Chapter 58: Salvation Church (8)
Chapter 58: Salvation Church (8)
The priest, aghast that Lady Rien had chased him down, could do nothing but stand there with his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
Looking at him now, he must have been pursued quite fiercely, because his appearance was a complete wreck.
His clothes, which should have been neat, were disheveled into a mess, and what little hair he had was clinging precariously to his scalp like scattered dandelion seeds.
On top of that, he was plastered flat against the wall as if he were about to kiss it.
Of course, all of that was because he'd been rushing to deliver urgent news, but to anyone who didn't know the context, he looked like a complete madman.
As expected, I wasn't the only one who thought so. Lady Rien, who had been looking him up and down, let out a deflated sigh and withdrew the sword she'd been aiming at him.
"I chased the wrong person. To think he was someone lacking in the head—no, someone unwell."
'Hkk—!'
I almost laughed. If Cruel hadn't been covering my mouth, I really would have.
I couldn't laugh out loud, so I just stood there with my mouth still clamped shut by his hand, my shoulders trembling. The hand covering my mouth loosened slightly.
As I briefly debated whether to take this chance to shake him off, Lady Rien's somewhat softened voice continued.
"My apologies. I have no intention of harming you, so there's no need to be so wary."
"......."
"It seems you too were misled and ended up entangled in this place. This is not a good place. So... harmful? It's harmful. You mustn't come here. Those clothes are harmful too, so go change at once."
'Pfft—!!'
Save me. I'm going to die laughing.
The priest's horribly distorted face was hilarious, and Lady Rien, with her dead-serious face, going on about things being 'harmful' was hilarious too.
It probably wouldn't matter much if I just burst out laughing and stepped out from behind the curtain, but considering the possibility that someone might still be eavesdropping beyond those jewels, and the possibility that Lady Rien might call my name in a loud voice, I stifled my breathing as much as possible. Her voice went on.
"Considering you're wearing clothes like these, you must have been here quite a while, so you'd at least know the way. Go out that door and return to where you came from. And don't ever come to a place like this again."
"......."
"Understood?"
Still, she didn't offer to escort him outside. I could see she had firmly established her priorities for the current situation.
Unlike Lady Rien's gratifying response, the eyes of the man listening to her were shaking wildly, as if an earthquake had struck.
Well, of course they were. Proving he was sane would endanger his life, but staying quiet was too humiliating and wounded his pride.
Life versus pride. After appearing to waver between those two options for a moment, the bastard,
"O-okay."
In a way that was only natural, chose his life.
Where did his clear, articulate report from a moment ago go, giving that slurred answer instead? I felt another laugh threatening to burst out and clenched my jaw hard.
His body trembling with overwhelming shame, the bastard bolted out the door with tears clinging to the corners of his eyes and his face bright red.
Lady Rien, muttering at his retreating figure, 'He must have been quite frightened,' swept her gaze around the room to check for any other doors, then stepped outside.
Only then did I pull away the hand covering my mouth and stumble out from behind the curtain, my knees buckling.
There was a hand that hurriedly reached out to support me, but knowing full well who that hand belonged to, I smacked it away with a slap and ended up sinking to the floor anyway.
"......."
"......Keuh, heuk......."
Ah, damn. I'm dying laughing. I know this isn't the time, but what do you want me to do about it being funny?
I reminded myself again and again that time was running short, and finally managed to calm down and stand up. I needed to re-examine the jewel, which had an unexpected function, and I needed to catch up to Lady Rien, who was getting farther and farther away.
Before examining the jewel, I first glanced through the open door to check outside.
In the distance, I could see Lady Rien striding forward without hesitation, her head swiveling this way and that with eyes that flashed like a predator searching for prey.
'......How much does she even know about the layout here, to be walking so confidently?'
Anyone who saw her would think she'd lived here for ten years.
Even the one person I'd considered somewhat normal was like that. Was there truly no one normal around me?
Anyway, if I let her go off like that, who knows what kind of trouble she'd cause next. Recalling the shock and terror when she'd barged into this place, I hurriedly confirmed no one else was around, took one step out of the prayer room, and called out to her retreating figure.
"Lady Rien."
"......."
"Lady Rien!"
"Ah...?! My lord! You're safe!"
Where did 'my lord' come from?
Anyway, it was surprising that Lady Rien called me her liege lord. I knew she had no other title to address me by, but still, I never imagined she'd call me 'my lord.'
Most knights serve only one liege lord in their entire lives.
Lady Rien's relationship with me was a simple contract. I had requested someone capable of commanding the Murderer Knight Order from above, and the Emperor had personally recommended Lady Rien.
Since the Emperor introduced her, the employment was a given, but... in the end, she and I were simply bound by money, not by a master-servant relationship.
That's why I, too, had used formal speech with her....
Perhaps sensing my reaction, Lady Rien bowed her head courteously and added an explanation as if making an excuse.
"I had no term of address, so I was compelled to call you 'my lord.' I apologize if it displeased you."
"Ah...no. It's fine."
I was just a bit surprised.
"Though I said I was compelled, I intend to take responsibility."
"......Pardon?"
"O-of course, not by force. I have long held respect for the Count, and besides... Therefore, I, Rien Rainer, shall hereby swear an oath."
What's gotten into her? She even stuttered. Which makes this all the more ominous. I don't know what it is, but just don't. No, could you please not?
With no way of knowing my discomfort, Lady Rien inverted her sword and knelt on one knee.
And then, with a solemn tone—she was always serious, but now with an even more serious tone—she spoke solemnly.
"I, Rien Rainer, do hereby acknowledge Deon Hart as my liege lord and will serve him, and I swear to stake my life in loyalty to him and his commands for the rest of my days, so long as they do not oppose the will of His Majesty the Emperor."
'So long as his commands do not oppose the will of His Majesty the Emperor.'
Imperial knights who have not chosen a liege lord follow the Empire and the Emperor by default. Later, if a liege lord is chosen, they decide whom to prioritize between their liege and the Emperor. It seemed Lady Rien had chosen to prioritize the Emperor.
Anyway, she really was peculiar. Was there a need to do this right now, in the middle of this chaos, when she could have just put it off and done it after we returned?
Of course, since this was a benefit to me, I too responded with matching solemnity.
"I swear I will do my utmost to ensure your loyalty is not in vain."
Good. It came a bit out of nowhere, but with this, a caretaker for the mad dogs had been secured for life. I'd always been uneasy about it, and now I felt relieved.
Now, it was time to get back to the things I'd been putting off. I turned around, went back into the prayer room, stepped behind the podium, and brushed my fingertips over the jewel in the wall.
A presence that could only be felt by touching it lightly, ever so lightly, with my fingertips. When I placed my hand on it and murmured something, a door had opened. When I pressed and twisted it sideways, it had made contact.
If so, weren't there other functions?
"A capable sorcerer will be necessary."
"......I know. Are you still not leaving?"
"......."
At my irritable words, Cruel vanished obediently.
No, not obediently—he probably went off to find a sorcerer before I did. I couldn't lose, either.
"Lady Rien. Let us return."
"Yes."
Listening to the sound of countless footsteps approaching from afar, Lady Rien and I climbed back out through the window.
** *
While Deon Hart was scrambling about in the Salvation Church, the Emperor who had given him his orders, Edoardo Desert, was taking a late nap.
Normally, he never slept outside of set times, but recently his sleep deprivation had become so severe that he couldn't endure without catching even these short naps.
Sleep deprivation was nothing new. Ever since ascending to the sovereign's throne, Edoardo had not gotten a single moment of proper sleep.
The people he had killed came to torment him every night—how could he possibly sleep peacefully?
When he took the throne, and during the Eight-Year War waged to claim the title of 'Emperor,' he had killed countless people.
If all those corpses were gathered in one place, they would likely be enough to form a mountain.
That many people visited him as nightmares. Ordinary people would have long since gone mad beyond mere insomnia.
But the Emperor endured, and the dead must have found his resilience impertinent.
"!"
The Emperor sprang up from the bed as if launched.
After sitting there for a long while, gasping with rough breaths, he eventually seemed to calm somewhat. With a deep sigh, he swept back his damp bangs. Cold sweat clung to his palm.
And then.
His palm turned pitch-black in an instant—
—His entire hand warped, and a grotesque human face burst out from it.
An enraged face streaming tears of blood. A voice overflowing with malice, shouting that it hated and cursed him.
[Emperor, I hate you.]
[Die, die. Why is it you alone who lives? I have died like this, yet why are you—!!]
This was not a dream but reality now.
How great must their fury be, to come out into reality like this to torment him?
The Emperor simply watched it silently, and then, as if being considerate of him having just woken up, a quiet voice spoke.
"There is still time until dinner."
The Emperor shifted only his gaze toward one spot.
At his gaze, Crown Prince Elpidius, who had been leaning against the wall near the door, straightened himself and slowly approached.
"I heard your food intake has decreased greatly of late. I was worried you might be feeling unwell somewhere......."
"......."
"It seems you had another nightmare."
Standing before the Emperor, Elpidius observed his uncle's condition.
Between the messily disheveled folds of his robe, muscles glistening with cold sweat were visible. His golden hair, also damp with cold sweat, held a deeper saturation than usual, and the faint shadows beneath his eyes carried an undeniable fatigue.
Overall, he looked haggard.
This was dangerous.
With so many enemies around, what would happen if his physical condition worsened on top of it?
"I really should call the royal physician......."
"Enough."
"Uncle."
Elpidius, who had called out to persuade the Emperor, paused for a moment.
There was something strange about the Emperor's focus.
His gaze slid past Elpidius and fixed on some other point.
He turned to look behind him, but all he could see was the ordinary landscape of the room.
When he turned his head back with a puzzled expression, he saw the Emperor pressing his eyes firmly with one hand, looking tired.
"Uncle...?"
"......You're being persistent."
......No way.
A sense of disharmony he had been feeling for a while came to mind, and Elpidius's expression grew even more grave.
"Don't tell me... you're seeing hallucinations now too?"
"There is no problem in my daily life."
"Isn't that precisely the problem! I'll summon the royal physician at once—!"
"Elpidius."
"......Uncle......."
Edoardo, who seemed to have quickly composed himself back to his usual demeanor, looked straight into his nephew's worry-filled eyes.
He felt sorry for Elpidius, but he had no intention of driving away these nightmares and hallucinations.
If anything, he would be glad they came. Would Elpidius believe him?
"Recently, while processing documents related to the war, exhaustion caused me to briefly see some phantoms. It is nothing, so do not concern yourself."
"How on earth...!"
Because he had been worried about forgetting his sins and living comfortably, but if they came to him like this, he would never forget.
As if desperately trying to stay calm, Elpidius rubbed his dry face several times. Yet even so, his emotions seemed uncontrolled, and it was only after some time had passed that his voice emerged with difficulty.
"......Even in this state... must you really continue the war?"
"I am...."
"I am asking not as asking 'Your Majesty,' but as asking 'Uncle.'"
"......What answer do you expect?"
Elpidius's face twisted in agony.
"You'll just recite the list again, won't you!"