Holy City: An Unexpected Journey
“This was sent from the Papal Palace in the Holy City?”
At those words, Bellarne felt as though the chicken blood she had drunk the night before had risen in her throat. And when Celine spoke next, that feeling no longer mattered.
“It’s a telegram… The messenger pigeon must have dropped it last night.”
“The Papal Palace?! Then it must be from His Holiness! Sister, read it at once! What does it say?!”
“Let me see… ‘This year marks the regular convening of the All Saints Council. This office hereby recommends that Harnok Dor Berte Chargyn Kutuluk-Karbash of the Western Frontier Diocese attend the council. Accompanying attendees may number up to five, including the undersigned. It is recommended that they be accompanied by clergy from within the diocese, though lay believers may be brought if circumstances require.’ …That’s what it says.”
Bellarne’s nausea had already gone far beyond mere discomfort; she now felt as though she might actually vomit. Just as the urge threatened to burst from her mouth, Harnok’s thunderous roar stopped it somewhere between her esophagus and throat.
“His Holiness has summoned me—!”
In the end, Bellarne could not tell whether this was good news or bad.
“If His Holiness calls, then it is only right for a clergyman to answer! Is that not so, vampire?!”
“Huh? Y-yes…!”
Startled by the sudden question, Bellarne nodded without thinking. Then Harnok’s next words turned her face a literal shade of pale.
“I knew it! I knew you would say that! So you too have been longing to meet His Holiness!”
“What…?”
“What?!”
The same word slipped from the nun’s and the vampire’s lips at the same time. Their tones, of course, were worlds apart. Yet faith in the Lord runs deeper than the earth and higher than the heavens; to the barbarian, the difference between the two women seemed no greater than the size of a frontier village viewed from a distant mountain peak.
“Excellent! Then let us depart at once to meet His Holiness! Both of you, prepare for the journey!”
“W-wait! Wait! Wait just a moment!”
Once again the same words burst from both women’s mouths—this time in perfect unison and identical tone. The two stared at each other with wide eyes, then nodded vigorously without needing to speak.
Celine’s tiny lips moved in frantic protest. “J-just a moment…! Harnok…! Are you serious? You’re taking Bellarne to the All Saints Council? She’s a vampire!”
“Of course! You know such opportunities are rare, Sister! Meeting His Holiness is a great honor for both clergy and believers alike! What does it matter that she is a vampire? She is a believer who trusts in the Lord! Once we explain, the other clergy will surely understand! Who would turn away a fellow believer? Besides, meeting His Holiness will greatly broaden her horizons as a believer! No believer could possibly not wish to see His Holiness! Is that not right, vampire?!”
That’s only your opinion, you idiot!
Harnok beamed, gums and all, and seized Bellarne’s hand. The sudden closeness of her savior’s face—and the sudden question—left her no time to think. Most of all, her savior was holding her hand tightly. In that moment, Bellarne’s answer came not from reason but from pure instinct, like a knee jerking upward when struck.
“Y-yes…!”
“See, Sister Celine! The vampire agrees!”
Harnok roared with laughter, nodding so vigorously it seemed his joy might overflow. At the same time, the smiles vanished from the women’s faces. The nun looked as though half the world had disappeared, while Bellarne wore the expression of someone who had just received every sorrow she would ever feel in life all at once.
When the nun finally regained her senses and shot Bellarne a look that clearly said, Why on earth did you answer like that?! What are we supposed to do now?! We’re completely trapped!, Bellarne could only reply with her own desperate expression.
It’ll… work out somehow, right…?
How is this supposed to work out?! Waaah! I don’t know anymore either!
Both women screamed inwardly.
…Of course, none of it was visible to the barbarian, who was completely intoxicated by the joy of traveling to the All Saints Council with fellow believers for the first time in eight years.
In this indescribable situation, it was Celine who regained her composure first. Pressing a hand to her throbbing forehead, she asked Harnok, “Are you really planning to bring Bellarne? What about travel? She’s a vampire! Moving during the day is nearly impossible!”
The barbarian’s face showed sudden realization. Bellarne, too, had to suppress the twitch at the corner of her mouth at this unexpectedly hopeful news. Just as she was about to open her mouth—
“Th-then… I suppose I won’t be able to attend after all—”
“Then I suppose I’ll simply have to carry her.”
At Harnok’s solemn tone, Bellarne’s mouth snapped shut. Celine’s, on the other hand, exploded.
“No! Absolutely not! Out of the question—!”
The moment the words left her, Celine clapped both hands over her mouth. Anyone could see she had just blocked a fellow believer from attending the council for no good reason. Harnok’s blinking eyes made that perfectly clear. Fighting back tears, Celine stammered, “N-no, I mean… that is… Harnok… carrying her would be too much trouble when there must be a better way… The journey to the Holy City will take quite some time. You can’t carry Bellarne the entire way, can you…?”
Only then did Harnok nod vigorously. “I see! That was your meaning! Indeed, if I carried the vampire at all times, I would be unable to respond properly to sudden dangers! We must find another method, Sister!”
We’re doomed…
The nun let out a weary sigh and finally managed to say what she had wanted to say all along. “And let go of her hand. Right now, Harnok.”
Her voice was like ice.
“By the way, the Holy City… That’s the capital of the Holy Kingdom, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Unlike here, it’s a treasury filled with all manner of holy relics.”
Bellarne’s face was that of someone watching a kind stranger offer a rope just before she could hang herself.
“Moreover, His Holiness the Pope resides there.”
Now her expression was that of someone watching the same stranger kindly tie the noose.
“Wait, the Pope… Come to think of it, what kind of person is the current Pope?”
“Huh? Well, naturally, he is the ruler of the Holy Kingdom, the Lord’s representative, and the one closest to Him…”
“No, no. I mean the current Pope. I entered hibernation 130 years ago, so I know nothing of what happened after… Since things have come to this, I suppose I should know a little… yes…”
Bellarne’s voice grew increasingly gloomy toward the end. Celine, too, swallowed the sigh she wanted to release and answered, “The current Pope is His Holiness Piareus III.”
“Piare… us…?”
“His full name is Piareus Edar Drune, but—”
“Piareus?!”
Bellarne’s cry cut Celine off. Before the nun could ask anything, Bellarne rushed on. “One of the heroes who sealed the Archdemon 130 years ago—that paladin Piareus?!”
Only then did Sister Celine remember that Bellarne was a vampire. The events of the previous night had been enough to make one forget even such an obvious fact.
“……Of course you would know. Vampires fought alongside the Archdemon during the Great War.”
“That’s unfair! A few of my kin—whom I can barely call kin—did side with the Archdemon, but not all of us participated! Only about a quarter did……”
Even a quarter was a considerable number, so Bellarne’s voice gradually shrank into grumbling. She added defensively, “B-but! Even those of us who didn’t participate were shunned! In the first place, the reason those wretches joined the Archdemon was because it guaranteed a steady supply of blood! Do you think such a disgraceful motive is acceptable? A true vampire should obtain blood by their own hand!”
“A steady supply of blood?”
“It’s simple. Where there is battle, there is blood. Blood means more to drink. And the Archdemon… was immensely powerful. Those who followed it believed that at the end of the war, it would create an eternal spring of blood that would never run dry. In other words, they thought it had the power to create a world where they could obtain blood whenever they wished.”
Bellarne’s face twisted as though she might vomit. “……And most of those who joined had their heads taken by Piareus……”
“After the Great War ended, there was a massive purge of vampires.”
“Yes. That is precisely why I entered hibernation. Blood became difficult to obtain, after all. Most of my kin who did not participate also entered hibernation around that time—or went into hiding. Those who survived among the participants fled until the day they died. …Still, to think that man is now the Pope. He has lived quite long, for a human.”
Celine looked as though she might cry. “……Yes. He is about 150 years old now… He has lived a very long time. Since he was strong enough to fight as a hero, perhaps longevity is only natural……”
Celine bit her lip, then spoke again. “……The Papal Palace probably doesn’t want us to come.”
“What do you mean? They invited us, didn’t they?”
“Official invitations are never sent like this. They’re written on the finest parchment with the utmost care, one character at a time, full of rhetorical flourish. The All Saints Council is meant to promote harmony and the prosperity of world peace—there’s no way they would send something this plain. The archbishops sent it just to go through the motions. Those people want to become the next Pope themselves… because His Holiness’s mind is no longer clear……!”
Celine wiped her eyes on her sleeve before the tears could fall. She had to clamp her mouth shut at once; she had nearly told the vampire everything about the unstable situation in the Holy Kingdom. But that was not the only reason.
“Sister! Vampire!”
Harnok was calling them. They were in the frontier village, having come down to inform the village chief that they might need to leave for several days—or perhaps months. When they turned, Harnok was holding a large sack.
“I heard the news. Sister, you’re heading to the Holy City? I’ve prepared some food and water—humble though it may be. I also packed blankets for camping.”
“What? No… Chief…! There’s no need to go to such trouble…!”
“Nonsense. Compared to what you and the knight did during the last attack, this is nothing. Thanks to you, even a vampire has been able to repent, hasn’t she? Ah, I also included a few bottles of chicken blood for Miss Bellarne.”
Bellarne blinked. Someone offering blood to a vampire setting out on a journey? She stood dazed by this unprecedented treatment when Harnok’s thunderous voice struck her.
“Vampire! What are you doing? The chief has prepared all this for you!”
Bellarne let out a sound like “Eek!”—entirely unsuited to a vampire—and hurriedly bowed her head. “Th-thank you……”
Harnok nodded in satisfaction. “We will return as soon as possible. Please take care of your health in the meantime!”
“Not at all. How could we refuse when His Holiness has summoned you? I too shall pray fervently to the Lord that you achieve what you desire.”
Most of the villagers had already gathered at the village entrance. The barbarian, the nun, and the vampire set out for the Holy City amid their warm send-off. Their expressions could not have been more different. Harnok wore a hearty smile, the nun looked overwhelmed by the villagers’ kindness, and the vampire wore the face of someone who could not decide whether to be surprised, laugh, or simply not know what to do at all with this first experience of such hospitality.
Thus, the three set off toward the Holy City.
“Ah, by the way, Harnok. Does that sack also contain armor?”
“Hm? Ah! Now that you mention it, Sister Celine, you did tell me to prepare armor! You said people would be startled to see a paladin without armor!”
“Yes, that’s right. Most paladins are fully encased in armor, after all.”
Phew…! Thank goodness Sir Knight brought armor. He looks exactly like a Bahon tribesman—there’s no way anyone would look favorably on one of them. It would be a miracle if they didn’t scream and run at the sight—
“About that! I decided it would be better not to wear armor after all!”
“……What?”
“There are no small number of people throughout the Holy Kingdom who cannot even afford to buy a scripture! Such people wish to nurture their faith by reading the Lord’s words but cannot! Yet what is written upon my body? The Lord’s Prayer! If there are such people in the places we pass on our way to the Holy City, they may copy it down, and that will help them nurture their faith! But if I wear armor, that will be impossible! Therefore—”
Thud—!
“Sister?! Sister?! What is wrong?! Why have you collapsed and cannot rise?! Sister?! Are you perhaps hungry?!”