An Unexpected Windfall
Lia could not hide her astonishment as she stepped inside the temple, which was incomparably larger than the one in Lucha Village. Although the temple in Lucha Village had been built with far more care and capital than any other building there, it felt like a mere children's toy compared to this grand city temple.
"Get inside."
Guided rather rudely by the knights, Lia and Ratel were led into a small room at the far end of the temple's third floor. Waiting to greet them inside was an elderly man dressed in pristine white priestly robes. As Ratel and Lia entered, he welcomed them with a deeply benevolent smile.
"Ah, the tournament champions from Lucha Village. I am Blat."
"Oh, it is an honor to meet you. I am Lia, and this is Ratel." Lia, who had been staring blankly at the priest, snapped out of her daze. She quickly opened her bag, pulled out a small slip of paper, and handed it to him. "This is our certificate from the village."
Taking the paper from Lia, the priest scanned it briefly, his brow furrowing. "How is it that only two of you have arrived?"
"There was a minor accident on the way, so we were split up. The other two agreed to meet us in this city tomorrow." At Lia's response, the priest's eyes gleamed. "Did something happen in the mountains?"
Finding something unsettling about his wrinkled face, Lia spoke slowly. "...Yes, we were ambushed by a pack of Orcs in the mountains. We lost track of one of our companions, so the other went back to search for him."
"I see, so that is what happened..." Clasping his hands together in mock sympathy, he looked between Lia and Ratel. "Then did you two encounter the Orcs as well?"
"No, not me. It was Ratel here... who was attacked." The priest scanned Ratel up and down, seemingly intrigued by how he bore no wounds despite surviving an Orc attack. Lia watched his reaction warily before speaking up.
"Um... I am terribly sorry, but could you please wait just one more day for the others? They will surely arrive by tomorrow. Even if both cannot make it, at least one of them will. So..."
As Lia's voice trailed off, the priest finally tore his gaze away from Ratel and smiled warmly. "Ah, Miss Lia, was it? Do not worry. We can certainly wait that long. This is a once-a-year opportunity, and I have no intention of stripping it away from you so easily."
Lia let out a sigh of relief at the priest's generosity. At the same time, however, a small question arose.
"Judging by what you say, this blessing doesn't seem to be a time-sensitive matter. So why did you go so far as to storm our inn to find us?" asked Ratel, who had remained silent ever since they entered the temple. Since Lia had been wondering the same thing, she focused intently on the priest's response.
"Ah, we received word from the Lucha Village temple that they had sent four champions. But when we heard only two passed through the city gates, we worried that someone might have been swapped along the way. It happens occasionally, you see—people who didn't win trying to buy their way into the blessing with gold. I apologize for doubting you."
Having finished his explanation, he dismissed them, noting the late hour and telling them to rest. Once outside, the two were given a drink meant to "purify the body" and then escorted to their quarters. Just as before, the knights guided them with rough, unpleasant attitudes, leading them to an annex building adjacent to the main temple.
Before Lia could even strike up a conversation with Ratel, she was ushered up to the second floor and pushed into a room that looked far worse than the inn they had almost stayed at. Is this how tournament champions are normally treated? Dispirited by the terrible hospitality, which was a far cry from what she had imagined, Lia collapsed onto the bed.
Perhaps because she hadn't had a proper chance to rest at the inn, her eyelids grew heavy. The blanket felt even thinner than the one at the inn, making the mattress feel rock-hard, but she was too exhausted to care as a wave of deep sleep washed over her.
The moment Ratel entered his room, he inspected the window. A latch was fastened on the outside, making it impossible to open from within. The face of the priest flashed through his mind—the man who had spoken as if granting some grand favor, all while locking them in a room that was blatantly a prison cell. I should beat him half to death before I leave.
—Ratel, if you do that, you'll end up a wanted man! Suddenly, Jing's voice echoed in his head. Annoyed, Ratel furrowed his brow. He felt like he had been talking to that guy far too much lately. If Jing had heard that thought, he would have scoffed, asking if Ratel even knew what a real conversation was.
—Or you might end up having to abandon one side. In truth, Ratel was shocked at himself for being slightly shaken by the nonsense Lia had spouted earlier. It was practically equivalent to being shocked at the prospect of being left alone.
The moment he resolved to oppose Abaran, Ratel had steeled himself for a solitary battle. Having so many people join him on this journey to destroy the holy relics had never been part of his plan. He had always believed he could abandon them whenever necessary, so he couldn't believe he had actually been swayed by a few speculative words from Lia.
No, in truth, he had noticed it even before then. Bit by bit, he was becoming far too accustomed to the presence of others. Breaking his promise to Jing and entering the temple had actually been an act of sheer stubbornness directed at himself. He felt a desperate need to prove that he was perfectly capable of fighting alone.
Therefore, Ratel's plan for tonight was simple. Slip out, kidnap that old priest, threaten him to find the holy relic, and destroy it. If that failed, he could just tear the entire temple apart.
—I'll die. This time, Ratel's face contorted. A smooth-talking, fraudulent imperial. That was Ratel's assessment of the man named Ran Abaran. The man's insistence that Ratel had to participate in and win the tournament if he wanted to destroy the holy relic while keeping himself alive had turned out to be a complete lie. The bastard was strong enough to protect his own skin, yet he had broken his word to help find the relic and run away.
Once he destroyed the first holy relic, he planned to hunt the bastard down. He would capture him and force him to spit out the location of the next relic. He was going to test whether that shameless face could hold up under unbearable torture.
Ratel gripped the doorknob, steeling his resolve. *Click.* Naturally, it was locked. Ratel simply twisted the locked doorknob with brute force. With the sound of delicate internal mechanisms snapping, the knob spun a full circle and returned to its original position. Ratel pulled the door open. It swung wide with a heavy clatter.
Slipping out of the room as if nothing had happened, Ratel glanced once at Lia's door. From inside, the regular, peaceful breathing of the sleeping woman echoed softly. Ratel tore his eyes away and walked on. He didn't think she would be of much help in this situation anyway. She seemed to be a devout believer, so there was no telling what kind of scene she would make if she saw him kidnapping a priest. Above all, it annoyed him that that man had tried so hard to force her into their group.
"Priest Blat, what should we do with the country bumpkins?" At the end of the dark hallway, a faint light and quiet whispering leaked through the crack of Priest Blat's open door. Four priests gathered around a table inside, waiting for a response from Blat, who was sipping wine.
"Dispose of them tonight. As always." At the benevolent-looking Priest Blat's cold reply, one of the priests sitting across from him widened his eyes.
"But if the other two arrive tomorrow, they will notice their companions are missing."
"What does it matter? They will all be dead soon anyway." At his ruthless response, the other priests cleared their throats uncomfortably, as if they had just heard something they shouldn't have.
"Priest Blat, how much longer must we keep doing this? I simply cannot..." The thinnest priest among them spoke up, his voice trembling violently. His pale, bloodless face was twisted in sheer terror.
"You simply cannot? What comes after that?" At Blat's gentle yet menacing tone, the thin priest flinched. "Are you saying you refuse? Do you mean to reject the will of God?" At his question, the thin priest hurriedly raised his head.
"No! No, of course not! Absolutely not! I only... I just feel like the sudden appearance of Orcs in the mountains is somehow related to *it*..."
"Shut your mouth!" At Priest Blat's harsh shout, the young priest hiccuped and fell silent.
"How dare you associate *it* with such filthy beasts? Do you truly call yourself a priest?"
"No! There is nothing wrong with *it*. But... I just do not know if offering human sacrifices to it is truly the solution to this problem." Looking down at the trembling man, a smile spread across Blat's wrinkled face.
"If you do not know, then you must see and learn for yourself. You shall accompany us to the basement tonight." Watching tears well up in the thin priest's bloodshot eyes, Blat picked up his wine glass and took a sip. The sweet aroma of the blood-red liquid drifted to the tip of his nose.
Ratel leaned against the hallway wall, listening to the sobbing coming from the room. Well, look at that. He had come all this way to find the relic, and here were people who would guide him straight to the basement of their own accord. There was no doubt that the "it" they spoke of was the holy relic he was searching for. If they were scheduled to be disposed of tonight, then people must have already been sent to his and Lia's rooms to capture them. Deciding that letting himself be quietly dragged away by them would be far better than causing a scene here, Ratel quickly made his move.
Lia woke up to a rough hand clamping down over her mouth. Though her eyes hadn't adjusted to the darkness and she could only make out faint silhouettes, she instinctively threw a punch at the intruder. However, her sleep-addled strike was easily caught.
"She's a feisty one. She's already awake." Lia felt goosebumps break out on the back of her neck at the muttering of the man binding her hands. She thrashed wildly, but there was nothing she could do against three grown men. Draped over one of their shoulders like a sack of potatoes, Lia felt a hard sensation against her stomach and realized they were knights clad in armor. It wasn't particularly useful information, as it only deepened her despair at the realization that there was no one she could call for help.
Carrying Lia on his shoulder, they headed to the adjacent room where Ratel was sleeping. They're not just taking me! Lia cheered internally. If it's Ratel, he can easily handle three of them. Just as she was beginning to feel relieved, thinking she had found a way out—
"What is this?" the man opening Ratel's door muttered under his breath as he pulled the doorknob. The broken, mangled knob came right off in his hand. Inside the room, there was absolutely no sign of anyone. Lia plunged back into despair. Her head spun, alternating between hot and cold. But she knew one thing for certain. That dirty, underhanded bastard abandoned me and ran! What a disloyal piece of trash! He had clearly sensed something amiss and fled ahead of her.
"He couldn't have gone far. Search everywhere." As one of the knights ordered, a voice stopped the two who were about to scatter.
"No, there's no need for that. I'm right here." Lia snapped her head up. Ratel was walking toward them with a perfectly calm expression.
Lia thrashed about in sheer joy. "Mmph! Mmmph!" It was a desperate struggle meant to convey that he was the only one in the world she could trust. Ratel then held out both of his hands to them. As the three knights warily watched him, unsure of what he was playing at, Ratel tilted his head. "I'm surrendering quietly. So take me along with her." Lia screamed through her gag, barely holding back the urge to faint.