159. Why Is It So Quiet?
159. Why Is It So Quiet?
The destruction of the academy's church was not a matter that could simply be overlooked.
The church at the academy was a posting for personnel dispatched by the Holy See, and at present, it was manned by Holy Knights directly under the Holy See, an Inquisitor... and even a Bishop.
It was tantamount to wrecking a nation's embassy.
"How is this over so fast?! I went to receive the report and it's already over?!"
The Headmaster howled from the ruined church grounds.
Golems were everywhere, hard at work filling in the toppled paving blocks and soil, while the bloodied Holy Knights were being carried off to the hospital.
The perpetrator responsible for this situation was nowhere to be seen.
Wandering Master Hulan, who had been at the scene, had simply watched him head off somewhere.
Mounting suspicions already surrounded their ability to properly manage a critical facility like the academy due to successive incidents, and the fact that even emissaries from the Holy See had now been attacked made the Headmaster's head spin no matter how hard he tried to endure it.
The Holy Knights had notified him as usual that they would investigate a student suspected of heresy, and he had assumed it would wrap up after a cursory inquiry, but of all people, that student happened to be a walking bomb, and the entire church got obliterated.
'He's exactly like that guy, recklessly charging in without thinking of the consequences...!!'
That bomb of a student... Atlas Nemea, was someone Linda had her eye on.
Having achieved ridiculous accomplishments at a young age, he had clashed with innumerable people the moment he enrolled, and though he had beaten them all, the Headmaster had never imagined he would pick a fight even with the Holy Knights.
He had thought it was absurd for him to be suspected of heresy and had discreetly reached out to the Knight Commander, but within minutes of doing so, the incident had concluded.
The Holy See's investigation certainly ended quickly.
What would happen if the Holy See formally protested this incident to the academy?
Countless hearings and more hearings... His stomach churned at the thought of the Holy See joining forces this time.
He wanted to vomit on the spot, but his priority was to manage the events that had unfolded.
Take the wounded Holy Knights away for healing... apprehend the person involved and investigate...
Footsteps crunching on gravel reached his ears.
The startled Headmaster spun around to find the Bishop, impeccably dressed as if he had been present all along, standing there.
"B-Bishop! This matter is...!"
"...."
The Headmaster felt utterly at a loss as to how to explain this situation.
Should he make excuses? Should he just report the facts?
No, there was no way this viper of a man didn't already know what had happened at the church.
Should he specify exactly what steps needed to be taken moving forward?
Or rather...
'A Holy Knight order wiped out by a single academy student... the Holy See's direct troops aren't much after all, huh?'
The absurd thought flickered through his frazzled mind, but he erased it instantly.
But the words that came out of the Bishop's mouth were remarkably calm.
"No. It appears we were mistaken. I offer my apologies."
"Pardon?"
The Headmaster doubted his own ears.
Such a glaring weakness had been exposed, yet the man refused to stab him. What in the world had happened?
"There is no need for you to worry so much. We shall rebuild the ruined church using our own budget as well."
With a stiff, rigid expression, the Bishop walked out to inspect the Holy Knights.
There was a sense about him that felt like dying embers that had already blazed up once and then subsided.
His retreating figure was filled with many thoughts.
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When I ducked out and went to Professor Praha's lab, she was appalled to see me utterly wrecked once again, despite having only just ordered me to take absolute rest.
"I'll put you in the VIP Room. No one at all will be able to enter without my permission, so now you must get some real rest."
As Professor Praha swiftly administered treatment and recited the precautions, she wore an expression of utter exasperation.
In the end, I was placed in the VIP Room like that, though I wasn't alone.
"If anyone comes for revenge, I won't stand still..!"
"Leave it to us and focus on recovering."
Liber and Emy, who had supported me on the way here, volunteered to take on the VIP Room's security detail.
They said they were going to guard me thoroughly, insisting something would definitely happen if they left me alone again.
Things were never quiet when it was just the two of them, but the sentiment was admirable.
"... I'll keep watch outside too, so get some rest. Look at you, so pathetic...."
Casey also joined in, though I had no idea how she found out.
She used a gruff tone, but she was deeply worried.
Just the fact that I had people thinking of me like this made me happy.
This time, the incident had blown up because I was concealing my identity as a Shadow.
Occasionally, uncomfortable situations like this arose because I couldn't keep my story straight, but even so, I had no intention whatsoever of giving up being a Shadow.
The Shadows, secret Masters, were a system sustainable only because the Empire's national power was so strong.
The best part about operating as a Shadow was the guarantee of 'anonymity'.
It was fundamentally different from the Masters whose identities were all exposed.
As national strategic assets, they couldn't move freely even if they wanted to.
What monarch wouldn't be on edge when a nuclear bomb walked around without a safety device?
If not for the Empire's might, other nations would demand to know the identities of the Shadows and the pressure would be insurmountable.
Wherever a Master with a public face went, people would flock to them.
Whatever they did attracted attention.
They couldn't just lounge around the academy pretending to be a student like I did.
I hated that.
I wanted to live more freely.
Though I said it grandly, it was absolutely not because I was recklessly stirring up trouble everywhere, counting on Nana Teacher to somehow clean up after me in the Empire whenever I was acting as a Shadow.
.
.
.
.
.
About two days had passed since that incident ended.
I was lying in the bed of the luxurious hospital VIP Room, quietly counting the stains on the ceiling.
As soon as I arrived at the hospital, I received just enough treatment to be able to move immediately, then stood by with a sword while hooked up to an IV drip, just in case the Bishop or other church factions tried to retaliate, but there was no movement at all.
Whether they were too battered to have the leeway to act, or whether the report had gone up the chain and the situation was suppressed, either way, it was fortunate.
I didn't care about myself, but I didn't want the people standing guard outside to protect me to get dragged into it.
'These bastards, they'll see what happens if they mess with me.'
Lying alone in the hospital room, I mulled it over.
It was true that my own silence had planted the seed of misunderstanding, but I was also extremely displeased with the Holy Knights' attitude.
I had absolutely no intention of meekly letting this slide.
Like this...
-May I come in?
-Go ahead.
-Y-Yes!!
Conversation reached my ears from outside.
It seemed someone was coming in.
-Knock-knock
A guest had arrived.
"... Come in."
The moment the door opened, a sweet scent filled the hospital room.
It was a sweet fragrance that relaxed the muscles and lowered one's guard.
I hadn't even seen her face yet, but I knew immediately who it was.
"Guh?? How did you get here..!!"
"I pleaded earnestly, they tell me. There was a lot of discussion, but... there's something I must do first."
I tried to jump up right away and open the window, but I couldn't.
My body was still a wreck.
In the meantime, she had come right up to me.
"I'm sorry..."
The Saintess... Carmel, who had approached me slowly, bowed deeply at the waist.
Unlike those other bastards who never once came to visit, she was admirably setting aside her status as the Holy See's Saintess to come and apologize to me.
But my heart was not at ease.
"Hey, that's a dirty trick, sending you here! Call the Pope!! Did that old man tell you to come?! Just because we know each other and you've got that trait, you think I'll forgive you easily??"
The Holy See, those cunning bastards, they put Carmel out front.
I couldn't resist Carmel's power, loved by all creation.
How could I hold onto anger when she was so lovable just by standing before me?
"No one sent me... I came because I wanted to come."
"Don't say that..! My anger's disappearing!!"
"I'm sorry... but... this was truly the only way I could think of."
I deliberately forced my anger out more harshly to keep from forgetting it, but upon hearing that, tears welled up in Carmel's eyes.
Even that sight was so adorable that I almost considered just ending things here.
She came up to the bedside, knelt down, and took my hand.
"At the very least... let me fully heal the injuries you've sustained."
"If it were that simple, I would've healed already. Do you think internal injuries are easy to fix?!"
The Carmel I met today wasn't teasing.
Carmel, who was always beaming and playing pranks on me, now wore an expression more serious than ever as she held my hand.
"By the grace of the Almighty Father... Perfect Heal..!"
A dazzling light illuminated the hospital room brightly.
If my body could be healed with just a little application of holy power, I would have asked for it earlier, but my condition wasn't that simple.
There was no way I could recover with something like this.
That was what I had thought until just a moment ago.
"How is it...?"
"There's no way something like this could he—... oh, I'm fine now?"
"Thank goodness... I was at a loss for what to do if even this didn't work."
Just in case, I drew power from my dantian and circulated it, but there was nothing wrong.
Truly, in that brief moment, injuries that would have required weeks of dedicated recovery had been healed.
In the Saintess's hand was clutched a rosary I had never seen before—or so I thought. It was an object I had seen before.
At a glance, it looked like just a tarnished, old silver rosary, but... it was one of the holy relics kept in the Holy See, known as the Madonna's Rosary.
"Did you get permission to bring that here?"
"No? I'd have to wait two weeks to get permission, so how could I? I'm going to visit McIntosh anyway, so I can just put it back then. I secretly took it out."
The Holy See's treasure vault was located in the underground level where McIntosh resided.
McIntosh, who had given up much by serving God as a dragon, found it difficult to give up the instinct to hoard treasures in his lair, and so he had taken on the role of the vault's guardian himself.
Even among such treasures, the 'Madonna's Rosary' was a holy relic known to be difficult to remove from its place, so it was impressive that she had swiped it.
It was admirable, but ultimately, the reason my body was in such poor condition was because of the Holy Knights.
I resolved to harden my heart.
"Even so, I won't forgive you or anything..."
"Yes, of course... This incident is the result of our own mismanagement, so I have no excuses to make."
If the Holy See didn't want to sour relations with me, who roamed around killing more demons than any existing Master, they would have to compensate me well.
I wanted to discuss this with the Pope or McIntosh, but talking to the Saintess wasn't too bad either.
I was about to have a serious conversation with Carmel when other footsteps sounded from outside.
-Emy, what are you doing?
-A serious conversation is being held inside.
-She's not a suspicious person.
-A serious conversation? Who went in?? Atlas has to be on absolute rest, who did you let in there?
-Ah..aah, you can't!!
"Who's in there!!"
The moment Liber flung the door open and stepped in, he looked at me first.
"Huh? Atlas, you can move already?"
"It just happened."
Next, his gaze immediately turned to Carmel.
Carmel simply smiled as she greeted Liber.
"Who are you?"
"Hoho, hello. It seems our Atlas has been greatly in your care. It's nothing special, but... I hold the position of Saintess in the Holy See. I came to offer an apology regarding this incident."
"The Saintess...?"
Liber's eyes sharpened.