A woman with red hair spoke to Ian.
“Hey! Listen carefully. There are five sacred relics in total. You need them to bind your soul. However, using them doesn’t mean you’ll be completely healed.”
“…What must I do to fully heal?”
“Don’t ask questions. I never told you to ask. Just listen.”
“How could something like that….”
The woman snorted.
“The world is naturally unfair. There’s no such thing as fairness. If you ask again, I might completely lose control.”
“….….”
“Your power is too strong in this world. If you wanted, you could even destroy this world. Restrictions are necessary. So, endure it, even if it’s unfair.”
The woman snorted again.
“Actually, there’s nothing to feel unfair about. If you had done things right in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened, right?”
Ian lowered his head in response to her criticism.
He wasn’t foolish enough to not realize that ‘in the first place’ referred to his situation on Earth.
“You were given this opportunity not for your sake, but for that child’s. Don’t get it twisted.”
“…Thank you.”
Even if it was done for the child’s sake, for Ian, it was a desperately needed chance. He couldn’t help but be grateful.
The woman snorted once more.
“Anyway, good for you. I’ll implant the locations of the relics in your mind.”
Suddenly, the locations of the five sacred relics appeared in his mind. At the same time, he knew exactly where each relic was.
“Let me remind you, the relics can only bind your soul. They won’t completely heal you. If you overexert yourself, you could die. Remember that.”
“…Understood.”
Ian bowed his head in response.
Then, light poured down again.
“Return immediately.”
A cold, unknown gender voice echoed, exuding a sense of sternness.
“Damn it. I should have wrapped things up quicker.”
The woman, who was running her hand roughly through her hair, glared at Ian.
“Even though you patched it up temporarily, it won’t last long. You’d better find the relics as soon as possible. Tsk. Do your best, or else.”
She waved her tiny fist threateningly before vanishing with the light.
‘It was for the sake of that child.’
Ian repeated the woman’s words, a faint smile forming on his face.
More than being happy about learning the locations of the relics that could save him, he was delighted to know that Rose was loved by the gods.
If she weren’t loved, the gods wouldn’t have bothered to possess him or tell him how to bind his soul.
“Thank you so much.”
This time, Ian prayed sincerely before standing up.
When he opened the door to the prayer room, Edelmar frowned.
“Why are you out so soon?”
Edelmar questioned in confusion, while the high priest smiled warmly and approached Ian.
“Did you converse with Him?”
“No, I didn’t.”
The deity of this place was Aether.
However, the woman had complained about why Aether was making her do this.
That meant Aether wasn’t directly involved.
Understanding Ian’s denial, the high priest nodded knowingly.
“Ah, you met His apostle.”
“Apostle?”
“Yes. It refers to the angels who assist Him.”
‘That angel sure has a rough personality for an angel.’
The high priest smiled gently.
“May I offer you a blessing?”
“…Yes.”
The high priest guided Ian to the basin of holy water, dipping his index and middle fingers into the water. He then touched Ian’s forehead and murmured.
“May Aether’s blessing be with you always.”
For a moment, Ian’s forehead burned. However, the sensation quickly disappeared as if it had never happened.
“It’s done now. I will pray for peace on your journey.”
The high priest, after finishing his task, bowed to Edelmar and Fenrex before leaving the great hall.
Edelmar, who had been watching the high priest and Ian, approached.
“Did you really find a solution?”
“Yes. By the way, how long was I in the prayer room?”
Ian asked, recalling Edelmar’s reaction when he had emerged.
“You weren’t in there long enough for me to even say you stayed. From my perspective, you went in and came out almost immediately.”
“Really? Did you ever enter the prayer room, Lord Edelmar?”
Edelmar shook his head.
“That prayer room is for the high priest’s use. Not just anyone can go in.”
“Not even royalty?”
“In the High Temple, royalty is treated no differently than commoners.”
Ian looked puzzled.
When they had entered the temple, Edelmar had acted confidently as if he intended to use his royal privileges.
Now, he was saying he had no special treatment?
Then how had he planned to meet the high priest?
Noticing Ian’s gaze, Edelmar spoke up.
“If I kill a couple of holy knights, the high priest would have no choice but to show up.”
‘What a madman.’
Ian stared at Edelmar in disbelief.
“Now that our business here is done, how about we grab a meal before heading back?”
“Yes.”
As Ian followed Edelmar, he turned his head to glance at the statue of the god bathed in the sunset. A god he had only heard of but never truly felt suddenly seemed much closer.
‘Thank you very much.’
He offered a heartfelt prayer, hoping the god would hear him.
***
As Edelmar had mentioned, an invitation to the palace arrived three days later.
Ian sighed as he looked at the invitation.
“Why are you sighing?”
Edelmar, setting down his teacup, asked.
“What are the odds that Rose will become the Crown Prince’s friend?”
Edelmar scoffed.
“Is that even a question?”
Ian sighed again.
It wasn’t much of a question even in his own mind.
The only reason Rose was being summoned to the imperial palace under the pretext of being the Crown Prince’s future friend was because of the dark mages. Now that they had a justification, they wouldn’t easily send Rose back to the duchy.
“Is this about the sacred relics?”
After returning from the temple the night before, Ian had told Edelmar that he needed to find the sacred relics to end his life of impending doom.
However, Ian hadn’t explained why he was dying or how the gods had revealed this to him. He only shared the conclusion, and Edelmar, without asking questions, simply accepted it.
“Yes, I need to find them as soon as possible.”
“Is there really a need to rush? Didn’t they say you’ll be fine for a while?”
“The problem is that I can’t use my powers.”
“Ah.”
Even if Ian didn’t use skills or magic, or the power of Fragarach, without these abilities, he had no way to protect Rose if she were ever in danger.
Even though Edelmar had assigned knights to watch over Rose and both Fenrex and Ermenia were present, Ian felt anxious knowing that he himself was powerless.
“You said the nearest sacred relic is in the Tailly territory, right?”
“Yes. It’s in the mountains there.”
“Hm. The Tailly territory is a place where using a gate isn’t possible.”
“That’s not the only place. All the locations of the sacred relics are places where gates can’t be used.”
Of course, the relics were hidden deep within the empire.
The journey itself, let alone finding the relics, was not going to be easy.
For a brief moment, Ian resented the gods.
“So the best scenario would be for Rose not to become friends with the Crown Prince. That way, if she can leave the capital, I can go and find the relics immediately.”
After a moment of deliberation, Edelmar stood up.
“I’ll go and meet with my brother. I’ll need to hear what he thinks.”
“Yes. I would appreciate that.”
Edelmar gave Ian a glance when he heard the word ‘appreciate.’
“What is it?”
“…Nothing. I’ll be off.”
After Edelmar left the study, Ian stepped out as well.
It was too quiet.
If Fenrex or Sebastian were around, it wouldn’t have mattered, but this was a townhouse.
Not only were those two absent, but even May was away gathering materials for her wristwatch, leaving the townhouse completely empty.
So, no one was around to watch the children today.
‘It’s too quiet.’
A saying from a TV show back on Earth came to mind.
When animals and children are quiet, it usually means they’re up to something.
Feeling uneasy, Ian called for a servant.
“Go check on where Lady Rose and Prince Fenrex are.”
***
Rose stared anxiously at Fenrex.
“Are you sure this is okay?”
“It’s fine. Don’t you trust me, Rose?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, but…”
Rose trailed off.
“Shouldn’t we tell Uncle?”
Fenrex shook his head.
“No way. He’d definitely oppose it. There’s no way the Duke would give us permission so easily.”
“Well, that’s true.”
Seeing Rose hesitate, Fenrex added,
“The Duke is busy anyway. He doesn’t have time to pay attention to us. If we go quickly, no one will even notice.”
“What if we run into bad people?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll defeat them all.”
“Really?”
Fenrex grinned and nodded.
“Really. There’s no one in our kingdom who can beat me.”
Rose, not realizing this was all bravado, smiled brightly.
“Alright, I’ll trust you then, Fenrex.”
“Yup!”
Fenrex crouched down in front of Rose.
“Climb on.”
“Okay.”
As Rose climbed onto Fenrex’s back, his ears turned red.
“Fenrex?”
When he didn’t move after she climbed on, Rose called him curiously.
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just hold on tighter.”
Rose tightened her arms around his neck.
Satisfied, Fenrex smiled.
“Let’s go.”
“Okay.”
With Rose’s agreement, Fenrex ran toward the wall and leaped.
With a loud thud, the two of them soared over the wall.
“Wow!!”
Rose exclaimed in amazement.
“Now, let’s run. Hold on tight.”
“Okay!”
With Rose on his back, Fenrex began running away from the townhouse.
