58 Chapter 8 (15): How NOT to keep a low profile, part 13

When we got to the capital, we went straight to the castle, got an audience, and...

"It's you again, foul demon! BEGONE!" (Priest)

"Oh, you're that priest from before! You must not have heard about who I am in this country now..." (Ryuu)

"Zefran, meet Miryuu. Miryuu is going to be marrying my daughter. From what I hear, today, Miryuu is here to hand over concrete evidence of your church's corruption and treasonous schemings" (King)

"And you trust a demon enough to listen to her and to have her marry your daughter? How far you have strayed from the path that God laid out for mankind... We shall have to-" (Priest)

"Mind if I also introduce someone? Your majesty, this is Levia Leviathan, the fifth seat of the demon generals, and the one who obtained this evidence at great risk to herself. And to the priest, this is one of my fiancees, Tuareninya Lars, note the patronymic, as it means she is the daughter of the one who your church was supposedly founded to worship. Again, your church is a sham, and one actually founded to create a war between the human and demon lands. Up until the time the church instantaneously formed and rose to be a large cult, the relation between the two lands was only somewhat problematic. Then, the church started to spew the ridiculous nonsense about demons controlling and creating magical beasts, all to help the Sangen Corporation, at that time, the Sangen Company, to create conditions ripe for a war, and they would profit from selling arms, potions, and so on to the military, and the church would get a share of the profits" (Ryuu)

Everyone stiffened, and the priest blanched.

"And why wouldn't they? The Saint who stands at the head, Saint Light, is actually the second seat of the demon generals, the demon general of space, Yagami Kira" (Ryuu)

There was an uproar at that, but I kept going, my voice cutting through the din like a hot knife through butter.

"Hasn't anyone wondered how the supposedly human Saint Light lived for six hundred years without aging a day? Oh, sure, the official story is that he obtained the blessing of the God of Light Lars, and the name of Kira Light came from him as well, but has anyone seen his bare back to confirm a lack of wings, or his head without a hat to check for horns? No, I didn't think so. His quarters are sealed off, even to the Cardinals under him. He has some mysterious attendants who help him in his private quarters, ones who nobody knows anything about, and no others are allowed in. Not a single other person. And yet, despite nobody knowing anything, and the church's donations going towards spreading the faith, the top leaders, all hand-picked and just as secretive, are living their lives in splendor comparable to that of a duke. He has more secrets than my entire party did before we decided on a name, and that's saying something" (Ryuu)

"So what if he has secrets? Everyone does. Maybe he's really a woman, and that's why those quarters are sealed off. As for the money... Maybe he invested in some merchants or something?" (Priest)

"I... no. Just... just read this" (Ryuu)

I handed him the documents, being transcripts of conversations, letters sent between the church and the Sangen Corporation, and more, and he read those for a few minutes before burning them to ashes with fire magic.

"This is stupid. None of this could possibly be real" (Priest)

"And that action of burning that implies you're trying to cover up the problem by destroying the evidence. Unfortunately for you, I'm not the sort of idiot who would hand over the originals to someone from an enemy organization. You had one of several hundred copies" (Ryuu)

I handed out the copies to everyone else in the room, which were read and then handed back to me.

"I think it's about time for me to dismantle the church, and I'll start by asking the Saint to come here" (King)

"I'll help, if you like" (Levia)

"Count us in, right?" (Char)

"Of course I'm in" (Mae)

"Me too!" (Ver)

"I think I speak for everyone when I say that we're all in" (Tuare)

"That you do. I'm in, and so are Ryuu and Haru... from what I can see of their wings and tail, respectively" (Elise)

"You are much more eloquent when you're angry, now that your father is dead. You're pausing less in general too, but especially when angry, panicked, or surprised. I'm sorry, I couldn't help but comment on that" (Char)

"To sum it up, you have plenty of backers. Oh, right. Another thing is that the marriage between Haru and myself is coming up, right? It's going to be in another week and a half, unless I'm wrong. I'd like Levia to serve as the one officiating it, considering our relationship with the church and all that" (Ryuu)

Talks progressed from there, both about how to take down the church, and how to hold the wedding. The next day, Saint Kira Light showed up, swaggering in like he owned the palace or something, only to come up short when he saw the lineup of people near or on the throne, being my party, Levia, Gazef, and, of course, the King. Levia, Tuare, and I all had our wings and horns exposed, just to drive a point home.

"Why... WHY ARE THERE THREE DEMONS HERE?!" (Kira)

He's going to try to pretend, eh? Well, I figured as much, so I can just stick to the script.

"Four, actually... you missed yourself, didn't you?" (Ryuu)

No response? Also something I assumed would happen.

"Answer me, second seat, Yagami Kira, demon general of space, and traitor to the realm that I rule known as the demon lands" (Ryuu)

"I... Demon Lord? Miryuu Maou..." (Kira)

He tried to run, but the tendons on the back of his ankles were quickly cut by my wire-and-magic-controlled flying daggers, so he fell to the ground pitifully. He healed them, but I just waved a hand, and Tuare shoved her staff into his back, breaking his spine. Even he couldn't heal that.

"Why... why are you doing this? I did this to lead the humans to the only path they could take to not cause the demon lands problems, the path of self destruction! Another decade, and they would have torn themselves apart because of-" (Kira)

"And that goes against everything that I wanted. I know humans and demons can live in harmony. Just look at Irellia, and Shvargon, and many other places in the demon lands. Sure, some of the humans there tend to keep their heads down, but that's due to a low human population creating a bit of a feeling of superiority in a few of the demons. It's no different anywhere else with other races intermingling" (Ryuu)

A few sermons from me later, his back got healed by me after he was thrown into a cell, his quarters were raided, evidence found, and then, a week later, he was publicly denounced for all of his crimes, which included murder and extortion, and exiled from the human lands forever. At the same time, everyone was reminded of the fact that Haru's marriage to me was going to occur just two days later, and that it would be officiated by someone from my home territory instead of a priest from the church.

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Omake? (Written because friend/proofreader/annoying guy said "so, any cute girl that can fight gets added to Ryuu's harem. Got it" and I decided to make a joke. She might appear at some point, but she won't join the party or the harem)

"Who're you?" (Ryuu)

"Name's Ingrid. I'm a chef, but I'm also an A rank adventurer. In other words, I can fight pretty well" (Ingrid)

"That's awesome! My party's really lacking a good chef. Wanna join my harem party? What's your weapon?" (Ryuu)

"A halbread" (Ingrid)

"A... A hal-what now?" (Ryuu)