Having returned to the Empire, Ludger immediately poured all his remaining time into Dreamland.
He read related books, pored over theses, and scraped together as much information as possible.
But no matter how much he tried to learn what had not been properly made known, it amounted to nothing more than a superficial skim.
In the end, Ludger had to make the choice he had been putting off.
“Master. It’s me.”
Ludger lightly knocked on the door of the room where Grander resided.
Even such a simple act required quite a bit of resolve to perform.
The other party was a vampire who had lived for a very long time, a capricious master, and the legendary 8th-circle archmage.
Thinking of the usual Grander, it was obvious she would rake him over the coals for not coming to see her until now.
Or, conversely, she might scold him as heartless, asking if he had come only because he had a particular reason.
If it ended with a simple rebuke, that would be a relief.
Because it was impossible to guess what strange demand Grander might make, using it as a pretext.
But perhaps that worry had been excessive.
Determined to endure any situation, Ludger heard an answer from beyond the door that utterly transcended his common sense.
“No business.”
With those words she cut off the conversation as if she would speak no more.
Ludger could only stand still for a while on the other side of the door.
‘What is this? Is Master in a bad mood right now?’
Grander had never refused a meeting, whether on a good day or a bad day.
If anything, when in a bad mood she would deliberately try to torment him, so allowing him to enter was to be expected.
But what on earth was this supposed to mean.
All sorts of thoughts inevitably ran through Ludger’s head.
Could she be angry? If so, should he apologize? If she truly thought it was nothing, then? If she simply felt too tired to meet anyone right now?
For Ludger, it was extremely difficult to fathom her intentions.
One thing, however, was certain: Grander did not particularly wish to see him.
“......Understood.”
In the end, Ludger had no choice but to withdraw.
He knew that if he tried to forcefully ask Grander for help here, it would only backfire.
For some reason he did not know, Grander seemed unwilling to meet him.
Whether that applied only to this moment or would continue going forward remained to be seen.
At least, he had clearly learned that Grander was not her usual self.
‘I should ask Hans about Master’s condition.’
Ludger immediately moved his steps.
At the moment, asking Hans would be difficult as Hans was also busy with many matters to handle.
Ludger intended to return to Seorn and at least search the library for materials on Dreamland.
That plan changed when Hans came looking for Ludger instead.
“Brother. Did you return safely from the Kingdom of Sevilla?”
“Yes. You must be busy—did you have some special business to come find me?”
“Well......”
“Is it because of Master.”
Hans, who had been hesitating, nodded.
“......Yes. I had just gone to pay my respects to Master as well, but she refused to see me. Did something happen while I was away?”
“When you first went to the Kingdom of Sevilla, Lady Grander was quite annoyed.”
“I can understand that.”
“Then she said she would go out for a change of mood since it had been a while. We didn’t have any grounds to stop her, so we left her be.”
“Something happened out there.”
“Your master... well......”
“Speak freely.”
“The Church. I mean, she ran into people of the Lumenis Church.”
“.......”
Ludger’s eyebrow twitched.
Even though he tried not to show it, what Hans said was quite a shock.
“From the way you say it... it doesn’t sound like it ended with simply running into them.”
“Brother. Did you know? There is currently a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ major figure here in this city who came from the Bretus homeland.”
A certain person’s image flashed through Ludger’s mind.
The woman in the imperial castle who wore a tiara over her eyes and looked at him with curiosity.
“Priestess Remria.”
“She left the capital some time ago and has been staying here in Rederbelk. Bishop Preden seems to be providing her with considerable convenience.”
Preden—he was someone in Ludger’s memory as well.
On a rainy day, he had subtly tried to recommend the faith after reacting to Ludger’s divine sense.
He had a keen eye for recognizing another’s talent; regrettably, he had not known that the person he was trying to recruit was of the bloodline of the Holy Sovereign he served.
A priestess who innately responds to the Holy Sovereign’s blood and a man who discerns talent—those two were together.
And on top of that, the priestess had even run into Grander while she was out for a stroll.
“Was there any damage? It wouldn’t be strange if at least one district of the city had been blown away.”
“There was no fight. It’s astonishing.”
Considering Grander’s identity and personality, it was indeed astonishing how quietly it had passed.
But precisely because of that, Ludger felt uneasy.
“The two of them spoke. They had quite a long conversation, in fact. Since then, your master has been as you saw: she shut herself in her room after returning.”
“.......”
“I couldn’t bring myself to eavesdrop on the details. Still, to me it almost seemed like it would have been better if they had just had a clean fight on the spot. Not that I’m in any position to pass judgment.”
“......No. It’s enough that you told me.”
“What do you intend to do about your master, brother?”
Ludger recalled Grander’s voice from inside the room telling him she would not see him.
His gaze turned briefly toward the direction of Grander’s quarters, then fell away.
“......For now, I’ll leave her be. If I force a meeting now, it will only disturb her temper further.”
Was there any need to risk triggering a time bomb by poking at its detonator.
Yet Ludger dimly sensed it.
That the countdown was beginning to appear atop a time bomb that, until now, had had no set due date.
“What about the Church’s side then......?”
“Leave them as well. They aren’t people we can touch to begin with. Not for now.”
And also that—
—that not much time remained.
* * *
Priestess Remria sat in the yard, leisurely drinking tea.
The cathedral’s back garden was beautifully landscaped even on ordinary days. It was the perfect place to rest outdoors.
Of course, Remria was not here simply because she wanted to relax.
“Priestess Remria.”
“Welcome, Bishop Preden. I was waiting for you.”
As if she had known he would come, Remria welcomed Preden with a faint smile, even though her private time had been intruded upon.
Preden glanced around, shifting his gaze.
Beyond the table set with black tea and refreshments, a single empty chair had been prepared.
It had been prepared in advance because she knew he would come.
‘As expected of a priestess from the homeland.’
It was said that priestesses see what others cannot.
Preden himself had some small attainment in that direction, but compared to what she possessed, his talent was far too meager.
What priestesses saw was something on an entirely different plane.
That was why they usually covered their eyes with a tiara, to block their gaze.
So that they would not see anything other than what they see.
Preden naturally took the empty seat.
Since she had known he would come, there was no need to beat around the bush.
“You recently went out into the city for an outing.”
“Yes. I felt too stifled staying inside. Will that be a problem? I had an escort, so nothing particular happened.”
Preden shook his head.
“There is no problem. Wherever you go in this city is your freedom, Priestess. It is not my place to say anything about it.”
Only, he continued.
“There is currently a truly dreadful being lurking in this city. At least two of them, in fact. Although nothing happened immediately, I fear that the subversive presence hiding in this city might recognize you and do you harm.”
As Bishop of Rederbelk, Preden held a fairly high position.
But compared to a priestess, that status could not be measured at all.
If Priestess Remria were to suffer any harm, the responsibility would fall entirely upon Preden.
“I am sorry. I lacked consideration on that point. But my going out into the city for a brief outing is deeply related to what you just said, Bishop Preden.”
“Deeply related, you say......?”
“You just said it a moment ago, didn’t you? That subversive beings are hiding in this city. I moved because I wished to meet them.”
“.......”
Preden parted his lips to say something, then fell into thought.
Remria did not hide her motive for acting.
If she moved even knowing it was dangerous, she had surely seen something with the priestess’s characteristic eyes.
Even so, it was best to offer counsel and remonstration without stint.
Preden spoke in a gentle tone.
“It cannot be helped if curiosity arises. But the subversive being presumed to be residing in this city is not of that level.”
“Not of that level, meaning?”
“......Recently, a forest near Rederbelk completely disappeared. And at that time, it is said the sky turned blood-red. The Holy Knights dispatched to the scene all testified in unison. That unique gloomy aura—it undoubtedly belonged to a vampire, the very race our Church has long opposed and sought to slay.”
A vampire.
A race passed down only as legend, like dragons.
Beautiful and noble, a race that freely manipulates blood.
But the greatest fear of vampires was a single thing.
Immortality.
An existence that could live through eternal time stood opposed to the Church—and that very creature was hiding somewhere here in Rederbelk.
The next danger on the list was the Beast of Jévaudan that had reappeared.
But since the incident at the Kunst Auction House, it had not shown itself, so its danger had fallen to a lower priority.
From the outset, one could not even place the Church’s archenemy, a true-blooded vampire, and the Beast of Jévaudan on the same line for comparison.
The Beast of Jévaudan can be killed.
But a vampire cannot be killed.
From there, the rank of the two beings diverged.
Moreover, Remria was one of the Church’s key forces—a priestess.
If that vampire tried to do her harm, no one could stop it.
“A vampire. Certainly, that degree of mana and that peculiar aura would be difficult to emanate unless it were that existence.”
“......Surely you did not meet it?”
“Not on purpose. I moved only thinking I would observe it from afar—get a feel for it—but that one’s awareness was remarkably quick.”
Preden’s stiff expression did not ease.
Remria spoke as if it were nothing, but the gravity of the matter was anything but ordinary.
What made him even more wary was that Remria had confronted that vampire and yet survived.
How?
“We ended up exchanging words, and had a talk.”
“......Priestess. It is not my place to say this here, but lower your voice, please. Merely communicating with a vampire is, in itself, a deed forbidden by the Church.”
“Is there a law that punishes one for speaking?”
“Even if not, I fear that such news might reach other ears.”
“You need not worry so much. What you fear will not happen.”
A smile full of delight curved Remria’s lips.
“Rather, the situation may turn out even more interesting.”
“How could you...... Did you perhaps see something?”
Remria did not answer.
That silence alone was enough of an answer for Preden.
“Is such a thing possible? Is it not an existence whose fate cannot be seen?”
Priestesses see what others cannot.
Essence, destiny, or perhaps the future of something.
The range is broad, and at the same time ambiguous.
But at the very least, their words were seldom wrong.
In the past, the homeland had mobilized the Church’s main forces to subjugate the vampire.
But even with priestesses deployed, the subjugation failed.
Instead, the creature mocked the homeland’s forces as if flaunting itself, then vanished.
The reason was that the vampire’s fate could not be seen by a priestess’s eyes.
It could truly be called an existence on par with a demon.
And now she had not only faced that vampire, but had also seen something?
“It seems that vampire has undergone a change. Curious, isn’t it? That a fate which originally did not exist—or could not be seen—has become twisted. What is even more fascinating is that the change was not wrought by her own will. Someone changed the vampire’s fate.”
“The vampire’s fate changed? What on earth did you see there.”
“Do not be startled, and listen.”
At Remria’s words, Preden pricked up his ears as much as he could.
“Death.”
Even though he had steeled himself, Bishop Preden nearly let out a scream.
“I saw that vampire’s death.”