Chapter 11: Who Are You?

A considerably noisy time passed. But it seemed she had only caused trouble that was far from the purpose of her awakening.

As expected, to awaken and act in this era, finding the summoner was the top priority. There was a reason why the summoner was needed.

Bel does not judge and act on her own. Her power was too great for that.

Whether she killed someone on request or protected someone on request, it would often bring fear and chaos. The same act was always interpreted differently depending on the era.

So, when Bel awoke, she respected the will of the summoner, who was a person of that era, as much as possible.

There were almost no beings with a will pure and great enough to awaken Bel, and Bel preferred such a will as prey, so it could be said that their interests aligned.

But this time, there was neither a summoner nor the sacrifice he had prepared, so she temporarily granted someone else’s wish.

The woman’s wish to kill all the slavers.

She had eaten a few of the male slavers as a sacrifice, but they tasted terrible.

It seemed she would have to continue to obtain sacrifices herself in a similar way and find the summoner first.

However, in this situation, where and how should she start moving…

Is this all the information I’ve gathered?

Bel chewed over what had happened so far and recalled a few familiar words.
Heretic.
Fanatic.

Bel had only just awakened in this era, but she had already heard these words several times.

From that alone, she could infer some general information.

In the current era, the group that believes in a god holds quite a powerful force.

Some of the slavers had cried and called out that name before they died.

Even some of the humans captured as slaves had clasped their hands and called that name while trembling in fear.

The name of the Supreme God is Luxlon.

A high probability of a theocratic holy empire.

Human history was long, and she had awakened in eras with similar tendencies before.

However, at that time, she had awakened as the ‘Supreme God’ of that time.

If the pattern was the same as before, she should have awakened as Luxlon in this era. But this time, it seemed she had awakened as his opposite.

—This world is steeped in peace and love!

If it’s a holy empire, it’s plausible that they would advocate such a thing, and if that is what rules this world, then it could be so.

But what kind of person was the summoner to make such a wish while asking for the world’s destruction?

In any case, she would have to find the summoner to hear the details.

However, there was a problem.
I don’t want to move because there’s no sacrifice.

When she tried to find and eat a sacrifice on her own, they were all just terrible-tasting bastards.

It was the worst when she encountered a guy who tried to persuade her by offering money or status while begging for his life.

At this rate, she would probably just go around killing humans again.

It might be better to fall asleep instead.

It was when Bel was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Master, it’s Lema. May I come in?”
“Yes.”

The sound of a wooden door creaking was heard, and soon, long legs stepped into the room.

The person who entered was Lema, with a very tense expression.

“…”

Bel looked Lema up and down as he entered the room.

She had heard that the slaves would wash and dress him up before sending him up, but Bel, who hadn’t paid much attention, was a little surprised.

The sight of Lema was distinctly different from what she had seen before.

Even while anticipating Bel’s intended use for Lema, the slaves had dressed him in clothes that reduced exposure and fit his body snugly.

He was wearing relatively dark-colored clothes, with a cloak covering only one shoulder and dangling accessories.

Since it was an illegal auction house, there must have been more than enough of such things.

In fact, it was a somewhat incongruous attire at first glance, but if the purpose was to subtly highlight a specific charm, it was a success.

It was an attire that made one want to strip off the thin cloth and see the bare skin.

The body was one thing, but what about the face?

Heavy hair that sparkled distinctly even in a place that handled gold and jewels.

And green eyes so brilliant that one would want to tear them out and collect them.

Indeed, he was a human who had survived in this world of deep faith, even after being branded a heretic, solely because of his handsome appearance.

In any case, the standards of beauty were more or less the same, weren’t they?

“You look good.”

In a word, he was quite a snack even to the eyes of Bel, who had existed since ancient times.

“I-is that so?” Lema’s face turned beet red, as if he was somewhat awkward in that attire.

However, Lema was also somewhat dissatisfied with the attire.

When Lema was a holy knight of Lucilonia, his body was much better.

Now, he had lost a lot of muscle, so his physique was not intimidating just by looking at him.

Although the woman who had dressed him up didn’t seem to think so…

In any case, Lema swallowed dryly several times before opening his mouth.

“…Master, there is something I would like to ask.” Lema said, while Bel was silently admiring his face.

Even though his opponent nodded and allowed the question, Lema hesitated for a long time.

As if he himself was not fully convinced about asking this question.

He opened and closed his mouth, hung his head low and sighed, and then raised his head as if looking at the sky with both palms covering his face.

After repeating that several times, he soon looked straight at Bel.

He asked with a tense face, as if he had made up his mind. “Are you… Luxlon?”

“…”

It was in line with what Bel had been thinking until just a moment ago.

In an era like this, if someone had made a wish with strong faith and will, and it had reached Bel, the being who grants wishes, the object of the wish should have been Luxlon with a high probability.

Therefore, if someone in this era wanted to call Bel that, she could be called that.

But it didn’t seem like Lema had asked with that intention.

“Why do you ask that?”
“Th-that was a pattern created by divine punishment. The only one who can remove a divine punishment is the Supreme God who bestowed it.”
“The pattern? The one I removed?”
“…Yes.”

Lema seemed to expect Bel to say something more.

But when Bel remained silent with an expressionless face, Lema, unable to overcome his anxiety, opened his mouth again.

“My name is Lema Valkite, Master. And Valkite was once a representative family of holy knights serving the Supreme God Luxlon.”
“A holy knight.”
“Yes, we were not heretics back then.” Lema’s lower lip trembled.
“We… have never served another god. On the contrary, I can confidently say that we were more devout than anyone. So, when divine power manifested in our family, we thought that the Supreme God’s gaze had finally reached us.”

Valkite had lived as if that was the only truth.

Not only did they sincerely follow the doctrine their whole lives, but they never once doubted their faith.

And when divine power finally manifested, not only the family members but also the people of Valkite’s domain rejoiced, thinking that what was meant to be had finally come.

That the Supreme God Luxlon had finally granted the status of apostle to Valkite.

“If there was one unusual thing… it was that it was a punitive power.”
“A punitive power?”
“Yes, usually an apostle who manifests divine power uses healing powers a lot. Punitive powers exist, but they are rare… In such cases, the approval procedure of Lucilonia is required.”

Until then, everyone was happy.

It was not impossible, nor was it unheard of.

But the head of the Valkite family, who had naturally thought he would become a new apostle, was branded a heretic.

“My father, the head of the family… had a somewhat single-minded aspect, but he was a truly incorruptible and upright person. I dare say that his faith was not inferior to that of the existing apostles. That’s why I didn’t understand it even more.”

Valkite was dismissed on the spot.

At first, they resisted and pleaded that it was unfair, but once they were branded as heretics, it became irreversible.

In order to prevent the sparks from flying to the other knights and apprentice knights under Valkite, and even to the people of the domain, Valkite had no choice but to flee.

Like an apostate who had been discovered after using them.

“People believe that Valkite became that way because they only pursued power, but that’s not true.”

The head of the family died protecting them, and Lema lived a long life on the run with his brother.

Lema, who became alone after losing his brother, survived a little longer.

Although he ended up in this state in the end.

Rather than being pessimistic about his situation, he wondered why it had become like this.

If his father and brother had lived a little longer, they could have guessed together, but that was not possible.

“That pattern is a brand personally carved by an apostle of Luxlon. It cannot be erased unless you are an apostle of Luxlon.” Saying so, Lema knelt on the spot.

It was to look up at Bel, who was sitting on the bed.

It was also because he couldn’t control his trembling legs.

“If not an apostle… the only one who can erase this is the Supreme God Luxlon himself.”

Saying so, Lema looked at Bel desperately.

As if the answer to the question he had been harboring for a long time was with Bel.