Chapter 53
The prison of the Grand Temple of Portplum was not underground, but in the upper levels.
Behind the second-largest temple on the Delvion Continent stood an impossibly tall bell tower.
Placing a prison in the upper levels rather than underground was not sothing that could be done without trendous confidence. It was not a place known to outsiders, and ordinarily, outsiders could not even set foot there.
It was heavily guarded by all manner of divine magic, and even those affiliated with the Temple of the Sun were forbidden from entering unless they held the rank of auxiliary bishop or higher.
Once one entered through the small door of the bell tower, a spiral staircase stretched endlessly upward.
If one continued climbing, a place completely sealed on all sides eventually appeared. That was where the criminals were confined.
A place where the sound of the bells could be heard closer than anywhere else, befitting a bell tower.
‘Being locked up there and listening to that sound every day puts an enormous strain on the mind…….’
Since even ordinary priests were not permitted to co, the number of people heading toward the Grand Temple’s prison was small.
Only four people had received permission.
From the Temple of the Sun, there were Ianpel and Heinen.
Chelsey escorted them only as far as the front of the bell tower and did not follow beyond that point.
She was rely an assistant to Ianpel and held no separate rank of her own.
In that respect, Yujelia was the sa.
She, too, was a priest affiliated with the Temple of the Sun.
From Aquila’s side, there were only Aquila and Shen.
Originally, only Aquila had been granted permission, but because it was deed unacceptable to leave him alone, Shen had barely been allowed to follow.
Cahena and several soldiers of House Reschenhardt, who had co with them to the Grand Temple, were made to wait inside the main building.
The Temple of the Sun insisted that individuals known for their martial prowess could not be allowed inside the prison.
They seed to have turned a blind eye when it ca to Shen.
To outward appearances, he looked like nothing more than a harmless servant.
Of course, what mattered was not who was or was not accompanying them.
‘Was it always…… this tall?’
Aquila swallowed a ragged breath and lifted his head.
Stairs stretching upward.
The steps themselves were neither especially high nor steep, but the path ahead was dizzyingly long.
‘I did not even consider the stairs. I will die before I reach the top…….’
Aquila panted.
There was no teleport linking the upper and lower levels, in case of unforeseen circumstances, so they had no choice but to move their bodies themselves.
Yet this body, which possessed practically no stamina at all, felt short of breath already, despite not having walked very far.
And when he thought that the face awaiting him at the top of these stairs was Gilesha, even the motivation he had left threatened to vanish.
As the image of faded navy-blue hair rose unbidden in his mind, Aquila furrowed his brow.
Clink, clink……
Ahead of him, steady footsteps rang out from Heinen, who was clad in armor.
Despite wearing all that silver, he did not look tired in the slightest.
‘I should be able to handle at least that much.’
If he intended to go to the battlefield soday, that was.
Yet here, it seed that Aquila was the only one struggling.
Heinen and Shen showed no disturbance in their breathing, and even Ianpel did not appear particularly strained.
Aquila rubbed near his heart and drew in a deep breath.
“……Young Master. Are you all right? Shall I carry you?”
Shen whispered quietly from behind as he supported Aquila.
Honestly, it was a tempting offer, but Aquila shook his head.
Stamina only builds up if one moves regularly.
More than that, he refused to be carried all the way to the Grand Temple’s prison in soone else’s arms.
He was not a criminal, after all.
While regulating his breathing, Aquila asked Ianpel,
“Was there…… no news at all from Belmaburn?”
“Oh. You do not seem very curious about how I have been, but that interests you?”
Ianpel laughed teasingly.
“There was nothing worth reporting separately. They said the carts that used to co and go at dawn have not been seen for the past few days either.”
“So it was not discovered, huff……?”
Ianpel glanced back at him and gave a short laugh.
“I cannot be certain, since we could not reenter the place, but they kept watch and said there were no signs of anyone fleeing.”
“And that…… monster…… have you encountered it again……?”
“They sent additional personnel from nearby temples, but they have not seen that monster again. There is a possibility it moved elsewhere, so they decided to widen the search area.”
Aquila twitched the corner of his eyebrow.
The monster that appeared to be a corrupted soul had encountered the priests only once.
Did it relocate imdiately after being discovered just that one ti?
Moreover, the western region had many gentle terrains, leaving few places to hide.
Belmaburn itself was a village ford by people gathering across wide plains.
Yet if it still had not been discovered there……
“They say there is a reed field to the east, with reeds as tall as a person. It might be there, but we will only know once we look.”
Aquila nodded.
That reed field was precisely the place he had been thinking of as well.
Of course, since it was vast, even a search carried a high chance of missing it.
Still, Aquila’s doubts did not end there.
‘……They said there has been no particular activity near the private houses where the children were being moved, but if the monster relocated, would they just let it wander around on its own?’
If there were corrupted fanatics and an unfamiliar monster there, it was highly likely that the corrupted fanatics were conducting so sort of experint.
Yet they were allowing the monster to roam freely, without any control?
The more Aquila thought about it, the harder it was to understand how things were diverging from the previous cycles.
Was it that such movents had always existed, but had been carried out so secretly in earlier cycles that Aquila never knew about them?
‘……A past I do not know is more troubleso than I thought.’
Bracing himself against the wall beneath his palm, Aquila exhaled sharply.
Lost in thought, he reached the upper level before he realized it.
After stepping onto the final stair, Aquila bent forward slightly, gripping his knees.
“Hah, damn…….”
He was already exhausted, and he had not even entered yet.
At least the others had slowed their pace for him, allowing him to keep up.
“Shall we take a short rest?”
Shen hurriedly pulled out a handkerchief from his inner pocket and wiped Aquila’s sweat.
After drawing in a few more deep breaths, Aquila finally lifted his head.
“……No. Let us go.”
Rather than being shown consideration by Ianpel, it would put his mind more at ease to finish this quickly and return to rest.
He tapped his pounding heart a few tis.
‘Once I return to Igrail, I absolutely have to start by building stamina, damn it…….’
Ianpel gestured lightly with an odd smile.
“Welco to the Grand Temple’s prison. I cannot rember the last ti I saw an ordinary person co here.”
“You have not been in Portplum for very long, huff…… have you?”
“Haha. That is true, but according to the records.”
The upper level of the bell tower was not particularly spacious.
Individual rooms were divided to hold criminals.
Everything within sight was moderately old, yet the doors alone were pristine white.
Among them, the place where Gilesha was held lay at the very top level of the prison.
Directly beneath the bell, where the sound rang out the loudest.
As Ianpel approached the door, he took a square-shaped key from his pocket.
Opening the Grand Temple’s prison required two procedures.
One was a key that matched the prison door, and the other was divine power used to dispel the divine magic placed upon it.
“Once we go inside, what questions are you planning to ask?”
Ianpel asked before inserting the key.
It was obvious what questions would be asked, making the sudden inquiry all the stranger.
What sche was he plotting now?
Wiping his brow with his sleeve, Aquila narrowed his eyes.
“……The questions I intend to ask are obvious, are they not? Whether he will answer them is another matter.”
“He seed quite talkative in Celteng, did he not? You were even on a first-na basis.”
“Oh, then shall I step aside for a mont? So the two of you can properly introduce yourselves.”
Ianpel smiled as he fit the square key into the slot.
Then he poured divine power into it.
Click.
The sound of the lock disengaging echoed.
“He looked so dejected, since he did not seem to interest at all.”
“What is that supposed to an…….”
“Still, it seed soone was waiting for him.”
Before Aquila could question the cryptic remark, Ianpel grasped the handle with a gentle smile.
“Shall we go in? Beyond this point, only you are permitted.”
As determined, among those present, only Ianpel and Aquila were allowed inside the prison itself.
It was also a display of the Temple of the Sun’s confidence that the criminal within would be incapable of doing anything.
“……Please be careful, Young Master.”
Shen whispered quietly, unable to follow him inside.
“……So long as I am not a criminal, nothing dangerous will happen here.”
“Still…… if that bastard starts spouting nonsense, punch him once. Understood?”
Shen raised a tightly clenched fist.
Despite his innocent appearance, it was a remark befitting soone who believed that fists could solve anything.
Aquila waved his hand and steadied his breathing.
“Tell them not to let anyone interrupt, no matter who cos. Can you do that, Heinen?”
“Yes. Understood.”
“Good.”
When Ianpel pulled open the spotless white door, it opened with a heavy sound.
Aquila followed closely behind the Saint without hesitation.
Even if they could not follow inside, what separated them was only a single door.
Yet that difference was imnse.
A space of pure white unfolded before Aquila’s eyes.
If not for having opened a door to enter, one might have mistaken it for the extradinsional space created by the Scales of Judgnt.
White everywhere the eye could see.
At its center lay soone collapsed in tattered clothes.
Or rather, it would be more accurate to say that he could not rise.
Both his hands and feet were bound.
Creeeak……
At the sound of the door closing again, the man at the center flinched.
But he did not lift his head.
No, perhaps he did not even have the strength to do so, as he rely twitched weakly with his forehead pressed to the floor.
The wrists bound behind his back were gaunt, and the breath leaking from him was faint and uneven.
After sweeping his gaze over Gilesha’s condition, Aquila clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘He is in far worse shape than the last ti I saw him.’
Aquila swept his sweat-soaked hair back.
When Ianpel stepped closer, Gilesha twitched faintly again at the sound of his neat footsteps.
“Have you co…… to rummage through my head……?”
A voice on the verge of extinguishing.
It was a voice one could never have imagined coming from him, if one recalled the Gilesha of before.
“……I told you, over and over, there is nothing you can take, cough…….”
But rather than the shattered voice itself, it was the content of his words that made Aquila snap his head around.
‘……They already ca here once?’
At Aquila’s look, Ianpel shrugged and smiled.
“Oh. I was just terribly worried about how he was doing, so I had a brief eting. Did you not give advice back in the carriage?”
He had said to try using a skill, if that was what he intended.
He had said it, though not to soone who had been out of the prayer chamber for less than a day.
‘……Well. There is nothing surprising about it. He was always like this.’
Aquila’s eyes instantly grew indifferent.
“Did you obtain anything?”
Aquila asked, assuming that Ianpel had indeed used a skill.
Since Gilesha had already ntioned what he had attempted to do, there was no need to be cautious.
But the one who reacted to that voice was not Ianpel.
“Aquil……!”
With barely enough strength to do so, Gilesha abruptly lifted his head.
From between his disheveled navy-blue hair, dull yellow eyes not fully covered by the blindfold turned toward Aquila.
Red hair.
The mont he saw it, light surged into his eyes.
With expectation.
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