49. Port City Lorelei (4)
49. Port City Lorelei (4)
"...This looks familiar."
I held the loot from the three men—who would never father children now—up to the moonlight. There was a compact wrist-mounted crossbow designed to hide beneath a long sleeve and a pendant that radiated an ominous presence. The pendant made my skin crawl.
...I thought I'd seen it in the game before.
It was definitely a token of some cult... Hal... Hal...ka... what was it?
Hal-something.
"Anyway, this should be enough evidence."
No ordinary person would walk around carrying something that radiated such a sinister aura.
Using nearby trees as material, I fashioned shackles to immobilize the three prisoners' hands and feet, then sprinkled paralysis powder over them like seasoning with salt.
Ah, I needed to start conserving this stuff.
I'd brought it from the uninhabited island, so there was nowhere to replenish it. It'd have been nice if similar mushrooms grew here, but they probably didn't. If they were found on the continent, there was no way I—who had once gathered mushrooms like a madman—wouldn't know them. Then again, I might have forgotten, so I couldn't be sure.
Once I reached the academy, I would have to try dealing with alchemists. If possible, I also wanted to establish ties with the Alchemy Department. My abilities were highly compatible with alchemy, after all.
That wasn't something I needed to think about right now, though...
"...How am I supposed to transport these bastards?"
If there had been only one, I could have thrown him over my shoulder, but three was too many. Did I need to build a cart on the spot and haul them back?
A cart, a cart... I pictured the ones I had seen in the streets. Without a horse, I'd have to make a handcart. Using the moonlight for illumination, I sketched a rough design on the ground. My drawing was so hideous that anyone else might have mistaken it for a child's scribble, but as long as I understood it, there was no problem.
Once I had organized the rough image in my head, I walked around and inspected the nearby trees. Fortunately, the wood in this forest looked fairly good.
"...This isn't illegal, is it?"
I had caught the suspects, so they'd probably take extenuating circumstances into account, right? They weren't confirmed culprits yet, though...
"Craft."
I used the Skill to quarter the wood, then activated it again to make the parts. Since I had never built a cart before, producing the whole thing at once was difficult. I made the wheels and body separately, then joined them with the Skill.
"Craft."
When the Skill activated, a decent-looking cart appeared in front of me. A few parts looked rough, but it was disposable, so it didn't matter.
For a first attempt, it looked pretty good.
I hadn't designed it for comfort, so the passengers would probably suffer motion sickness and bruises at the same time. Since I wasn't riding in it, I had no reason to care. Unlike back in Korea, nobody here cared about criminals' rights. I loaded the three men onto the cart one by one and grabbed the handle.
Only then did I realize one problem.
"...Where exactly am I supposed to go?"
I couldn't exactly go back through the sewers.
...I could probably just follow the wall around.
Deciding that moving in any direction was better than standing still, I started walking.
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"Who goes there?"
"I've captured the people who tried to assassinate the Saintess."
"What did you say? Who the hell are you..."
Before the guard could finish, I pulled the Church of Kalon's token from my bosom and showed it. The moment they saw the token, the guards' wary expressions softened, if only a little.
"Are you saying you captured these men yourself?"
"They left quite a trail."
The suspicion in their eyes made it clear they didn't trust me. That was only natural. If a strange man dragged up a cart full of people, claimed to be a guest, and asked to be let in, the guards should have been suspicious.
"...Hans. Inform the captain."
"Yessir!"
The guard with the sort of name that sounded destined to betray someone sprinted off as soon as he received the order. The guard questioning me turned back with an expressionless face.
"Please wait a moment."
If it was waiting they wanted, then fine. Not wanting to cause trouble, I obediently complied. Fortunately, the guard named Hans promptly returned with an older guard in tow. Perhaps he'd been put through the wringer over this incident, as his face was etched with unmistakable fatigue.
The older man, apparently the guard captain, stared at me in surprise.
"You're the man who arrived with Karina..."
"That's right."
If he recognized me, this would be easier. I stepped aside so he could see the people lying on the cart.
"These bastards seem to be connected to this attempt on the Saintess's life."
"How can you be certain?"
"Look at this."
I held the necklace out to the guard. The guard looked at it, flinched, and stared at the men.
"This is..."
"Something you recognize?"
"It's a token of the Cult of Halphas. Are you saying they had this?"
"Yeah."
The guards' eyes hardened as they looked at the three unconscious men. In a city full of believers in Kalon, their attitude toward a heretical cult was clear as day. I addressed the guards, who looked ready to draw their swords on the spot.
"Can I enter now?"
"Of course. Hans, Pierce, pull the cart in his place and escort him to the temple."
"Yes, sir!"
Were they offering to protect me in case someone attacked?
Then I'd gratefully accept.
The guards escorted me to the temple. When we arrived, Archbishop Pierre must have heard the news, because he came lumbering out and hurried toward me.
"Yohan! Is it true you captured the culprits?"
"I'm not certain. But they were carrying this."
"Halphas...!"
Archbishop Pierre's face quivered.
The moment I showed him the pendant, Archbishop Pierre glared at the heathens I'd brought in with a face that looked ready to explode.
His years as an archbishop showed. Pierre quickly composed himself and gave the guards an order.
"Drag them to the prison. The temple will... interrogate them personally."
The look in Pierre's eyes told me they were in for a very unpleasant time.
---------------
"Reni..."
"Karina, are you all right?!"
No strength. That was Karina's first thought when she opened her eyes. It felt much like when she'd first been stranded on the uninhabited island. She shifted her gaze—the only thing she could move freely—and looked at Reni's worried face above her.
"What on earth..."
"The assassin sent by the Cult of Halphas disguised themselves as one of your guards and shot you in the back with a crossbow. Yohan captured the people involved, and the Church is interrogating them now."
"Yohan... did?"
"Yes. He tracked them down and brought them back in no time. How he found them... If you hadn't escaped the uninhabited island together, I'd have suspected him."
The attempted assassination had shocked and terrified a Church grown lax after a long peace. Every day since had been chaos.
The Church rooted out the spies in its ranks. Officials who had failed to notice their own personnel being replaced received severe punishment, and a citywide search began for the remaining members of the Cult of Halphas. Reni wanted to join the hunt, but she was Karina's Escort Knight first.
She buried her surging rage deep in her heart and focused solely on staying by Karina's side.
With spies discovered inside the Church, she couldn't entrust Karina's protection to anyone else.
"That's a relief..."
"The clergy at the Lorelai branch can't remove the curse. It seems we'll have to take you to Professor Lennon, who teaches Curse Removal Studies at Kalon Academy. He's our most reliable option."
The curse on the bolt had been designed to kill Karina at any cost, and it was no ordinary curse. The priest who grabbed the bolt to remove it had been afflicted instantly, all vitality draining away until the priest became a mummy. Even then, the other priests had only managed to seal the curse by pouring holy magic into it.
"I never thought... we'd end up going like this."
"Neither did I, Karina."
She'd expected to reach the academy peacefully, only for this to happen. Reni couldn't shake the fear that it wasn't over. Anyone bold enough to try killing the Saintess in public wouldn't stop after one attempt.
'...Why were they targeting Karina?'
Everyone knew the Saintess was a thorn in the side of cults that worshiped demons such as Halphas as gods.
They had never touched her before because the Cult of Halphas had lost nearly all its power in a war for the Church's survival hundreds of years ago.
So why a surprise attack now? Why on earth? What good could possibly come from provoking the Church of Kalon?
The unanswered question coiled through Reni's mind like a snake, prodding at her again and again. It would remain there until the Cult of Halphas was destroyed.
'...For now, I had to focus on getting Karina to the academy. Archbishop Pierre said he would organize a large escort force...'
Reni steeled herself inwardly and gently took hold of Karina's trembling hand.
Whatever happened, the most important thing to her was Karina.
Even if the world itself were to end.