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It was finally the day of the conference .
In case you were wondering whether or not the Pope herself would be physically present, our arrangement was that I would be standing behind the curtain while Misha uses her wind magic to deliver the Pope’s voice .
In other words, I was going to be the one attending the conference in person .
Back when Lishe-sama explained the plan to us,
“If Her Majesty Dorothea finds out about this, she will likely be furious, but we have no other choice . ”
She said, her tone filled with shame .
Probably because it was not what the Church intended to do .
I was already finished with my preparations and stood behind the curtains .
All that was left was to stay on stand-by and wait for Dorothea to come out .
There were a lot of security officers and soldiers standing around the curtain, including Claire-sama, Lily-sama, Misha and the Pope, who was still disguised as me .
The Pope was standing somewhere by the curtain that was on the other side of Dorothea’s seat .
In other words, from where Dorothea would be sitting, she would not be able to see the Pope move her mouth .
“Her Majesty Dorothea has arrived . ”
Dorothea, who finally showed up, was donning her jet-black armor, just like usual .
Perhaps that was what she considered to be her formal wear .
Her cloak flowed behind her as she walked briskly towards her seat and stood in front of it before introducing herself .
“I am Dorothea Naa . I hope something will be able to come out of our conference today . ”
She said briefly and she took a seat .
Her attendant appeared to have a pale face, but she herself looked calm and collected .
As always, she was still an egocentric person .
To her, this was probably what she considered to be “rational” .
“I am Claris Répète III . Thank you for having me today . ”
The Pope, on the other hand, was the type that would always go at her own pace .
The fact that she didn’t hand out any fake compliments and dropped all diplomatic formalities was probably because she took Dorothea’s personality into consideration .
The Pope continued .
“Before we begin with our discussions, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“Were you the one who sent Sandrine after me?”
The entire meeting hall was shocked at the Pope’s directness .
Even I was quite surprised .
Despite how much Dorothea appreciated straightforwardness, wasn’t this going a little bit too far?
“Hm . So the rumors of somebody coming after your life were true . It wasn’t me…… although, if I said that, would you even believe me?”
“I would . You are not the type of person who would lie . ”
This was off to a turbulent start .
The atmosphere of the entire conference hall felt tense .
However,
“Hah…… . Hahaha! It seems like the Pope of this generation is quite an amusing person . You’ve caught my interest . ”
“Thank you very much . ”
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Dorothea burst into laughter while the Pope also gave a warm response in return .
All of the representatives for both the Empire and the Church were washed over with relief .
“I’m not interested in taking your life . Right now, my empire doesn’t have enough spare power or resources to make an enemy out of the Church . Your safety is guaranteed during your stay in the Empire . ”
“Your words are very reassuring . Now then, let us begin with our meeting . ”
Just like how it was previously discussed, I held out my hand from the half-raised curtain .
The Empress reached out and shook it .
Her grip was incredibly strong .
It hurt .
“Hmm…… . So that’s how it is . ”
The Empress spoke to herself as if she was affirming something .
I wasn’t sure what she was so convinced of, but the Empress was grinning .
After that, the meeting continued without any trouble .
The topics that were discussed included the Pope’s complaints about the Empire’s extremely aggressive policies, and although the room felt a bit tense when the Empress refused to cease her meddling with domestic affairs, they negotiated on it from the beginning all the way to the end .
I felt nervous the whole time, but I didn’t sense any sort of danger in particular .
Right as I thought everything was just about ready to get wrapped up, something happened .
“By the way, Your Holiness, is using a substitute for the leader considered some sort of fashion trend in your culture? I think that’s a bit impolite, even if somebody is after your life . ”
The Empress grinned as she spoke, but her words caused the atmosphere of the hall to turn even tenser than it was before .
…… . Were we found out?
“What might you be speaking of?”
“Don’t play dumb . Well, it doesn’t really matter . However, there is something that I can’t overlook . To that woman over there, don’t you think it’s strange how your magical tool isn’t working?”
The Empress’ gaze was focused on a single woman .
It was Lishe-sama .
“W-What are you talking about?”
“That ring you’ve been trying to activate up until now – that’s a magical tool, isn’t it? Unfortunately for you, that thing isn’t going to work . ”
“Wh…… . !”
“It seems that your hint has come in handy, Rei Taylor . ”
Dorothea looked over at the curtain as she laughed .
Lishe-sama distorted her face for a moment before she also glanced over at me .
“Rei…… You……”
“I apologize, Lishe-sama . I replaced the magic transferring tool that you tried to bring with you . ”
“!”
Lishe-sama looked enraged .
So she was the culprit after all .
“How did you even know……”
“I had my suspicions from the night Sandrine-san attempted to assassinate me . There was something that you said, Lishe-sama . ‘To think that even a rosary could be used for this’ . ”
“What was so strange about that?”
“It was weird . I mean, sure, the murder weapon used was a rosary, but I was holding onto it so there was no way you could have seen it, Lishe-sama . ”
“B-But there were marks left around your neck . ”
“In that case, wouldn’t you normally assume that I had been strangled with something like a rope? Isn’t it strange that you immediately assumed I was attacked with a rosary?”
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It was a simple and subtle slip-up, but it was more than enough for me to place my doubts on her .
Upon presenting my evidence against her, Lishe-sama bit her lips in resentment and said,
“I see…… Of course, you’d find out about it . So when you exercised your authority as the Pope back then, was that just out of spite?”
“That wasn’t it . I was really hoping that my deductions were wrong . I wanted to believe in you . ”
“How naive . If I were in your shoes, I would’ve sentenced myself to death the moment I had my suspicions . ”
“That may be so, but you are still Yuu-sama’s mother . ”
“……!”
When those words left my mouth, Lishe-sama looked surprised .
“Let’s end the farce here . Hilda, restrain her . ”
“Okay . ”
On Hilda’s instructions, the soldiers came forth .
Lishe-sama’s expression looked like she had already given up and provided no ounce of resistance .
However, at that moment,
“No, no, no, that’ll be problematic for me, Lishe-sama . ”
A familiar, malicious voice resounded in the hall .
“Salas!”
“Where are you!?”
“Good day to you, Rei Taylor, Claire François . And goodbye . ”
Along with Salas’ mockery, a surge of magical power filled the room .
“Hilda, give me an analysis . ”
“Got it…… T-This is……!”
Hilda, who was standing by her side, turned pale .
“It’s transfer magic! Somebody’s coming!”
“Hmm…… Hey, lady, does anything come to mind?”
“……”
Lishe-sama remained silent .
However, her face was pale, and it was obvious that she was involved and knew what was about to happen .
“Mother, what are you planning to do!?”
Yuu-sama cried out .
In response, Lishe-sama said,
“Everything is for your sake, Yuu . ”
She smiled as she spoke .
Although her smile reminded me of a broken doll .
In the next moment, it appeared .
“Hoh…… A demon, huh?”
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Unlike Arist or Plato, who took on the appearances of a human being and a primitive man respectively, this demon looked different .
It had a large frame and its huge body was made out of shiny, hard metal .
The demon, whose body was colored jet-black, had the upper body of a human being, but its lower half was just like a bug’s .
“Give me your name, demon . I’ll leave you with a good memory and grant you the honor to speak . ”
“I am Rates . I am one of the Three Great Archdukes, Rates . ”
Using the hand on his humanoid upper body, the demon named Rates pointed at me .
No, it wasn’t directed towards me .
He was pointing at the person behind me―― the real Pope .
“I have come to harvest that young girl’s life . As long as you don’t stand in my way, I’ll spare your lives . ”
He slowly approached the Pope as he spoke .
“Everyone, get into battle formation! Rei, please help us fight as well! Our body double trick has been discovered already anyway!”
Claire-sama immediately started giving instructions .
All of the security bodyguards sprung into action accordingly .
I jumped out from behind the curtain as well .
At the forefront, the Church’s priest soldiers brandished their morning stars and bombarded Rates .
“You’re in the way . ”
Rates did not set up for a counterattack .
Instead, using the front two out of three of his insect feet, he managed to cut them down .
Just with that, the priest soldiers were blown to the wall .
“Refrain from fighting close-quarters and attack with your magic instead!”
Seeing that the enemy’s melee strength was quite high, Claire-sama revised her instructions .
Following her orders, the guards started firing magical bullets instead .
Although the meeting hall was rather large, we were still indoors .
There was no room for somebody whose body was as large as Rates’ to escape .
All of the magical bullets landed on him .
However――
“Didn’t I just say you were in the way?”
It did not stop the demon from moving forward at all .
He did not falter whatsoever as he walked out of the plumes of smoke .
“What about this!?”
Claire-sama was prepared to fire her magic rays .
Unlike last time when she was fighting against Arist, she was in perfect condition and not worn out .
“Light!”
“Darkness . ”
When she fired her four light rays, he countered it with four beams of darkness .
The pillars of darkness completely overtook Claire-sama’s magic rays and was headed straight for her .
“Claire-sama, look out!”
I jumped towards Claire-sama and knocked her down .
The beams of darkness flew over our heads immediately after .
It hit the wall on the opposite side and completely obliterated it into small pieces .
“What amazing power……”
Claire-sama murmured, stunned .
It was clear that Rates’ strength was far more powerful than Claire-sama’s magic rays .
“That magic…… You must be Claire François, huh . After I get that other girl, I’ll be coming for you next . Wait your turn in line . ”
He gave us a backward glance as he walked by us while we were still on the ground .
“Your Holiness!”
“I-I won’t let you . ”
Yuu-sama and Lily-sama were standing in front of the Pope .
All of the other soldiers had already lost the will to fight .
“Icicle Blade!”
A cold light encased Yuu-sama’s sword .
As I may have explained it before, she was a magic swordswoman―― with her former nickname being the Prince of Ice, now known as the Princess of Ice .
Yuu-sama flipped her wimple as she narrowed the gap between herself and Rates and slashed his front feet .
“!?”
However, the blade was only able to inflict a shallow injury on Rates’ feet .
Rates did not stop walking forward and tried to crush Yuu-sama on the spot .
“Rates! Didn’t we make an agreement!?”
When Lishe-sama cried out, he stopped herself from delivering the blow to Yuu-sama .
“Oh, that’s right . I have to keep my promises . I’ll let you off . You’re free to go . ”
Rates shook his feet and kicked Yuu-sama aside, sending her body flying .
Lily-sama hurriedly rushed over to try and catch her .
“Ah……”
“Yuu-sama, hang in there!”
Lily-sama desperately tried to heal her with recovery magic, but her wounds were probably deep .
With this, our forces were almost completely wiped out .
No one was able to land any attacks that were effective against Rates .
Rates was already standing right before the Pope .
There was nothing more that could be done―― that was probably what everybody was thinking .
However――
“As long as I am standing before you, I won’t let you have your way, demon . ”
The woman pulled out two black swords from each side of her hips and smiled like she was about to hunt down her prey .
It was Empress Dorothea .
A heroine whose second name was widely known as the “God of the Sword” stood right before Rates .
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Chapter end
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