Chapter 144: Dissonance (2)
What on earth would be the right thing to say?
Lian kept his mouth shut, pondering just that.
He couldn’t help but feel honestly taken aback by the fact that the man had suddenly thrown such words at him without the slightest warning.
‘…What is he thinking?’
This wasn’t just anyone—it was a man renowned as an Inquisitor.
It was only natural to suspect that some ulterior motive was hidden behind the question.
And it wasn’t even about anything else—but rather, the incident involving the Statue of the Saintess, considered a symbol of the Holy Sun Church, crumbling down?
For any follower of the Holy Sun Church, it was an utterly humiliating event.
It wasn’t without reason that, ever since that day, the statues and sculptures of the Saintess, especially those placed in the Cathedral and elsewhere, had been obsessively cleaned to the point of being spotless.
That was how monumental the Saintess was to the Holy Sun Church.
And yet, this man was saying, “The statue of the Saintess is nothing more than a chunk of stone.”
It wasn’t strange that Lian remained silent, deeply troubled.
‘Is he testing me right now?’
And seeing Lian like that, Archbishop Onnime made a face as if he had made a mistake.
“Oh dear, now that I think about it, I threw both a troubling question and answer at you, Sir Gwendil.”
“…That you did.”
“Hmm, then let’s do it this way.”
Onnime spoke in a gentle voice.
“From here on, I’ll talk as I please. If you feel like answering, you may, and if you’d prefer to ignore me, that’s fine too. Let’s just say this conversation is merely… hmm, what shall I call it. Yes. An academic discussion. Let’s call it an academic discussion.”
Finishing his lengthy explanation, Onnime gave a small cough.
“Shall I continue? I believe the destruction of the Statue of the Saintess was merely a case of a stone crumbling down… nothing more, nothing less. That’s how I see it.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Because it’s exactly that. It’s just a statue of the Saintess, not the Saintess herself.”
Onnime whispered quietly, as if confiding.
“Many followers of the Holy Sun Church are mistaken. They forget that it’s nothing more than a symbolic object. Some even go so far as to identify with it—no, worship it.”
Lian gave a small nod.
“Are you talking about idolatry? In that sense, it’s only natural you’d see it in a negative light.”
“Haha, truthfully, I don’t see it all that negatively. Those of us who’ve received formal teachings understand it’s not the right thing to do… but it’s different for those who know nothing.”
Onnime added with a soft tone.
“As long as the direction of their faith is right, what does it matter if the path wavers a little? The merciful Ilionel accepts even that—He embraces everything.”
With those words, he quietly made the sign of the cross.
“It may sound a bit unsettling, Sir Gwendil, but… there’s an anecdote from when I served as an Inquisitor. Would you care to hear it?”
“…I will.”
“Thank you. Everyone else made troubled faces and avoided it.”
Onnime smiled faintly.
“In the past, I captured a Cultist of the Evil God. I said to him—‘Confess everything now. If you tell me where your comrades are, I’ll take responsibility for your family’s welfare. The Cathedral will shelter them, educate them, and grant them a safe and peaceful life.’”
“…”
“And he told me everything. Truthfully. Thanks to that, we were able to eliminate them all.”
Now, here’s the question.
He whispered.
“What do you think I did with that man?”
“…”
“The answer is… I kept my promise.”
Lian looked at him, surprised, and Onnime burst into laughter.
“Haha, everyone who hears this story makes that face.”
Lian replied as cautiously as he could.
“To be honest, it was unexpected. I mean…”
“I know. Because I was an Inquisitor.”
Onnime nodded.
“But it’s true. I kept my word. His wife and children still live under our protection, safe and sound.”
He murmured.
“He said he couldn’t live bearing the disgrace of being branded a traitor. He asked to borrow a dagger so he could end his own life.”
“And?”
“I granted his wish as well.”
Onnime quietly added,
“In return, I told him to choose between converting or abandoning his faith in the Evil God.”
It was certainly unexpected.
According to the rumors about him, he was the sort to burn not only Cultists of the Evil God but their families too.
While Lian was thinking this, Onnime gave a casual shrug.
“I made a promise, after all.”
“A promise?”
“Yes. The merciful Ilionel commanded that we must always uphold faith and trust. How could I ignore that teaching and act on my own whims?”
Finishing his words, Onnime murmured in a gloomy tone,
“That’s why I think highly of you, Sir Gwendil.”
Once again, he threw out a sudden, difficult-to-react-to statement.
And once again, Lian looked at him as if to ask what he meant, and the man offered a smile.
“Faith and trust. One who holds these two virtues in their heart is surely watched over by the divine.”
With that, Onnime suddenly turned his head to look at Lian.
Lian could clearly read sincere goodwill directed at him in the man’s eyes.
And yet, for some reason—
A chilling dread, inexplicable in nature, crept down his spine.
At that moment, Lian became certain of one thing:
No matter what happened, he would never truly understand this man.
“And your path, even from what little I’ve seen, is clearly one that is being watched over by the divine.”
“…”
“…Oh dear, I’ve gone on with such a boring story for too long.”
He let out a snide little chuckle and clapped his hands lightly.
Then, still looking at the bustling street, he said,
“There’s not much time left now.”
The street was loud and rowdy.
* * *
Yet his pale figure stood out as he whispered,
“Everyone must’ve been waiting for quite a while. Let’s hurry a little, shall we?”
Even the faintest light was blocked by thick blackout curtains, making it hard to tell whether it was day or night in that crevice of time.
In that space, Professor Windy May leaned back in her chair with arms crossed, gazing at her counterpart with a sullen expression.
“……”
Sitting across from her was a demon wearing a fox mask.
She sat in silence under Windy May’s gaze.
At this point, wasn’t it about time for at least one word? Windy May thought so.
“……”
“……”
Several hours passed like that.
In truth, she had spent more time asleep in that seat than awake.
At first, she had wondered what the other was doing—only to see her soon nodding off.
Windy May had genuinely considered smacking her in the head but barely managed to resist.
Even for her, doing such a thing would have made the situation very complicated, and she knew that well.
“…You said you had something to tell me, so I waited.”
Eventually, Windy May muttered with a sigh.
“But if all you’re going to do is sleep, then what am I supposed to do? If you’re sulking because I didn’t sing you a lullaby, I could hum a line or two for you.”
Windy May said it all with a tone that reeked of boredom.
And to be honest, though she was grumbling now, she had also dozed off after seeing the other doze off peacefully… but still…
In any case, that was that, and this was this.
Thanks to that, the other demons playing the role of attendants were horrified watching the two.
Especially at Windy May’s nonchalant demeanor—they couldn’t help but let out hollow laughter.
But regardless of what they might have been thinking inside, they dared not lay a finger on them.
It was due to a direct and absolute order from Valdemar, the vampire in charge of the Merchant Group.
—Do not, under any circumstance, offend those two.
It was not merely a warning.
It was an absolute command that could not be defied.
And so, the two of them remained in a quiet, dark room where no one dared approach, lost in sleep for quite some time.
“Sigh.”
Finally, as if fed up, Windy May stretched out her arms and got to the point.
“…I’m here to investigate the truth behind the Dungeon Field Class Incident.”
“……”
“I especially want to know how someone who was supposedly just a mere priest managed to tamper with the dungeon device.”
Originally, it was confidential information, but Windy May brought it up without hesitation.
Because her counterpart already knew.
“My thinking is…”
Windy May’s sharp gaze turned to the masked demon.
“Only a demon, and a high-ranking one at that, could possess such skills and abilities…”
“……”
“In short, someone like you…?”
Half her words were a vent for her boredom; the other half came from a strong hunch and intuition.
“If you lent a hand, wouldn’t it have been easy?”
Windy May smiled lightly, probing.
But the masked woman only remained silent.
“……”
Eventually, she pulled out a thin sheet of paper from her robe.
Then, with graceful hands, she began to write something on it.
[It wasn’t me.]
[That’s not my area of expertise.]
The handwriting was remarkably elegant and beautiful.
Windy May frowned slightly as she read over the paper.
“…I don’t like this.”
She nodded.
“Fine, let’s say it wasn’t you. Then you can at least tell me who you suspect, right? Don’t tell me you don’t know.”
“……”
The masked woman once again wrote on the paper.
[I am willing to cooperate.]
[In return, I want you to do me a favor first.]
Windy May stared at the paper, now wearing a serious expression.
“A favor? What is it that you want from me?”
As she spoke, she tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
“And if you expect compensation, shouldn’t you be billing the Academy instead of me? Seems like you’re handing the invoice to the wrong person.”
To this, the woman lightly shook her head.
[If I were to convey this request to the Academy or anyone else, its meaning would inevitably be altered.]
[Only by asking you does the meaning remain uncorrupted.]
Windy May raised one eyebrow in intrigue.
“Hm… Let’s hear it, then. What is this favor that makes such a difference?”
The masked woman hesitated for a moment.
Then, carefully, as if pressing down her emotions, she wrote:
[Everything.]
[To be precise, what I desire.]
A moment later,
She added:
[Lian Gwendil]
[Even for a short while, hand him over to me.]
Windy May’s expression instantly turned cold.
A fierce voice slipped from her lips before she realized.
“…You must be insane.”