8 - Chapter 5: Episode 5 [Aria!]
"Enma..."
She hung her head low, unable to even meet my gaze.
She was simply trembling at the punishment she expected to receive.
And the Maid looked at Enma strangely.
Come to think of it, that Maid wouldn't be safe if she had prolonged contact with me either.
"Could you please leave us alone for a moment? We'd like to talk."
"Yes, I'll be waiting outside, so please call me anytime."
"Thank you."
The Maid who had brought her closed the door and left.
I sighed and turned my gaze to Enma, seeing her trembling uncontrollably.
Because of me...
Enma had become like that.
A wave of guilt washed over me.
A faint crunching sound...
"I-I'm so sorry!!!"
The sound of teeth gnashing echoed in the profound silence.
Did she hear it?
Enma prostrated herself on the floor, begging for forgiveness.
No, it's not your fault, it's just...
The words died in my throat.
Lest I make another mistake.
My Comrades, who always covered for my mistakes, were no longer here.
I had to judge and act carefully.
Should I tell her everything honestly?
Before that, there was something I needed to find out from her.
"Enma..."
"Y-Yes, Hero!"
"I saw the note."
"Yes!"
"Did you tell anyone else about what happened yesterday?"
"I... I confessed my sin to the Saintess."
This is bad.
Of all people, she told Aria...
"Anyone else... did you tell anyone besides her?"
"N-No, I was just on my way to find them."
Haa...
A blessing in disguise.
If the story had spread further, I wouldn't have been able to stop it.
"Is she outside?"
"Yes, she is waiting."
"Could you please call Saintess Aria? She should be at the Church."
"Yes, I understand."
If Aria was the only one she told, then she probably hadn't told anyone else yet.
She's not someone who talks carelessly,
and above all, she's probably consulting the Goddess by now.
The only human qualified to question the Goddess.
That was the Saintess.
Thanks to her authority, we had overcome several crises.
This time too, she would have gone to ask the Goddess first.
So, after her time with the Goddess, she would come to me.
First, I needed to clear up Enma's misunderstanding.
But to clear up the misunderstanding, did I have to tell the truth after all?
This part was the most important.
Whether to tell the truth or conceal it.
......
The conclusion I reached after much deliberation was:
Let's hide it.
Useless truth might hurt her more.
It was better for only a few responsible people to know the truth.
"Enma."
"Y-Yes, Hero!"
"Regarding what happened yesterday..."
"I will pay for it with my life."
Enma was practically glued to the floor, begging for forgiveness.
At this rate, she'd become one with the floor.
Before that, I needed to tell her my thoughts.
"No. I have no intention of holding you accountable."
"What? But... why...?"
"What happened yesterday was just an accident."
"Yes?"
She still responded with a question,
but perhaps my intention not to harm her was conveyed?
I could see her trembling subside a little.
"Shall we sit down for a bit?"
Saying that, I turned my eyes to the desk,
and saw it utterly destroyed by my fist.
Ah, right.
Damn it.
I hastily turned my head to explain to Enma, but
A terrified whimper escaped her. "I-I'm so sorryyy!"
Enma, seeing the shattered desk, was utterly terrified.
"No, no, that's... that's not because of you, Enma. It wasn't broken because of the note."
"I-I'm so sorry..."
Enma again prostrated herself on the floor, begging for forgiveness as before.
The situation was getting worse...
I reached out my hand to reassure her.
But...
My hand stopped midway.
What if it happened again like last time?
But I couldn't just leave her like this either.
I hesitated a little, but
seeing Enma so terrified, there seemed to be no other way.
Yes, Saintess Aria would arrive soon,
so it should be fine for a little while, right?
I approached Enma, who was prostrate on the floor.
"I'm sorry, Enma. What happened yesterday truly wasn't your fault. You don't need to worry."
I stroked her head.
Feeling my touch, Enma finally lifted her head and looked at me.
So that she wouldn't be scared,
I smiled as brightly as possible,
and chose words to reassure her.
"So... just think of yesterday as a dream, okay?"
"..."
"Why aren't you answering? Do you not like it?"
Enma just stared blankly at my face.
Was she unable to find words to answer?
Seeing her dazed expression,
I realized that I hadn't been considerate enough of her until now.
She must have suffered a lot mentally.
Logically speaking,
if rumors spread that a Maid had raped the Hero of the kingdom, the savior of humanity who defeated the Demon King,
then probably...
They wouldn't just let it end with the Maid's head.
So I had to stop it.
And before that, I needed to comfort this child.
What should I do?
Her state seemed to be close to panic.
Panic, huh.
What did my Comrades do when I was in a panic?
Right.
Just like my Comrades did,
I pulled Enma's face to my chest and embraced her.
A choked gasp escaped her.
And I whispered into her ear.
"Don't worry, Enma. No matter what happens, I won't hold you responsible. I'll protect you."
Only then did I feel Enma's breath, buried in my chest, begin to steady.
"So, rest assured."
I held her and reassured her for a while.
Then I felt her breathing becoming rougher little by little.
Right, if I held her for too long, that Curse might occur again.
I released her from my embrace.
"Ah..."
Such a regretful expression.
Soon, Enma's hand reached out to me with longing.
As if asking to be held a little longer.
BANG!
The door burst open violently, as if it would break,
and there stood Saintess Aria.
"Yuria, are you okay?"
Sweat beaded on her forehead, showing how urgently she had rushed here.
"Aria... I'm fine, so don't worry."
"But if I had found out then... this is clearly my fault."
"No, you don't need to blame yourself, Aria."
She seemed to feel guilty for not discovering this trait about my body after defeating the Demon King.
But this was a trait, not a Curse. I couldn't blame her.
"How can I not blame myself? My precious Comrade, Yuria, suffered such a terrible thing."
"How much did Enma tell you?"
"She told me everything! That the Hero, who had fainted yesterday, was raped all day long!"
She poured out her words with a face that looked about to burst with indignation.
Yes, that's right. So that's why.
There was a reason my whole body ached.
"Aria..."
I wanted to comfort her, but
first, I had to tell her the truth.
Because she was a precious Comrade I could trust and rely on.
But this was a story I couldn't let Enma hear.
First, I needed to send Enma away,
and her condition wasn't good either.
Yes, let's ask Aria to use Mental Cure on her.
"Aria, could you perhaps use Mental Cure on Enma?"
"How can you be so calm when that woman did such a thing to you, Yuria?"
Her sharp, thorny voice agitated Enma.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
At Aria's voice, Enma immediately prostrated herself on the floor, begging for forgiveness.
Haa... this wouldn't do.
She was also a victim.
I couldn't let her suffer more harm because of me.
I embraced her again, whose condition had worsened.
"It's okay, Enma. Don't worry."
A choked sob escaped her. "I'm so sorryyy..."
She was so tense that her body was stiff as a rock.
"It's okay, it's okay."
As I patted her like that,
Aria approached.
"Move aside, Yuria. I'll treat her."
She pushed me away with a subtly angry, annoyed tone.
And then naturally began to treat Enma.
"[Mental Cure]"
Watching her, I also considered her perspective.
If I put myself in her shoes,
if Aria had been raped by another man,
even if I knew it was unavoidable,
I wouldn't have been able to control my surging anger.
Perhaps I would have beaten that guy senseless.
So he could never function again.
If I had known and could have prepared in advance,
then this unfortunate incident of them being hurt wouldn't have happened.
A heavy sense of guilt weighed on my heart.
Aria, who had finished the treatment and taken Enma to the adjacent reception room,
closed the reception room door and approached me.
"So, Yuria, exactly what kind of Curse is it?"
"It's... a bit complicated. More importantly, did you ask the Goddess?"
"I'm sorry, Yuria. The Goddess is also maintaining silence regarding this matter."
"Is that so? It can't be helped then."
I shouldn't rely on the Goddess for everything.
I elaborately explained to Aria about the Stats window and the traits I had seen last night.
After hearing all of it, Aria asked with wide, surprised eyes.
"What...? Then..."
"Yes, the situation is more serious than I thought."
"So, anyone on the street can rape you, and you can't resist and just have to take it?"
"Yes, sadly, that's right..."
A loud gulp.
What was that?
Aria's gulp sounded unusually loud.
Surely...
A hypothesis formed in my mind.
Now, I had no intention of overlooking even such minor things.
"Aria, are you also being affected by my Incubus Trait?"
"Oh, there's no way I'd be affected by such a low-level trait, right?"
"Indeed, you even resisted the seduction of the Succubus Queen, one of the Four Heavenly Kings."
"Ahem, that's right, isn't it?"
"This won't do, Yuria."
"Huh?"
"From now on, let's live together. I'll protect you."
I was currently the weakest in this kingdom,
a biological weapon that could be claimed by a contradictory woman whose strength surpassed all others.
Her judgment was correct.
However, if there was just one small thing that bothered me,
it was that I saw a strange desire in Aria's eyes, just like when Enma attacked me.
Haha, what a foolish thought I'm having.
She was the Saintess.
The Saintess, who among us possessed the greatest mental strength and self-control.
There's no way she would succumb to desire, is there?