The End of Silence 2
The circles around his heart kept tightening relentlessly. Over the two circles he'd barely managed to activate, three more tangled in disarray. They twisted without regard for his will. In the world of mana, a faint discord reached only Licht's ears.
Five. Five of them...
After the unannounced guests had entered the building, Licht had retreated to his room. The entrance to the convent building wasn't limited to the front gate in the courtyard. His assigned room was on the exact opposite side from the abbess's office. The interior was unchanged from when he'd left that morning. The bed by the window, its bedding slightly rumpled. On one wall hung the clothes he'd been wearing when the girl had saved him. On the bedside table sat a small ring, a silver pocket watch, and a subspatial pouch. Licht glanced at them once before quietly unfastening the Ascension Sword from his waist and sitting on the edge of the bed.
I need to... hide my presence.
He forcibly suppressed the circles. Not even the slightest trace of mana could leak out. He even halted the two barely activated circles, sealing off all energy. His body grew heavy, as if soaked in water. His senses dulled too. The entire convent, which had felt so tangible moments ago, plunged into pitch-black darkness.
How...
How had they found him?
"...Have they caught on?"
The question tumbling through his mind slipped out aloud. Perhaps he'd grown too immersed in that fleeting peace. He'd thought he might have time to recover all five circles. Maybe even weave in a sixth ring. Foolish notions. He was standing in the heart of enemy territory—he knew that. Though remote, the Hyeris Convent was firmly within the Holy Kingdom. It wasn't some ordinary monastery or convent. It housed a Saintess. Holy knights could emerge from the Papal Court at any moment without surprise.
Did they have some remaining tracking relic?
The three Executioners pursuing him, led by the 4th Seat—they'd used tracking relics, but those had shattered. Tracking long-range spatial jumps like teleportation would require identical relics or equivalents.
Or perhaps...
Maybe they were simply here to fetch the Saintess. He knew the circumstances. The girl had told him herself, corroborated by the abbess and the children. If his guess was right—if the ritual on January 1st, the Day of Creation, hinged on her as the core sacrifice—then it wasn't strange for them to come collecting her now.
They're heading to the office.
His fading senses picked up five young men following the abbess toward her office. Licht gathered everything from the table: the ring, the pocket watch, and the small pouch. The ring the count had given him after the battle with the Executioner had a cracked mana stone embedded atop it. The internal mana was nearly depleted too. Still, Licht hung the watch around his neck and slipped the ring onto his left middle finger. Better than nothing, even if diminished.
Not yet...
It was too early to bare his blade against the Holy Kingdom.
6th Circle.
How much time would it take? Licht hunched over on the bed's edge. Unwelcome presences lingered in the distant office on the opposite side. The best outcome was for them to leave without incident. The abbess had mentioned Holy knights from the Papal Court visiting once half a year ago. If they left now, he'd likely have time to stabilize his current circles.
What nagged at him was their arrival without warning.
Abbess...
Licht murmured inwardly. She'd said she'd get advance notice. It took time for the Papal Court to reach here, so not to worry.
She doesn't seem to be lying.
But the abbess didn't appear to have lied to him. That left one possibility: they'd raced here from the Papal Court without any notice.
"......"
If it came to a fight... if he had to kill all five Holy knights...
Time passed. He didn't know how long. Licht sat motionless on the bed, suppressing his presence. Soon, another presence stormed into the office. Even through his dulled senses, it stood out sharply. It was the Saintess.
More time passed, and then the intruders' presences exited the convent building. The Saintess wasn't with them. The five lingered briefly in the courtyard before gradually receding. Sensing them descend into the forest, Licht sighed inwardly. As expected, they had no tracking relic. Their unannounced visit to Hyeris Convent was just to persuade the Saintess to return to the Papal Court.
After sitting like that for a while, Licht suddenly rose. Slowly releasing his suppressed circles, the world brightened as if a veil lifted, and the convent's surroundings sharpened in his senses once more.
"...Still in the office?"
He was about to leave the room when, hand on the doorknob, his body froze. The five presences, fading as they descended the forest path, had abruptly halted. And soon after, they began ascending the mountain once more—toward Hyeris Convent.
In an instant, Licht's gaze flicked to the Ascension Sword leaning against the table. His deliberation was brief; his decision swift. Striding quickly, he seized the sword, flung open the door, and dashed outside.
***
The office, swept by a silent storm, lay hushed. The abbess sat on the sofa in her original posture. Exhaustion she couldn't hide etched her face. Even with her past as a monsignor weathering every trial in the Papal Court, dealing with the sole son of a cardinal under papal orders was mentally draining.
"...I didn't expect them to arrive so suddenly," the abbess said by way of excuse.
At the office door, the girl gripped the knob, standing still. Her golden eyes sank deep.
The five Holy knights had come unannounced and left. Her resolve had been ironclad. She'd flatly rejected David of the Knight Secreta, who had politely implored her return to the Papal Court, leaving no room for negotiation. Thanks to her, the Knight Secreta members who'd raced from afar would return empty-handed.
"They haven't quite caught on about your brother yet."
"......"
"Their probing was deliberate, likely from lack of certainty. Perhaps your brother noticed quickly and handled it well."
After the Saintess burst into the office, David had probed before them, hinting at something hidden. Neither the abbess nor the girl showed it. They'd anticipated such questions the moment Holy knights arrived from the Papal Court.
"Still, next time..."
The abbess trailed off. Mercy like this was the last. Next time, there'd be no choices left. She said no more, but the girl knew what she meant.
The girl opened the office door.
"...Are you going?"
The abbess asked without turning.
"As far as I know, your brother left the library and headed to the back courtyard."
"He might be in his room."
"His room... I see. It's at the far opposite end from here. As they say, 'out of sight, out of mind'..."
The girl slowly exited the abbess's office. The silent corridor welcomed her. Glancing out the window, the courtyard stood empty, unlike before—as if the entire convent had submerged in water.
Turning her gaze, she quickened her pace down the hall. Her footsteps echoed like ripples.
It'll be fine. Nothing happened.
The words felt like a mantra to herself. When David, her guard knight, arrived, her absence had been pure coincidence. Without prior word from the Papal Court, the abbess couldn't have hidden her. In fact, the girl had been washing clothes by the nearby stream with the other nuns and children. A shocking sight to other clergy, but she didn't care. She wanted to blend in ordinarily. The initially awkward nuns and children had stopped protesting her sincere efforts, accepting her not as the Saintess but as a person. The abbess was pleased. So was she.
Thus, returning from chores to the unusually hectic convent, visiting the office had been instinctive. There, she'd seen the five Knight Secreta knights come for her. Her first thought was the black-haired boy she'd nursed devotedly these past weeks.
No way...
Had they noticed?
No, no.
David had left quietly without fuss.
But if they suspect...
Death. Or worse.
...He killed Executioners.
She knew. The abbess too. The black-haired boy who'd suddenly taken refuge was no ordinary soul. His body bore countless sword wounds like savage gashes. Imbued with the deepest holy power, they screamed Executioner—no one else could inflict them. The golden holy sword and artifacts clutched in his hand confirmed it—items ordinary folk never glimpsed.
A boy who'd battled and been wounded by presumed Executioner Holy knights. Word came late, via the abbess's central connections. Executioners dead. Not one—starting from the excommunicated lowest seat Bryce, then 4th, 6th, 7th, 9th seats. Five total. Inferred: a single perpetrator. No hard proof, but the abbess and girl knew instantly. All signs pointed to the boy.
They should've reported to the Papal Court. They should've.
...No regrets.
She walked without pause, thinking. No regrets. Late at night, when all slept, she'd risen alone, drawn into the forest. And found the dying boy.
That time.
What was...
That voice?
"Ah..."
After walking relentlessly, the boy's room came into view not far off. But she halted.
"Saintess...?"
Visitors had arrived first. The three eldest kids at the convent: Willie, Ben, and Emma. They glanced at her but couldn't tear eyes from the boy's room.
With slow steps, she joined them. The door stood open.
An empty room. The very space where she'd nursed him spread before her. The bed in one corner, bedding slightly rumpled. A breeze slipped through the open window. White curtains danced at the sill.