Reincarnated in the Same World for the Nth Chapter 44 : Chapter 44

Chapter 44

“Young Master, did you bring your motion sickness dicine?”

“I already took it.”

The weather was clear again today.

Aquila glanced out through the small window in the carriage.

Slightly fewer servants than before had co out to see them off.

Erzet was nowhere to be seen.

He had already visited Aquila’s room the night before and explained in advance that he would be too busy to co out in the morning.

“It was a good experience being able to travel together. I hope we can et again, Sir Heinen.”

“Yes. I also appreciated having the chance to cross blades with House Reschenhardt’s sword.”

Heinen chatted with the soldiers he had grown close to during their stay.

Chelsey was also engaged in a brief conversation with the gardener.

They seed to think they were not being noticed, but thanks to their red hair, the twins were easy to spot as they stared in this direction.

Since their gazes were fixed on Chelsey, Aquila did not bother acknowledging them.

In any case, the group heading to the Grand Temple of Portplum was not much different from before.

A few servants and soldiers had been added, but Vice-Captain Cahena, Shen, and Yujelia were still accompanying them.

Yujelia, who had once ford an escort oath and packed her belongings at the orphanage because of Martio, decided not to bring her luggage this ti.

Since she would have to return to Igrail anyway for the twins, there was no need.

Chelsey did not object.

Now that the shackles called Martio were gone, Yujelia could go anywhere, and if soone needed her help, she could run to them at once.

And most importantly, preparations for Gilesha’s transfer had already been completed first.

When Aquila t her piercing gaze as she was loaded into the carriage, what he saw was not hostility, but curiosity.

‘She must have a lot she wants to ask. I am not going to answer, though.’

Aquila brushed off that gaze without much thought.

And so, with all preparations complete, the carriage finally began to move slowly.

***

Once they left Igrail behind, a cold wind blew.

Even so, it was tolerable.

His head felt a little dizzy, perhaps because his mana vessel was sowhat filled with motion sickness, but that too was manageable.

However, there was one thing even he could not tolerate.

The inn at Celteng.

The mont Aquila arrived and saw the face waiting there, he was so dumbfounded that he could not even manage a hollow laugh.

“…Why are you here?”

“Hm? That is a strange thing to say. Is there so reason I should not be here?”

A gentle voice tinged with amusent rang out.

Saint Ianpel.

Guided by the Temple Knights, he stood only a short distance away.

His pure white robe was as immaculate as ever, without a speck of dust, and as he lowered the cup that had hidden his face, a perfectly drawn smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

“If I had simply waited, you would have arrived eventually. Could you not even restrain yourself long enough to do that?”

“Ah. Soone has done so much for us that it reached the point where I simply had to co out personally to welco them. So here I am. What do you think?”

Without a sound, Ianpel set his cup down and gestured to the seat across from him.

“Perhaps because I already received a grand send-off, I am not particularly moved.”

“What a sha. It was ant to be a surprise. I thought I might at least see a smiling face, if not tears.”

“I have experienced too much to be surprised by things like this.”

“Haha, dear . Perhaps it is because so much has happened recently, but seeing you so detached is rather heartbreaking.”

Ianpel added that in a tone that suggested the opposite.

“Enough. Did sothing happen at the temple?”

“Why would you think that?”

“You do not seem like soone who would co all this way for personal reasons.”

“To think you would try so hard to understand after eting only a few tis. I am honored.”

Aquila, who did not even spare the smiling saint a glance, rested his chin on his hand with a bored look.

“Did you co to see the criminal over there? Is there sothing you need to obtain quickly?”

“Oh my. Am I that obvious? Or are you simply that perceptive?”

“Let us say the latter, and stop trading jokes.”

“A pity. You really are a tempting talent.”

As he said that, the smile slowly faded from Ianpel’s pale lavender eyes.

“Do you rember Belmaburn? The place where Martio sent gathered orphans.”

“Yes. Of course. Children under twelve with Divine Power. I rember.”

“While you were unconscious, we received several pieces of information. Through our contacts, we requested an investigation from the Temple of the Sun personnel stationed there.”

“Did you find the children?”

“Yes. Thanks to so capable individuals who infiltrated quietly… at least, for now.”

“At least?”

Ianpel tapped the table lightly with his index finger a few tis, then raised his gaze.

“According to testimony from the residents there, they investigated after hearing reports that a strange cart had been coming and going from a private house at dawn several tis. And then… well. It is a bit unclear whether I should say they ‘found’ it, or ‘discovered’ it.”

“…What are you saying?”

“They discovered the bodies of the orphans there.”

A sharp intake of breath sounded nearby.

But this much was within Aquila’s expectations.

Experints had been carried out there, after all.

However, Ianpel’s words did not end there.

“They said there were more bodies than the number sent from Portplum, so it seems orphans were sent from other places as well. And their conditions were far from ordinary. That is to say…”

He paused briefly to catch his breath.

“There were marks as though sothing had eaten them. Sothing like a beast.”

“My goodness…”

Yujelia covered her mouth, a sound escaping her before she could stop herself.

“They said the bite marks were too large to belong to a normal beast, and that the teeth must have been strong enough to sever flesh with a single bite, without chewing multiple tis…”

“A monster?”

“That possibility cannot be ruled out. So of the wounds apparently looked as though they were inflicted while playing with the bodies.”

Aquila frowned at those words.

‘An intelligent monster? At this point in ti?’

He searched his mory quickly, but he could not recall ever hearing of such a monster roaming Belmaburn.

The only information he had was that a ghost monster had appeared there, born from the grudges of children who died due to reckless experints.

“Just before leaving Portplum, we received new information. They said they found sothing.”

Ianpel interlaced his fingers and placed his hands on the table.

“This was how they described it. Its skin was entirely black and writhing, and when their eyes t its vivid red gaze, it felt as though their hearts were freezing…”

“W-wait… that sounds like…”

Shen’s eyes widened as he voiced his doubt at the familiar description.

Celsia, who had turned into a monster after eating the mud of the Black Swamp.

The Corrupted Shadow of Ecstatic Delight she beca shared similar traits.

“The mont I heard that description, I was imdiately reminded of the report our Second Commander submitted to .”

“How could that be…! Are you saying there is another such monster there? What happened to the people who encountered it?”

“They said it vanished without a trace. Those stationed there are currently on guard around Belmaburn.”

The saint added that outwardly, Belmaburn appeared peaceful, and that the monster had not been seen again, nor had its hiding place been found.

But the more Aquila listened, the less he understood.

Those who beca monsters after eating the Black Swamp’s mud never concealed their presence.

Corrupted souls were beings that could not be satisfied unless they destroyed their surroundings or killed soone imdiately after being born.

Every place they lingered turned into hell.

And yet no one had noticed anything?

‘…Originally, the first appearance of a corrupted soul should coincide with an interspecies event. What is going on?’

Aquila had not considered Celsia, who beca a monster after eating the mud, to be part of the main scenario.

He had thought it a special circumstance unique to ‘Aquila Reschenhardt.’

In other words, a character’s side story.

And yet, now information he had never heard in any previous cycle had surfaced in Belmaburn…

“And there is one more reason besides that. Once I return to Portplum, I will likely be unable to move from the Grand Temple for several days. Or rather, I should say I will not be able to leave.”

“What happened?”

“Well, the Founding Festival is approaching, is it not?”

“Ah.”

The day commorating the founding of the nation by the first emperor who unified the Delvion continent.

On this day, festivals were held everywhere on the continent.

And in major cities like Portplum, the celebrations were especially grand.

Although he had not yet received an official position, Ianpel held an important role within the Temple of the Sun, which ant there were many places he needed to attend.

Moreover, during this period every year, he would seclude himself in the prayer chamber for several days, offering prayers for the peace and safety of not only Delvion, but Portplum as well.

This was surely what he ant.

To think it coincided with such an inconvenient ti.

“…I had not considered that.”

“I tried to postpone the prayer period, but they could not adjust the schedule on their end. After all, soone was unconscious for ten days.”

“…That was also sothing I did not anticipate.”

“Haha. In any case, I still have a long way to go.”

Ianpel laughed, but he did not look particularly pleased.

Since he had not yet been granted a proper position, he had no choice but to follow the temple’s decisions.

“In any event, too many things overlapped. If I simply waited patiently for you, I would end up stuck in the prayer chamber without accomplishing anything.”

“So you ca first, then. To find out whatever you could.”

“Yes. I had planned to explain matters related to the Founding Festival once you arrived in Portplum. I apologize for misleading you by not telling you earlier, but in hindsight, it turned out to be the better choice.”

If he had said it was fine to co later due to the prayer period, they would not have been able to respond properly to this urgent matter.

Letting out a rare sigh, Ianpel relaxed his expression and smiled once more.

“I will be confined to the prayer chamber for three days. After that, I will have a brief window of ti. Of course, I will remain busy even after the Founding Festival ends.”

Although all of these incidents revolved around Aquila, the mont Ianpel agreed to the deal, he too was standing in the very center of it.

Aquila nodded.

“…Ah, right. Because of everything that has happened so far, the Temple of the Sun may contact you formally. They might even summon you to Saintroia.”

“I have no intention of going there.”

“Haha. Even so, do you not think you should offer an explanation? The ‘Right Hand of the Halo’ is still there, after all.”

Water that had welled up from a sacred relic of the Sun God.

Only then did Aquila realize that he had never explained how that water had appeared.

From his perspective, he had simply used an item, so there was little he could say.

“Well then… all right. That concludes my explanation. I will go see him briefly. Will you stay here? This is a matter between and the temple.”

He phrased it as though they would be having a private conversation, but Aquila knew.

He knew that Ianpel possessed a certain skill that was useful to him.

Still, Aquila had no intention of remaining seated.

Had it been any other matter, he would not have interfered.

But sothing was happening in Belmaburn that even he could not understand.

mbers of the Guild of Darkness, and corrupted fanatics.

Just as the saint had co here to uncover whatever he could, Aquila also needed to learn exactly what they were doing.

More than anything else, it was essential for clearing the main scenario smoothly.

“I may not know exactly what it is, but I know you have so kind of thod. I will step aside when the ti cos, so allow so ti as well.”

The direction of the carriage where Gilesha was being held.

Aquila’s gaze turned toward that place beyond the door.