Chapter 93 : The Ghosts’ Real Identity (part 2)
「No, no, no. Hanna, if you can see them, that means they’re not ghosts.」(Rozelia)
「…….Eh? What kind of logic is that? So you wanna say that I’m still insensitive to supernatural things!?」(Hanna)
「Exactly~! No matter how strong you have become, Hanna, insensitiveness is your nature, right? So there’s no way you can see ghosts~」(Rozelia)
「Huh…? Then, what are they!?」(Hanna)
「That girl with a creepy mirror is a living human, and the ghosts around us are just illusions she created!」(Rozelia)
「Hu, Huuuhh!?」(Hanna)
Her reasoning was kinda insulting to me, but she had a point.
Honestly, I didn’t have much hope that I would be able to see ghosts at the beginning, but after I heard a woman’s voice in the confession room and saw the ghosts, I started thinking that I was probably not as insensitive as I thought, but… that didn’t seem to be the case…
Rozelia’s reasoning denied me so hard.
If these ghosts are illusions, doesn’t that mean I’m the first to be deceived?
If that is so, that means I’m not less sensitive than Rozelia, I’m just an idiot with a weak resistance to illusion magic!
Yes, that’s right! I’m not insensitive! Rozelia was wrong!
But… I feel like being an idiot who is easily deceived by illusions is worse than being an insensitive person…
Argh! This is not good! There’s no way I will admit that!
「No, Rozelia, that girl is a real ghost! These people are real ghosts! The only living beings here are you, Cecil, and me!」(Hanna)
「ーーYou, the dark elf girl, you sure can see through my trick really well. Not bad. As you said, I’m a human, and I’m the one who cast an illusion spell on you people.」(girl)
「Eehhh!?」(Hanna)
The girl with a hood suddenly disturbed me when I refuted Rozelia’s argument.
She then snapped her fingers, and then the ghosts around us disappeared into thin air.
「Ho, Hold on! Why are you giving up so easily!?」(Hanna)
「Well, it’s because what she said is completely true.」(girl)
Saying that, the girl with a hood shrugged her shoulders.
「See~?」(Rozelia)
Rozelia grinned at me with a face as if she was the smartest person in this world.
Khh! She’s really annoying!
「So why the hell did suddenly cast an illusion spell on us!? The crime of making fun of me is heavy, you know!」(Hanna)
「But it wasn’t me who made fun of you though…」(girl)
While complaining like that, the girl lowered her hood, exposing her face and her long bronze hair.
「My name is Aspis. I’m the one who keep the peace and harmony of this city.」(Aspis)
I couldn’t see her face really well because it was covered by her hood earlier, but now I can tell that she has a beautiful face.
She had a smooth-looking forehead and a tall nose. Under her wrinkled eyebrows were topaz-colored eyes.
However, the most eye-catching part of her face was the hammer-shaped mark on her right cheek.
It was a mark that only sinners considered to be the evil god believers had.
「ーーWhy is an evil god believer in this Zodia-sama’s church!?」(Cecil)
Oh?
Now that the ghosts that were actually just illusions had disappeared, Cecil got up and shouted at the girl with a fearless face.
She sure can change her gear so quickly.
Honestly, I want to see her shivering on the floor for a little longer though…
「That mirror… Don’t tell me, that is one of the three sacred treasures enshrined in this church, the sacred mirror, Clotho! If so, an evil god believer like you shouldn’t have it!」(Cecil)
After she shouted like that, Cecil immediately pulled out her sword and rushed to the girl who called herself Aspis.
Seriously!? She doesn’t even give a chance for that girl to say something back!?
For those who worship Zodia like Cecil, perhaps an evil god believer having one of the three Zodia’s sacred treasures is an unacceptable thing.
Well, I can understand. I would be upset too if someone took my precious Mira-san and Galle-chan away from me.
After she closed her distance with Aspis, Cecil swung her sword, but then Aspis pulled a sword halfway from the inside of her cloak and blocked Cecil’s sword.
「Wha…!?」(Cecil)
Cecil was surprised. Perhaps she never thought that a person who fought with illusions could stop her sword. Moreover, Aspis didn’t even completely pull her sword out of the scabbard to block Cecil’s attack.
「You don’t have the right to condemn me, Cecil Sortlarc.」(Aspis)
Cecil became even more shocked after being called by her name.
「H, How the hell do you know my name…!?」(Cecil)
「Of course I know your name. I know your father very well after all.」(Aspis)
「You know my father…?」(Cecil)
「Oh, forgive me, I forgot. He’s not your real father, isn’t he?」(Aspis)
「Y, You…!」(Cecil)
Aspis’ words seem to have hurt Cecil’s pride.
I wanted to say, “Nice one!”, but I’m afraid the situation would get out of control if I do that.
「Aspis, was it? What is your goal? You have been scaring people who come to this city with your illusion magic all this time, right? Are you trying to do a ritual or something by doing that?」(Hanna)
Aspis tilted her head with a confused face.
「…You seem to have misunderstood… In the first place, I’m not an evil god believer.」(Aspis)
「You’re lying! Then what is that mark on your cheek!?」(Cecil)
Cecil pointed at the hammer-shaped mark on Aspis’ right cheek while shouting angrily, but Aspis didn’t flinch at all.
「This mark was forcely put on my cheek when I was falsely accused of being an evil god believer. I… No, ‘we’ are victims of the prejudice in our hometown.」(Aspis)
Did she say, “we”? Don’t tell me…
I looked at the stained glass windows surrounding the church and noticed multiple human shadows.
When we walked toward this church, I didn’t feel any sign of people nearby, but it looked like we were surrounded by a large number of people outside.
I hate to say this but even Cecil and Rozelia didn’t notice them, so there’s no way an insensitive person like me could have noticed them.
「This city, Regenberg, is the only place where those who were accused of being evil god believers can live peacefully. We can’t let anyone know about this truth, so we scare people away. Therefore… it’s so unfortunate for you people to come to this city… You shouldn’t have come and learned the truth…」(Aspis)
Aspis sighed. Her expression was saying, “You guys should have just run away the moment I showed you the ghosts…”
「Now choose. Either to live in this city for the rest of your life, or to keep silent about this. You have no other choice.」(Aspis)
Her request was messed up, but she didn’t seem to be a bad person.
I felt that way probably because I felt sympathy for her.
I had been falsely accused of being an evil god believer many times, and I could have been trapped in this city just like her if I didn’t do anything to fight back back then.
Once you have that mark on your face, you will be treated as a sinner for the rest of your life. You won’t be able to trust anyone once you know how hurt it is to be ostracized by society, so I don’t think that this girl will release us even if we promise to keep silent.
Besides, judging by her appearance, she looks like an escaped prisoner from somewhere, and I’m sure all of her friends that are surrounding us are the same.
In other words, they are the type of people who absolutely can’t trust other people.
However, since I understand very well how they feel, I may be able to persuade them.
If what she said is true, and the people here are innocent and good people, there’s no reason for us to disturb their peaceful life in this city.
「Aspis-san, lilstenー」(Hanna)
「ーーHuh~!? So in other words, we have no other choice but to obey you or die here? You’re kidding. I like when other people obey me, not the other way around! Also, I definitely don’t wanna die here~☆」(Rozelia)
「We have no other choice, you say? Hmph! We have another choice, which is to defeat you, make you spit out everything you know about my father, and get out of this creepy place!」(Cecil)
Ahh… Of course… I forgot that these two idiots are geniuses when it comes to making things worse…