Volume 1, Chapter 33 – The Evil Spirit

“Charlotte-sama. Can’t you lift Hugues’s Dollification?”

Chris-san asks Charlotte-san.

Charlotte-sama takes the Hugues doll and examines it, but her complexion looks poor.

“How could I possibly dispel such a high-level curse? Did they use some special item for this?”

I see. So that was a curse.

Which means that black mist-like stuff was the true form of the curse.

“Fiene-sama, I’m sorry, but could you please handle this one as well?”

“Hmm, well, I think I can Manage, but I might not be able to use magic for a while afterward. Charlotte-san, can I leave things to you during that time?”

“E-Eh…?”

For some reason, she’s giving me a rather dubious look.

“Well then, here I go.”

——Hup! Return to normal with the power of magic~ From the start, Double Mana Push—Don!

Just like before with Charlotte-san, cracks began to form. Once I finished erasing all the black mist that seeped out, I was able to return Hugues-san to normal.

“Whew, Managed to handle that one too.”

“As expected of Fiene-sama!”

Huh? For some reason, Chris-san has a massive smug face. Hey, it’s not like you were the one who did it, so there’s no reason for you to look so triumphant!

Ah, Charlotte-san has a surprised look on her face too. Well, I did just do it right after she said it was impossible for her. Oh well, whatever.

“Um, Hugues-san, good evening.”

Hugues-san bolts upright and hurriedly looks around the room. Upon finding Charlotte-san, he rushes to stand in front of her, positioning himself as if to hide her behind his back. Then, he reaches for his waist to draw his sword, only to realize it isn’t there.

“Oh? You don’t have your sword? Come to think of it, you weren’t wearing it when you were a doll either.”

As I look around the area, I see a single longsword lying by the wall.

“Ah, is it this one?”

I walk over to the sword and pick it up. It’s a strangely light sword.

——He looks like he’s quite strong, so is he really okay with such a light sword?

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Well, it’s probably none of my business. Thinking that, I hand it over to Hugues-san as is.

“Here. This was the only sword around here; is this the right one?”

“A-Ah. My thanks.”

He’s making a surprised face for some reason, but what’s that about? It’s not like I’m going to eat him or anything. I only revived him so he could be part of our combat strength!

Hm? Oh, right. Holy Swords are supposed to be dangerous to me, aren’t they? I forgot.

“Now then, for the time being, let’s go defeat the evil spirit Joseph. The only place we haven’t searched is the Chapel; is there any way to get inside?”

“We couldn’t enter the Chapel either. It wouldn’t budge even when struck by a Holy Sword or my Holy Magic.”

“It was no use even with my Holy Sword.”

“How did that commoner’s magic fare?”

“Well, I was out of MP at the time.”

Huh? She’s looking at me with exasperation.

Hey, it’s not my fault I’m still Level 1. It’s hard for a Vampire to Level up.

“Ah, but I’m not out of MP now, and since we have two Holy Swords, maybe we can break through the door?”

“Exactly, Fiene-sama. It seems Fiene-sama has finished her warm-up and has entered serious mode. This time, we should surely be able to destroy that evil spirit.”

Are you seriously still going with that ‘strong when it counts’ character setting? Honestly.

◇ ◇ ◇

After that, we reached the front of the Chapel while being chased by those dolls throughout the mansion.

Even when Chris-san and Hugues-san attacked the door simultaneously with their two Holy Swords, it didn’t break, and Charlotte-san’s Holy Magic wouldn’t open it either.

As I pat the door a few times, I can tell some kind of Mana is flowing through it.

As I thought, it’s sealed by the power of an evil spirit, so maybe Holy Magic would work? Wait.

But opening a door is a physical thing, so maybe if I just Dispel Curse, I can kick it down?

——Curse on this door, begone—

Light envelops the door. Just as I thought, it was a Curse. I can feel the black power that had soaked into the door being purified.

Yeah, looks like that was the right answer.

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“Hugues-san, could you kick the door down for me?”

“Hm? Ah.”

Hugues-san looked skeptical, but he delivered a powerful kick to the door. With a grand sound, the door was destroyed.

“Wow, as expected, Hugues-san’s kick really has power.”

“Fiene-sama, I can do that much too!”

“Now, now, Chris-san isn’t the power-type specialist. Please play your part properly in other areas.”

That’s right. Chris-san is my secretary, emergency food, and resident muscle-brained comic relief.

Waiting for us as we charged into the Chapel were Joseph and Angelica-san. An affected, pretentious voice greeted us.

“My, my, to kick down the door of a sacred Chapel… what a sacrilegious bunch of people. Oh? I turned you all into dolls three days ago. Why are you still moving? Well, never mind. Hey, Ange? The devil pretending to be your best friend has returned. What do you want to do? Eh? You want to crush that soul and eat it? Yes, let’s do that then.”

“Ange!”

Charlotte-san let out a pained cry.

“Now then, Charlotte-san. It seems Ange wants to eat your soul. If you call yourself her best friend, you wouldn’t mind letting her eat it, right?”

Charlotte-san’s face turned pale. Hugues-san also looked pained, but he took a position to shield Charlotte-san. In that regard, he seems to be an excellent knight.

On the other hand, as for our Chris-san…

“Darn it, how could this be…”

She’s muttering something like that under her breath, but she isn’t doing anything.

Looks like she’s completely playing to his pace.

Er, yeah. Oh well.

“That knight over there is in the way. Let’s have him become a doll again.”

With those words, light flies from Joseph’s body.

That’s the Curse that turned Cedric-san into a doll.

And he’s firing the light at an angle where it will hit Charlotte-san if Hugues-san dodges.

He uses quite nasty attacks.

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“O God! Shield us from evil! Holy Shield!”

As Charlotte-san creates a wall of holy light in front of Hugues-san, the wall catches the Dollification Curse.

“I won’t fall for the same trick twice! Hugues-sama!”

“Hah!”

As Hugues-san draws his Holy Sword, he closes the distance to Joseph in one breath and delivers a flash of his blade.

CLANG

Before Hugues-san’s Holy Sword can hit Joseph, it’s stopped by something like an invisible wall.

In the next instant, Hugues-san is sent flying.

“Hugues-sama!”

Charlotte-san lets out a voice that’s almost a scream.

“Guh. To think he could block a strike from my Holy Sword Hringhorni.”

Huh? Are Holy Swords not as strong as I thought? Or is it because the wielder isn’t strong enough?

I always thought Holy Swords were supposed to be more… overwhelming.

Hugues-san staggers to his feet. Charlotte-san is casting Healing Magic.

Hmm, it’s not healing very well. Is that just how it is when your Healing Magic Skill Level is low?

“Hugues, follow my lead!”

This time, Chris-san says that and charges.

Hugues-san’s movements are slower than before, but he still Manages to keep up with Chris-san.

Hmm, I feel like this is going to end the same way as before.

And so, Chris-san lunges, is stopped by the invisible wall, and is blown back.

Then, Hugues-san, who cut in to swap places with the retreating Chris-san, is also stopped by the invisible wall.

However, it took a fraction of a second longer before he was blown back.

As Hugues-san is sent flying, Chris-san darts in from his blind spot and thrusts her sword.

Joseph doesn’t seem to have noticed.

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Oh, is this the finishing blow?

It was then. Angelica-san’s doll stood in the path of Chris-san’s sword. She spread her arms as if to shield Joseph.

“Ange!”

Hearing Charlotte-san’s scream, Chris-san comes to a screeching halt.

“Ku… how cowardly…”

Chris-san is once again violently blown back.

“My, that was a close one. Thank you, Ange.”

When Joseph says that, the doll rattles and moves.

“Don’t you look away!”

Hugues-san slashes from behind Joseph.

However, that slash is blocked by the invisible wall without ever reaching Joseph.

“Someone like you is utterly powerless before the love Ange and I share.”

Ugh, so annoying. Just listening to this pretentious voice is making me irritable.

“However, I shall make it so you can never defy us again.”

With that, Joseph’s arms grab Hugues-san’s arms.

Then the Dollification Curse engulfs Hugues-san once more.

“GUWAAAAAAAAAAH!”

Hugues-san lets out a scream filled with agony.

Thud

The Hugues doll falls to the floor. Then, with a dry sound, the Holy Sword rolls away.

“Hugues-sama!”

Charlotte-san’s pained scream echoed throughout the Chapel.