The Flute-Playing Priest - (3)
Two weeks of vacation had already slipped by.
Nothing major had changed in that time, and for me, the lack of upheaval was something to be grateful for.
I was sitting on the porch, idly playing with Void and enjoying the leisurely hours, when the head priest, who had been sweeping fallen leaves, approached and spoke up.
“Leo.”
“What is it?”
“Why do you think I sent you to the academy?”
I answered nonchalantly, poking Void’s cheeks.
“Wasn’t it because you couldn’t stand the sight of me and wanted me out of your hair? You kept calling me a freeloader who only eats and does nothing, remember?”
“Well, that wasn’t entirely wrong.”
I chuckled at that.
Void laughed too and pointed at the head priest with a bright smile.
“Sparkle!”
Incidentally, Void had recently picked up the word “sparkle.”
I decided to keep quiet about what inspired it—for the head priest’s sake.
“The truth is, I assigned you to the academy so you could see the wider world, gain experience, and return as a fine priest. Having two priests in this tiny village is a bit much, don’t you think?”
“Sparkle!”
“Hmm… You never seemed that fond of me. Wasn’t it more like you were exiling me to keep me from causing trouble?”
The priest stopped sweeping.
He let out a long sigh.
“Yes. I sent you off for that reason, and yet…”
He slowly lifted his head and looked at me. His gaze was strangely cold.
“…You’ve caused quite a lot of trouble.”
“Pardon?”
“They came looking for you.”
“…Looking for me? Who?”
“Not who. Whos.”
The priest turned toward the village entrance.
Only then did I notice the commotion there.
I cautiously peeked out.
“Huh?”
A single carriage stood there.
A lavish carriage bearing the Church’s seal.
“…Father, did you embezzle something?”
“They’re not here for me.”
“What?”
While I was tilting my head in confusion, my expression froze.
I had recognized the people stepping out of the carriage.
“…Why are you all here?”
Platinum-blonde hair, crimson-red hair, chestnut-brown hair, and black hair in twin tails.
The original protagonists who should have been at Erebos Royal Academy were walking into the village entrance, covered in dust and wearing determined expressions.
The sudden appearance of four strangers—especially ones arriving in such a luxurious carriage—spread unease among the villagers.
“…Ah.”
Don’t tell me they came looking for me?
I hurriedly checked the calendar.
It had only been a little over two weeks since I left Erebos.
That meant they had started chasing me just days after my departure.
“…Are they insane?”
Especially with the fourth act only two weeks away.
Erebos was still in session.
Which meant they had been absent without leave for over a week.
While I stood there with my mouth hanging open, the head priest placed a hand on my shoulder.
“That’s why I told you not to act recklessly. You’ve got women troubles. Tsk.”
“No, that’s not…”
I frantically looked around.
There was nowhere to hide.
Then my eyes fell on Void, still clinging to my leg.
“Priest?”
“Void, could you open that pocket dimension and let me in? Just one person should fit, right? Please?”
I grabbed the child’s shoulders and begged, asking her to tuck me away like she had with the apple last time. But Void only smiled brightly and shook her head.
Back and forth.
I was worth less than an apple to her.
Left with no choice, I turned to the head priest.
“Can’t you just tell them I’m not here?”
“That would be difficult. Still… I suppose I should at least have a word with them.”
“A word?”
“There is something that needs saying.”
With a sigh, the head priest set his broom aside.
The pursuit party sent to find Priest Leo was nothing short of extravagant.
In fact, it was beyond extravagant—almost excessive.
“Book the best lodging in the area. Eat whatever you like. Money is no issue.”
First came the financier.
Elise Oror de Rua, saint candidate and scion of one of the continent’s greatest holy bloodlines, took on the role of patron. Thanks to the gold coins she scattered, the group traveled in comfort rivaling that of royalty.
Especially while four suspiciously dressed students were on the move, Elise’s authority proved invaluable.
“…Do you have a pass?”
“Look at my face. And this insignia.”
“Ah…”
Checkpoints and relay stations dotted the kingdom for maintaining public order.
Elise bypassed every single one with nothing but her Church insignia. She had half-coerced it out of a priest before leaving.
“This way. The mana link… has grown stronger.”
“Good. Let’s turn the horses.”
Next came the compass.
Isolde, top student of the magic department, tracked Leo’s location in real time through the faint mana link she shared with him.
Throughout the journey, she kept a hand over her chest with an oddly dreamy expression—one that the others found strangely unsettling.
“Dog, do you sense anything?”
“*Sniff*.”
There was also a physical tracker.
Sophia Veronica Aquilova, whose sense of smell surpassed human limits—the so-called bloodhound.
“Looks like he went this way. I can still smell that distinctive priest scent of his… yeah, it’s here.”
“…Good. Then we go this way.”
Sophia never missed even the faintest trace carried on the wind, accurately following Leo’s path.
“Miss Ottilie, is there a village nearby?”
“Doesn’t seem so.”
Finally, the scout.
Ottilie von Eichendorff’s dolls were spread across dozens of kilometers. They thoroughly searched every village near Leo’s route.
“Doll girl, by the way, where did you put the doll modeled after Master? Wouldn’t that help us find him faster?”
Ottilie shook her head primly at Sophia’s question.
“I left it at the dorm. It consumes too much mana, so it’s unsuitable for long-term tracking.”
“Hmm, is that so?”
Sophia pretended not to care, but she didn’t miss the way Ottilie clutched something tightly inside her robe.
“Anyway, let’s keep moving.”
The moment those words left her lips, the carriage picked up speed.
Financier Elise, compass Isolde, bloodhound Sophia, and scout Ottilie formed an extravagant squad.
Their operation was codenamed Lost Lamb.
Even Helena, the maid of Ophelia Hall, would have been shocked by such a waste of talent.
The expedition advanced without pause until they finally entered a quiet village in the Libel region. Their tracking and searches had spoken clearly.
“Master is here.”
Sophia grinned.
“…”
Yet as they drew closer to the village, Isolde’s expression darkened.
“Miss Isolde, why do you look like that again? Is there a problem with the mana link?”
“No, it’s not that…”
Isolde hesitated before carefully speaking.
“What if… the priest gets angry when he sees us?”
“…What?”
“What if he really is tired of us and left because he didn’t want to see any of us anymore… Wouldn’t going to him only hurt him? If he frowns when he sees me… that would…”
Isolde’s words brought a heavy silence inside the carriage.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Sophia gazed out the window with a detached air.
“He can get angry if he wants. But I don’t want him to disappear because of me. So… if he gets mad… I’ll get on my knees and beg if I have to. There’s the Sword Master qualification exam coming up soon, after all…”
No one answered.
It was the worst-case scenario they had all considered at least once. What if Leo rejected them? What if he despised them?
If that happened…
How should they respond?
“…Don’t worry. You all know he’s not that kind of person.”
Elise tried to lighten the mood, but no one replied.
Creak.
The carriage came to a stop amid the heavy silence.
An old church perched on a hill.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
A elderly man stepped forward to meet them as they alighted.
“We have distinguished guests from afar.”
The bald old man had been waiting at the church entrance.
Sophia sniffed the air.
“I smell Master inside the church. And on this old man too. It’s definite.”
Elise’s face lit up at those words—until she saw the old man standing before them. Her expression immediately hardened.
Her pale-pink lips parted carefully.
“…Lord Ignacio?”
Sophia tilted her head.
“Whitey, do you know this person?”
“Of course I do. I have to.”
Elise nodded meekly.
“He’s the former cardinal and former head of the Heresy Inquisition—Saint Ignacio, the high priest.”
Ignacio, called by name, gave a faint smile.
“You still recognize this old body, Saint Candidate.”
“Of course. You came to find me for my baptism when I was little.”
The wrinkles around Ignacio’s eyes deepened. He looked over each of their faces in turn before making the sign of the cross.
“Have you all come to find that child Leo?”
At the mention of Leo’s name, everyone held their breath.
There was no time to ask why such a prominent figure was in this remote village.
Ignacio set his broom down and spoke kindly.
“Everyone, would you care to talk for a moment? The tea here is particularly good.”
“Your Highness, a letter has arrived from Erebos.”
In the upper levels of the royal palace, inside First Princess Siris’s office.
Siris, who had been mechanically handling her duties, found a single letter placed before her.
“A letter from the headmaster.”
The only pleasure in Siris’s repetitive daily life came from news out of Erebos.
Thanks to that variable-filled priest getting involved, fresh reports arrived almost every day.
What would it be this time?
With considerable interest, Siris opened the letter.
The content was simple: the three top students of the academy had left Erebos to search for Priest Leo, who had gone on vacation.
“Tris, where exactly did you say Priest Leo’s hometown was?”
“A nameless village in the eastern part of the Libel region. He’s from the local relief orphanage, as I recall.”
More detailed information than the previous report.
Evidently, further investigation had been conducted since then.
After all, Archbishop Valois had been ousted and the Church had filled the vacancy, so the follow-up inquiries must have been thorough.
“The relief orphanage in the Libel region…”
Siris was a regressor.
An observer who had witnessed the kingdom’s destruction seven times with her own eyes.
Naturally, she knew the kingdom’s situation better than anyone.
That was why…
“Haha.”
Siris let out a soft laugh.
Regardless of anything else, there was one old man living in seclusion in the Libel region that she distinctly remembered.
It was almost laughable that she had only just recalled him now.
“…So it was his arrangement after all.”
Siris folded her fan with a snap and murmured.
“It doesn’t seem to have been a simple coincidence. As expected.”
The fact that Priest Leo had grown up under a retired saint was information that could not be ignored.