, it's nice to meet you, Priest of Enyalius."

***

The priest of Enyalius, the god of war and violence, Demus, tensed his muscles.

"I've never let any Blasphemia scum I've met live. How did you know?"

"For a simple reason. Because I—"

"Is that so! Information obtained by torturing our cult members! You filthy scum!"

"…Because I possess an artifact of Phoibos."

"What?"

Confusion. A good start. Orthes' smile deepened slightly.

It was a simple deduction that didn't require opening one's eyes. How many priests specialized in close combat using fighting spirit were out there?

With the conversation's lead now his, Orthes' mind worked swiftly.

"First, let me ask. Was your dispatch a decision of the Divine Cult, or your own?"

To read over 200 fully translated episodes, patreon.com/Denji02