The Flute-Playing Priest - (1)
Elise visited Isolde's personal research lab.
The room was filled with chilly air, though normally a warm hearth would have heated the interior.
Isolde sat perched on a chair with the window wide open. Her glasses had long been discarded, and her eyes were vacant.
Seeing Isolde's state, Elise immediately realized that she too had heard about the chapel's suspension of operations and the reason behind it.
“...Isolde.”
Isolde didn't raise her head even at Elise's call.
Instead, Isolde clutched her chest tightly and muttered blankly.
“...I can feel it.”
“What do you mean you can feel it?”
“Through the mana link... I can sense the priest's emotions.”
At those words, Elise and Sophia swallowed simultaneously.
Leo had left. Leaving only a single note behind.
So, what emotions was he feeling at this very moment?
“Tell me. How is the priest right now?”
Elise asked cautiously, and Isolde gave a bitter smile.
“He's... far too peaceful.”
“...Peaceful?”
“His heartbeat is slow and stable. His muscles are completely relaxed. It's a perfect sense of liberation that I've never received from the priest before... as if he's been freed from a terrible shackle.”
Elise's expression hardened.
“...So, it means that it's better for Priest Leo without us. Therefore... going to find him is...”
“...”
A heavy silence hung in the air.
Priest Leo was happier than when he had been at the chapel.
Therefore, Isolde couldn't bring herself to hold onto such a Leo. She too had been agonizing over it all night.
Was it my own greed?
Isolde bit her lip.
Thinking about it, Priest Leo had always accepted everything with a smile.
Whether it was forming the mana link, contracting with the spirit, or when she bothered him every afternoon saying she'd teach him magic.
She had thought he was someone who didn't know how to refuse.
But perhaps he simply couldn't refuse.
Was her obsession burdensome to him?
Above all...
Did I... turn him into a tool? Just like I used to be in the past.
Isolde found herself repulsive. She had thought she was saved, but in reality, she was nothing more than a parasite gnawing at the savior who had rescued her.
Therefore, Isolde couldn't hold onto Leo.
With what face could she go find him?
However...
“...Isolde.”
Elise slowly approached and placed her hand on Isolde's shoulder.
Although Elise didn't particularly like this woman with large breasts who pretended to be kind, right now she desperately needed this woman's help to track Leo.
Even if Leo wanted rest.
Because Elise wouldn't allow it.
“Shut up and pack your bags. From now on, we're going to find the priest.”
“...But... the priest said it's better without us...”
“Yes. He might be more comfortable. But you see, I'm not. Without the priest, I have no reason to be doing things like being a saint candidate here.”
Elise's eyelids were trembling. Her golden eyes showed anxiety just like Isolde's, but there was an even greater longing within them.
“Isolde, stop pretending to be kind. The priest is peaceful? So what? Are you going to give up on the priest for the sake of that peace for the rest of your life?”
“That's... if it's for the priest...”
“Lies. I know you're not that noble. Who do you think told the priest about you wearing a mask and pretending to be kind?”
“...What?”
Only then did Isolde raise her head. She had a bewildered expression.
“No. Never mind. Forget it. It's not a very important story.”
Elise shook her head vigorously.
There was no time to explain. Even at this moment, the priest was clearly getting farther away.
“I'm not like Priest Leo, a saint. I'm rather selfish. If there's something I want, I'll take it. If the priest ran away, I'll chase after him and catch him again. If he feels it's a shackle...”
Elise smiled brightly.
“I'll just become an unbreakable, very beautiful and comfortable golden shackle for him.”
“...”
“You feel the same way, don't you?”
Looking at Elise's face, Isolde gulped.
Selfish. Ugly. But... she couldn't deny it.
At the very least, life at the academy with the priest would surely be several times happier than now.
“Th-that's right... Without me, the priest can't even use spirits...”
Isolde desperately thought of a justification.
Whatever it was, she had found a pretext to go find Leo.
“Good attitude.”
Elise chuckled.
“Stop wasting my time and get ready to leave. Don't worry about the guards. I've sent the wild dogs outside, so they should be knocked out by now.”
“Wait a moment.”
Isolde spoke to Elise, who was turning her body.
“There's one more person coming with us.”
“Who is it?”
“Ottilie.”
Elise tilted her head, and Isolde explained.
“If we use Ottilie's dolls, we can search for the priest more quickly.”
Isolde's gray eyes shone faintly.
*
It was exactly the third day since the chapel's operations had been suspended.
Headmaster Cornelius was clutching his head while looking at the three reports placed on his desk.
His stomach was burning. He desperately needed digestive medicine. No, medicine wasn't enough. He felt like submitting his resignation right away and going down to his hometown to farm.
“So...”
Cornelius adjusted his glasses with trembling hands.
“Sophia Aquilova, the top student of the Knight Department and a Sword Master candidate.”
“Yes.”
“Elise Oror de Rua, the saint candidate of the Theology Department.”
“Correct.”
“And on top of that... Isolde, the top student of the Magic Department who used to be a model student.”
“That's right.”
“All of them disappeared? In one morning?”
“Precisely. Additionally, according to Professor Everett's report, Ottilie von Eichendorff, a student from the White Tower, has also gone missing.”
“Why on earth...?”
“I heard that last night, the gatekeeper guarding the east gate of the lower village witnessed three people passing through the gate at once. Since it was curfew time, he tried to stop them, but it seems Sophia Aquilova knocked them all out.”
The three reports now placed before Cornelius had come from the Knight Department, Theology Department, and Magic Department respectively.
Their contents were, as the subordinate had just reported, that the three top students had left the academy without permission.
It was a matter serious enough to turn Erebos upside down. One could tell just by the fact that it had reached Headmaster Cornelius's desk, skipping the intermediate reporting process.
“Haah...”
It was enough to drive one mad. Three geniuses who would shoulder Erebos's future had evaporated overnight.
Why they had disappeared could be easily inferred from the fact that they had barged into the headmaster's office just yesterday.
They had gone after Priest Leo, who had left on vacation.
Cornelius wanted to give his past self, who had casually approved the vacation, a hard slap.
Through Everett's report, he knew the priest was no ordinary person... but he hadn't expected it to be to this extent.
“What on earth is that priest...”
Cornelius rubbed his face dryly.
“Headmaster, what will you do? Shall we send a pursuit team?”
“...Leave them be.”
Cornelius weakly waved his hand.
“They're not the kind of kids who can be caught even if we send someone.”
“That's... true.”
Sophia Aquilova was already a strong candidate for the next Sword Master. Saint candidate Elise de Rua also possessed comparable skills. And what about Isolde, the first commoner top student since Erebos's founding?
No matter what pursuit team they dispatched now, catching those three would be close to impossible.
All Cornelius could do now was hope that Leo would return quickly.
“Um... According to the academy rules, since they left the academy without permission during the semester, disciplinary action must be taken... but.”
“I know that. However... you know what would happen if we imposed disciplinary measures on them.”
Rules are rules, but they were outliers who played above them.
In the end...
“First... it would be good to send a letter to the princess.”
Cornelius sighed heavily and picked up his quill.
“...Well, it's unlikely that the First Princess would react to such a trivial matter...”
Of course, the last muttered words were his personal wish.
*
“That priest left the academy.”
A dark underground.
The Shadows' outpost.
Baekmyeon raised her head and spoke. She had already obtained the news that Priest Leo had left Erebos through the puppet she had dispatched to the academy.
“Do we have to be so obsessed with that priest's every move?”
“Like I said. If there's the most dangerous person in Erebos, it would be that guy.”
Baekmyeon frowned at Yeongrang's sarcasm.
In any case, the fact that Priest Leo had left the academy was good news.
“Then, how about advancing the plan and starting the operation now?”
Yaksha, a giant whose head nearly touched the ceiling, offered his opinion. However, Baekmyeon soon shook her head.
“That would be the easiest method, but...”
Baekmyeon was a person who exercised extreme caution.
It had been the same when summoning the Predator. She had thought she was fully prepared, but Ottilie Eichendorff had rejected her proposal, twisting the foundation.
“In this situation, the fact that the priest left the academy means he has some kind of hidden card.”
“Hoo...”
Yaksha let out an exclamation of admiration.
Of course, it was a guess. However, he couldn't think that the priest, who had been so thorough as to hide in the closet predicting even Baekmyeon's actions, would leave the academy without any reason.
“Because of that priest, we've messed up several times. So this time, it's right to eliminate the variable altogether.”
“What do you mean?”
“I'll kill that priest. Since he's alone and separated, it won't be as difficult as before.”
Baekmyeon raised the corner of her mouth. Her clones were distributed throughout the continent.
Before being Baekmyeon (White Face), she was Baekmyeon (Hundred Faces).
Therefore, no matter where Priest Leo went, he was within Baekmyeon's grasp.
“No matter how strong he is, he's human. So, when he's asleep, I'll send a clone and personally slit his throat.”
“...Hmm. Assassination? Not really my style.”
Yaksha wasn't fond of underhanded methods, so he crossed his arms and tilted his head in displeasure.
On the other hand, Yeongrang furrowed his brows as if he couldn't understand Baekmyeon's judgment.
“Is there really a need to kill him? How about brainwashing him with your ability and using him as our puppet? A great mage puppet. Seems like it would be useful in many ways?”
“That's impossible.”
Baekmyeon shook her head.
In reality, if it weren't that priest, Baekmyeon would have chosen the path of brainwashing.
However, not long ago at the Twin Towers, Baekmyeon had already attempted to brainwash that priest.
And failed.
It was the first time Baekmyeon's ability didn't work on a mere human.
“That human, I don't know what it is, but he has a mental barrier.”
“Is that possible? A mere human?”
At Baekmyeon's words, Yeongrang also showed a surprised expression. A human on whom Baekmyeon's brainwashing doesn't work. It was something he had never heard or seen before.
“That's why he's a dangerous factor. It's right to eliminate him this time.”
Baekmyeon dismissed the conversation like that and carefully raised her hand. To control the clones she had spread across the continent.
“That insignificant human.”
She couldn't tell why Priest Leo was heading to the western part of the kingdom.
He must have some kind of hidden card.
She had no intention of just watching.
He would have to pay the price for wounding her.
Baekmyeon twisted her lips.