How To Live As An Academy Extra Villain

✦ Chapter 93 ✦

「Translator – Creator」

“…I suppose I should tell the village chief to pay a bit more attention.” 

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. It’s not a big deal. These things happen sometimes in old churches.”

After briefly observing the scene in silence, Cecila relaxed her expression, acting as if it was no big deal, and turned away.

Not long after leaving the chapel, we were able to meet the village chief who had been brought by our group.

“The cross…? Good heavens…I’ll have it replaced with a new one right away. How embarrassing for the priests to see it like that…”

“Make sure to be more attentive next time. Every small detail is preparation for the future.”

“Oh my, of course…I’m so sorry…”

The village chief covered her mouth, visibly flustered by Cecila’s words. Surprisingly, the village chief was a very young woman with an orange bob that swayed pleasantly, her cheeks still dotted with freckles.

“I’ve asked the carpenter to fix it, so it will be repaired before the next service. I really am sorry…”

She immediately called someone over and gave them various instructions. The person nodded in understanding and headed towards the chapel.

Cecila now seemed more embarrassed than the overly deferential village chief.

“It’s alright, these things happen. Now, Village Chief, if I may ask you a few questions for a moment?”

“Why, of course…”

I stepped forward to speak on Cecila’s behalf, removing my robe. The village chief’s eyes widened at the sight of me.

“My, a priest like yourself too! I’m Becky. Being called village chief at my age is a bit awkward, so please just use my name?”

“Very well…Becky?”

“Yes!” 

When I said her name, Becky’s smile stretched nearly from ear to ear. She practically bounced on the spot, much to Cecila’s baffled amusement.

“You seem quite young to hold that position. How did you come to take on that role?”

“My late father was the previous village chief, so I simply took over after him. It was tough at first, but I’ve been managing well enough lately…hehehe.”

Becky answered my every question readily without hesitation — where her home was, how many family members, when the village was founded, and so on, seemingly ready to disclose every detail.

“I see. And as I walked through the village, everyone seemed lively and in good spirits. Has there been a special occasion in the village recently?”

“Oh yes, something wonderful did happen! Not long ago, a terrible plague swept through the village. But then this traveling pilgrim arrived and miraculously cured everyone! The joy from that hasn’t quite worn off yet.”

“A plague, you say…?”

Though Becky spoke cheerfully, her casual remark struck a chord with me. While it could have simply been an ordinary plague, I could not ignore this potential clue at present.

For I knew that plagues were among the omens preceding a Demon Summoning.

“This pilgrim…are they still in the village?”

“No, once they confirmed everyone was cured, they abruptly left the village.”

“Just like that?”

“Yes. We tried to offer them a small token of gratitude, but they refused and departed. It was disappointing, but then again devoted believers can be that way sometimes…”

It seemed there was nothing more to glean from Becky’s words. She excused herself to attend to other matters, and I began discussing the situation with Cecila.

“What do you make of it?”

“It does seem rather strange…”

She fell into pensive thought after hearing my question.

“It’s nearly the start of summer now. Is it common for plagues to spread during this season?”

“I’m not certain, but I don’t recall ever hearing of such cases…”

“And that pilgrim is odd too. While lay people may not know, this is not pilgrimage season, so there’s no apparent reason a pilgrim would be traveling now. Though we are in disguise…”

“But if that pilgrim was a demon worshiper orchestrating something, they wouldn’t need to cure the villagers. Did you check the magic detection orb? Any readings?”

Cecila shook her head lightly in response to my query, “I’ve already checked, and it’s perfectly clean. If something evil had happened around here, there should be at least a trace left behind…”

With no clear answers, we consulted the others, but they couldn’t come up with any definite theories either. We checked the magic detection orb throughout the village, but found nothing unusual, and our conversations with the villagers didn’t reveal any suspicious points.

Amidst this, Dante, the last to join us, hesitantly spoke up, “…Actually, I heard some strange sounds on our way here.”

“Strange sounds?”

“Yes. As I passed by a building with a brown roof, like a warehouse, I briefly heard what sounded like an animal’s cry from inside. There was also a noise like chains being dragged across the ground.”

“An animal, you say?”

Cecila’s follow-up question made Dante’s expression uncertain.

“Well…it wasn’t very clear. It could have been a pig, or maybe a dog growling lowly…”

“Maybe it’s just livestock they’re keeping?”

“But it didn’t look like that kind of building at all. There was no hay, no pens. There weren’t even any windows, so I couldn’t see inside.”

Dante protested Cecila’s dismissal and she frowned as if getting a headache.

“This is vexing. I’m suspicious, but there’s no solid evidence.”

“We should exercise caution from now on regardless. Let’s stay in groups of at least two, and for the time being, we’ll subsist on the preserved rations we brought.”

The others all nodded in agreement with Dante’s suggestion. In the distance, Becky’s figure reappeared, looking around until spotting us and rushing over.

“Oh, you’re all gathered here. Dinner is ready.”

“Apologies, but we are observing a fasting period currently…”

Becky’s expression turned to mild surprise at Dante’s polite refusal.

“Eh? But I even prepared some fresh meat…”

“Haha, the villagers should enjoy that meat among themselves then. Consider it a celebration. How could we indulge in such precious food?”

“…Alright, I understand. That’s too bad though…”

Though she accepted it, Becky couldn’t hide her disappointment. I decided to change the subject and asked her another question.

“By the way vill- ah, Becky. May I ask what purpose the building with the brown roof serves?”

“That…why are you asking about that…?”

In stark contrast to her earlier eager disclosure of trivial facts, she trailed off evasively, mumbling her response.

“I passed by there earlier and heard some strange noises coming from inside. It sounded like an animal crying and chains dragging on the ground… Is it perhaps a livestock pen?”

“Uh… well…”

As she struggled to respond, Cecila stepped in and pressed her firmly, “It would be best if you told us the truth, ‘village chief.’ If there’s anything suspicious going on in there, we’ll need to address it immediately…”

“Suspicious? Absolutely not! We would never do anything like that…!”

Becky, feeling wronged, raised her voice in protest. But seeing that Cecila was not backing down, she sighed deeply and began to confess, “…Actually, what’s inside is my younger sister.”

“Your sister? Then those animal sounds…?”

“Yes… my sister was severely affected by the plague. Thankfully, the pilgrim cured her, but ever since then, she’s been acting strange…”

Having decided there was no point in hiding it, she started to spill everything.

Her sister had barely escaped death but afterward began crawling on all fours and making strange noises, behaving like an animal.

Becky had told the pilgrim about it, and the pilgrim assured her it wasn’t a disease and that there was no need to worry.

He said her sister just needed some time to recover, and then he locked her in the barn and sealed the door.

The pilgrim instructed Becky to ensure no one saw her sister for two full moons before he left.

“How could you do that! Leaving someone alone like that, do you even know what’s happening inside?

“…I was skeptical at first too, but I could feel my sister was genuinely getting better!”

As Cecila exclaimed in shock, Becky raised her voice again in defense.

“Getting better in that state?”

“Yes… I bring her porridge twice a day. As you saw earlier, she’s still like that during the day, but at night, she’s gradually returning to his senses. Last night, we even had a small conversation…”

She turned to me and explained softly, in stark contrast to how she had been with Cecila earlier. Cecila’s face was full of disbelief.

“Did the pilgrim say anything else?”

“He said my sister had received an anointing. That her current suffering was because her body was preparing to be filled with divine grace. He assured me that soon my sister would return healthier than ever…”

“Cecila, what do you think?”

After listening to her explanation, I turned and asked Cecila in a low voice.

Hearing my question, she frowned and answered, “It’s nonsense. Anointing, divine grace, I’ve never heard such things in our doctrine. Who would dare spread such lies…”

Becky’s explanation ended, but our doubts only grew stronger.

Even to someone like me, unfamiliar with the Three Gods’ doctrine, this series of events seemed highly suspicious.

The suddenly arrived plague, someone abruptly walking on all fours and behaving like an animal. And the period of two full moons?

If I rearrange these circumstances and think about them again, they start to sound like something else.

The plague could be the aftermath of a demon summoning ritual.

The person walking on all fours could indicate possession by a being.

And the two moons could be the time it takes for the demon to fully take over the host body.

— End of Chapter —

If you have liked the novel, don’t forget to rate and review the novel on NovelUpdates

Also, if you cannot wait to see what lies ahead in the story, you can subscribe to my 〚 Ko-Fi Membership 〛 and read a maximum of 18 chapters ahead