Vol. 9 Chapter 1.4 – Advancing to the Top Four

Golden hair hangs down.

I gaze at Claudia-san, her head drooping while she remains chained up, and tilt my head.

“Yeah, I guess it wouldn’t be that easy……”

No matter how long I wait, I don’t hear that familiar electronic sound.

It’s just as Lili told me beforehand, but considering the response I got, I thought it wouldn’t have been strange if she had at least fallen into the 『Submissive』 state……

『Hmm.』Giving a single nod, I recall the exchange I had with Lili.

×××

“Saints are extreme people, devi. And because of that, when they fall, they fall all at once, devi. But getting them to that point is difficult, devi. There’s a troublesome problem peculiar to those who serve God, devi.”

“A troublesome problem?”

Lili thrusts her face right up in front of my nose.

“The fundamental premise that 『God does not make mistakes』, devi.”

“Really? In recent light novels, gods are constantly making mistakes, accidentally killing the protagonist, and then reincarnating them in another world, though?”

Lili gave a wry smile.

“If they genuinely believed in God, they probably wouldn’t write that sort of thing in the first place, devi. Rather, saints are the kind who would get all worked up and make a fuss, shouting, 『That’s blasphemous!』, devi.”

“Ah, I see……”

“Back to the point, devi. This fundamental premise that 『God does not make mistakes』 is an incredibly strong chain that binds believers within a religion, devi.”

“Sorry, I don’t get it at all.”

“In other words, it works like this, devi. Since 『God does not make mistakes』, then no matter how terrible the things that happen to them are, 『it wasn’t a mistake』. Therefore, 『it was something necessary as part of the process』…… That’s the conclusion people who serve God ultimately make themselves arrive at, devi.”

“That’s…… how should I put it…… kind of unbeatable, isn’t it?”

“Devi-devi. Even if a divine revelation turns out to be wrong, it was 『something necessary as part of the process』. Even if they’re asked to make enormous donations, it was 『something necessary as part of the process』. Hell, even if a member of the clergy lays their hands on a believer, they might convince themselves that it was 『something necessary as part of the process』, devi. And when you ask what that process is supposed to lead to, sometimes it’s the process of going to Heaven after they die, so at that point there’s just no dealing with it, devi.”

“Isn’t that a scam?”

“I won’t deny that a lot of them are, devi. But there might also be some that aren’t, devi. Still, humans are weak creatures, devi. When it comes to giving people hope by continually telling them that 『things will get better someday』 while they endure painful lives, I don’t think that in itself is necessarily a bad thing, devi.”

“That’s a remarkably un-demon-like thing for you to say…… But if that’s how it works, then putting Claudia-san through horrible things would be pointless, right?”

“Devi devi. Pointless, devi.”

Lili nodded exaggeratedly, then raised her index finger.

“There is only one way to free a saint from God’s shackles, devi!”

“What?”

“Make them betray God of their own free will, devi.”

I think I must have had a thoroughly bewildered look on my face. Everything Lili said that day was simply too abstract for me.

“That said, what you’re going to do from here isn’t all that different from what you usually do, devi. Thoroughly torment that foreign woman, devi. Show her the overwhelming difference in your power and make her understand that FumiFumi is the superior being, devi. When she betrays God and realizes there’s no going back anymore, you’ll make her understand that Fumifumi is the one truly worthy of clinging to, devi.”

“I see…… So what do I do after that?”

“There’s no need to rush, devi. When the time comes, I’ll explain what comes next one step at a time, devi. Besides, FumiFumi is lucky, devi.”

“Lucky…… How?”

And then, with the most scheming expression imaginable, Lili said:

“The older sister ran away, devi. That gives Fumifumi a huge advantage, devi.”

Even thinking back on it now, I still don’t really understand what Lili was trying to say.

‘But……well, it’s not like I’m going to start doubting her now……’

“Alright then……I should get back to Fujiwara-san……”

Turning my back on Claudia-san, who was still unconscious, I left the room.

×××

“Anna-sama will most likely not be coming back.”

The demon, whose head looked exactly like a goat’s skull, said so without the slightest inflection in his voice.

Junichi-sama and I—Teruya Hikari—had escaped from the studio with his help, and were now sitting with our knees drawn up in a barren room somewhere unknown.

“She’s not coming back……?”

When I raised my head, the demon spoke again in the same utterly emotionless tone.

“She has most likely fallen into Miss Liliamos’s hands. In the event that happens, I have been instructed by my lord to abandon her and return.”

“What!? But you said you served Onee-chan!”

“I did indeed. However, that was in her capacity as my lord’s wife. My master favors beautiful people, but at the same time, he is entirely without attachment. The moment someone falls into enemy hands, he forgets them as though they were already dead.”

“No way!?”

Almost at the same time as I cried out, Junichi-sama shot to his feet and rounded on the goat-headed butler.

“H-Hey! Wait a second! What about us!? No, what about me!?”

“Please, do as you wish.”

“That’s way too irresponsible! If you’re going to rescue us, then take responsibility all the way to the end!”

At that, the expressionless goat skull somehow seemed to take on an air of displeasure.

“If you insist on having me see things through to the end, I would be perfectly happy to make this the end for you right here.”

As he spoke, the goat-headed demon thrust a hand into empty space and pulled out a greatsword.

“W-What!? Y-You’re joking, right!?”

The goat-headed demon fixed the panicking Junichi-sama with his hollow eye sockets. I hurriedly jumped between the two of them and shielded Junichi-sama behind me.

“O-Okay, I understand! Please! Just go already!”

The goat-headed demon slowly lowered his sword and gave me a slight bow.

“Then, if you will excuse me.”

A tear instantly opened in space, and the goat-headed demon disappeared into it. I collapsed weakly to the floor where I stood.

“Haa……”

The instant I let out a long sigh, I was kicked from behind and fell face-first onto the floor.

“Oi, you! Who the hell gave you the right to decide that on your own!? I’ll fucking kill you!”

“I-I’m sorry! B-But if things had stayed like that……”

Junichi-sama’s furious shouting rained down from above, and I instinctively shrank into myself.

But perhaps my reaction only irritated him even more, because Junichi-sama planted his foot on my cheek and shouted again.

“Shut the hell up! This is all your fault in the first place! What the hell are you going to do about this, huh!?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

As I felt the pain of my cheek being ground beneath his foot, all I could think was how pitiful Junichi-sama was, how terribly pitiful he was, and that I had to be the one to look after him……

×××

“F-Fumin! Hey! D-Do something about this!”

When I returned to the bedroom, Fujiwara-san, now back in her bikini top and denim hot pants, was standing frozen on the bed with a completely helpless look on her face.

Looking down, I saw the short-haired maids below the bed, kneeling in dogeza with their heads practically rubbing against the floor.

‘Ah…… I didn’t think this through enough.’

Come to think of it, these four maids had been punished and reduced to their current circumstances because they had messed with Fujiwara-san.

Naturally, putting the person herself right in front of them would lead to something like this.

After I sent away the four maids, who had been sobbing uncontrollably with their foreheads pressed against the floor, Fujiwara-san let out a relieved sigh and sat down on the bed.

“What was that……? The second they came into the room, they suddenly dropped into dogeza and started bawling their eyes out. Of course that’s scary……”

“Ah, ahaha…… Um, those girls are, you know, from the old school building. Remember when Fujiwara-san got stripped naked? They’re Teruya-san’s juniors from back then.”

“What!? Those were the girls from that time?”

“Yeah. They messed with my girlfriend, so as punishment, I’ve got them working here as maids.”

“I see…… Hmm, but you should forgive them already. Honestly, it’s not like I hold any grudge against those girls at all…… If anything, I’m almost grateful to them.”

“Grateful? Why?”

“Because thanks to those girls, I got to meet Fumin.”

“Got to meet me……? Fujiwara-san, we’ve been in the same class since last year……”

“That doesn’t count! I mean…… not realizing how great Fumin was sooner is basically the biggest mistake of my life, or something like that……”

Fujiwara-san averted her eyes in a completely unrelated direction and laughed, “Ahaha,” as though trying to play it off. Seeing her like that, I gave a wry smile as well.

“Well then, since Fujiwara-san became one of my favored princesses starting today, I’ll introduce you to the other girls…… Though I think they’re all people you already know.”

“Favored princesses?”

“The girls at the very top of my harem. Including Fujiwara-san, there are four of you.”

“Ahaha, I seriously made it into the top four. That’s hilarious.”

I figured she wouldn’t get angry because she was in a 『Subjugated』 state, but having her take it this casually still threw me off a little. Then again, knowing Fujiwara-san, I got the feeling she might have reacted the exact same way even if she weren’t 『Subjugated』.

“Alright, let’s head to the dining hall. Everyone’s waiting for us.”

“Okay!”

And so, taking Fujiwara-san by the hand, I walked out of 『Confinement King’s Bedroom』 with her.