Join our separate discord server now: The Imperial Of BL
98
As they ventured deeper where the wraith energy grew denser, Arpel’s ears became muffled and his head felt hot. Though this pain was a very unfamiliar sensation for Arpel, who had never experienced it before, he thought he could endure it well enough. That is, until the energy suddenly intensified, causing his body to weaken and his vision to spin.
“It seems there’s something inside that’s absorbing the wraith’s power.”
Arpel said this to Rohan, who had barely calmed down.
What was barely perceptible became clearer as they got closer to “something”. Energy leaked from his body, and something voraciously devoured it. This was bound to be fatal for Arpel, whose foundation was based on magic and wraith power.
The moment he felt dizzy, even the power of the ring suppressing the outward manifestation of wraith energy wavered briefly… but he didn’t bother mentioning this fact.
While his energy did leak out externally, it was only for a very brief moment, and no one would have noticed it. Just as he dismissed this as a minor concern, another worry found him.
The situation had become quite difficult. He had planned to find the source of the power and remove it if possible, but now he himself, who could find it, had become powerless.
However, Rohan seemed to be focused on a different problem. Seeing his face more devastated than before, Arpel felt something in his mind break. He couldn’t think or speak.
Worry, anxiety, unease… He just blinked blankly at these constantly surging emotions. Though he didn’t understand why such feelings were welling up, his hands instinctively continued to pat Rohan’s body.
Soon, an urgent voice poured from Rohan’s mouth.
“Right now… are you okay right now? Any discomfort?”
Is your head not hurting, can you see properly, are your ears not muffled, has your sensation not dulled…
Such questions followed endlessly. Arpel was swept up in the whirlwind of the situation, letting his body be touched here and there as if checking for injuries.
Even after belatedly adding that he was fine, Rohan only visibly relaxed after personally confirming that there was nothing wrong with his body.
“If it hurts, if anything feels strange, please tell me. Okay? Please…”
The words that finally leaked out were unmistakably a plea. The tightly held hand gave a feeling as if clinging to him. After staring blankly at the held hand for a moment, Arpel slowly nodded.
While deliberately ignoring the out-of-place fullness making his chest ache.
The constantly wavering eyes finally calmed somewhat upon hearing “let’s go home”. He stumbled through the forest, leading the one following him like a goldfish’s droppings.
Having long since left the neatly laid path in their quest to find the source of the energy, only dense trees and irregularly arranged bushes stretched out before them.
“Shall I carry you on my back?”
“No, you don’t need to.”
“Then how about supporting you…”
“I’m really okay, Rohan.”
Meanwhile, Rohan still seemed unable to completely let go of his worry. The questions full of lingering concern continued before abruptly stopping. His face, when he turned back a beat late, was tinged with faint sorrow. As if upset by the firm refusal, his protruding lower lip particularly caught the eye.
Perhaps due to the urge to press down on that protruding lip, his mind, which had been complicated by the inexplicable situation, cleared somewhat. As he entwined their hands more deeply as if to soothe him and urged him to walk, Rohan suddenly spoke.
“Wait a moment.”
Rohan, whose expression had suddenly hardened, blocked the way ahead. Only then did Arpel also feel a faint sense of déjà vu on the seemingly unremarkable forest path.
“Magic…”
A faint streak of magic rose from beneath the ground. Though it seemed about to extinguish compared to the wraith energy permeating the entire forest, it was clearly and continuously asserting its presence not far away.
Before long, they found the source of the energy. Rohan’s footsteps led to the base of a tree with an unusually thick trunk. The shadow rippling from the ground surged up and dug into the base for a moment.
A faint glimmer, out of place in the dark forest, caught their attention. Something silver buried in the soil revealed itself. It was a faded pocket watch necklace with traces of faint magical resonance.
“…”
Silence fell between the two.
Why would something that looked like someone’s precious possession be buried in the middle of this forest, in a place far from the developed path where few people visit? Thoughts kept leaning in one direction. They suddenly had the intuition that the owner of this necklace probably didn’t meet a good end.
And that intuition was proven correct not long after. The tip of the shadow diligently digging around caught on something. Rohan bit his lip as he stared at the inside of the exposed hole.
Underground was a skeleton that had been buried for quite some time. The half-rotted clothes draped over the skeleton even gave a familiar feeling.
Seeing this, Arpel muttered softly.
“…Your thought was right, Rohan.”
It seems a cleric came to this village.
There was no doubt that the skeleton was that of a cleric. Although it had rotted beyond recognition, Arpel, who had seen clerics’ clothes countless times, couldn’t fail to recognize it.
Rohan had once speculated that the villagers’ excessive wariness might have stemmed from a cleric’s visit. That hypothesis was now proven in the most horrific way possible. What settled on his face then was a mix of complicated emotions and anger.
“Shall we move as soon as day breaks?”
A faint contempt seeped into the quiet voice asking for opinion. Though he seemed to be trying hard to suppress it, Arpel felt that emotion more clearly than anything else.
While he didn’t feel any particular sentiment seeing the village’s tragic state, Arpel was certain. If one were to embody the concept of horror, it might resemble this village.
***
Rustle, rustle.
The sound of stepping on leaves, bushes brushing, gravel embedded in soil being trodden… All of these proved that the man was diligently making his way through the forest.
“Why did they make it in such a deep place…!”
Though it wasn’t hot weather, sweat trickled down his forehead. The man with a face tinged with displeasure, Maisen, ground his teeth and vented his complaints. The benevolent smile he showed to the villagers was nowhere to be found.
Only after pushing through the bushes a few more times could he reach the place he had been searching for so desperately. On a narrow path lined with dense trees, as he roughly swept away the soil with his foot, something that looked like a handle was the first to appear.
His hand, grasping the grooved area and pulling, was as familiar as if he had repeated this many times before. With a creaking, grating noise, the hidden wooden door opened heavily.
He tightly closed his mouth that had been complaining endlessly until just before, and his displeased expression was tidied away in the blink of an eye. As he descended the narrow stairs and walked along the long corridor, a faint air of tension even seeped out.
“You’re late.”
“I-I’m sorry.”
As soon as he entered the open space, a strange resonance that was hard to believe came from a person deafened his ears. Maisen immediately knelt before the figure in front of him and bowed his head.
A man was sprawled on a huge chair that looked like a throne. Baggy clothes and a large mask on his face completely covered not only his body shape but also his facial features. It was an extremely suspicious appearance, but rather, it seemed to add to the man’s mystique.
The wraith energy spread throughout the forest, and an energy tens of times denser than that flowed from the figure before his eyes. Realizing this after a long time, Maisen bowed his head even more deeply and swallowed silently.
However, that servile attitude was shattered by a single word that was soon heard.
“Finally… I’ve found the vessel.”
“V-vessel? Is that true, sir?”
It was such a shocking statement that his head jerked up. His bulging eyes, wavering aimlessly, conveyed how surprised he was.
“Magic and wraith… To think these two powers coexist. There couldn’t be a more attractive vessel.”
“Do you mean…”
“Originally, I had planned to proceed later… but I’ve changed my mind. Return to the village and begin preparations, Maisen. Today, we’ll finally see the end of this long experiment.”
“I-I’ll prepare right away!”
There was no further exchange. He bowed so deeply that his forehead touched the ground, then hurriedly withdrew, appearing quite urgent.
Excitement, anticipation, joy… All sorts of emotions were evident on his flushed face.
Having been part of the Salvation Church for a long time, he was able to be selected as a middle manager because the “experiment” that the main church had been preparing for a long time was to be conducted in his hometown. He didn’t care much about conducting inhumane experiments on his hometown people.
‘Even if they lose their lives, they’ll receive God’s blessing, so it’s fine. They should be grateful, if anything.’
Maisen sincerely thought so. That they should be thankful just for being a stepping stone to that noble one’s will.
Hadn’t they used the Fox God that the villagers originally believed in to smoothly carry out the experiment? If they achieved remarkable results from this, he too would surely receive a big reward within the Salvation Church. Thinking that day was not far off filled him with emotion.
By the time the excited Maisen had completely disappeared, the man left alone in the large, pitch-black room opened his tightly closed mouth.
“The day to shed this lowly body is not far off. This world will soon be in His hands…”
Snicker. The grotesquely shaped lips hidden behind the mask curled upward.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
