Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: The City Where Black Rain Falls (4)
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The crow that Isla had brought me was missing one leg.
Royd looked at it and scowled.
"It's disposable."
"Disposable?"
"...Yeah. They use methods like this to keep carrier pigeons from being discovered."
"It's a cruel tactic."
"But it reduces the risk of information falling into enemy hands."
"Fortunately, Isla found it this time."
I untied the cloth from the remaining leg of the one-legged crow. The cloth was perforated with densely packed holes, like Braille. I ran my fingertips over it.
*It's a code.*
That's right.
This was a code. A modified version of ancient Ansger script.
Few people knew ancient Ansger these days, making it perfect for a cipher. These guys knew how to use their heads.
I covered the one-legged crow's eyes with my hand.
*...Should I kill it?*
This creature was blameless.
But crows were highly intelligent animals. If I let it go, it would surely return to its original destination.
"..."
In that case...
I would decode the message, write a new one in code, and send it back.
Sow confusion.
Of course, using this method would take time.
I placed the exhausted crow in a makeshift cage, along with some water and a piece of bread.
"Hang in there just a bit longer."
In the dead of night when everyone was asleep, I sat at a small desk to decipher the code. With Legion on my lap—fussy even in sleep—I relied on a tiny candle flame to organize the ancient Ansger script and rearrange it. Normally, I would have been bored to tears and nodding off by now, but wearing the necklace made from the Sand Olapunt's magic stone kept sleep at bay. A stroke of luck. Thanks to it, I could work through the night decoding the message.
[ Underground Rendezvous Success ]
But even after successfully deciphering the code, understanding its meaning was another matter entirely.
Underground rendezvous success?
What the hell did that mean?
I puzzled over it until morning but couldn't uncover anything beyond the surface meaning. In that case...
*I should check out the underground myself, literally.*
The underground in a pseudo-medieval land like this was a dark, damp, filthy hellhole. Completely different from the modern sense. The breeding ground for all sorts of diseases... I really didn't want to go.
*Is the sewer the only way in?*
Or maybe there was another passage that wasn't the sewer?
With rain pouring like this, could the 'underground' even stay intact?
Rivers bursting banks, landslides everywhere, and they're planning a rendezvous underground?
*Well, I'll find out naturally if I go myself...*
It felt off. Really off.
The 'black rain' felt far less unsettling to me than this 'underground' business.
*The mine incident comes to mind too...*
For now, I wrote the opposite message on a cloth and tied it to the crow's leg.
[ Underground Rendezvous Failure ]
Perfect. That should do it.
I bound the cloth to the crow's ankle. And then...
"If your other leg gets cut off too, come back here."
-...
"I'll take care of you."
I didn't have a skill to regrow a crow's leg, but... still, I didn't want to see the poor thing hobbling around somewhere on no legs and dying miserably.
Whether the crow understood my intent or not, it simply stared at me with its pitch-black eyes.
"Remember that."
-...
Finally, I cast [Natural Healing] on the crow and released it into the black rain pouring from the sky.
* * *
After a light breakfast, we stepped out into the pouring rain.
"Ugh..."
"Ugh..."
"It's so dark, I can't even tell if it's morning."
"Master, I'm so tired."
"You'll have to get used to it for a while. As long as you eat on schedule, you should be fine."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
Eating at set times keeps your circadian rhythm intact. The human body runs on its meal schedule.
In a situation where day and night blurred together like this, maintaining that rhythm was crucial. Otherwise, your health would crumble in no time. That's why I planned to be even stricter about meals in Deheid.
"Where are we going today? Every house seems locked up tight..."
"The temple won't have locked its doors. We should head there first."
Finding out the rumors was the top priority. We'd have to check places where people gathered to catch even a tail of them.
We walked the streets in our raincoats. As Elle said, it was eerily quiet, like a ghost town. The only people around were guards on patrol.
-If you get caught in the black rain, you fall ill and die.
Just as Paul had told me, that kind of ghost story must have spread through Deheid.
*...But from what I checked, the black rain had no issues at all.*
So what was the source of this city-wide rumor?
People were treating it like a deadly contagion spread by the black rain...
The first place I sought to uncover the truth was Donar Temple.
*...For some reason, I keep getting tangled up with Donar Temples.*
Fortunately, the temple doors were open. But the waterfall—built to boast of their abundant water—wasn't running. The priest who seemed responsible for operating it just stood there blankly, looking gloomy and unnaturally pale.
"...Hello."
I gave him a light greeting and introduced myself as the druid Theodore. The priest, who looked at me with clouded eyes...
"No way, from that mining city...?"
"Yes."
"The baby saint?"
"..."
"You're not a baby...?"
The nonsense about the great adversary of evil, the baby saint, had spread here too? I forced down a crumpling expression and plastered on a fake smile.
"...It's embarrassing to say it myself, but I earned the titles [Saint of Purification] and [Great Adversary of Evil]."
"Ah, aah!"
Only then did the priest's eyes sparkle. Probably pinning his hopes on my titles.
"Saint of Purification, you've come all this way to drive out the black rain!"
If I had to answer truthfully, it was 'not at all.' But... to gain cooperation in various ways, nodding along here seemed wise.
"Ah, please come inside!!"
We followed the priest's guidance into the temple depths.
"..."
The interior was no different from the entrance. Just as the entrance's artificial waterfall wasn't working, the artificial channels inside weren't flowing with clean water either. For a Donar Temple—where 'holy water' was their hallmark and pride—not to have it flowing...
*The Donar Temple's in bad shape too.*
The priest led us to an inner chamber. After we sat and waited briefly, a high priest in blue robes appeared.
"I've heard the rumors. Saint of Purification."
"Please, just call me Theodore."
He nodded gravely, his face full of worry as he regarded me.
"You've already seen the black rain falling on Deheid."
"Yes."
"It's been falling over the entire city for a while now..."
"I have a question first."
It might seem rude, but I cut him off and voiced the doubt I'd been harboring.
"You must know already."
"What...?"
"That the black rain contains no poison or disease."
"..."
That's right.
A temple—especially Donar Temple, which oversaw water—couldn't possibly be unaware that the 'black rain' held no dangers.
"...As expected of the Saint of Purification. You already knew that too."
"I'm not here to boast. I was just curious. Why not reveal the truth about the 'black rain' that people fear...?"
"That's..."
He hesitated for a moment.
"...Because the people 'won't believe' it."
The high priest's unexpected answer.
The people 'won't believe' it?
"Think about it. With plague already rampant in the city and ominous rumors swirling, if we say the 'black rain' is safe..."
"..."
"No one would believe us. They'd stone us instead—the whole city."
It made sense.
Humans were inherently contradictory. They feared and revered an unseen god, yet refused to believe anything they hadn't witnessed with their own eyes...
But even so...
"Isn't it the temple's role to dispel vain fears and give hope?"
"Theodore, I agree with you. But... imagine this: black channels flowing in Donar Temple, black waterfalls cascading. Who could find 'hope' in that? They'd see it as impious, a temple under a curse."
"..."
"Until we eradicate the plague, fear of the 'black rain' won't vanish. But people are dying before we can even investigate the disease..."
"So the temple can't do anything?"
"...Frankly, yes."
I'd thought I'd get help here, but it looked like I'd be the one helping.
"That's why your arrival is such a relief. Surely Donar, god of rivers and seas, sent you to aid us in our despair."
Is that so?
But antagonizing the high priest here wouldn't help.
*No, what if I boost Donar Temple's standing instead?*
Donar might actually help me this time.
I nodded with the kindest smile I could muster.
"...I think so too. Donar guided my journey to save Deheid."
-The God of Rivers and Seas, Donar, pays attention to your words.
I'd screwed over Donar Temple in the mining city, so helping this one wasn't a bad change.
"So, how about we drive out the 'black rain' from Deheid together and exalt the great name of Donar?"
-The God of Rivers and Seas, Donar, feels fondness toward you.
-The God of Rivers and Seas, Donar, bestows a blessing upon you.
Yes, that's it!