I cast the “Enslavement” skill on Hod, the dagger user among the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals.
After forbidding what should be forbidden and extracting the information I needed, we parted ways with Hod.
As the young dagger user left, she turned back and said, “Douglas. I… I like you. If we meet again someday, will you have intercourse with me?”
“I’m always welcoming,” I replied.
“I’ll look forward to it. Well then, bye-bye.”
With that, Hod disappeared into the mountainous area.
It seems that female dragon people do not necessarily live together with those they have intercourse with. They say that mating with the opposite sex is a once-in-a-lifetime act.
“Alright, then let’s head back too,” I said, starting to descend the mountain with my wives.
However, at that moment, Aurora grabbed the hem of my clothes and stopped me.
Seeing her face, she looked distressed.
“What’s wrong, Aurora? Did something happen?”
“Uncle. I… I don’t understand what you’re thinking.”
“…? What are you talking about?”
“Why did you forgive that murderer? No matter how cute she looked, she’s a murderer who killed many people. Why did you…”
“Ah…”
Is that what she’s talking about?
When I try to talk about it, it always gets complicated.
“It will take a long time, so let’s talk on the way back.”
“Yes.”
I started walking down the mountain path, with Aurora following me.
My wives didn’t say anything. The bound Holy Knight Luna was the same.
Carefully descending the mountain path to avoid slipping, I began to speak.
“Aurora, did you think Hod should be killed?”
“But that murderer did that. Surely hundreds of innocent people were killed by her. Even if her death alone wouldn’t be enough, it still doesn’t justify her being alive.”
“That’s true.”
“Then why, Uncle…!!”
Aurora cried out, her voice like a scream from her soul. It sounded like weeping.
“I thought you were a wonderful person…! No, I *thought* you were. But I can’t understand anymore! I can’t understand anything you think! My feelings are all jumbled up…! What should I do…! Uncle, please answer me!”
“……”
This is troublesome.
Aurora seems very emotional.
This matter is complicated, and I don’t have anything clearly defined within myself either.
I don’t know if I can explain it well—
“Aurora— I don’t trust myself enough to think I have the right to judge anyone.”
As I said that, Aurora’s expression changed slightly. What seemed about to shatter gained form, and a glimmer of hope appeared in her eyes.
“…What do you mean, Uncle?”
To the young Holy Sword user who asked this, I considered how to explain what I was thinking and replied.
“I don’t think it’s quite right to call that ‘evil’, that Hod, the dagger user among the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals. She was that kind of person, and she was in that position, so she killed many innocent people. That’s all.”
“……”
Aurora listened to my words in silence, seemingly trying to grasp my true intentions.
I continued.
“Still, if I let her go, she would probably kill many more innocent people. That must be prevented. That’s why I used the Holy Axe Lombardia’s skill, ‘Enslavement,’ to forbid her from killing.”
“Does that mean… ‘hate the sin, not the sinner,’ is that it…?”
To Aurora’s question, I nodded.
“Broadly speaking, yes. I just think it’s understandable if the relatives of those who were killed can’t help but hate her. But if *I* don’t feel that way, it’s just that *I* have no intention of taking revenge on her behalf.”
Then, Aurora brought her hand to her mouth and pondered. She murmured thoughtfully,
“…You don’t judge evil people, and you don’t take revenge on behalf of others… You just prevent future tragedies… Is that what you consider ‘justice,’ Uncle…?”
“I don’t intend for it to be justice— no, that’s an evasion too. …Yes. Perhaps I do consider it justice. —Now, I wonder if this much explanation will get through to you?”
When I finished speaking, Aurora hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
“…Frankly, I haven’t fully grasped it all yet. But I understand that my thoughts were hasty. …I’m sorry, Uncle. You’re probably not wrong at all, but I doubted you… I truly am always foolish.”
“Who knows. Maybe I’m wrong and you’re right. Or rather, the very idea of being right or wrong… how should I put it… might be narrow.”
I stroked Aurora’s head.
The young Holy Sword user blushed and looked down shyly.
***
“Ah, this is so infuriating~!”
Yesod, the whip user among the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals, walked through the city.
Walking through the streets of the human town, no one noticed she was a dragon person.
The dragon people’s humanization technique was perfect. Unless their body and mind were deeply violated simultaneously, it was not easily undone.
Especially the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals had trained to live their daily lives in their humanized forms. They had done so in preparation for the coming human attack.
That time has now come. Not only Yesod, but all ten of the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals should now be attacking humans in three separate countries.
But—
“Why is my plan being foiled by mere humans…? Unforgivable.”
Yesod entered the high-class residential area, a displeased look twisting her face.
Yesod’s plan to capture the Holy Sword user using Holy Knight Luna ended in a painful failure.
Not only did she fail to obtain the Holy Sword user, but she also lost her precious pet, Holy Knight Luna.
She also couldn’t get in touch with Hod, the other Ten Dragons Divine Artifact General, with whom she had joined forces to deal with the troublesome Holy Sword user.
Sensing danger, Yesod was forced to abandon her previous base and move.
Yesod eventually stopped in front of a large mansion. It was a grand mansion with an impressive gate.
In this Holy Kingdom, owning such a residence was only possible for wealthy merchants, nobles, or high-ranking clergy.
Two gatekeepers stood in front of the gate. One of them, seeing Yesod, called out,
“Hey, woman. This is the residence of Bishop Gildo. Commoners with no business here, be gone.”
Hearing this, Yesod’s expression turned bored.
“I’m not in a good mood right now~? I feel like doing something to ignorant fools who say such silly things~.”
“What are you saying, woman! Do you want to have an arm cut off?!”
One of the gatekeepers drew his sword. But the other gatekeeper seemed to notice something and hastily stopped his comrade.
“W-wait, this person is…! F-forgive me! I’ll inform Lord Gildo right away!”
“…Oh, really? That was a close call~. I almost slipped up~.”
As one of the gatekeepers hurried inside, Yesod was eventually allowed into the mansion.
Proceeding through the large courtyard in front of the mansion, she was greeted by a man in his twilight years. Dressed in a flowing bishop’s robe, he welcomed Yesod.
“Welcome, Lady Yesod. It has been a while.”
“It has been a while, Bishop Gildo. But you should properly train your gatekeepers~?”
“My apologies, Lady Yesod. …Come, please come inside.”
Led by Bishop Gildo, Yesod entered his mansion.
She was shown into a storage room on the first floor. Bishop Gildo opened a section of the floor, revealing stairs leading underground.
Bishop Gildo and Yesod, the whip user, descended the stairs to the basement.
The basement was extremely spacious, comparable to the first floor of the mansion.
Bishop Gildo and whip user Yesod walked down a long corridor on the first basement level.
“Ann! Ahh… No, stop…! Nngaaaah…!”
“St-stop it…! Ahh… Please, just let me go…!”
Numerous doors lined the corridor, and from behind them, muffled moans and screams of women and boys could be heard.
In the rooms behind the doors, powerful male clergy members of the kingdom laughed lewdly, indulging in their distorted desires that could not be revealed in public.
Hearing these sounds, Yesod turned to Bishop Gildo with a fed-up voice,
“You seem to be quite busy again~. Where did you get your prey this time~?”
“We found a dark elf village, so we rounded up all the pretty ones and burned it down. Actually, the villagers the dark elves killed were killed by my men. Hehehe… Those fools who are blinded by prejudice and righteousness against dark elves won’t suspect a thing.”
“And those fools probably don’t suspect that all this is happening in the basement of a devout Militia Church bishop’s house~.”
“Hahaha, what are you saying, Lady Yesod. I am a devout follower of the Dragon God Religion. My position as a bishop of the Militia Church is merely a public facade.”
“Sigh, humans. Well, whatever~.”
As they chatted, the two proceeded down the corridor and arrived in front of a large door with an elaborate pattern. Bishop Gildo opened the door.
Beyond the door was a hall designed like a temple. Simple carvings of dragons were incorporated into the pillars and other parts of the room.
In the hall, which could accommodate about fifty people, about half that number were offering prayers.
At the altar in the back, a burly man clad in ceremonial robes was leading the praying people.
The robe the man wore was different from the Militia Church robe worn by Bishop Gildo. It was a red robe patterned with something reminiscent of dragon fire.
The man held a magnificent warhammer forcefully, standing at the altar with a semi-divine presentation.
The man with the warhammer looked at the opened temple doors and the people present, his solemn expression changing to a familiar smile.
“Oh, Yesod, it has been a while. —Your arrival here suggests that things did not go smoothly?”
“It’s infuriating, but that’s right~. So many desirable children appeared, but they were too strong to touch. There’s nothing more vexing than this~. That’s why I came to ask you, who has combat power in the top three among the Ten Dragons Divine Artifact Generals.”
“Ho ho, that is interesting. Then let us speak in detail in the back.”
Bishop Gildo bowed and left, and the two weapon users entered the inner room.
After the three actors departed, only the people fervently offering prayers remained.
