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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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Brandon Hainkel.
The Cardinal had clearly called out to Schlus with a welcoming tone.
Could it be a coincidence that someone who knew Schlus’s face also shared the same last name?
It was obvious they were related.
Erica came to that conclusion.
“Schlus! It’s been a while! Do you recognize me?”
“…”
“Ha. Haha. You’ve forgotten. It happens…”
The Cardinal approached with open arms, but Schlus simply remained silent, his face expressionless.
‘Is that bastard insane?’
‘How dare he disrespect the Cardinal…’
‘But why is he ignoring him if they know each other?’
Erica was itching to ask when Ainz beat her to it.
“Schlus, is he related to you?”
“Hahaha. No, I simply lent Schlus my last name. He needed to hide his identity for a while.”
“Ah… I see…”
So they weren’t blood-related.
He just lent him his last name?
A Cardinal to a commoner like Schlus?
From what she had seen, Schlus wasn’t a particularly devout believer.
Erica couldn’t grasp the situation at all.
“I never thought you’d still be using that name… Did you find your mother?”
“…”
“It seems you haven’t. Well, it makes sense that you’re still using this name if you haven’t…”
“…”
The cryptic conversation continued.
Strangely, the Cardinal was acting flustered while Schlus remained silent, ignoring him.
As if he was angry about something.
It was an unfamiliar sight.
“I apologize, my greetings were delayed. Saintess Iris, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am Brandon Hainkel, Cardinal.”
“It’s been a while.”
“Indeed it has. Hahaha.”
“These are my friends: Erica von dem Lichtenburg, Ainz von Wiegenstein, and Trie…”
“Edengart Trie von dem Schultzenburg.”
“Yes. Welcome. Please, come inside.”
The Cardinal seemed to know Iris as well.
It made sense.
Iris was a Saintess appointed directly by the Pope.
Perhaps the Cardinal was a little overwhelmed by the large group.
After shaking hands with everyone, the group was led to a spacious room.
“His Holiness requests that you wait a moment. He is not yet ready.”
“Very well…”
Before a crackling fireplace, the group huddled together in the large room, seeking warmth.
The cathedral was surprisingly chilly, perhaps due to excessive ventilation.
An awkward silence fell upon them.
Schlus didn’t mind silence, but there were two people in the group who couldn’t stand it.
“So earlier…!”
“Schlus is…!”
Ainz and Erica, speaking at the same time, glared at each other.
They had completely opposite personalities, but they also had things in common.
For example, their inability to tolerate unanswered questions.
“So why did you give Schlus your last name?”
“Well, you see…”
The Cardinal, at Ainz’s question, glanced at Schlus, gauging his reaction.
He simply nodded slightly, allowing the Cardinal to speak.
But Iris was staring intently at the Cardinal.
The Cardinal, understanding her message, closed his eyes.
Schlus had given his consent, but Iris had signaled her disapproval.
It seemed he had to omit Iris’s part of the story.
“It was back when I was a lowly priest, during the war with the Kingdom. I found a boy washed ashore by the river near the Iceburg Temple. A… nun who was staying at the temple brought him back. He was severely injured, near death.”
“…?”
It was clear that the boy in the story was Schlus Hainkel.
But this was the first time Erica had heard that he had been so severely injured and taken in by the temple.
She only knew that he had gone missing after the Battle of Iceburg…
Her curiosity piqued, Erica focused on the Cardinal’s story.
“Just as the boy regained consciousness and began to recover, the Kingdom army arrived. They were asking if we had a son of an Iceburg castle guard here. It was clear they were talking about the boy the nun had brought. So I had no choice but to pretend he was my son and give him my last name, Hainkel. That’s how the alias Schlus Hainkel was born.”
“So you also gave him the name Schlus…?”
“No. He chose that name himself.”
The more she listened, the more confused Erica became.
What was Schlus doing by the river? Why was he injured? And why was the Kingdom army looking for him?
And why was he still using the fake name he had created to evade the Kingdom army?
As Erica struggled to make sense of it all, Ainz, equally perplexed, pressed for more details.
“So why was Schlus in the river? Why was he injured? Was he fighting in the war?”
“Hahaha. I’m afraid I don’t know any more than that.”
But the Cardinal just laughed and refused to answer.
While Erica and Ainz were frustrated, Trie had managed to piece together some clues.
‘There was only one time when the Kingdom army pushed that far into Imperial territory. During the winter offensive.’
The time frame narrowed down to the Kingdom’s winter offensive.
That night, the Iceburg Castle was nearly overrun by thousands of Kingdom soldiers, but miraculously, they managed to defend it.
But what was strange was that there were less than thirty defenders left.
While the Kingdom army still had over a thousand soldiers even after the battle.
A thousand elite soldiers, already inside the castle, driven back by the mere presence of thirty guards?
It didn’t make sense.
‘And those soldiers were looking for Schlus…’
They could have retreated from a battle they should have won.
But why would the Kingdom army, who should have pressed their attack, waste time searching for a single boy?
What could be so valuable about him?
‘Could it be that the boy… Schlus, was the one who led them to victory in that battle?’
Trie looked at Schlus, trying to read his expression.
But she couldn’t glean anything from his perpetually emotionless face.
‘Hmm…?’
Trie, tilting her head back to stretch, suddenly widened her eyes.
Schlus’s hand was behind his back, and Iris’s hand was covering it.
Their fingers were interlaced.
She thought she had seen wrong for a moment.
She leaned forward again.
Erica and Ainz, sitting behind Schlus’s broad back, seemed completely oblivious to what was happening.
“This is frustrating! Just tell us what’s going on, Iris! You know something, right? Right?”
“Ask Schlus. If he allows it, I’ll tell you everything.”
“Schlus! All you have to do is say yes! It can’t be that big of a secret! Come on, spill!”
“…”
“Schlus?”
Schlus didn’t answer.
He didn’t even seem to hear the question.
He was staring blankly ahead, his face expressionless.
Ainz, sensing something was wrong, waved his hand in front of Schlus’s face.
He even clapped his hands and snapped his fingers, but Schlus remained unresponsive.
As if he had fainted with his eyes open…
“What’s wrong with Schlus?”
“I wonder…”
The moment Iris withdrew her hand, smiling serenely,
“Gasp…!”
“Whoa!”
Schlus gasped and jolted awake.
Trie, startled by his sudden reaction, froze.
Breathing heavily, Schlus looked at each of them, his gaze lingering on their faces.
But his expression was strange.
He wasn’t scared…
He looked… confused.
It was the first time Trie had ever seen Schlus like this.
Only Iris remained calm, observing the situation with an unreadable expression.
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‘What is she trying to do?’
I hadn’t resisted when Iris suddenly grabbed my hand from behind.
I was curious about her intentions.
Was she simply teasing me for her own amusement?
Or was there a deeper meaning to her actions?
‘Huh?’
Suddenly, a suffocating feeling overwhelmed me.
My vision went dark and the chattering voices around me ceased.
All that remained was the warmth of her hand in mine.
‘Damn it.’
I had experienced this enough times to know, I had been trapped in a barrier.
So that was her plan, she had caught me off guard and then stealthily deployed a barrier.
But it was useless against me, I could easily break free.
‘What is this?’
But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t find any trace of the barrier’s formula.
I even used ‘Focus’ on mana sensitivity, but still, nothing appeared.
Even a Demon couldn’t conceal a formula so perfectly.
I had to come to a conclusion.
There was no barrier around me.
Confused, I finally understood.
It wasn’t a barrier, but the effect of my own ability.
‘Original Body’s Memory…’
An ability that could overwrite reality if triggered strongly enough.
And to make matters worse, it was completely random and uncontrollable.
It seemed I was experiencing a memory from before Schlus had learned to see and hear with mana.
But why was it triggered so strongly this time?
Could it be because I was holding Iris’s hand?
‘Huh?’
The warm hand in mine unfolded my fist and started tracing letters on my palm.
She wasn’t tickling me.
She was writing.
– I’ll tell you my name.
Tell me your name, she said.
Alright, go ahead.
I won’t forget it.
– Iris.
Oh. Shit.
– What’s your name?
The pieces of the puzzle were starting to fall into place.
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[Iris is such a troll man lmao]
Kekeke let’s gooo