Jeanne"s Divine Message
Jeanne waved to the spectators until the end.
She circled the arena and waved to everyone. As for Tos.h.i.+zou, he ignored them and left immediately.
She thought about his back when he left.
He was strong.
If she was an 8, then he was a 10.
While this battle had ended in a draw, Jeanne was declared the victor.
Someone had to accompany the Demon King to the dungeon, and Jeanne wanted a decision to be made.
And so she became the winner.
There were two reasons for this.
One was because the Demon King said so.
He said it was because of the way she attacked right before the final blow.
Jeanne had cut into her opponent"s cheek, while Hijikata had only cut her clothes.
The other reason was that Hijikata himself had admitted defeat.
"The master Demon King is right."
He sheathed his sword and walked away without another word.
Still, he seemed calm and satisfied.
However, Jeanne was not amused.
It had been clear to her that Tos.h.i.+zou was holding back in that last moment. He could have aimed for her face, but he had gone for her ribs.
This mistake had been the deciding factor, but to her, it seemed more like sympathy. He had done it on purpose.
She knew it after fighting him.
In fact, he had never targeted her face during the fight.
He only attacked her below the neck.
Was it because she was a woman?
While he hadn"t said anything, he fought as if to say "a woman"s face is her life."
But she knew he would never admit it if she asked. And that"s what annoyed her.
Gender did not exist on the battlefield. She had lived with this belief.
He really was an annoying man.
Still, her annoyance weakened when she thought of another fact.
Yes, he was annoying, but he was very strong. She could admit that.
But he wasn"t the strongest man present.
That was Demon King Ashta.
Once their fight had gotten too serious, he had teleported to them in a second and stopped the fight.
He had grabbed Tos.h.i.+zou"s sword and blocked hers.
No ordinary sorcerer would have been able to do that. He was a Demon King.
She felt a chill just thinking about it.
Still, he was also kind and merciful in a way that was very moving.
Had they continued to fight, one of them would have likely gotten hurt.
He did not want that.
And that"s why he had gone in to stop the fight.
"The Demon King who was chosen by G.o.d. A king with compa.s.sion."
Those who worked for him must be very happy. And then she remembered that she was one of them.
She was his subordinate and worked as one of his generals.
He would also spend time with her when he could and they would eat together.
He even began to help her learn to read.
When coming to this world, Jeanne had heard G.o.d"s voice.
"Jeanne. Save this new world. Just like you saved France, save this world."
It was that same voice.
The one she had heard when she was twelve years old back in her home.
G.o.d was telling her to serve the Demon King.
One of the few Demon Kings in this world who cared about justice.
He was a realist who spoke of Machiavellianism. But he was not cruel. He was calm.
She had been told to serve a Demon King with compa.s.sion.
And was told that his name would be Demon King Ashta.
Ever since she heard those words, Jeanne had traveled the world and searched for him.
But she could not find him.
That was no surprise.
After all, Demon King Ashta did not even exist in this world during that time.
Demon King Ashta had only been born a few months ago.
He was a newborn Demon King.
However, she had met him shortly after that. It really must have been G.o.d"s will.
She had gone to the abandoned castle and seen him.
She knew at first sight that he was the chosen one.
The one that G.o.d said would, "bring balance to good and evil."
All of this came back to her now as she clutched the crucifix around her neck.
There were no crosses in this world.
And so she had made it herself out of wood.
It was crude and plain but felt warm when she held it.
Almost as if she were holding the hand of Ashta.