Chapter 188

(188)

“I can’t come out.”

“Right. It seems there’s a problem.”

Die and Hoze bit their lips in apprehension.

Tall cadets in splendid uniforms approached them and began to speak.

“Hey there, young friend. It seems like your older siblings’ meeting is taking longer than expected. How about we have a sip of tea and chat a bit?”

“Which academy’s theology department does your sister attend? Ah, forgive me. I must have misseen. You aren’t from the theology department, but from a seminary.”

Die was confident in sensing the malice hidden behind their smiles.

It was essential to understand whether they intended to use her as a pickpocket or capture her to offer as a sacrifice—survival in the slums required such awareness.

Die shared a quick glance with Hoze.

“I’m sorry, but I think that someone like me from the slums can’t possibly fit in at the academy.”

She jumped out the window alongside him.

“Ahhh!”

Hoze was physically ordinary, but Die was a warrior. After harnessing strength to the point where needle-like hairs sprouted from her back, she safely embraced Hoze as they landed.

Die immediately sought to dash toward the wall, but a longsword fell like a meteor in front of her.

Swoosh!

A few strands of light brown hair were severed and drifted in the wind.

“Ugh!”

Had she hesitated even a moment longer, it wouldn’t have been her hair but her head that was severed.

“This has happened once before.”

Die confirmed the badge attached to her opponent’s collar and let out a low growl.

The emblem of swords crossed with a scroll.

“Student Council…”

The members of that organization, created by Jin, comprised only the most skilled students among the infamous cadets of the Street of Learning.

They primarily supported talented commoners who lacked funds, effectively operating as private soldiers.

Their feats included quelling fights and subduing cadet thugs, contributing to their ties with the constables, making them a semi-official organization…

“If you surrender peacefully, we won’t inflict any fatal wounds. We don’t want to kill you either.”

A member of the Student Council shrugged.

“Amon God.”

As Die began to silently pray, Hoze stepped forward.

“God of Radiance, cast down flames upon those who obstruct your daughter!”

Whoosh!

In an instant, a brilliant white light flashed, and the Student Council members stumbled, tears streaming down their faces.

“Die! Hurry!”

“Y-yes!”

Seconds later, a spell flew toward them from behind.

“Capture them!”

“It’s the President’s order! Don’t let them escape!”

Vines began to grow from the rocks to bind their limbs, sparks flew from chains, and flames danced through the air.

“Give strength to the warrior to resist sorcery!”

Die used her body to shield Hoze from the incoming attack.

Thud! Crackle!

“Gah!”

Amon God despised mages, calling them tricksters, and bestowed magic resistance upon his devotees.

Die was a devoted follower of Amon who had become part of an active combat group at the age of 16 and endured all the attacks.

* * *

As soon as Die cleared the wall, she stumbled to one knee.

Hoze, alarmed, extended his hand toward Die.

“A-are you okay?”

“I’m fine. We need to escape quickly.”

“I’ll heal you. I got an A+ in the healing prayer subject last semester.”

“No! If I receive your prayer, I might get burned!”

“What?”

“Don’t you understand? I’m a heretic.”

Hoze’s gentle gaze shook greatly.

Die, enduring the bitterness she had expected, said, “Sister, we have no chance of defeating the Infiltrators. First, let’s prioritize getting to safety.”

“…Alright.”

“For now, let’s head to the nearest cathedral. We can’t go back to the Street of Learning right away. I’ll protect you until we enter the cathedral. It’s been a long… day. I really wanted to succeed. Haha.”

Hoze nodded with a faint smile.

She supported Die and began to walk toward the cathedral.

Die attempted to shake off her grip, but Hoze did not release her hand.

“I feel the same way.”

“What?”

“I also wanted to succeed. I wanted to show it to the God of Radiance. Just as He saved me, I desired to be of help to Him. I had planned to impress everyone by capturing an Infiltrator to prove my faith. I never imagined I would end up being chased by the Student Council.”

“Is it natural to feel an infinite sense of debt to the one who changed your life?”

Die struggled to suppress the question that bubbled up to her throat.

No matter how she thought of it, it felt like blasphemy.

Fortunately, the Student Council members ceased their pursuit as the two distanced themselves from the Street of Learning.

They eventually reached a secluded side entrance beside the cathedral, and Hoze raised a finger before Die’s lips.

“Wait here.”

“What?”

“The God of Radiance… dislikes heretics, but teaches that one must repay kindness. If you hadn’t taken the magic hits for me, I would have been captured. Just a moment. I’ll meet with the Holy Knights or priests to get permission and come back.”

Die attempted to refuse.

He believed he could return alone to the old slums.

However, the thought of possibly stepping on a tail and causing trouble for Konel held him back.

“Thank you, Hoze.”

Die waited just over 20 minutes.

From the far side of the broad lawn beyond the wall, she saw Hoze dash out from a red brick building.

Her face was pale with despair, and behind her followed a Holy Knight.

Die could read Hoze’s lips.

“Run away. They’re with him…?”

“No way. Duke Valencius is here….”

It was unbelievable.

Valencius had kidnapped the Saint twice and intervened in the church’s internal factional struggles, effectively driving the revered Bishop Hong to his death.

“I thought he was excommunicated… I can’t forgive him. He tried to burn Konel alive. …I had planned to make him pay someday.”

The boy moved for two reasons.

First, to reveal that the Infiltrators were responsible for the attacks on the guild and collect the bounty on the Great Infiltrator while settling the delivery schedule penalties.

Second, to show the rotten bandit Valencius a bitter taste for trying to burn Konel alive and hinder the slums’ revival.

Die turned and began to run.

The blessing of Amon God wrapped around her, and the boy broke through the dimming street at a speed hard to believe for a boy.

* * *

“I said I’d be out for a few days.”

Die bitterly smiled as she fiddled with the lamp post she had passed that morning.

In the distance, the sound of watchmen’s whistles echoed faintly.

The old slums’ central area was not patrolled by the watchmen.

Thanks to these lamps.

This was a magic streetlight said to have been developed directly by the Emperor.

It was supposed to collect sunlight during the day and emit it at night; Die didn’t know the details, but it was bright and pleasant.

“Why does the Emperor allow someone like Valencius to rampage?”

Die had also heard of Jeilliris’s reputation.

Born from killing her mother, she had murdered her father and taken the throne.

A murderer who defied family ties.

However, those were tales detached from her own world.

The Jeilliris she knew permitted the redevelopment of the slums, sent magical streetlights, awarded badges to Senator Konel, and passed laws for Senator Konel—she was the Emperor.

Of course, the fear was greater, but it linked with the respect she felt.

In contrast, Valencius was different.

He was genuinely evil, a great demon intertwined with Die’s everyday life.

Though she had never spoken of it anywhere, Die had seen him.

He was accompanied by a platinum knight clad in white armor and was the man who enjoyed slaying and burning countless slum dwellers, laughing as if it brought him joy.

Moreover, the rumors from the red-light district, nearly touching the slums, were even more horrifying.

“Capturing pretty boys or girls and torturing them by fire…”

It wasn’t a rumor easy to believe.

Nevertheless, Die was a boy who had seen Valencius laughing as he burned people alive.

There was no choice but to believe it.

Die entered the six-story stone building in front of the central square with powerless steps.

After ascending to the second floor, she filled out the return request form and reported to the senior combat squad members.

“Die. I’m back.”

“Oh, good. You returned quickly. Just in time. Konel wants you to come up to the sixth floor as soon as you arrive.”

“W-what?”

“Quickly go up.”

Die felt a mix of confusion and joy as she ascended the stairs.

Being in the same space as Konel on the sixth floor… felt like being someone special to Konel.

“Lady Konel?”

* * *

The sixth floor was enveloped in a subtle darkness.

This was Die’s first time coming up at night, but it seemed there were even fewer candles lit than in the daytime.

Konel was sitting on an extravagant sofa in one corner of the vast living room.

Her brown bob cut and cane were visible.

Die knew that she usually did not sit on that sofa.

“That’s where she only uses it when the other senators are present…”

“Have you arrived? Come sit beside me.”

“Y-yes.”

Die sensed a reprimanding tone in her voice.

Die cautiously perched on the sofa, maintaining a slight distance from Konel.

“Lady Konel…?”

“Just sit still.”

From the darkness opposite, a figure emerged and sat down on the sofa.

The moment Die saw his face, she felt her breath catch.

“Right. You must be Die.”

With flashy platinum hair, precarious yellow eyes that swayed, pale cheeks, a striking nose, and red lips… at first glance, he looked almost inhumanly handsome.

Yet he wasn’t perfect.

His skin glistened, but his lips were cracked and stained with blood, and despite his powerful, massive presence… he appeared extremely weary.

The most notorious scoundrel of the capital, Duke Valencius, sat before Die.

She didn’t know what to say and merely gaped, and Valencius exhaled a deep sigh.

“It’s not enjoyable to speak this way in front of a common brat, but I’ll say it since it’s good to see your face, Konel.”

Konel, without even supporting herself with her prosthetic limb, stood and bowed repeatedly, while Valencius gestured for her to sit with a frown on his white brow.

“I haven’t slept a wink since that mad bastard started setting things on fire ten days ago. No matter how specialized he is in concealment and cover, I didn’t anticipate there would be Infiltrators capable of simultaneously using Transparency, Spirit Form, and Blink.”

It was clear this wasn’t a question that required an answer.

“Senior Sister Sorelazie and the heads of the Magic Guild stayed up all night crafting Infiltrator-tracking tools and distributed them among the constables.”

Valencius bit his lips.

Thick drops of blood formed.

“He manipulated the news outlets and the council to make it so that we didn’t realize he was the Infiltrator.”

He trembled as if in absolute disgust at the thought.

“I devised a plan to discover the activation time and frequency of his Transparency and created a complete encirclement for seizing him with the palace guards, constables, thugs from the red-light district, and the Student Council of the academy. I aimed to wear him down gradually, then blow his head off before he unleashed his psychic power.”

“!”

Valencius glared at Die with burning eyes.

“How long it will take to catch him again is uncertain. That young priestess shouted that he was the Infiltrator, so he will now know that we suspect him without a doubt. Do you understand what I mean?”

Die trembled in fear.

Valencius spoke with rage, as if he were chewing and spitting out words.

“You’ve messed everything up.”

It wasn’t loud or chilling, but his voice sent shivers down her spine.

“He’ll use the psychic power that he has kept in reserve without hesitation now. I can’t imagine what might happen. Hundreds of Infiltrators could crawl out in this capital, Silentalouon. Then either the Emperor will have to step in directly, or the Knights of the Azure will have to bombard the empire’s capital.”

Die felt her body go limp.

Her mind went blank.

Even amid all this, she instinctively understood why Konel was here with him.

It concerned handling the responsibilities of a subordinate.

Die stammered out, as if she had forgotten how to speak.

“L-Lady Konel… is… I…”

If she died, she would die, but she couldn’t allow Konel to suffer.

Valencius interrupted Die.

“Shut your mouth. Do you think your life holds any value? If your neck and your companions’ necks could turn back time, I would have already beheaded you all.”

Konel rose again, bowing, and Valencius grimaced impatiently.

“Konel. Sit. You don’t have to flaunt it just because you lack legs; it makes me feel dirty to have to berate a poor girl. For a while, keep those kids in line. If you can’t leave them alone, make them train or clean all day long. I just came back to prevent Captain Barbatos and the Chief of Police from gathering these five along with their relatives and sending them to Wyvernfit.”

‘Preventing? Valencius? And somehow, the two of you seem a bit chummy…’

Numerous questions blossomed within Die’s chest.

Valencius seemed utterly disinterested in providing any answers as he rose from his seat.

Konel stood and bowed her head to his back, and Valencius sighed deeply, accompanied by a knight in a crimson cloak who may have been there all along, and left.

Die couldn’t bring herself to look at Konel’s face.

She immediately knelt on the ground.

Now she realized how much damage her ambitions could have caused to this street.

“I’m sorry.”

“Die.”

“I’m sorry.”

After a brief silence, Konel extended her hand.

“Stand up. Let’s go pray to Amon God. Ask for the strength to face all this chaos.”