Since Jeron had already been asleep the night before, Luzbel left without being able to say goodbye. The situation had been very sudden, too.
It was only after waking up in the morning that Jeron realized Luzbel was gone, and he was thoroughly sulking.
Of course, he refused to admit that he was sulking.
“Fine. I will have fun without Dad.”
“You said Dad?”
“When did I?”
“Just now.”
“No. I said His Grace.”
Lately, Luzbel had been saying things like “Dad did this, Dad did that” at the end of every sentence, so it seemed Jeron had grown used to it and the word Dad slipped out without him realizing it.
He insisted it never happened, his face turning red, but it was quite cute.
“Mmm. Our Jeri did say that.”
“…Don’t tease me.”
“I’m not teasing you. You said you didn’t say ‘dad’. I was just agreeing that you didn’t.”
“Don’t…”
Seeing his expression crumple as if he might cry at any moment, Aisha thought she should stop teasing him and gently coaxed and soothed Jeron.
“I really wasn’t teasing you. More importantly, Jeri, how much fun are you going to have without Luzbel? Should we surprise him when he comes back?”
“Mhm.”
Simple as any child, Jeron immediately nodded.
With Luzbel gone and Jeron all to himself, the Marquis seemed rather pleased.
“Shall we play house?”
“Okay.”
It seemed yesterday’s game of playing house had suited his tastes quite well.
“So I’m the grandpa again?”
“There is no Duke, so you be the Duke.”
“Me… that guy?”
“Don’t wanna? Then will you sit out?”
“No…”
Of course, the Marquis still looked dissatisfied with his role.
Still, he played the role of Luzbel with great flair and made Jeron beam with laughter.
***
After mastering a new game on top of playing house, Jeron grew tired and fell asleep.
The Marquis, given his age, also seemed quite worn out and had collapsed in the same way.
Aisha was no different. Keeping up with a child’s stamina wasn’t as easy as one might think.
She didn’t know how many hours she had played with him since the morning.
“Madam, are you alright?”
Mika asked, visibly worried while standing beside Aisha, who was slumped like blanched spinach.
“Would you like to take a nap?”
“No. Mika.”
“Yes?”
“I have somewhere to go.”
“…Shall I call the Marquis?”
“Alone. I want to sneak out.”
“…Alone… sneak out…?”
The moment the word “alone” came out, Mika’s eyes spun around. And she even said “sneak out”.
Mika swallowed hard, clearly not knowing what to do. From the look on her face, she had probably been firmly warned by Luzbel.
He had said he would try not to be possessive, but people didn’t change that easily in an instant. Especially since he was going far away, he must have arranged some kind of watch.
Aisha had expected that much.
“You will do me this favor, right?”
“Uh, um…”
“I won’t do anything dangerous. There’s just a place I want to go.”
“Uh, where is it?”
“The temple.”
“The temple? Why the temple all of a sudden?”
“Luzbel said it would be fine, but still, areas with heavy rain might be dangerous, so I want to at least pray for him.”
“…Madam!”
In truth, there was another reason, but with such a plausible excuse, Mika covered her mouth as if deeply moved.
It seemed the words “sneak out” and “alone” had already disappeared far away from her mind.
With this, going to the temple wouldn’t be that difficult.
Aisha smiled to herself.
***
Ever since the last Saint disappeared, the Valencia territory had been in a constant rainy season.
The Temple made all sorts of efforts, but there was no way to stop the rain.
They were somehow getting by, but each year the population kept decreasing, and as the cause of the Saint’s absence was pinned on the Temple, their image in these lands fell rock bottom.
The many branches disappeared one by one, until the number of temples within the Valencia territory didn’t even reach ten anymore.
One of them was the largest temple located near the Ducal estate.
“Welcome.”
The temple she visited under the pretext of staying only briefly to pray.
The priests looked flustered at the sudden notice of the Duchess’s visit, but soon welcomed her warmly.
“Greetings. I am High Priest Raphael.”
“It is nice to meet you, High Priest Raphael. I am Aisha Valencia.”
Though he bore the title of high priest, he had quite a youthful appearance.
That, in itself, was proof of how poor the Temple’s standing in Valencia had become. If such a young priest had risen to the position of high priest.
“May the blessings of God always be with you.”
“Thank you.”
Perhaps because the Temple’s influence was weak, making the Duchess the superior party here, the high priest adopted a noticeably deferential attitude.
That actually worked out well.
It seemed she would be able to achieve the purpose of her visit easily.
“Um…”
“Yes. Please speak.”
“Do you perhaps… see anything?”
“Pardon?”
At the sudden question, the high priest’s eyes widened.
Since he was a high priest, she wondered if he might have noticed that there were two souls in her body, but it didn’t seem like he had that kind of insight.
“It’s nothing. I heard that you perform exorcisms.”
That was right.
Aisha had learned by chance that the Temple conducted exorcisms.
With two souls coexisting in one body, she had come wondering if she might be able to discover something by visiting this place.
“Ah. We do perform exorcisms, but only occasionally when there are people who truly need it. These days, there are not that many demons. In fact, there are many cases that turn out not to be such issues at all.”
“I see.”
“When people implore us earnestly, we simply do our utmost.”
The high priest bowed his head humbly.
In other words, it meant that actual exorcisms weren’t performed very often.
It didn’t even seem like he was examining Aisha’s current condition.
“Is it possible to have contact with God…?”
“I understand that even His Holiness the Pope has not heard the voice of God recently. With the seat of the Saint having been vacant for so long… it is all due to our own lack of virtue.”
He bowed his head, unable to hide his troubled expression.
She hadn’t meant to expose sore spots, but it somehow ended up that way.
“I did not mean it in that sense.”
“Yes…”
The high priest’s downcast expression showed no sign of lifting.
Still, Aisha continued to ask, pretending not to notice.
“Um, I, I have one more question.”
“Please go ahead.”
“While performing exorcisms, have you ever encountered unusual cases that did not involve demons?”
“What do you mean…?”
The high priest asked with a puzzled expression.
But she couldn’t say anything more here. She worried that if she said too much, he might notice something strange.
“No… I was just curious about other phenomena. I have a bit of an interest in that sort of thing.”
“I see.”
She had made an excuse, but it felt like even a three-year-old child would be able to tell she was lying.
Fortunately, the high priest didn’t press further, and after a brief silence, Aisha spoke again.
“I would like to pray.”
It didn’t seem like she would gain anything specific, so she decided she would just pretend to pray and leave.
However, the high priest looked flustered when Aisha, after suddenly asking odd questions, said she wanted to pray.
“…You wish to offer a prayer?”
Judging by his expression, he seemed to think she had come to discipline the temple.
Seeing how surprised he looked when she said she truly intended to pray, it seemed Aisha didn’t have a very good image here either.
“Yes. That is why I came.”
“Ah, I will guide you. However, the service has already ended…”
“That is fine.”
She didn’t truly believe in God anyway, and she had come to check something.
She hadn’t gained anything, but since she was already here, she felt she should at least go through the motions of praying, and then leave.
“Then…”
Since she said she would pray, the high priest guided her with a slightly brighter expression.
In that way, using the excuse that she wanted to be alone, Aisha even had Mika wait outside and took over the spacious prayer hall.
***
She had thought that if she came to the temple, she might find some answers, but it seemed that wasn’t the case, leaving her disappointed.
Since she wasn’t close to the high priest yet, although he answered kindly, she couldn’t shake the feeling of distance.
With the Saint gone, had the number of demons really decreased?
It seemed more likely that they would see it as an opportunity and crawl out in greater numbers. Saying they had decreased didn’t make sense. Of course, she hadn’t asked out of genuine curiosity about exorcisms.
Still, it seemed the high priest wouldn’t know anything about a case like hers either.
What on earth was she supposed to do?
At the moment Aisha clutched her head in frustration, a bright light suddenly burst forth from the statue affixed to the front of the prayer hall.
“Huh?”
Startled, she lifted her head, and an indistinct form spoke to her.
[Have you finally changed your mind?]
What?
‘Changed my mind about what?’
Aisha blinked with a bewildered expression, and something indistinct seemed to sway slightly before fixing its gaze squarely on her.
Then, as if quite flustered, it asked her,
[…Who are you?]
“…That is what I want to ask. Who are you?”
[Aren’t you Aisha……?]
The voice sounded uncertain.
Only then did it occur to Aisha that this indistinct being might know the real Aisha. If so, then what exactly was this thing?
“…For now, it seems I am not the Aisha you know.”
[That does seem to be the case.]
“Then who are you, really?”
[And who might you be, to be inside Aisha’s body…?]
Since it had appeared in a temple, she briefly wondered if it might be a god, but it felt oddly too flippant, so she asked to make sure.
It seemed the one flustered was the being as well.
The indistinct presence, which seemed to have fallen silent for a moment, straightened up as if it had grasped the situation to some extent, then cleared its throat and spoke.
[Hm-hm. I am Reminus, the God of the sun.]
For some reason, the voice carried a sense of authority.
“…”
The voice might have been dignified, but given the circumstances, there wasn’t the slightest trace of reverence. Still, it was apparently a god.
Was meeting a god really something that easy?
