Remorse - 1

It was around the time the True Demon Lord's reign of terror had begun to spread across the world.

Kuze the Passing Disaster was not yet a cleaner, nor had he earned his name of the Passing Disaster, but instead he was a normal young man aiming to become a priest, wandering from one almshouse to another to learn the Order's teachings.

In some frontier city, all communication to the outside world had been cut off overnight, and every person who left to investigate never returned. However, even with such little information, everyone at the time seemed to have a hunch that it wasn't because of some sudden uprising or an outbreak of a new plague.

In the early days, people tried to ignore the very existence of the city. There was someone who said there had surely been some terrible disaster, and the rescue attempts were met with trouble. That Izick the Chromatic, who had already managed to lay waste to several cities, or the vampires that were still hidden among the minian races were far bigger problems—and that they must not let some unrelated city on the frontier concern them.

The younger Kuze believed this explanation. Nevertheless, he soon understood this wasn't the case.

The more necessary it was to go around saying that one mustn't let something concern them, the more it weighed on everyone's minds.

As far as Kuze understood, both adult's and children's minds were seized by anxiety, and yet the fates of the city's residents remained a mystery, with any investigative activity being placed on hold for over a year.

It was abnormal.

Before long, there came a rumor that a hamlet adjoining the city had apparently disappeared. Any investigation related to the True Demon King never yielded much. The one who barely managed to make it back didn't say anything about the extent of the damages, or the safety of the residents. They only left a single statement behind—"There's something terrifying there." Then

he died.

His death wasn't from any physical abnormality. The extreme terror and exhaustion had killed him.

It wasn't "There was something terrifying," but that "There is." The word was short, but that was what truly expressed the staggering terror of the True Demon King. In all likelihood, he had never even encountered the True Demon King at all. He encountered the Demon King Army in that ruined place—and learned from himself that something terrifying was still there… And because of this unfortunate realization, he perished.

The people feared this unseen terror.

Someone began referring to the overwhelming threat as the True Demon King.

They were more than a tyrannical monarch standing in opposition to the One True King. They were a malevolent entity unlike anything the world had seen before.

The head priest of the Order gave a proclamation to the people. Either the royal family or the head priest had to or else unabated disorder would continue to spread.

"Every life on this planet, joined in understanding with Word Arts…has persisted from time immemorial into the present day because they have overcome the threat of annihilation again and again."

The Order faithfully undertook their duty, trying to expel the curse of fear that tormented the hearts of the people.

"There will be many sacrifices, just as there were during the plagues and the Viledragon Disaster. Be that as it may, just as with those calamities of the past— this terror will inevitably come to an end."

Kuze believed this, too. He could entertain the hope that if they endured it for just a little bit longer, an unknown Hero would slay the True Demon King.

However, this proclamation itself may have been the worst possible crossroads for the Order to put forth.

The First Party, the hopes of many on their shoulder, was wiped out, and the Order's charity work was unable to hold back the wave of ruin, with everyone around the world dying, dying, and continuing to die.

All the kingdoms were on a war footing, and the support for the Order, tasked with maintaining social welfare, continued to dwindle as the years went on.

The Order, their doctrines leaving them unable to supply any military aid,

began to be coldly regarded by the people, and as all kinds of despair spread across the world, faith was the very first thing to disappear.

If the Wordmaker supposedly created this world, then why did this Wordmaker allow something like the True Demon King to exist?

The head priest who made the first proclamation died just a year later.

He was stabbed by a vagabond who had lost their family to the Demon King Army.

"If you're intent on the priesthood, Kuze…"

The priest Kuze was learning from at the time, Rozelha the Ruminator, let these words slip.

"Don't give it up until the very end, long after everyone else. No matter how much the True Demon King torments the people… You need to protect the correct teachings up until the very end. That's the hardest job a priest is tasked with."

"…Ha-ha. Is it now? I mean, you're always giving up on temperance yourself, Father Rozelha."

"No… Hee-hee, that's different. It's a completely different topic altogether, you understand, Kuze?"

"…Everyone comes seeking salvation from the Wordmaker. They feel that if even the First Party proved unable, they want someone who can do it, to go and kill the True Demon King. There were some trying to grant these wishes. I don't really think those guys are wrong. But believers have begun abandoning their faith and trying to join the subjugation forces… What am I supposed to do for people like them?"

The True Demon King couldn't be allowed to exist. Kuze himself wished he could become a savior to the people. Not just to protect the refugees who escaped from the Demon King and give the people peace of mind, but to eliminate the problem at the source.

If it was possible to comprehend the True Demon King through the use of Word Arts, the actions necessary to slay them would, for the Order's believers, also mean discarding their faith.

"…'Thou shall not hate.' 'Thou shall not harm.' 'Thou shall not kill'—these conditions make the task rather tricky."

"Do you think that everyone who went off has…given up?"

"I'd say so. They weren't able to stick to their priestly ways of saving others.

That might be a cruel way to put it, though."

Kuze knew that Rozelha's faith in the Wordmaker was deeper than anyone else's. Even if his behavior was unbecoming of a clergyman, Kuze had never seen him break any of their religious precepts.

"You see, Kuze, when I say keep going until the very end, longer than anyone else, I mean that I want you to outlast even me. If all the people of the world fight, and seek to kill each other; if there's no one there to protect our teachings until the last man standing, who will pass them on to the world to follow? That's what makes it the most difficult responsibility of all."

Rozelha took a single gulp of the small remaining amount of booze in his bottle.

"There will be times when you'll want to fight for justice. When it seems like there's a better way to improve the world than through the Wordmaker's teachings. When your faith beings to waver, the words of the Wordmaker will be your anchor. We need to be there for those in need, even the ones who've had their faith waver. Even if it doesn't seem like the right thing to do."

"…I wonder if I can become the sort of priest you're talking about, Father Rozelha."

Kuze didn't think he had lived a life of misfortune. Though he had been an orphan abandoned at an almshouse, having never known his birthplace, he was surrounded by friends in the Order.

Then there was the angel—whom no one else could see—that always watched over him.

If there were going to be more and more children with circumstances like Kuze's in the age of the True Demon King, then he wanted to practice what he'd learned from his teachings and save as many of those children as he could.

"I'm scared of the True Demon King, too." Kuze feebly smiled.

"Lately, I've been afraid that before long…I'll go against our teachings, just like everyone else has."

"Heh. That's 'cause you're kind, Kuze."

"Father Rozelha. I don't have the courage to kill—or the courage to die. Everyone who went to join the subjugation force were all much more impressive than I am. Do you think someday…everyone will come back to the Order, and we'll be able to do things like we used to?"

"…'Course we can. We continue protecting the Wordmaker's teachings for just such a day. Whatever happens to the world out there, the good things, the things that save the soul, won't change at all."

Priests act as embodiments of this everlasting truth—this must have been what Rozelha wanted to say. In the Order, those who voluntarily broke the precepts of their teachers would be unable to become priests.

"Kuze. I know plenty well enough that the ones who have separated from the Order are experiencing the worst hardships of all. Because they have to believe for themselves in the justness they were willing to abandon the Wordmaker's teachings for—the decision to harm and kill someone. They might have to live right up to the end holding firm to this sense of justice. That is a truly agonizing thing. That's why we will wait."

"..."

Even then, if they were all to return to their faith, the Wordmaker's teachings made it clear.

If they returned to the Order, their sins would be forgiven.

"Lately, I've been dreaming that I'm…I'm in Cunodey's almshouse like I was way back when…truly just like I was, doing stupid stuff with Nofelt, teasing Ina… Imos was still alive, too."

To Kuze, faith in the Wordmaker was no different from the memories of such happy days.

A majority of the friends Kuze had lived with had also broken off from the Order. There were some who would never come back.

"I… I want to be waiting here for everyone."

"…I know. That's what faith feels like. I'm sure it will be okay. Kuze…" Putting down his glasses, Rozelha smiled.

"You'll be able to find happiness."

Kuze, just an orphan on the path to priesthood, had never met someone's true intent to kill until the spiraling slaughter born from the True Demon King spread out over the world.

Therefore, at the time, he had no way of knowing about Nastique's unusual ability to automatically bring instant death to all who confronted him.