Chapter 54
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Ducal Territory (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Except in special circumstances, Isabel was fundamentally a remarkably gentle and kind-hearted woman.
Her warm, affectionate, and deeply considerate nature didn't quite suit an Inquisitor.
That said, as mentioned before, she could become strikingly resolute when there was no need to hold back, so it wasn't really a flaw. For instance, when scolding Israfeel or me...
In any case, if one had to pinpoint Isabel Sedent's "flaw," it lay elsewhere entirely.
"Alright then, Evan! You've rested well, so let's get energized and start exploring the city!"
"......"
The sun had risen. Having gone to bed early the night before and woken up ahead of schedule to finish her morning routine, Isabel beamed at me with her radiant, glowing face as she roused me from sleep.
Her sparkling eyes brooked no tolerance for oversleeping, so I dragged my haggard self out of bed with a weary stagger.
I hadn't checked the mirror, but I could clearly imagine the sorry state of my face without looking.
In contrast, Isabel's pale skin practically shone with a healthy luster, as if she'd slept like a baby all night.
...Lete used to look exactly like that the mornings after squeezing me dry all night long.
Could Isabel be draining my vitality by treating me like some kind of living doll? Like that Absorption Great Law technique used by warriors of the Eastern Empire?
It was absurd nonsense, of course, but I had no counterargument to the fact that the principle seemed eerily similar.
I barely swallowed a rude remark that nearly slipped out and muttered laboriously instead.
"...I'll go wash up......"
"Sure thing! Take your time."
I brushed past Isabel—who smiled innocently, oblivious to my inner turmoil—and fled into the bathroom.
Then, under the shower's icy spray, I jolted my foggy mind fully awake.
"Haa."
A sigh escaped me unbidden. Isabel had left me with a few cryptic words before drifting off to dreamland without a care, but I hadn't been so lucky. That was the nightmare of last night.
She clung to me with such strength that, short of prying her off with real determination, I couldn't even shake her loose.
Yet waking someone who'd just fallen asleep felt too heartless.
I'd figured closing my eyes for a bit would let sleep come quickly, so I'd given up on it—a grave mistake.
This stunningly beautiful woman, motherly as she might be, had wrapped herself around me from behind in the flimsiest of attire and fallen defenselessly asleep.
My training-honed mental fortitude hadn't helped one bit. Not when every twitch of hers sent my lower half into full alert.
If exhaustion hadn't finally knocked me out at the very end, who knows what might have happened.
Getting back to the point, these very traits were the decisive "flaws" in Isabel Sedent.
She was a bit too naive, perhaps. Just the night before, she'd assured me, "Hey, I won't do anything naughty!" Then, the moment I acted like there was no chance of that happening, she'd let her guard down completely.
'Even so, how could she relax that much around a guy and...'
The memory of that back hug from last night made my face heat up, my nether regions stirring once more.
She was truly a cruel woman. How could anyone resist when she acted so trusting?
Give in to desire and pin her down? I lacked the confidence to handle the shocked, saddened look she'd give me afterward...
"Whew."
In the end, all I could do was muster every ounce of my patience.
Irritation boiling over, I raked a hand through my hair in frustration before resolving to at least pretend to be calm.
In any event, the reason I was here was the evaluation mission.
With the reports trickling in from the ducal territory, the oracle received by His Holiness the Pope, and Duke Rayhem's suspicious demeanor—all pointing to something gravely amiss—I had to stay focused as a Saint Candidate, no matter the interference.
With that firm resolve, I quickly dried off and began preparing to head out.
Duke Rayhem's territory—and especially the city of Verdil—was firmly under the duke's thumb.
Even the Sun Church struggled to exert influence without more than a mere dispatched priest.
And if they were showing such overt hostility despite inviting us themselves, it was obvious they had ulterior motives.
To that end, Isabel and I had split up our actions over the past few days, likely to dilute the surveillance we were under by at least a little.
Isabel was searching the outskirts' slums for black mages, per Duke Rayhem's request.
I was shaking off the watchers and sneaking into the pleasure district in the city's heart.
With the duke focusing most of his attention on Isabel, a mere Saint Candidate like me had relatively free rein.
I'd visited red-light districts and casinos alike, posing as a patron, but...
"......I didn't sense anything unusual. The red-light district and casino were both perfectly ordinary."
"Hmm."
The problem was that there was truly nothing to sense—no demonic aura from the demon realm or devils, not even the foul, low-grade mana reeked by black mages.
If I, whose divine affinity now rivaled Israfeel or Isabel's, felt absolutely nothing, then there really was nothing there.
As I reported this day after day for four straight days, Isabel's expression grew increasingly grave.
She was wiping the water from her golden hair with a towel, wrapped in her hotel robe as usual.
After furrowing her brow in thought for a moment, she let out a deep sigh.
"Haa, what a frustrating situation. My anger toward Duke Rayhem just keeps building."
"Hmm, how were things in the slums?"
"...Well, as expected, nothing noteworthy there either. Even the shady organization flagged by the duke's steward was just a bland collection of riffraff."
She spat it out bitterly, and I murmured in kind with a heavy heart.
"Then the auction house must be the epicenter. The red-light district only had ordinary prostitutes, and the casino was just addicts and guards."
"That seems the most likely."
"For now, at least."
Isabel nodded at my addendum. Four days of combing the city left only the auction house untouched.
Sneaking in was impossible with the knight order guarding it so tightly, and outright asking the duke felt too fishy.
So we could only wait for the auction day when nobles from across the empire gathered.
As time dragged on, an ominous premonition grew that something would erupt that very day.
As I mulled over these thoughts with a darkened expression, Isabel gave me a wry look and clapped her hands lightly.
"Come on... Don't make such a gloomy face. You know missions down from the mountains don't always go as planned, right?"
"...Yeah. I know."
Shaking off the stray thoughts wasn't easy, but I managed to soften my features somewhat.
Isabel rewarded me with a bright smile, as if pleased.
"Then shall we call it a day and rest?"
"......"
She'd passed down the death sentence. The fifth time I'd survived it, no less.
I turned my head stiffly, but Isabel had already slipped into bed.
"Come on, Evan! We need a good night's sleep to stay sharp tomorrow, too!"
She patted the spot beside her eagerly, a gesture that terrified me to my core.
I felt profound sadness, but refusing her was no easy task.
I'd already caved once before when I'd pointed to the sofa for separate sleeping, only for her to tear up and ask if she'd done something wrong.
"...Yes, Isabel."
This wasn't a yes-or-no choice. For me, the only option was nodding frantically and hitting "yes" repeatedly.
I realized at some point that, in these relaxed moments, she called me "Evan" instead of the more formal "Evan."
But what did such trivia matter?
Wearing a smile of enlightenment like some ascetic monk, I staggered into bed—
"......Heh......"
And once again, Mother Isabel used me as her living pillow to sink into the sweetest slumber.
What a wicked woman.
"Nggh......"
Sensing a sudden emptiness, Isabel blinked her dazed eyes with a sleepy mumble.
It felt like being rudely yanked from a wonderful dream midway. Staring at the darkened cabin ceiling, she lingered in that hazy state of half-consciousness.
"Evaaann......?"
Once her vision cleared a bit, she glanced to the side. Her living pillow had vanished from its spot sometime ago.
That sense of emptiness before waking must have been Evan.
"......Yaaawn."
Still in her defenseless night attire, she stretched languidly and sat up.
Blinking again, she scanned the room—and her eyes fell on the bathroom, the only source of faint light in the spacious suite.
Not fully awake yet, Isabel hopped out of bed on instinct.
She scratched her cheek absentmindedly and took a step forward.
Naturally, toward the bathroom.
Up to that point, Isabel hadn't thought much of it. She probably assumed Evan had stepped in for a moment and planned to surprise him when he came out.
She crept forward on tiptoe to muffle her footsteps, reaching the bathroom door.
Through the frosted glass, where his silhouette faintly showed, a small voice drifted out.
Evan talking to himself? Curious but unconcerned, Isabel perked up her ears.
"......Haa, haa. Isabel... ngh......!"
"......"
The tiny voice struck her ears like lightning the next instant, snapping her wide awake.
Her face flushed crimson as her hands trembled like a malfunctioning robot, silent.
What had she just heard? Had she even heard it right?
'I-I-It must be, it must be a m-mishearing from half-asleep.'
Her brain froze in an instant. Isabel turned beet red, steam practically rising from her head as she swayed unsteadily.
"──Ah."
Her already-weak legs from lingering sleep gave out at that precise moment.
Isabel's body pitched forward. Instinctively, she reached out to steady herself.
And then.
'N-Nooo, don't......!?'
The bathroom's glass door—thoughtless as ever—slid open with that lightest touch, fulfilling its role perfectly and allowing entry from outside.
"......Isabel!?"
"Ah, uh. A-aaaaaa."
It was a heartbreaking turn for Isabel.
She collapsed with a thud, her hands hitting the bathroom floor.
She saw him.