'Ah, here it comes, here it comes! Cid mentally prepared himself. Just say it already. My fist is itching. I've been holding back all day, and finally, a punching bag shows up to let me vent!'
"I have urgent business right now," Rudolf continued. "And I'm not even sure if I'll be able to continue my duties after this."
Eat... Wait, you're not following the script! This makes things tricky for me. Okay, just in case I'm wrong about you being a scammer, I'll let you keep talking for a bit longer.
"Your Eminence Cid, I must do my duty, so I'm afraid I can't take you to the Church. But you shouldn't keep living in this cursed land either."
Oh, oh, oh! Here it comes, for real this time! So, you just changed the scam story a bit, huh? Phew, I was worried I might have gotten it wrong.
Let me guess, next you're gonna say this island is about to sink, right? And the rescue ship, Noah's Ark, is coming soon, so I need to hurry and pay for a ticket?
"And I will use this body to drag this cursed land down into the sea..."
Wow, I actually guessed right! Okay, hurry up and start! Let's get to my favorite part from my past life: beating up scammers! Scum like you should get beaten hard and then handed over to the Guard.
"This is proof of my identity as an Exorcist, Your Eminence Cid. Just in case, there's a ship going straight to Western Europe leaving tomorrow night. When the ship arrives, show them this proof, and someone will let you onboard. Pack your things, get your family, and leave this island as soon as possible."
Ha! You slipped up! So you're not just scamming money, you're trafficking people too? Aren't you afraid you'll try this on someone with actual powers? Oh, right, you even dare to fake being from the Church. Never mind then.
Whatever! Scammer, just die, die, die...!
Gulp.
Cid swallowed hard, his eyes glued to the hand of the self-proclaimed Exorcist scammer. He was holding a solid gold cross necklace. If it were just gold, Cid wouldn't be this shocked. But more importantly, it had the Church's official anti-fake symbol and a bunch of magic patterns etched into it. What did that mean?
It meant this was an authentic Church-certified cross necklace that had somehow gotten out. It was a world-class collector's item!
"M-me? D-don't joke around! How could... h-how could I possibly be 'one blessed by God'?"
"Your Eminence Cid, of course you are. The Lord told me so."
"I-I don't b-believe it! I've always been so ordinary my whole life!"
"No, you are not ordinary at all. You are blessed by God. You are a natural-born Son of God. You are a natural-born Saint. All you lack is confidence and the right guidance."
"Sniffle R-rea... Sniffle Really?" Cid acted choked up.
"It is true, Your Eminence Cid."
"I-if that's true... will I be able to see you again?"
"I am sorry. I must complete my own mission. I am honored to have met you in the final moments of my life. Guiding a Son of God towards the light... what an incredible honor."
"Thank you... thank you! You're the first person ever to encourage me like this! Just for that, I believe you!"
"Sob, sob Boohoohoo... sniffle... boohoo..."
Cid mentally forced tears out using mana, made his voice shake and stutter, and repeated lines to perfectly act nervous and unsure – the perfect performance of a mob character completely fooled by a scam.
He even threw in a backstory reason for believing so easily: being looked down on his whole life made him desperate for praise. Though thinking about his sister, who did look down on him, made his conscience twinge for a second. Oh wait, he didn't have a conscience. Never mind.
Even though Cid kept his head down now, hiding his face with his arm, he knew without looking what kind of expression Rudolf must have: mocking, looking down on his foolish prey.
A cold smirk touched Cid's lips. Heh, who's the hunter and who's the prey isn't decided yet.
Just as Cid was thinking this, he felt a gaze sweep over him. It startled him so much his smirk vanished instantly.
Closing his right eye slightly, he focused his mana into it and looked towards the source of the gaze.
His vision, which had disappeared from that eye, reappeared in his mind as if seen through a lens. He saw a pair of light blue eyes staring at him. Their owner seemed to notice him peeking and blinked once.
...Oops, used a bit too much mana. Zoomed in too close.
Cid reduced the mana flow. The image in his mind zoomed out a few steps. He saw a petite girl with long, ice-blue hair.
The girl had a strange kind of beauty, like a perfectly crafted porcelain doll, without a single flaw. Her skin was incredibly white and clear. She looked like a silent, elf-like beauty.
Wow, scammers are really high-quality these days, huh? Cid thought.
First, a world-class collector's item, and now a beautiful girl specifically designed to target teenage boys.
Most guys would probably start believing they were the "Son of God" or "Blessed One" after seeing the gold cross. Then, throw in a quiet beauty like this, and bam! They'd probably forget their own names. If a real chuuni kid were here, they'd likely be following these two out the door right now.
Too bad for them, they ran into him. Not that he couldn't be fooled, just that he happened to have some unique information.
In this world, there were three beings he wasn't sure he could beat. One he'd met right when the worlds merged – a huge red dragon.
He hadn't met the other two, but one felt very similar to the red dragon, so probably another dragon.
The last one, according to his senses, was chilling in a completely sealed-off dimension, like a total shut-in. Didn't even pop out to see what was happening when the worlds merged. But the tiny bit of aura leaking out felt exactly like an angel's, only much more noble. So, the last one was probably "God" from the Bible.
So, you see, "God" hasn't even shown up! How could there be a "Blessed One" or a "Son of God"? He hadn't even metGod. Sure, he had a few collected items with extremely high "Holy" properties, but he hadn't brought any with him.
Can't be helped. This is the absolute, unbeatable power of Shadow's Wisdom in the information war! Mwahahaha! Mwahahahaha!
"What is it, Your Eminence Cid? Are you interested in Astarte?" Rudolf asked.
Crap! Getting cocky made him unconsciously act like a creep staring at the girl.
What now, what now? Should he just take them both down right here?
But then... he'd lose that authentic, Church-certified, solid gold magic cross necklace! The thought of beating them up, only for the Guard to confiscate the necklace, then some high-ranking corrupt official recognizing it, pocketing it, selling it, and then he'd have to spend a fortune to buy it back...
No! No! He refused to accept that future!
Come on, think, Cid! Use that brain! You can do it!
"No! I'm the 'Son of God'! How could I possibly do something like sneakily looking at a girl?!" Cid blurted out.
Nice one, me! He instantly played the part of a brainwashed chuuni teen who got horny but was trying way too hard to deny it.
"Hahaha! No need to hide it, Your Eminence Cid. While many clergy still practice abstinence, the Church's main teaching has always been moderation of desires, not complete denial."
"Wha-wha-what?! R-really?"
You'd even say stuff like that just to scam someone? How do you guys manage not to get caught and killed by the actual Church?
"Of course, it's true, Your Eminence Cid. However... Astarte cannot be given to you. She is an artificial life form possessed by a demon from another world. She will sink into the sea together with me."