Chapter 52
Chapter 52
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: 052. Persephone - (3)
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Saintess Candidate Elise Aurora de Lua's escape reached Archbishop Balua's ears shortly after the sun had set.
It was the maid who had gone to fetch her for dinner who discovered the room was empty and reported it immediately.
"What in the world is going on?!"
Naturally, Balua flew into a rage.
The ritual was about to commence.
With only about three hours of leeway left, Elise had fled.
"...That wench... she's nothing but trouble to the bitter end..."
Balua scowled and barked an order at the knight.
"Bring that priest here right now and torture him in the middle of the grand cathedral. If she hears his screams, Elise will come crawling back on her own."
In that sense, capturing Priest Leo had been a stroke of luck. He had served as the most effective means of controlling Elise.
However, the knight's expression turned subtle upon hearing Balua's command.
"Archbishop, there's actually one more thing I need to report."
"What is it."
"That priest escaped as well."
BAM!
It was the sound of Archbishop Balua slamming his fist on the desk. The expensive mahogany table shattered completely.
"What nonsense is this?!"
The priest had escaped too?
How could such a thing even be possible?
"How did both of them get away?! Didn't I tell you to tie them up properly?!"
"W-We did tie them properly! There was nothing wrong with the ropes!"
There was only one possibility.
That priest had escaped and rescued Elise.
It couldn't have been Elise escaping first. She had already been dosed with drugs in preparation for the ritual. A poison that dispersed all her bodily energies, including her holy power. Elise wouldn't have been able to use holy magic or anything like it.
"Didn't you say that priest had no holy power in his body?"
"Yes. Captain Gregorius of the knights personally confirmed it. Priest Leo has no holy power whatsoever."
Grind.
Balua ground his teeth.
He didn't know what trick they had used, but anyone who dared ruin his plans would face bloody retribution.
For this moment, Balua had prepared for a full twenty years. That was how long it had taken to raise Elise from a mere infant into a proper saintess candidate.
He couldn't allow that long effort to be ruined by some no-name priest who popped up out of nowhere.
"They haven't escaped the grand cathedral yet. Dispatch knights to pursue them. But do not harm Elise's body. That wench must ascend the altar with a pristine form."
"What about the priest with her?"
"Kill him."
He answered without hesitation.
The water was already spilled.
He planned to butcher the priest right in front of Elise's eyes and crush her last remaining hope completely.
We raced through the corridors of the grand cathedral.
Word of our escape had likely reached the archbishop by now. He would undoubtedly order our pursuit. For someone like me with no combat ability, encountering the Holy See's knights would mean game over.
"Priest, this way."
Fortunately, Elise was familiar with the cathedral's layout as a saintess candidate.
With Elise leading as our guide, we navigated the maze-like corridors with ease.
However...
'Is this really the right way...?'
I couldn't help but think that as I followed behind her.
The liturgical garb Elise was wearing had been refashioned with a dagger. It exposed her legs boldly, along with her shoulders, collarbone, and even her armpits.
It wasn't extremely revealing, but it was still rather daring.
Definitely not something a saintess would wear.
'...She was this stacked?'
In the original game, Elise always wore loose-fitting clothes, making it hard to gauge her figure. But seeing her up close with my own eyes, she had far more pronounced curves than expected.
No, this wasn't the time for that.
Focus. No stray thoughts.
The archbishop was surely after us now, and if we got caught, it was all over. At minimum, we had to sow chaos inside until Sophia and the others stormed the cathedral.
I did my best not to stare at Elise's backside.
Of course, that effort was in vain as Elise turned back toward me with a seductive smile that crinkled the corners of her eyes.
"What's wrong, Priest?"
"Uh..."
Did she have eyes in the back of her head?
No citizen of the kingdom would call her a saintess right now.
'Well, she did say she's not one.'
In the original story, after her Act 3 awakening event, Elise declared she would live as a true saintess, not just a candidate.
But now, Elise had declared she would live not as a saintess, but simply as a human faithful to her desires.
A complete departure from the original.
All my doing.
'Can I even salvage this?'
I recalled our conversation in the dark room just moments ago.
Elise had seemed so fragile that I ended up comforting her more than necessary.
But how could I just leave her sobbing?
'What can you do.'
It was my mess, after all. Who else could I blame? As I followed Elise like that,
—Clank.
"Priest, ahead..."
"Yeah. I heard it too."
Along with the sound of greaves, knights appeared at the end of the corridor. The silver lining was that they weren't Holy See knights, but low-ranking holy knights assigned to the cathedral.
"There they are!"
"Surrender immediately!"
The knights drew their swords. Up until the kidnapping at the villa, they had restrained from using force, but with the ritual approaching, even they seemed desperate.
A few knights approaching frowned upon seeing Elise's outfit.
Of course, there was no room to laugh at the farce.
Elise turned to me with a troubled expression.
"Priest, what do we do?"
She placed a hand on her chest and continued.
"I... can't use holy power right now..."
Elise was currently unable to use holy power due to the drug Balua had administered. A so-called empty shell. A tin can. A debuff from the original game.
Without holy power, Elise was just a fragile maiden. She couldn't resist the knights in the slightest.
"Miss Elise."
But did I embark on this escape without accounting for that?
"Didn't you tell me before?"
"Pardon?"
"That even without holy power in your body, you could draw on external holy power."
"...External holy power."
It was something she had said herself during my holy magic lessons from her.
I pulled a white handkerchief from my pocket and placed it in Elise's hand. Her golden eyes widened.
"...Ah."
"A gift."
If Elise couldn't use holy power, I just needed to give her a spare battery. It would be far more efficient for her to use it than me.
Elise stared at the handkerchief with wide eyes, then burst into a soft laugh.
"As expected, you always have a plan, Priest. It's downright admirable."
Elise turned her body.
"Then, I'll gladly make use of it."
Elise cradled the handkerchief preciously in both hands.
Immediately after, the high-density holy power stored in the handkerchief gathered at her fingertips.
—Fwaaaah!
The corridor flooded with dazzling golden light.
Exquisite control of holy power, incomparable to an amateur like me.
I deeply understood that her claim of me having talent during that lesson was just lip service.
"Urk! Th-This is...!"
"Holy power? But we drugged her!"
As the knights panicked, Elise elegantly extended her hand.
"Step aside."
Following her gesture, the light formed into a massive barrier.
It wasn't merely a defensive wall. It was a brutal weapon that crushed with overwhelming mass. Even larger and more ferocious than during the Twin Towers incident.
"I can't have you interrupting my date with the priest."
—Kwaaang!
The enormous barrier slammed into the knights. The men in heavy armor crumpled like paper and flew down the corridor.
"...Insane."
As I marveled at her merciless handiwork, Elise spun around gracefully.
"Shall we go? The night is still young."
What had I created?
How was this a party's healer?
"Over there!"
Such thoughts were fleeting. Holy knights came rushing from the direction we had come, drawn by the commotion. The ones we had just downed were recovering and raising their swords again.
We were trapped on both sides.
No matter how miraculous Elise's holy magic was, it would be hard to win against this many combatants.
"...This is bad."
I grimaced in distress.
——Kwaaaaang!
At that moment, one wall of the corridor was torn away entirely.
Chiiiing.
Whoosh.
A massive chill swept through like a storm, freezing the corridor solid. Immediately after, a wall of flames surged between the corridors, blocking the knights' approach.
"Argh!"
"M-Magic! Fall back! There's a mage!"
The knights scattered in panic, looking around wildly. But all they saw was the blond priest standing awkwardly beside Elise.
...That was me.
"Th-That priest is using magic!"
Naturally, they assumed I was the one behind all these miracles.
'...No, it's not me.'
I don't know any magic.
So whose magic was aiding us now?
The mystery was solved soon enough.
"Hello there."
Someone greeted us from outside the corridor.
Against the moonlit night, a woman in a gray cadet uniform floated in the air, her brown hair drifting like it was swimming through the sky. Large horn-rimmed glasses and an equally impressive bust were her striking features.
"...Ah."
Among all characters in Throne of the Academy, if you picked the one with the best DPS, it was always this brown-haired woman.
It was only natural.
She was destined to become a grand mage.
One of the game's protagonists.
"The situation doesn't look great for a peaceful greeting."
"Isolde."
Isolde, the top student of the Magic Department. The grand witch herself.
She was right before my eyes.
Summer break, yet she hadn't gone home?
Before I could smile, Isolde's gray eyes sparkled. Her gaze was fixed on me.
"Ah, are you perhaps the teacher that Otilie was talking about?"
"...No."
I've never been a teacher.
A little while back in time.
One hour earlier.
"The infiltration teams for the grand cathedral will be divided into two."
Under Dean Cornelius's approval, the operation to rescue Saintess Candidate Elise was formed.
"Team 1 will enter through the main entrance of the central building head-on. Swordsmanship Instructor Chiron, Sophia Aquilova, and the academy's guard forces will handle it."
"Understood."
Swordsmanship Instructor Chiron, hastily summoned, nodded.
"Team 1's role is solely to draw the cathedral's forces to the main gate. Maintain a standoff rather than breaking through. Meanwhile, Team 2 led by Everett will enter through the back door. It will consist mainly of academy faculty, Isolde from the Magic Department, and maids from Ophelia Hall. Finally, Otilie Kete von Ihen Dorp will provide communication and support from the rear via her dolls."
A perfectly rational plan.
But opposition arose.
"I don't like it."
Naturally, it was Sophia.
Cornelius's expression turned subtle.
"Why do I have to just draw attention? I want to be the one rescuing my teacher."
"..."
Sophia was quite dissatisfied at being used merely as bait.
And she wasn't alone.
"I don't want to stay back either."
Otilie objected too.
Seeing the two cadets boldly using informal speech before the dean, Cornelius's glasses slipped down his nose in disbelief.
"...Ahem. It's simply the most efficient strategy. You need to cooperate if we want to save that teacher of yours."
"Doesn't look efficient to me."
"Exactly."
"..."
Should he kick them out right now?
Cornelius seriously considered the option.
However, their skills were top-notch. According to Swordsmanship Instructor Chiron, Sophia Aquilova had single-handedly repelled multiple assassins, and Otilie Kete von Ihen Dorp had the endorsement of Everett, the guiding professor of the Gray Tower, as an exceptional cadet.
"Fine... We'll make a Team 3. Just the two of you. Elite squad. Sophia Aquilova, Otilie Kete von Ihen Dorp. You'll infiltrate from the rooftop. As for a leader..."
He pondered briefly.
Appointing someone to command them—would it even matter?
Unfortunately, the academy had no faculty who specialized in taming wild beasts.
"...Just handle it yourselves."
"Okay."
"Great."
Cornelius made the rational decision.