Chapter 131: Fever and Promises
It was well past midnight.
Ten was hanging freshly washed rags on a clothesline on the upper floor of the abandoned building.
She had been staying in the Holy Demon Religion annex dormitory since leaving Sue’s townhouse. The high priest had generously provided food and lodging for those who had nowhere else to go.
The dormitory was located in a room at the back of the annex. The annex was a term the followers used for the room next to the pulpit.
There were three doors in the annex, and behind one of those doors were five rooms. From the First room to the Fifth room. Those were the rooms for the homeless followers.
Ten, who was staying in the Third room, was also in charge of cleaning the annex. It was a position Rampleld had assigned her, since she had been a servant in a noble household.
She had to work twice as hard as the others, but it wasn’t too difficult, as she was used to it. And she liked the fact that she could freely come and go, unlike the ordinary followers, whose nighttime outings were restricted.
Fortunately, the Third room was more comfortable than the Fourth and Fifth rooms. The Fifth room was always filled with people who reeked, making it the most difficult to clean.
Ten, her eyes drooping with sleep, finished hanging the rags and went down to the chapel. But she heard someone crying in the main hall, even though it was late at night.
“Please save me, High Priest!”
Ten gasped as she saw the owner of the voice, clinging to the high priest’s legs and wailing. It was none other than Melaine, the second daughter of the Vava marquis family.
Ten instinctively hid behind the entrance to the chapel. She should have rushed over to greet the high priest, but she couldn’t. Her legs started to tremble.
“Hmm, so you’re saying… Yuna Vava, the Saint’s sister, is coming to destroy our chapel?”
“Yes! She’s saying all sorts of nonsense about brainwashing magic… You would never do such a thing!”
Melaine, her face covered in tears and snot, hugged the high priest’s waist. The high priest froze at the unexpected information.
‘Marquis Vava? Why? No, it’s possible. She could be worried about her sister. But how did she know I’m using brainwashing magic? My magic… And more importantly, when did this woman get here?’
The high priest bit his nails.
Melaine Vava, standing alone in the middle of the chapel. He stared at her with trembling eyes, the woman who had miraculously appeared before him.
“…High Priest?”
Her pitiful voice dragged him back to reality. His bitten nail split in two. He closed his eyes tightly.
‘It’s over. Should I run? …No, it’s… too precious to abandon.’
This was the world he had created, the castle he had built. He couldn’t just let it crumble.
“Saint Melaine, I’ve heard your words.”
The high priest chose not to run. He quickly changed his expression and placed his hand on Melaine’s shoulder.
“It seems like an urgent situation. As you said, we need to perform the Saint Advent Ceremony as soon as possible.”
And Ten heard everything. She had been hiding behind the entrance to the chapel, and she understood the situation from their brief conversation.
It seemed like Marquis Yuna was coming to destroy the Holy Demon Religion. She didn’t know why she would want to destroy such a wonderful place, but there was something else that bothered Ten more.
‘Saint Advent Ceremony? …Really?’
She gulped.
She had heard about it during a service. It was a sacred ritual where they pierced the Saint’s heart with a knife, and the Saint, no longer breathing, would become God’s right hand and live eternally in heaven. That was the Saint Advent Ceremony.
‘Is that… good?’
Her heart started to race.
Something felt wrong. A gritty unease settled in her chest.
‘The Holy Demon Religion is going to disappear? Melaine Vava is going to die? Huh? Why? Saint Advent Ceremony? What is that?’
She clutched her head, feeling dizzy.
Ah, she felt like she had forgotten something important.
She was born to serve the high priest. But more and more things were bothering her.
High Priest, what should I do?
…Right, he had told her to know herself. And to find her purpose.
And the reason she had come here was…
***
It was an emergency.
A ribbon suddenly flew through the window of Sue’s bedroom, where she was sleeping soundly. Sue, startled, rubbed her eyes, and she saw Jean, sitting on Rem’s back, beyond the shattering glass.
“We’re screwed! But it’s good for us!”
Melaine Vava had gone missing in the capital during the night.
Sue heard the shocking news again from Nine, who burst into her room.
Sue, ignoring the panicked Nine, got dressed and thought,
It wasn’t a dream.
She pulled herself together in front of the mirror. There was no trace of Melaine since she had left the mansion, but Acrea’s soldiers were already on their way to the chapel.
Yuna must have sent people to search the capital, but Sue was certain that Melaine had gone to the chapel.
“Get on. It’ll be much faster to go by Rem.”
Jean tossed her a pair of goggles. Sue caught them reflexively and climbed onto Rem’s back. Rem, surprisingly, was very docile, unlike usual.
“Miss! It’s too dangerous!”
They were already in the air when Nine shouted from the window.
“Don’t worry! I’ll bring Ten back!”
Sue waved at Nine and wrapped her arms tightly around Jean’s waist. Rem started to fly, quickly gaining speed.
“We’re lucky, Melaine Vava disappeared herself.”
Rem flew several times faster than an ordinary ribbon. Sue squeezed her eyes shut, but Jean, who was used to it, was just excited about capturing the high priest.
“Lucky… Are we?”
Sue asked hesitantly. She hadn’t been able to find out the “timing” from Acrea, so this was definitely a stroke of luck.
But the last time she had seen Melaine, she had been delirious, her hands trembling. She had probably run away because of her obsession with the high priest.
Could this really be called “luck”?
“Trust me, Sue. It was bound to happen anyway, the moment Yuna Vava returned to the capital.”
Jean wrapped his arm around Sue’s, which was around his waist. She couldn’t feel his grip.
‘It was bound to happen anyway…’
Sue pondered his words.
What had driven Melaine to this?
She was just a simple villain.
***
A thick fog had settled.
As they approached the chapel, Sue saw a familiar figure below. It was Acrea. Dozens, hundreds of soldiers were surrounding the abandoned building.
Sue watched them, then patted Rem’s back, slowing him down.
“They’ll see us.”
Jean chuckled at her whisper.
“It’s fine, they won’t see us.”
Jean pulled the reins, and Rem slowly descended. As he had said, no one surrounding the abandoned building noticed Rem landing.
“Did you use magic?”
Sue asked, and Jean shook his head.
“No, Rem is quite unique. He’s my masterpiece. He has a lot of functions. I’ll hide Rem behind this building. We’re visible now, so be careful.”
They landed a short distance away from the abandoned building and hid on the second floor of a nearby building, observing the situation through the window.
Reeves and Yuna were there too, not just Acrea. Reeves was sitting on a large wooden crate, silently observing the situation.
“Hmm, something’s not right…”
Why weren’t they attacking?
Jean frowned, sensing something was amiss. He narrowed his eyes, trying to see more clearly, and then he chuckled in disbelief, seeing something beyond the soldiers in black armor.
“What the… This is practically a hostage situation.”
“What?”
“Look at them. They’re not soldiers.”
Sue looked where Jean was pointing. She swallowed, feeling nauseous, as she understood what she was seeing.
“It’s a human shield.”
She hadn’t noticed at first because they were all wearing black clothes, just like the soldiers. But the Acrea soldiers were only surrounding the abandoned building from the outside. There was another group of people, huddled together closer to the building.
They were the followers of the Holy Demon Religion. They were forming a solid human wall, their arms linked together in a chain.
“Stupid, so stupid! Hey, high priest, it’s Acrea who’s trying to catch you! Acrea!”
Jean stared at the human wall with pity, as if he was watching a sporting event. Sue understood how he felt. A human wall was nothing to Reeves, a high-ranking white mage. He could lift them all into the air, or even kill them if he had to.
She saw familiar faces among the human wall. Rampleld, the old man trying to cast a barrier but failing, the errand boys inciting the followers, An and Pete trembling, and the female follower who had always handed her the register.
They could all get caught in the crossfire and die. It was a tragic sight.
But contrary to Jean’s expectations, the soldiers weren’t moving. Reeves was also just observing the situation.
Yuna, who didn’t have the authority to give orders, waited impatiently. Acrea stared at the human wall, his face emotionless. They were looking in the same direction, but their thoughts were different.
It didn’t take long for the main characters of this whole ordeal to appear.
“Meli!”
The seemingly unbreakable chain of bodies parted, and Melaine and the high priest emerged. Yuna cried out her sister’s name the moment she saw the pitiful golden figure.
“Sister?”
Melaine looked around, her eyes covered with a black cloth. She didn’t even realize what situation she was in. She didn’t even realize that the high priest was holding a knife to her throat.