After completing all preparations, I took the dagger from Fievel, who held out his hand to me with a worried expression. She sometimes carried a dagger for self-defense, but she rarely had to use it. Still, it’s better than nothing.
“Thank you.”
“…Do you really have to go? If we deploy all the knights, we will be able to find it quickly.”
“Then they will detonate the bomb.”
“But the lady’s safety is in danger…”
I glanced at Ian, who was smiling and waiting for me from a distance. He also looked at Ian and sighed.
“Don’t worry too much. It won’t be a problem. And you invited me, right? There must be a reason.”
“And if the bomb explodes…”
“If that were the case, I would have secretly detonated the bomb. No matter where I detonated it in the territory, it would be difficult to find a place where I wouldn’t be caught up in the flames. But the fact that you called me like this means that you have no intention of detonating it right away, so don’t worry. Besides, Ian. “If we go together, what’s the problem?”
“But…”
I took a step back and shook my head. I couldn’t listen to the advice of the concerned and considerate butler. The answer was right there, and I needed to get it.
“Grandpa says he’s coming home late, so please take care of him. I don’t want him to faint from the strain on his old body. I feel bad because he seems to be staying up all night a lot these days.”
“Miss…”
“Please do me a favor. Yes?”
I bit my lip. There was no answer, but Fievel, the competent butler, would have understood. After grinning, I turned around and walked towards Ian. Ian turned his head to look at me and widened his eyes slightly when he saw the dagger in my hand.
“Is it the left dagger?”
“It is a disadvantage that has been passed down to women from generation to generation. It is an item that young ladies who have not learned swordsmanship carry around to protect themselves.”
“…For suicide?”
“No, it’s for fighting back. The women of the Aztain family are so strong that they never commit suicide. They learn from the mindset of living unconditionally. So… I will live unconditionally too.”
It’s good. Ian grinned and nodded at her, then turned to look at the entrance to the arboretum and quietly opened her mouth.
“Shall we go?”
“…Let’s go.”
After finishing my preparations, I made my decision and took a step forward. I was scared because I didn’t know what was waiting for me inside, but I also felt like it was a shame that I had come to this situation. This is better than being frustrated without knowing. I was about to wet my dry mouth with the water I brought and move my feet to enter the entrance. I stopped and turned around when I heard a voice calling me from far away.
“Benson?”
A large man running towards her, panting, caught her eye. He seemed very in a hurry. Since other knights and soldiers knew about him, they did not try to stop him.
Ian took a step ahead to meet him, as if protecting me.
“What’s going on?”
Benson, who was panting and looking at me and Ian, exhaled with difficulty and spoke harshly.
“Hehe… Hehe… I didn’t tell you earlier… It was on my mind so I came here in a hurry…”
Are you saying you were trying to ask me a favor? Should I say that now? There are more important issues, so why bother now?
“We’ll talk about that separately later. It’s urgent right now…”
“This is a story about Lady Ercia!”
I stopped and looked at him again. The gap between the eyebrows naturally narrowed.
“What…?”
Benson took a deep breath and then took a slightly calmer breath. I had to wait for his actions, but out of urgency, I said, “Speak quickly!” Benson nodded and opened his mouth.
“It’s from yesterday.”
“What do you mean?”
“Yesterday evening, I lost contact with Miss Ercia, who went out for a short walk.”
It felt like his hair had turned white. What is this now… running away from home? Or kidnapping? The mouth opened faster than that.
“Why are you reporting that now!”
“I reported it. Since you seemed to be very busy last night, I wrote a separate report and uploaded it. I even added that since he didn’t seem to have returned home, I would go out and look for him. The people in charge said they would post a report, but it seems to have been omitted.
“I’m sorry.”
I bit my lip as he stroked my hair. Ercia disappeared? Why? No, that’s not important. He covered his eyes with his palms. In the end, a sense of self-destruction came over me at the thought that I was so caught up in work that I was once again indifferent to Ercia. I tried to have a little conversation, but I just couldn’t…
“Have you looked for it?”
“Yes. Yesterday evening, I asked the patrolling security forces and knights to look for Lady Ercia’s recruits, and I also searched the entire Myeongji region, but I couldn’t find them.”
“What are the odds of being kidnapped?”
“I went to Ajstain Territory’s thieves’ organization, assassin’s guild, or similar criminal groups early in the morning, but I couldn’t find them anywhere. Moreover, they didn’t want to mess with the lord’s family, so I couldn’t suspect them.”
“Hundreds of people looked for Lady Ercia all morning, but no word came out… I’m worried that she may have escaped the territory.”
He lowered his hand that covered his eyes and raised his gaze. I saw a signboard for the arboretum. The eyebrows narrowed.
“…What about here?”
He also followed my gaze and looked at the arboretum.
“There were no reports about this.”
An ominous thought swirled through my mind. It was a spontaneous walk, not a kidnapping, and an invitation that came right away as if waiting for the right moment. Numerous clues come together one by one. The hostage that was not revealed in the list of 10 people, and the fact that more than a thousand people were released from the small Ajstain territory to search for the bomb, but no trace was found. In addition, there was someone who had animosity towards the family… The arboretum that has not been reported and Ercia who has disappeared.
‘Oh, probably not. Yes… It must be Ercia, ah… Ercia.’
I remember the nightmare of that day. The memory of the day that child brought down the family. He closed his eyes tightly and let out a labored breath.
“…Let’s go check it out together.”
“Sorry.”
“There’s no need to say that!”
I got so angry that I shouted at Benson. I could feel the surroundings becoming quiet at the sound of my voice, but I wasn’t paying much attention. No matter how much I tried to maintain a normal appearance and try to reason, the situation wouldn’t leave me alone, so it was complicated and hectic.
“Sorry.”
I turned around to look down at Benson, who was bowing deeply. He had no intention of accepting his apology.
“Let’s go, Ian.”
I just wanted to resolve this quickly.
* * *
For some reason, I felt like my head was pounding. Walking in the dark arboretum was unsteady as there was no light, and my nerves were tense due to the lack of visibility. Although I trusted Ian, I didn’t like the fact that I was helpless and couldn’t do anything. I walked through the stone wall path of the arboretum under the faint moonlight. It was so quiet that you couldn’t even hear the sound of insects, and the only thing that could be heard was the footsteps of the three people. While I was taking steps carefully to avoid falling, having to rely on others for everything only increased my anxiety. Now that time has passed and my childhood memories have faded, I realize that the arboretum is not that big. Although it is a popular resting place, it is small and takes less than 30 minutes to tour, so it did not take long to enter the open space in the center. Since there were no obstructions, the soft moonlight became a little darker. As I entered the space with an open view, a quiet plain came into view.
“I guess I’ll just have to wait here.”
The circular rest area was surrounded by small chairs as if it were a fence, and the sky was open in the middle, letting the moonlight shine down. The gentle energy bathed in moonlight now felt cold. The purity of the space seemed to make it more livable. I approached Ian and opened my mouth quietly.
“…Can you feel something?”
He shook his head quietly and then looked around him. It seemed like the excessive quiet was annoying. Ian’s eyes, looking around, glowed sharply like a wild beast in the darkness. The ferocity of the night, which was not particularly affected by darkness, seemed to be hidden in Ian’s eyes.
“It’s too quiet.”
The arboretum maintains an appropriate temperature regardless of the season, so you would often hear the sounds of insects, but it was quiet. Ian reached out his hand and gently bit me back before turning his body around. As he turned to follow his movements, he could see a small shimmer in the darkness. Was it a person? I opened my eyes and tried to see the person standing in the dark, but it was not easy. In the pitch black, without moonlight, the shadow quietly opened its mouth.
“That’s fascinating.”
It was a male voice. It was a fairly deep voice. The low, deep voice was unfamiliar to me, not something I had heard before. Benson, at least that meant it wasn’t Beralt’s voice, took the lead and moved his body into an alert stance, while Ian stepped back slightly with me in between.
“And you?”
When Ian asked, a low laugh filled the room. As soon as I heard Ian clicking his tongue, the laughter died down and his voice came out again.
“Just a guardian”
“Guardian? You mean someone’s guardian?”
“Anyone, anyone, it doesn’t matter. Anyone who wants to receive protection can become anyone’s protector. Regardless of age, gender, or status.”
“Are you an idealist or a priest?”
“You got it exactly right.”
The shadow smiled lowly and slowly walked out, step by step, into the moonlight. He was a man who looked to be in his 40s and had a gentle smile.
“I am Theses, the priest of Priteritom.”
Priteritom? The name of the denomination had an unfamiliar pronunciation. There were numerous denominations throughout the country, and there were also denominations that were completely unknown. It’s probably a small group based somewhere. I looked at Ian to see if he knew anything, and saw that he too had a puzzled expression on his face.
“Is this your first time hearing about this church?”
“Well, I’ve never explained the name of our denomination to anyone, so it’s only natural. It’s a very small denomination that doesn’t even have a temple.”
If there was no temple as the basis for worshiping God, could it be called a religious order?
“What god does this church serve?”
“We serve everyone. We serve all the gods that have taken root in this land.”
“That’s what you mean…”
“Don’t believe it or not. I don’t think that’s the important issue anyway.”
Ian stopped talking when he saw him grinning. The eyes of the man called Theses moved slowly to stare at me. Ian turned his body protectively, but he looked directly at me, smiled, and opened his mouth.
“It’s been a while since I last saw you.”
Long time no see? Did you just say it’s been a while? Are you saying that that guy has met me before? He looked at me as if asking me if I knew Ian. With a shake of his head, Theses’ eyes narrowed. Ian looked at the man again.
“…Are we on a spherical surface?”
“No.”
‘Are you kidding? I want to make a joke right now…’
“I’m just saying that I haven’t seen the person who opened the door in a while.”
Door… Door? What door? He forced out the memories that crossed his mind.
“What do you think? Was there some reward in opening the door?”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
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