Chapter 23 Threat

"…You want me to be your personal maid?"

"Exactly! From now on, you're my personal maid and will serve me for the rest of your life, until you die!"

"...."

When I asked in disbelief, the Saintess once again wore a triumphant expression and pointed at me, proclaiming. Her mouth twitched slightly, as if suppressing a laugh.

"You mean, I'm a woman?"

"Precisely! You're a woman!"

"...Why?"

According to the prophecy book, arguing with the Saintess could lead to a bad ending, which was extremely dangerous. But if I didn't get to the bottom of it, the situation might spiral out of control, so I took the risk and pressed on. The Saintess folded her arms and spoke arrogantly.

"Hmph, since you're so eager to know... Fine! I'll tell you the reasons!"

As the Saintess spoke, she held up three fingers and looked down at me.

"There are three reasons why you're a woman!"

"...As many as three?"

"Indeed! Well, I'll start with the first reason!"

As she spoke, the Saintess bent one finger and began to explain.

"You've already admitted in front of me that you're a woman!"

"...Me?"

"Yes! Right there in that corridor!"

"...Ah."

Only then did I realize how this ludicrous misunderstanding had occurred. It seemed that this pure Saintess had truly believed the lie I casually told in the corridor to test my skill of enhancing the power of lies. I had so many things to worry about and didn't expect her to take it seriously, so I didn't give it a second thought... I guess I overestimated Perosh's intelligence.

"That was just a joke."

"Heh... It's too late to make such excuses now! Because there's more than just this one reason!"

Seeing me say helplessly that it was just a joke, the Saintess sneered and retorted. Then she held up a second finger and continued.

"The second reason is... your delicate appearance!"

"...What does that mean?"

I tilted my head and asked when I heard this. The Saintess half - opened her eyes and said.

"Your pretty face... precisely proves that you're actually a woman disguised as a man!"

"....."

"How about that? Hit the nail on the head, right? I knew it... My reasoning is correct!"

After saying this, the Saintess looked so smug that I inexplicably wanted to flick her forehead. But that would be a truly evil act that wouldn't even increase my evil points, so I resisted the urge. Facing the Saintess who was still shrugging her shoulders, I threw out my last question.

"...So, what's the last reason?"

"The last reason... Let me make one up right here!"

As she spoke, she threw a white stone at me.

"...What's this?"

"Just as I thought... I knew it... Now it's certain..."

I instinctively caught the stone and tilted my head to ask. The Saintess smiled knowingly and replied.

"If this stone is touched by an impure person, it will turn black!"

"Turn black?"

"Yes! This is the stone that the bishops of the order have me hold every day, so there's no mistake!"

The Saintess's eyes sparkled, as if excited about something. She slowly stood up from her seat and started walking towards me.

"Frey Rahn Starlight... The reason you can stay pure even though you're always accompanied by women every day..."

"...What's the reason?"

Finally, she stopped in front of me, pointed at me, and declared.

"Because you're actually a woman, so you can't have an intimate relationship with them!"

For a moment, the church fell silent.

"...You seem to know a lot?"

I quietly looked at Perosh for a while, feeling somewhat gratified that she had mastered such divine knowledge, and couldn't help but mutter in a low voice.

"Of course! The nuns used to say that if I went to the academy in that state, something terrible would happen, so they spent years teaching me! So I remember it very clearly!"

"...Sigh."

After listening to the Saintess, I secretly prayed that she wouldn't go around saying that she was reborn. Then I looked down at the white stone in my hand and fell into deep thought.

"...As a Saintess, she's really racked her brains, but there are still so many loopholes."

My left arm had rotted and turned black from forcibly absorbing Kanria's black magic last night. To cover it up, it was wrapped in bandages. Of course, my left hand holding the stone was also tightly wrapped.

That is to say, the chastity detector she threw out now didn't work as it should.

"Here! Take this!"

At the same time, the Saintess picked up the maid outfit at my feet and handed it to me with twinkling eyes. I really couldn't figure out why she was throwing the maid outfit.

"Put this on and then clean the entire church!"

"Um... that..."

"Then, do purification prayers with me! Next is confession! And after that..."

"...That's enough, isn't it?"

I didn't have time to play this farce with her anymore, so I said coldly. The Saintess's eyes widened, and then she said, "You, aren't you afraid of the truth being revealed? If this goes on... I'll tell everyone about you, te..."

"...Tell the students at the academy."

"Yes! I'll tell them!"

I looked at her coldly. Since she had become so aggressive, I responded to her threat in a frigid voice.

"Fine, go ahead."

"...What?"

"Go on, expose me."

"...?"

After saying this, I turned around and walked towards the exit. The Saintess chased after me in a fluster and grabbed me.

"Don't, don't go!"

"...Let go."

"If you leave, I'll expose that you're a woman..."

"...How many times do I have to say it? I'm a man."

"But, but..."

"I'm very busy. I don't have time to play with a woman like you. So, let go of me and go back to your seat."

I suppressed my the anger that is about to burst out and issued a final warning to Perosh. Suddenly, she trembled all over and said shiveringly, "Why... Why do you keep lying..."

"Ha... If you bother me any more, I'll officially protest to the order..."

"Please stop lying now!!!"

As she spoke, she quickly walked in front of me...

"Lying is a great disrespect to the Sun God... Eh...?"

"...!!!"

She grabbed it.

"..."

Then there was a brief silence.

"...What's this?"

The Saintess grabbed my lower body, tilted her head to look at me, and asked.

"...Male genitalia."

When she heard what I said next, her face instantly turned bright red, and she stammered.

"T, then... So... You're really... a, a man...?"

"...How long do you plan to hold it?"

"Wahhhhh!!"

Finally, I couldn't bear it anymore and slapped her hand away. Perosh quickly stepped back, with divine power gathering in her hand, and started shouting.

"G, Great Sun God! Please forgive my sins and save me from evil!!"

"...Aren't you going to apologize to me?"

"S, sorry...! No... I can't apologize to you... But, but it's my fault... Wuuu..."

With a somewhat helpless look, I glanced at Perosh, who was still blushing and talking incoherently. Then I turned around and prepared to leave the church...

- Click, click

"...Huh?"

For some reason, the exit was locked.

"Hey, what's going on..."

I was a bit flustered for a moment and was about to turn around and question Perosh about what was going on...

"Frey... Are you... really not a woman...?"

Before I knew it, her expression had turned icy cold, and she was approaching me step by step.

[Pseudo - Evil Intuition: Sensed a strong killing intent nearby!]

When I saw the system window that suddenly popped up in front of me, I hurriedly reached for the sword at my waist. However...

"Are you really not?!!!"

"Ugh!!"

Before I could draw my sword, I was grabbed by the neck by the Saintess and slammed hard onto the ground. In a one - on - one battle, I hardly had any skills to counter with, and "Protection of the Sun God" was now showing its true power.

"Cough...! Now... What's... going on..."

I barely withstood that overwhelming force and managed to ask in a difficult voice. Perosh bit her lip and slowly said.

"If you... aren't a woman... and have no weaknesses... I'll ultimately have to kill you..."

"...What?"

"Although... I met people like me... and decided to cooperate with them... but in the end, it's all in vain..."

"Now... What are you talking about..."

"...I saw the future."

I tried hard to hold on to my consciousness, which was gradually fading due to suffocation, and listened carefully to her words. When I heard her say she saw the future, I tightly closed my eyes.

"Future... What future..."

"You... destroying this empire... and the world in the future..."

At some point, Perosh, who had started sobbing, continued while squeezing my neck even harder.

"I... in that future... have done my best to make you repent..."

"Cough... Cough..."

"Every day I went to you and recited the teachings of the Sun God to you... Every night I prayed to the Sun God for your repentance... When you did bad things, I endured the pain of being kicked away and tried to dissuade you..."

"Wuuu..."

"But in the end, you still tore the empire to pieces... and plunged the people of the empire into misery."

Before I knew it, tears started streaming down Perosh's eyes. Her hand, which was trembling as it grasped my neck, continued.

"Stupid me... like a scarecrow, could only watch helplessly as you destroyed everything..."

"Wuuu..."

"So, when I discovered your fatal weakness, which might change that future... I was really happy."

I could no longer bear it and tried to hold Perosh's hand to say something, but she just kept increasing the strength in her hand.

"Maybe... this time... No, before the future I foresaw arrives... If I can use your weakness... Maybe I can make you repent, even though you've committed unforgivable crimes..."

"S, so... that's why I said those things about you being a woman..."

"But in the end, even that weakness was just my stupid and ridiculous illusion."

After saying these words, Perosh tightly closed her eyes, and tears fell drop by drop. She continued with difficulty.

"So... in the end, I'm doomed to kill you. Mr. Frey..."

"W, wait a minute..."

"Even so, for the sake of the empire... for the people of the empire... and to save your soul that's about to fall into a terrible hell... This is the only way..."

With a face full of guilt, the Saintess finished these words with great difficulty, and then forced a smile and said, "After killing you... I'll end my own life. Even if you're going to destroy the empire in the future... Killing someone for something that hasn't happened yet is undoubtedly a sin."

"Ugh..."

"...However, I'll continue to help you repent in the afterlife until the end."

- Crack!

After saying this, Perosh used all her strength to break my neck.

"...Ugh."

Perosh truly felt the touch of the broken neck with her own hands. Shivering with the guilt of committing the crime of murder, she then clasped her hands together and began to pray silently.

"Sun God, please be content with my insignificant soul and forgive me for violating your teachings... Please forgive the empire and Frey..."

After the prayer, Perosh gently placed her hand on her own neck and murmured in a low voice.

"...He was once a kind person."

[Notification! skill has been automatically used!]

[Target: The physical power enhanced by Perosh Astrad's "Protection of the Sun"]

[Details: "Protection of the Sun" is a legendary blessing bestowed only on the Saintess by the Sun God, with a devastating 1:1 ability. There are very few existences that can oppose or defeat this blessing, limited to the Star Brave equipped with the awakened Brave's weapon or the Demon King, etc.]

After briefly losing consciousness, I regained it as the system window popped up in front of me. I witnessed Perosh grasping her own neck, with a sad expression, muttering something...

"May the next life... you always maintain that innocent appearance of the past..."

"Exactly! In fact, I'm a woman!!"

"Ah!!"

I shouted hastily.

"...Why, why aren't you dead?"

The Saintess opened her mouth wide in surprise for a moment, stared blankly at me, and then asked with a flustered expression. I hesitated for a moment, avoided her gaze, and replied softly.

"...Just because the throat makes a cracking sound doesn't necessarily mean a person will die."

"...Ugh."

Hearing this, Perosh froze in place with a silly expression for a moment, and then started sobbing and approaching me.

"S, sorry...! It's, it's all my fault for being so stupid and not knowing anything...! It must have hurt a lot, right...?"

"Ah, no... It's actually okay..."

"I'll fix it for you right away. Just wait a moment..."

"Wait, I'm a woman! I'm really a woman!!"

Facing Perosh, who was approaching with a fierce look in her eyes, I was extremely frightened and quickly waved my hands and shouted. Seeing this, Perosh frowned and threw out a question.

"But... what about that long thing just now...?"

"...It's fake! It's fake! I stuck it on specially to pretend to be a man!"

I really didn't want to experience the feeling of having my neck broken again, so I told a lie as vividly as possible... Perosh was stunned for a moment and then threw out another question.

"...What about the voice?"

"Ah?"

"Now that I think about it... Mr. Frey's voice is too rough for a woman..."

"...It's a voice - changer."

"Then, what does your original voice sound like?"

She asked suspiciously. I concentrated the star magic in my body in my throat and replied in the most delicate and weak voice possible: "...This is my original voice."

".....!!!"

The Saintess looked at me with a surprised expression, and then showed a bright smile and said, "...Great! You have a weakness again!"

"...Yeah."

I nodded slightly. The Saintess wiped the tears from her eyes and continued, "Then... After each academy class from now on, come to the church! I'll conduct a repentance ceremony for you!"

"No... This is a bit..."

"This is an order! Now that I've caught your 'weakness'..."

"Sigh, got it... Then... Wait, hold on."

"...What's wrong?"

After barely getting out of the predicament, I was planning to escape and officially protest to the Holy See. Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind, and I couldn't help but stop talking and fell into thought.

'Once I accept the help of the Holy See, Perosh's status will plummet...'

Although Perosh might be regarded as dull now, the Holy See still sees her as the true Saintess. However, those corrupt bishops and the Pope are probably now plotting to weaken her real power and monopolize the power. So, if I use the power of the Holy See to bring Perosh down at this moment... It might be beneficial in the short term, but in the long run, it will lead to bigger problems. Even for a Saintess, attempted murder of a direct descendant of one of the empire's prominent duke families and the crime of insult are too serious to be pardoned.

'...So, should I listen to her? No, that's also a problem...'

But not using the power of the order is also a problem. If I don't inform the order, in the end, I can only solve this situation by myself. Then I have only two choices: either force Perosh to submit by force or obediently listen to her... But both options have problems. First of all, it's almost impossible to force her to submit by force. To completely suppress Perosh, who has the protection of the Sun God, so that she doesn't dare to mess with me again, I need the "awakened Brave's weapon". In my current state, unless I fight with the determination to kill her, I can never overwhelm her. And killing Perosh is absolutely out of the question. This is one of the conditions for the game to end and also goes against my belief of wanting to protect everyone. Then, the only option left by the process of elimination is to obediently listen to her... But I'd rather die than wear that cute maid outfit. I'm a brave, not some maid. What's more, she said she wanted me to do repentance. That is to say, as long as I show even the slightest sign of repentance in front of her... the punishment mechanism will be triggered again. This is really a dilemma.

"...Um, what's wrong with you?"

"Ah, well... It's a long story..."

Just as I was sweating profusely, thinking about how to answer, Perosh carefully observed my expression and asked me why. In the end, to stall for time, I asked her about the part of her words that had made me feel a bit strange just now.

"...Just now you said you were going to meet and cooperate with 'that lord' and others. What did you mean?"

"...What?"

"Also, what did you mean when you said it was all in vain?"

"Ah... That..."

When she heard my question, Perosh was about to answer without thinking, but then she showed a vigilant expression and asked back.

"That... But why are you asking this all of a sudden!?"

"Oh... You've become a bit smarter after all."

"What? What did you just say..."

"Ah, what I mean is... As your personal maid who will serve you for the rest of my life, I want to know every little detail," I lied to dispel her guard. Perosh immediately let down her defenses and said excitedly, "Aha! So that's it! To be honest, I'm still a bit skeptical about what you said, Frey... But somehow it feels true. Well, I'll tell you especially!"

"...Okay."

"Actually, there are quite a few people like me who can foresee the future!"

"..." As I listened to her, I closed my eyes in disbelief and held my head. "...They've already joined forces."

The heroines have actually united. This is really troublesome. It seems I have to come up with a countermeasure immediately. '...Come to think of it, Perosh is actually happily telling me this now? She's crazy.' Anyway, it seems that I definitely can't become allies with Perosh.

"Um... Can you tell me who those people who say they can see the future are?"

"...No way!" After making up my mind, I tried to figure out which heroines had united by asking questions, but Perosh shook her head and shouted, "Lady Klana said I must never tell you!"

"...Klana said that?"

"Yes! She repeatedly told me... Wuu..." However, the next moment, she blurted out Klana's name without any precaution.

"...I'll just pretend I didn't hear that. Go on."

"T, thank you! Anyway, I happened to meet other people who also foresaw the future and tried to cooperate with them."

"...Cooperate on what?"

"To cooperate in destroying and killing you, Frey!"

"....." To be honest, I didn't expect her to explain so patiently... The Saintess is really like a generous tree.

"Okay, I see. But why did you say it's all in vain?"

"Ah... Well..." When I nodded and asked this question, the Saintess began to speak in a dejected voice. "Recently, I consulted the Sun God and asked if what I'm doing now is right..."

"...Consulted?"

"Yes... But the Sun God said it's wrong..." When she heard my words, Perosh frowned, but then she showed a bright smile and said, "That means! Even if we cooperate, we can't defeat you! So... I decided to take personal action!"

"...Hm."

"So I used my amazing reasoning ability to find your weakness... And through such threats, I created an opportunity for you to repent and change the future! As expected, the oracle is always right!"

"Sigh..." I hesitated whether to blame this Saintess who completely misunderstood the meaning of the oracle or the Sun God who seemed to have no clear thoughts. In the end, I sighed and started gently tapping the brooch on my chest. It's time to be a pseudo - evil person again.

"Okay, is that clear now? So hurry up and put on that maid outfit and start cleaning..."

"Lady Klana said I must never tell you!"

"...Ah?" Perosh, who had picked up the maid outfit and handed it to me with a smug look on her face, tilted her head in confusion when she heard me play back her previous words from the brooch.

"...Cooperate on what?"

"To cooperate in destroying and killing Frey."

"...!!!" When her rather dangerous words came out from the brooch, she showed a flustered expression and threw a question at me. "W, what are you doing now...?"

"What else? Threatening you."

"Th, threatening...?" I stared coldly at Perosh, whose voice was trembling, and said, "The third princess of the empire and the Saintess are joining hands to frame me...?"

"T, that..."

"And the target is me, the heir of the noble Brave family, the Duke of Starlight...?"

"W, wah..." The Saintess trembled for a while, and then shouted angrily, "Since you said so...! Then I'll tell everyone that you're actually a woman...!"

"Sorry, I'm actually a man."

"N, no, you clearly said you were a woman just now!"

"That was a lie. You touched it yourself, didn't you? That kind of thing isn't so easy to fake."

"W, wah!!" Facing my brazen words, the Saintess broke out in cold sweat, and then her face turned cold. "In that case, you can only die here..."

"It doesn't matter if you kill me... But this recording will soon spread throughout the country, right?"

"...What?" Seeing her panicked expression at my words, I stroked the brooch on my chest and continued, "This brooch... isn't just a simple recording device. It also has a teleportation magic attached to it."

"...Teleportation magic?"

"It should have been transmitted to my confidant by now. Of course, I've long ordered them that if I die or disappear, they should make the recording I sent public."

"L, liar!" As she said, my words were completely blatant lies. This'recording brooch', together with the 'life - force transmission brooch' and the 'death - oath brooch', is one of the three brooches I always wear on my chest, which has the function of recording other people's words. However, naturally, it doesn't have the function of transmitting recordings. Adding such a function would cost at least tens of thousands of gold coins, which is undoubtedly a waste of money.

'...Even so, it was wise to carry these brooches with me.' Since these three brooches were very useful in the previous timeline, wearing them has become my habit, and I can take this chance to turn the situation around today. Therefore, I actually really want to make more brooches with different functions to carry with me... But unfortunately, I still haven't found that craftsman who was severely taught a lesson by Isolte in the back alley. So, making additional brooches seems to have to wait a while.

"If you don't believe it, just try to break it." I was regretting not being able to make more brooches, clicked my tongue, then shook my head, and stretched my neck towards Perosh, who was denying my words.

"...W, wah!"

"What, if you break it, I'll really die... But you and that poor third princess won't escape either, right? Even so, do you still want to kill me?"

"Wahhhh..." The Saintess glared at me resentfully. Finally, she drooped her head feebly and muttered, "...I give up."

"What?"

"I said I give up! Damn it, Frey!!" Perosh shouted like this and sobbed as she said to me, "The door is open. Get out of here quickly! Let's just pretend today never happened..."

"...No. Why should we pretend today never happened?"

"Y, yes...?" I showed a mean expression, walked closer to her, gently stroked her chin, and said in a low voice, "...Now it's your turn to be threatened, isn't it?"

".....Ugh!" Hearing my sly whisper, the Saintess began to tremble and looked at me with fearful eyes. I picked up the maid outfit that had fallen on the ground and handed it to her.

"Put it on."

"...What?"

"I said put it on."

"R, right here...?" I nodded at her, who looked confused, and smiled, saying, "...From now on, you're my personal maid."

Hearing this, the Saintess blushed with shame and started slowly changing clothes in front of me. As expected, I'm really good at doing things that make people dislike me.