Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Kidnapping (1)
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The coastal city of Bellus was shrouded in thick shadows of night.
Elise and Helena continued their heated discussion. They were in the midst of fleshing out the detailed plan for Operation Leviathan.
"Please wait just a moment, miss."
The first to react to the anomaly was the maid Helena. The maids of Ophelia Hall possessed extraordinarily heightened senses. Thanks to that, Helena instinctively knew something was wrong.
"Something's off. The air around us has changed."
"The air? What do you mean?"
Elise frowned, not understanding. Helena hurriedly drew back the curtains and scowled at the barrier enveloping the mansion.
"...This is."
"It's a holy barrier. Did one of the Holy Knights erect a shield around the building? Though I can't imagine why they'd need to..."
Elise tilted her head.
"Hmm... But why is it so dark in color? I've never seen one like this."
No sooner had Elise muttered those words than the corridor grew noisy.
——Clank.
The sound of greaves echoed, and the door burst open roughly. Standing beyond the doorway were Holy Knights.
"What brings the knights here?"
Elise asked casually, but the knights' demeanor was far from normal. Their helmets were pulled low, signaling they were on duty.
Seeing this, Helena pieced it together.
"What is the meaning of this insolence...!"
Helena stepped forward with a sharp rebuke, but one of the Holy Knights shoved her aside roughly and addressed Elise.
"Lady Saintess Candidate. You must come with us."
"...Come with you?"
Elise shook her head in confusion, and Helena drew a dagger from her bosom.
"The moment you lay a hand on the miss, there will be no turning back. Are you not afraid of the Grand Cathedral? The Archbishop will not stand for this."
In response to Helena's warning, the lead knight let out a small sigh before replying.
"This is by order of that very Archbishop. To escort the Saintess Candidate to the Grand Cathedral."
"...What did you say?"
Helena's eyes widened. She had assumed it was a rogue act by a few knights, but it was not.
They were following the Archbishop's orders.
Which meant...
"The Archbishop... wants me?"
Elise, grasping the situation, frowned and asked.
"We cannot provide details. However, if you comply quietly, there will be no commotion."
"And if I refuse to come quietly?"
"We will have no choice but to use force."
A voice utterly businesslike.
The knights moved with precision and without hesitation, as if it had all been planned in advance.
"...What in the world."
By now, even Elise was at a loss.
"Why?"
Archbishop Balua was mobilizing Holy Knights to abduct her.
Until now, he had been a strict leader. But never this reckless.
Elise pondered deeply. Perhaps it was because her recent transgressions had gone too far, prompting this harsh measure.
She quickly reconsidered.
It seemed unlikely the Archbishop would privately deploy the Holy Knights—key assets of the Church—for mere reprimand.
Which meant there was another reason.
A crucial one, important enough to forgo explanations to her, a Saintess Candidate, and even resort to force if necessary.
Come to think of it, she had heard recently that Archbishop Balua was so absorbed in some research that he was taking his meals in his study.
"No."
That wasn't important right now.
Elise turned to scan the faces of the knights filling the room.
"Helena, I don't see the Knight Commander."
"Miss, what are you saying all of a sudden?"
Elise bit her lower lip hard.
She wasn't a fool.
On the contrary, she had spent years at the Grand Cathedral under sharp scrutiny. She had honed her ability to read the room.
These men intended to illegally abduct her, a Saintess Candidate.
As such, they wanted to minimize any fuss.
From their perspective, they needed to eliminate witnesses.
And the witnesses here were...
"Priest Leo is in danger."
"But miss... you are in danger right now as well."
"No."
Elise shook her head.
"They won't kill me."
This was Archbishop Balua's command. She didn't know why he was doing this, but Balua would never kill Elise.
If he truly intended to kill her, he would have done so long ago.
He had opportunities dozens—no, hundreds—of times.
Moreover, the Holy Knights hadn't drawn their swords. They had no intention of harming her.
But Priest Leo was different.
To them, Priest Leo and Sophia Aquilova were sudden interlopers and witnesses.
"Knight Commander Gregorius will try to kill Priest. Helena, you can escape with your skills. Please, rescue my teacher."
Helena scowled at Elise's desperate plea.
"Even so, how can you expect a mere maid like me to abandon you and—"
"Helena."
Elise fixed Helena with a cold expression—one Helena had never seen before.
"That's an order. Go now and save Priest and Miss Sophia."
"...Miss."
"Please."
Elise gave a wry smile.
When Helena still hesitated, she added in as calm a tone as possible.
"This time... hmm. Shall we call it Operation Persephone?"
"..."
In the end, Helena had no choice but to reluctantly agree.
"Miss, I will lodge a formal protest with the Grand Cathedral about this."
"We'll see about that when the time comes."
Helena slipped out the window with practiced ease. A few knights moved to pursue, but they couldn't match the stealth of an Ophelia Hall maid.
"So, you have business with me?"
She had no intention of going quietly.
Elise summoned her holy barrier.
She needed to buy as much time as possible here, holding them off.
For Priest's sake, at least.
"..."
Elise's face twisted.
In the end, her stubbornness had dragged Priest into their scheme.
"This is agonizing."
If there were a whip for penance, she wanted to lash her own back.
It was a painful feeling.
The main event of Act 3 in Throne of the Academy—and Archbishop Balua's plan—had been foreshadowed several times before.
Especially the suspicious ritual performed through Elise during the Holy Week festival was one of them.
In the original story, Elise would notice Balua's dark intentions during that ritual and spend the entire summer break preparing her resistance.
However, Elise was currently in Bellus, a situation frustrating enough for Archbishop Balua. With the groundwork meant for the Holy Week festival gone to waste, he was resorting to outright abduction.
In conclusion, the main event of the original story had been accelerated.
'This is tricky.'
At this point earlier than in the original, there weren't many ways to save Elise if she were kidnapped.
So...
"Miss Sophia, we must rescue Sister Elise right now."
"That whitey?"
Sophia grimaced, her Ink Sword drawn.
"The situation is urgent. Those knights are clearly targeting the Saintess Candidate. If you don't help, it'll be a disaster."
"B-but... Teacher is..."
"I'll be fine. Hurry."
I urgently pushed Sophia's back. In the end, she reluctantly kicked open the door and dashed down the corridor.
'Can she win?'
Holy Knights were no mere escorts.
They were Archbishop Balua's fanatical followers and the primary antagonists of Act 3. Granted partial divine powers, they wielded magic, swordsmanship, and holy energy like all-purpose Swiss Army knives.
It was impossible for Sophia's current strength to take them all down.
But she could buy time.
"Alright, first things first—let's escape."
While Sophia stalled, I had no choice but to find a way out of the mansion.
Start by locating the barrier's weak point. Fortunately, I could use holy magic now. With enough time, I could find a vulnerability and open a path out.
That was when I turned—
——Crunch.
The floor caved in, and someone rose up.
A long-haired man in black armor.
Holy Knight Commander Gregorius.
"Hah, figures."
Lately, I'd noticed the worst scenarios always seemed to pick me.
"Here to eliminate a witness?"
In response to my question, Gregorius shook his head.
"That would have been the plan. But you're no longer just a witness."
"What?"
"The Saintess Candidate follows you. I heard you were the one who instructed her."
"...Instruc, ted?"
Was he referring to that confessional rite?
Gregorius took a step toward me.
"Cooperate quietly, and you won't be harmed. Resist, and remember I can easily sever an arm."
I scowled.
Gregorius showed no particular hostility. He hadn't even drawn his sword.
"What do you plan to do with me?"
"Take you to the Archbishop along with the Saintess Candidate. That's all."
In the original, Elise was abducted as a sacrifice toward the end of summer break, after the Holy Week festival.
But now was different. The Holy Knights seemed intent on taking not just Elise, but me as well.
I didn't know what misunderstanding led to it, but they apparently saw me not as some lowly priest, but as an important figure who had taught the Saintess something.
"Hmm..."
I thought it over.
'Might not be so bad, actually?'
Could I resist Gregorius here and survive?
No. The only holy magic I could use was healing, useless against a mid-boss like him.
But if I went quietly?
Then I could reach the Grand Cathedral unscathed. Skipping past the tight security, I'd drop right into the heart of Act 3's main event.
From the moment Elise showed up by the seaside, I could no longer stand by with folded arms.
As the saying goes, two heads are better than one. Better me accompanying her in confinement than her alone.
"What do you plan to do with me once you take me?"
"You have no need to know."
"True, no obligation. But convince me, and you'll save yourself some trouble. I might even stop resisting."
Gregorius's eyes narrowed.
"...Fair enough. You're a priest, so you might understand our cause."
Gregorius nodded readily.
"To put it simply: We intend to manifest the gods' power. Draw forth the might of the God Era in this Human Era. The barrier over this place is one such divine manifestation."
"Hmm."
Of course, I knew.
It was just a test question.
'Doesn't seem like anything's changed.'
Archbishop Balua uses Elise as a sacrifice to manifest the God Era's power into the world.
But the ritual fails, and what emerges isn't the power, but its owner: the Fallen Archangel.
That's Act 3's boss.
Their plan is doomed to fail. The Archangel rampages, the Grand Cathedral collapses, and Elise—offered as sacrifice—survives gravely injured.
In the end, their scheme fails, and the cathedral becomes a wreck.
So going along quietly and exploiting the Archangel's rampage might work in my favor.
"Got it. I understand."
I held out both hands to make cuffing easier.
"...Not bad. Take him."
"You're serious?"
Gregorius looked surprised.
He probably hadn't expected such cooperation.
But what could he do? This was the most rational choice I had.
"Just one more thing."
"What?"
"What about the red-haired student I was with?"
"Witnesses die. That's it."
"Hmph."
I snorted.
"You won't kill her."
As expected, the Holy Knights intended to kill Sophia. But she was strong. Unburdened by anyone needing protection, she could surely escape.
'Please, Sophia.'
All I could hope was that while Elise and I stirred things up inside the Grand Cathedral, Sophia would do something from outside.
Sometimes, an ominous premonition strikes.
And usually, such premonitions are never wrong.
Bang.
A noise from the first floor.
Toward Elise's room. But Sophia caught the scent. The smell of the knight who had been watching them during dinner earlier.
That knight's scent was mixed with Priest Leo's.
The implication was simple.
"Eek."
Teacher was in danger.
But Sophia hesitated. Teacher had clearly ordered her to save Elise. That whitey was still resisting the knights.
Teacher's orders were absolute. No matter how much she disliked Elise de Lua, if Teacher commanded her to help, she had to obey.
But...
——'Do you remember the Twin Towers incident? I nearly died to the chimeras because I couldn't escape in time...'
She had heard Teacher barely survived the previous incident because she had been absent.
"...No."
What use was following orders if Teacher was in peril? Protecting him was Sophia's role as the 'Sword'.
In the end, Sophia headed back up to the second floor. Then she spotted Priest Leo in manacles and the knight in ink-black armor holding the rope, at the end of the long corridor.
"...How dare you, to Teacher...!"
Sophia raised her Ink Sword, preparing to charge the knight.
But the moment she pushed off the floor, someone yanked her through a slightly ajar door.
"—Guhk."
Sophia reflexively reversed her grip on the Ink Sword. But upon seeing who had pulled her into the room, she froze.
"...You're the maid...?"
None other than the maid Helena.
Only then did Sophia understand.
"So you're the traitor."
Sophia gritted her teeth and swung the Ink Sword. But Helena deftly deflected it and twisted Sophia's wrist.
"Eek."
"Calm down. Don't make a sound. We'll be caught."
"What are you talking about?!"
"Please listen. I'm trying to save you right now."
"Nonsense! Teacher is being kidnapped... right now!"
Squeeze.
"Yes. I know."
The gripped wrist wouldn't budge.
How did a mere maid possess such strength?
"But this isn't the time to act. Charging into those knights now would just add one more dog death."
"...What?"
"They're only abducting Priest Leo and the miss. They have no intention of killing them. But you? To them, you're just a thorn in the side. Rushing into the enemy midst guarantees your death."
"..."
"Suicide charges aren't wise. Even your precious teacher would surely stop you."
"So I should just watch Teacher get kidnapped?"
"We won't just let it happen. Their destination is obvious anyway. Under Archbishop Balua's orders, they're surely heading to the Erebos-affiliated Grand Cathedral."
The Grand Cathedral.
Sophia's expression chilled at the words.
If Teacher was taken there, no individual power of hers could rescue him.
"We have to stop them now."
"Please hear me out fully. Do you think your teacher—who knows this—went quietly without resisting because he didn't understand that?"
"That's..."
Sophia was at a loss for words.
From repeated experiences, Teacher's choices had never been wrong.
If Teacher had gone without resisting, there must be a good reason.
"Listen well. If they go to the Grand Cathedral, we follow. Once in Erebos, explain to the headmaster and faculty, inform Her Highness the Princess—this can force the Cathedral's doors open. Far wiser than the suicide you nearly attempted."
Under Helena's logical persuasion, Sophia clamped her mouth shut.
After a brief silence, Sophia clenched her fist until blood welled in her palm and sheathed the Ink Sword.
"Well done. A wise decision."
"Just one thing first."
Sophia looked up.
Her jade-green eyes shimmered with clear killing intent. As Helena flinched, Sophia continued.
"If so much as a scratch appears on Teacher, I'll cut you down alongside those bastards."
"...Understood. Scary."
A killing aura so honed it seemed to cleave souls.
Helena felt a chill crawl up her spine.