Chapter 3 . The Deal

All around me was white flame.

In front of me, behind me, to either side—everywhere!

…Was this really okay?

After the attack by those mysterious black-masked figures, the white Holy Flame had surrounded me completely.

It definitely wasn’t hot, nor did it feel threatening. Besides, it was pretty obvious that it was protecting me.

But there was one thing bothering me.

This was the Holy Flame of Elysian.

‘Did they immediately figure out that we changed the Fairy Lady’s name?’

—I’m going to tell them Woo-tak made me do it.

Despite her grumpy tone, Eli hugged me tightly as though protecting me.

The flames separating us from the outside swayed as if searching for something.

A tiny spark flew from the billowing white Holy Flame, and a small flame appeared like a will-o’-the-wisp.

The little white flame floating before my eyes spoke to me.

—I am the messenger who conveys the words of Elysian, the Great Light and the Truth.

So this little white flame was the one conveying Elysian’s words?

‘Um, may I ask what seems to be the matter…?’

I couldn’t exactly ask confidently after everything we had been up to.

The sparks flying from the flame looked almost as though the Holy Flame were scoffing.

—Elysian is currently unable to move. Therefore, He wishes to entrust you with a mission.

A mission?

What kind?

—Each time you complete your mission as a prophet, I shall grant your wishes.

The most recent thing I wanted was for our Fairy Lady—Eli—to become a perfect Elysian.

‘Is that possible, sir?’

—Elysian is fully aware of all your blasphemous actions.

I flinched.

‘Ahahaha…’

So we’d already been caught?

They knew the Fairy Lady had changed her name to Elysian.

—However, if you complete your missions, not only will He turn a blind eye to your actions…

The flame seemed to stare intently at Eli.

—He has also promised to help the little god beside you put down roots in this world.

‘What do I have to do?’

When the black-masked figures began chanting their spells, black magic circles rose above their heads.

Ordinary magic circles were blue, like the color of mana stones.

The reason these magic circles were black was because the ones casting the spells were dark mages who had entered into contracts with demons.

The activated magic circles created black gates, and lesser demons began pouring out.

How dare they summon demons in this place of God?

Cardinal Raillike Rudersk’s expression turned terrifyingly cold.

“Your Eminence, it appears there has also been an intrusion into the Sacred Relic Vault.”

“Their objective may be the sacred relics.”

An aide approached and quickly delivered his report.

It didn’t take long for the identity of those who had attacked his son’s Naming Ceremony to become clear.

A group of demon worshippers known as Inperlim.

Those damned heretics who were making a futile attempt to scatter demons throughout the human world.

It was a blessing that the Holy Flame had immediately protected the child.

The demons summoned by Inperlim were merely low-level lesser demons, but to a newborn who could barely babble, they were deadly opponents.

The usually gentle expression on his face twisted mercilessly.

Their objective was unclear.

However, most of the Empire’s forces had gathered here because of his son’s Naming Ceremony.

“How many Inperlim are at the Sacred Relic Vault?”

“They say it is a five-man detachment, apparently consisting of high-ranking dark mages.”

“Tell Sonya to take the First and Second Battle Priest Orders there.”

“Yes. Understood.”

An unprecedented attack had been launched against the Naming Ceremony of the cardinal’s son.

Recently, after God had vanished without a trace, the situation had begun to take a strange turn.

The Empire had strictly restricted the spread of this information to prevent widespread confusion.

Even so, rumors had begun to circulate.

And they had started from small villages far away from the central headquarters of the Church, spreading little by little.

At the same time, the activities of wicked heretics had increased.

Then came this attack.

Could all of these events really have happened by coincidence?

Raillike could say with certainty that they had not.

The circumstances were so obvious that even a foolish child could have noticed.

What was their objective?

His son?

Or the sacred relics?

Whatever it was, he had no intention of giving them what they wanted.

He swung his flail, scattering divine power.

“Purifying Veil.”

The moment he finished speaking, a veil of light spread above the summoned demons.

“GRAAAAH!”

As the purifying light poured down, the lesser demons turned white before crumbling into ash and disappearing.

As expected, their forces were pitifully weak.

But the sheer number of demons pouring through was no laughing matter.

They needed to eliminate the Inperlim members maintaining the magic circles in the rear.

“I’ll burn them all at once with the Flames of Judgment. You attack the Inperlim.”

“Yes, Liliard. Let’s do that.”

Just as the two prepared themselves—

The Holy Flame suddenly spread and blazed violently.

A sacred white wave swept across the demons.

“GRAAAAH!”

“KEEEEK!”

The Holy Flame engulfed not only the demons but the Inperlim as well, melting every last one of them away without leaving a trace.

“What…?”

“The Holy Flame attacked?”

Everyone who had been facing off against the enemy stared dumbfounded at the violently surging flames.

During the Naming Ceremony, the Holy Flame’s role was simply to choose a name.

Occasionally, someone who had received an especially great blessing from God might cause a small anomaly in the Holy Flame.

But even those changes were minor.

This, however, went beyond merely protecting the child.

It was the Holy Flame’s absolute determination to protect the child.

And the will of the Holy Flame was the will of Elysian.

“The flame…!”

After devouring everything, the Holy Flame was drawn toward the cradle where the child lay.

The child who absorbed the entire Holy Flame radiated divine power and—

“Pbb-bbua!”

—was grinning brightly.

‘It really happened!’

My deal (?) with the little white Holy Flame had turned out to be quite profitable.

Apparently, its promise to help Eli put down roots in this world hadn’t been a lie.

After finishing everything it had to say, the Holy Flame bestowed divine power upon Eli and holy power upon me before leaving.

Holy power! I got it, too!

‘A fantasy-style stat!’

—There you go again.

Eli sighed, but I couldn’t stop reacting.

How was I supposed to hold back?

Considering how grandly the Holy Flame had talked about a ‘mission,’ what it actually asked of me was only two things.

—I shall engrave upon you the mark of a prophet born with destiny. It will reveal itself when the time comes.

—The mission is the same. You will naturally know it when the time comes. Until then…

I was supposed to deal with demons and demon worshippers whenever possible.

And I was supposed to meet the Saint and remove the restriction placed upon him.

If I did what I was told, I would be allowed to use the name Elysian.

That Elysian fellow…

He really was quite generous, wasn’t he?

Hehe. Thanks for the smooth deal.

‘But couldn’t the little white Holy Flame see that I’m a newborn? How am I supposed to kill demons?’

—Well… it didn’t tell you to do it right away.

‘And where am I supposed to meet the Saint?’

—Won’t it arrange for you to meet him somehow?

Why did I feel like I was the only one worrying about this?

When I saw Eli’s dazed and carefree expression, my anxiety gradually melted away.

Right.

They probably gave me such a generous deal because they thought I would be capable of doing it.

‘Come to think of it, the servants also whispered that the Saint could no longer hear Elysian’s voice.’

—It’s probably because of the restriction?

‘Most likely.’

The restriction must have been necessary for some reason, but from the Saint’s perspective, the voice of God that he had been able to hear clearly had suddenly vanished.

It must have been incredibly unsettling and frustrating.

I didn’t even know the Saint’s name or face yet, but I already felt a deep sense of empathy with him.

If Eli suddenly disappeared, I probably wouldn’t be able to do anything, either.

‘I need to remove it as soon as possible.’

To do that, I had no choice but to hunt demons and demon worshippers as diligently as possible until I met the Saint.

‘How much divine power did you recover?’

—Compared to before, it’s still barely a drop in the ocean. But at least I can breathe a little easier now.

‘Is it enough to fight demons?’

—I could probably manage something simple, like using a basic talisman. But, Woo-tak. Don’t you think you need to grow up a little before fighting?

She was right.

It wasn’t like I could fight demons right now.

Even if I had gained holy power, I didn’t even know how to use it.

I rolled around on the bed and looked at the piece of paper neatly placed on the table beside me.

Even in the middle of that chaotic situation, the Holy Flame hadn’t forgotten my name.

After the deal was concluded, the Holy Flame had flowed smoothly into my body, and when the protective barrier disappeared, everything had been cleaned up so perfectly that I was shocked.

It was almost too clean.

Aside from the prayer hall being slightly disheveled, there was no trace of the intruders.

All the black-masked figures who had been brimming with murderous intent had disappeared.

‘And even then, the papers were left exactly where they had been.’

The papers containing the candidate names had been burned away on both sides, leaving only the middle intact and glowing faintly.

My parents had brought them back with me and carefully placed them on the table.

‘Eli picked the one on the left.’

—And Woo-tak picked the one on the right.

‘We were both wrong. What do we do in this situation?’

—My name is Elysian now, too. So isn’t Elysian’s will my will? That means I win.

‘What are you talking about…? It’s a draw.’

We bickered as we waited for my parents.

Neither of us could read the writing, after all.

There was nothing we could do about that.

And then, a little while later—

“Rian. Baby, your name is Rian. Rian Rudersk.”

My father gently stroked my head, his eyes gleaming with emotion.

—Wow. He’s insanely handsome…

‘Please be quiet for a moment. You’re completely ruining the emotional atmosphere.’

I complained for no particular reason, but my little fingers were twitching.

It was a warmth I had never experienced in my previous life.

“In the end, the name chosen was the one derived from Lord Elysian’s name.”

What?

My name had been derived from the name of a god?

—So after all that talk about being a prophet and whatnot, He basically forced you to choose His own name.

Ah.

Now that she put it that way, it did sound a little underhanded.

“It must be disappointing that the name on the right wasn’t chosen. That was the name derived from your name, after all.”

“My goodness. If that’s the case, then the same applies to you.”

Judging from their conversation, it seemed the name on the left had been derived from my father’s name, while the one on the right had been derived from my mother’s.

As expected.

Eli and I had very distinct tastes.

‘Please take good care of me from now on, Eli.’

—You too, Rian.

And so, after all the twists and turns, the Naming Ceremony that established both our names finally came to an end.

Now that we had secured a way to obtain divine power, the next step was securing the means to use it.

The problem was that I was a newborn baby.

And not even one who could crawl yet!

This was a problem that could only be solved with time.

So, what was the next problem?

‘How do I hunt demons?’

Exactly.

I needed to figure out how to hunt demons.

A shaman’s area of expertise was exorcising ghosts and evil spirits, not hunting demons.

Even on Earth, demons had their own specialists, so I had never actually hunted one.

‘I have driven demons out of possessed people before, though.’

—I think it’ll work now that Rian has holy power, too. The quality of my divine power is different from before as well. I think we can do it.

Oh.

Eli sounded surprisingly confident.

If she was that confident, then perhaps it really was worth trying.

The weapons I had used most frequently in my previous life were a staff and talismans.

I used to plaster a staff with Evil-Banishing Talismans and use it as a weapon.

Wooden staffs weren’t very cost-effective, though, so I had eventually started using metal pipes most of the time.

But there was absolutely no way a baby could wield a metal pipe or a staff.

So I chose a baby bottle.

There was no particular reason.

It was usually right beside me, and it was suitably cylindrical.

Now all I needed was to solve the talisman problem.

But how was a newborn supposed to write characters and make a talisman?

Surprisingly, however, this obstacle was resolved rather quickly.

—A talisman is ultimately just a formality. Back then, Rian, you hadn’t awakened your spiritual eyes and couldn’t communicate with me, so I had to solve things using the conventional method.

—But I’m right here with you now. What could you possibly be unable to do?

‘As expected of our noble and benevolent Eli.’

Let’s take a moment for some praise.

After giving me a brief explanation, Eli continued.

—The important thing is infusing it with divine power. Since Rian has holy power now, write the characters using that. I’ll infuse it with the power to banish evil.

‘You want me to use holy power all of a sudden?’

I had never used it before!

—I know you can do it! Fighting!

Gnnngh.

Fine!

Let’s try.

I’d wanted to do something this fantastical ever since I arrived in this world, hadn’t I?

If holy power was basically an individual stat in this medieval fantasy world, then as a newborn baby, I was practically guaranteed to be a genius.

I can do this!

I wriggled my body until I was lying on my side, then reached out and placed a finger against the baby bottle.

Holy power.

Write with holy power…