Copy Skills with Affinity!

Chapter 123

Disguise (2)

I felt like grabbing him by the collar and demanding to know just what the hell he thought he was doing, but what made my blood boil was the fact that if I actually did that, the man in front of me would probably blow my head off without hesitation.

So, the best I could do was grit my teeth and somehow maintain my composure as I asked…….

“What, exactly, are you, trying, to do, nnghhhh…….”

“……Your jaw’s going to fall off.”

As soon as he dragged me to a deserted place, the Pontiff returned to his usual tone and answered with a snicker.

There was no doubt that he had an utterly vicious personality that enjoyed watching others suffer while committing such horrific acts himself…….

“You know things went to hell during the Tournament last time, right?”

“……I do.”

Still, when the Pontiff brought it up with a serious expression, I had no choice but to answer seriously as well.

It wasn’t as if he was wrong. We had almost all died back then—how could I possibly not know that?

“The bastard who pulled that off will probably start making his real move soon.”

“…….”

At those words, my gaze naturally sank as well.

Lately, I had been causing so many strange incidents that it almost buried the issue, but the fundamental reason I came here in the first place was to save people.

If I heard something like that, there was no way I wouldn’t react sensitively.

“Do you have any grounds for that?”

“I do. Because if it were me, I’d do the same.”

“…….”

“First, you need to think about that. Why do you think flies swarm around the succession ceremony in the first place?”

Hearing that, I quietly frowned.

……That, definitely.

In the game, it had been explained that someone who openly held grievances against the Holy Crown Kingdom had schemed to overthrow the nation.

I remembered it being described as an act of apostasy carried out in cooperation with the demonkind.

The chapter’s name being Act II: Desecration probably followed that same line of thought.

“There’s a rat cozying up with the demonkind.”

The Pontiff, who had summarized that fact precisely, scratched his head roughly and spat it out irritably.

“I get that he’s got complaints and all that. But if he’s going to throw a tantrum, he should come at me. Why the hell is he screwing with the other royals instead of me?”

“…….”

……Hmm.

I blinked in surprise and looked at the Pontiff.

“What.”

“Were you capable of such constructive thinking?”

“……What the hell do you take me for?”

The Pontiff let out a sigh and continued.

“Politics always breeds complaints, no matter how well you do. I don’t know what kind of thoughts he’s holding, but he’s probably one of those types. I can understand having grievances. But no matter what he does, siding with the demonkind instead of anyone else—that’s a bit much.”

The Pontiff continued his explanation irritably.

“Just like those who serve the God of Devouring, those bastards basically grow stronger by ‘devouring’ something. And right here, there’s prey that would make them drool.”

As he said that, the Pontiff’s gaze turned toward the center of the island.

A massive torch that was clearly visible even from here.

The Altar where the First Divine Flame was enshrined. It was the very place where I had personally met Sia.

A sacred object symbolizing the bond between the God of Purification and humanity.

“……A god’s symbol also serves as a passage that can directly reach that god.”

The Pontiff spoke with eyes that were sunken even more deeply than usual.

“I don’t know what kind of trick they’re planning, but the moment those demon bastards lay a hand on that, it could directly deal a blow to the God of Purification.”

The most decisive incident that led to the God of Devouring being sealed within the Pantheon was that he had devoured another god and absorbed that god’s Divine Authority, and as followers of such a god, the demonkind could commit similar acts.

……Which meant.

“Are you saying the demonkind are planning to devour Sia whole?”

With a sharp flick, the Pontiff struck my forehead with divine power.

“Use honorifics, you brat. Honorifics. Is Lady Sia your friend?”

“…….”

……Well.

Since she looked exactly like Katya, I did end up speaking casually without realizing it.

‘Actually, it’s not just her appearance.’

Somehow, even her atmosphere felt a bit similar.

Of course, she felt far more mature and composed than Katya, but that fundamentally innocent and honest impression was the same.

It felt like if Katya went through some major incident and grew up a bit, she would give off exactly that kind of vibe.

Anyway.

“The demonkind’s goal is that, and the traitor’s goal is revenge against the Holy Crown Kingdom. So what’s the objective that overlaps between them?”

Killing people.

Erasing all the guard forces protecting the Altar aligned with the interests of both the traitor, who wanted revenge against the Holy Crown Kingdom, and the demonkind, who were targeting the Altar.

And probably.

To achieve that goal, the scheme they would most likely devise right now was—

“They already tried to wipe everything out in one big move before and failed, didn’t they? Right?”

The Pontiff pointed at the sky as he said that.

He must have been referring to the curtain of demonic energy that I had erased before.

“But now that I’m here—and Magnus too—they’ll think making a big spectacle like that won’t work. So they’ll go quieter.”

“Quieter, you say?”

“Divide and conquer. Assassination.”

The Pontiff said that with a sinister smile.

“They’ve always specialized in working in the shadows. Inside the ceremony, they’ll probably disguise incidents and start thinning out the numbers.”

“…….”

Even from my perspective, that was an extremely unpleasant thing to hear.

If the method changed like that, the number of casualties might decrease a little, but it would become far harder to prevent.

“That’s why this body is stepping in.”

The Pontiff puffed out his chest with an exaggerated ahem.

“I’ll personally participate inside as disguised personnel and prevent such incidents before they happen. That’s the plan.”

“……Ah.”

“This body is also for that purpose. What do you think☆?”

“…….”

Barely forcing down the surge of curses rising up my throat, I pressed firmly at my temples.

“But must you really act cute like that?”

Of course, if the Pontiff infiltrated the inside like that, the probability of an incident would converge infinitely close to zero, but I still wished he would do something about this attitude of his.

“Well.”

“…….”

“Got a problem?”

“…….”

“If the Pontiff acts cute for you, you’re just supposed to grin like an idiot and enjoy it, you punk. Do you think the Pontiff’s aegyo is some kind of joke?”

……The problem was that he was exactly the kind of man who wouldn’t listen to such complaints even with half an ear.

▣

The basis of the Black Night Ritual was to faithfully reenact the hardships the First Seeker had endured while coming to the Grand Sanctuary to meet Sia.

You could even call it a race. An event where participants circled the outer perimeter of the island where the Grand Sanctuary stood for three days and nights, overcoming various obstacles they encountered along the way.

The reason royals were accompanied by students was to imitate the structure of the Seeker and the attendants who had served him.

Of course, they couldn’t recreate a fire-breathing dragon or a Lake of Obsession that killed you the moment you stepped into it, as the Seeker had supposedly faced. So the obstacles were merely modeled after those motifs as closely as possible.

If they actually created such things, it would practically become no different from the succession ceremonies of old, where corpses had piled up year after year.

Yet even though Aiden was scheduled to participate in such a brutal event built upon deadly motifs, Noel felt considerably better than expected.

If there was a reason for that—

“I feel like among this generation’s royals, there might actually be people who could overcome things like that……”

“Right? I heard there are three incredible ones?”

As they set out on the road to participate in the ritual,

it was thanks to overhearing the cheerful chatter of commoner female students, who reminded her of chirping chicks, squealing and gossiping among themselves.

Alester, Milene, Julius.

Up to the point where they were talking about the royals representing this generation, she could simply think, I see, and let it pass.

“But it’s not just them, you know. There’s another royal who’s been standing out.”

“Huh?”

“I heard someone came from outside this time. Apparently his achievements are no joke. They say he’s very close with His Holiness the Pontiff.”

“Oh, I heard about that too. Sir Aiden……was it?”

The moment Noel heard the two female students climbing the slope ahead of her exchanging those words, her ears perked straight up.

‘Well, of course. He’s an outstanding man.’

Wasn’t it only natural that the corners of her lips would rise on their own as the evaluation of her husband kept climbing day by day?

Until just before the event began, Aiden had probably been someone with not a single acquaintance in the Holy Crown Kingdom. And now his name had spread even among commoners like this?

“And look at this.”

One of the girls, wearing a sly smile, rummaged around inside her clothes and suddenly pulled something out.

Walking behind them, Noel subtly glanced over to see what it was.

……A photograph?

It was a photograph of Aiden.

“…….”

……Well.

It wasn’t that strange for something like that to exist. No matter how you looked at it, Aiden had become the hottest topic in the succession ceremony.

As Noel blankly entertained that thought, the girl beside the one holding the photo immediately clamped a hand over her mouth.

Her eyes were sparkling like stars…….

“He’s crazy handsome!”

“Right? Right? I mean, Sir Alester and Sir Julius are great too, but this person also has that kind of aura—”

The girl’s mouth snapped shut mid-sentence.

……Most likely because Noel, who looked fierce enough to seem possessed by a ghost behind them, had suddenly stepped in between the two.

“W-who, are, y-you…….”

The oppressive aura emitted by someone who had cut people down on the battlefield was far too much for a mere commoner student to withstand.

Leaving the tearful girl trembling in place, Noel calmly snatched the photograph from her hand.

“…….”

After staring at it for a moment, Noel lifted her blazing eyes toward the student.

“I doubt Aiden would appreciate photographs taken without his knowledge being circulated among complete strangers.”

“……Pardon?”

“So. I will be confiscating this. I cannot allow anyone other than myself to possess it.”

“…….”

……The question of why she herself was allowed to keep it rose up to the student’s throat, but Noel’s presence wasn’t something that would permit such words to leave her mouth.

“If you have any other photographs, I will take those as well. Understood?”

“……N-no…….”

“I will not accept objections.”

“…….”

She must have desperately wanted to ask just who this person was and why she had suddenly appeared and committed such an outrageous act.

Watching Noel strangely grin as she stripped such items one by one from the student’s belongings only made it worse.

‘This is completely…….’

……Didn’t it look as though she was using a plausible excuse while stealing the girl’s collection to satisfy her own selfish desires?

Neither of those students could have ever imagined that they would one day be extorted of photographs in their lives…….

“If it’s a photograph of that gentleman, I’m rather curious as well. May I purchase one?”

“…….”

Noel’s expression hardened once more.

Another shameless stray cat daring to covet Aiden besides her—

“…….”

……No, no matter what, that line of thinking was a bit violent.

Reining in her thoughts herself, Noel cleared her throat and turned her head toward the voice.

There stood a woman with long silver hair flowing down to her waist. In contrast to that color, her eyes were endlessly black.

She too was a commoner student. Judging by her attire.

And yet, somehow.

“…….”

Noel’s expression stiffened sharply.

She could tell instinctively.

This woman was someone hiding something.

“My name is Bailey Varga.”

Those obsidian-like eyes glinted as she spoke.

“I also……have quite an interest in Aiden.”

Her gaze naturally brought to mind the phrase ominously black.