150. The Family's Crisis (3)
The tavern inside the ramshackle wooden building felt like a grim funeral parlor.
"...Ahem, ahem."
This atmosphere and situation weren't something Eunhyeon had intended at all, but since he'd essentially provided the trigger, the thugs in the tavern were all staring at him and Emilia with terrified eyes.
"That ruthless bastard...."
"A demon...."
"Go rot in hell...."
"How could a fellow man even think of smashing that...."
The thugs gazed pityingly at the massive man who'd met a death far more tragic than a swift beheading without pain. Blood was gushing relentlessly from between his legs, and all he could do was desperately try to staunch it. He'd already passed out from unimaginable agony.
'That feeling... I know it all too well.'
Eunhyeon felt a pang of sympathy; he'd experienced that exact sensation before at Illyana's hands. At least he'd been able to recover thanks to a goddess's power, but this man had no such luck.
'...Should I at least ask the temple to help?'
Anies could wield healing magic capable of regenerating severed limbs, so restoring a pair of burst balls might be within her reach. For now, though, Eunhyeon had no intention of wasting the momentum that had fully swung in his favor.
"I'll talk to the temple and get him treated with healing magic."
"R-Really?!"
"O-Ohhh!"
The thugs who'd been glaring at him like he was Satan's spawn moments ago now looked at him as if he'd descended like a messiah, their eyes gleaming with fervor.
"......"
It was absurd—none of their own jewels had been crushed, yet they rejoiced as if they were theirs. Eunhyeon nearly burst out laughing but kept his expression neutral to avoid shattering the newfound rapport. He pointed at the nearest thug.
"You there."
"Y-Yes?"
"Show us upstairs. And if anyone mocks or refuses... you know what happens, right?"
Just a glance at Emilia, who stood impassively gripping his hand as if nothing had happened, conveyed his meaning. The thug nodded frantically.
"O-Of course! Right this way! Hey! Clear a path for them now!"
Desperate to protect his own manhood, the thug waved his arms like he was shooing flies, parting the crowd. No one dared challenge Eunhyeon and Emilia after witnessing the shocking spectacle.
"Th-This way."
Following the thug's lead upstairs, Eunhyeon flung open the flimsy wooden door without hesitation.
Creeeak.
As the rusty hinges groaned and he stepped inside, a thick wave of killing intent crashed over him.
Clang!
"......!"
The woman lurking silently behind the door lunged with a dagger aimed at his throat, but the girl lightly leaped and blocked it bare-handed. The assassin's brow twitched at the metallic clang echoing from the girl's arm—an unnatural sound that stood out more than the swift reaction.
"Your tricks are as predictable as ever, Lunan."
"What brings you here this time? Our deal ended when we passed that girl's whereabouts—Erin—to the Armitas Duke family...."
"You know why I'm here."
"Ugh...!"
Eunhyeon's expression flickered as he glanced at the assassin, the deep malice in his crimson eyes choking the air from her lungs.
"...It wasn't us."
"I know. No matter how elite or professional your Black Wolves are, even at night when the streets are deserted, you wouldn't brazenly murder someone in broad view on a capital avenue."
Besides, skilled guards from a ducal house wouldn't fall so easily, even to Black Wolves under Lunan's information guild.
"But that doesn't mean you're completely uninvolved, does it?"
"......"
"The list of nobles complicit in Lenion Hersha's embezzlement—you slipped in the names of Duke Armitas and his heir. That was your guild's doing, right?"
"...Yes."
The Lenion Hersha embezzlement scandal involved more than just the key players back then. The assassins who'd taken gold from Elvin only to try killing him were Black Wolves, at Ashton's behest. They'd also attempted to kidnap Erin out of frustration over Elvin's disappearance, and spread rumors of her whereabouts to bait and attack Eira. In truth, the Black Wolves had been covertly stirring the pot on Ashton's orders all along.
A little digging would have revealed why Ashton was so paranoid and acted alone. Eunhyeon had known this but deliberately let it slide, figuring the scandal would erupt eventually. He hadn't anticipated forging deep ties with the Armitas family over personal sentiments.
Now, he regretted that choice.
"Maybe I should have just killed you all back then...."
"...!"
The assassin, who'd naturally lunged at his casual mutter, shuddered at the lethal undertone.
"Talk. Who did you sell the info to, and why now? And slipping in the duke and heir's names naturally? Someone pulled strings."
It only made sense that raw intel had been tainted with falsehoods at another's behest.
"The Black Fang Guild maintains close ties with the royalist faction. Any info undermining the ducal faction—including Armitas—fetches top price. We've upheld this long before Ashton commissioned us."
"That idiot Ashton used you out of fear his own dirt would surface, but in the end, you fed his embezzlement complicity straight to royalist ears."
"That was the plan."
Like walking willingly into a tiger's den. No one else caused this much trouble to the bitter end.
"So? Who schemed to add Abros and Alex to that embezzlement list?"
Raw intel alone would have tarnished the family's power and reputation. Falsely adding their names screamed a vicious intent to utterly destroy them.
"...That man."
"That man?"
"...Ashton Armitas. He commissioned it. Said he wanted revenge on the father and family who abandoned him."
"...What?"
Exiting the information guild and slums, Eunhyeon and Emilia headed straight for the Vesta Temple to meet Anies.
"This unit has a question for Master."
"What is it?"
"Why spare them?"
"It's not my place to judge them. The ducal family decides. Unless something happens to Elenoa—then I'll kill them all."
"An incomprehensible judgment."
"Lately, even I don't know why I think this way."
Eunhyeon could erupt in rage and slaughter them without hesitation if Elenoa were harmed—but wouldn't that make him a mindless butcher? Not the image befitting an Apostle meant to guide humanity toward survival, not ruin. He shouldn't meddle directly in human affairs or lives.
That was the gods' constraint on him, yet as Verdandi and some loosened it, Eunhyeon sensed something within twisting.
'...Am I okay like this?'
Emotions he'd suppressed were creeping up uncontrollably. His lust, unleashed after bonding with Illyana and Verdandi; the boiling killing intent toward those endangering Elenoa—he strained to contain it. Imagining a future where he lost reason to this emotional storm terrified him.
'For now... focus on rescuing the lady....'
Pushing the unease aside, he hurried on with Emilia. Anies, archbishop under the Pope at Vesta's head temple, wasn't someone a nobody like Eunhyeon could just meet. Yet she'd anticipated his visit, instructing attendants to guide him straight to her room.
Dispensing with pleasantries, Eunhyeon cut to the chase upon arrival.
"Need help. Possible or not?"
No need to specify Elenoa's rescue—Anies understood, flashing a wry smile.
"Sorry, really. Hands are full."
"Wasn't Vesta's order to push Elenoa hard?"
"It was. But we've got fallout from our mess. Head's splitting just handling that. Slack off too long, and the first real work hits like a migraine."
Elenoa had ousted Bishop Harkan. Now the Fernin Vesta Temple lacked a leader, falling under Anies's direct oversight.
"But why handle temple cleanup yourself? Plenty of priests besides Harkan. Lower ones aren't incompetent."
"True, but I'm watching the situation. It's my mess; I should clean it. Can't risk installing one of Harkan's cronies plotting under him."
Harkan's scandals, exposed by Eunhyeon, led to mass purges of his corrupt high officials. The temple was in chaos.
"Who knows if some underling harbors grudges? Until a trustworthy successor arrives, I'll handle it myself."
Thus, workloads piled on the top-ranking Anies until a new bishop stabilized things—she couldn't spare aid.
"Elenoa was slated as my successor... tch."
Still, it gnawed at her not to act. Weighing Fernin's cleanup against the future saintess's rescue, Anies decided.
"I'll leave my successor's kidnapping to you. Official commission from Vesta's archbishop."
"What's your basis for dumping Elenoa's rescue on me instead?"
"You can handle the rescue; only I can stabilize Fernin's temple. No reliable underlings, can't promote low-rankers to bishop. You came for help, but you'd prefer I stay out, right?"
"......"
"To give the temple plausible deniability. Avoiding rumors that an outsider handled the unofficial saintess candidate instead of us."
The ducal commission provided some cover, but no temple involvement in rescuing a priestess could strain kingdom-temple ties—Elenoa was both noble daughter and cleric.
"But I'm not helpless. Here."
"What's this?"
Eunhyeon eyed the golden gem Anies offered.
"Guide of White Jade."
"...Packed with holy power."
"Right. Knew you'd recognize it. Artifact infused with Elenoa's holy power."
"...An artifact?"
"Consumable held only by me, other archbishops, and the Pope. Priest-exclusive tracker—pinpoints the owner's holy power source. Unlike mana trackers, distance or dungeon barriers don't matter. Holy vs. mana difference."
"You used such a rare consumable on Elenoa's power?"
Priests were revered yet targeted by plots for monopolization—politically too. Pope and archbishops were exalted but perilous seats. Hence, the Guide of White Jade.
Anies shrugged with a grin.
"Told you I'd push hard. Didn't foresee this, but prepped since she accepted succession. Few here can scar me anyway—wasted on me. Perfect timing for Elenoa."
"......"
"Entrusting it to you."
"You sure? Really?"
"Can't go myself. Heard your side's chaos too? Ducal house under investigation, on the brink; Riod's swamped. You're the only option."
Thus, Elenoa's rescue became Eunhyeon's solo op. Illyana couldn't join—her interference limited to national crises like the succubus or necromancer attacks. Eunhyeon didn't want to give political foes leverage.
Only unbound Eunhyeon could act freely.
"...True."
Eunhyeon rose with a bitter smile.
"Heading out now?"
"Got a way to track her. No time to waste."
"Talk tough, but solo? Want a spare priest?"
"Nah, got enough firepower. Taking Lia."
"This little doll?"
"This unit is not little... mffph."
Eunhyeon clamped Emilia's mouth, forcing the talk onward.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, I trust you."
"Got it."
Slipping out the way he'd come, Eunhyeon activated the artifact in his pocket with infused divine power. It buzzed violently.
"Pathetic. Truly."
Combining Lunan's intel with the Guide of White Jade's insistent pull toward the capital's outskirts, he stared outward. Elenoa's presumed abduction window: last night to post-midday dawn. They'd covered far more ground than half a day allowed—likely some transport.
"Lia. No time—move fast. Deploy that new rig."
"This unit deems using untested equipment dangerous."
"Speed is life. No room for trials."
"...Command accepted."