Chapter 205: Turning a Blind Eye-3
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 205: Turning a Blind Eye-3
"......."
Staring at the dregs of coffee remaining in his cup, the Saint sank into thought.
It was unproven, but there is such a thing as a gut feeling. And that hunch was incessantly prodding at him.
The wealthy Order.
The meals shared with the Saint.
The pamphlets about the Saint distributed to every parish.
The village representatives who, for some reason, failed to greet him on the day of his arrival.
The large boxes those representatives brought, and the Holy Knights who took charge of them.
The banquets hosted by those same representatives.
The nobles who attended those banquets.
The drawstring sacks the Holy Knights carried out.
The beggars swarming near the Order’s headquarters.
The crowds of people driving those beggars away.
Things he had passed over with indifference now resurfaced in his mind.
It was upon his return to the Order from Madini that these meaningless fragments of memory transformed into the jagged, interlocking pieces of a puzzle.
After giving Maria instructions regarding Antonio, the Saint had retired to his room to recover from the fatigue of the journey.
Even after Maria had brought him coffee and returned to her own quarters, the Saint remained there, staring at the now-cold cup, still piecing the puzzle together.
"It’s late."
The Saint spoke while looking out at the pitch-black night.
It was a heavily clouded night. Even the moon, which usually cast a gentle glow, was hidden behind the clouds, its presence marked only by a faint, minuscule shimmer.
"...Tonight is the only time."
His official schedule was set to begin the following day.
The Saint downed the cold coffee in one gulp and opened his wardrobe.
From a corner of the closet filled with pristine white garments, he pulled out a spare set of black priest’s robes.
He gripped the long hem of the robes and tore them.
Riiip. The sound of rending fabric echoed through the room.
After donning the black robes, the Saint moved his body experimentally. He wanted to ensure there was nothing to snag or hinder his movements.
Then, he wrapped the torn strips of fabric around his head. The cloth concealed his mouth and hair.
The Saint extinguished the lights in his room. Everyone would assume he had fallen into an early sleep, exhausted from the arduous journey.
He observed the situation outside the window for a moment. He spotted several Holy Knights patrolling the grounds at regular intervals.
He timed how long it took for them to disappear and reappear.
Finally, once the Holy Knights had passed through their designated patrol zone, the Saint eased the window open.
A breeze drifted into the room.
On a night when even the moon refused to show its face, the Saint stepped onto the windowsill and leaped.
Just as the unpleasant sensation of freefall took hold, his outstretched hand caught a tree branch.
The tree swayed once, but no one came running at the sound.
The Saint utilized the blind spots in the guards' vision, moving through the shrubbery and ducking behind statues.
Moving from shadow to shadow, he crossed Solarumea.
His destination was the carriage depot.
The Saint identified the carriages they had used for the trip to Madini Village and checked the cargo holds.
There, he saw the sacks the Holy Knights had loaded onto the carriages.
They were sacks tied tightly with blue string. The Saint brushed the surface of a sack with his fingertips. It felt hard and lumpy, as if filled with many objects of the same shape.
Just then, footsteps echoed from a distance. Without hesitation, the Saint slid underneath the carriage.
He gripped a protrusion on the undercarriage and pulled himself up, pressing his body flat against the floorboards.
Along with the footsteps came the rhythmic clanking of armor.
"Here they are."
A voice spoke.
"This seems to be it."
It sounded like two people had approached the carriage.
The Saint tightened the grip in his arms.
"They’re quite heavy."
"Of course they are. They’re offerings, after all."
They exchanged casual conversation, as if they were merely buying goods at a market.
"The representative of Madini Village seems to be a man of profound faith."
A sack hit the ground with a heavy thud. The Saint’s heart hammered against his ribs.
"But is there a difference between what’s in the boxes and what’s in the sacks?"
One of them, seemingly unfamiliar with the procedure, asked a question.
The man with the deep voice answered the curiosity mechanically.
"The items in the boxes are official offerings used by the Order. These are Purpose-Specific Offerings, so His Holiness the Pope manages them directly."
"Ah, I see. Since the management is different, the offerings have to be submitted differently as well."
The carriage rose slightly, indicating that all the sacks had been unloaded.
"Ugh, heavy."
The voices of the men carrying the sacks grew distant.
The Saint remained pressed against the bottom of the carriage, counting out another ten minutes.
Once he was certain no one was returning, he crawled out from under the vehicle.
"......."
The scattered puzzle in his head was finally clicking into place.
*
"Saint...?"
Unable to sleep, Maria had returned to the Saint’s room under the pretext of the earlier errand.
When there was no answer to her knock, she cautiously pushed the door open.
The room was shrouded in darkness.
Maria stepped into the silent chamber. She thought that perhaps seeing the Saint’s face while he was deep in sleep would calm her racing heart.
However, the bed where the Saint should have been was empty.
Only the white vestments he had taken off lay there.
Maria picked up the robes.
Then, she pressed them against her face.
The Saint’s scent diffused through her entire body.
"Haa... haah..."
Inhaling and exhaling deeply, Maria let out a pleasurable moan.
After losing herself in the scent of the clothes for a while, a fundamental question finally occurred to her.
"Where did he go?"
Had he gone for a night stroll? Just as Maria was about to leave the room to search the area, she heard a rustling sound from the window.
At that moment, the Saint climbed inside.
"Phew... this body makes things difficult."
The Saint, covered in fallen leaves, tumbled through the window and stood up, only to freeze when he saw Maria.
"......."
"......."
Their eyes met. For a long moment, neither said a word.
"Could you... put those clothes down first?" the Saint asked, his face flushed with embarrassment.