Chapter 36

Chapter 36

The Council of the Seven Holy Seats

Honestly, meetings are boring.

Most of what gets discussed is policy.

Taxes, public welfare, social services, conflicts of interest between Orders, things like that.

The reason I attend these meetings is for matters concerning the Demon Realm, demons, and demonic beasts.

But that topic always comes up near the end.

Why?

Because the main character always appears last, right?

The Demon Realm was more important than any other issue, so it was always placed at the very end.

The greatest reason Orders serving different gods had joined forces to create the Empire in the first place was precisely because of the Demon Realm where demons and demonic beasts lived.

At first, I'd thought, ‘Shouldn't we discuss the most important topic while everyone's concentration is at its peak?’

But that had been my mistake.

The Archbishops of each Order were people thoroughly tempered by murderous workloads.

There was no way a few hours of meetings would be enough to make their concentration slip.

Anyway, what mattered was that I currently had to endure all this boredom just to reach the Demon Realm agenda.

“Yaaawn...”

I yawned lazily while staring at the Archbishops arguing loudly enough to spray spit everywhere.

The current topic was taxes, so the debate had become heated.

Discussions about taxes were usually tied to national defense, and the Orders generally split into two factions.

Justitia, Nike, and Eris on the front line.

And Harmonia, Veritas, Diana, and Hestia in the middle or rear.

“Cut the defense budget?! Maintaining the defensive line alone costs an astronomical amount!”

“Surely not that much! As long as the sacred barrier remains intact, the demonic beasts cannot simply threaten Sectia whenever they please!”

As you could hear, the front-line Orders were basically saying, ‘Do you bastards have any idea how much it costs to maintain the Demon Realm defense line?’

While the rear Orders were answering, ‘Hmm, I don't think it costs quite that much.’

They sounded like they were trying to kill each other, but no one was actually arguing to reduce national defense spending.

Because for a country bordering the Demon Realm, cutting the defense budget was practically the same as saying, ‘Let's destroy the nation.’

It was more about telling us not to take it for granted that most of the defense budget flowed toward our side.

Yeah.

To borrow a term from my previous life, this was basically political ‘WWE.’

‘We'll support Demon Realm subjugations and send troops to help defend the front line, so let us have a share of the defense budget too.’

‘Then do you think the cost of housing the troops you send us is going to fall out of the sky?!’

‘We'll cover that ourselves. We're practically giving you our Order's powerful military forces for free, aren't we? In exchange, let us have some of the defense budget.’

...Translated into normal language, that was what all their noisy fighting amounted to.

There was no downside for us in receiving powerful troops from the rear.

And if the other Orders paid their own stationing and supply costs, there was even less reason for us to resist.

The rear Orders got to carve out a portion of the budget currently allocated to the front and keep their knights' combat instincts sharp through actual deployment.

In other words, both sides benefited.

The reason they were still raising their voices and fighting was simple.

The rear Orders wanted to squeeze out even one more coin of the budget, while the front-line Orders wanted to secure even stronger knights.

Watching such boring political posturing slowly made my eyelids heavy.

Eventually, my head began nodding and I drifted off...

“...Saintess, it's time to wake up.”

“Guh...!”

I jolted awake at old Bartolomew's gentle whisper.

Apparently I'd slept incredibly well, because I had to wipe drool from the corner of my mouth with the back of my hand as I looked around.

At least Clarice was still blinking heavily and yawning over and over, while the other Saintesses looked like they'd only just awakened from naps as deep as mine.

“Did you sleep well, Saintesses?”

Chairman Magnus looked over all of us and spoke with a faint smile.

‘...Is he taking a jab at us for sleeping during the meeting?’

Well, no matter how much of a figurehead a Saintess was, sleeping through an official council session wasn't exactly a good look.

If this had been Earth, the internet would've exploded with something like, ‘Look at these lawmakers sleeping during Parliament. What a waste of taxpayer money.jpg.’

But not here.

What are you going to do if we sleep?

Hmm?

Want to lose access to prophetic dreams?

We could basically get away with that attitude.

Which was why Pope Magnus hadn't bothered trying to stop us.

“The final agenda concerns demons, demonic beasts, and the Demon Realm.”

Oh, finally.

Maybe it was because the meeting was nearly over, or maybe because this topic actually interested them, but the Saintesses' previously dead eyes began showing signs of life.

“You have all likely noticed that the recent movements of demonic beasts and demons have been unusual. Not only those of us on the front lines, but members of the other Orders as well.”

Chairman Magnus spoke with a grave expression.

Every Order had noticed it to some degree, so everyone nodded.

“Of course, periods of unrest like this have always occurred. The demons have always regarded us as a thorn in their side.”

The Holy Empire served as a breakwater protecting humanity from demons.

(That included the many nonhuman races too, but for convenience, I'll just call everyone humanity.)

So even during peaceful eras, the scale was merely smaller.

The Holy Empire was always skirmishing with demonic beasts and demons.

The demons were desperate to tear Sectia down, while we periodically entered the Demon Realm to thin out the demonic beast population or cut off the head of any demon that stood out.

That cycle had repeated for thousands of years.

So the current situation could've been dismissed as nothing particularly serious.

Cultists running wild and demons becoming slightly more active than usual weren't exactly rare occurrences in the Empire's long history.

“You may believe this is merely another of those periods, but this time is somewhat different. It would be best to hear why from the Eris Order.”

But this time truly was different.

Lilith herself, one of the Great Demons, had begun to move.

And even Selenia the Apostate, one of her legion commanders, had appeared.

On top of that, the Holy Empire in the original story had met a bad ending in which it was destroyed by demons.

A chaotic era would undoubtedly arrive before long.

“And among them, I would especially like to hear Saintess Beatrice describe what happened in her own words.”

“...Huh? Me?”

Huh?

I'd been lost in thought when my name was suddenly called, so a stupid response slipped out naturally.

I had definitely submitted reports on both the recent movements in the Demon Realm and everything I'd experienced.

Why was he asking me to explain it personally?

I looked at Chairman Magnus with that question in my eyes.

“If you personally describe what you experienced recently, I believe the other Orders will understand the severity of the situation much more clearly.”

“Yes, well... if that's what you want.”

Seriously, couldn't he have warned me beforehand?

So he wanted a vivid firsthand account without even giving me time to prepare a script?

Grumbling internally, I stood from my seat.

“Everyone here already knows that the Demon Realm's recent movements have been unusual, so I will speak only about matters involving demons.”

I'm not particularly good with words.

So I cut away every unnecessary detail and went straight to the point.

“I recently experienced two incidents involving demons.”

I raised two fingers.

“First, Lilith of Lust, one of the Great Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins, carved a curse into my body.”

“...!?”

The chamber fell silent for a moment.

Then chaos erupted.

“Is that true?!”

“How could a Saintess's body be cursed?!”

“Seriously!? Trixie, let me study your body!”

“You came to the capital while carrying a Great Demon's curse?! How could you be so reckless?!”

...The nonsense in the middle was definitely Jailin.

And who the hell was the last bastard?

I looked around to identify the culprit, but the room was too noisy.

I'd deal with that later.

For now, I needed to calm everyone down.

“Would you please let me finish speaking first?”

I clapped once to regain their attention.

The chamber gradually fell quiet again.

But someone was glaring at me with a bright-red face...

Hmm.

Right.

The Archbishop of the Veritas Order.

...He looked like he was about to pick a fight if I gave him even the slightest opening, so I decided to continue immediately.

“It is an indisputable fact that Lilith's curse was carved into my body.”

“May I ask how? Surely you did not encounter Lilith directly, Saintess Beatrice.”

Arang, Archbishop of Hestia, raised her hand and asked.

Beneath that question was an obvious implication.

‘If you'd actually met Lilith face-to-face, there's no way you'd still be alive, right?’

Fair enough.

I wasn't offended.

I'd nearly died even against a legion commander.

If I'd met the Great Demon Lilith herself, they probably wouldn't have found enough of me left to identify.

“The Goddess told me Lilith used the blood of demonic beasts that splashed over me during subjugations as a medium to carve the curse.”

“...Hmm, I see. As expected of a demon infamous for incomprehensible sorcery. May I ask how you learned that?”

“I heard it directly from the Goddess.”

“Understood.”

Arang nodded.

Once that brief exchange ended, no one else raised an objection.

I'd said I heard it directly from Goddess Eris.

Denying my words would therefore amount to denying the Goddess's own words.

Someone could interpret that as blasphemy against Eris, and from there it wouldn't even be strange if it escalated into a holy war.

Of course, everyone would intervene before an actual civil war broke out in Septimoa, but it was obvious which side would suffer the larger losses in the process.

I gave Archbishop Arang a small nod of thanks for helping settle the matter through a brief exchange.

She winked back.

For some reason, Shuri was grinding her teeth beside her while glaring back and forth between me and Arang.

I ignored her.

I tried to continue, but someone cut in before I could speak.

“That does not mean it was acceptable to enter this place with a Great Demon's curse still carved into your body.”

“My apologies, but may I ask your name?”

The culprit was the Veritas Archbishop who'd been glaring at me earlier.

I asked his name.

“I am Gregory, Archbishop of the Veritas Order.”

I genuinely only asked because I didn't know.

‘Archbishop of the Veritas Order’ was too long, and calling him ‘you’ or ‘hey there’ would sound rude.

But for some reason my question offended him, because Gregory frowned deeply before answering.

“Archbishop Gregory, Lilith's curse is no longer present in my body.”

“A Great Demon's curse is not so easily erased. What method did you use?”

“The Bath.”

I answered calmly.

An Archbishop obviously knew about the Bath, so I assumed that would end his objections.

But...

“...Forgive me, but if I remember correctly, Saintess, you are twenty-one years old.”

“Oh, you know my age exactly?”

Why bring up my age out of nowhere?

Surely he wasn't about to lecture me about being a rude youngster.

“At your age, Saintess, you should not be capable of enduring the Bath.”

“...?”

The Bath had an age restriction?

I tilted my head and looked toward old Bartolomew.

“I will answer that. It is an indisputable fact that Saintess Beatrice underwent the Bath ritual. The Goddess herself ordered it. Archbishop Gregory, continuing to cast suspicion in this manner is inappropriate.”

“...”

At the old man's cutting words, Archbishop Gregory cleared his throat once and looked away.

Judging by that, he probably wouldn't interrupt me again.

Now that the nuisance was gone, I continued.

“Second is the demon I encountered on my journey to Septimoa.”

“Wait. You're saying there was a demon inside the Empire? Then, Big Sis— I mean, Saintess Beatrice, were those wounds of yours also...”

Clarice cut in with a shocked expression.

“Yes. I received them while fighting the demon.”

I nodded.

Rumors that I'd been injured badly enough to enter the deep-treatment ward had already spread throughout Septimoa.

But once I revealed the wounds had been caused by a demon, everyone's expressions turned grim.

“Which demon was it?”

“Selenia the Apostate, Legion Commander of Lust.”

The atmosphere in the chamber froze.

Naturally.

I wasn't saying some ordinary demon had appeared inside the Empire.

I was saying a demon ranked directly beneath a Great Demon had done so.

“What absurd nonsense—”

“Saintess Beatrice is telling the truth. Analysis of the demonic energy, curse traces, and blood left in the village confirmed beyond doubt that it was Selenia the Apostate.”

Chairman Magnus calmly but firmly cut Archbishop Gregory off when he tried to interrupt again.

I subtly sent the chairman a grateful look.

Seriously, though.

Did I unknowingly commit some terrible crime against Gregory?

Why is that man so desperate to tear into me?

“Then does that mean a demon breached the barrier?”

Even after the chairman openly showed his displeasure and shut him down, Gregory still forced the question out.

“Probably not. If that were the case, the Holy Nation would already be a complete shitshow... Excuse me, it would already be in tremendous chaos. Selenia once belonged to our Order and still possessed faint traces of divine power, so she likely exploited that special nature to pass through the barrier.”

I answered with a faint sigh.

The others looked relieved.

Understandable.

If the barrier had truly been breached, declaring a national emergency immediately wouldn't have been excessive.

But this wasn't something we could simply relax about either.

“What matters is that Lilith of Lust has begun moving. Considering her cautious and cunning nature, there is a high possibility that at least two Great Demons are acting together.”

Worst case, every Great Demon of the Seven Deadly Sins could be moving.

Considering the original story ended with the Empire's destruction, that possibility was disturbingly high.

“I'll leave the judgment to all of you. That's everything from me.”

That should be enough.

There was no way anyone could hear all this and fail to understand the danger.

“Thank you for accommodating my sudden request. Please take your seat.”

At the chairman's words, I sat down.

“Everyone, an age of chaos is approaching. Another great war may soon begin.”

After a brief silence, Chairman Magnus spoke with a grave expression.

“However, we have not yet detected movement from demons other than Lust. If we act first, we may instead be dancing exactly as the demons intend.”

Yeah.

He was right.

Considering Lilith's cunning, even attacking me and deliberately allowing her presence to become known to the Holy Nation could be part of her plan.

If we blindly invaded the Demon Realm, fell into a trap the demons had prepared, and lost our main forces, the Holy Nation's destruction would become almost inevitable.

Since we still didn't know what the demons wanted, watching their movements and responding accordingly was wiser than launching a preemptive strike.

“Therefore, while preparing for the coming age of chaos, we should dispatch a special detachment into the Demon Realm to uncover the demons' objective. Does anyone object to this proposal?”

No one did.

“Then I hereby conclude the Council of the Seven Holy Seats.”

And so the meeting ended in suffocating silence.