Due to her convalescence, she should have been living peacefully under Renya's protection, honoring her late parents' wishes.
However, ...
"I-is it really okay? I haven't explained anything yet..."
"Mio. Just because I turned down your request to become my Servant doesn't mean I'd treat you poorly, right?"
"~~~~"
At Renya's straightforward words, Mio's cheeks flushed.
Mio, sensitive to human malice, sensed there was no ulterior motive behind Renya's words.
"Having said that, if I don't understand the situation, I won't know how to help you or where to start. So, Mio. How do you want me to help you, and with what?"
"Well, actually—he came!"
The look of pure hatred on Mio's face told Renya everything he needed to know.
"...I see, Zolgia, huh?"
The Zolgia Renya mentioned was Zolgia Asmodeus, a cunning devil from the original Maou Asmodeus's line.
And he was also the devil who murdered Mio's parents. It was only natural for Mio to burn with hatred.
"But, impressive as expected of an Old Maou descendant. He saw through the concealment."
The relationship between the current Maou government and the Old Maou faction had deteriorated beyond repair, and because of that, Renya hadn't been able to make any overt moves. All he could do was hide Mio. It seemed that had backfired.
"Well, actually..."
"What is it?"
"...I'm sorry, Renya!"
Mio, who had been looking uncomfortable, bowed her head to Renya as she said this.
"...What exactly are you apologizing for?"
"W-well, you see... the reason your perception-blocking magic was discovered... It's my fault."
"Explain in detail. Does it have something to do with the presence hiding over there?"
"Ah, yeah..."
Whether her tension eased because Renya's tone was gentle and his question implied he understood, Mio was about to speak when—
"Mio-san?"
At that moment, the presence that had been hiding behind the scrap lumber moved and spoke.
Renya, who had already sensed the presence in the darkness, used his eyes that could see through the dark to confirm the figure.
It was a single girl.
A beautiful girl with long, wavy blonde hair, whose appearance and figure were in no way inferior to Mio's.
She had an ethereal quality about her, wore a church sister's habit, and appeared to be around the same age as Renya.
"I-Isha!?"
Mio called out to the beautiful girl with the long blonde hair.
The beautiful girl, addressed as Isha, stepped forward, looking somewhat frightened.
"Mio-san, what's wrong? Who is this person...?"
The girl called Isha showed a slight wariness toward Renya, even as she looked concerned for Mio.
"I-Isha, um, this person is..."
As Mio hesitated, unsure how to explain, Renya more or less grasped the situation.
"...I see. So Mio overexerted herself to help this girl."
"Ugh... y-you understand?"
"Of course I do. No matter what you say, you're a kind person."
"U-ugh... i-idiot."
Embarrassed by Renya's words, Mio's cheeks relaxed in undisguised happiness.
But feeling Isha's gaze, she realized this wasn't the time, straightened up, and spoke.
"Isha, this person is an old benefactor of mine. I'm going to ask him now, and he'll help you too."
"...Understood. If you say so, Mio-san, I'll trust him."
Receiving Mio's serious gaze and words, Isha nodded.
In response, Mio said, "Thank you."
'A church person, of all things.'
Calmly observing the situation, Renya noted that Isha's clothing was the habit worn by church sisters. He had a feeling this might become troublesome.
Mio turned back to Renya.
"Renya. I'll explain the situation."
What Mio then told him was serious.
Isha, as her clothes suggested, was a sister working at the church in this town.
Isha worked at the church near Mio's all-girls school. Although Mio knew her face and name, they hadn't really had any meaningful interaction.
However, after school, on her way home, Mio saw Isha running away in the rain without an umbrella. Even though she was a church affiliate, something seemed clearly wrong, and Mio got worried, so she apparently followed her.
She found Isha standing blankly by a park swing in the rain. When she offered her umbrella and Isha looked up, her cheeks were wet with tears.
Getting under the umbrella together, Mio asked what was wrong. It turned out that the priest at Isha's church was trying to sell the children protected by the church, as well as the sisters, to shady men.
"There have been cases before of children finding foster parents, or of sisters being transferred elsewhere. But I never imagined something like that..."
Mio stayed close to Isha, who was bowing her head and sobbing, rubbing her back.
"...This is disgusting, but how does that connect to the current situation?"
Renya exhaled his anger along with a sigh and asked.
It was certainly a sickening story, but from Renya's perspective, knowing various behind-the-scenes dealings—not everything, but a lot—the church's actions were so common he wouldn't even call them rare.
If Mio had simply come to him for help, that would be one thing, but it shouldn't have led to the perception-blocking being broken.
"Well, apparently those human traffickers are from the Old Maou faction... working for Zolgia."
Mio spat out with hatred.
The Old Maou faction denies Devil pieces and looks down on other races, but Zolgia was somewhat different.
Zolgia had a nasty habit of obtaining any beautiful woman or girl he took a liking to, no matter who they were, by any means necessary.
Just as he had killed Mio's troublesome parents to make her lose her place in the world, he made himself the only place of refuge for the girls.
Furthermore, as for anyone connected to those girls: if they witnessed him, he killed them; if he liked the girl, he abducted her; for anyone else, he erased their memories, making it so they never existed in the first place.
This wasn't limited to Zolgia; High-class Devils who owned Devil pieces also did this, to a greater or lesser extent.
Given these circumstances, Renya, concerned for Mio, hadn't been able to bring himself to recruit her as a Servant.
Even if he believed he wasn't like that...
"...I see. So they're like subordinates of Zolgia's subordinates. It wouldn't be surprising if Zolgia gave them tools to break the perception-blocking barrier."
In the human world, there are many kidnapping organizations that abduct beautiful women and girls with excellent abilities, or those possessing rare Sacred Gears.
There are also many High-class Devils who trade such girls at high prices, forcibly making them Servants or slaves.
That being said…
"...It's not uncommon for church-affiliated to collude with Devils either."
It was a story Renya had heard before, but he smirked ironically, thinking he never expected to get involved himself.
"So again, please, Renya. Help us! If you do, I'll become your Servant!"
"Yeah, I understand the situation. Since they came to us, let's settle this here."
Accepting Mio's desperate plea and Isha's bow with a "Please," Renya took on the job without any particular hesitation.
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