Chapter 7: The Framed TS Villain Scion
【Nord's Perspective】
When I returned from the Kraken subjugation, I received a summons from Elise and met up with her at the Grand Library under the jurisdiction of the Papal Office. It seems she found a person who might be able to lift the curse of TS transformation. I had already handed over my hair as a sample of the curse release without revealing my name, and apparently, the mechanism of the curse has already been analyzed, and they are currently constructing the magic circle composition.
Thinking I might be able to return to being a man, I feel restless and can't calm down.
I feel sorry for Inarsha, but I want to return to Nord to protect my family.
Even in Norn's body, if I train, I might be able to obtain strength comparable to Roxanne, if not Inarsha. Even then, if the opponent is just the Demon King, I can barely manage. But I have to assume a situation where a joint front is formed...
I arrived a little too early. Since just waiting was boring, I picked up a document on curses.
A hand was placed on my shoulder.
"You are Norn Soln, correct?"
When I turned around, there was a glasses-wearing beauty with blonde hair, a wimple, and bare thighs peeking through the slit of her surcoat... below that, she was equipped with plate armor like cuisses and greaves.
"Yes, I am, but..."
Knights in armor were waiting behind her. With the onee-san's appearance, I understood the situation.
"Hermina-sama! Please look! This fellow is reading a book on curses!"
The knight waiting behind pointed at the 'Curse Analysis' I was reading and showed an excessive reaction.
Ah, normally this is a 'checkmate' situation where you can't talk your way out of it.
The erotic onee-san, who had excessive sex appeal despite the stiff role of an Inquisitor, looked at me with scornful eyes and announced.
"We are the Papal Office Inquisition. You are suspected of apostasy. Please come with us."
"Yes..."
If I resist poorly, Holy Knights specialized in subduing heresy will swarm out, which is troublesome.
"Oh my!? What is going on, everyone?"
Just as handcuffs were about to be placed on me, Soulie appeared.
"My!? Norn-san, just what did you do?"
There's a limit to feigning ignorance.
"It's all a trap you set up, isn't it?"
"Oh—, you knew? That's boring. Ah, but I'll tell you something good. As an apostate who defied Ellis-sama, you will become a Defiled Saint."
"Then, does that mean you framed Lusitania-san too?"
"Framed in a trap... that sounds so scandalous. I simply followed the doctrines of the Elon religion properly."
"Is Lusitania-san at the place where I am going?"
"Asking such a thing... Well, since I have a big heart, I shall tell you. After all, you will never get out for the rest of your life. Hermina-san, please drop her into the lowest level, same as Lusitania-san. It seems that is what she desires."
"As you command. Soulie-ojousama..."
Without resisting, I obey the Inquisitor. I was handcuffed by the knights and tied with a rope.
Soulie was jealous of Lusitania and framed her. So I suspected she would get jealous of me and do the same thing, and sure enough, it was so predictable I could only laugh.
—How sacrilegious!
—Disgusting, an apostate!
—Burn the apostate at the stake!
While being led out from the entrance amidst the noise of the library users who saw my branded figure as an apostate...
"Norn-sama!?"
"You, what did you do!?"
There were figures of Elise and Elsinore. I see, so she was the collaborator.
Then I'm relieved. Because she's a super-skilled healer who easily exterminated that troublesome parasite.
Did it take time to convey that I, a man, had infiltrated the men-prohibited Sanctmaiden after undergoing TS? Either way, I have to thank Elise.
"Stay back! This person is an apostate who objected to the doctrines of the Elon religion!"
"No way! Norn-sama being an apostate must be some kind of mistake!"
"Elise, stop it. If you express opinions to them any further, you will be in danger too."
"But..."
By the time Hermina looked toward Elise, Elise and Elsinore were gone. It seems Elsinore picked up on my intention.
【Inarsha's Perspective】
I received a vacation as a reward for defeating the Kraken, but when I woke up in the morning, Norn, whom I intended to spend it with, wasn't there.
For her, who usually tells me where she's going, to go out without telling me anything...
I hurriedly got ready and opened the room door.
"Oh my, Inarsha. Good day."
"Soulie... I apologize, but can you save it for later? Unfortunately, I am not in a good mood."
When I tried to leave, Soulie grabbed my hand.
"Please wait!"
"I won't wait."
"You don't have to wait. Just please look at this."
What was handed to me was a register where the faculty and students of the Hero Academy were recorded.
"It seems there is no student named Norn Soln at the Hero Academy. She intended to deceive you from the start. That girl threw cold water on your passion."
"You came to tell me that now...? Did you think I hadn't realized who she was? Soulie, I want you not to disappoint me. What matters is not who Norn is, but how much she contributed to us, how much I was healed by her presence; why do you not evaluate that?"
"You don't understand anything. How much I think of you, how much I hated Lusitania... I thought I was next, yet you made some girl whose background is unknown your Soeur instead of me! I cannot forgive such unreasonableness!"
Soulie grabbed my lapels with both hands and appealed to me, but I couldn't understand...
"Soulie... What are you saying?"
To hate such an adorable girl like Norn, it's strange. Why doesn't Soulie understand her charm!
"I reported that person to the Papal Office Inquisition as an apostate. She will likely never return here."
To think Soulie separated me from my precious Lusitania and tried to separate me from Norn as well...
Rather than anger, I was worried about Norn.
"Move."
"I won't move!"
"Then, I shall push through."
I step in strongly.
To take back Norn with these hands.
To hug her again.
To see that smile.
DON!!
"Gobo————"
A heavy sound echoed in the hallway. I had delivered a parting punch with all my might into the stomach of my friend, Soulie.
Her body bent into the shape of a 'dogleg' (<), and she collapsed by my side while clutching her stomach.
"I am breaking ties with you."
When I told Soulie, her face was dyed even paler than when she was punched. She tried to cling to me while crawling on the floor, but I ignored her and headed to the Papal Office.
To prove Norn's innocence!
I came to the front of the inner wall to search for Norn. An apostate should be sent to the Inquisition located in the Papal Office.
While I was going through the procedures to enter the gate...
"Inarsha-san! It's terrible! Norn-sama is at the Papal Office..."
"Ah, I know. I am about to go appeal to the Papal Office right now."
Elise and Elsinore came running.
"I am terribly sorry that I was with her."
"It's not Elsinore's fault. Because Soulie informed Norn."
"That fellow, acting so hastily!"
"You two, please stay here. I will go talk to Ellis."
Elise and Elsinore said they would go with me, but I couldn't get them involved, so I persuaded them to stay.
—Pope's Chamber.
"Ellis! Where is Norn?"
"Norn? Ah, that apostate. She has been asked to contribute to the Elon Theocracy as a Defiled Saint until she abandons her dangerous ideology."
"Norn does not hold any dangerous ideology! She is innocent. The dangerous one is Soulie."
"I wondered what you would say... Inarsha-san, you... have you forgotten? The important duty I gave you. I ordered you to erase the Black Hero Nord. Yet, madly going 'Norn, Norn'... Even though I gave you special favor, you just play around. And to think you would even blame me, I am sad..."
"Then make me a Defiled Saint or whatever! I won't run or hide."
"Inarsha, there is no way I would do such a thing. Would you please show me the folding fan I gave you?"
It was a mistake for me to agree, thinking it was just that much. Thinking she was asking me to return the fan I was given, Ellis took a surprising action.
Zakuri... (Stabbing sound)
"Wha!?"
"Ouchiiiiiiii————!! S-Save me! Inarsha! Please stop. Have you gone mad! Even though I gave you special favor! D-Don't stab me!"
A dagger was concealed in the fan; Ellis discarded the fan face part which acted as a sheath and threw her body against the dagger.
The pure white Pope's Chamber, which knew no defilement, was dyed bright red with fresh blood. Not just the room. Bathed in Ellis's spurting blood, no matter how you looked at it, the culprit who stabbed her would look like no one but me.
"S-Someone, help!"
—High Priestess-sama!
When Ellis let out a grievous scream, guards gathered, and their gazes, which had been on my side until now, gathered on me. Their eyes were like those of someone who had their parents killed by demons, full of intense hatred.
"N-No! I didn't do anything."
When I dropped the fan with the concealed dagger, it made a clattering sound. Although a large amount of blood is coming out, she is a Saint and a Holy Knight; for Ellis, this level should just be a scratch...
"Quickly, take that apostate to the execution platform... T-The wound hurts... Even though I showed you such favor, how cruel... When I tried to listen kindly if you had any dissatisfaction, to receive such treatment, it's too much... uuh."
—How piteous, High Priestess-sama.
I was completely framed by Ellis...
—Inarsha Clazit! Putting you under arrest for the attempted murder of Ellis-sama.
Ellis, who looks young but has been the High Priestess for a long time since before I was born... I never thought she would use such dirty means.
Is it to end with me unable to save Lusitania, or even Norn...?
When I thought that, my will to resist faded, and I was obediently captured by the guards.
【Nord's Perspective】
It was a truly terrible trial... To think I would be chosen as a Defiled Saint...
'If you do not admit your guilt, death. If you admit it, we shall let you live as a Defiled Saint.'
So declared the Inquisitor Hermina, Soulie's aneki (big sister figure). No charges were read, there was no defense attorney, and nobody in the gallery...
It was a state where the Inquisition held the power of life and death over those captured.
I think the witch trials of the Middle Ages were still better. Over there, innocence was proven if you didn't get burned putting your hand in boiling water.
But this is also a chance!
The phrase 'Defiled Saint,' a clue to Dalia's resurrection... I scoured various documents of the Elon religion, but all of them concluded with the single phrase: 【However, contact is strictly forbidden】. It might be that documents delving deeper are treated as forbidden books.
If I can meet Lusitania, I might obtain a major clue.
After the sickening trial, I was blindfolded and taken to a place appropriate to call a forced labor camp.
"Norn Soln, get in."
After the blindfold was removed, I was urged by the jailer to enter inside the iron bars. In the far corner of the cell, three girls were huddling together and shivering.
"I am Norn. Pleased to meet you."
The three stared at me fixedly. After that, one girl exchanged glances with the other two and stood up straight. A girl whose characteristic feature was her slit eyes (squinty eyes)... it was Lusitania.
"I am Lusitania. The ones in the back are, from the left, Luka and Emma... Since I am the eldest, I am looking after them."
When Lusitania introduced everyone including herself, Luka and Emma nodded a little.
The cell was an environment about the size of four tatami mats surrounded by brick walls, with two simple bunk beds and one toilet that looked like a chamber pot.
The clothes they were made to wear were too shabby to call them Saints... Dirty clothes consisting of a single piece of cloth with a hole just big enough for the head to go through, tied with a waist cord. It is what is commonly called a tunic (kantoui).
I am the same, but with no bra and no panties worn, the gaps are breezy.
Even so, I was concerned about Luka and Emma's ages. Lusitania is about the same as me, but the two don't look older than ten no matter how you look at them.
Did such young children defy the Elon religion?
""Lusitania-oneechan...""
When I looked at Luka and Emma, the two were clinging to Lusitania's legs.
"Are you curious? About why these children are here."
"Ah, yeah..."
A sharp and kind girl... that seemed to be what Lusitania was, but in «Rising Hero» , Nord appeared before her while she spent her time in this place with no salvation. There is no way that guy saved her out of a sense of pure justice or pity.
Having the joy of sex implanted in her by Nord, she must have degraded into a piece of lowlife scum woman who betrayed Inarsha.
"You're wondering why such small children are here..."
"Their parents defied the doctrines of the Elon religion... no, Ellis-sama's policies. That is why even these two ended up imprisoned here."
It was that kind of shit trial. They were probably sent to prison for something on the level of badmouthing Ellis behind her back.
Wald is a piece of shit, but seeing this, I can actually understand why he is trying to crush the Elon religion—or rather, the Ellis regime.
—Uuh, uuh, uwaaaaah!!
Looking at the condition of Lusitania and the others, sometimes their bodies would hurt terribly; after screaming, they would often foam at the mouth like crabs and faint. From the guard, they only received a single abusive shout: "You're noisy!"
There was only one cause.
"Here, it's food! Eat!"
Meals were served from under the iron bars. The only saving grace was that it didn't quite look like animal feed.
Hard bread, cold soup, and strangely colored water... Even though they are girls, growing children eating such meager meals should be skin and bones, yet they seemed to have height and weight appropriate for their age.
"Gratitude to Elon-sama."
""Gratitude.""
Even in such a terrible environment, Lusitania and the others offered their prayers. I also reached for the meal given by the guard.
The outer crust of the bread was excessively hard, but the inside was dry and crumbly, making me terribly thirsty. Thinking I should eat it with the soup, I scooped it up with a wooden spoon and drank. It tasted awful... It had absolutely no saltiness; it was just ground beans dissolved in lukewarm water.
Entrusting my hope to the last item, I put my mouth to the water that had a visually dangerous color. Of course, just a sip.
Delicious!
I smacked my lips at the deliciousness that permeated my viscera and drank it all up, but Lusitania and the others looked pale, perhaps feeling nauseous.
"Be prepared, because if you leave water, I will give you the punishment of whipping!"
The guard hit the ground with the whip he held in his hand.
Why water, not food?
I dipped my finger in the drops remaining at the bottom of the cup and observed. Presumably, the moisture poured into the cup was a mixture of crushed magic cores and water.
Lusitania saw the empty cup, and each of them shifted their gaze to their own cups, drooping their shoulders.
I stole a glance at the guard and whispered to them in a low voice.
"If you don't mind, I'll take it."
"""Eh?"""
Lusitania and the others were surprised, but when Luka and Emma held out their cups to me, Lusitania followed suit.
Uma-umaaaaa—!! (So tasty!!)
Originally, Nord's body has a dark affinity, so it has high compatibility with magic cores. Since I stopped being able to revert from TS (Gender Swap), my MP has been chronically deficient. It's probably an effect caused by the curse.
It might be similar to how sports drinks taste salty when you haven't sweated, but taste sweet when you've sweated a lot.
After finishing the meal, moonlight leaked in from the gaps rather than the windows of the cell. Lusitania was telling a folktale to Luka and Emma.
"The Primordial Demon King Carales enslaved humans."
"Bad guy."
"Scaaaary!"
"That's right. But then, the Hero-sama appeared. The Hero-sama and his companions fought for three days and three nights, and finally, the Hero-sama and the others won against Carales. The merciful Hero-sama asked Carales to reform."
"Waku-waku waku-waku." (Excited trembling sounds)
"Did the Demon King reflect on his actions?"
"Yes, the Demon King reflected, but the Hero-sama told him this: 'Because I will go and punish bad children.' Are Luka and Emma bad children?"
"Luka is a good girl."
"Emma too! Emma too!"
"Then, let's sleep now."
""Un!""
The two went into their designated beds on their own. Lusitania covered them with the ofutun (futon) and smiled like a mother.
After Lusitania put Luka and Emma to sleep, I spoke with her.
"I've been put in a situation like this, but there is one thing I am proud of."
"What, what?"
"Well, you know, Elon-sama was a Defiled Saint just like us. Though it seems she wasn't called that back in Elon-sama's time. The guards here were laughing and saying, 'You guys will never go outside again.' It seems she was made to eat powder crushed from magic cores obtained from demons."
I see!
Hearing it from Lusitania, the dots inside me connected into a line.
【The Saint awakens with a Hero's kiss】
I seem to have misunderstood one thing. That Kain would kiss Elise and wake her up... But while there were kissing scenes, there was no scene where a kiss woke someone up.
The guard is nodding off, rowing his boat (dozing).
"Lusitania-san, don't you want to get out of here?"
"Eh...?"
"Is there someone waiting for you? Someone called Inarsha..."
"Norn knows Inarsha!?"
"Yeah! She took care of me at Sanctmaiden. So, let's get out."
"But..."
Lusitania looks at Luka and Emma, who are breathing quietly in their sleep.
I see.
Because Lusitania is full of benevolence, Inarsha chose her as a Soeur.
"It's okay! Let's all get out together. Tell me, the method of transferring magical power..."
"Yes, that's fine."
Lusitania brought her face close to mine and...
—Nn. Nnnnn—!?
Muchu, muchu, haaa, nnnnn! (Wet kissing sounds)
To think the method of supplying magical power was a kiss... Moreover, it's a deep kiss where my mouth is pried open and her tongue entwines with mine. That's not all. I'm getting softly groped on the tits, and it's making me feel weird.
At the same time as my feelings rose, power surged into my body which had been lethargic until now, and a sense of omnipotence that I could do anything welled up.
While Lusitania was engrossed in my lips, I checked my status, and the counter numbers were recovering rapidly from zero as if refueling a car with gasoline.
Storing such a high concentration of magic elements, it wouldn't be strange if I went crazy.
Though I feel just fine.
"Puhaa!"
Having finished supplying all the stored magical power to me, Lusitania's eyes opened. In «Rising Hero», she had those 'rape eyes' that lost their highlights, but now her amethyst-like eyes are sparkling.
"Supplying magical power to Norn made my body lighter. Besides, I feel like I want to keep kissing (chull-chull) Norn's lips forever."
Lusitania is too erotic of a girl...
"Ah, yeah... With this, I can use magic."
"That's great! Then, please receive it from Luka and Emma too."
"Eh?"
Lusitania gently shook the sleeping Luka and woke her up. Emma was also woken up, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
""Lusitania-oneechan?""
Lusitania explained to the two bewildered girls. I faced the two of them.
In my previous life, stealing the lips of a girl around junior high age would be a crime!
This is justice for breaking out together and clearing our false charges...
I fabricated a theory to justify myself and stole the lips of Luka, who was waiting for a kiss with her eyes closed. Even though I say stole, it was just a kiss where the skin lightly touched.
But educational guidance entered.
"Norn, if you don't properly entwine your tongues, magical power won't be supplied."
"F-Fwai..."
To be asked by the erotic Lusitania to deep kiss a JC (Junior High Schooler)...
"I'm sorry, Luka, Emma."
"Nuh-uh! Touching mouths with Norn-oneechan felt good!"
"Emma too—!"
Ah, hearing them say that saves me.
Thanks to the magical power supplied by the three of them, my MP has fully recovered. However, if I take my time, it will be whittled away by the curse.
If it's going to run out, I might as well fire it off with everything I've got!!
"Lusitania-san, please protect Luka and Emma."
"Un!"
"Surging impulse, raging passion, suppressed soul, I unleash it all now... 【Valkyrie】"
I could have fired a cannon-like dark attribute magic, but there are many people here imprisoned on false charges like us.
Several summoned Battle Goddesses clad in black outfits tore through the iron bars and trampled the resisting guards. The Goddesses were merciful, granting sleep to those who did not resist.
With the magical power obtained from Lusitania and the others, I suppressed the facility housing the Defiled Saints and those who objected to Ellis's regime, liberating them.
【Valkyrie】 surrounded the restrained Hermina.
"Hmph, I see. You planned to team up with Inarsha and stage a coup d'état. You got me good. But it's too late! Inarsha is about to be executed for the attempted murder of Ellis-sama. It was a futile struggle."
Lusitania and I looked at each other.
After reuniting Luka and Emma with their parents, Lusitania and I headed for the execution grounds with the speed of an arrow.
—Sky above the Defiled Saint internment camp.
【Angelic Feather】
I cast body-strengthening buffs like crazy on Lusitania, who had sprouted white wings on her back. Although her appearance didn't change, her muscle strength increased to the point where doped-up athletes wouldn't even compare.
"To think I can fly so lightly while carrying a person!?"
Lusitania, holding me under her arm, rounded her eyes... no, she widened her eyes in surprise.
As expected, buff-stacking is the only way to win!
I was rising high into the sky with her. High enough to touch the clouds... I understood immediately when looking from the sky. The facility where we were captured was outside the Papal Office's outer wall, located in an isolated place surrounded by mountains on four sides. Turning my eyes toward the Papal Office, a crowd had formed in the plaza facing the main street in the residential area between the inner and outer walls.
"Lusitania-san, over there!"
"Yes!"
When I pointed, Lusitania took a trajectory like a downburst and nose-dived.
—A bird!?
—No, is it an angel!?
—No! It's a person!!
Hats flew up softly due to the gust generated by the descent. To avoid arrow shots and holy magic, we passed barely grazing the gathered spectators.
"Inarsha-sa———n!!"
"Inarshaaaaa——!!"
【Inarsha's Perspective】 (Execution Stand)
Added to the weapon, the motive that I resented Norn, a fellow student, for falling into being a Defiled Saint was lined up against me. Without anything resembling a proper trial, I was sent to the execution stand.
—Why is the Ice Sword Princess...!?
—It's strange!
—She was controlled by demons!
—Retrial————!!
The executioner tried to drag me to the block, but surprisingly, he was obstructed by the gathered masses.
In the executions I have seen, there were many who shouted "Kill him!" at the sinner... I felt like the fact that I had lived and worked hard for them until now had been rewarded.
Father, Mother, I want to apologize for bearing a sin and for the unfilial act of dying before you.
Lusitania, Norn... I am sorry.
I can no longer rescue you.
Just when I had given up and climbed the stairs to the execution stand myself, I felt like a black wind crossed in front of me.
That can't be...
"Place your head quickly!"
The executioner grabbed my hair and tried to set me in the guillotine's neck pillory.
"Inarsha-sa———n!!"
"Inarshaaaaa——!!"
When my head was placed on the guillotine, I heard an auditory hallucination. To think I would hear the voices of Norn and Lusitania. Even though I haven't died yet...
Fufu, Elon-sama does stylish things for someone like me. In that case, I am not afraid to go.
When I closed my eyes, the floorboards of the execution stand were being banged violently.
What is it? I had finally steeled my resolve...
Concerned by the surrounding clamor, I opened my eyes to find that the executioner and guards who were around me had vanished, and Lusitania was floating in the air, blowing them away with the wind pressure of her wings. The sight of people flying like fallen leaves was a masterpiece.
"Norn!? Lusitania!? Have I started seeing hallucinations too!?"
"Inarsha-san, what are you saying!"
"Yeah, yeah! It's too early to be summoned to heaven."
Norn and Lusitania were touching my cheeks.
"Uuh, uuh, is it, is it okay for something like this to happen? For the two of you to be in front of my eyes..."
But it was just when Norn tried to save me from the guillotine.
"I won't let you do that!!"
Soulie swung her halberd, trying to cut off Norn's hand.
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