Chapter 14 Part 5
I thought the returned bird looked somewhat gaunt, but I had no idea there was such a painful situation.
More importantly, what does she mean by feeling my magic from Raphla?
How could Hertiana, who uses holy power, do that?
“Lady Brissel, can you read magical power?”
Holy power users were inherently insensitive to the flow of magical power.
They might be able to sense it, but identifying whose power it was is a different matter.
It’s similar to how I know holy crystals are imbued with holy power, but can’t tell if that power is from one person or mixed from different sources.
“I can’t identify all magical power. But Lady Rosiel’s magic somehow feels familiar to me.”
“…My magic feels familiar to you.”
It was hard to believe even hearing it directly.
Hertiana was the first person to ever feel that my magic was familiar.
Even Caligo, a greater demon, said my magic was not particularly pleasant for third parties to sense due to its endlessly arrogant nature…
“The bird gave off the same feeling, so I knew it was sent by you. And thanks to that… I was able to avoid danger.”
Her calm words continued, saying that she came here today to express her gratitude for that.
Danger? What danger? Almost falling while picking fruit? Or stumbling while walking…?
“Danger, you say?”
According to what I heard from the Raphla I had attached to her, there hadn’t been any particularly dangerous moments.
At most, there were absurd incidents like falling from trees or nearly being tricked or trapped while showing kindness to others.
Tia seemed to think for a moment, then lowered her voice and bent forward.
“The Cardinal… seems to be plotting something dangerous. I’m not sure of his exact purpose, but he appeared to be targeting my holy power.”
“Your holy power?”
“Yes, strangely, he kept demanding my holy power. He had never done that before…”
It was just as Hyle and I had suspected.
It seemed he had targeted Tia, but from what she said, fortunately he had failed.
Then next…
“Lady Rosiel, I don’t know what’s happening, but if there’s anything I can do to help, I really want to.”
“Where are you staying these days? If you’re living in the temple, it might not be easy for you to move around.”
“No, it’s possible. I recently completely stepped down from my position as a Holy Maiden candidate. And I transferred to become a healing cleric at my hometown temple. So I can definitely be of help if you just call for me!”
Tia’s thin but firm forearm tensed as she resolutely made her decision.
A healing cleric would certainly provide some significant support.
Among clerics, healing ones were rare… she must have unexpectedly shown talent in the healing field.
“Lady Brissel, now that the Cardinal has failed to take your holy power, he’ll target another victim. Do you have any suspicions about who it might be?”
Xenoph wasn’t the type to simply give up on Tia’s holy power.
But having failed for now, he’d choose another target… and I had an ominous feeling about it.
Tia furrowed her brow as if trying to recall something she’d forgotten, then exclaimed “Ah!” before carefully beginning to speak.
“Come to think of it… I’ve heard that young clerics have been disappearing recently. It’s been spreading secretly, so I’m not sure if it’s true.”
“Young clerics? Since when?”
“They were children who used to handle the temple’s menial tasks, but they’ve vanished one by one at some point. The exact timing would be a while ago. Roughly a month ago, perhaps…”
A month ago… wasn’t that when the oracle designating me as the Holy Maiden came down? How everything fits together.
If Tia had remained the Holy Maiden, there would have been no need for holy power, but because it’s me, holy power became necessary.
To make me the Holy Maiden, they need to purify this corrupted demonic power.
…See, this is how they make me feel responsible again. It’s not even something I wanted.
This is why I dislike the goddess.
“I heard people saying they were just running away because the work was hard, but I don’t think so. They were children who were happier than anyone working at the temple.”
“That does sound suspicious. It’s strange that despite young clerics disappearing like that, there’s no public discussion, let alone news articles. I’ll look into it.”
“Could there be a connection between the Cardinal demanding holy power and… these children?”
She seemed to hope there wasn’t.
I felt the same, but unfortunately, it would be difficult to give Tia the answer she wanted.
“We need to consider the possibility that the Cardinal has been taking these young clerics’ holy power. The timing aligns too perfectly.”
“I don’t know why he’s collecting holy power, but… I’ve heard that the younger someone is, the purer their holy power. It might be more pure because it’s untainted, but the quantity is small.”
Hearing Tia’s words, my conviction grew stronger.
That means probably…
“It seems there won’t be just one or two victims.”
Tia carefully nodded in agreement with my words.
It seemed that my striking as a villainess had led to the emergence of a new villain.
This was no longer just my problem.
Even though it wasn’t something I had wished for… I had a duty to resolve this.
Good grief, surviving in this novel is ridiculously difficult.
“Lady Brissel, do you know of any places where these young clerics might be held? If you have any guesses, please tell me. The temple has so many secret passages, after all.”
“Th-that far… I’m sorry, but I do know there’s a blueprint with all the temple’s secret passages marked. It should be in the Cardinal’s quarters.”
Her face twisted in despair at being unable to help.
More importantly, there’s a blueprint of the temple? This might be easier than I thought.
“That’s enough. Don’t worry and return to your hometown. Knights might visit the Brissel Viscounty, so it would be better for you to stay elsewhere for a while.”
“Yes, I will! But the communication device… should I return it now?”
Her blue eyes trembled slightly as she asked.
She clearly didn’t want to give it back.
I’m not sure why she’s so fixated on maintaining contact with me, but…
…I might need to contact her if necessary.
And I can’t keep attaching Raphla to Tia every day like before.
“Keep it. Feel free to contact me if anything comes up.”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll treasure it! I’ll also look for places where the young clerics might be held.”
“Don’t overdo it. The Cardinal hasn’t given up on you yet. He’s not the type to let go so easily.”
“Yes, I’ll be careful! Then, Lady Rosiel. See you again!”
Afterward, I assigned someone to escort Tia safely back to her residence.
It was late at night, so I took this measure thinking it might be a bit dangerous to entrust her safety to a private carriage as she had come, but…
“It’s the first time I’ve seen the young lady care so much about someone else. Our lady is unexpectedly kind.”
“What are you saying? I’ve never cared.”
Lynn’s offhand comment irritated me for some reason.
When did I ever care? I just assigned someone to ensure Hertiana’s safety since she’s easily taken advantage of.
“That’s what caring is, my lady. You never used to bat an eye at whether people lived or died on the streets. There were so many corpses on the shortcut to Laté because of that!”
“Shut up.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After simply dismissing Lynn and returning to my room, I habitually stretched out my arm.
With the sound of flapping wings from somewhere, a small ball of fluff landed on my arm.
“Entrie!”
Peep!
Entrie’s chirp in response to my call was incredibly lively.
A few days ago, after receiving a thorough scolding from Hyle, I started feeding Entrie only morning and evening, cutting out snacks completely, and his once plump belly quickly slimmed down.
Thanks to the weight loss, Entrie could now fly swiftly as before.
“Entrie, would you like to visit Hyle?”
Peep! Peep peep!
After tying a quickly written black note to Entrie’s ankle, I opened the window so he could leave.
Entrie, who had been stamping his feet as if he’d been waiting, immediately soared out the window.
I could see Entrie’s back as he flew swiftly into the distance.
I needed to relay Tia’s story to Hyle.
He would likely be able to covertly mobilize the knights to quickly find clues about where the Cardinal had hidden the young clerics.
