Chapter 14 Part 6

I also asked him to investigate how many young clerics had gone missing, so I should get an answer soon.

While I was leaning against the sofa, feeling tired and drinking tea, I heard pecking at the window.

“…Already?”

When I opened the window, Entrie entered with short, quick steps and stretched out his ankle.

The deep green letter was so like Hyle.

[I had anticipated this. I was already preparing, so knights will be dispatched immediately before dawn.]

The sentence, written in Hyle’s neat handwriting, was perfectly aligned in the center.

“Since becoming head of the family, his ability to act has become even faster.”

First, I had my own task. The temple blueprints supposedly in the Cardinal’s room. I needed to find them.

The Grand Temple had so many hidden rooms and secret passages that it was difficult to grasp the entire structure from just walking around a few times.

There were also more traps installed to guard against intruders than one might expect, so the blueprints were essential to discretely track down traces of the young clerics.

Judging by the lack of mention of blueprints in Hyle’s reply note, he didn’t seem to consider them particularly important, but…

“Still, having them is better than not.”

It goes without saying, but using magic freely within the temple was difficult.

Therefore, even if I brought Raphla along, there were limitations to using major spells, so it wouldn’t be much help.

If I released a certain level of magic there, I would surely be caught by the temple’s magic detection devices.

Which meant, ultimately, I had to accomplish this entirely on my own.

“…Come to think of it, Entrie should be fine, right?”

Entrie is not a demonic beast, just a bird, right?

“Entrie, want to play a maze game with me?”

Peep!

His eager response came readily, and his sparkling green eyes were full of vitality, completely unaware of what lay ahead.

He seemed to be full of expectations about playing with me.

The maze game you’re thinking of probably isn’t like this… but oh well.

It would be nice to warp directly to the Cardinal’s room, but being deep inside the temple, it would likely consume considerable magic.

While getting in might be fine, getting out could be difficult to warp.

Since I could only use it once, I needed to be cautious.

“If I walk in directly… and warp home when leaving, that should work.”

After all, getting out is usually harder than getting in.

“Entrie, let’s go!”

Peep peep!

With a solemn bird call, I left home in the depths of that dawn.

Last time I searched the Cardinal’s mind, so this time let’s search his office.

…I made this resolution, but less than 5 minutes had passed when—

“Ugh.”

As soon as I stepped outside the mansion, I felt a dull pain over my heart.

Simultaneously, a short, low growl of a demonic beast came from behind me.

Like a death rattle, the sound was instantly cut off.

“…Just now.”

I felt strength draining from my body all at once.

The reason was that one of the five high-ranking demonic beasts I had summoned was forcibly recalled to the demon realm.

It was the demonic beast whose fading form I had barely maintained with Caligo’s magic stone.

Since it was the strongest demonic beast, it seemed to have been recalled first…

When a demonic beast is recalled, the power I was receiving from it leaves my body. Like now.

The intense pain that swept in made my whole body—head, stomach, everywhere—feel dizzy with pain.

It was the worst pain, making me lean against a wall for support.

“Haaah…”

I was slowly taking deep breaths to steady myself, but controlling the overwhelming pain was not easy.

It was especially difficult because the black power within my body had undergone some purification.

Just one stream of power that the demonic beast had been giving my body had drained away.

It was like showing what my body should have been originally—this weak.

I could feel that my powerful abilities were merely borrowed from them.

Peep- peep.

Entrie, sitting on my shoulder, chirped softly with worried eyes.

He must have been startled to see me collapse so suddenly in an instant…

“It’s fine. This power… couldn’t be maintained forever anyway.”

This power would eventually all disappear. It’s not my power, but all from demonic beasts.

But why did it have to happen on the way to the Grand Temple?

I could feel cold sweat running down my skin.

The chilly streams of sweat felt like an omen of a dark future, giving me goosebumps.

But I didn’t know when I’d get another opportunity like this.

If the Cardinal found out I was looking for the blueprints, he would surely try to hide them.

Given how perceptive he was, I couldn’t afford to act slowly.

Above all, I needed to rescue the young clerics as quickly as possible.

“I’m still okay.”

Having barely stood up, I bit the inside of my lip hard to clear my mind.

I could hear the holy crystals rattling inside the casual clothes I had changed into for comfort.

Hearing that sound made my mind, which had been blurred with pain, clear again.

I need to find the owners of these crystals and return them.

No matter how close to death I might feel, I had no intention of consuming something made by extracting someone else’s life force.

* * *

“…W-wait a minute. What are all those people doing?”

Arriving at the Grand Temple, I quickly hid behind a large nearby tree.

Why are so many priests wandering around at this late hour?

Don’t they ever sleep?!

It feels like security has been strengthened overnight… what’s going on? Are they trying to hide the captured young clerics?

But with them patrolling the front like this, there’s no way I can sneak in.

What should I do?

While I was lost in thought facing this unexpected situation, I suddenly felt a presence behind me.

Have they already discovered me hiding? How can these priests be so perceptive…!

“Rosiel, shh.”

“Huh!”

I involuntarily gasped at the familiar voice that came out of nowhere.

Turning my head with a stiff face, an all-too-familiar face was looking down at me.

Why are you… showing up here?

“Hyle, why are you here?”

“I knew you’d come. And you really did.”

His matter-of-fact response made me exhale in exasperation.

So you’re saying you knew I’d come to the temple and came here ahead of time to wait?

“…How?”

“Given your personality, I figured you’d go to the Grand Temple to find the blueprints. Since the Cardinal’s room is deep inside, it would take a lot of energy to warp there, so I thought you’d walk in but use magic to get out.”

As Hyle precisely recited my ambitious plan as if he’d been inside my head, despair washed over my eyes as I looked at him.

Every single detail was correct.

How could he get everything so perfectly right without missing anything?

Is my plan that transparent? So easily seen through at a glance?!

Hyle, who had been quietly observing my shocked state, narrowed his eyes as if blaming me.

“Didn’t you say you’d use me?”

His voice that followed sounded genuinely resentful.

“Then use me thoroughly. Include me in your flimsy plan, Rosiel.”

Fli… flimsy… Did this man just call my grand plan flimsy…?

“Hyle, even if you say that…”

There was a reason I hadn’t told Hyle about my plan to retrieve the blueprints.

The purpose of this mission was to sneak into the Cardinal’s office and imprint the blueprints on Raphla’s eyes.

Since Raphla’s mysterious eyes could record everything they saw, once I found the blueprints, I wouldn’t need to take the physical copy, making the operation smoother by not leaving traces.

But to do that, I first needed to get to the office without being discovered by anyone, which was quite dangerous.

If I were caught, I could make excuses and be fine, but Hyle was the head of House Feros. If caught, he’d be in a more difficult position than me.