Chapter 68
“A calamity? Lord Aquila, what on earth are you talking about?”
The first to speak was rien.
At the word Portplum, her eyes sharpened dangerously.
Hearing that a calamity was coming to the lands of Raiesel, it was only natural that rien could not comprehend what Aquila was saying.
“There is no ti to explain everything in detail. Even at this very mont, ti is still passing.”
The ti embedded in the corner of his vision did not stop.
As if seizing the initiative before anyone else could move, Aquila placed one palm over the left side of his chest.
“If you help , I can stop it. I swear it upon the Great One.”
The mont Aquila finished speaking, a soft golden radiance descended around him, gently enveloping his body.
It was a sign that the Great One was watching over them.
Any follower of the Sun God would recognize this unmistakable proof, and rien was forced to swallow the retort she had been about to hurl at him.
No matter how often one spoke an oath, this halo of light was sothing rarely seen in truth.
‘Get lost.’
Only Aquila, who recognized that this was Raspalara, cast an irreverent sideways glance.
Every ti he uttered an oath, that god seed to have nothing better to do than scatter light around, which irritated him to no end.
Still, it was also an opportunity, and seeing the shock spread across the faces around him, Aquila quickly added,
“Please trust . We must move before it is too late.”
There was not a single grain of falsehood in his words.
Of course, if he had to spend more ti persuading them here, Aquila would simply move on his own.
“Let us hear you out.”
Before that thought could even settle, the voice ca from Ianpel.
The Saint already knew that Aquila had co to Portplum because of words spoken to him long ago by the Great Dragon Igdrein.
Not only the divine relic buried beneath the Grand Temple, but also the thod to remove the Curse of Deadly Poison, how it had been cast, and who the culprit was—had he not known all of that?
Of course, Aquila had been young when Reschenhardt t the Great Dragon, so how he could recall such details so clearly remained a mystery.
That riddle had yet to be solved, but one fact had not changed: this young man knew far more than others.
Even upon seeing the corpse just now, he had acted as though he already understood sothing, and had discovered the crystal embedded in its chest.
“I trust you, young master. What should I do this ti?”
Shen was already prepared to follow whatever Aquila ordered.
All the bewildering incidents that had occurred recently—
The one who had resolved them all was none other than Aquila.
Cahena nodded as well, as if she felt the sa.
Aquila briefly glanced sideways at the soldiers who had stepped back to give them space, then lowered his chin toward the blackened, lted corpse.
“There are four more corpses like this sowhere in Portplum. Each of them has a crystal embedded in its chest, and we have to destroy them.”
“Th, there are more of these corpses?”
Shen exclaid in shock.
“They are not particularly resistant to external force, so applying a little strength should break them like before. The problem is that the corpses are not gathered together. They are spread far apart.”
“That sounds as though you know exactly where the corpses are?”
Ianpel narrowed his eyes.
Aquila nodded without hesitation.
However, he had no intention of giving specific locations or place nas.
Even so, it was important to leave a certain margin.
“Yes. The four corpses are located at the far ends of the east, west, south, and north.”
As he spoke, Aquila tapped the floor twice with the toe of his shoe.
Everyone’s gaze followed his foot.
“This circular theater is the center. From here, if you draw straight lines outward, each corpse lies at the end of one of those directions.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes. That is how it forms a massive circle encompassing all of Portplum.”
A massive circle.
Recalling the map of the great city of Portplum in his mind, Ianpel’s eyes shifted.
“…A black magic circle?”
“Most likely. Those placed inside the circle are highly likely to beco sacrifices. Including us, at this very mont.”
At the bombshell revelation, everyone swallowed their breath.
If such a thing were to happen—no, if his words were true—it would indeed be a catastrophic calamity.
rien, who had been listening intently to the exchange, snapped her eyes wide open.
She spun around and shouted,
“You there. Bring a map at once!”
“…Y, yes!”
Overwheld by her razor-sharp presence, one of the staff mbers hurriedly answered.
It was an order that could not be refused, and it was only possible because everyone gathered nearby had heard Aquila’s explanation.
The man who ran off in search of a map soon returned with one and a pen in hand.
With no suitable table available, he spread the map wide across the floor.
rien naturally took the pen and lowered herself.
“From the central circular theater…”
Everyone clustered around the map, heads pressed close together.
rien marked a dot at the central theater.
Then, with decisive strokes, she drew straight lines up, down, left, and right.
The marked points beca imdiately clear.
Near the northern city gate, the warehouse behind the ‘Seritini’ clothing shop, the southern city gate, and the rear entrance of the Grand Temple of Portplum.
They were the very locations Aquila rembered.
When he nodded, Cahena was the first to lift her head from its uncomfortable hunch.
“…It seems we will have to split our forces. I will move with our young master, of course.”
The soldiers and staff gathered and exchanged glances.
Not everyone present fully believed Aquila’s words.
But having seen the corpse in such an abnormal state, beyond just talk of black magic circles, there was no denying the unease rippling through them.
“I will go to the Seritini clothing shop. I am acquainted with the owner, so even if we show up unannounced, there should be less confusion.”
One of the soldiers raised his hand.
Rather than standing around here, he thought it better to go and check in person.
“It would be better if others go with you. If this is a ritual, soone may try to interfere. Am I right?”
“Yes. As the Saint says, it would be better to move in groups.”
At those words, murmurs spread among the gathered crowd, but soon two or three more people volunteered by raising their hands.
rien, who had been staring intently at the map with a grave expression, suddenly stood up.
“I will contact people and send them to the northern city gate. We still need to leave personnel behind to guard this auction hall.”
She still looked confused, but she knew well how exalted a being the Great Dragon Igdrein was to Reschenhardt.
And she understood the aning of swearing upon that Great One.
It was no different from a priest of the Sun God swearing an oath to Raspalara.
‘The power of an oath is quite convenient.’
Aquila nodded inwardly.
“Please do.”
rien nodded back.
She then began speaking with the people gathered, efficiently discussing who would remain here, who would discreetly go outside to manage those observing the situation, and how to announce the current circumstances.
Watching her, it seed safe enough to leave that side to rien.
If necessary, she could always reveal her true identity.
“Then should we head to the southern city gate? Or the Grand Temple?”
“Lord Heinen should have already returned to the Grand Temple, so it would be better to leave that to him. I will contact Lord Heinen now—”
As Aquila spoke, he reached to roll up his left sleeve, then stopped.
Co to think of it, had he not ‘lost’ his Communication Bracelet a few days ago?
Because of Beirets Hurbel, who had inscribed a location tracking magic formula into it!
As Aquila stared at his bare wrist, the Saint suddenly leaned forward and spoke.
“Are you looking for this?”
Ianpel pulled out a silver bracelet with a blue gemstone set at its center from the inner pocket of his coat.
It was identical in appearance to the one Aquila had owned before.
Cahena blinked in surprise.
“A lost item ended up in my hands. I was wondering when and how to return it, and it seems the timing worked out well.”
Ianpel held out the Communication Bracelet.
The one Aquila had shoved into a random piece of luggage to avoid being tracked—Beirets Hurbel had sohow managed to find it after all.
“I was told it was a lost item and took it back. Apparently it had been stuck in the corner of a rchant’s wagon and wandered the market for quite so ti. That story was truly… surprising.”
As he spoke, the Saint lightly shook the silver bracelet a few tis, then showed a troubled smile for the first ti.
“Ah. Still, please do not misunderstand. I did not know.”
He was referring to the location tracking magic.
Ianpel genuinely had not known that a magic formula had been engraved into the bracelet until Beirets Hurbel retrieved it.
The work had been far too delicate and advanced; he must have believed it was rely a simple gift.
Only when Beirets Hurbel brought it back did he learn what the sinister mage had done to the bracelet.
He must have thought Aquila had deliberately thrown it away after discovering that.
“Oh my. I had been looking for it since I lost it. Thank you.”
Aquila accepted the bracelet, playing dumb without missing a beat.
He could hardly say that he had thrown it away on purpose after noticing sothing even Ianpel had not.
Even so, Ianpel did not seem particularly bothered by whatever Aquila might say.
“I erased it.”
He said only those two words.
This ti, it was a proper gift.
Perhaps he had even fully replenished the mana, as the mana stone inside shimred with a clear blue hue.
Aquila fastened the Communication Bracelet, now free of any tracking magic, around his left wrist.
“Then, since it has been returned, I will contact the Second Commander myself. It would be better if I handle the Grand Temple.”
As he spoke, Ianpel took out another Communication Bracelet from inside his coat and fastened it around his own wrist.
It seed to be his personal one.
Seeing golden letters appear on the bracelet, Aquila lowered the arm he had raised.
“Let us go to the southern city gate.”
“Yes, young master. I will go out at once and prepare the horses.”
Shen bowed imdiately, then hurried outside at a brisk pace.
“If Raiesel goes to the northern city gate, do you have a way to contact them? The Communication Bracelet?”
“Yes.”
“Then I should move together toward the clothing shop.”
rien answered, and Ianpel responded while communicating with Heinen.
The group heading to the Seritini clothing shop stiffened with tension at the thought of moving alongside the Saint, but Aquila did not concern himself with that.
“When you find a corpse and destroy the crystal, contact . I forgot to ntion this, but there is a ti limit. About one hour.”
“…We will notify you as quickly as possible.”
“Oh dear.”
At those words, people imdiately sprang into motion.
Even Ianpel, who had been about to respond calmly, did the sa.
As a result, the situation progressed more briskly than Aquila had expected.
It seed everyone had decided, for now, to trust him.
Even so, Aquila turned his head after checking that twenty minutes had already passed.
‘Still, this much is fine. If they ride horses, they should arrive quickly. More importantly, right now…’
Aquila turned on his heel.
Before moving to destroy the crystals, there was one item he needed.
He had originally intended to obtain it for the main scenario that would begin later, but it had beco necessary imdiately.
‘…The timing is excellent.’
Aquila strode forward, not toward the outside of the building, but toward the doors of the auction hall itself.
Bang!
At the loud sound of the door being shoved open, the staff making announcents on the stage and the people inside all turned their eyes toward Aquila.
His black eyes did not stray anywhere else, focusing solely on the center of the stage.
The tool needed to find the buried cursed artifact after destroying the crystals embedded in the corpses.
‘The Eye That Sees the Hidden. I need that.’
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