Hostage (2)
“Nice to meet you. I’ve wanted to meet you someday, but I didn’t expect it to be like this.”
“Huh? Ah? Yes? Who, who are you?”
“I’m an acquaintance of Solara’s. Aren’t you her younger brother?”
“Ah······! Yes! That’s right!”
When he extended his hand, Zenon was briefly taken aback, but soon smiled broadly and shook his hand.
For a man, his hands were small and soft.
I could tell from his hands that he had lived a life without much hardship.
From Noble mtl dot com
I think I have a good idea of how much Solara cherishes her younger brother.
‘If it comes down to it, I can use this guy as a hostage.’
I was having a hard time finding something to blackmail Solara with.
But now, a hostage has conveniently fallen into my hands.
Solara has devoted her entire life to her younger brother, Zenon.
Originally, as a Swordmaster, she could have made a lot more money if she had opened an academy, but in order to heal her brother’s heart, she became a Paladin, which gave her easier access to healing magic.
In the end, she abandoned good for her brother and became one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
Zenon must be Solara’s precious little finger and more important to her than her own life.
In other words, if I take Zenon hostage and threaten her, she’ll definitely give in.
“And the person next to you is······?”
“He’s just a slave.”
“Ah. May I ask how you came to know my acquaintance?”
“Of course. I’m late with the introduction. My name is Mijeong. I met Solara on the battlefield. At the time, I was a merchant delivering supplies to the Order of the Holy Knights.”
“Ah! I see!”
I tricked him.
Thanks to Solara taking all the blows of the world for him, he’s really incredibly naive.
I feel confident that if I were a scammer, I could have pulled off an insurance scam right here on the spot.
You should be glad that I’m a good person.
“I’ve heard a lot about you. They say you’re a really good younger brother.”
“Ahahahahaha. Is that so? What else did she say about me?”
“She said you’re very sick······ and that she’s sorry that she can’t do anything about it.”
“Th, that’s right? I see. She told me not to tell anyone else about my illness. I guess you must be really close.”
“Well. I guess so.”
Before I knew it, I had become Solara’s close friend.
This will make it easier to get Zenon’s cooperation, so it’s good.
“We were just meeting and chatting until a moment ago, but your older brother said he had to work on a mission, so he sent me away.”
“Phew! Ahahahahaha······.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“No, it’s nothing. Older brother······. Ahahahahaha!”
“······.”
“It’s strange. You say you’re close, but you still have such a strange misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? What do you mean?”
“You’ll have to find out for yourself. Hoohoohoo.”
Zenon suddenly grabbed his stomach and burst out laughing.
Did I say something that funny?
When I asked him why he was laughing, Zenon just waved his hand and avoided the question.
“By the way······. No, no. If you’re close with my older brother, have you noticed any changes in him lately?”
“Yes. He seems to have become somewhat more neurotic than before. Of course, Solara was also known as a strict commander on the battlefield, with a demanding personality, but that was only in her professional life. In her personal relationships, she was a very generous person. But lately, she seems to be a little more irritable. Anyway, she’s changed.”
“That’s right! I feel the same way! I’m worried that something might have happened. My, ah. No. My older brother is always worried about me, but I’m worried about him. My older brother will have to live on even after I die······. I don’t want to see my older brother get hurt because of me. He’s given up so much to take care of me. I want him to live the way he wants to, even after I’m gone.”
“······.”
He may be naive, but his mindset is very mature.
Zenon has already sensed and accepted his own death.
Rather, he’s worried about Solara after his death.
What Zenon wants is for Solara to overcome her pain and live happily after he dies.
I intend to fulfill Zenon’s wish as much as possible.
I don’t know about happiness, but I might be able to at least keep her from falling into the abyss of evil.
And maybe Zenon too.
There’s a very, very slim chance that I might be able to save him······.”Could you find out what my brother has been up to lately? I’d go after him myself, but I’m not in good enough shape······.”
“Very well.”
“My brother told me that he’s been going to the Cologne Cathedral in his spare time lately. I thought he’d become really devout, but when I asked the bishops about it later, they said he’d never been to the cathedral. So I thought he was lying, but apparently he has been seen near the cathedral. So I guess he’s not lying completely······. I wonder what he’s doing around the cathedral. Maybe it has something to do with why he’s changed.”
“Yes. I’ll look into it.”
“I’d really appreciate it······.”
Solara has been hanging around the cathedral lately······.
I’ve gotten my hands on some valuable information.
‘The surface is meaningless. What’s in the cathedral’s basement?’
Cologne used to be the capital of the Holy Roman Empire.
Any suspicious movements on the surface would be detected immediately.
That means Solara must be doing her work underground.
The cathedral’s basement?
That place is closed off.
‘Ah. The rainwater tunnel.’
At that moment.
A map that had been scrapped from the game came to mind.
Originally, there was a rainwater tunnel in the cathedral’s basement, and an event was supposed to take place there, but.
Due to delays in the development of that part, it ended up not being implemented by the release date, and the rainwater tunnel was released as closed off.
It’s closed off and inaccessible to people, but it’s a large space.
It’s the perfect place to plot a conspiracy.
However, the problem is that even though it’s underground, the passageway to access it is on the surface.
Since it’s near the Vatican, there must be a lot of surveillance.
Solara won’t arouse much suspicion since she’s a paladin, but the other Four Heavenly Kings or monsters definitely won’t be able to get near it.
‘Is Solara doing this alone? Or is she with someone who can avoid surveillance?’
Does Solara have a collaborator inside the Vatican?
It’s not certain yet.
But now that I know the exact location, all that’s left is to destroy it.
“I think it’s about time I get back to work since my break is almost over! The shop I work at is over there! If you want to meet me, just come to the shop during the week. I’ll probably be working there all the time unless I suddenly get sick.”
“I’ll investigate right away and let you know.”
Whoever the other party is, what I have to do doesn’t change.
I have to catch Solara’s collaborator and foil her plans.
Now all I can do is pray that the fight doesn’t spread to the surface.
‘She won’t take Zeno hostage.’
Thanks to that, I got some valuable information.
It seems like I won’t need to take Zeno hostage and threaten Solara after all.
“Ah. That’s right.”
Just as I was about to head straight to the Vatican.
I remembered that I’m currently wanted for attempted rape.
And the escort who was supposed to prevent my arrest is currently buried in the ground······.
What am I going to do about this.
“Mijeong-ah. I think I’m going to need your help.”
“······Yeah.”
“Will you drink my blood?”
“······Yeah.”
I have no choice.
I’ll just have to force my way through.
***
“I know you must be busy, but thank you so much for attending a mass that wasn’t even on the schedule, Saintess.”
“Oh, no. I should be coming more often, actually······. I’m the one who’s sorry.”
After the mass was over.
I walked out with the parish priest, who kept bowing his head, and strolled down the hallway.
“By the way, Father.”
“Yes. What is it?”
“Did Cardinal Nicolas have a strange······condition like narcolepsy?”
“Narcolepsy? This is the first I’m hearing of it.”
I explained to the puzzled parish priest what I had seen today.
How the cardinal had turned cold and stiff as if he were dead.
And how he had suddenly regained his color and acted naturally.
The parish priest whispered, looking even more puzzled.
“I’ve never seen him like that before. That is strange. To be so weak that he can’t even be felt with a pulse, and to sleep standing up······.”
“And doesn’t it seem like he’s become a different person?”
I’m not that close with Cardinal Nicolas.
I’ve only seen him a few times at big events and exchanged greetings.Despite the lack of common ground, I couldn’t help but feel that the man I met today was different from the one I knew before.
I don’t mean that he had changed as a person.
It was as if he had become a ‘different person’ altogether.
“You’ve changed quite dramatically. You used to always wear a formal suit wherever you went, but these days you seem to dress more casually. I suppose it’s a positive change that you’ve become more humble.”
“Hmm······.”
It seemed that I wasn’t the only one who felt this way. The bishop had also noticed it.
No matter how I thought about it, it was suspicious.
I should ask for a thorough investigation of Cardinal Nicholas during this inspection season.
An audit requested by the saint herself is something that even a cardinal or the pope cannot avoid.
If he is innocent, then nothing will come of it.
BOOM!
“What?!”
Suddenly, a loud explosion rang out from outside.
Is it terrorism?!
The bishop and I were startled and went outside to see.
The guards, on the other hand, were pushing their way in from outside to block us.
“It’s dangerous! Take cover inside!”
“No! We need to see what’s going on······!”
“We’ll take care of it! The safety of the saint and the bishop is our top priority!”
I was so frustrated.
In the end, I was dragged to the shelter and had no choice but to look outside through the window.
I could see soldiers swarming out and surrounding a spot.
There, a girl wearing a hood was holding her hands together and making strange gestures.
“······Domain, deploy.”
“Sorcery?”
At that moment.
The girl’s figure vanished into thin air.
The soldiers were just as confused and were running around in disarray.
A few soldiers belatedly ran to the spot where the girl had been, but she had truly vanished without a trace.
“True magic······.”
The spot where the girl had disappeared.
I could feel a faint trace of magic lingering there.
Judging from the fact that I couldn’t see any totems or cursed dolls, it seemed to be a true magic method that directly inscribed sorcery into space······.
They are the most troublesome of all sorcerers.
But what on earth is such a sorcerer doing here?
Did they come to commit terrorism and then retreat because the security was too tight?
“Oh. Wait a minute.”
“What is it, saint!”
At that moment. I sensed something.
A trace of magic.
It was much fainter than the magic at the spot where the girl had been, so most people wouldn’t have noticed it.
But it was a level that I, who was sensitive to both mana and magic, could notice.
That was definitely······.
‘The path to the sewer?’
Behind the cathedral.
There was a trace of true magic that had been deployed and then released at the entrance to the sewer that led to the storm drain.
‘Let’s pursue it.’
Perhaps it is related to the white smoke.
I have to catch their tail somehow.
“Saint! Where are you going! The shelter is this way!”
“I can sense magic over there. Follow me.”
“Saint!”
With that in mind, I headed to the back of the cathedral with the guards in tow.
This side was also on high alert due to the emergency, but.
It seemed that none of them had noticed this magic.
Moreover, it seemed that none of them could imagine that an enemy would be hiding in the sewer.
“We’re going down.”
“This is a dead end. The storm drain is closed, so······.”
“Then I’ll go down alone.”
“Oh! Saint! I understand······. If you must go, we will lead the way.”
We lit up the way with light magic.
One by one, we climbed down the ladder into the old sewer.
As the guards had said, it was a dead end, and it would be great if there was no one down there.
“What?! What the hell······!”
As expected.
The barricade that had been blocking the path to the storm drain had been torn down.I can feel my physical strength waning with each passing day. And I can also feel my heart dying.
My end was approaching.
“Zenon.”
“Yes? Your Eminence?”
Zenon turned around at the sound of his name being called from behind him, and he jumped to his feet.
A middle-aged man in shabby clothes.
It was Cardinal Nicolas.
However, all signs of composure had vanished from his demeanor.
For some reason, he seemed agitated.
“What are you doing here?”
“Zenon. Where is Sola?”
“Her? She’s probably out on a mission.”
“You don’t know for sure? She hasn’t come to see you today?”
“No. She must be too busy to spare any time.”
“Oh dear… Where is she and what is she doing, Sola. I assigned her to watch him until he made contact with the saintess, but what has she been doing all this time…”
Nicolas muttered in a voice so small it was almost inaudible, gnawing on his fingers.
Zenon was bewildered by this.
He was clearly not the Nicolas he usually knew.
“There’s no helping it. I’ll have to move the plan forward. You’ll have to be the 666th, Zenon.”
“The 666th? What are you talking about?”
Nicolas looked down at Zenon with cold eyes.
Zenon felt a sense of foreboding and took a step back.
“Zenon! Zenon! What the heck. Weren’t you just resting here. Did you just go to the bathroom without saying anything?”
And a moment later.
When the store manager came out to look for Zenon on the terrace, there was no one there.
Story starting to go downhill – too many poor tropes creeping in.