I lost. Absolutely and perfectly so.
How many months has it been since Raspberry Bell-sama taught me? I can say for certain that my skills have improved far more than anyone I know.
I raised my [Martial Arts] and [Swordsmanship] skills to where I could be called a master, and I even raised the 'divine skill', "Transform" to the 9th grade. Even in a title match, there's no way a 17-year-old as strong as me would be competing. That's how strong I've become.
And yet, I lost.
...Not enough. I'm still far from the 'savior' that Raspberry Bell-sama is looking for.
I'm not enough. My current self won't be able to save Raspberry Bell-sama.
It's frustrating.
Second Firstest. I know that I've gained a reassuring ally, I know, but it's still frustrating.
I thought that as long as Raspberry Bell-sama could be saved, anything would be fine.
But what's this? This hazy feeling in my heart?
Envy? Selfishness? Need for approval? Cowardice? Displeasure about being used?
I don't understand. Even though it's about myself, I don't understand it at all.
"What the hell should I do...?"
In the night forest, I muttered to myself.
But as expected, nobody replied.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Brighton, there's a letter for you."
"What? For me?"
A letter arrived at the anti-church force 『Dizart』, whose hideout was located deep in the steep mountains beyond the farming villages west of Old Joh, the capital of the Sacred Country of Kamel.
A strong, middle-aged man, about 190cm tall, called Brighton, received a letter from a man who appeared to be one of his companions.
"..."
"What does it say? Is it something beneficial for us in Dizart?"
As Brighton quietly skimmed through the letter, one of his friends approached him with interest.
This was a letter to Brighton, the leader of the anti-church group Dizart. In other words, it was a message from a person who knew where Dizart was hiding and also knew of its leader's name. It would be strange if you were a member of Dizart and not be curious about it.
"...In a week, there will be a 'conclave' at Old Joh."
"What? ...That sounds too far-fetched."
"Yeah, I agree with you."
A conclave was a secret meeting between the pope and the cardinals. The conclave in the Sacred Country of Kamel was originally a meeting to elect the new pope. But as long as Black reigns as Pope, his position will never change. Therefore, it's not a conclave to elect a pope, but one where the Pope unilaterally decided on the appointment of cardinals and below.
"Are they trying to mess with us with their bullshit?"
"No, wait."
Brighton stopped his friend, who assumed this was simply some false information.
To begin with, something was off. A conclave was a secret meeting, and therefore, the information about said meeting was only given to the attendees with the strictest of confidentiality. It was meaningless to lie in order to cause confusion by making up a lie. Nobody would believe it. In short...
"Has someone of the rank of cardinal switched to our side...?"
Conversely, the information could be extremely credible. It would be reasonable to assume that someone at the center of the Kamel church has betrayed them.
And then――
"...!?"
"What's wrong, Brighton?"
At the bottom of the letter.
Brighton's eyes widened when he saw the sender's name.
There it was written――「From someone who knows Kongou」.
"Kongou?"
Nothing came to his friend's mind when he heard the word Kongou.
But it was different for Brighton.
Someone who knows Kongou. Telling this to Brighton would mean ――His relative. Or someone who was very close to him. He was sure of it.
"...We'll begin preparations."
"What!?"
At this moment, Brighton, the leader of the anti-church force Dizart, made up his mind.
"The showdown will be in a week at the conclave. Everyone, get ready for the revolution...!"
He had no way of knowing at the time that the sender of the letter was a sleepy-eyed, female spirit who was not at all close to Brighton...
＊ ＊ ＊
"Hmmm, the more I look, the more similar he seems."
"Your words at too kind."
In the Holy Temple located in the center of Old Joh, inside the Pope's own room inside the temple, Black muttered curiously while rubbing his chin.
In contrast, the "man who looked just like Black", faced Black while bowing reverently.
"That's no good. You're my body double, aren't you? Then try to imitate my tone."()
"With all due respect..."
His face, hair, and height all resembled Pope Black's. Indeed, the man was Black's body double.
He was the man who looked like Black the most out of the ten men who resembled him, that the soldiers of the Sacred Country had scoured all over Kamel and abducted. The remaining nine were beheaded the moment this man was chosen to be the body double.
Aware of this fact, the body double opened his mouth a little while trembling with a nervous expression at the instructions from Black.
"S-similar, right? Rest assured and leave the conclave to me."
...A sudden silence.
And then, three seconds later. Black's smile, which had been on his face until then, suddenly disappeared as he broke the silence.
"Nex, cut him down."
"Certainly."
The young guardsman called Nex gave a short reply, stepped forwards, and quickly drew his sword from his waist. His extremely refined movements gave the viewer a sense of his skill.
"Whoaaa! Please, have mercy! Please!"
The body double screamed and backed away, desperately begging for his life.
Nex ignored his words and strolled lightly, closing the gap between them.
Seeing this, Black suddenly laughed, in a good mood.
"Hihihihi! This is a masterpiece. Nex, that's enough, back off."
"As you wish."
The body double, dripping in a cold sweat, stared back at Pope Black who opened his big mouth laughing while saying "How comical".
"I'm joking, joking. But if you're going to imitate me, you should remember this kind of mischief."
"Y-Yes! I'm truly happy and appreciate your direct guidance!"
"...However, just remember one thing. Never use the phrase 'rest assured' with me again, I don't need the reassurance of anything since I have nothing I'm anxious about. Try saying that again in front of me and I'll rip your head off."
＊ ＊ ＊
"――A decoy?"
"Yeah. A decoy strategy."
Early morning. I'm planning to head out to tame a Wraith today as well, but before that, I'm having a strategy meeting with Windfield over breakfast.
With the time limit being a week from now, I want to spend as much time as possible on taming. Hence, I'm eating my meal while talking, even though it is a little ill-mannered.
"First, Renko-chan will assassinate the Pope on the eve of the revolution."
"I think that will probably fail."
"No, she will most likely succeed."
"...Seriously?"
But just as I was about to ask, "what's the basis for that?" Windfield spoke the answer.
"Because that Pope will be a body double."
"What?"
But then, wouldn't you call that a failure...?
"Renko-chan will assassinate the body double and will get herself captured."
"Hey, hey, hey, she's gonna die."
"It'll be fine. First of all, they are going to torture her. They won't kill her during that time."
Ohh, I see, that's why she called it decoy. How evil.
"Also, there's a meaning in killing the body double. Chances are the next person to come after the body double will be the real thing."
"Ohh, certainly."
"Then, while Renko-chan is acting as a decoy, Second-san will Morph using the Wraith, infiltrate, locate Pope Black, and cling to him."
"Understood. Then, it'll be bad if I don't finish the tame in time."
"You can do it, if it's you, Second-san, you can do it. Fufu."
She says it so lightly. But in the end, it's simply just hard work...
Well, since Windfield is being this positive, there's probably an alternative plan even if the taming isn't done in time. Thinking about it makes me feel better.
"So? If I discover the Pope's whereabouts, should I kill him?"
"No, wait until the moment when Dizart launches their surprise attack. I think I'll be from some tens of minutes to an hour."
"D-what? How is the desert going to help us?"
"What's that? I said Dizart. That's the name of the anti-church forces. The revolutionary army, sort of."
Ohh, so it's the name of the revolutionary army. Really easy to understand, yeah.
Gotta give it to smart people, they are very good at explaining stuff to dumb people.
"I am guessing, Dizart will launch a surprise attack around dawn. The Pope and the cardinals are all in Old Joh having a secret meeting called conclave, so it will be all chaos."
Oh-ho. Then, there are probably two choices. Either the Pope defends Old Joh to the end, or he runs away like a cockroach.
"It'll be, the former."
"Are you a mind reader!?"
Oh, scary. This spirit truly is scary.
"The difference in their strength is obvious. The Pope will think they can be suppressed without much problem. So, he will only think about defense."
"In other words, we should assassinate the Pope around that time."
"That's the play I've staged."
No wonder.
"...Also, I have another plan to make Dizart's surprise attack more effective..."
Oh? It is rare for Windfield to mince her words.
"Tell me."
I smiled, urging her to quickly tell me, adding "Don't be shy".
Windfield's expression brightened and as she nodded, she opened her mouth to speak.
"Can you ask the Margrave to organize a large-scale military exercise near the border, starting from about two days before to the day of the plan?"
Whoa! I see why the shyness, after all, she was telling me to put the groundwork in place myself.
"Alright, leave it to me. I've already talked about that."
"Wow. As expected."
When I responded in a cool way, Windfield smiled happily and told me this and that while leaning in. Ahh, I'm happy I met with Steam.
"――Gohon."
Oh shit, Yukari suddenly appeared behind us, clearing her throat.
In an instant, we moved away from each other. The strategy meeting hasn't ended yet, so I can't afford her being "Unsummoned" yet.
"Ahh, so I want to assassinate the Pope when he comes out to protect Old Joh."
"I'm going to kill him, aren't I?"
"Yeah, that's the most certain and reliable way. Renko-chan is next. And if it's unavoidable, Anko-san."
"I don't want to expose Anko too much. I've attacked the soldiers from the Sacred Country of Kamel before with her, so there's a big enough chance of them finding out who we are. And if the surprise attack is at dawn, Anko can't do much unless the Pope is indoors."
Even the slightest exposure to sunlight weakens Anko. To the point that she can't even move on her own.
"Hmm. Well, Renko-chan it is, then."
"Say, wouldn't Renko be captive at that time?"
"The ultimate goal is to rescue the saint, right? Then, wouldn't it be more efficient if you disguised yourself as a prison guard or something, rescue Renko-chan, and then leave her in charge of assassinating the Pope, while you get the saint out, Second-san?"
I see. It would certainly be a painstakingly hard task for me to assassinate the Pope and then retrieve Renko and Raspberry Bell on my own. If I leave the Pope's assassination to Renko, all I have to do is rescue Raspberry Bell and then leave. It doesn't get any easier than that.
That girl was so set on killing him herself, so maybe this is for the best.
Still, one concern I have is...
"Will it succeed?"
I'm a little uneasy. She's indeed strong, but I feel like she's trying too hard, or more like she's prone to run out of control since she's trying too hard. When I met her in the middle of the night, she seemed somewhat emotionally unstable.
"The success rate, I'd put it about 96%."
"Uhh, isn't 4% a bit too much?"
"Eh? But it's only 4%, you know?"
Seems like there was a difference in the way Windfield and myself perceive that number. For me, I think 4% is a reasonably high chance of failure.
Besides, since there are a lot of human factors to consider, an unexpected thing might happen. Depending on the person, the percentage might be higher than 4%. Well, in the end, numbers don't tell the whole story.
"No, not good. I'll kill him then. If so, what's the chance of success?"
I ask as if to conclude our strategy meeting while stacking the empty plates of our meal.
At my question, Windfield smiled and responded, in a happy tone.
"120％～♪"