Published: August 3, 2025
Carried by my father, we moved and arrived at the temple, where Fran was waiting by the gate.
“Fran?”
“I saw a red light from the window, signaling the knights’ reinforcements. I thought you might be returning. Let’s go to the room.”
Fran said this with a troubled smile and started heading toward the room.
“Fran, we have to speak with the high priest…”
“The high priest is not here.”
“...What?”
“We’ll discuss the details in the room. Gil, I’m sorry, but please wait here for Lord Darmel. Please send word for him to come to Lady Myne’s room instead of the high priest’s.”
Once we reached the room, my father handed me water after dashing through the town holding me. We began talking in a small hall on the first floor. Fran quietly began to speak.
“Shall we talk about what happened after Lady Myne returned?”
Apparently, not long after we came back, my father had come to the room. When told, “It seems the noble from the other day entered the town. Report this to the high priest,” he immediately rushed back into town to confirm my safety.
“I hurried to the high priest’s room to report, but Arnaud informed me that the high priest was absent.”
Fran tried to return to the room, but on the way, she was stopped by Delia.
“Delia? What did she want?”
“It seems Dirk’s foster father arrived and wanted to speak to Lady Myne, who had been taking care of him. I told her Lady Myne had already returned and sent her away. I was relieved that Lady Myne wouldn’t have to go to the head priest’s room…”
Fran looked at me with a resentful gaze, as if wanting to ask why I had come back, but that look only troubled me.
“There were quite a few things that happened on our side as well.”
When I briefly reported what had happened on the way back, Fran narrowed her eyes.
“Considering Lady Myne’s report, the high priest may also have received requests from the knights’ order. By the time Lord Darmel returns, the high priest will likely be back as well.”
Fran quietly sighed, reasoning that if the lord moves, knights must escort him, so the knights’ order must be short-handed.
“Lady Myne, please change into your shrine maiden outfit and wait until Lord Darmel joins us.”
With Rosina’s help, I donned the Blue Robes.
It wasn’t long before Darmel returned to the temple. It seemed reinforcements from the knights’ order had arrived, and he was told to resume his escort duties.
Fran handed water to Gil and Darmel and briefly explained the situation.
“...This is strange.”
Darmel furrowed his brows.
“I didn’t see Lord Ferdinand at the scene. I was asked to get reports from the knights’ order. Isn’t he here?”
Puzzled by Darmel’s words, we decided to head to the high priest’s room again. Darmel firmly said we had to confront Arnaud about where he had gone.
“Shrine maiden apprentice, hold this.”
As if recalling something, Darmel took a ring from a small pouch and placed it in my hand.
“This was evidence the man earlier had. It bears the noble’s crest, doesn’t it?”
“That’s important—I can’t just keep it!”
“It’s small and not high quality, but it has a mana stone. It’s better to have it in case something happens. Unlike Lord Ferdinand, I don’t have a mana stone to lend you.”
Apparently, Lord Darmel was a poor noble and couldn’t afford to lend out mana stones. I put on the ring he entrusted me with, but since it wasn’t a magic tool, it didn’t adjust to my size.
“...It might be broken. The crest is enough as evidence. Can mana be imbued in it?”
“It seems mana can be imbued, at least somewhat.”
“The mana stone is of poor quality. If you suddenly put too much mana in, it might break. Be careful.”
Holding the fragile ring tightly, Fran led the way, I walked in the middle, and my father and Darmel flanked us as we headed to the high priest’s room.
Gil, lacking combat ability as a child, stayed behind in the room. Having been raised with the idea that violence is wrong, today’s battle, with blood flying and death, was quite a shock to him. He was visibly shaken. I wanted to stay by his side, but I had no such freedom.