The Villain Carries the Holy Sword – Chapter 132

Chapter 132: Dawn Like a Thief (1)

Basement of the Henerali-fe Imperial Palace.

In front of the Lalangde Zodiac, a mysterious map that tracks down all the witches in the world.

Numerous priests measure the waves emitted when a witch performs a miracle and track their location through triangulation.

“We’ll leave the southwest to the City Alliance, not us. 〈Lil〉or 〈Delft〉 are not there for nothing.”

“All things are by the light.”

The thick scent of ink seeps through their words.

“Leave the Reminisance in the East alone. The Eastern dregs will take care of it themselves.”

“Understood.”

Thick steam is constantly emitted.

“Airian is…….”

Both the Saintess and Cardinal Mauro who were guarding the Lalangde Zodiac were absent.

Instead, Agnesina Ardo, the Head of the Doctrine Protection Force responsible for the holy sign, frowned.

Unlike other regions, she couldn’t make a decision easily as she couldn’t see anything in Airian.

“Captain Ardo.”

The adjutant of the Doctrine Protection Force standing next to her spoke cautiously.

“The wave of Glumiêm that we always saw in Airian has disappeared. We haven’t received any detailed information yet, but the Saintess must have intervened.”

“Yes.”

Looking back on the history of the Holy See, the Saintess had never been to Airian Island.

As a result of such an extraordinary step, an Elf witch would have died, which would be a good thing.

“Something’s up.”

Tack━, Tack━.

Captain Ardo tapped her desk with her fingers. Her beat was so erratic that it could be called dissonant.

It seemed to reflect her complex feelings. The adjutant bowed his head once more and said,

“According to the holy sign, there are three witch reactions in the Airian region. Glumiêm, Primundi, and the last witch whose limits are unknown.”

Captain Ardo looked back.

There was a panel with ninety-nine light bulbs attached to it.

Some were on and some were off.

It was a light map showing the status of witches living in this world.

She looked at the last light bulb, the ninety-ninth.

Pa-sat━.

It was broken.

“The second, Primundi, the eighth, Glumiêm, and the ninety-ninth last witch who rose from the land where they died.”

The light bulbs representing the two had simply lost their light and gone out.

None of them had ever been broken like this, but it was strange that the Glumiêm light bulb was broken when the one representing Primundi lost its light.

“The Saintess will guide us well.”

“No matter how much of a Saintess she is, she’s only one person and she must have her limits……”

Agnesina Ardo.

As the Head of the Doctrine Protection Force, her past of spreading the ‘light’ doctrine throughout the world whispers to her.

That it is ominous.

Intuition that transcends logic made her uneasy.

The times are changing.

It felt like an unknown future was approaching that the history of the Holy See could never have predicted.

It was just one light bulb that was broken, but Ardo felt like she was choking on her frustration.

“It could be a revelation.”

A single voice.

Woosh━.

The bustling basement stops.

Everyone bowed and made the sign of the cross as the red hem of the person who opened the door appeared.

Captain Ardo, who had become nervous without realizing it, immediately bowed her waist while making the sign of the cross.

“I greet you, Cardinal Fiorelli. All things are by the light.”

“The light is ours. Be at ease.”

“I understand.”

She agreed in words, but her body couldn’t.

Under the Holy See, the eight cardinals are generally considered equal. However, how could human affairs be like that?

There is an insurmountable line between Mauro Senochoke, who recently became a cardinal, and Lisebeta Fiorelli, who met three saintess’ alive.

She looked at the Lalangde Zodiac with wrinkled eyes, then moved her gaze to the broken ninety-ninth light bulb.

“I was worried when my granddaughter went to Airian, so I kept asking her to be careful.”

“Oh, the Saintess.”

And privately, she is the grandmother of the Saintess, Caterina Fiorelli, so she is practically the second-in-command of the Holy See.

Cardinal Fiorelli stared at Captain Ardo.

“For you, who have guarded the doctrine all your life, to feel such ominousness, could it be a revelation?”

“Hmm━.”

Ardo frowned again and pondered. Where did her uneasy heart come from?

Was ‘light’ really giving her a vague hint?

Then, Cardinal Fiorelli gently smiled and patted the shoulder of Ardo, who was in distress.

“It’s a revelation.”

“Yes?”

“The moment you don’t say it’s right, you’ve received a revelation.”

“Ah!”

Ardo recalled a passage from the scriptures of light.

━Doubt, doubt even my words, and discover the truth.

“If you had agreed right away, it would have been your arrogance. However, constantly reflecting and being careful is a revelation from ‘light.’”

“Ah!”

‘Light’ doubted everything.

It was said that he himself was present in the unshakable truth that was discovered and shaken through doubt.

That is why the revelation of ‘light’ demanded human judgment in this way.

“Even so, there is no need to worry too much. The Saintess went to Airian, the land where this problem occurred by the will of ‘light.’”

“And Cardinal Mauro is with her, so there should be no problem.”

Ardo nodded repeatedly.

Cardinal Fiorelli continued, looking at Airian with kind eyes.

“And there is also Barbetta there. If he hadn’t refused himself, he would have been a cardinal.”

The gentle eyes of Fiorelli, who called Archbishop Nocho Barbetta like a child, turned to the unknown adjutant next to Captain Ardo.

Nod━.

He bowed his head without saying a word.

“…….”

Fiorelli stared at him for a moment, then moved her body toward the Lalangde Zodiac.

“I want to make this whole world a world of ‘light’, but it is truly difficult. Head of the Doctrine Protection Force, Agnesina Ardo.”

Suddenly, when Cardinal Fiorelli called her by her full name and title, Ardo answered with her military spirit as if she were a new recruit.

“Yes!”

“May this old fool speak a word?”

“I will listen with honor.”

“The ominousness you feel must be a revelation from ‘light’. However, we, who are just a handful, do not have the capacity to send more forces there.”

The Saintess and the Cardinal have already gone.

The only personal force greater than that is the Master Paladin, the strongest in the Holy See.

We can’t send him, who protects the Holy See, so recklessly.

Or we should send the entire force, but it was inconvenient to take them out as they were already fighting heresy all over the world.

“There is a mercenary group that I know well. How about we call them once?”

Ardo’s eyes widened.

Who doesn’t know the mercenary that Cardinal Fiorelli is talking about?

“Surely not the mercenary city 〈Antwerp〉’s…….”

She smiled gently.

“Yes. 〈Caballeros Rebellion〉 is correct.”

“The Mercenary King! Then of course. How could we not trust 〈Caballeros Rebellion〉 if it’s not other mercenaries but from that mercenary city?”

“Hoho.”

Captain Ardo was just happy.

Cardinal Fiorelli chuckled.

And the unnamed adjutant next to Ardo stepped back unnoticed by anyone.

“…….”

Of course, he couldn’t avoid Fiorelli’s eyes.

🔹🔹🔹

Thump-thump━.

The floor of the Holy See is always cleaned so that ‘light’ can reside, so the footsteps were unusually loud.

Thump-thump-thump━.

There was someone walking quickly through it.

It was the unnamed member of the Doctrine Protection Force.

“You shouldn’t walk so fast in the Holy See’s Palace.”

The red hem of Cardinal Fiorelli can be seen behind the pillar in front. The adjutant hurriedly turned his body and headed for the side corridor.

Thump-thump-thump━.

After a long time like that.

“No matter how old I am, I am still a cardinal. Aren’t you ignoring me too much?”

The red hem is visible again.

The adjutant’s eyes shook left and right.

He looked at the window next to him.

Creak━.

He lifted the wooden frame and flew out.

When he landed on the ground and raised his head, he saw the red hem again from below.

“It’s just the ‘Commons’ way to act shamelessly, but seeing you run away so clumsily, you must not have entered for long.”

“……!”

The adjutant’s eyes widened as if they were going to tear.

Right in front, Cardinal Fiorelli, who was small in height and stature but filled the garden of this large Imperial Palace with her presence alone, smiled.

“Tell the Dawn not to come out recklessly.”

“W, What……?”

The voice of the unnamed adjutant trembled. It’s not anyone else, but Cardinal Fiorelli who knows their identity.

“Tell them that I mentioned 〈Caballeros Rebellion〉 out of consideration. Then they’ll know.”

Swish━.

As if she had said all she had to say, she turned her body.

Then she stopped for a moment.

She spoke to him without turning her head.

“And tell them that I haven’t forgotten Chloe yet. Especially to Golden Dawn.”

The other side of the world that Cain and Abel didn’t know was gradually raising its head.

🔹🔹🔹

Chloe Ethelred’s tombstone.

Arna and Abel returned to the expeditionary force’s barracks, and Edmund and Cain stood side by side in front of it.

“It’s like a spring dream.”

“That’s right.”

As soon as Chloe disappeared completely into pink petals, the world they were in went dark and returned to the original ‘Where Spring Falls Asleep’.

Time had not passed a bit.

“But because it was a dream, I was able to see her off well.”

The tombstone looked old.

The real Chloe was dead, and Chloe’s ‘miracle’, which remained like an echo of someone’s cry, disappeared, so Chloe really disappeared.

“May I ask you one thing?”

The distance between them became closer.

However, neither Cain nor Edmund were that gentle, so it was a bit awkward.

Edmund nodded at Cain’s question.

“Then what happened to Little Mother Arna?”

“…….”

“You said you saw Abel becoming the ‘Demon King of Common’ in the future. Then, wouldn’t it be okay to eliminate Abel’s existence itself?”

“That’s a cold thing to say.”

“Oh…… I think you would be someone who could make cold choices.”

Edmund remained still for a moment.

Only after the aftertaste of the word ‘father’, which was carried in the wind, disappeared as if it was awkward or as if he wanted to enjoy it, did he open his mouth.

“I’m sorry to Arna, but I love Chloe alone.”

“Anyone can see that.”

“…….”

“But why did you meet? Was it a one-night stand like other knights on the battlefield?”

“Does it look like that to you?”

“No.”

Cain answered firmly.

He knew that Edmund was not the kind of person who would do that, even if he were another knight.

He turned his head away from the tombstone and looked south for a moment. It was where Arna and Abel had gone down.

“Arna was not pregnant until the second half of the 11th expedition. And by the end of the expedition, she was full-term.”

Cain tilted his head.

He didn’t know all the northern expeditions, but he knew that the 11th expedition lasted about a year and a half.

“It’s impossible in terms of time. Even if she’s a half-elf, the gestation period is the same.”

“Yes.”

Edmund nodded heavily.

Cain could roughly guess.

If it was something absurd that didn’t go through the normal gestation period (sacred treasure), it would be a ‘miracle’.

“Arna conceived Abel without having sex with anyone.”

Cain, the son of a witch.

Abel, the son of a virgin.

Edmund calmly put the truth of that day in his mouth.

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