Sleeping on the Coastal Cliff (2)
He pressed onward, felling every Horn Boar he could see.
They might have been tough against blades, but magic was a different matter. One throw of a Shadow Spear, and none of them came away unscathed.
As the saying went, the more you knew, the more you saw.
A Horn Boar that had somehow strayed from its instincts was dangerous, yes.
But that very difference also made them easier to exploit.
Unlike ordinary Horn Boars, the ones affected by the anomaly did not move in herds. They traveled alone. Even when they met one another, they would merely loiter and pass by, shoulder to shoulder like strangers. Not one of them acted in concert with another.
For the two of them, that was good news in every possible way.
Their speed had dropped a little, but the ability to defeat each one individually meant that a careful advance would eventually lead them to safety.
Whenever they spotted a Horn Boar, Yekaterina cut off the sound, and Lawrence finished it off with a Shadow Spear.
It had felt awkward at first, but by the time they had put down nearly ten Horn Boars, their coordination had become surprisingly smooth.
This time was no different.
The Horn Boar skewered by the Shadow Spear collapsed to the ground.
Still not a single sound echoed through the cavern.
As Yekaterina recovered her dagger, Lawrence asked, “Could I learn that, by any chance?”
“Learn it? Learn what?”
“The miracle you’re using to block sound.”
The more they worked together, the more he wanted it.
Sound was the biggest obstacle whenever he tried to move stealthily.
And powerful magic naturally made a great deal of noise.
If he could master this miracle, it would positively affect the spells he would learn in the future, too.
There was no more effective way to guard against sound than this.
Just having another option was enough.
With the right mindset, he could find countless ways to put it to use.
“I don’t doubt your faith in the goddess, junior, but miracles aren’t something just anyone can handle.”
“I understand. But if I don’t even try, nothing will ever begin.”
He had to take the first step before he could walk a thousand miles.
He didn’t want to let fear stop him before he had even begun.
Yekaterina came to a halt.
She stared at Lawrence for a long moment.
“Junior. Have you ever heard the goddess’s voice?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked whether you’ve ever been called by the goddess.”
“Is that some kind of metaphor? Or do you mean….”
“……”
At her stare, he understood.
It wasn’t a metaphor at all.
She meant exactly what she said.
She was genuinely asking whether he had experienced something spiritual like that.
“Revelation is the road that leads to miracles. If you haven’t heard it, then first you must make an effort to walk the road. Of course, even then there’s no guarantee you’ll hear anything at the end of it.”
“Then what sort of effort should I make?”
“Understand the essence of prayer, and practice the living word of the goddess with your own body. Only when our faith bears abundant fruit does a single ray of revelation descend.”
“In other words, you’re telling me to prove my faith.”
“There’s no need to prove it to anyone. To the lamb it was said: Rise, and go. Thy faith has saved thee. Hold fast to your faith. If you speak honestly before the goddess, she will answer your earnest call.”
It was no different from a riddle.
All she was saying was that he had to prove it with vague faith.
How to handle miracles.
By what means miracles were used.
She gave him no answer to any of it.
No.
Maybe this answer was the very essence of a miracle.
Just as there were no shortcuts on the path of magic.
Maybe there was only faith on the road to miracles, too.
“If you truly wish to practice the miracles of the goddess yourself, then visit the Holy See. Revelation is not something you can hear simply because you want to. Even if you pray your whole life, there’s no certainty it will ever come to you. There is one exception, though. Only the Saint, loved by the goddess from the moment of her birth.”
Lawrence nodded with difficulty.
Honestly, if someone asked him how deep his faith in the goddess really was, he would have a hard time answering.
While he had stayed at Saint Charmant Monastery, Scripture study had been the hardest thing of all.
And even then, he had not begun it out of devotion to the goddess, but simply to live up to Blackwell the butler’s expectations.
When he had stayed at Saint Dominic Monastery, it had been even worse.
He had only studied the required passages—the bare minimum needed to qualify as a pilgrim.
For someone like him, there was no way a miracle like revelation would descend.
Still, it was hard not to feel a pang of regret.
“If I ever visit the Holy See later, I’ll look for you, Sister.”
“I wonder whether you’ll even be able to meet me.”
“Didn’t you say you’d be returning to the Holy See after this job is over?”
“I will return. But the time I actually spend there won’t be long. I’m a busy woman, after all, junior. The Celestials are always short on hands.”
Yekaterina shook her head as if to tell him not to expect too much.
How long had they gone deeper into the cave?
Bit by bit, the water grew shallower.
The water that had once risen to their thighs now came only to their ankles.
On the exposed ground, insects of all kinds crawled about.
Insects Lawrence didn’t even know the names of.
As soon as light touched them, they vanished into the dark.
The ceiling was crowded with bats hanging upside down.
No matter who passed beneath them, they slept soundly.
Judging by that, it still wasn’t sunset.
Somewhere nearby, he could hear the sea.
Rolling in and pulling back out. The steady rhythm of the ocean told him just how far they had descended.
“We’re almost there.”
Yekaterina wrung out her damp skirt.
It seemed to bother her, because she rolled the hem up above her knees.
She wore a small sheath strapped to her pure white leg.
Inside were five or six perforated daggers.
“I haven’t seen any Horn Boars since a little while ago. They might be gathered somewhere, so it would be best to stay cautious.”
“Or maybe someone else has already gotten to them.”
“You mean there could be someone else here besides us?”
“Just a possibility. This place without water is easier to move through than the deeper section. If they’ve disappeared, I’d say there’s a reason for it.”
The two of them sat on a rock for a moment and caught their breath.
Yekaterina’s hand moved toward her skirt out of habit, then stopped.
The damp tobacco in her sleeve wasn’t in any condition to be lit.
With no other choice, she went on talking.
“There are two entrances into the Lost Sanctuary. One is the passage connected to the monastery basement we came down through. The other is the route that comes in through the coastal cliff.”
“So the entrance the Horn Boars came through is that coastal cliff path.”
Come to think of it, he had seen the Horn Boars in the mountain heading down toward the coastal cliff.
He had wondered why they were moving toward the sea below, where there was nothing but water.
So they had all been flowing into this cave.
“Then maybe that means the person the Holy See sent in through that route has already entered.”
“How is it that you remember everything I say so well? Do you actually have feelings for me or something?”
“I’m not in the mood for joking.”
Lawrence’s tone had turned stiffer than he intended.
“I’m not sure. The one who was supposed to come this time was…. No, never mind. If it’s that fellow, I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up out of nowhere at any moment. The fact that he’s already long past the date he was supposed to arrive and still hasn’t shown his face says enough.”
With a grimace that suggested she found the whole thing distasteful, she twisted her mouth.
“Sounds like he’s a peculiar man, even by Sister standards.”
“I’m still more normal than most. And just so you know, every Inquisitor in the Celestial is a little off in the head. Junior, if you keep searching the Lost Sanctuary in the future, you’ll end up crossing paths with Inquisitors often enough. They won’t necessarily go straight for the throat, but… still, be careful. They’re not exactly the sort of people you can reason with.”
“Then I’ll borrow your name.”
“You’d better not. Just because we belong to the same organization doesn’t mean we all get along.”
He filed that away in the back of his mind.
Whatever else she was, Yekaterina had said it out of concern.
Lawrence wasn’t dull enough to miss the meaning behind her words.
Had they grown close to the Lost Sanctuary?
The scenery had begun to change, taking on the unmistakable imprint of human hands.
Columns rose to support the floor and ceiling, all of them washed in a blue light.
Whatever patterns had once been carved into them were long since too damaged to recognize, but the faint glow they gave off lit the area around them.
Across the ground, he could see artificially made grooves and narrow channels.
Water flowing in from the sea had carved its own paths through the cracks.
The branching waterways all led deeper into the sanctuary.
Lawrence covered his mouth with one hand.
A rotten stench hit his nose.
The farther in they went, the more the water in the cracks was stained with a filthy hue.
What had seeped into the stream was Horn Boar blood.
Their corpses littered the passage.
Each body had been split in half by overwhelming force.
Not just the upper body and lower body, either.
Arms, legs.
The attacker had crippled their movement with the minimum force necessary, then ended them.
There were no signs of much resistance.
In other words, this hadn’t been a proper battle at all.
And it wasn’t just one or two bodies.
There were dozens of them filling the passage.
Whoever it was, they were monstrously skilled.
Horn Boars, tough against blades, had been sliced apart without mercy.
Following the trail of corpses, they advanced.
The guest who had killed the Horn Boars was not far ahead now.
At last, a gate leading into the sanctuary appeared before them.
A massive gate steeped in a gloomy light.
It was the kind of gate that could only inspire awe.
On either side stood two statues that strangely felt familiar.
The one on the left was twisted with fury.
The one on the right was sunk in sorrow.
They resembled the statues at the sanctuary in the Ulbazar Swamp.
Lawrence’s expression settled into calm certainty.
This was the place.
There was no other statue that carried this kind of atmosphere.
At last, the Lost Sanctuary of Frang Village stood before them.
This made it the third sanctuary he had found.
Would the Key of the Spirit World be here this time?
“Well, of course.”
A grumbling mutter reached his ears.
Yekaterina strode toward the gate.
Someone had gotten there before them.
A man who sat there with a giant greatsword, looking as if he had fallen asleep with his arms folded across his chest. He had hair the color of burning flame.
“Who told you to wait here?”
Yekaterina approached the man, who seemed to be sleeping soundly.
The moment he drew his dagger, the greatsword flew toward him with a sucking rush and smashed into it.
“Who the hell are you? Disturbing my sleep….”
“Quit your bitching.”
The man woke and lifted his head.
“Fake Sister. It was you?”
“Who are you calling fake Sister, you idiot who can’t even keep his schedule straight?”
“I have no reason to take that from you. I came here looking for a rat.”
“Oh, give me a break. A rat?”
Lawrence walked up to the pair as they growled at each other.
He hadn’t mistaken it.
That blazing red hair was unforgettable once seen.
Above all, he would never forget that greatsword, larger than a person.
“I didn’t expect to see you here, Mister Kyle.”
It was the very same man he had met on the road to Frang.
He had thought the fellow’s skill was no ordinary thing, but he had never imagined that the person the Holy See had asked for assistance would be Kyle.
“A pilgrim from the faith who likes meat, is it? Certainly….”
Recognizing his face at all was already a remarkable improvement.
Seeing him fail to remember the name made Lawrence smile.
“I’m Lawrence.”
“Right. That was definitely the name.”
But when Yekaterina heard their exchange, her reaction was strange.
“Kyle? This fellow’s name isn’t Kyle.”
“I’m on an assignment. I have no obligation to reveal my real name to a pilgrim from the faith I happened to meet on the road.”
Kyle sheathed the greatsword and rose to his feet.
When the huge man stood, Yekaterina looked almost like a little girl beside him.
“For someone who can’t even keep his schedule, you sure know how to use an alias.”
“I have no reason to hear that from you, fake Sister.”
His face, which looked as if it had no facial muscles at all, twitched.
“Then may I ask your real name?”
“Is this friend of yours one of the Celestials?”
“No. Junior here isn’t an Inquisitor.”
“……”
But, she went on.
“He’s a man deeply involved in this matter. It’s better to tell him the truth. He’s annoyingly quick on the uptake. Trying to deceive him will only make him suspicious for no reason.”
Kyle seemed to think it over for a moment before nodding.
“I see. Fine. I’ll be honest. I am Caelo.”
“Caelo….”
It was a name that felt oddly familiar.
Caelo. Caelo.
Where had he heard it before…?
“Junior. Among ordinary people, this fool is called Invincible Caelo.”
“Invincible Caelo?”
Lawrence’s eyes went wide.
There was no way he could have failed to hear of him.
That name belonged to one of the kingdom’s legendary Four Knights of the Promise.