6. Proof of Existence (29)
Finally, the day of ascending had dawned.
We didn’t know what he meant, but Perry readily agreed to accompany us. Rather, it was to the point of saying that it was good because he had an excuse to persuade Leah.
It was news I had already heard.
Perry invited Leah to go up.
Lia was holding a huge amount of monster corpses. It seemed that he wanted to accompany him on the way to the main body of Shylock’s and share various business stories.
It was a plausible excuse.
Lia smiled and clung to me.
“Are you jealous?”
“Not at all.”
I replied in a rare, dry voice. I don’t know how to interpret this, but Leah chuckled and burst into laughter.
“Because it’s really obvious… Don’t worry too much, brother.”
Her lips came closer as if they were about to touch her ears. Soon, a watery whisper passed through the eardrum.
“Because I am not going anywhere.”
No matter what, there was only a faint moan coming out of my mouth.
My eyes glanced around. Already, the party was busy preparing to leave.
Celine and Yuren were talking about something while carrying their own burdens, and senior Elsie was listening to Mr. Reynolds’ long speech with a puzzled expression.
Nagging hell seemed painful.
It seemed like I should go help.
As I slowly stepped forward, the corner of Lia’s eyes drew a strange arc.
“Huh, do you still have someone to say hello to?”
“Elsie-senpai is pitiful. I’ve been doing that for an hour already.”
Lia, who was putting her arm around my shoulder, made a strange noise again.
Even this for a moment.
As if it couldn’t be helped, Leah smiled and walked away from me. But there was a subtle dissatisfaction in his eyes.
“My brother is too weak for Miss Rainella.”
“You are pretty.”
After finishing the conversation like that, my body moved towards Elsie-senpai. Elsie-senpai was closing her eyes tightly with a disgusted expression.
It seemed that his patience had reached its limit.
I decided to prevent a quarrel between the sukjil-eul.
“Also, what I felt while living as a mercenary was never to trust people carelessly… … .”
“Mr. Reynolds.”
At my low-pitched call, middle-aged blue eyes turned to me. His eyes still didn’t show much emotion, but he couldn’t miss the light that passed through his retina for a moment.
It seemed that I had become a fairly welcome guest now.
“Are you here, niece-in-law? Well done. I was going to tell you what to look out for when escorting a large-scale inbound trip… … .”
Of course, Mr. Reynolds’ wish did not come true.
It was because Elsie-senpai made a desperate attempt to escape while I was talking.
“Then let’s talk the two of you! I’ll be on my way!”
“Elsie, Elsie! where are you going… Whoa, I can’t stop it.”
At first, it was Mr. Reynolds who tried to hold on to Elsie, but he let out a long sigh as if he realized that it was useless.
I smiled as I looked at the relationship between the two people who had become close before I knew it.
“Just look at this. Sometimes an experience is more important than a thousand words.”
“That’s true, but… … .”
The drooping tail of the horse left a strange aftertaste. I quickly changed the topic, fearing that if I left it like this, nagging that I hadn’t been able to do would pour down on me.
“Come to think of it, are you going to go after that dark-haired girl?”
“yes? Ahhh… right. After all, there are still unpaid debts.”
At the same time, Mr. Reynolds rummaged in his arms as if he had just remembered. Wait a minute, a small marble came out of the middle-aged man’s hand.
“If you come across any related information, please contact me.”
“What is this object?”
In spite of my questioning, Mr. Reynolds just waved his hand as if it was nothing.
“Think of it as a talisman. Then, take good care of our Elsie.”
After that goodbye, Mr. Reynolds left without hesitation.
Every time I saw him, he was like the wind. Like his appearance, his exit was free.
I looked at the back for a while, then shook my head and looked away. I looked around, but the person I was waiting for didn’t show up.
It was a saintess.
As if she didn’t even want to say hello, the saintess didn’t even attend the meeting to greet us. I had no way to soothe my bitter heart.
Even though I asked Yuren to explain the situation, it was like this. For a moment, I regretted that I was too harsh.
But it was already too late.
It is not too late to come back and pour out the old sediment. As I was trying to get a glimpse of the orphanage, the image of a little child caught my eye.
It was a boy who asked me to save his sister.
My steps, which hesitated for a moment, headed for the child. I thought it went well.
The watery eyes looked at me. The landscape reflected on the retina was shimmering.
Chin, my hand rested on the kid’s head.
“Don’t worry too much. It’ll turn out okay.”
“Gee, is it real?”
I nodded vigorously. Then, he took out a silver rosary from his bosom.
“Instead, let me do one favor… Will you pass this necklace to the saintess?”
At first glance, it was an expensive item. The little child’s eyes widened at the silver necklace he had never seen before.
“Eh, how can you get something so expensive… … .”
“Because I believe in you.”
Trying to smile as harmlessly as possible, I tapped the boy on the shoulder a couple of times.
“So trust me too. After all, good knights never lie.”
Actually, I don’t know if this boy dreams of becoming a knight.
It was a good problem.
After seeing the stunned expression of the little boy, we went on our way again.
**
The ascension was calm.
It was exactly as expected, nothing more and nothing less. The size of the personnel being trained was also large, and at first glance, it was a procession with unusually talented people standing in escort.
Even the Witchbeast was on the verge of dying. There were no thieves big enough to touch it.
Of course, there were several incidents in a few days.
The party, including me, set up a campsite separate from the merchants. It was because I didn’t want to offend.
As a result, there were many times when the group made friends every night.
For example, taking a quiz about yourself under the pretext of how well you know your co-workers.
Celine and Elsie seniors were particularly enthusiastic.
The two people, who were ignited by the desire to compete, solved the difficult problems one by one without saying who was first. However, given the difference in years spent together, Celine had no choice but to have a slight edge in this bet.
A proud Celine and senior Elsie goofing off her teeth.
The reason why the atmosphere of the two people was reversed was because of Yuren’s next question.
“Okay then, the last question. How big is Ian’s stuff… Kuck!”
It was a remark he made with a refreshing smile, but there was too much room for it to be accepted as sexual harassment. I had to kick Yuren’s side as if I were lying on the spot.
Even so, it was already too late.
Celine and Elsie’s faces were flushed red. It was to the point of hallucination of a misty steam rising from the top of the head. Going one step further, Yuren brazenly even showed an unfair attitude.
“It was fun, but why are you kicking and kicking?!”
“Are you crazy, calling that a problem? Who the hell can fit that… … .”
It was then.
Senior Elsie, whose ear lobe was blushing red, timidly raised her hand.
Including Yuren, everyone’s bodies stopped at once. In the silence, Elsie-senpai carefully spread the distance between her hands.
“… … This much?”
Yuren blankly looked at Elsie-senpai and me alternately.
“You, son of a gun! How dare you cheat on my sister?!”
He started punching me with a blood band on his neck.
In the end, I had to urgently pick up an excuse.
“Hey, no! Misunderstanding!”
However, after that, Celine, who was energetic and energetic, joined, and that night I couldn’t help but live in the neighborhood drum.
The next day, looking at my face, where the bruises hadn’t completely healed, Lia put on a puzzled expression.
“… … Did you have fun last night?”
“maybe.”
It was a bonus that Lia’s jealous eyes were directed at Celine and Elsie.
Of course, the good times didn’t last long.
It was because the real mission began when we split up with the top halfway.
Lia followed the upper ranks and even deliberately provoked me.
“Ah, what should I do? Perry keeps showing interest in me lately. It’s embarrassing, I only know who… … .”
And then, until he glanced at me.
A dry laugh leaked out of my mouth.
“Stop talking nonsense and go.”
“Chi, oppa, you idiot!”
Lia, who stuck out her tongue and got angry at me, quickly followed Sanghaeng.
Our pursuit also began at that time.
It was an exhausting journey to follow the procession with even the sound of breathing dead. It would have been even more difficult if there were no aids.
Even though Yuren still had an unreliable face.
“That spell, is it effective?”
“It’s something I got from the Imperial Intelligence Service. If cast on a specific object, the location can be tracked for at least two weeks.”
And even though it was so expensive.
It wasn’t my knowledge. After all, it was money that rotted in the imperial family anyway.
It was around the time the red sun was setting on the ridge. Due to the forced march over the past few days, Celine and Elsie-seniors were taking a break, and Yuren and I were the only two pursuing them.
I could feel the blurry presence in the distance. It was Perry and the crowd.
Yuren and I were more nervous than ever. It was because the road leading up to the ferry was gradually narrowing.
There was no reason why the upper class had to avoid the main road.
It was only with a good reason that he entered the narrow alleyway.
I was really curious about the reason for that.
However, it was only natural that the more the ascendant went down the secret path, the more severe the vigilance was.
Yuren and I had to calmly watch the flow of the stagnant ascending. It had been several hours already.
Unable to bear the boredom, I spoke to Yuren first.
“… … Will the saintess be well?”
Heung, Yuren swallowed a laugh as if he was dumbfounded.
“It should be fine since the escorts were increased. My sister is a person who is so much loved by God… You’d better worry about us than that.”
I was about to nod my head a few times, but I suddenly looked at Yuren’s face with a question.
that sullen expression.
It was a face that didn’t even feel a bit of respect or awe. It was completely different from the saintess.
The saintess would reveal her deep faith whenever she mentioned the existence of a heavenly god.
“You mean, are you a paladin?”
At my joke, Yuren tapped my scabbard with his finger.
“Do you want to experiment? I’ll show you the quicksword technique called ‘Ciendel’s thunderbolt’.”
“no no… Come to think of it, you don’t use words like ‘Immanuel’ very often. I never really talked about the tenets of the Catholic Church.”
Hmmm, Yuren showed a blatantly insignificant attitude towards my follow-up question.
His eyes were again fixed on Perry’s group in the distance.
“Ian, an orphan… It is very difficult to survive.”
It was the same tone as always, but strangely, I felt the confession heavy.
It was a phrase I had heard before.
Did the saintess say a similar story last time?
“Once in a while, they often go missing and disappear. Where have all those children gone? I, ever since I was little, hated the fact that I was an orphan.”
“Does it have anything to do with faith?”
“Of course. Do you want to thank God when you are resentful of the world?”
It made sense.
I chose silence instead of rebuttal. In the meantime, Yuren’s lamentations about his situation continued.
“There are very few people who can do that. A person who is mentally strong and unbreakable… My older sister did that.”
Yuren’s pupils, soaked in nostalgia, blurred. His vision must have wandered somewhere in the past.
“My sister said she would create a world where orphans like us don’t suffer. It was impossible for me, but I thought it would be possible for my sister.”
“therefore?”
“I want you to consider my sister’s point of view as well.”
Meanwhile, Yuren quietly raised himself. In line with him, I also sent a sharp gaze over there.
it finally moves
“The sacrifice of a cow for the great… Sometimes it is an unavoidable choice.”
Instead of answering, I clicked my finger.
Then, a subtle vibration was transmitted through the string of magic placed on the ground. It meant that the signal successfully reached Celine and Elsie.
“… … Does that really make sense to you?”
The ascension continues.
Deep in the forest, a cabin in a secluded corner came into our view.
“For the sake of the world, I think those friends will have to die.”
The smell of blood penetrated my brain like a needle.
It was the Dark Church.