Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: The Fake Pedigree
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Paris Emporus was bound to pull something shady, and sure enough, he did.
He'd tricked the temple attendant into swiping the token.
"Just as we expected, so no damage done."
Rachel said, arms crossed. Abyss nodded in agreement.
"What should I do now? Clero must be so disappointed in me."
Hey, Agno thought his guardian priest must be let down and burst into pitiful tears.
According to Agno's account, he'd been duped by Paris Emporus into slipping a sleeping pill to his favorite priest and stealing the book.
All without realizing it was wrong.
The baron had said the priest wasn't getting enough sleep and must be exhausted, so he gave him a medicine to ensure a deep night's rest. Agno, wanting his priest to rest easy, had mixed it into his tea and brought it over.
Then he'd taken the book—responsible for piling on the priest's workload—and shown it to the baron.
The baron had examined the book, soaked in holy water and special solutions by the priests, and said it needed to be dried in the sun, telling him to hang it at the sunny laundry spot outside the temple.
And to stave off boredom, he'd even given him cookies.
Agno had followed the instructions without sensing anything off.
After eating the cookies, sleep had come over him gradually, and when he woke, the book was gone.
"To think he'd use a child. I figured he'd stir up chaos and send in intruders."
Rachel stroked the crying Agno's back as she replied. Abyss wore a look of having been caught off guard.
"At least we got to see how the baron reacted when he lost the token. Not a bad outcome."
Abyss replied in a nonchalant tone.
Agno, already sad about losing the book, grew even more aggrieved by how casually the sister and man who'd promised to help were taking it.
"Why aren't you doing anything? You said you'd help if I told you everything."
"Because there's no real problem. Let's head back to the temple now."
"No! I can't go until we find the book."
At Abyss's words, Agno shook his head while crying. Abyss scratched his head.
"About that book—no need to worry too much."
Agno's tears stopped abruptly at Abyss's words. He asked again.
"Huh?"
Rachel chimed in triumphantly.
"It's a fake."
If you see your opponent's move coming and don't counter it, you're an amateur.
Once Rachel and Abyss learned Paris Emporus would be staying at the main temple, they sprang into action.
In truth, investigating the book wouldn't have taken a full fortnight.
The special solution to reveal the hidden text had been supplied by Abyss, and all the concealed writing was already exposed.
The demon's name appeared in the lineage, and deducing the sacrifice for the necromantic rite was the hardest part—but that could be figured out from transcribed copies too.
In other words, once the transcription was complete, there was no need to view the actual lineage for the investigation.
To prepare for any contingencies, they'd sent a letter to Enoch, who had gone ahead to the temple, asking him to convince the other senior priests.
Enoch had consulted with Peace the priestess and the senior priests, including Clero, arranging for him to guard the real lineage while they pretended to investigate a fake one.
Thus, the book Clero had been analyzing was a forgery crafted by Abyss's subordinates using aged parchment and special solutions.
Even as Rachel declared it fake, Abyss added one more line to the boy, who still didn't look pleased.
"The book you lost is a fake."
"But the other priests and temple knights said the book was lost...!"
"The temple announcing the book's loss was just theater for show."
If something as crucial as a demon token went missing without any reaction, wouldn't Paris Emporus get suspicious?
Sorry to the clueless junior priests, but the senior ones had staged this to determine if Paris Emporus was tied to demons.
"It wasn't a very temple-like response, but they jumped at the chance once we mentioned the demon king might be summoned."
It wouldn't have happened without pooling each person's knowledge and info.
The facts uncovered and gathered by Abyss and Rachel had meshed with Enoch's knowledge, revealing someone's attempt to summon the demon king, so the temple had started moving in earnest.
Rachel extended a hand to the tearful Agno.
"Come on, let's go."
"But I..."
Agno felt relieved hearing the book was safe. Yet he hesitated to take Rachel's outstretched hand.
The book might be fine, but he'd still done wrong. Agno feared Clero the priest would hate him for it.
To the boy, Rachel spoke in a gentle tone.
"Everyone makes mistakes."
The child stared at Rachel's hand.
"But covering up a mistake isn't right. You have to own up to it and reflect—that's how people grow."
"If I apologize, will Clero hate me?"
At Agno's question, Rachel and Abyss exchanged glances.
They'd thought the kid was scared of punishment for doing wrong, but he was actually afraid of being hated by Clero.
Rachel didn't know who Clero was, but if the boy felt this way, he must be a good person.
"The priest won't hate you. But if you just vanish without a word, he'll definitely be sad."
"Really?"
"Yeah. So let's go back."
But as Agno and Rachel turned to head to the temple, an arrow flew at them.
It was unmistakably aimed at Agno's throat, but a pure white light enveloped them, deflecting the arrow.
"Good thing we prepared."
"I suggested it just in case, but it was useful right away—kinda annoying."
Before coming here, Rachel had asked Abyss to prepare an artifact to block attacks, anticipating the unexpected.
A precaution born from her experiences dying multiple times.
Abyss had agreed, and the artifact they'd brought proved handy.
"Looks like the baron has no intention of letting this boy live."
Paris Emporus had been under holy knights' watch all day.
No outsiders besides temple attendants had entered, and Paris hadn't slipped surveillance.
Thus, there was only circumstantial evidence against him despite the book's disappearance—no hard proof.
But if Agno returned to the temple and revealed what Paris had said, suspicion would reignite.
In short, Paris had planned to eliminate Agno from the start.
"For the record, I'm no good at fighting."
Abyss declared upfront that he couldn't fight well. Rachel nodded.
"I know. Wasn't counting on you."
Rachel hadn't expected Abyss to fight anyway. The self-proclaimed "brains" type wouldn't step up.
Instead, he fired a signal flare skyward, spewing red smoke. It whistled sharply, echoing loudly.
While Abyss launched the flare, Rachel fitted the monocle from Harpy over her right eye.
Before coming here, Abyss had her tested for aptitude by Harpy instead of introducing a mage right away.
Harpy had said Rachel had magical talent and given her a monocle that visualized mana.
Suppressing her churning stomach, she scanned the direction the arrow came from. Behind the dense trees, she spotted a black human silhouette.
"One assassin!"
Sios Territory was the Lux Church's holy land.
Unauthorized outsiders couldn't approach freely, so a large group couldn't sneak in undetected.
Paris Emporus had figured one kid was easy pickings and hadn't sent many men.
"We just have to hold out. The holy knights and priests will come soon."
The temple wasn't far. Those spotting the flare would rush over.
In the meantime, another arrow flew. It bounced off again. Rachel watched the scene closely.
"How much longer can it hold?"
The artifact could block for now, but it wasn't invincible.
At Rachel's question, Abyss held up four fingers, excluding his thumb. Then he flexed one repeatedly.
"Three, four minutes?"
Rachel guessed at the time, but he shook his head. It was the count.
"Three times means three, four means four—what's with folding and unfolding your fingers?"
"The divine power is strong, hard to gauge precisely."
In another location, Abyss would've pulled out other artifacts to counter.
But near the main temple, divine power density was high, making artifacts hard to use.
Thus, only artifacts with built-in mana worked in the main temple vicinity.
Even Abyss, who usually drew artifacts from his sub-space pouch as needed, couldn't use it now.
The defense artifact they were using could've blocked dozens of attacks briefly under normal conditions, but here it barely managed a few.
"Should've brought another agent who can fight!"
"They're all tied up with the illegal arena mess."
If the assassin had four or five arrows—or more—they were in danger!
Another arrow came in quick succession, and Rachel eyed the direction of its tip intently.
'It's only aiming for the kid's vitals.'
The arrow targeted Agno's throat. The clear intent to silence him made Rachel grit her teeth.
'To kill a child this young for his own greed!'
What could you expect from a man willing to kill his own nephew? Still, Rachel was furious.
Yet the angrier she got, the cooler she became. She was done panicking in unexpected situations.
The mental fortitude honed through physical training anchored her reason.
It let her grasp the situation accurately and find what she could do.
"Does moving cancel the defense?"
"No, it's a barrier centered on me."
"Then let's head toward the temple."
At Rachel's suggestion, Abyss grabbed Agno's hand and bolted temple-ward. Rachel ran behind, watching their backs.
Another arrow shot out. It ricocheted off the barrier, but the mana concentration weakened.
'One more is the limit.'
Branches rustled. As the three put distance between them and the forest, the foe grew frantic and showed himself.
"Finally showing your face."
Abyss muttered over his shoulder while running. The black-clad assassin pursued swiftly.
"Does it only block arrows?"
"Any external impact."
"Got it."
Rachel rested her hands on the dagger and swordbreaker at her waist while running.
Harpy had recommended both—light and easy to swing fast.
Seeing her grip her weapons, Abyss asked casually.
"Gonna fight yourself?"
"We'll be caught soon. You're no fighter, so I have to. Right?"
"Right."
It irked her that after stepping up first, he wasn't volunteering to fight.
'He looks like an adult man—should be stronger in a scrap.'
But Rachel swallowed her complaint. With the protective artifact on him, he had to guard the kid.
"I'm not fighting to take him down anyway. Just surviving is my win."
Through the monocle, Rachel's blue eyes gleamed.
This body that kept dying before—but now she was determined never to die, to protect herself and the child.
"I hope you stay safe."
At that, Rachel halted. Short grass crushed under her shoes, releasing a fresh scent.
Rachel gripped her weapons tight, turned, and faced the charging assassin.
Through the monocle, the assassin's body appeared mingled black and red.
Especially vivid red glowed at the heart, arteries, thighs, legs, and hands.