The Player is a Part-Timer

Chapter 14: A Foolish Little Star

"Some will want you to be held accountable after what happened. Other parties will want to protect you — even approve the act you didn't commit. After this, smaller fights will ensue between the sides. Of course, the leaders probably will forbid conflict, but some people will fight regardless. Either out of a sense of duty, revenge, or other foolish reasons. Naturally, a few stray exorcists, angels, devils, or fallen are far from enough to start a war. But if both sides retaliate over and over again due to their grievances, battles will grow in scale and escalate, which eventually leads to full-scale war. And once that happens, it is only a matter of time till the Great War will resurface once more. The four main political parties of the devils, but even the Seraphs and the current Fallen government, will be pushed to rejoin this war by their own people — creating a vicious cycle that will only end once all three sides are annihilated, or only one remains standing."

Cesare analyzed and explained the fragile situation, making several political less aware peerage members pale even more.

"Shit...!"

"Haah! It's never easy, is it?"

"I am afraid that's the case, Princess Gremory." The exorcist bowed his head. "Whoever pursued and almost killed me that night. That person — or her employer — knew exactly who to look for, when, and where. This implies a traitor inside the church or a pro-war member who wants to push the tension to the breaking point."

"Thank you for telling us this." Sona and Rias nodded, appreciatively. "Any idea about the identity of your attacker? Giving us some info about "her" would ease our investigation immensely."

"I am not sure. As I told you, she carried a stolen fragment. She knew exactly where I arrived and when." Cesare started to fondle his bristly chin thoughtfully. Almost like something came to his mind. "Maybe I can narrow the number of suspects — considering her incredible compatibility with that sword. Yes, using this data, the numbers of people can be narrowed considerably."

"Please, do so if you can."

"I will do so then. Still, I promise nothing. There is still a chance she was someone we don't know about — someone outside the church's influence — but I'll do my best regardless."

"Maybe if you tell us how you escaped, we can also narrow our search." Saji felt terrible for his president pushing this topic. The man was scared and also weary after what happened. It was highly inappropriate to push this topic anymore.

"Hmm, I can do that. As you know, I was a researcher before — working for the church, possessing many experimental devices —also, an exorcist with decades of experience. As such, I know my trade. Yet, in this case, it was all useless." Cesare looked down, clenching the fabric of his clothes. "It meant nothing against this opponent..."

"Then, how did you survive?"

Cesare proceeded to detail his escape, leaving many devils agape hearing his exploits and how he evaded such a superior opponent for so long while keeping the damage at a minimum.

"Wow!"

"Was it blind luck? Or even divine intervention? I don't even know. But I believe there is a reason behind my survival." Cesare shook his head, almost entertained about the prospect God cares about someone like him.

A man who not once almost got banished from the church — no less. A man who carried so many sins, calling him devil, would be a better fit than an Exorcist.

"Only thanks to a light-based experimental teleportation device did I survive. Though judging from the activation of the failsafe mechanism, it either malfunctioned or encountered a dimensional disturbance it couldn't handle."