novelraw Chapter 134 : Chapter 134
Chapter 134 : Chapter 134
Chapter 134: Devil and Church (5)
Wimar was a very skilled hunter.
However, unlike Kubel, his prey was human.
"The spleen is injured."
Just from the fallen piece of flesh and organ fragment, Wimar knew which part of the body had been injured.
The stone that Ellen had kicked was rolling on the ground.
'A penetrating wound.'
And a penetrating wound to the side of the solar plexus at that. A fatal wound.
But no one here was able to pursue him.
Because nothing could be felt.
If it's like this even with a fatal wound, how much more stealthy would he be normally?
Such a Mage can't be common.
'As I thought, it can only be him.'
It was surely the devil who had killed the archer Mage's companion.
'He's been following us all along. Without anyone knowing.'
All the way to the central part of the Empire.
He was a stealthy and truly bold man.
The kind of prey the Church finds most troublesome.
But the one he was following was not Wimar.
'Liberation Tower?'
No.
The archer Mage who died at his hands was a member of the Liberation Tower's Rebellion faction.
The man killed the Liberation Tower Mages who were heading north to target Harad.
'So I'm next.'
And he found Harad, a new Mage, and followed him here.
Even though some time had passed, the blood he had shed had not clotted. It was unusually sticky. When I touched and pulled my finger away, the blood stretched long.
It was like honey. Harad's eyes became slightly hazy.
'It's just the blood of a human.'
The object of predation is only the heart.
Only the heart can be expected to have the effect of enhancing magic. And it calms the addiction.
The regressed Harad knew that fact all too well.
'How long has it been since I last endured it?'
Ten days from Serzila to Premont.
And ten days from Premont to Ekampote. Five days for interrogation.
'I loitered in the North for a few days. It's been about a month in total.'
Five days ago, when Wimar killed four Mages in front of Ekampote, it was still bearable.
The reason being that Wimar, who was next to me, had instilled a sense of compulsion in my willpower.
That Wimar is still next to me.
But Harad had to cover his mouth.
'I can't get out of this.'
It's not even a heart.
My mouth is watering at the sight of blood with only a little magic mixed in.
It's a clear symptom of addiction.
Harad couldn't wipe the blood off his finger.
"Let's go back now. I need time to think."
Just then, Wimar spoke and started walking.
Ellen followed, and Harad was behind them.
The devil suspect, Rosen, held his breath like a dead mouse until they were out of sight.
As Rosen grew distant, and Ellen became conscious of Wimar.
From the very back, Harad quietly licked the blood off his finger.
'Just the blood of a human.'
Naturally, there is no effect.
The thirst is not quenched either.
But... I feel a slight pleasure.
Harad quietly enjoyed and suppressed that pleasure. He must not give in. It wasn't just because Wimar was right in front of him.
"Harad?"
Ellen turned around and tilted her head.
The distance between them had grown quite a bit. Harad quickened his slowed pace.
* * *
I need time to think.
Wimar's words meant he needed time to pray.
A priest's thoughts are in line with his faith.
That is why they go around proclaiming their judgments as the will of Laan.
But he wouldn't just pray. He just packages it as the will of Laan; priests move according to their own will.
Wimar would decide his future path while praying.
He stood frozen like a statue in the chapel, seeking Laan.
It was free time for Harad and Ellen. The two left the church again.
The place they arrived at was a small restaurant.
"It's been less than an hour since we had breakfast."
"So what."
The only priest in the church, Benach, had been in charge of their meals.
"The church gives too little food."
It was a standard portion.
Harad swallowed his words.
Ellen, who had ordered the food, looked around the interior.
It wasn't completely empty. She added to the owner that she would take the food to go.
The owner didn't take any money.
Thanks to diligently following Wimar for the past five days, the people of Ekampote recognized Harad and Ellen as church people.
"It seems priests get free meals."
"Are you envious?"
"Why would I be? I get free meals in the North too."
That's a lie. Ellen pays for her meals diligently.
'It's not entirely wrong.'
But that money is probably not Ellen's, but Grand Duke Aratus's.
It's no different from being free.
The place Ellen arrived at with the packed food was a small clearing. She used the stump of a tree as a chair.
"Is he really the master of the magical beast?"
Ellen asked as she unpacked the food.
It must have been the reason she chose a deserted place.
"Of course not."
Harad shook his head firmly.
"There are certainly Mages who can tame magical beasts. But it's unlikely they would appear at such an opportune time."
The magical beast in the forest has no master.
Harad was already convinced.
"If there were a real master, he wouldn't have left the magical beast in the forest. He would have moved it as soon as it was discovered."
Magical beasts that can be tamed are rare.
Especially a magical beast that can kill dozens of priests.
"You told Wimar he was the master of the magical beast."
"If I hadn't, the young man named Rosen would have been judged. Did you actually believe that?"
"……I didn't believe it, of course."
Ellen stabbed the food with her fork.
It was well-cooked meat.
"Then what is he? The Mage I found."
Ellen subtly slipped in her own boast.
"It was an excellent stone. If it weren't for you, no one would have known."
"I know."
Ellen shrugged her shoulders.
It didn't go all the way up, only halfway.
She wanted to be praised, but she couldn't consider it entirely her own skill.
"That stone was your skill. Not a coincidence."
"……I just kicked it, though?"
When Harad pointed it out, Ellen became honest.
"You said you suddenly wanted to kick it."
"Yes."
"That's only half right. You probably wanted to kick the stone to where he was hiding."
The fork stopped. Ellen's brow slowly furrowed. She seemed to be recalling that moment.
"Don't try to think."
Innate Strength.
In fact, it would be easy if he just said that.
"It's the realm of instinct. An area that can't be explained."
Harad had to speak in a roundabout way.
The one in front of him was Ellen, not Elaine.
"You probably know better than I do."
"……Ah. I know what you mean."
Fortunately, Ellen seemed to have understood.
She must have realized it was the same feeling as when she wanted to cut Avery Aquins's manifestation.
It was the influence of the dream.
Elaine of my past life had kindly explained about Innate Strength.
"Then what was that Mage?"
"The Mage who shot an arrow on the way to Premont. Remember?"
"The one who called you a devil?"
"Yes. That devil is probably him. He must have followed me."
Ellen tilted her head.
"Why would he follow you?"
"He has made me his next prey."
"……? But you're both Mages."
"The Church is not the only one who hunts Mages."
Harad knew that fact all too well.
"Have you forgotten how Iagar fell?"
Harad pointed to his own heart.
That must be his objective.
* * *
Wimar was frozen like a statue in the chapel.
He was released from the petrification around sunset.
Tuduk. A gruesome sound echoed from his knees, which had been kneeling for a long time. Harad and Ellen worried about Wimar without realizing it. He was a priest who had retired due to old age.
"I will decide tomorrow."
To their surprise, Wimar seemed fine. His voice was resolute. As if Laan had decided for him to decide tomorrow.
"Tomorrow morning, if the devil suspect Rosen is dead, I will pursue the injured devil."
"……."
"If the devil suspect Rosen is not dead, I will go to subjugate the magical beast."
Wimar looked at Harad and Ellen in turn and said.
Harad nodded his head.
It was a reasonable decision under the premise known to the Church.
If the devil weakens, the minion also weakens.
"Because the devil recovers or grows stronger by consuming the devil."
Wimar even explained the basis for his judgment.
He was fundamentally kind to Harad.
"I've heard. They say they eat each other's hearts."
Harad answered as if he had only heard rumors.
"That's right. If he eats the heart of the devil suspect Rosen, he will recover from his injuries."
Though he's a suspect.
Wimar already considered Rosen a Mage.
Thus, the Church's decision regarding a devil is not reversed.
Because their mistake is the mistake of God.
It is like the foundation of the Church being shaken. It is something that should not happen.
Laan and Luan are omniscient and omnipotent, and therefore, infallible.
"If he doesn't eat it, his injuries will remain."
"Do you wish for that?"
"As expected, you know how to see through things."
Wimar smiled.
It was a gaze like looking at a praiseworthy grandchild.
"This old body did not notice him. I have grown old. I have no confidence that I can catch the recovered one again."
There is no guarantee that Ellen will notice him again either.
The one who noticed his existence was not Ellen, but her Innate Strength.
"Why didn't you just catch Rosen."
Wimar shook his head.
"He was right there, but I didn't notice him. It will be no different at the church. There is no basement here."
Ekampote was a peaceful domain.
As such, it did not have the famous church basement.
"I must pray that he does not eat it. Then the magical beast in the forest will also weaken. A magical beast originally follows the capabilities of its master."
If the master, the devil, is injured, the magical beast is also injured.
Because they are connected by something evil.
That something is the evil magic bestowed by the Outer Gods.
"It is unpleasant. Utterly unpleasant."
Wimar seemed very displeased with this situation where he had to rely on the heart of the devil.
However, he did not reverse his judgment.
Because it was realistic.
If Wimar were young, he would not have given up on Rosen and would have tried to kill them all.
"But this must be the fate bestowed by Laan. I have no choice but to accept it."
Wimar considered being dispatched on such a mission as a retired man to be the will of Laan.
"Do you drink?"
"I drink, but I don't like it."
"Would you like a drink? No. I shouldn't force you. Just be my drinking companion."
"Isn't it abstinence for the sun?"
The sun god Laan considered alcohol a sin.
Because the foolish intoxication makes one wield fire recklessly.
"You don't know all the doctrines. It is permitted for the retired. Because they have consumed all the permitted fire."
Even so, it was not an action that Wimar would take. The sun was setting, and he was a die-hard fundamentalist.
"Do not worry about me. This old body does not have much time left."
Old men are possessed by dizziness.
It was something I had heard from someone once. Who was it?
Perhaps Wimar was thinking that tomorrow would be the end of his destiny.
Harad looked at Ellen.
She nodded her head.
"It would be nice if there was good alcohol."
Wimar came back with some pretty good alcohol from Benach.
He had a happy face.
* * *
Divine power was exceptionally versatile.
It could detoxify most poisons, so a little intoxication was nothing to Wimar.
"I asked what you think of my granddaughter."
But Wimar got completely drunk.
He seemed like an ordinary old man, not a priest. At least in that moment, he was.
"I have no thoughts of marriage."
"What is your type of woman? For your reference, my granddaughter is very lovely and beautiful."
Wimar had a daughter and a granddaughter.
He said they didn't meet often, but he was pushing that granddaughter on Harad.
"She's also around your age. Seventeen!"
"Isn't that too young?"
"Is your type older? Then, umm. My daughter is a widow. And she is devout. She would suit you."
Like Wimar, his daughter was also a priestess.
But she had never caught a devil. Wimar was relieved by that, but also somewhat disappointed.
"The things that disrupt the providence of the sun and moon are everywhere."
"That's in the past. It's not like that these days."
"What are you talking about! Devils are always plotting in secret. That is something that transcends time."
The ordinarily flushed Wimar was surprisingly sharp.
Perhaps this too was a form of dizziness.
"So I asked what your type is!"
It could also be the drunken rambling of someone longing for the past.
"Could it be this lady of Serzila?"
At those words, Ellen chugged her drink.
"If so, don't. You shouldn't do that with your superior."
Wimar said as if he had been burned once before.
"It will only bring trouble. The relationship between the two of you has nothing to do with it. The trouble comes from the surroundings. From that lady's surroundings."
Indeed.
I don't know who it will be, but I would have to pray for the soul of Elaine's future partner.
'Grand Duke Aratus won't leave him alone.'
Ellen's eyes narrowed.
She was about to argue.
The surroundings could only mean Grand Duke Aratus.
It was true, but for her, it was as if her family had been insulted.
"I don't know my type."
Harad quickly changed the subject.
"……Hiccup?"
"I said I don't know. Because I've never been with a woman."
Wimar's face was dumbfounded.
He was like that for a while, and then he burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! No way!"
"……."
"Is it true?"
Wimar stared intently at Harad's face.
"Why?"
Then he lowered his gaze.
"Ah?"
"It's not like that."
The drunk Wimar had a frivolous side, unlike a priest.
"Really?"
"There's probably no one as great as me."
Wimar laughed out loud again.
"Your confidence is excessive. But it won't be as great as a priest of Laan!"
Wimar was one of the priests of Laan.
"He is the sun god. Since He has bestowed the baptism, we also resemble the sun. Why do you think the sun is the sun?"
Wimar grinned.
"The sun isn't the sun for nothing."
Harad also grinned.
"……Low-class."
Ellen was contemptuous.
Whether it was because he was conscious of her, the drinking party ended not long after.
"See you tomorrow."
Though it was Wimar's room, he opened the door and went outside.
Is he going to get Rosen?
Ellen and Harad followed Wimar, but the place he headed to was the chapel. A small confessional in the corner.
"I confess…"
What he was repenting for, Ellen and Harad did not bother to listen.
They only knew that Wimar's confession was very long.
Wimar came out of the confessional around sunrise, and headed for the merchant guild building in the northwest of the domain.
And there, he confirmed that the devil suspect Rosen was just arriving for work.
"Let's go."
Today.
Wimar will subjugate the magical beast.