48.Lorelei (3)
“Karina!”
What the hell is the situation?
Ambush? Suddenly?
As soon as I heard the news, I ran with Milia to the hospital room located inside the temple.
Lenny was sitting in front of Karina’s room with her head down.
“Lenny. What the hell happened?”
“Damn it…why did this happen…totally happened to me when I was away for a while with the High Priest.”
“What were the other escorts doing? Wasn’t there an escort nearby?”
If my memory is correct, the priests and escorts must have been spread around the saintess to a somewhat excessive extent. You broke through the escort and shot an arrow into Karina’s back and hit it? There must be a lot of people who will at least give you a meat shield with stupid words?
“…The escort was an assassin. He poisoned himself before he could find out who was behind it… Damn it. There are also some priests whose whereabouts are unknown, as if there were spies mixed in.”
Leni swears with a look that would tear her to shreds if there was an assassin in front of her. She looked at me and said.
“That’s why Karina-sama is refusing to visit her right now. There are very few people who can be trusted now that the assassin has come out of the escort. All priests and escorts are under investigation… Ha. I can’t even trust the guy who investigates.”
Spira from the inside. I don’t think I felt anything strange.
“They are all in prison. Since she couldn’t protect the saintess… She won’t be able to come out safely.”
Lenny gnashed his teeth at my question. Is the voice that suppressed the anger really angry with himself or with the assassin? Anyway, it was clear that I shouldn’t touch the planting right now.
Right now, I was in a very embarrassing situation with an unexpected situation.
Did this happen in the original work?
Karina is often targeted in the main story, and there have been occasional incidents in the story where Karina is attacked as a top priority, but she hasn’t even entered the academy yet? You think this already happens?
No, were you targeted because you didn’t enter the academy?
No matter what, security is thorough because it is the best academy on the continent. Her memory is not certain, but it seems that the original story also mentions that the saintess’s guards were increased after she entered school.
“How is it?”
“I removed the arrows… But the arrowheads are cursed.”
“Curse?!”
“Milia. Shh.”
It’s not good to attract attention. When I gestured for her to be quiet by placing her finger over her mouth, Milia covered her mouth with the palm of her hand.
Yes, keep it closed like that.
If you make a fuss, you’ll attract attention.
“Curse… Ra.”
If the settings in the game were 100% the same here, the ones who could use curses were quite limited.
Warlocks, necromancers, priests of cults.
Which one?
Excluding black magicians for now. There’s no way that little guys with too much power would have the guts to touch the saintess. Touching the saintess is tantamount to turning everyone who believes in the Calon Church into an enemy. If they had the guts to turn enemies from royalty to roadside beggars, they would not be able to hide for a long time.
It’s the same thing that a necromancer has a small amount of power.
In the end, what remains is to become a pseudo-religion through the elimination method.
I turned my gaze to the ceiling for a moment, trying to refresh my memory of the cult. In the game, the enemy appears from the middle of the game. Those who use curses, self-destruct attacks, and strange magic. But have you been active from the beginning?
Why do I seem to be deviating more and more from the story I know?
If this happens…
“…John.”
Hearing Lenny’s voice calling me in a low voice, I turned my head and looked at Lenny. Lenny’s eyes, which he met naturally, were burning as if they would burn at any moment. Lenny looked around, then spoke quietly to him.
“…I need your help.”
“… Do you mean to dig into the background?”
Lenny nodded his head quietly.
“I can’t move because I have to watch the hospital room. I need someone to trust in my place… But you’re the only one. Please. The scumbags who attacked Karina-sama… Get their information. If you find it… tell me first.”
“Okay.”
There is no reason to refuse. I didn’t mean to sit by and watch that an acquaintance of mine was attacked right away. This incident was very embarrassing. It’s an attack before even going to the academy. If we don’t solve it properly here, we’ll be attacked on the way to the academy.
If I can root it out, I’ll pull it out. If not, I’ll at least solve it enough to take action to safely go to the academy.
No matter what ending she sees, Karina must stay alive.
“I will help too!”
From noble mtl dot com.
“…You should rest.”
It’s admirable that you’re willing to help, but I don’t think you’ll be of much help, so it’s easier not to follow.
“I can help too!”
“How can I help you specifically?”
“Uh… So… The head can be detached…”
“If you get caught then, it will be more troublesome. Be patient and wait at the temple.”
If you fight, it will be more troublesome.
“Lenny. Can you tell me if there is any information you have? There is too little information to investigate from the ground up.”
“Take this. I couldn’t investigate in detail because I didn’t have time, but it’s written at least roughly.”
I picked up the small notebook Lenny gave me. When I opened it, there were roughly three pages of violent letters written with the lines barely maintained. I’ll have to go somewhere else to read. As they say, if you keep standing here, you will only get your eyes stamped on unnecessarily.
“Then keep your side. I’ll look for the darkness.”
“…I believe in your ability, so I expect good results. And take this too.”
I snatched the object Lenny threw.
…What is this metal plaque with the sun symbol on it?
“It’s proof that you’re a guest of the Calon Church. If the priests or guards look at you suspiciously, hold them out. At least it will lessen your suspicions.”
It was a useful item.
I stuffed the token into my pocket.
“Then I will go. We also need to prepare for the chase.”
—————————
It is often said that criminals return to the scene… But the scene was completely controlled by the guards and could not be entered.
I wanted to investigate the plaza, where Karina preached, but as an outsider, I couldn’t penetrate the priests who were blocking access to the plaza. In the end, I had no choice but to investigate the surroundings instead of the square.
“Lenny said there must be people missing.”
Where did those people go? If they hadn’t all committed suicide by poisoning, they would have run away somewhere.
She said that the moment the saintess was attacked, she was thoroughly blocking all the holes in the city, so she must not be an ordinary route. Hiding in a shady alley, I unfolded the note Lennie had given me.
A drawing showing the arrangement of the guards and priests at the time Karina preached. And the location where those disguised as escorts stood. Expected escape routes, etc. A lot of information was recorded in a short amount of time, which made the investigation much easier.
“Once from the escape route.”
I wandered around the plaza following the escape route Lenny had written down. And got caught 4 times. If he hadn’t received the token from Lenny, he might have been waiting to be released next to the priests who had been arrested by now.
Do I look so suspicious?
“…That’s it. Let’s check again.”
By the time I had covered all the routes, the streets began to turn red.
I was scratching my head in the middle of the street with no income. Since I came out, I should have earned something, but there is no proper income.
They can’t even try to investigate.
Anyone could see that if I went around asking questions in an awkward tone, I would be branded as a really suspicious person. It’s already a situation where it’s already close to being a guest of the Kalon Bridge, but if it takes more here… At that time, even if you show the proof, you may be arrested.
…Ha.
If collecting information was easy, maybe a secret passage or something… Hmm?
With a sudden thought, I looked down at the floor.
…Are there really secret passages?
I moved quietly toward the river that runs through the middle of the city. The city apparently had a sewage system. This is a fact that I confirmed while using the restroom that exists here. I heard that they collect them and process them with magic, but then there must be a secret passage somewhere in the sewage facility.
Few people dare to go down to the sewage system, and it was underground, so it was not noticeable. Crucially, the only place in the city where there could be a secret passage was the sewer.
…But it’s hard not to know the exact geography. First, let’s find the sewer.
After searching the city until the moon rose, I finally found a ladder that led down to the sewers. It was hidden in a corner of a rather shabby district that looked like a slum. There may be other ways, but once I found this one. A terrible smell emanates from the way down, so it must be the correct answer.
I went straight down the ladder.
Fortunately, as I predicted, the sewer was right under the ladder. The yellow streams of water reflecting off the torches hanging on the walls arouse a visceral revulsion. I looked away from the yellow river and removed a torch. If I had night vision like a cat’s, I wouldn’t need a light source, but I’m human.
I don’t have that skill, so I have no choice but to hold the torch.
“…I shouldn’t think about eating for a while.”
I feel like my nose is about to rot.
I took a cloth from the bag I bought a few days ago and covered it up to the bridge of my nose like a mask. There’s no way a piece of cloth can stop the stench that makes you miss your gas mask, but it’s a hundred times better than not having one.
Then let’s move slowly.
I took out the shovel I had shortened from my bag and lengthened it to the level of a shortsword. The sewer road wasn’t wide, so this was just right.
I walked through the sewer without stopping.
The sewer system was like a maze. The two fork paths are noblemen, and the three paths. Even the four-way road is not boring. I ran into a dead end several times and drew a map in my notebook.
Originally, it would be right to ask for help, but there is no guarantee that those who did such a thing will be left tomorrow. My guess was that it would try to get out of there in a hurry before it caught its tail. Originally, those with a bad back run away as quickly as rats.
So if you don’t find it now, the chances of missing it increase infinitely.
So there is no time to relax.
How many times have you been searching for mazes? By the time the torch’s embers were fading, I could find a strange trace.
A priestly robe of the Kalon Church that got caught in a protruding spot and could not be swept away.
It’s hard to recognize the color because it’s soaked in filth, but I’ve been watching it for a week. There’s no way I wouldn’t recognize it.
Only then was I convinced that my guess was correct.
“You found it faster than I thought.”
To be honest, I thought there was a high possibility that it wouldn’t be a guess.
I started walking up to where the water flows.
If you follow it like this, you should be able to find other traces.
If you’re lucky, you might run into them.
Now is the time to melt into darkness.
Throw the torch into the river and put it out. Lift your heels
As I walked quietly on tiptoe like a petty thief, I held the shovel in both hands. It was preparation to break the head immediately if the need arises.
I wonder if it took about 10 minutes like that. I have reached a dead end.
“…Is there a secret passage?”
I immediately tapped the wall with the back of my hand.
Unfortunately, there was nowhere to hear a ringing sound other than a dull one. That would mean that the clothes came out through the hole in the bottom. At this rate, we must find another way to return.
But I didn’t have to.
That’s right,
I…
“Deconstruction.”
Because I was able to forcibly create a path with the skill. I set aside the stone blocks I dismantled into blocks and continued digging the road. I wonder if roughly 10 stone blocks were made. I got through a passage that only one person could barely pass through and arrived at the other side.
I can feel the wind flow.
Is there an exit nearby?
I covered the passage I made with a stone block, and walked in the direction the wind was blowing. If you keep going like this, something will come out. It’s a shallow prediction, but sometimes it’s more true to that expectation. I got to the point where the stone wall breaks. And the voices coming from nearby.
“…Wear it.”
“…Moreover. But since I put a curse on it, I can’t come to the academy…”
“Still… Doing…”
“…Was. Next… about…”
Perhaps it was quite far away, I couldn’t hear my voice properly. Just hearing a little bit was enough to notice that they were beasts.
I closed the distance very slowly, bit by bit.
Less than many, I am alone.
In addition, the difficulty of surviving without killing the enemy.
It’s very cumbersome.
Still, I have to do what I have to do.
I can’t let go of the guy who made Karina that way.
I used the dark night as my ally, and even in the dark night, I approached the distance where I could discern my enemies to some extent.
Less three.
The outfit looks normal, but judging from the content of the conversation, it must be the guys who attacked Karina.
Neutralize it as quickly as possible.
I quietly inserted the shovel into the ground and activated the skill.
“Production.”
“Ouch!”
Three screams shook the dark forest.