Chapter 19 - Attack of the Blondes

The following day.

My body is still hurting but it doesn't bother me much. I survived a great battle after all. Recuperating for weeks should be the norm. Getting up and around after only a day's rest is a great feat in my book.

My plan for today is to visit the hunter guild to manage things if needed. I am a hands-off boss. If I can delegate my job, I will. Not because I am lazy, okay?

… Yeah, okay, I'm lazy. I'd rather do some training rather than managing. Managing is just not my thing. That's why I have been spending all my effort in training people. So I can slack around. That's why.

But still, I have to appear from time to time to help the workers’ morale. Make them feel that they are not neglected. So here I am.

Of course, I visited Master Alfonse to report about the local government's sketchy plot to the hunter guild and got his full support on the matter. It's so comfortable having a large backing supporting you.

I finally reached the Hunter Guild office. Yes, office. Not a tavern, not a restaurant, or any other side business usually mixed in with typical adventurer guild trope. It is a place for business after all. It would be too chaotic if a tavern was also mixed in.

Hunter Guild also has a tavern and eateries but it is in a different building. This main office is for everyday hunter business purposes.

I designed it to look like a bank service front. There are number tags to help with queuing. There are also chairs so the waiting customer, hunter or non-hunter alike can wait comfortably. And lastly, guards. Of course, the hunter guild office needs guards. Hunters by nature are close to a mercenary. They are militant by nature and need someone with a bigger fist to be obedient. Not only that, the office is also a place where hunters get their payment. Meaning, this office is basically a bank, an atm for hunters. It's not weird to have people guarding it.

There are also different rooms for different purposes. There is room for joining the guild to become a hunter, room for taking jobs, room for buying and selling loot, room for payment for quest completion, room for ordering a quest, and room for customer service. Quite a complete and well-structured service I must say. It is one of my proudest designs.

But well, just like always, when I am busy with my own thoughts, someone would come and disturb me.

“Finally, I have met the infamous demon"

That's… the voice of a woman, right? Although the voice sounds heroic, the tone is still on the higher side. And it is filled with hostility too. Scary. Ignore it, ignore it.

“Hey, don't ignore me! Look me at Emilio Stadford!"

Yup, that's for me alright.

I slowly turn my body to look at the person. And what comes to my vision is a beautiful girl with blonde hair up to her shoulder. She wears a battle priest uniform, cassock-like clothing with high cuts on each side to not obstruct movement and she wears long pants inside. Even with her loose attire, her womanly characteristics are still noticeable. Such a devilish body from a god’s servant. Overall, she still looks beautiful even with her simple attire and hostile attitude.

There's also a knight in religious attire standing in attention behind her. A templar knight? This girl is someone with a high position in the church?

“And you are?"

“Celestine. Just a believer from the order of light"

“And what is your business with me, Celestine, a normal believer of the order of light?"

“I am here to punish you for your evil deed, demon!"

Wow, talk about false accusations at its finest. Now, how shall I deal with this?

“Excuse me, I am a demon? This is the first time I heard that. How come I never aware that I am a demon?"

“Stop pretending. I already heard all your misdeeds. You shall be purged!” the girl said while pointing at me.

I can see the guards in the hunter guild getting in their standby position to respond immediately if a battle really happens. I give them a sign to stand down. The templar knight behind the girl is also preparing for a fight. That is bad. Fighting the church head-on like this is just a giant death flag.

“Please wait a moment"

“Even if you want to beg for your life, it is useless"

“No, I am not going to ask for mercy. I want to prove to you that I am not a demon first”

The girl, Celestine, finally stops with her aggressive act. She looks at me warily and asks:

"So, how are you going to prove that you are not a demon?”

"It's simple. Can you cast holy magic? Preferably not an offensive one that can hurt even humans?"

“Yes, I can cast healing magic"

“A demon should get hurt when you cast holy magic on them, correct? If you cast light element healing magic on me, if I am a demon, I should get hurt pretty bad, right?"

“Yes, I’ve learned about demon’s characteristics before. That should be true"

“Then cast your strongest healing magic on me. If I am a demon then I might die from the high-intensity holy magic. But if I’m not a demon then count that healing magic as compensation for falsely accusing me"

"... I'll accept your method. But even if you have proof that you are not a demon, you still have many other accusations on your name"

"The time will come for that. Now, cast it. Let your magic prove that I am not a demon"

Celestine reluctantly starts casting her magic. She chants a string of words for a while and I can feel mana start to converge on her body, the pressure that her body emits becomes stronger and stronger until her body glows brightly.

"High Heal!"

High heal, an intermediate-level healing spell that only tier 2 mage with light affinity can cast. From my detection, I can feel that she is still a tier 1 mage yet she could already cast magic from a higher tier. She is indeed talented.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

After she finished casting her spell, wisps of light flew towards my body and my body absorbed them all which made my body glow for a bit. I can feel a cool feeling throughout my body. And I suddenly could not feel the pain in my body anymore. It is indeed magical.

"Okay, this proves it, correct? I am not a demon. Thank you for the healing by the way. I am still wounded from the battle with the demon before"

"Then how could you devour a demon and still be alright? You should be corrupted by that!"

"Long story short, I have a way of purifying the demons I devoured, turning them into pure energy I can safely absorb. How do you think I managed to reach tier 3 mage if I don't have that method?"

"Purifying method… "

"Before you say anything else, that method is my secret and you don't have the right to say anything about it"

"... Fine"

"Then what other accusations are there that you have heard of?"

"You kidnapped kids from the streets and exploited them to work as your slave. Not only that, you even forcefully take over the orphanage to add more child slaves for your evil deeds. You are also a cruel man who tortured the criminal that you caught. You are also a necromancer who gains power by doing cruel experiments on living humans as your mansion is filled with the smell of blood and corpses. Those children and criminals should be your victims, right? Because there's no way a dark affinity mage like you can become strong this fast"

I… I can't… Those accusations are just…

"Hahahahaha"

"Oh, did you think you could fool me by laughing about the matter? Even if I can't purge a demon today, I will still catch a criminal nonetheless"

"Hahaha… Wait, let me calm myself first… pfft… sigh. Damn, the one thinking about these slanders is indeed smart to choose those specific points that people will be easily suspicious of. But too bad, all of those accusations, well except for one, are false!"

"There's no use denying your crime! Give it up!"

"Miss Celestine, I admire your sense of justice. You are also not afraid to uphold justice when you see an injustice. But too bad, you are still too naive"

"Are you suggesting that I am wrong?"

"Let me ask you 1 thing first before we continue"

"What?"

"Have you tried visiting the orphanage before after I forcefully took it over?"

"Not yet. I planned to go there after I deal with you"

"And that is why I called you naive. You believe what someone else told you without confirming it yourself. You are currently being manipulated like a puppet"

"Take that word back!"

Oh, the templar knight seems to be unable to hold his emotion back and snapped. Good, you just dig a hole for yourself.

"Miss Celestine, as someone with high status, you should learn how to control your dog"

"What did you say…!"

"Daniel, stand down"

"But miss"

"Cease at once or go back to the church. I don't need to be protected by someone who doesn't obey me"

Oh, it seems that she understands her position now. She is someone with a high social position after all, in the eyes of the commoners, she might even be comparable to the pope of the order of the Light himself. And she is someone worthy to speak directly to me, a noble. It would be an insult to me and a disgrace to her if she let her subordinate jump in the talk.

Do I know her? No, actually. I only heard about the rumor but I don't know her personally. This is my first time meeting her but that talent in casting light elemental spells above her tier is a dead giveaway.

"Pardon me for my subordinate rashness. I am still new to this so I failed to discipline him"

"It is fine, I heard about the rumor that you are just getting appointed and your status is still in training. It should be hard to adapt to your new life so I will close my eyes and let it pass. Please pardon me also for suddenly disparaging you. It is a serious offense after all to cut in when nobles are talking"

"Then let be bygone be bygone and continue on with our conversation, shall we?"

Wow, look at that adaptability. I wish the princess could learn a thing or two from her. She really is qualified to be appointed as the saintess of the order of the light.

Yes, she is the rumored saintess. The commoner girl who has great talent in light magic. She is also a protagonist-level character like Leon. The one that would appear in otome games ready to conquer handsome princes and other powerful men… and there's the princess… Damn, why did it feel like the princess will become the villainess in Celestine’s story? I read too many villainess genre novels, it seems.

I think it would be advantageous to be in her good book. Let's start with defusing the suspicion she has about me then. There are also quite a lot of hunters watching in the surrounding area. That's great. I can clear the malicious gossip directed at me to the masses at the same time.

“As I said before, you will know the truth regarding my activity in kidnapping children and about my men taking over the orphanage if you visit the orphanage. In a way, yes, I am indeed kidnapping those children from the street. But it is not for evil purposes. I am actually saving them from human traffickers who used those children as beggars and pickpockets for their own benefit. It was the same for the orphanage. The management before was awful. And I took it upon myself to save them”

"I see, I can prove whether what you said is true or not by visiting the orphanage”

"Yes. Just look at the kids' condition there. If they are happy and healthy then what I said is the truth”

"But no matter how you think of it, it is weird for a noble like you to do charity without hoping for a return. Tell me, do you have any hidden purpose in helping those orphans?”

Are you still suspicious of me? Well, she already judged me from the rumor so her impression of me should be rock bottom. But you should never quickly judge someone from their cover.

“You are correct. I indeed have a purpose in taking care of the orphans. You see, this is not my first time taking over an orphanage. I did it once before in my hometown, Goldcastle, because I felt lonely and wanted some friends. And as the result of my whim at that time, is my trusted and competent Milo’s army. I'm helping them so they might want to help me back in the future. That's why. And of course, being known as a benevolent noble would also increase my renown. So are we in the clear now with this matter?”

“... I will keep my opinion until I see the orphanage and the people of your army then. What do you want to make clear next?"

“Oh, you let me take the initiative? Why, thank you. So next, I would like to explain about the smell of blood and corpses around my manor. Let me say this first, those smells came from the wastes that are generated from my ranch in Tusk Plains. I am indeed using those wastes to strengthen myself as I manage to grasp the technique of a fleshmancer demon. There are no human life lost here”

I said that as I unfurled my tentacles from my shadow. People will suspect that I am a demon even more? Welp, that couldn't be helped. But it means that they also suspect the saintess of colluding with me.

"And lastly, for me torturing criminals… is there anything wrong with that?”

"... You are correct. There is nothing wrong with that. But don't you think what you are doing is cruel?”

"Cruel? Miss Celestine, have you ever witnessed what happened to the victims of those criminals? If you are not cruel to your enemies, you are actually being cruel to yourself. But even so, I will only torture those bandits to gather information from them. I would not carelessly kill them. After all, letting them live and using them as a slave would bring great profit for me so why would I excessively torture them?”

“..."

"You can check those criminals’ condition on the ranch if you have time. And then, lastly, should I be weak because I have darkness affinity? Then explain why I can cast these other elements!”

As I make a gesture, 5 elemental balls appear behind me and slowly rotate. Those elemental balls are from the 4 basic elements of fire, water, wind, and earth plus lightning.

Besides that, I also control my shadow to prop me up so I can sit in the air with my shadow support. I cross my leg and lean back to the backrest of my shadow chair.

“So, what are your thoughts?"

“... I"

“Before that, Miss Celestine, can I ask you why you are here in the hunter guild?"

"... I want to earn money and battle experience by joining the hunter guild”

"Aren't you supposed to be supported by the church of light? Why would you let yourself experience hardship by becoming a hunter?”

"Although I am nominated, I am still technically in training so I still could not receive that much support yet. But if I join the hunter guild in subjugating the Tusk Plains, I think I would benefit a lot from it. Not to mention, there is minimal chance of dying with the army around”

“Have you registered yet?"

“Not yet"

“Then follow me inside. I will help you with the registration. I also have a personal request to you so we can discuss it privately after I help you with your registration"

“I'll be in your care then, sir Emilio"

“Miss, it is unwise to go by yourself. I shall accompany you"

"No, you stay here. Sir Emilio said that it is a private request, right?"

"But miss… "

"Stay here, Daniel. Or you can go back if you want to. You choose"

That's scary. Why did that poor man do to you that made you suddenly turn aggressive like that? I have some inkling but well, I guess reaping what you sow?

"Then follow me, miss Celestine. Let register you as a hunter"

Getting the saintess to join my guild? That is an enormous value to the guild's publication. Well then, let's handle this meticulously. Don't want our VIP running away.