Chapter 10 Part 4
Lakes spoke clearly, as if reading from a textbook.
“Do you remember the place where it was lost?”
“Roughly. I think it was somewhere behind the priest.”
He had lived his entire life as a man of God, having grown up in the temple orphanage. Because of this, he couldn’t find a place to rest his eyes when looking at Elia and Aksion.
‘It was the same in the original work.’
The shy male protagonist was mostly guided by the saintess. Even so, this priest was more ascetic than she had imagined.
“You must not enter beyond that point; it’s a restricted area.”
He pointed towards an area cordoned off by ropes. Elia, who had been observing the area carefully, responded.
“It shouldn’t be beyond there.”
“In that case, I will help you find it. What does it look like?”
It seemed like he intended to keep an eye on them to prevent them from entering the restricted area, but his plan was shallow.
‘If it were the princess, he would have thought she would send someone.’
He was so flustered that he seemed to forget even basic common sense.
“It’s a brooch with a green gem. His Majesty gave it to me as a gift, so I must find it.”
“It sounds like a very precious item… Understood.”
Lakes nodded seriously and turned around. He immediately began to search the bushes for the small ornament.
Elia peered over Lakes’ bent form. When he stood up, she pretended to search for the lost item and gradually moved closer to the cordoned-off area.
‘The energy is getting stronger.’
Inside her pocket, the ill-fortune in the glass bottle trembled. It was definitely beyond that line.
Elia sighed and leaned against Aksion.
“I can’t see it. Can you?”
“It seems we need to go a bit further inside.”
“I must have gone deeper than I thought yesterday. It was dark, so I couldn’t gauge the distance.”
Seeing Elia’s troubled expression, Lakes seemed to be considering their situation. She crossed her arms in apparent frustration and asked,
“What’s beyond there that we can’t go?”
She decided to act the part of an arrogant princess. Even a priest couldn’t ignore a princess. Hesitating, Lakes finally confessed.
“Well, there’s an abandoned temple beyond here. It hasn’t been used since the construction of the main temple. There’s a legend that dangerous monsters are sealed there.”
Elia blinked in surprise.
“Goodness, is it safe to have such a dangerous place in the middle of the capital?”
“It’s just a legend, but to be safe, we restrict access.”
“Is that enough? As the princess of the empire, I must ensure the safety of the people myself.”
Elia fussed and crossed the line. As Lakes reached out to stop her,
“Please wait! If you go that way…!”
Thud. With a sound, Lakes collapsed, struck on the back of the neck. Elia scratched her cheek as she looked at his fallen form.
‘Is this okay?’
Knocking out the future wielder of the Sun Sword seemed questionable.
For now, she was grateful he was just an ordinary priest. Unlike Elia, Aksion remained unruffled.
“If we hide him in the bushes, he won’t be discovered for a while. If we’re lucky, he might not even remember us.”
“Let’s hope for that.”
She had been curious to meet him, but seeing Aksion first made the male protagonist seem ordinary.
‘Apologies for the rudeness upon our first meeting.’
Elia leapt over Lakes’ body and stood beside Aksion.
Aksion watched Elia’s retreating figure with a satisfied smile, unnoticed by her. She stepped toward the abandoned temple.
‘What could be in there?’
The legend of a sealed monster seemed like a story to deter entry, but there was undoubtedly something inside that even temple officials were unaware of.
Past the unmanaged trees, she saw the slanted roof of a temple. Amidst the broken pillars and debris was a narrow entrance.
‘It’s a real temple.’
Though it was a relic of the past, it still maintained its shape.
“Be careful.”
Aksion pulled Elia back. The long-abandoned place had fallen plaster and debris scattered around.
“You might get hurt if you step wrong. Follow my lead.”
“Got it.”
Aksion led the way. Following his footsteps, they soon reached the entrance.
“There are stairs here.”
Though the inside was ruined, the entrance led not inside but underground.
‘Could the Sun Sword be in here?’
The underground entrance loomed like a black maw. Tartan had gone to meet Sharon to find the location of the stolen Sun Sword. Would Sharon believe him easily?
While pondering, her pocket became restless.
Bang bang!
Elia took out the glass bottle. Inside, the small ill-fortune bounced around excitedly.
‘This is the place.’
The ill-fortune reacted to a greater disaster. Elia opened the bottle. The ill-fortune quickly leaped over the line and escaped.
Giggling as it hid its presence, it dashed underground, unaware of the purple thread tied to it.
Even without knowing the path, the ill-fortune would lead to the destination.
“We need to go inside.”
“It’s dark.”
Aksion pulled out a luminescent stone from his jacket. The fluorescent gem illuminated the darkness.
“It’s a magical stone, not a mined one.”
“Where did you get that?”
“I bought it from Rien.”
“Did you get overcharged?”
Though rare, such items had a market price. Worried, Elia asked, and Aksion responded with a smile.
“Let’s go.”
Footsteps echoed on the stairs. Elia followed the tied string downward.
‘It’s deeper than I thought.’
The spiral staircase seemed endless. The luminescent stone had limited visibility. Ahead, she heard giggling.
Finally, they reached the bottom. The large underground space resonated with their every step.
‘No need to look further.’
The presence of a massive disaster was suffocating. In the center of the large hall floated a black sphere. The small ill-fortune danced around it.
Cackling!
“Honestly.”
Elia glared at it and caught the small ill-fortune, trapping it back in the glass bottle.
A faint crying sound came from inside the bottle. Ignoring it, Elia put it back in her pocket.
Up close, the sphere glowed dark red and purple. If it exploded in the capital, it would cause a catastrophe greater than war.
Aksion, examining the sphere, asked,
“Elia, do you know what this is?”
His question carried a certainty that she knew the sphere’s identity.
“This is a disaster created from accumulated ill-fortune.”
Elia reached for the sphere. It repelled her hand with its energy.
“Major disasters like wars or famines don’t start suddenly. They begin with small misfortunes, which accumulate into large-scale misfortune.”
Knowledge from her shamanic studies.
Aksion’s reflection appeared in the sphere. He spoke while examining it.
“It doesn’t seem like an ordinary size.”
“No. It could explode at any moment.”
If it did, what disaster would it unleash on the empire?
‘It might be related to the current monster attacks.’
Though it hadn’t fully developed, its mere existence could bring misfortune.
“I don’t know if I can purify it before it turns into a disaster.”
Unlike before, she couldn’t use a ritual circle to eliminate it. Completing the purification ritual would take nearly two weeks.
If it exploded during the purification, the closest person would be most affected.
Her mouth felt dry. As Elia glared at the black sphere,
“Let’s try to buy some time.”
Aksion’s fingertips glowed with white light, the holy power of the Mahart family.
‘Indeed, with holy power.’
If he could envelop the sphere with that light, they might buy enough time to complete the ritual.
As Aksion reached for the sphere, Elia gasped.
“Aksion, wait!”
Hundreds of hands emerged from the sphere, swallowing Aksion whole.
