Chapter 99: Luciano’s Whereabouts
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 99: Luciano’s Whereabouts
Honestly, you can’t trust a single demon these days.
As I shook my head and muttered to myself, Luers flared up and shouted.
[You think I can’t handle a little thing like that?]
‘Hmm.’
[Just you wait! I’ll have this sorted out perfectly!]
After talking a big game, Luers vanished.
Though I felt a bit uneasy, I decided to wait for his return. Soon after, something surprising happened.
“Imperial Princess, Her Majesty the Empress has requested that I bring Nathaniel to her.”
“Niel?”
“Yes.”
Veronica’s maid had suddenly come to find me, speaking in a polite tone. At first, I blinked, unable to grasp her intention.
Did that Luers fellow persuade Veronica instead of Mel?
Come to think of it, the person Luers had a proxy contract with was Veronica. Since Veronica was close with Melissa, if he explained the situation regarding Nathaniel well enough, she could certainly be of help.
Is it because he’s a demon? He’s surprisingly quick-witted.
Realizing his intent at once, I nodded readily.
“Okay!”
Then, I turned my head and whispered into Nathaniel’s ear.
“Go talk to Mom, Niel. Be on your best behavior.”
“Okay.”
I was a little worried since Nathaniel wasn’t very good at talking to others, but I had no choice but to trust him for now. If Nathaniel could persuade Veronica, the matter of the plague-stricken region could be resolved.
After sending Nathaniel off with the maid, I prepared myself to listen in on his conversation with Veronica.
*
Veronica, who had been working in her office, looked up as Nathaniel entered, led by her maid.
“You’re here?”
“…….”
Nathaniel’s transparent gray eyes stared at Veronica. Meeting those eyes, which held an air far too serious for a child, she felt a familiar, tickling discomfort in her throat.
The child her father, the Duke of Winston, had happened upon and brought back from an accident site was incredibly clever and possessed extraordinary abilities.
Dantalion had conducted a thorough investigation, suspecting the boy was deeply connected to the Temple, but in the end, they had discovered nothing.
She had only heard that the High Priest had sent people several times to try and take Nathaniel away. Though, they had only managed to reach the children’s room once.
“I called you because there’s something I want to ask.”
“What is it?”
“Sit down first.”
Veronica gestured naturally toward a seat. Even though she felt an inexplicable discomfort whenever she faced the child, her manner was very kind. And Veronica had a faint inkling as to the nature of that discomfort.
It’s likely because I’ve contracted with a demon.
Veronica had gained great power by contracting with Luers, the demon of the red gem passed down through the Winston family. Therefore, it was only natural for her to feel a sense of rejection toward Nathaniel, who used divine power.
It was just a bit puzzling that the feeling was much fainter than what she felt toward the Saintess.
Recalling the story Luers had told her, Veronica gazed intently at Nathaniel as he took his seat.
“I cannot reveal my source, but I’ve learned something about you that I wish to confirm.”
“…….”
“Can you answer me honestly?”
Veronica asked in a calm voice. Nathaniel, who had been staring back at her, slowly nodded his head.
“Could you perhaps purify the South in the Saintess’s stead?”
A somewhat tense Veronica clenched her hands tightly.
When she first heard it from Luers, she thought it was nonsense. She knew Nathaniel’s talent was extraordinary, but to think he could actually replace the Saintess.
If that were true, his divine power was at a level where he could aim to be the next High Priest, or even the next Pope.
Veronica herself felt a surge of tension at the thought that the boy sitting before her might one day become the supreme authority of the Temple.
“Yes, I think I can.”
“How… can you be so sure of that?”
“……?”
Nathaniel tilted his head as if he didn’t understand Veronica’s question. A dry, emotionless voice flowed from him.
“Do I need to prove it?”
“Prove it?”
“Yes.”
How did he intend to prove it? As she blinked in confusion, Nathaniel reached his hand forward.
“The plague in the South is caused by poisoning from a demon’s toxin, so I just need to find the source and purify it. I will collect that toxin and…”
“Wait, hold on.”
“……?”
“What did you say? A demon’s toxin?”
Veronica interrupted him, asking in bewilderment. Nathaniel gave her a puzzled look.
“Did you not know?”
“No, well…”
Veronica stared into the empty air for a moment. She was looking at the demon who was her partner and contract holder. The demon quickly added a supplementary explanation to Nathaniel’s words.
“I see. So it was… the work of an ancient demon.”
“Yes. I have encountered that toxin once before, so I can distinguish it. Therefore, if I go…”
“Wait a minute.”
“……?”
“You’ve… encountered the toxin? When?”
Veronica asked anxiously, appalled by the fact that Nathaniel had gone through so much without her knowledge. Nathaniel replied calmly.
“I found out when the Saintess’s companion came by before. His name was Lu… Lu-u…”
“Luciano?”
“Yes. That person was affected by the toxin.”
“Sigh.”
Veronica couldn’t keep her head straight with the flood of information hitting her all at once.
Since she needed to know about everyone who came to the Empress’s Chambers, Veronica had also looked into Luciano, the Saintess’s servant.
But this was the first she had heard of the boy being poisoned. And by a demon’s toxin, no less.
Why was a child living in the Temple poisoned by a demon’s toxin? Was that why he had taken refuge there? But if that were the case, there was no reason to hide that information.
Her mind becoming a tangled mess, Veronica tapped her fingertips against the desk. Her red eyes glittered.
The Temple is suspicious after all.
She had never looked favorably upon the Temple, which had long sided with the Empress Dowager, but after hearing Nathaniel’s words, they seemed even more suspicious.
Especially since the source of the plague wasn’t a simple infectious disease but a demon’s toxin—and the Temple had been harboring a child who was poisoned by it.
If Nathaniel was right, there was a high probability that the Temple had spread this plague themselves. Veronica clenched her fists.
“Actually, about that boy, Luciano.”
“Yes.”
“The Saintess asked me to bring him here, but I can’t find any trace of him. It’s as if the Temple is hiding his whereabouts.”
“…….”
“That said, I can’t just take your word for it and send you to the dangerous South. I’ll look for that boy, Luciano, a bit more.”
“Okay.”
She still needed more confirmation. If she could bring Luciano and confirm that the demon’s toxin truly existed, then she would believe Nathaniel’s words and bet on this last hope.
“Thank you for telling me. You may go back and rest now.”
“Understood.”
Her head spinning, Veronica sent away Nathaniel, who looked quite unburdened.
Nathaniel, for his part, was only thinking about how he would be praised by Claudia for this.
*
Several more days passed since Luciano had gone missing.
Judging that she could wait no longer, Veronica finally consulted with Melissa and decided to send Nathaniel to the South. Up to this point, things were going as I had expected.
‘So even you guys couldn’t find Luciano?’
[That’s right. It’s difficult for us to search inside the Temple. And outside of that, he hasn’t shown his face once within the Capital.]
‘Hmm.’
Luciano was a child who would be essential later on when revealing the atrocities of the Empress Dowager and the Temple. To think they could hide him so perfectly.
The Temple was being quite thorough. Were they hiding the children who had been poisoned because of the plague?
‘There must be more children like Luciano in the Temple.’
My guess was that the Temple was experimenting on children with the demon’s toxin.
That would be the only way they could control the plague according to their intentions. Since it was said that the range of the demon’s toxin could be adjusted through the host it inhabited, they must have researched and controlled the toxin by experimenting on children like Luciano.
‘Then how about looking for children like Luciano?’
[How are we supposed to know where they are? We can search within the Capital, but it’s impossible to look beyond that in detail.]
‘What? You used to go back and forth to other regions as messengers.’
[That’s just moving quickly, so it’s fine! But we cannot conduct a search.]
‘Hmm.’
That meant a search would only be possible if I, the contractor, went to the other regions myself.
But how was I supposed to know where those children were to go there?
As I pondered, I snapped my head up.
‘The orphanage?’
The existence of the orphanage I had heard about from Luciano suddenly flashed through my mind.