Chapter 6 Part 8
“Then when are you going to untie me?”
When I snapped with a slightly irritated voice, Hyle detached his shoulder from the wall and slowly approached me.
Only after getting close enough for me to feel his breath did Hyle’s lips part again.
“Rosiel, your question is wrong.”
Beyond his green pupils, an amusing gleam was swirling.
“From now on, you should ask what I’m going to do to you.”
…Wait. Those words, aren’t they what I said when I kidnapped Hyle before? To think he would return them like this…
“See, you are angry at me after all! Just when are you getting revenge for?”
“I don’t have the hobby of wasting time on petty revenge.”
As Hyle firmly shook his head saying no, I ended up having to listen to his story while still shackled at the neck.
In the end, it is revenge after all, definitely…
“Recently, three oracles have come down from Goddess Renesia. The interval is irregular, but roughly around half a month apart.”
“I also kn-, I mean, I see.”
About to reflexively answer that I knew, I quickly changed my words and nodded.
My heart beat a bit faster as I had almost revealed that I knew about it.
If I said I had peeked into the Cardinal’s mind with black magic, these shackles on my neck might never come off.
“The first oracle stated that a Holy Maiden would appear soon.”
“Ah, so that’s why a Holy Maiden candidate appeared. After 10 years no less…”
I was fortunate to hear from Hyle, as I had been curious about the detailed content of the oracles anyway.
One way or another, this was much faster and more accurate than finding out on my own.
“Yes, but a problem arose with the second oracle.”
“…’Problem,’ you say?”
Usually, negative expressions like ‘problem’ aren’t often used when referring to oracles.
After all, oracles are the words of God, not something mere humans can arbitrarily judge the content of.
Noticing the intent of my question, Hyle meaningfully drooped his eyes and continued speaking.
“To be precise, it would be more accurate to say the ‘interpretation’ was the problem. But since the oracle was truly ambiguous, everyone had no choice but to keep quiet.”
“That’s strange. Haven’t there been many cases of misinterpretation in the past? From the start, it’s impossible for humans to perfectly interpret the language of God.”
Actually, having stolen a peek at the Cardinal’s memories, I could roughly guess why Hyle was saying this.
But right now I was in the position of hearing about the oracle’s content for the first time… so should I probe a bit more?
“This is a different kind of problem. Because the oracle pointed out that our interpretation was wrong.”
The content of the second oracle Hyle mentioned was “the owner of the oracle is elsewhere.” It matched exactly with the scene I saw in the Cardinal’s memories.
And it was that very oracle that made me feel a strange sense of discomfort.
Just who could be the Holy Maiden if not Hertiana?
What Hyle meant by “the oracle pointed out” referred to this second oracle.
Usually, even if there were errors in interpretation, it was extremely rare for a re-oracle to be given to correct that mistake.
This was because oracles were merely God’s “words,” and the subjective interpretations humans made to understand their profound meaning were not God’s concern.
“Then… does that mean the current Holy Maiden candidate isn’t the Holy Maiden chosen by the Goddess?”
“That’s right. Shortly after the second oracle came down, a third oracle was given.”
The third oracle! The content I couldn’t hear because I collapsed from exhaustion.
How frustrated I had been at not hearing that.
“The third oracle… I’m really curious about that.”
“The third was-“
CRASH-!
Just as Hyle parted his lips, with a sudden thunderous noise, one wall of the basement collapsed miserably.
No, it wasn’t just collapsed – it would be fair to say it was completely destroyed.
Soon, through the horrifically shattered basement wall, ominously rippling black darkness rushed in abundantly.
“W-What’s this?”
Could it be the Feros Knights rushing in after noticing my presence? Or did Abel discover our secret meeting and come here…?!
While rolling my confused pupils at the sudden explosion, in an instant with a short *clink* sound, the shackles on my neck came loose.
Given the inexplicable situation that had occurred, it meant the playful exchange about revenge was over.
Looking at how Hyle is acting, this basement explosion doesn’t seem to have been planned…
He quickly grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him.
The rough but affectionate touch perfectly mirrored Hyle’s boring temperament.
“We have an uninvited guest.”
“…Uninvited guest?”
A voice full of wariness came through, as if knowing who had caused the disturbance.
Did Hyle already figure out who it was?
Given his not-so-good expression, it doesn’t seem to be the Feros Knights…
Having ended up in Hyle’s embrace in the confusion, I felt an ominous sensation while watching the black mist flowing from the darkness.
It was because that black darkness surging toward us as if about to devour us immediately, and the dizzying energy felt from the hazy mist tinged with faint anger, were strangely familiar.
It was a familiar power that felt like something I had encountered many times before, somewhere, and the presence of the person I least wanted to meet right now.
“Ugh. Is it because it’s a place where the Goddess’s minnows gather? It makes me want to vomit.”
The figure walking steadily through the mist while waving their arms soon revealed themselves with a sharp voice.
Caligo, wearing a long black robe, was roughly dusting off the dirt on his clothes from the explosion while brushing back his black hair with an annoyed face.
“…I’m sure I told you. That last time would be the last time I let a demon live.”
Hyle’s voice, lower than ever before, was full of cold warning, and intense hostility shone in his green eyes.
“Good resolve for a human. Should I praise you?”
Caligo also curved his lips gently with eyes no less fierce.
The surrounding air, chaotic from the two men’s aggressive auras clashing like a storm, froze in an instant.
Having naturally come under the protection of Hyle’s holy power in his embrace, I could only blink and stare blankly at Caligo standing before me with a dumbfounded face.
So, originally it should have been me and Caligo opposing Hyle, but… how did it end up like this.
“…Rosiel, what are you doing there?”
Caligo also seemed equally incredulous at this situation, opening his mouth while looking at me with a blank expression.
This is… troublesome. Caligo still doesn’t know that I’m getting my heart purified by Hyle…
From the start, telling him this would be no different from declaring an end to the contract with a demon, so I couldn’t carelessly open my mouth.
Even for me, fighting Caligo, a great demon, would be impossible.
This was especially true since great demons were beings fundamentally different from ordinary lesser demons or magical beasts.
After watching his reaction for a moment, I soon collected my expression and carefully opened my mouth.
“Caligo, why did you come here?”
“Why? To save you, of course. While I took my eyes off for a moment, it seemed that Feros’ son of a bitch dared to kidnap my contractor.”
A fierce red light blazed above his golden eyes.
After finishing his brief answer, Caligo smiled brightly with a look that said ‘I did well, right?’
He wouldn’t come no matter how much I called, yet he chooses to appear at a time like this.
Anyway… it seemed best to deny it for now.
Nothing good would come from a demon causing trouble here in Feros territory and center.
Well, thanks to Caligo already making a grand entrance by destroying the wall, priests or Feros Knights who noticed would be coming soon anyway.
“Caligo, that’s a misunderstanding. I wasn’t kidnapped.”
“Then what’s that wound on your neck? There are traces of holy power remaining.”
“…Wound?”
Where Caligo’s fingertip pointed, there was a reddish mark raised in the center of my neck.
Certainly… though Hyle is purifying my heart, since I still have magic power closer to dark power for now, when holy power touches me, scratches like this from the reaction were inevitable.
Hyle seemed not to have known about the wound either, as I felt his green gaze on my neck waver for a moment.
Though it didn’t particularly hurt… I felt awkward since it was true that the heart’s purification had been slow because I kept using black magic lately.
Come to think of it, the scratch was ultimately my fault for not managing properly. But Hyle would definitely think it was his fault.
“You dare lay hands on my contractor? Still don’t know your place, whitey. I’ll send you to your damned Goddess right now.”
“That’s rich coming from a stupid demon who set foot in the center of holy power.”
…More than that, the current problem wasn’t such a minor wound.
I needed to find what was the best I could do between these two terrifying men with their firm and clear hostility.
BOOM-! CRASH-!
…And quickly, before these crazy men completely destroy the perfectly fine Feros mansion.
<To be continued in Volume 2>
