The Punishment Hall (3)
The Punishment Hall (3)
"Kill them all..."
"Waaaaait!!"
I immediately grabbed Rosemary and rolled. Caught under the same blanket with no warning, Rosemary thrashed.
"J-just a moment..."
"Hey. Stop squirming. I'm hurt. I'm a patient. I could actually die."
"......"
Her resistance died down in an instant. Good. Stay quiet.
I'd gone to all the trouble of playing sick, and if you stirred things up, it'd all be for nothing. Right now I need to act weak and let the enemy lower their guard, so what the—
Cat ears peeked out over the blanket and twitched. My chest quickly grew damp.
"Hn... hng... hnnng..."
Damn it.
Should I say something?
No. I shouldn't. If I start telling people one by one, everyone will find out. I didn't even tell Austin, who runs errands for me, so how could I tell this kid?
"Rosemary."
"Hnng... hic..."
"I told you I'm fine. I'm really not going to die."
"...B-but... I heard..."
Her ears drooped.
"That your injuries are so severe even the healing priests can't safely treat you... and that some unknown poison is eating away at your body..."
"W-well, that's true, but... it doesn't hurt that much."
"Don't lie!"
It really doesn't hurt, though.
"Why... why do you..."
Rosemary clutched my bandages.
"Why do you keep getting hurt... Why do you keep trying to endure it all alone..."
"...Rosemary?"
"I-I'm... strong too... I'm working harder every day..."
For the first time, she lifted her head. Her tear-soaked eyes were different from usual.
They weren't sharp. They were fragile, as if they might shatter at any moment.
"Please... lean on... me too..."
Whoa.
That was strong.
That was really strong. Whoa! Shit! I almost spilled everything just now!
I almost gave in. With those fierce eyes trembling like that, the impact was no joke. I almost told her I was actually fine without even realizing it.
Hoo... calm down... calm down...
I reached out. I placed my hand on Rosemary's head with a soft pat.
Then I rubbed it.
"Aww. Were you worried about your master?"
"...I'm not joking around."
"Good girl. Our cat. Aw, how precious."
That face was impossible to get past without deflecting with a joke. I gently wiped away the tears hanging from the corners of her eyes.
"I'm really fine. I'll recover after about two months of rest. You know who I am. The immortal who held out in that hellish Paramer for six whole months! And on top of that, the hero who personally took down the mastermind behind it all, right?"
"......."
"Ra said so too—that I won't die."
—Not that I was even hurt in the first place.
Rosemary's ears slowly straightened. The ears that had been completely limp perked up.
"...Really?"
"Really. So stop crying."
"......"
Rosemary wiped her tears and stood up. She was still sniffling, but she managed to turn her head away.
She even straightened the rumpled blanket and covered me with it again.
"...I'll come every day."
"You can't. They said the poison might spread, so I was told to stay alone as much as possible."
"...Then I'll come at least two months from now."
"That sounds good."
Rosemary took a deep breath. After slowly exhaling, she looked down at me.
She even stroked my head.
"...You have to get up. Understood?"
At her voice, so clearly different from usual, I felt a pang of guilt.
"Of course. Who do you think I am?"
"...Master..."
"Hm?"
"No. I was talking to myself."
Come to think of it, Rosemary still had the collar around her neck. The thing I'd put on her when I first defeated her.
"Hurry up and get better..."
She whipped her head away. She pulled her hair over her face to hide it.
Her voice crawled out.
"Once you're up... the collar... I'll let you pull on it as much as you want."
...That was a bit much.
You're strong... Rosemary...
. . .
She wasn't the only visitor. Tiela and Grimoire also passed by the door from time to time.
"Hmm... severe injuries, they say..."
"He didn't seem like such a weak man..."
"What was in front of his room was definitely blood. A gruesome trace. Someone had tried to clean part of it up, but enough remained for me to recognize it."
"Serpent Church bastards, then. But even so, why..."
"That's a matter for the Inquisition Office, not for us."
"But still..."
From beyond the door, Grimoire muttered weakly.
"I can see with my own eyes that my pretty junior is drained all day because of that bastard... Can't he just drop dead and disappear?"
That bitch?
Next time I'll crush you properly. I'll have to fix that attitude of yours for good one of these days.
"Did you tell Irene? That it was the Serpent Church's doing."
"There's no need to upset her for nothing. She's already struggling enough... If we tell her who did it, she'll definitely try to dig into whoever's behind it."
"Hm."
Tiela and Grimoire left. They weren't the last visitors.
Cardinal Arpina also stopped by the room. I urgently ordered Radatok to open the door.
She was the one person I couldn't keep it a secret from.
Worrying about whether Arpina would talk was secondary—if she mistakenly thought the hope she'd barely glimpsed had been extinguished, she might actually kill herself!
"I... see... So you're... pretending to be a patient... to deceive Archbishop Dwayne..."
Arpina pressed a hand to her chest. She gently took my hand. Tears welled in her eyes.
"I thought you'd been hurt because you met with me."
"Hey. That's not it. You're reaching too far. Anyway, it's a secret. Understood?"
"What are you preparing while lying in a sickbed?"
"Archbishop Dwayne is trying to drag His Eminence down, isn't he?"
"Don't tell me...!"
"I can't imagine any cardinal other than His Eminence. If that man rises to that position, who knows how the church will change."
I grinned at Arpina.
"I have a plan. His Eminence just needs to stay quiet as he has been. I'll come for him when the time is right. It'll only take about two months."
"Z-Zahard..."
Judging by the tears welling in her eyes, she was completely won over.
Nice! Killed two birds with one stone and raised her affection!
"...I'll be waiting. But... please don't overdo it..."
Arpina also left. The problem was Irene.
She came every single day. But she didn't barge in through the door like Rosemary did.
She just leaned against the door and offered a short prayer, and that was it. If Rosemary couldn't control her boiling emotions, Irene seemed to control her own emotions with cold precision.
"...She's a frightening woman."
Radtok, who had spoken, shuddered.
"I've never seen such cold eyes before. Brother. We cannot leave her be."
"What do you mean?"
"It's my instinct. At the very least, I have a feeling she's preparing something... If she isn't stopped, something will explode. Definitely."
The next day, I urgently called Irene in. Irene stared blankly at me wrapped in bandages, then quietly sat in a chair.
There was no conversation. The silence was so heavy that I deliberately coughed and spoke to her.
"...Irene. I'm fine."
"......."
"You're not thinking anything strange, are you?"
Irene wordlessly stroked me. She replaced the damp cloth on my head.
"...Does it hurt a lot?"
At the first words out of her mouth, I nodded. Ah. It hurt my heart.
But I couldn't tell her. Let me endure it a little longer.
"I'm fine. I think I'll recover in about two months. You know I'm strong, right?"
"......"
"You're not... planning something strange, are you?"
"I heard the story."
Irene murmured.
"I thought about the fact that you were poisoned with an extremely vicious toxin. I thought hundreds of times about what kind of deadly poison it could be. The Church of Ra is famous even for its healing Holy Arts. Most poisons can be treated on the spot. The fact that they still can't treat it means it's either a deadly poison compounded from multiple toxins, or a poison made through a special method."
"Y-yes?"
"I heard that some members of the Serpent Church recently stopped by here. Considering a high-level assassin, I think that side is the most likely."
"Ah, Irene...?"
"But I can't understand why the Serpent Church would send an assassin after you. I tried to understand it, but I still can't."
Irene slowly raised her chilling eyes.
"The Serpent Church has no reason to target you. Most of the credit for saving Paramer went to Ashval Haltz. The Sun God Church did play a role, but as far as the outside world knows, it was only a supporting one."
"Ah, Irene?"
"Apostle Estelle was favorably disposed toward you. Knight Commander Isabella was the same. She wouldn't deliberately mention your name to the Serpent Church. Even if she had, it's too far for them to come right away. So... I can construct one hypothesis. The culprits are Serpent Church paladins, but they aren't moving according to the Serpent Church's will. They're moving for someone else's benefit."
Her muttering grew faster.
"On the day you were attacked, it was determined that there were no traces of the sacred barrier being destroyed from outside. That means Serpent Church paladins were inside the church from the start. They probably came mixed in with the last delegation. They've been inside the Sun God Church the whole time, so they haven't been caught. And besides... while you were gone, several suspicious deaths were discovered. All of them were ruled accidents or natural deaths."
"What are you talking about right now..."
"Thinking about it now, it gives a little more weight to my hypothesis that Serpent Church paladins were involved in those incidents too. The seniors told me they're specialists in assassination. That the Serpent Church is famous for leaving no trace of the blades it swings in the dark. If I assume the murders were disguised as natural deaths or accidents, they're the most likely candidates."
The process of a hypothesis becoming truth.
"The people who happened to die also share several commonalities. They were unusually righteous. They had defied someone. They couldn't stand staying silent."
"......"
"Their commonality is that they were all enemies of Dwayne. And it's also a commonality they share with you. Considering that Divine Judge Dimona conducted no investigation even though you were injured... and that the Serpent Church paladins would need an accomplice to remain inside..."
Irene's eyes gleamed eerily.
"The one sending and managing the Serpent Church paladins is Archbishop Dwayne. No one below that level could hide Serpent Church paladins inside the church. Targeting you was probably a kind of warning to Divine Judge Dimona. Laying hands directly on a Divine Judge is too risky, and the chances of what he's done being exposed are too high."
Goosebumps erupted all over me.
Isn't her mind working a little too well?! She figured all that out from a single poison?!
"...I."
Irene gripped my hand tightly.
Her eyes were dead.
"I'm gathering strength. Zahard."
"I don't think you need to."
"My goal is to become the head of the Day Priestesses. I'll surpass even Tiela."
"I think you could take it a little slower..."
"Don't worry. I'm not getting worked up. I can control my emotions. I can distinguish between what I should do and what I shouldn't."
Irene slowly stroked my head.
"I'll make it so no one can hurt you. I'll create an environment where you can never go through something like this again."
"......"
"I... will stand at the very top."
Her whispering voice was incredibly dark.
"For you alone."
Something...
I feel like I just awakened something that should never have been awakened?
. . .
"Here's your pass."
Dimona handed over several documents. She also handed over a small identification card.
"I've sent a letter to the head of the First Punishment Office. But... keep in mind that it might not work."
"Is she that difficult?"
"She's surprisingly sloppy. Going by how she acts, she's no different from a thug. She loves gambling, gets drunk on violence... But at her core, she's a stickler for principles. You know outsiders can't just walk into a Punishment Office, right?"
Dimona fiddled with her shoulder.
"I don't know what she'll do. So be careful. If anything seems off, just get out and call me."
"Then there'd be no point in sneaking in."
"Sneaking in isn't the problem. The head of the First Punishment Office is the famous Director Veronica."
I knew that much. But I'm going through a personal introduction, so she wouldn't just throw me out on the spot.
Unless something happens there, that is.
"Remember. Don't get on Director Veronica's bad side. That would be extremely dangerous."
"Don't worry."
I wrapped Maya up. The First Punishment Office was located in Tantalos. A city where the cold sweeps in even in midsummer.
"I have an excellent employee with me!"
"Ahem."
Maya placed a hand on her shoulder. Dimona slumped.
"Then I'm twice as worried..."