Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Saint Santarimo Monastery
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(45) Saint Santarimo Monastery
The sandstorm showed no signs of letting up.
For a moment when Beishuper vanished, it seemed like the wind might ease, but now it was impossible to even walk forward. The sandstorm up until now had merely been the prelude to the real storm that was just beginning.
"If we stay like this, both of you are going to die."
Ruby warned Saph and Jade.
"Once the wind starts blowing at this time, it lasts until almost dawn the next day. It only stops when the morning sun rises and the atmospheric pressure shifts."
"Atmospheric pressure?"
Jade, whose head was already complicated enough, furrowed his brow even more.
"You don't know what atmospheric pressure is? Oh, right. Come to think of it, the Roxandria Library is piled high with books full of incredible knowledge, open to anyone, but no one actually knows about it."
"This isn't the time to brag about your knowledge."
Jade moved next to Saph.
"Are you okay, Saph?"
Jade reached out to support her, then belatedly noticed her top was almost torn to shreds. He took off his outer garment and handed it to her before turning away.
"I'm fine."
Saph fumbled to put on Jade's clothes.
'I can't even ask what horrible thing happened to her. A kid who's barely met anyone her whole life gets kidnapped by a demon, sees an ancient demon, and now she's trapped in a sandstorm—how terrified must she be?'
Jade thought of words of comfort.
"All done."
When he turned around, Saph was standing straight in Jade's clothes.
"You've grown taller while we were apart. You used to be about this height."
Jade held his palm level with Saph's eyes.
"You've gotten a lot thinner since we last met, Father Jade. Must have been tough at Jeruba Monastery?"
Saph spoke in a calm, blunt tone.
"I've always been like this."
"No. Your skin looks worse too..."
Saph gently touched Jade's cheek.
"Hey, we need to hurry!"
Ruby shouted.
Jade replied in a slightly irritated tone.
"Got it. But where are we going?"
"Back to Redhill Village along the road, of course..."
While Ruby was answering, Saph spoke up.
"We should go that way."
"Huh? Where?"
Saph pointed in a direction where nothing was visible due to the sandstorm.
"Where's that? Redhill Village?" Jade had already forgotten the direction they'd come from.
"No, not that. But I have a feeling it'll be good if we go that way."
Saph said.
Ruby asked in a mocking tone.
"There's nothing that way. The sandstorm's so bad I can barely see ahead myself—how do you know it'll be good to go there?"
"Just... I have that feeling..."
Saph said without confidence.
"A feeling? In the middle of the desert, you want to go by feelings? Who is this kid?"
Ruby crossed her arms and asked.
Jade said.
"She's like a little sister to me. It's a long story."
"Can we trust her?"
"Of course."
"You've lived getting betrayed and scammed by people you know all the time, haven't you? Guys with faces like yours always end up that way."
Jade sighed in response.
"In this situation, even if you abandon me, Ruby, Saph won't abandon me, and I won't abandon her. That's the level of trust we're talking about."
"That's not a good analogy. Because I have no intention of abandoning you at all."
Ruby said.
"You honeybee bastard!"
Jade shouted.
"Haha! Was that supposed to be an insult? Practice more."
Ruby placed a hand on her hip for a moment and glanced left.
"This direction leads to Redhill Village. Less than thirty minutes. We can use that passage from earlier and avoid most of the wind. But that village has nothing but corpses. No water either."
Then Ruby looked to the right that Saph had pointed at.
"I don't know what's in this direction. So, which way are we going?"
Jade pointed in the direction Saph had indicated.
"This way."
Ruby tossed the chain at the two of them.
"Grab on. You won't see each other if you're three steps apart. I don't know what basis that little brat has for directing us, but we'll go your way. But if you're wrong..."
Jade grabbed the chain and held the other end out to Saph.
"You lead, Saph. I'll follow behind."
Saph whispered.
"Who's that red-haired boy?"
"That's a long story too. In short, he's an angel from the Baifel Temple."
"So Father Danel's old stories were true."
"Yeah. A lot of things were true. I want to get to safety and talk about it with you. I also want to hear how you got here."
"There were so many awful things. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
Ruby started walking ahead.
Saph followed holding the chain, and Jade followed her. The wind already made walking hard, and now sand was piling up on the ground, making it tough to lift their feet.
"Is this the right direction?"
Ruby shouted.
"Yes."
Saph shouted back.
Ruby asked if it was right a couple more times after that. Saph just answered "Yes" each time.
'Ruby's sense of direction is impressive as always. Even if Saph is going by feeling, answering correctly every time means we've been walking straight in the exact direction she pointed once without deviating.'
A moment later, Ruby said.
"Ooh, so your 'feeling' was real? There's a house."
Jade still couldn't see anything.
"A house?"
"Not a house—what do you call something like that? A church? Monastery? Yeah, monastery!"
Jade belatedly remembered.
"Right. A little northeast from Redhill Village, there's Black Rock Mountain, and under it is Saint Santarimo Monastery. You remembered that, Saph?"
Saph turned and answered.
"I knew there was a monastery, but I'd forgotten until just now. The direction was really just a feeling."
Jade recalled what Father Danel had said.
'Saph is a child of luck. She'll bring dreams and hope to a guy like you who thinks negatively about everything.'
Ruby tugged the chain lightly to hurry them.
"Come on. Staying exposed to the sandstorm too long isn't good. Especially this red sand here—it's got hematite in it, bad for your eyes and lungs. I know a bit about anatomy; stonecutters can't breathe well past thirty. And this desert sand is worse for the body than marble dust. Not that it matters to me!"
The two were practically dragged along by Ruby. Well, accurately, just Jade. Surprisingly, Saph kept up fine.
'I stood behind because I was worried she'd fall behind, but now I might need to ask her to wait for me.'
Ruby stopped walking.
"We're here."
Jade, who had been hunched over, lifted his head at her words. He squinted toward the direction Ruby pointed, but still only saw sandstorm.
"Where...?"
Looking closely, there was a tall wall blocking his view less than ten steps ahead. It was painted red and dark, so he hadn't noticed the building right in front of him. If not for the faint glow from Ruby's chain, he wouldn't have seen even right under his nose.
Walking a bit further along the wall, a large wooden gate appeared. It looked less like a monastery and more like a small fortress. On the map, a rocky mountain should be right behind the monastery, but it wasn't visible. In fact, even the buildings beyond the wall were hard to make out.
"Saint Santarimo Monastery."
Ruby tapped the wooden sign on the gate with her finger and asked.
"A monastery is where priests pray, right? Then why build one in this desert instead of somewhere comfy with easy access to water and food?"
"Monasteries were originally created as a backlash against the Caitlic Church. When the Holy Sovereign started holding masses with a golden crown on his head and a gold-inlaid scepter in hand, some priests rebelled, saying, 'The saints who first wrote the Holy Scriptures had no luxuries, followed God's word in plains and deserts, and lived humbly. We should too.' They split from the Caitlic Church and built places like this."
As Jade explained, Ruby sneered.
"A humble life? Even before I was imprisoned, I saw plenty of monasteries, and they were all rich. Charging a silver coin per prayer and collecting taxes from nearby farmers... That's humble?"
Saph countered.
"N-not all monasteries are like that."
"That's why I'm asking. If all monasteries are in spots good for collecting taxes, why is this one in the desert?"
At Ruby's words, Saph continued.
"Because this monastery truly lives simply and austerely!"
"Then that's not great news for us. If they're poor, they might not share food."
Ruby chuckled, and Saph glared at her expressionlessly.
"Father Jade, what if this kid isn't actually an angel?"
Ruby crossed her arms and shoved her face close to Saph's.
"Oh? Look at that? Picking a fight now? Think I can't tell just because you have no expression? You're pissed, right? You hate me, don't you, flower boy?"
"Yeah, I do."
Saph continued clearly in a fearless voice.
"Short experience, but your speech, actions, mindset—none of it shows any angelic qualities. Father Jade, maybe we've been fooled."
"You little dandelion puff, who do you think you're..."
Ruby growled and brought her face even closer to Saph's. Since Saph didn't back away, they glared at each other with barely half a handspan between them.
"Stop!"
Jade jumped between them and pulled them apart.
"This isn't the time for us to fight. Ruby, a strong guy like you shouldn't threaten a fragile girl!"
"What's that fancy talk? Everything in the world is fragile compared to me—if I worried about that with everyone, I couldn't fight anyone."
Jade ignored her and spoke to Saph.
"Saph, like Ruby said, staying in this sandstorm too long is bad. Let's get out of the wind first and talk."
Saph nodded obediently.
"But I heard this is a place women aren't allowed. Is that okay? Even Sister Julia, the abbess, said she's never been here."
"True, this monastery is so far from Rom that they rarely join inter-monastery gatherings."
Jade recalled rumors from Jeruba and continued.
"But they wouldn't turn away people in distress, right? Let's ask. At least for shelter until the storm passes—they can't refuse that."
As Jade headed to the monastery gate, Saph instinctively pulled her robe low to hide her white horns and blue hair. Jade noticed and belatedly saw Ruby's long red hair and the shackles and chains on her wrists and ankles.
"Can you make those shackles invisible? Can't explain them to the monks. Better hide the hair too."
Ruby covered her head with the hood on her clothes, then shortened the chain to arm's length and made the shackles and chain transparent. With the faint light gone, the surroundings were so dark the gate was barely distinguishable.
"Can't make them silent though."
Ruby's voice and the faint clink-clank came from the darkness.
"Guess we hope the wind covers the sound."
Jade groped for the door handle on the gate and knocked hard. But the storm was so fierce the sound didn't carry. Calling louder got no response. He tried pushing the door, but it didn't budge.
"Breaking a latch should be forgivable. Ruby, can you do it?"
Jade said.
"Piece of cake."
Ruby clenched her fist.
"Ah, not too hard—just enough to break the latch..."
Jade said, but Ruby had already swung. The massive wooden gate, unmoved by the sandstorm, was torn off its hinges and crashed inward.
Ruby flexed her fingers and asked.
"Yeah, what?"
"Nothing. I'll be more careful with my words when asking you to do something next time."
Ruby strode inside without acknowledging him.
'Pretending not to hear. She could control her strength fine but did it on purpose. That troublemaker. Hope she doesn't cause problems here.'
Jade recalled that the only people Ruby had met since being freed after 500 years, besides him, were bandits and travelers captured by them.
'Can't predict what nonsense she'll say to the monks. If she starts with that flower rice crap again, it'll cause misunderstandings.'
Jade called out to stop Ruby.
"Ruby, I have a favor to ask."
"What?"
The wall was tall enough that just entering the front courtyard cut the wind. It was designed to block it almost completely, but now with Ruby having smashed the gate, the courtyard was swept by sandstorm.
It was about fifty steps to the main building, and its door opened with light spilling out.
Monks were rushing out with lanterns.
"I'd appreciate it if you watched your words from now on."
"Worried I'll say something weird?"
"To be honest..."
Jade felt a pang of guilt toward Ruby for a moment.
"Yeah."
"Those guys are coming out with clubs—sure you're okay? I could push them till they drop the clubs and prepare a nice dinner for us."
"That's exactly the kind of thing I mean—don't say that."
"You think I can control what to say and what not to?"
"Then don't say anything at all."
"You flower rice bastard, now you want to shut me up? What's next, boss? Don't breathe?"
"It's a request, not an order."
"Hmph!"
Soon the monks with clubs approached the three. Their robes marked them as monks, but the clubs and broad-shouldered builds looked ready to take on bandits.
Jade hid his tension and stepped forward.