Chapter 3:
The Cruel False Saint Astesia
THE EVIL DEITY HADES WAS FINALLY WITHIN reach. Deep in the underground shrine where he waited, two groups stood opposed to one another: one with flags bearing the crest of the Zeus Church and the other clad in black.
“You must realize the truth, Astesia. Hades isn’t trying to save any of you. He’s just using you! That’s why…”
“What? Would me asking for help change anything at this point?” The girl named Astesia responded to the young man with her face set. “Are you saying that you, followers of Zeus, are going to save followers of Hades? Even if we are being used, we have to see this through.”
She and her fellow Hades followers stood no chance of victory, and they knew that. Numbers-wise, they were equal, but most of the remaining men on her side were untrained newbies at best. Those who could fight had been defeated already by the young man and his group above ground, but even if she and her men surrendered here, there was no bright future waiting for them afterward.
“I’ll convince them. I swear,” the young man said.
“You know that’s impossible,” Astesia replied. “We’ve shed too much blood in this conflict. Don’t try to tell me you’ve forgotten what happened to my allies when they surrendered. There is no more room for peace. The followers of Zeus will never let us live.”
The young man found himself incapable of responding. His sense of justice had led him to speak, but she’d reminded him of the reality of the situation: Any of the followers of Hades he’d apprehended had been executed by the Zeus Church. In response, Astesia had murdered all of the Zeus believers she’d been keeping as prisoners.
There was no turning back.
“You said Lord Hades is using me, right?” she prompted. “But is Zeus not using you as well?”
“I…”
The young man bit his tongue.
“Maybe things could have turned out different if both you and I had simply ignored the revelations we were given.” Her bitter smile spoke of the pain she had endured. Perhaps she should have just ignored the gods’ wishes. Both Zeus and Hades had toyed with her life, leading to her slander as a false saint.
That was one of the final thoughts that ran through Astesia’s mind.
It was also the final line Astesia uttered as the only remaining member of the Twelve Apostles of Hades. Soon enough, she would go on to fight in Hades’s name and fall in battle.
If only she had ignored the divine revelation given to her by Zeus, perhaps things could have turned out differently.
✦ ✦ ✦
“I’m finally done!”
“Excellent work, Lord Weiss,” Rosalia said. “You’re finished with all of the paperwork. Look, even White is complimenting your job well done.”
“Kew, kew!”
After I’d finished speaking with Reinhard, I ended up busy with meetings regarding our joint training sessions and putting together reports regarding the Divine Spring. I was finally finished, at least for the time being. I petted White gently while sipping the tea Rosalia made for me.
“You know what, it’s been a little while since we last went out,” I said. “Let’s call it an inspection! Plus, I’ve got business with the church as well…”
“What a wonderful idea,” Rosalia agreed. “It’s much safer on the streets these days, and apparently the marketplace is thriving. Let’s go out! I already spoke to the sister at the church and let her know that you might be dropping in soon, so it should be fine to arrive unannounced.”
“Keww!” White seemed to agree as well, dancing on my shoulder to show his approval. It was almost like he was following the conversation.
It was best to strike while the iron was hot, so we quickly prepared to head out.
Now that I thought about it, this would be my first time actually walking through the city. My approval rating among my subjects had been so low up until recently that I couldn’t risk going for a walk outside, so I was actually pretty excited about this.
Since we were going on a bit of an outing, I changed into some nice, understated attire. Meanwhile, Rosalia was also in her casual clothes. She was almost always clad in her maid uniform or some sort of leather armor for combat, so this was very refreshing to me. Honestly? She looked fantastic. I felt like I was being rude when I stared at her, but then she smiled at me, making my heart skip a beat.
We were just about to leave the manor when Meg called out to us. “Ah! Lord Weiss! It’s so unfair that Rosalia and White get to go out into the city with you! Let me come too!”
She must have spotted us while she was in the middle of cleaning. Huh, I didn’t realize she actually did any work like that.
She was staring at us longingly, which left me unsure of how to handle this. I was fine with bringing her along, but three people were a lot noisier than two.
“Meg, we’re not going out to have fun,” Rosalia said. “Lord Weiss is inspecting things in the city, and I am accompanying him as his bodyguard.”
“Then why are you all dolled up?” Meg asked pointedly. “It’s like you’re going out on a date…”
“Meg,” Rosalia said calmly, “would you like me to tell the chief maid about how you broke a plate and secretly swapped it with a different one?”
“Have fun! Make sure you bring back souvenirs! Oh, I’d love some cookies. Now, time to work! So, so busy!”
Meg went right back to cleaning. Rosalia sure could be calculating.
But Meg’s words led me to realize that, even though she went to all the trouble of dressing up, I’d yet to compliment Rosalia on her attire.
She was wearing a light-blue dress decorated with lace and a ruby pendant that made her seem even more mature than usual. Meg was right; she really had dressed up for the occasion. In that case, it was only right that I tell her so. At least, that was what I’d read in a book about how to be popular with the ladies in my previous life.
“Rosalia, it’s really novel to see you dressed differently than normal. You look wonderful.”
She giggled bashfully at my compliment. “Thank you very much. I’m glad to hear that.”
Super effective. I would have never been able to say something like that in my previous life, but maybe because I was Weiss now, the words just flowed out naturally. It was important to have confidence in oneself.
We decided to walk to the church instead of traveling by carriage, making it easier to take in the sights.
“The marketplace is so much busier now,” Rosalia said. “I’m glad there are more people out and about.”
“Agreed!” I replied. “Hey, c’mon, White. Take your time eating, would you?”
“Kew, kew.” The little guy munched furiously at the fruit I’d bought from one of the street stalls.
For the record, the middle-aged man running the joint hadn’t even noticed that I was the lord. That made sense; it wasn’t like there were televisions in this world, so people wouldn’t have an easy way to commit the face of their lord to memory. Plus, Weiss was only recently appointed, and it didn’t seem like he’d done many public speeches before I entered the picture. All of that meant that performing an inspection like this anonymously would be easy.
“Hey, Rosalia? I’m feeling kinda hungry. Any good restaurants around here?”
“Hm, let me think. There’s a food stall that sells those meat skewers you like so much. Meg also loves them, and I often see her eating one with an ale in her other hand while she’s supposed to be out shopping.”
“So, she’s just skipping work?”
“Hee hee, whoops. I said too much.” Rosalia gave a mischievous smile.
Was this her way of getting back at Meg for earlier? She was always so kind to me, but maybe she had a more frightening side when she was angry.
We gazed at the marketplace crowds as we walked by, and I was pleased by all the smiles I was seeing. For now, at least, my subjects could live here in peace.