Volume 1, Chapter 12 – Kill a Demon to Silence the Witness?

Stella and Remedios stared in unison at the book spirit lodged in the wall.

“If that had hit you directly, your head would’ve come off, right?” Remedios muttered.

“Seems like it…”

Stella replied stiffly, a chill brushing across the back of her neck.

“Hmm… Book spirits really are vicious. As expected of demon guards made from wronged souls.” Remedios changed the subject. “Listen carefully, Darkfallen. I don’t know which book you’re looking for, but I strongly recommend that you never venture into the deepest part of the restricted section. There are books stored there that are extremely unfriendly toward demons.”

As she spoke, Remedios pulled a handful of purple-glowing bait powder from inside her clothes and casually scattered it into the air. Before the iron-bound book embedded in the wall had even managed to pull out its fangs, she had already shot toward the bookshelves on the left like a streak of platinum lightning.

“Then let’s split up. See you later, Darkfallen.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, her platinum-blonde hair danced in the wind, and within a few steps, the succubus girl had already taken off running.

“Wait—!”

Stella’s outstretched hand froze in midair.

The densely packed book-spirit guards instantly split into two groups. One wave chased after the enticing magical powder Remedios had scattered, while the remaining half turned their heads in perfect unison and immediately locked onto Stella.

‘Inquisitor, the least you could’ve done was mention in the mission briefing just how terrifying the book spirits in the restricted section were!’

Stella sighed and cursed inwardly.

Just as she was about to chase after Remedios’ rapidly retreating figure, she stopped again.

On second thought, this was actually a good opportunity. With no one around, there was nothing wrong with doing some of her actual job without being disturbed.

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No matter what, she was a Saintess. Why should she be afraid of monsters?

Even if she looked like a succubus on the outside, she was still a Saintess at heart.

Although the Inquisitor had never taught her any other spells, simply releasing Holy Light outward was more than enough to deal with a situation like this.

Once she made up her mind, Stella casually swept her gaze across the surrounding book spirits. A dense flapping sound came from between the shelves. A hardcover book circled through the air, abruptly snapped its covers shut, and smashed straight down at her.

“May the Lord bless you.”

She murmured softly, spreading the five fingers of her left hand slightly. A slender thread of light as fine as silver hair slipped down between her fingers.

Crack… crack…

The instant the enormous dictionary at the very front touched that strand of white light, the eyeball on its cover rapidly shriveled and carbonized. The iron-plated fangs that swept through the white light shattered instantly, while its once-ferocious pages turned into pure white ash that scattered through the air.

In less than two seconds, the twenty or so book spirits that had been bearing down on her were completely vaporized before they could even let out a wail, leaving only a thick layer of paper ash on the carpet.

Stella lowered her hand, and the last trace of warm Holy Light lingering on her fingertips gradually faded away.

“Phew… That finally feels better.” She muttered softly.

It was probably because she had been suppressing her Holy Light for so long that she had nearly suffocated from holding it back. Stella’s cheeks grew warm, and the corners of her lips naturally curled upward. The pleasant feeling filling her entire body manifested itself in only one way.

A smile.

That had to be it. Definitely.

Bang! Crash!

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The thunderous sound of a bookshelf collapsing came from far away, immediately followed by Remedios’ light yet somewhat hurried footsteps.

Judging from the sound, Remedios was currently engaged in a life-or-death sprint through the maze of the restricted section.

Stella tilted her head and listened as the commotion gradually faded into the distance, then let out a relieved sigh.

‘Good. The interference has been removed.’

The question now was how she was supposed to find the Primordial Doctrine among this endless sea of bookshelves.

She turned around, her aster-purple eyes sweeping over her surroundings.

‘Since Remedios had said there were books here that were unfriendly toward demons, then logically speaking, anything carrying the attribute of Holy Light should have been pushed toward the very edge, or perhaps…’

Before Stella could even finish muttering to herself internally.

Whoosh—!

Something seemed to have been awakened by the pure aura from moments ago.

A fierce gust of wind came rushing toward her.

Before Stella even had time to raise her head, a hard object reinforced with pure silver corners came hurtling toward her from afar and smacked her squarely in the forehead with flawless accuracy.

Smack!

A dull impact rang out.

The tremendous force sent Stella staggering back two steps, her slender waist slamming heavily into the mahogany bookshelf behind her.

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“…Ow!”

She covered her face, tears swimming in her eyes for quite a while.

Through her blurred vision, Stella saw an ancient book completely black from cover to cover lying quietly against her chest. At the same time, a faint sense of familiarity welled up within her.

Several words had been printed on the title page of the black ancient book in an ancient script that had already been lost to history.

Although Stella had not yet formally passed the examination to enter public service, studying this script was mandatory coursework for a Saintess candidate. She recognized those words at a glance.

Primordial Doctrine, Volume One.

Stella sat on the floor, staring at the forbidden book that had voluntarily thrown itself into her arms, and fell into deep thought.

‘The mission objective has… just fallen into my hands like that?’

That was easy.

“Good work, Darkfallen. Looks like you succeeded.”

Before Stella had time to stuff it deep inside her cloak, Remedios’ voice came from ahead.

Remedios stepped out of the shadows.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already shaken off the book spirits.”

Her platinum-blonde hair was slightly disheveled, a long, narrow red mark ran across her cheek, and several tears had been ripped into the cuffs of her uniform. She clutched a copy of History of Black Cursecraft that glimmered with eerie green magical light tightly against her chest, breathing somewhat hurriedly.

“Looks like you had a much easier time than I did.”

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Remedios stopped walking. Her gaze swept from Stella’s spotless little leather shoes, over the Gothic school uniform that remained perfectly neat and looked as good as new, before finally settling on the book in Stella’s arms.

“Silver edging… It looks like a book from the human Holy See?” Remedios narrowed her eyes slightly, a trace of suspicion entering her voice.

A bad feeling suddenly rose in Stella’s heart.

The succubus in front of her had Hundredfold Wisdom as her trait. She was absurdly troublesome, and her train of thought was especially clear. She had definitely noticed something.

Remedios took a step closer, extended the tip of her tongue, and lightly licked away the faint scarlet trace of blood staining her fingertip. Curiosity gleamed within those deep blue eyes.

“How unexpected, Miss Darkfallen. Why would you come to the restricted section looking for a book from the human Holy See?”

Remedios’ words, together with her bright and piercing gaze, made Stella feel an indescribable tension.

‘Should… should I kill a demon to silence the witness?’

Translator Note

Stella is OP…! She really has a talent to be a real Saintess!

And then, she’s screwed again xD