#90
Fortunately, there were only two knights. Unlike the other corridors, there were no priests passing by.
“What should we do?”
Rikin asked Persis in a small voice. Persis, who had been lost in thought, exhaled briefly and shrugged his shoulders.
“Should I shout that I’m here to draw their attention? I think it would work really well.”
“Persis!”
Rikin and I called out Persis’s name in unison at his ridiculous suggestion. Sometimes when Persis said things that completely disregarded his position, it sent chills down my spine. It felt like he might really cause serious trouble one day.
“Isn’t this the best method here?”
[Or you could leave me behind and go.]
“No!”
I shook my head and shouted. I know that what’s in my hand isn’t really him. His body is still trapped inside this temple. To suggest leaving behind this sword, through which I can still hear his voice, after his body—I couldn’t do that. I still had many things I wanted to hear from him.
“I’m against that too. My brother seems to be trying to properly research the power of demons. If he returns to that body again, it would only accelerate that research.”
[Then what do you want us to do?]
“In times like this, there’s no choice but to use force.”
I’m not sure what I just heard. I was shocked as I looked at Rikin stepping forward. I never expected Rikin of all people to say such a thing. Until now, hadn’t he been restraining Persis from acting recklessly, saying we should be careful? I don’t understand why he suddenly changed like this.
Persis nodded at Rikin’s words. To agree with this—what was Persis thinking? It was a foolish and simplistic idea. Acting so emotionally would only complicate matters further.
But thinking about it, they were just teenagers in their late teens. They were at an age where they would act first, driven by emotions.
It was as absurd as what I had done in the prayer room. I desperately grabbed the collars of Rikin and Persis as they stepped forward.
“Don’t say such nonsense! This is a temple!”
I knew it wasn’t my place to say this, having been overcome by strange emotions and used unusual abilities as soon as I saw his body in the prayer room. However, their intended actions were so reckless that I couldn’t stay silent. If they caused trouble in the temple, it would be the end. Kuatrin’s knights would immediately rush out and capture them.
No matter how skilled Persis and Rikin were, they couldn’t handle several knights. After all, they were still students. Perhaps if they were a few years older and stronger, but not now.
However, Rikin and Persis seemed to have no intention of listening to me as they pulled their priestly hoods lower to cover their faces.
“That’s exactly why I’m saying this. Ana, I am a prince of this country. Once we leave this temple that my brother has a tight grip on, things will somehow work out. So Ana.”
Under the hood that covered up to his nose, I could see Persis’s lips grinning.
“When I give the signal, run.”
The moment Persis finished speaking, Rikin and Persis dashed forward. I almost let out a scream involuntarily. It felt like I had set loose two troublemakers. Had these two played like this in their childhood? Suddenly, I felt sorry for the palace employees who must have struggled to handle these two.
Even when the two approached very close, the knights guarding near the secret passage didn’t notice. This meant that the magic Yaksi had cast was that powerful.
“The wind soon becomes a sword.”
As Persis shouted this, an invisible, formless sword appeared in his hand. The bladeless sword quickly struck the knight’s nape. The knight, taken by surprise, collapsed on the spot.
Unlike him, Rikin quickly grabbed the remaining knight’s arm and twisted it behind his back to subdue him. The knight, pinned face down on the floor, belatedly discovered Rikin and Persis and tried to shout something. However, Rikin swiftly grabbed his neck, pressed his body down with his entire weight, and roughly covered the knight’s mouth with his hand.
“Try to make a sound. I’ll kill you the moment you do.”
As soon as Rikin finished speaking, Persis pointed his formless sword at the knight’s neck. Anyone watching would think they had done this more than once. Despite not having planned it beforehand, the two coordinated with each other effortlessly.
The knight, sweating coldly, tried to identify their faces. However, due to the deeply pulled priestly hoods and Yaksi’s magic that still lingered, he wouldn’t be able to recognize who they were.
“Answer my questions truthfully, and I’ll let you live. Answer with a nod. Are there more than ten guards in this area?”
The knight didn’t say anything to Rikin’s question.
“Become sharp.”
Then Persis slightly modified the magic, and the blade of the sword he was holding seemed to be sharpened. At that moment, a red line appeared on the knight’s neck. The knight tightly closed his eyes and nodded.
“If it takes less than 10 minutes for the personnel nearby to get here, shake your head, and if it takes more than 10 minutes, nod.”
The knight answered this question easily too. As he nodded, Persis and Rikin exchanged glances.
Rikin lightly struck the back of the knight’s neck, knocking him unconscious. After moving away from the knight who had collapsed on the floor, Persis and Rikin looked at me, who was standing dumbfounded without being able to stop them.
“Well, shall we run now? Ana?”
Persis’s voice, speaking cheerfully as if they had finished all their tasks, somehow felt unfamiliar. It seems that Rikin and Persis have done such things many times in places I don’t know about. What on earth happened during the years I wasn’t aware of?
I felt there were many things I needed to hear once we got out of this place.
Since I couldn’t waste the opportunity Persis and Rikin had created, I quickly followed them into the secret passage. Fortunately, since they had subdued the knights before they could shout, no one was pursuing us.
The endlessly stretching dark secret passage was just as it had been when we first came. All we had to do was follow the path Persis had shown us and return to where we had originally entered. That’s what I clearly thought, but the person who greeted us was quite surprising.
“We meet here.”
Standing blocking the dark secret passage with a broad smile was none other than Ramtel.
The moment Ramtel’s face appeared, Rikin quickly stepped forward, drew his sword, and pointed it at him. Ramtel raised both hands, making a fuss as if pretending to be scared. However, despite his exaggerated actions, Ramtel’s expression was utterly calm. It was as if we posed no threat to him at all.
Whatever he was thinking, Ramtel stood alone blocking our path. It was surprising in itself that he knew this path. Could Kuatrin have told him about this path in advance? It was hard to believe that he would reveal a path known only to a few members of the imperial family to an ordinary person. Although Rikin and I were following Persis, our case was unavoidable.
“Please don’t be like that. You have no idea how worried I was that something might have happened to the three of you. I’m truly relieved to see all three of you are healthy.”
As he said that and took a step closer, the tip of Rikin’s sword drew an arc through the air. If Ramtel hadn’t urgently pulled his body back, his arm would have been cut off. Stroking the collar of his clothes that had just been cut by Rikin’s sword, Ramtel smiled awkwardly.
“It seems there’s a misunderstanding.”
“Move aside.”
“I truly came to evacuate His Highness. If you would just follow me.”
“Do you think we’re so ignorant that we’d fall for such words?”
Rikin tightened his grip on the sword pointed at Ramtel as he moved closer to him. It seemed like he would cut him down on the spot if he moved even slightly. Sensing the ominous atmosphere surrounding Rikin, Ramtel let out a small sigh.
“Why can’t you believe my words? I’m helping the three of you right now. That sword in the Young Master’s hand.”
Ramtel’s gaze fell on me behind Rikin. I was startled and gripped the sword I had hidden inside my robe more tightly. It seemed he had noticed that ‘he’ was inside the sword. I couldn’t grasp when and how he had found out.
Though I didn’t want to reveal my surprised reaction, it seemed I failed, as a deep smile appeared on Ramtel’s face.
“You must know what’s inside there, right?”
Rikin hesitated. The question Ramtel had just raised was one that had been tormenting Rikin since we came to the temple. Rikin already knew well what was inside this sword. Just because he had steeled his resolve once didn’t mean that the antipathy built up over many years would disappear.
Demons are the enemies of humans. And the first wall of this empire that protects humans from demons was none other than the Parten family. The evil deeds of demons that Rikin had heard about enough to form calluses on his ears must be flashing through his mind.
Suddenly, I recalled how Rikin had distanced himself from me as soon as we entered the temple. What expression would Rikin be making now? He might be unable to answer with a despondent face. Or he might be wavering at Ramtel’s words.
Whatever it was, Ramtel’s words were enough to shake Rikin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
