Chapter 165
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 165
Chapter Title: The Captured Holy Knight
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However, if the Holy Kingdom had branded her a heretic, the stigmata should have vanished as a matter of course.
Still, the only way to know for sure was to check in person.
"What should we do?"
"We find her. Before the heresy inquisitors do."
If Nabel's stigmata were intact, it would mean the Holy Kingdom's leadership had gone mad. If not, then she truly had become a problem child.
The issue was figuring out where she was right now.
The intense divine power unique to a saintess was impossible to pinpoint precisely amid the divine energy scattered everywhere, and probing with the Machine God's heart wasn't easy either.
But if there were people who might know her location...
Clang!!
It happened then.
The main gates of the inquisition office swung open, and a man was dragged in, bound by the heresy inquisitors.
Ah.
Found him.
The man the inquisitors had captured was someone I'd seen before.
The saintess's guard holy knight.
He was the one who had protected Nabel's safety when I'd headed to the forbidden zone before.
"You depraved scum!! How dare you heretics brand Lady Nabel a heretic?!"
"Shut up and come along, heretic. Unless you want summary execution."
"You'll never find Lady Nabel. She's already left this fortress! The Lord shall lament. Those who serve Him must be the purest, yet you dare commit such blasphemy... Gah!"
One of the heresy inquisitors slammed a fist into the holy knight's solar plexus, knocking him out and dragging him away.
In my current situation of not knowing the saintess's whereabouts, I figured I had to meet him somehow.
"We force our way in?"
"No, let's slip in quietly once it gets dark."
No matter how it played out, no word had come of Nabel being captured before nightfall.
* * *
"Damn... It's starting again today."
The inquisition office's basement held an interrogation room.
Of course, "interrogation room" was just a euphemism—it was a place where torture frequently occurred, so on days when heretics were dragged underground, screams would echo throughout.
Naturally, unless the guards here had grown numb or gone mad, enduring it was impossible.
And the soldier currently guarding the place was gripped by a fierce desire to quit this job right then and there.
No matter how much of a heretic it was, human screams weren't something you got used to easily.
"Pull yourself together. Orders came from above to pay special attention."
The interrogation had ended just a short while ago.
Even through hours of horrific interrogation—no, torture—the heretic hadn't uttered a word.
"Heard he was a high-ranking holy knight."
"Hah. Even high-ranking holy knights are just human in the end."
It was a bitter pill that someone in a position requiring unwavering faith had turned out to be a heretic.
"Whatever. It doesn't matter what the big shots think. We just do our jobs."
"Yeah."
The man quietly adjusted his stance at his colleague's words and closed his eyes.
"Once this is over, let's grab a drink. Without booze, I'll have nightmares tonight."
Normally, he'd get an enthusiastic agreement.
But for some reason, there was only silence.
"Hey... Huh?"
When he turned his head, puzzled by the lack of response, he saw no sign of his colleague who should have been guarding the door. His face twisted in confusion.
And that was the last sight before his consciousness faded.
Thud...
His body collapsed instantly, unconscious, and someone dragged it into the shadows.
Then, slowly, they revealed themselves.
"This the place?"
The man who appeared in the underground passage casually loosened his robe before yanking open the heavily locked iron door with a loud clang!.
Inside hung a man with both arms chained, dangling limply.
His body was covered in wounds, not a single intact spot—utterly ravaged.
"These guys never get tired of it..."
The man lifted his head and shouted defiantly.
"I have no information to give you heretics. She is not someone the likes of you can frame like this! More devout than anyone!!"
"Luna, heal this guy first. He'll die if we leave him like this."
"Yap."
With an emotionless, flat voice, she flicked her hand, and rainbow light seeped into the man.
At the same time, his battered body rapidly healed.
"Huh?"
The man blankly raised his head and examined his body all over.
"All done?"
"......"
"Then let's go. We need to find the saintess."
The restraints, enhanced with protective magic, were forged from holy magic.
Spirit or elemental magic couldn't cleanly dispel them, so smashing them would be ideal.
But they seemed designed to absorb any mana-like power attempting to tear them.
In other words, raw physical strength was needed, which wasn't easy for an ordinary human.
"What to do with these."
Krunch!!
Then Luna reached out and ripped the restraints apart with her bare hands.
The holy knight's eyes widened in shock before nodding in realization.
"What kind of ridiculous power is that..."
Though his body was healed, the ordeal had left him mentally exhausted.
His legs gave out, and he sank to the floor.
"This isn't the time. Lady Nabel is in danger."
"Has the Holy Kingdom gone mad? Branding a saintess a heretic?"
"It's some internal matter... Pardon? What did you just say?"
His eyes flew wide open.
"We didn't sneak in thinking no one would notice. But that's not important right now. Get up. We're securing the saintess and getting out immediately."
No matter what happened with the Hael tribe, we had to save the saintess's life.
If something went wrong with her, it could escalate beyond the tribe or the Holy Kingdom into massive chaos.
"How did you even get in here? Getting involved could be more than you can handle."
"We won't get caught."
A quick scan outside showed no issues yet.
"Follow quietly without a sound."
After setting up an illusion spell and blocking all presences around us, we swiftly exited the basement.
Even at this hour of deep darkness, heresy inquisitors were searching frantically, suggesting Saintess Nabel hadn't been caught yet.
"How are you here?"
"Didn't the saintess summon us?"
She'd sent the rendezvous time and place, after all.
At my question, he looked utterly baffled.
"Impossible. She wasn't in a position to send proper contact, and given the situation, Lady Nabel ordered no outreach to outsiders."
He still couldn't believe his body had healed so quickly and was prodding himself all over.
"Getting caught would be bad. We'll talk details later. Where's the saintess hiding?"
"Lady Nabel is in one of the hidden safe houses here, but... we're not fully prepared to escape yet."
"Lead the way now."
"Can I trust you?"
Even though we'd saved him, from Nabel's perspective, trusting anyone right now must be hard.
"Can't help you all the way. But I'll get you two out."
"...That's enough. Thank you."
He immediately led us through the sewers, avoiding the heresy inquisitors' eyes.
Luna, annoyed by the musty stench, glanced around and clapped silently.
Rainbow energy spread from her, repelling all filth.
After walking some distance, he casually flung open a hidden passage door.
"She's hiding somewhere inside this secret tunnel. Please. You're the only ones who can help Lady Nabel now."
Desperate times, but fortunately, no signs of intrusion at the secret passage entrance.
Meaning Nabel, still inside, was safe for now.
I sped up to call for her—
—when I grabbed the holy knight by the scruff and yanked him back.
"Don't act like an amateur. Shh."
His eyes bulged at my action.
I nodded toward a spot.
Black-robed heresy inquisitors were stealthily moving in the shadows, relying on faint light.
"Information leaked? This passage is unknown even to the inquisition office's inquisitors."
Apparently, this secret route was reserved for the top brass—an escape path.
Where there's an entrance, there's an exit.
They must have come from the other side.
No noise yet, so Nabel wasn't caught, but their numbers made silent rescue tricky.
If spatial transfer magic worked, no problem, but some strange power here interfered with my casting.
Probably a system to shake off pursuing mages.
Since it mimicked magic principles, solving it on the spot seemed impossible.
That raised a question.
With this dense structure, could communication magic even work?
"Can you communicate with the outside from here?"
"Almost impossible now."
Ah, really?
"Don't get any funny ideas. Even if communication's blocked, special holy formations in this passage suppress non-holy magic—auras or spells alike."
"Hm... Going non-lethal might not be the best call."
"These people in here are probably after eliminating Lady Nabel by any means. Heretics who must one day face the scaffold."
"Then leave this part to the expert."
"Expert?"
With that, I tossed a stone fragment around the corner.
Instantly closing in on the three approaching inquisitors.
Their attention naturally drawn by the sudden noise.
Can't just glance around carelessly.
That's why they fell like this.
The first to spot me barely let out a scream before my fist slammed his solar plexus.
Bam!!
"Guhk?!"
With a choked gasp, his body reflexively staggered, head bowing.
Thud thud smack!!
Flowing like water, I guided his movements and struck vitals in an instant, blacking him out.
The two following were stunned, not grasping what happened, fumbling to draw swords.
But dropping them all didn't take much time.