novelraw Chapter 155 : Chapter 155
Chapter 155 : Chapter 155
Chapter 155: The Academy’s Great Sage (1)
“It looks good.”
Iris spoke as she walked down the corridor.
The sound of children chattering came from all around. Now and then, she could feel eyes on her. They must have been peeking through cracked doors, craning their heads out from behind window frames. The children’s gazes were all directed at Iris. Every single one of them was an orphan, yet despite having lost their parents, they looked bright and cheerful.
“You could call it your own fortress, Abel. You have taken such thoughtful care of it.”
“I merely paid a great deal of money.”
Abel replied in an indifferent tone.
He briefly turned his head and glanced at Iris. Through the gap in the robe wrapped around her body, a smile seemed to linger in her shadowed, pale-pink eyes.
“I do not have the leeway to design an orphanage of this scale. Everything here is the director’s achievement. I simply provide the capital.”
“Oh my, how modest.”
Iris shrugged.
There was no need to dwell on it further. Abel must have invested a substantial fortune into Lateranzo Orphanage. Judging by its scale and compounded growth, it was closer to an academy than an orphanage. Had he even purchased the land surrounding it to use as a cemetery? That was probably not the only reason.
‘Even so…….’
An academy in the front, a cemetery in the back. Or perhaps a cemetery in the front, an academy in the back.
Either way, it is a bizarre design. Or perhaps I should say it suits you. You cannot tend only to children, nor can you account only for the dead.
As Iris smiled to herself at the thought—
“Come in.”
CREAK.
The sound of an archway opening.
“It is humble, but bear with it.”
A food storage room.
Abel led Iris into the pantry. The orphanage was vast, yet there were few places truly devoid of people. To avoid the many eyes and ears everywhere, there was little choice.
“It is fine.”
Iris waved her hand.
Magic circles etched into the stone walls, still holding the chill of the cellar. Several spells activated, preventing sound from leaking out and barring the door from being opened from outside.
“It feels pastoral. I like it.”
SWISH.
Iris lifted her robe.
She revealed her face and brushed back her pale-violet hair. Having worn the hood for so long, her hair was thoroughly tangled.
“Let us begin.”
Abel spoke while leaning his back against the stone wall, and—
“Yes, let us.”
Iris rummaged through a burlap sack. She took out a single apple, ripened to a deep red, wiped it against her sleeve, then took a large bite.
“I have been watching your movements.”
She continued, chewing.
She also read the report you submitted to the Papacy. It seems you had quite a difficult time abroad. Several blind spots were omitted from the report, but that much could be inferred on my own.”
Abel had concealed two pieces of information.
One was the combat power of the Intelligent Species, the other was the truth of Portsmouth.
The Intelligent Species had received power from the Demon King and confronted Abel. It meant that the Demon King had awakened to the point of being able to bestow authority after personally reflecting on the existence of specific monsters. It was an issue too dangerous to disclose openly for now.
The truth of Portsmouth was the same. The worship of monsters and the offering of human sacrifices. That alone was not the only problem. Iris could roughly surmise the rest. Regions like Portsmouth were—
“……quite numerous, I imagine.”
“They are.”
Abel nodded once.
He had already grasped it through Pnakotic’s Sensory Stone.
The origin of the madness that had consumed Portsmouth. The Parousia Denomination had reached out to Portsmouth in the distant past, seemingly intending it as a form of entertainment, or perhaps an experiment. The phenomena that arose from monster worship, and the way a society became consumed by a false religion—those two aspects must have been what they sought to analyze.
“So it will not be limited to Portsmouth. Neither entertainment nor experimentation would be conducted only once.”
“We will need efforts to identify underdeveloped regions. We are short on manpower, which is a problem. And in addition—”
“Chasing the tail alone is not enough.”
We must cut off the head.
Abel murmured in a steady voice.
“Unless we eradicate the core of the Denomination, the chaos will continue. The leaders of the Parousia Denomination can decompose souls, and they can even prolong their existence by taking over other bodies.”
“Like parasites.”
Iris let out a sigh.
The five cardinals who had risen to prominence during the age of witch hunts. They had fallen into apostasy and now yearned to become gods. The Parousia Denomination was likely the cornerstone of that ambition.
Iris had learned as much from Abel. The desires of Apostates were so hollow that they were hardly surprising, but the possibility that they had secured the child Iris had been searching for—the Saintess among the Mother God’s Right Hand—was deeply unsettling.
“They intend to use her as a host.”
Abel whispered, and Iris nodded.
A Saintess was a being granted authority by the five Main Gods, entirely unlike a mere Evangelist. If they took a Saintess’s body, claiming godhood would not be an unreasonable feat. The only relief was that they likely had not yet succeeded. If they had achieved their goal, the Parousia Denomination would not be operating with such secrecy.
“Vianchiel Kingdom.”
Iris shared the information.
Based on the materials Fleur had left behind, they had identified the Parousia Denomination’s base.
“The location that used to be its capital…….”
…underground.
It seems they have established their base beneath it, Iris whispered softly.
“I do not know how they have managed to survive there, but they appear to be stationed below ground rather than above it. Fleur de Saint-Pierre seems to have known only the location, and never visited it herself.”
“I see.”
Did they build an entire city underground?
After briefly wondering, Abel continued.
“To confront them head-on, we will need preparations.”
“Of course.”
Abel and Iris nodded at the same time.
Besides the leaders of the Parousia Denomination, countless Apostates were likely hiding within the remnants of the fallen kingdom.
“First, Emilio Mackenzie.”
Abel began to speak, listing the order of preparation.
“That boy has a history of having his body controlled by the leaders of the Parousia Denomination. It seems his father followed the Denomination. He likely offered his son as a vessel to house the leaders’ souls. We will need to trace the father’s movements.”
“Second, Grand Duke Marchand.”
Iris raised her index finger.
“The origin of the artifact he presented to the Emperor. Judging by that, we cannot overlook his point of contact with the Parousia Denomination. Interrogating a man of a grand duke’s standing will be troublesome, but we can no longer delay.”
“Third, the Emperor and the Pope.”
Abel spoke with his arms crossed.
“I will arrange audiences with both of them. It will be difficult to handle everything beneath the surface. It would be better to report at least a portion of the facts. Above all, we need troops. To ensure that regions like Portsmouth are not left unattended—”
“In that case, fourth: Märchen Blackmore.”
At once, Abel’s eyes narrowed.
It was as if the air itself froze. The moment the name of Märchen Blackmore—the Mage among the Mother God’s Left Hand—was spoken.
Iris let out a sigh. She could easily discern Abel’s thoughts. The crack spreading across his otherwise impassive expression was unmistakable disgust.
“I know you find Märchen unpleasant, but……”
It cannot be helped.
Iris whispered quietly.
“Märchen inspected the former territory of the Vianchiel Kingdom. She will arrive at CIAR in three days. To meet you. Judging by the letter, she seems very much to be looking forward to it.”
“Why?”
Abel tossed out the question flatly.
He averted his gaze from Iris’s exhausted eyes.
“Why is she looking forward to it?”
“Why else? Märchen finds you interesting.”
“Absurd.”
Abel brushed his hair back.
Sharpening his unfocused dark-blue eyes, he muttered,
“……That wretched piece of refuse.”
***
Three days later, the grounds of Cia-Harphe Academy.
As the wheels of a wheelchair rolled across the grass—
“Sorry, brother.”
Emilio spoke.
He gripped the handles of the wheelchair.
“I was sick for a while. It must have been hard without me, right?”
Although the break had begun, Emilio did not return home.
He had to pass several examinations first. He had apparently been exposed to Apostates’ black magic. When exactly had he been ensensared by it? Emilio could not say.
In any case, he no longer lost consciousness. Once he received confirmation that the black magic within his body had been completely purified, he would be able to leave for home. Even then, he planned to remain at CIAR for the duration of the break.
There was someone he needed to look after.
“Brother Dietrich.”
Emilio spoke carefully.
Dietrich Leinhart. He looked at the young man seated in the wheelchair.
“Brother Dietrich, are you angry?”
At a glance, Dietrich looked like a tall, well-built young man.
His deep red hair hung down to his waist, and he stared ahead with lifeless eyes. He was older than Emilio. But Emilio knew it well. Though he appeared older, Dietrich was clearly—
“……I hate being lonely.”
Like a child.
To the point that he could not even walk on his own.
“I am sorry. Were you very lonely?”
“I did not disappear. I was just busy. I was busy being sick, and Brother Lizer was…….”
He is about to graduate.
That must be why he was busy.
Emilio murmured softly.
It was strange. Of the twins, the older brother, Lizer Leinhart, was a prodigy of the Department of Elemental Studies, while the younger, Dietrich Leinhart, struggled even to move his body.
“That is enough, Emilio.”
Dietrich lowered his head.
With his eyes gently closed, he whispered.
“You can go back now. Just leave me like this.”
“Are you really angry? The walk is not over yet. I was really sick too, not as bad as you, but still—”
“No, it is not that.”
I am not angry.
I was just lonely.
Dietrich spoke quietly.
“Anyway, go back.”
Dietrich’s eyes opened.
Staring into the distance, he continued.
“……You should not be here.”
How many days had it been since he last went outside?
Dietrich stopped counting. It must have been around two weeks. Without someone to push his wheelchair, he could not even go for a walk. Shut inside the dormitory, all he could do was wait for Lizer to return, or for Emilio, who usually took care of him, to visit.
And yet, why was it that after being alone for so long, everyone was suddenly returning?
“He is coming.”
With that question in mind, Dietrich whispered.
He stared at a man approaching from afar, wavering like a mirage. He stared at the man walking forward, half-transparent, as though a hallucination.
“Father…….”
My father is coming.