Lingering Embers (4)
Only after some time had passed did the woman call someone to untie me.
Once the chains binding my wrists were released, I pushed open the door behind me and stepped into a small chapel.
For a place where I had been kidnapped, it was anticlimactically serene.
Light filtered through stained glass, casting long shadows across the floor, and the heavy scent of incense lingered in the air.
It had been a long time since I last set foot in a church.
When I was young, the head of the family used to bring us all here every Sunday... but after my mother died, I never visited one again.
The woman ordered the priests to bring out food and drink.
She acted so nonchalant that the fact I had just died multiple times felt like a distant memory.
As she casually sipped her tea, I merely fidgeted with my cup.
I was thirsty, but I had no desire to drink.
"I heard you wanted to become an adventurer. Is that still the case?"
"Yes."
"Regrettably for you, I need you to go to the Academy."
I knew she was eccentric, but facing her in person made my irritation flare up.
"'Why even ask, crazy bitch?' seems a bit profane, don't you think?"
"...Can you hear everything?"
"Only the curses. Don't look so serious. I don't particularly care what others say anyway."
Was that part of her setting? I couldn't remember clearly.
Perhaps it was because the woman before me had one overwhelmingly distinct trait that overshadowed everything else.
She stared intently at me, continuing as if what had just happened was nothing at all.
"At any rate, I have waited a very long time for someone like you—noble of blood, highly capable, and devout to boot."
Now that I thought about it, since waking up in this world, this eccentric woman was the very first person to give me such flattering praise.
Wherever I went, I had always been treated like scum worse than an insect, so I had expected the same here. It seemed I was mistaken.
"The Imperial Academy is a place where all kinds of races from across the continent gather. Human or not, all sorts of creatures live mixed together there."
The clink of her teacup setting down echoed with unusual clarity.
"However, lately, the number of those worshipping heretical entities within its walls has been growing. Therefore, I would like you to enter the Academy and serve as my eyes and ears. It shouldn't be a difficult task."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then I shall persuade you."
"...Pardon?"
I had expected her to say she would burn me alive or gently slice me down with a sword if I refused, but her answer was entirely unexpected.
"I will do whatever it takes so that you, too, may possess a devout heart like mine."
The master of the church offered a bright smile as she spoke.
"I am exceedingly busy, but for a heaven-sent talent like you, I can spare as much time as necessary."
A heaven-sent talent.
Perhaps... this was the kind of validation I had longed to hear.
"I heard you have lived a life denied by your family until now. As long as you stand with me, neither I nor the Church will ever deny you."
Having heard nothing but insults—being called the trash of the Grian family, or a worthless insect with nothing to his name but noble blood—hearing such words felt utterly alien.
"Lihen."
"Yes."
"I desire the absolute and complete eradication of all sub-humans and heretics. Though there is a touch of personal sentiment involved, I believe God desires it as well. And having faced those despicable, savage sub-humans on the front lines, I trust you will surely join my noble cause."
I never imagined I would hear a speech out loud that sounded like it would make a toothbrush mustache sprout on my lip and my right arm raise to a forty-five-degree angle.
As heard just now, reaching the ending via the Pope's route was simple.
All you had to do was eradicate every single sub-human around the Empire.
Which meant if you had even the slightest connection with a sub-human heroine... you would inevitably have to turn her into an enemy.
At this point, none of that mattered to me.
Right now... I just wanted to see Arin.
The girl who had left me—no, that wasn't right.
I wanted to hold onto the childhood friend who had abandoned 'Lihen.'
And the powerful figure standing before me would undoubtedly be of great help in finding her.
"Will you refuse?"
"No."
"A wise decision!"
The woman pushed against the table and stood up, as if her business here was concluded.
"You may hear the details from the Count, who will arrive shortly."
With that, the Pope walked out of the chapel.
How should I put it? She was a woman completely beyond comprehension.
The sound of familiar footsteps filled the space left vacant by the Pope.
This time, he was wearing priestly vestments instead of his usual shabby casual clothes.
He was always slouching around and reeking of alcohol, so I had never imagined he was a priest.
"My apologies. Her Holiness instructed me to bring you here like this."
For someone offering an apology, his expression was far too composed.
"Were you dragged here like this too?"
From now on, I decided to call him the Count rather than Captain.
He wasn't a leader who would find a way through any hardship if I trusted and followed him; he was the man who had sold me out to one of the very few people who had actually validated my existence since I fell into this world.
"...Well, something like that. She is rather high-handed, after all."
Hearing the Count's response, I started to rebuke him, but finding no words, I simply toyed with my teacup.
As a subordinate, when ordered to jump, you just had to ask how high.
"I am technically the eldest son of the Grian family. How did you plan to handle the fallout?"
"You jest. The head of your family threw you away to me."
"Regardless, you owe me a favor."
The whole reason I had crawled all the way to the Capital was to find 'Lihen's' childhood friend.
I had thought I could somehow find her by posing as an adventurer and scouring the slums... but perhaps this was actually better.
Because if 'Lihen' had seen that slut—who ran off with another man just to play adventurer—rolling around with someone else right in front of him, he probably would have tried to gouge his own eyes out.
Regrettably, not the other guy's eyes, but my own.
He was such a pathetic, miserable bastard that he wouldn't even have had the nerve to kill the woman.
"...A favor?"
"Find a woman for me. She's an adventurer."
"You came all the way to the Capital for a woman... and even claimed you wanted to be an adventurer because of her?"
"Yes."
"......Well, tell me about her first. What's her name?"
"Arin."
The Count chuckled in disbelief.
"Do you have any idea how many Arins there are in the Capital?"
"She's from the village near the Grian estate, has slightly pinkish hair, large breasts, and is pretty. She might be working as a prostitute, so you should check those places too."
"......With that much detail, I suppose I can track her down somehow."
Finishing his sentence, the Count popped one of the snacks remaining on the table into his mouth.
"By the way, you're not just calling her pretty because she's your girl, are you?"
"She's objectively attractive."
The Count reached into his robes, pulled out a sheet of parchment, and handed it to me.
"At any rate, you'll be working here from now on. The duties themselves won't be much, but I doubt what Her Holiness entrusted to you is limited to just that. If the priests on campus refuse to cooperate, just drop Her Holiness's name."
I unrolled the parchment I received.
Name: Lihen Grian
Appointed Position: Professor of the Imperial Academy
The Count had clearly promised to look into an instructor position for me, yet the appointment letter handed to me explicitly read 'Professor.'
"I thought it was an instructor position?"
"Her Holiness appointed you directly, not someone like me. Did you really think it would end with a mere instructor position?"
The reason the Imperial Academy was called an academy was simple.
Even if it was a game, calling it the 'Imperial University' would sound a bit too grim and modern, so to speak.
At any rate, when the notorious trash of the Grian family became a professor at the Imperial Academy overnight, the people on campus naturally began to whisper.
Assuming the head of the Grian family had pulled some strings behind the scenes once again.
Even though that man couldn't care less about me.
If it were a normal noble family, they might have done so, but the Grian family certainly wouldn't bother.
It was a place devoid of human affection.
Tucking the appointment letter into my coat, I headed toward the Academy.
Beyond the towering spires and gray stone walls, humans and non-humans alike moved in and out, mingled together.
Honestly, I didn't have many fond memories of the Academy.
At least it wasn't the Grian estate, so I could breathe a little easier, but that was about all it had going for it.
For someone without talent, no matter how noble their birth, it was a relatively unforgiving place.
Anyway, I stopped a random student along the way, got directions, and arrived at the faculty building.
I had been told to visit the Principal first, but... was there really any need for me to seek him out on my own?
After all, I was a nepotism hire installed directly by someone far higher up.
Young students passing through the hallway glanced at me.
Likely because I was an unfamiliar face, and one bearing the crest of the Grian family at that.
Among the sub-humans, some who had apparently heard rumors about me quietly stepped aside to clear a path.
Whispering words like 'Sword Demon' or 'Slaughterer.'
It had been a while since I last looked into eyes filled with fear.
Regardless, the office assigned to me was larger than expected, and sparser than expected.
A dusty desk, two clean desks, a bookshelf crammed with Bibles and nameless books, and a wide training ground visible through the window.
Out on the training ground, young students were clashing wooden swords.
Creatures, human or otherwise, tangled together, laughing as they swung their blades.
Leaning against the window frame, I pulled a cigarette from my coat and put it between my lips.
"Are you the professor appointed today? I'm dispatched from the guild..."
I turned around, and the cigarette dangling from my mouth dropped to the floor.
"......Lihen? Is that you?"
Turns out I didn't even need to ask the Count.