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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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“Karina!”
What on earth was going on?
An ambush?
Suddenly?
As soon as I heard the news, Millia and I rushed to the infirmary located inside the temple.
In front of Karina’s room, Renny was sitting with her head deeply bowed.
“Renny. What the hell happened?”
“Damn it… Why did this have to happen when I briefly left my post for business with the archbishop… We got completely tricked.”
“What were the other escorts doing? Weren’t there escorts around her?”
If my memory serves me right, there should have been priests and escorts around the saint to an excessive degree.
They broke through those escorts and shot an arrow into Karina’s back?
Strictly speaking, there should have been plenty of human shields?
“…The assassin was an escort. Before we could even uncover the mastermind, he swallowed poison and committed suicide… Damn it. Some priests also seem to have spies mixed in, and there are some whose whereabouts are unknown.”
Renny, who spat out curses with an expression that looked like she would tear the assassin to shreds if she saw them, looked at me and spoke.
“So Karina is currently refusing visitors. Now that an assassin has emerged from the escorts, there are only a few people who can be trusted. All priests and escorts are being investigated… Ha. We can’t even trust the investigators at this rate.”
An inside spy, huh?
I don’t think I felt any strange signs.
“They’ve all been thrown in jail. Since they failed to protect the saint… They won’t be able to get out unscathed.”
Renny answered my question while gritting her teeth.
Was the anger in her voice directed at herself or the assassin?
Anyway, it was clear that I shouldn’t provoke her at the moment.
Even I was quite perplexed by the situation that was outside of my expectations.
Was there such an incident in the original story?
Even in the main story, Karina was often targeted and attacked as a top priority, but before we even entered the academy?
This kind of thing was happening already?
No, could it be that she was targeted because we haven’t entered the academy yet?
No matter what, the academy is the most prestigious one on the continent, so security is strict.
Although I’m not entirely sure, I think it was mentioned in the original story that security was increased after the saint’s enrollment.
“How is her condition?”
“The arrow was removed, but… there was a curse on the arrowhead.”
“A curse?!”
“Millia. Shh.”
It was not good to draw attention.
When I brought my finger to my lips and gestured for her to be quiet, Millia covered her mouth with her palm.
Yes, keep it covered like that.
If you make a fuss, you’ll attract attention.
“A curse…”
If the settings in the game were 100% the same here, the ones who can use curses are quite limited.
Dark mages, necromancers, and priests of pseudo-religions.
Which one could it be?
First, let’s exclude dark mages.
Their forces were already small, so they wouldn’t have the guts to touch the saint.
Touching the saint was no different from turning all the people who believe in the Kalon Church into enemies.
They wouldn’t have the guts to turn everyone from the royalty to the beggars on the street into enemies and survive for long.
Necromancers also had meager forces, just like dark mages.
In the end, the only one left by the process of elimination was the pseudo-religion, right?
I briefly turned my gaze to the ceiling and tried to recall my memories about pseudo-religions.
In the game, they were enemies that appeared around the middle of the story.
Bastards who used curses, self-destructive attacks, and bizarre magic.
But did they start their activities from the beginning…?
Why does it seem like it’s deviating more and more from the story I know?
If it goes like this…
“…Johann.”
When Renny called my name in a low voice, I turned my head to look at her.
Renny’s eyes, which naturally met mine, were blazing as if they would ignite at any moment.
Renny looked around and quietly spoke.
“…I need your help.”
“…You mean to uncover the mastermind?”
Renny silently nodded.
“I have to guard the infirmary, so I can’t move. Instead, I need someone I can trust to entrust this to… There’s no one but you. Please. Find information on the trash who attacked Lady Karina… When you find them… Tell me first.”
“Got it.”
There was no reason to refuse.
I had no intention of standing by when my acquaintance had just been attacked.
This incident was too suspicious.
An attack before we even reached the academy.
If we don’t properly resolve it here, we’ll probably be attacked on the way to the academy as well.
If possible, I should uproot it, and if not, I should at least resolve it to the extent that we can safely reach the academy.
No matter what ending I would see, Karina must stay alive, so it was something I had to take the initiative to do even if you didn’t tell me.
“I’ll help too!”
“…You should rest.”
Your idea of helping is admirable, but I don’t think you’ll be of much help, so it would be more convenient if you didn’t follow along.
“I can help too!”
“Specifically, how can you help?”
“Uh… Well… I can separate my head…”
“If you get caught doing that, it’ll be more troublesome. Stay put and wait at the temple.”
If we end up in a fight, it’ll only make things more complicated.
“Renny. If you have any information, can you share it with me? I don’t have enough information to investigate from scratch.”
“Take this. I didn’t have time to investigate in detail, but it has some rough information written down.”
I picked up the small notebook Renny handed me.
When I opened it, I saw about three pages of violent handwriting barely staying within the lines.
I’ll have to read it somewhere else.
As she said, if I keep standing here, I’ll only attract unnecessary attention.
“Then keep a close watch on her side. I’ll try to find the mastermind.”
“…I trust your abilities, so I’m expecting good results. And take this too.”
I caught the object Renny threw.
…What is this metal badge with a sun emblem on it?
“It’s a token that you’re a guest of the Kalon Church. If a priest or guard looks at you suspiciously, show them that. At least it can reduce their suspicion.”
It was a useful item.
I shoved the token into my pocket.
“Then I’ll get going. I need to prepare for the hunt.”
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People often say that the culprit returns to the scene of the crime… but the scene was completely controlled by the guards, making it impossible to enter.
I wanted to investigate the square where Karina had given her sermon, but as an outsider, I couldn’t break through the priests who were blocking the entrance to the square airtight.
In the end, I had no choice but to investigate the surroundings instead of the square.
“Renny definitely said there were people who disappeared.”
Where could those people have gone?
If they didn’t all commit suicide by poison, they must have escaped somewhere.
They said they thoroughly blocked all the holes in the city the moment the saint was attacked, so it wouldn’t be an ordinary route.
I hid my body in a shaded alley and opened the notebook Renny had given me.
A diagram showing the positions of the guards and priests who were present at the time Karina was giving her sermon. And the locations where those disguised as escorts were standing.
Estimated escape routes, etc.
Even in a short time, she had recorded quite a lot of information, making the investigation much easier.
“First, the escape routes.”
I wandered around the square, following the escape routes Renny had written down. And I was caught four times.
If I hadn’t received the token from Renny, I might have been waiting to be released next to the arrested priests by now.
Do I look that suspicious?
“…Forget it. Let’s finish checking.”
By the time I had gone through all the routes, the streets had started to turn scarlet.
I scratched my head in the middle of the street, having gained nothing.
Now that I’m out, I should gain something, but there’s nothing suitable.
I couldn’t even attempt to gather information through inquiries.
If I went around asking questions with an awkward tone that anyone could see through, it was obvious that I would be labeled as a suspicious person.
I was already barely getting by with the token of being a guest of the Kalon Church, and if I got caught here… Even if I showed the token, I might get arrested.
…Ha.
Information gathering would have been easy if there was something like a secret passage…
Hmm?
At the sudden thought, I looked down at the ground.
…A secret passage, could there really be one?
I quietly moved towards the river that ran through the middle of the city.
This city definitely had a sewage system.
It was a fact I confirmed while using the toilets here to the point of being sick of them.
I heard that they collected it and processed it with magic, so wouldn’t there be a secret passage somewhere in that sewage system?
There would be few people who would go down into the sewers, it wouldn’t be noticeable since it’s underground, and crucially, the only place where a secret passage could exist in this city was the sewers.
…The fact that I didn’t know the exact geography was a concern, but.
For now, let’s find the sewers.
After searching the city until the moon rose, I finally found a ladder leading down to the sewers.
It was hidden in a corner of a somewhat run-down area that looked like a slum.
There might be other paths, but for now, this was the only one I found.
A foul smell was flowing out from the downward path, so it was probably the right place.
I immediately climbed down the ladder.
Fortunately, as I predicted, the bottom of the ladder was indeed the sewers.
The yellow streams of water reflected by the torches on the wall evoked an instinctive feeling of disgust.
I turned my gaze away from the yellow river and detached a torch from the wall.
If I had night vision like a cat, I wouldn’t need a light source, but I’m human.
I didn’t have such skills, so I had no choice but to obediently hold a torch.
“…I should give up the thought of eating for a while.”
It feels like my nose will rot.
I took out a cloth from the bag I had purchased a few days ago and covered it up to my nose like a mask.
A stench that makes you long for a gas mask won’t be blocked by a piece of cloth, but it’s still a hundred times better than not doing it.
Then, shall we start moving?
I took out a shortened shovel from my bag and extended its length to the level of a short sword.
The sewer path wasn’t wide, so this was just right.
I walked aimlessly through the sewers.
The sewers were as complicated as a maze.
Two-way forks were a blessing, and there were three-way forks.
Even four-way paths appeared frequently.
I ran into dead ends countless times and drew a map in my notebook as I went.
Originally, it would be right to ask for help, but there was no guarantee that the ones who committed such an act would remain until tomorrow.
My guess was that they would hastily try to escape before their tails were caught.
Bastards with dirty backs are quick to run away like rats.
So if I didn’t find them now, my chances of losing them increased infinitely.
Therefore, there was no time to spare.
How long had I been doing this untimely maze-searching?
As the embers of the torch weakened, I was able to find a peculiar trace.
A priest’s robe of the Kalon Church that got caught on a protruding part and couldn’t float away.
It was hard to see the color as it was soaked in filth, but it was a garment I had seen to the point of being sick of it for a week.
There was no way I couldn’t recognize it.
It was then that I was convinced that my guess was correct.
“I found it faster than I thought.”
Honestly, I thought it was a rough deduction, so there was a high possibility of it being wrong.
I started to go upstream against the flowing water.
If I keep following this, I should be able to find other traces.
If I was lucky, I might even run into them.
From now on, it was time to blend into the darkness.
I threw the torch into the river to extinguish it.
I lifted my heels.
Walking quietly on tiptoe like a thief, I gripped the shovel with both hands.
It was in preparation to smash their heads immediately if necessary.
After walking for about 10 minutes, I arrived at a dead end.
“…Is there a secret passage?”
I immediately tapped the wall with the back of my hand.
Unfortunately, there was no spot where a hollow sound was heard instead of a dull sound.
That meant they must have passed through a hole below and came out.
As it is, I have to find another path and go back.
But I didn’t need to do that.
Because I…
“Disassembly.”
Could forcibly create a path with a skill.
I moved the stone blocks I had disassembled into block form to the side and continued digging.
About 10 stone blocks were created.
I emerged from the passage that was barely wide enough for one person to pass through and arrived on the opposite side.
I could feel the flow of wind.
Was there an exit nearby?
I concealed the created passage with stone blocks and walked in the direction the wind was blowing from.
If I keep going like this, something will come up.
It was a shallow prediction, but sometimes things turned out as predicted.
I arrived at a point where the stone wall ended. And I could also hear voices nearby.
“…believe it.”
“…too. But since we cast a curse, she won’t be able to go to the academy…”
“Still… doing this…”
“…good. Next… the drug…”
The distance was quite far, so the voices weren’t clearly audible.
Even with the little I heard, it was enough to realize that they were scoundrels.
I slowly, little by little, narrowed the distance.
The enemies were many, and I was alone.
On top of that, there was the added difficulty of having to spare the enemies’ lives instead of killing them.
It couldn’t be more troublesome.
But I still have to do what I have to do.
Because I can’t let go of the ones who made Karina like that.
I approached a distance where I could somewhat identify the enemies even in the dark night, taking the dark night as my ally.
There were three enemies.
Their clothing looked ordinary, but based on the content of their conversation, they were definitely the ones who attacked Karina.
I had to incapacitate them as quickly as possible.
I quietly plunged the shovel into the ground and activated a skill.
“Crafting.”
“Aargh!”
Three screams echoed loudly.
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surprise mother f’ers get em bro