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I clearly saw him leave, but how? When did he get here?
Unlike the fierce eyes that looked ready to kill someone, Rohan guessed that Rafon had fallen into a pit of endless questions.
He couldn’t help but laugh. It might have been closer to a sneer. The man in front of him, feeling confused, was utterly ridiculous.
“You must have been in a hurry. I followed you the whole time, but you didn’t even notice.”
Rafon quickly realized that the brief comment was almost like mockery. A savage sound seemed to leak through his tightly clenched teeth.
It was quite a pathetic attitude. Rohan didn’t try to hide such an assessment.
Wasn’t it actually so? Not only did he fail to notice that he had been deliberately given an opening, but he rushed to his destination without even realizing someone was following him. Until the very end, he didn’t even realize what he had done wrong.
He was truly a person running at the peak of arrogance and conceit. The unwavering stubbornness in his eyes proved it.
“This person seems to be one of our priests… Why is he tied up here?”
“As if I’d tell you that.”
“Then I’ll have to defeat you and ask him directly.”
“Ha, hahaha!”
Rafon, who had thrown off his ill-fitting skin of being a kind and considerate person, even stopped using formal speech that he had been using for formality’s sake. Moreover, he even ridiculed the other party who gave a brief warning. Rohan raised an eyebrow at the unsettlingly calm response.
“The church is truly ridiculous. Sending you to me just to save one priest. Did they not think that this wrong choice would lead to more deaths?”
“…”
“Indeed, His Majesty was right. The church is a harmful entity that must disappear from the empire he has built. Such a hypocritical decision…!”
If it weren’t for the impending battle, he seemed ready to spread his arms wide and start a speech. Rohan, who had been silently taking in this sight… burst into laughter with a “pfft.” The taut string of tension that had been subtly flowing suddenly snapped.
“You know one thing but not the other.”
“…What?”
“If you were going to investigate, you should have done it properly.”
Rohan showed no sign of agitation. Rather, there was even a faint hint of laughter in his words.
It was then that Rafon began to sense something strange. Doesn’t he care about the village’s affairs? Given the number of people sent, not only the villagers but also the priests who went to save them could be in danger. Yet he remained so calm.
Rafon wondered if Rohan was the kind of person who didn’t care whether anyone other than the sword, that is, ‘Arpel’, lived or died. But that wasn’t the case.
No matter how biased his interests might be, he’s not the kind of person who thinks lightly of others’ lives. That was the Rohan that Rafon had seen.
“What do you…”
At that moment, he realized. That he wasn’t afraid of anyone’s death. The reason wasn’t difficult. Because there would be no deaths. Because that’s what he believed.
Looking at Rafon, who belatedly fell into confusion, Rohan shrugged. Pointing his sword at Rafon, he said with a smile.
“Your downfall was focusing only on the internal affairs of the church.”
The voice that followed was no different from a sentence ending the drawn-out psychological warfare.
***
When numerous priests headed to Itor Village upon receiving urgent news brought by one priest, Dionel was also among them. As he hurried his steps enhanced by magical power, his mind was filled with thoughts of Rohan, who had gone in the exact opposite direction from them.
‘I’ll leave it to you.’
‘Yes. Stay safe.’
Rafon, who disappeared as if on cue after the news of the incident broke. In fact, most of the high-ranking priests had anticipated such behavior from him.
The news of the village being attacked was shocking, but on the other hand, they thought it was bound to happen. They knew they would face something like this someday.
So the best they could do was to push Rafon, who thought this was an opportunity, into a deep pit from which he couldn’t escape.
Rohan had left to fulfill that role. Leaving the task of rescuing people to others. In a way, it was nothing short of deep trust.
Dionel wanted to repay his trust. At the same time, he once again realized the emperor’s cruelty. He prioritized the ’empire’ over people. He was the kind of person who thought it didn’t matter if dozens of citizens died if it was to create the empire he wanted.
That was the order he envisioned, and it was the cornerstone of everything he sought to achieve.
‘Indeed, this can’t go on.’
The empire needed to change. The emperor had to be brought down. It was a moment when a strong conviction was once again engraved in Dionel’s heart.
“High Priest! It’s here!”
“Divide into groups as instructed before departure. The entry team, follow me. And the rear… I’ll leave it to you.”
“Yes!”
Before long, they reached the source of the noise. The sound of something running, collapsing, screams… Such things heated up their hearts with anxiety. Taking a deep breath to calm his excitement, Dionel led those following him into the village.
And what they encountered were monsters.
Something deformed that could hardly be called human was there. Some had bizarre appearances as if several creatures had been woven together. Grrr, sounds that couldn’t be called words dropped from their seemingly broken throats.
“Prioritize securing the injured!”
As Dionel shouted loudly, the monsters’ attention suddenly turned to him.
The priests who heard the order immediately scattered from their positions. At the same time, black magical power began to swirl above Dionel’s hand.
It took the form of a long, sword-like shape that flickered like flames for a moment, and when he swung it towards the group of monsters that had approached right in front of him, the area exploded in an instant.
The monsters that received the attack head-on died instantly. Those in the front were completely burned to ashes, while some were cut in half and crawled on the ground. The remaining magical power, like embers, was burning them.
“It’s not… a specter.”
Dionel’s expression became ambiguous as he looked at them. Given their strange appearance, he thought they must be something born from specters. According to those who had encountered the ‘executives’ of the Salvation Church, they had inhuman, abnormal appearances.
But these were not. No… it was hard to say they were completely unrelated.
Specters’ natural enemies are the power of god, magical power, and holy power. If they had been directly related to those, they shouldn’t have survived so ambiguously.
“We’ve secured the injured!”
Such a voice was heard from afar. Dionel turned his head and firmly stepped on a half-torn monster crawling on the ground.
…It wouldn’t be too late to look into this in detail later. Shaking his head lightly, Dionel turned his steps towards where the previous shout had come from.
The time that followed passed like an arrow. It was because they moved systematically, dividing the personnel into three groups as instructed during the move to the village.
One side rescues people, another treats those rescued, and yet another protects the base. Those who had been working together for a long time carried out their roles without major problems.
And then…
“It’s been a while.”
“…Mr. Lexia?”
There was also the activity of those not belonging to the church.
Dionel tilted his head as he looked at the sturdy figure approaching him. His face was full of undisguised bewilderment.
“I thought someone else would come, but you came yourself.”
“Haha. There were circumstances.”
However, he didn’t find his appearance out of place. As if he had expected a third force to appear.
The attack on Itor Village did not sacrifice a single life. It was partly due to the church’s quick response, but also because mercenaries who had set up camp near the village immediately protected the people as soon as the enemy struck.
The church thought there was a high possibility that Rafon would cause an incident outside to divert attention from the inside, and immediately identified likely places for an attack. They then requested cooperation from the mercenary guild and stationed mercenaries at each location.
The result was excellent. They were able to finish the job safely without a single casualty. Knowing this fact, a clear sigh of relief escaped from Lexia as well.
“I’m glad the matter was resolved well.”
However, while Dionel nodded in agreement, his face was still puzzled. He knew it was Lexia’s intention to readily respond to the request for help, but he didn’t expect him to come out personally.
“I heard you were avoiding the eyes of the imperial court.”
“Well… about that.”
The brief question was filled with concern rather than interrogation. Lexia, who had been pondering for a moment, shrugged.
“The surveillance network has been falling apart recently.”
Dionel’s eyes widened. This was another unexpected story. Amidst the bustling crowd of people engaged in rescue and treatment, Lexia continued with a chilled expression. For that moment, it felt as if the surrounding noise had completely disappeared.
“It seems the emperor is… planning something else.”
This was both a guess and an intuition. And it was also a certainty. Dionel slowly inhaled as he looked at the flashing eyes.
Even though the matter had been safely resolved, an ominous feeling rose up to the tip of his chin.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
