As she reluctantly closed the door behind her, her face looked so cute and pitiful that I couldn’t help but laugh to myself.
“Adopting a stray dog wasn’t what I signed up for...”
I’d always been more of a cat person, but I was starting to feel like dogs weren’t so bad either. I still wasn’t too fond of badly trained wolves, though.
“I— I’ll be your dog, Mistress! Woof!”
Crouched by the side of my bed was the Horny Slut.
“Can you please get out already, seriously?”
I called Cion back in and had her drag the saint away. From now on, she’d need to use her title as the Holy Saint to protect the devil-touched from persecution—did that woman understand her position even the slightest bit?
“Well, it’s not really my job, is it...”
I hadn’t asked them to leave just so I could be alone with my thoughts.
I’d just spent half a week in bed. Glasses had probably already gotten word of the situation, so I figured I ought to at least try and give him a call now that I was awake—even if I couldn’t reach him. He was fine, though... Right?
Despite my slight worry, the call connected after just a few rings, and I briefly went through everything that had happened.
“...So basically, it was all a huge mess, but I managed to get it sorted out somehow. You’re welcome, asshole.”
“So, you’ve moved on from seducing the Hero to conquering the Holy Saint as well? You really are quite the adulterous bride!” he chuckled.
I don’t get even a “well done” or a “thank you”? Worst boss ever.
To be fair, my fight with the saint was something I’d done on my own initiative. I hadn’t just lost track of my mission—I’d actively turned against it. So maybe I was just lucky that he wasn’t mad at me, but still.
“Whatever the case, I’m glad to hear you and Her Sagacity are both all right. There were sad partings along the way, but I’m sure that your meeting will open up new possibilities for the future—just as all of us create new futures all the time, every moment of our lives.”
“You can try and put a bow on this all you want, but this was exactly what you were after, wasn’t it? The Holy Saint was independent of the Seven High Cardinals, but now you’ve got a channel to her. I bet you were also hoping for devil-touched mercenaries to supplement the shorthanded holy knights on the front lines.”
Glasses was the one who’d told me that he’d accepted this whole guard mission in exchange for getting to select new high cardinals. Who knew what else he was scheming behind the scenes?
“Come now, don’t be so cynical. All of this is simply for the sake of world peace. You mustn’t be so quick to assume that people are greedy devils grasping at power.”
“If only you were a devil, so I could just exorcise you and be done with it.”
Not that I had any real objections to helping expand the power of the faction I belonged to. I was just a bride of the Gods and a slave of the Church. He did piss me off, though.
“It’s a shame about Father Carol. He always said—”
“Don’t... It’s fine. I... I’ve already said my goodbyes.”
“All right.”
Having people worry over me was just annoying. At least when the person in question was Glasses.
“Anyway, you’d better prepare yourself, Your Eminence. Don’t think I’ve forgotten about the demonification thing.”
“Perhaps I should ask Her Sagacity to erase your memories for the sake of world peace...”
“Pay the damn piper for once in your life, Glasses!”
I had plenty more to say, but I could hear people coming down the hallway. It was about time to wrap things up.
“I’ll return once my injuries have healed. Please look after Atalanta until then.”
“By all means, Sister. He and I have been getting along swimmingly; we’re practically soulmates.”
No way in hell did I want my beloved kitty and my stupid boss getting along that well.
“Until later, Your Eminence,” I said. I was about to end the call, when...
“All right, Demon Lord?”
“Huh?”
For just a moment, I thought I heard some disconcerting words muffled by background noise.
“May the blessings of the Gods be with you, Sister Alicia. I’ll be awaiting your return.”
The call disconnected.
What was that just now? Did I mishear something?
“It’s probably just my imagination. I’ve been pretty tired...”
The saint had said something or other about the Demon Lord too; that was probably why.
I fell back onto the bed with a thump and closed my eyes. I really was exhausted. I didn’t want to deal with any more of the saint’s bullshit if I could avoid it.
“Hmm...?”
Something was amiss underneath the bedsheets. I took a look inside, and...
“Aah... Hah... Haa...”
Out wafted the fevered breaths of a dog in heat.
“Grrr—!”
“Alicia?!” Cion heard the sounds of commotion and rushed in in a panic, but—
“Agh—! It’s nothing, don’t worry about it! Just—!”
—I had other concerns.
“Aaahhh! Yes—! Harder!!!” the saint moaned as I stomped on her. She was tied up with ropes I’d created using an orison.
Cion lost all her words as she took in the scene. “Huh,” she finally said, staring down at the saint with a gaze of complete and utter contempt.
The dog-eared guard followed after Cion. When he caught sight of the pervert writhing on the floor, his face also hardened into a look of disdain—no, more like outright disgust.
“Please, punish me, Mistressss!”
As her moans echoed through the room, I regretted going against the will of the Gods, just a little.