Chapter 109: I Will Not Let Go of This Hand (3)
“The contents of the letter were truly shocking. I couldn’t believe Artshever had been in the Imperial Capital the whole time. I clearly heard news that he had left the capital at first, but it turned out he was staying at the Salain Duke’s mansion without ever leaving.”
Joey frowned, his tree root-like scar becoming more distorted. In an instant, the aura of a beast, ready to devour all humans, began to emanate from him.
“Joey.”
Namias quietly placed her hand on Joey’s. Although her hand looked absurdly small in comparison, it was enough to calm Joey down instantly.
“Ahem, ahem. I apologize. I got a bit excited…… So, I quickly purchased Robin and rode towards the Imperial Capital with Noona. We passed through Dakard Barony, but Aila-noona wasn’t there. Anyway, we entered Orknesia and were about to head south from Ado when we received contact from the Achuni Grand Temple. It was a message from High Priest Ir.”
High Priest Damachi Ir had been helping them in his own way. This time, it was news that Artshever had suddenly disappeared, Levidian was missing, and I had headed to Restart.
Joey rode east from Ado towards Sidonko, and only arrived in Jaihu today.
“I was worried we might not be able to meet. Although Namias-noona sometimes guides the way with something like a divine message. But I’m glad we met by chance today. But Hyung-nim, what happened? I was surprised to hear that Ibi-noona was missing, but today is even more surprising.”
“Ah, about that……”
I glanced at Levidian. She nodded with a faint smile. It was permission to tell them everything.
“Where should I start?”
I scratched my chin for a moment, thinking. Since the beginning of the story was a bit old, I couldn’t figure out what to talk about first.
“Right. It was around spring.”
I started by talking about Levidian’s disappearance.
“……So, we ended up heading north.”
It took me about an hour to finish the story.
During the first half of the story, I received Lucy’s intrigued gaze, in the middle, Levidian shrank back, and in the latter half, the overall atmosphere became heavy.
Joey nodded heavily.
“Indeed, Artshever’s companion has appeared. I’ve heard of Baius and Silvan Harcian.”
“Judging from their stories, there seems to be at least one more. But Namias-ssi, I think it’s time to hear your story. Why did Artshever become an enemy of the Lynin Religion? We’ve already recognized him as a clear ‘enemy.’”
Considering what he did to us, it wouldn’t be wrong to recognize him as an enemy of the continent, but the Lynin Religion had already designated him as an enemy from the beginning.
Namias nodded and spoke in her characteristically dry tone.
“We first became aware of his existence six years ago when the Lynin Temple stepped in to quell the plague that was rampant in the southwestern part of the Azot Kingdom. I was the assistant priest at the time. However, thanks to Lynin’s great grace, I was able to use high-level holy spells. Upon arriving in the land to quell the plague, we realized that this was not a natural epidemic. The land was too clean for disease to take hold.”
In the past, when the concept of hygiene was nonexistent, plagues were considered to be the work of demons. However, out of the countless outbreaks of plagues, the actual involvement of demons is countable on one hand.
However, as people became more interested in hygiene and cleanliness and put in the effort, the incidence of plagues has significantly decreased.
“Unholy energy, encroaching evil spirits, the rule of paradox, darkness revealing itself in defiance of the light. The Plague God had descended.”
“The Plague God?”
“Yes. To be precise, it called itself the Plague God, but it was just an ordinary demon trying to cling to the weak will of humans using disease. Such phenomena occur frequently, whether we know it or not. If people’s minds are unhealthy and they curse God in unclean places, demons will easily find them. However, that place was where strong people lived healthy lives. There was no reason for a demon to appear. The Lynin Temple began a detailed investigation, and a year after the investigation was launched, the priests who participated in quelling the plague suddenly started to go mad.”
“Go mad?”
Namias sighed softly and nodded.
Her closed eyelids were trembling slightly. This was a significant expression for her, as she usually suppressed her emotions as much as possible.
“Blaspheming God, cursing themselves, shunning the light, defying providence, and so on. Countless priests went mad and died. Some even lost their minds and rampaged. The temple ‘resolved’ the matter as quietly as possible.”
This is an incident I’ve never heard of before, even before I died. Above all, the resolution Namias mentioned wouldn’t be as simple as others might think.
Perhaps…… the priests stepped up and took their lives directly.
“I, too, almost went down the same path as them, with whispers ringing in my ears for days and nights. It was as sweet as a demon’s temptation. The essence of the world, God’s providence, human karma, the secrets of the beginning…… such knowledge and enlightenment were conveyed to me in an instant. It was a time when I was taking a step closer to Lynin, so my will almost succumbed.”
She looked up with a distant expression, as if seeing the past through her eyes. Her mouth continued to pour out foggy recollections.
“However, I overcame it. Whether it was Lynin’s blessing or a stroke of luck, I don’t know. This must also be God’s providence. After losing consciousness for several days and waking up, I was the only priest who survived after hearing all those whispers. But those whispers did not hinder my faith in Lynin. As a result, I became the only one in the church who could build holy spells on par with the High Priest.”
Gulp! What?!
It felt like someone had hit me on the back of the head with a hammer. She, who is only in her mid-twenties, or rather, five years ago, acquired the ability to build holy spells at the High Priest level?!
“And through the Lynin Temple’s own investigation, we learned the identity of the one who summoned the demon. That person is Artshever Le Setrife. But we couldn’t figure out why he summoned the Plague God, and why the priests suddenly went mad. We still don’t know. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’s innocent. The High Priest and the High Priests held a long meeting and decided to make him an enemy of the Lynin Religion, and the divine message that came down at the time supported this decision. I immediately volunteered for the mission to execute him. That was four years ago, and when I officially received the position of High Priest. It was shortly before the Imperial delegation arrived.”
Namias’ story quietly faded away like melting snow, drawing to a close.
Her story was easy to understand because it only laid out dry facts.
First of all, it’s clear that Artshever has been doing incomprehensible things for years, whether it was a few years ago or a few days ago. And his track record is enough to make him an enemy of a religious order.
Lucy spoke, stroking his chin.
“Hmm, that white-haired bastard summoned a demon in the Imperial Capital before, right?”
“That’s right. To be precise, it wasn’t a demon, but a part of it. Artshever doesn’t lie, even if he doesn’t tell the truth. Damn clown.”
“Even Aila said he was proficient in all ‘techniques’…… In a way, summoning a demon would also fall under the category of technique. It makes sense. But how and why did he drive the priests mad?”
“We don’t know the reason, but we found the cause. The air accumulated in the body and collided with divine power, transforming into a magical poison that caused that effect.”
Namias said quietly, and Lucy nodded as if he understood.
To be honest, I only understand that such a thing exists. I probably wouldn’t know how it works unless I was a mage or a priest.
“These are unbelievable events. There are some parts that are difficult to understand. Let’s put that aside for now, and based on the stories we’ve heard so far, I have a strong feeling that Artshever is up to something.”
“Probably.”
Namias briefly agreed with Levidian’s words. I completely agree as well. Even if we think about it simply, the scale of the incident is too large for it to be just a pastime.
Joey also nodded.
“The Light of Origin seems to be making every effort to find out his true purpose. However, all they’ve found is that he has collaborators and that he’s planning something big. There’s no concrete information.”
“And it seems like Risel is playing a part in it.”
Al, who had been quiet until then, suddenly spoke. Everyone turned their attention to him.
“Isn’t that right? Looking at his actions so far, and recalling the recent events, Artshever is keeping an eye on Risel. Of course, the Lynin Religion and Risel have nothing to do with each other.”
“I think so too. I’ve been thinking about it for the past few days, and the reason why the white-haired bastard tried to interfere with Risel’s mind might have been an attempt to manipulate Risel according to his will by digging into his subconscious. Maybe he tried to fix the parts he didn’t like?”
People’s attention shifted back to me. The center of the conversation suddenly shifted to a rather heavy topic.
“I think so too. When I made the request, his reaction was probably half sincere. The other half was probably trying to create a gap in my mind.”
Based on that hypothesis, Artshever seemed to want me to oppose him.
And a thorough opposition with no room for negotiation……
Otherwise, there’s no way to explain the incident where he tried to exploit my mind when I tried to negotiate with him using the word ‘request.’
For now, it’s only certain that we don’t know much about Artshever. Is it a little better than when we knew nothing at all?
I scratched my head and said.
“The most important thing is to find out Artshever’s purpose first. It’s also uncertain what role he expects from me. I acknowledge that this story is important. However, I want to change the subject of the conversation now. Continuing this discussion won’t lead to any conclusions. How about we talk about the Gray Forest that’s right in front of us? We need to solve Levidian’s curse first.”
People exchanged glances for a moment, then agreed, unable to hide their uneasy expressions. They would likely agree that continuing the conversation wouldn’t lead to any conclusions.
Above all, Levidian’s presence is essential to confront Artshever.
Levidian spoke with an apologetic expression.
“It seems like I’m holding you back. Even with Namias’ power, the curse will take at least 100 days to lift……”
“Even with High Priest-level holy spells, it takes that long? Silvan Harcian is becoming more and more frightening. He’s probably not an exaggeration to call him the strongest shaman of this century. He looked quite old too. I don’t know if anyone saw him, but his hands were incredibly wrinkled.”
Lucy said with a bitter smile.
First of all, Namias said she could lift Levidian’s curse.
The problem is time.
If Levidian had about four months left, I would have given up on the idea of searching for the Shadow Stone.
“Well…… I don’t know because he doesn’t reveal himself, but he’s definitely quite old. Considering his incredible skills……”
“Let’s stop with the other stories. But who knows about the situation in Orknesia?”
Al cut off Levidian’s words. Personally, I’m a little offended, but he did a good job. The important thing right now is not who’s stronger.
At the mention of Orknesia, the eyes of everyone except Lucy and Joey naturally turned to me. Lucy probably knows because he saw the network map I made before…… Joey?
“Um, I’ve heard rumors while traveling around.”
The focus of the atmosphere shifted back to Joey. My large adoptive brother made the surrounding air about three times heavier with a somewhat serious expression before speaking.
“I hear the Eastern Army has been quite busy lately. Provocations have increased in the Gray Forest border area, and there are more casualties than before. Moreover, strangely enough, the Gray Tribe has been showing up frequently.”
“Does that mean the Gray Forest is attacking again?”
“No, Lucy-ssi. However, I heard that the scale of the provocations has increased compared to usual. Still, just in case, the areas near the Gray Forest are on high alert these days.”
I couldn’t help but frown. It took some time to get here via Restart, and in the meantime, things have become strange again.
Around this time before I died, the Gray Forest was unusually quiet.
It continues to be peaceful for the next few years, to the point where my father worried about the discipline of the Eastern Army becoming lax.
However, before leaving for Restart, I heard news that the Gray Forest was becoming noisy. And I heard quite a bit about the Gray Forest in Restart as well.
Heading towards the Gray Forest now, seeing that it’s in an uproar as we get closer, it’s clear that something strange has happened.
There must be something wrong within the Gray Tribe. Because even looking at the regular contact between Jay and Old Man, the incident I remember didn’t happen.
Unaware of this, the others had serious expressions, different from mine.
Meanwhile, Levidian, the only one with a calm expression, lightly clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
Clap!
“Let’s not think about problems that we can’t solve by thinking. If something’s strange with the Gray Forest, we can find out as we approach. It’s a place where anything could happen, so we can’t really say the danger has increased, can we? So, let’s rest here for today. How about it?”
Hmm, certainly, agonizing over it now won’t cure the problem. It’s much more productive to get a good night’s sleep and gather information while heading north.
I raised my hand lightly and said.
“I agree. We’ve done enough for today, let’s worry about tomorrow’s work tomorrow.”
The other four people agreed as well.
“Oh, I like that. I agree too……”
“Agreed.”
“Me too……”
“Let’s do that.”
With Joey’s words, we reached a unanimous decision. Levidian smiled brightly and lightly tapped the table twice.
“Then, this concludes today’s meeting. Everyone, please get a good night’s sleep and let’s see each other with refreshed faces in the morning.”
I definitely agree.
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