May 6, 2021
"......."
"Are you still doubting me?"
"It just occurred to me that letting this go so easily seems far too merciful."
"Even so, you can’t exactly harm me, can you?"
"I may not be able to harm you, but I can make you feel just as filthy as I do."
Jerpeneus lazily twisted a lock of his hair around his finger. A way to get back at him, even in the slightest, had just come to mind.
"If you dare to lay a finger on me—"
"Take off that bracelet."
"......What?"
"If something precious is taken from you, you’d feel disgusting, wouldn’t you?"
Of course, no matter what, it wouldn’t compare to what I feel. Jerpeneus sneered, lips curling slightly, but his eyes, locked on James, remained utterly devoid of mirth.
"This bracelet is—"
"If you don’t want to part with the bracelet, we can do it another way. If the wounds are hidden beneath clothes, no one will know."
"......."
"Pelsion."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Pelsion nodded and stepped toward James. Instinctively, James tried to back away, only to grit his teeth as his back met the solid, unyielding surface behind him. A wall. There was nowhere to run.
‘He never warned me about this...’
James anxiously bit his lips, his teeth pressing into the soft flesh, as Pelsion closed the distance between them. The moment their proximity grew unbearable, James hastily removed the bracelet.
The bracelet was his only means of contacting Fenril, but it was not more valuable than his life.
"H-here it is!"
Only when the bracelet was extended toward him did Pelsion halt. A smile spread across Jerpeneus’s lips as he watched.
"Now that I see that look in your eyes, I feel a little better."
"......."
"Don't take it too personally. That’s just how life works, isn't it? If you do something to provoke someone, you must be prepared to pay the price."
At Jerpeneus’s gesture, Pelsion took the bracelet and held it out to his master. Yet Jerpeneus only smirked at James, making no move to accept it.
"A worthless trinket. No matter how long I look at it, I don’t feel the slightest desire to have it. Something like this belongs in the trash."
"......."
"Why the long face? You should be thanking me. If I had taken a liking to this thing, you would have never gotten it back."
Jerpeneus’s lips curled wickedly, his voice dripping with amusement.
"But fortunately for you, my mood fluctuates quite often. In other words, if you manage to please me, I might just return this filthy thing to you."
"......What do you want from me?"
"First, act like a proper representative of God. Second, never try to deceive me again. And lastly, bring me some particularly intriguing information."
"I—I don't have any information—"
"Then make some. That’s how desperation works, doesn’t it?"
Do your best.
Jerpeneus chuckled outright and flicked his hand. As if waiting for the command, Pelsion immediately tucked the bracelet into his robes.
It was then—
Thud, thud!
A rapid knock sounded at the door.
"Why the ruckus?"
"Your Majesty, an urgent report just arrived!"
"An urgent report?"
"Something has happened at the temple!"
Jerpeneus’s sharp eyes flickered toward James, scanning his expression. Yet James’s face was utterly blank, as if he had no idea what was going on. If this was an act, then the man was a remarkable performer.
"Pelsion. Go."
Jerpeneus arched a brow and lowered his voice.
Pelsion, ever perceptive of his master's will, disappeared into the shadows without hesitation.
***
"The Grand Duke has disappeared?"
"I—I’m so sorry!"
"I distinctly remember telling you to keep a close eye on him."
"W-well, Your Eminence, it was getting quite late, and the Grand Duke still hadn't woken up. I—I thought it would be disrespectful, but I went inside to check, and by then, he was already gone!"
"So you have no idea exactly when he disappeared."
Hermann tilted his head as he looked down at the priest kneeling before him. The man was practically prostrating himself on the ground, hands clasped together as he begged for forgiveness.
Yet Hermann felt nothing but mild irritation.
Forgiveness wasn’t granted through words. It was earned through results.
Resting his chin on his hand, Hermann pondered for a moment before speaking again.
"Then I suppose you found nothing suspicious either."
"That... well..."
"If you don't want to test my patience further, you'd best tell the truth now."
Hermann smiled.
The priest’s face turned ghostly pale.
He bowed deeply before hastily raising his trembling voice.
"T-there were bloodstains in the temple!"
"Bloodstains? What kind of bloodstains?"
"I—I don’t know what kind of blood it was, but most of the statues in the temple were marked with it!"
"Most of the statues? So not all of them?"
"Only the statue of the Prime God was defiled."
The priest’s head hung low in shame.
For a servant of Prime, nothing could be more disgraceful than the desecration of their god’s image.
"When was this discovered?"
"During the morning prayer."
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
"So, you didn’t notice anything during the night or the dawn prayer?"
The temple, adhering to its principles of rejecting luxury and indulgence, used candles instead of oil lamps. If someone had positioned things carefully, bloodstains could have easily been hidden in the darkness.
"It was too dark then, and more than anything, who would dare defile a sacred statue?"
"It seems His Highness has grown too arrogant, drunk on his victories."
Hermann’s lips twisted in displeasure. He didn't know what Cabelenus intended by doing such a thing, but one thing was certain—he had entered the temple with a plan. Whatever his objective, Hermann could not stand idly by.
"...Surely, Your Eminence is not suggesting that the Grand Duke was responsible?"
The young priest’s voice trembled. The imperial family had always been wary of the temple, but Prime was the official religion that had existed alongside the empire since its very beginning. He didn't want to believe that the hero of the empire would desecrate its faith.
"When night falls, the temple closes its doors, and only priests and holy knights remain inside. If His Highness wasn’t the one who did this, then I must suspect my own people."
"I swear, none of us would ever do such a thing!"
"Of course not. You are all devoted servants of God, after all. I do not doubt you."
"Thank you, High Priest."
Hermann took the priest’s trembling hands in his own, offering a benevolent smile. The priest's pale face regained a hint of relief.
"However, if we let this incident pass, the temple will be ridiculed."
"Do you mean...?"
"I refuse to be remembered as a mere clergyman who couldn’t even protect his god. And more than that, the imperial family has insulted us too many times to simply forgive them again."
"We only follow Your Eminence’s will."
The priest bowed his head and pressed his lips to Hermann’s ring—the ring that symbolized the Most Noble Saint, the High Priest of Prime.
***
Cabelenus climbed a tree effortlessly, surveying his surroundings. He could sense movement all around, but hiding was not difficult.
Ever since receiving the blood of a monster, his senses far surpassed those of an ordinary human. He could hear what others could not, perceive what others failed to notice.
"So far, nothing has been found in this area."
"Search over there! He couldn’t have gotten far in such a short time, so he must be nearby!"
"Understood!"
Cabelenus remained still, watching as the temple knights pursued him.
Eliminating a force of this size wouldn’t be difficult, but this was Hermann’s domain. Wasting energy and causing unnecessary chaos would only slow him down.
"We should search in the opposite direction."
"But that’s the secluded palace... Even if he is that monster of a Grand Duke, could he have already reached that far?"
"I don’t want to believe it either, but we can’t be sure."
"We have to check everywhere. If we let that beast escape, the High Priest won’t—"
"...Peten?"
The moment the knights began to disperse, a hidden figure moved.
Five knights remained, but the man standing in the shadows was more than adept at bloodstained work.
Like a predator snapping the neck of its prey in one swift motion, the five knights were silently and instantly subdued.
"Kh...!"
"Shh. Don’t make a sound. I don’t want to cause unnecessary trouble."
The voice that whispered into his ear was eerily steady, without a single change in pitch.
The knight, struggling to breathe, slowly blinked in confusion.
He hadn’t even registered what had happened to him, but when his eyes fell upon his fallen comrades, a wave of horror struck him.
The knights on the ground still wore expressions of disbelief, as if they hadn’t even realized they had died.
If not for the unnatural way their necks were twisted, one might have thought they were merely unconscious.
"Where is the entrance to the underground?"
"Uh... ah... a..."
He tried to make a sound, but nothing came out.
Even breathing was a struggle with his throat caught in that iron grip.
"Use your hands, not your mouth."
The voice, now lower and more menacing, made the knight instinctively swallow hard. The pain in his crushed throat made him grimace.
Even the simple act of swallowing was agonizing.
Desperate, he raised a trembling hand and pointed.
"Even now, you lie..."
Cabelenus let out a quiet sigh.
The knight had directed him toward the knights’ quarters.
"I’ll give you one more chance. Tell me the truth."
"......."
"Not going to answer?"
"......."
"If you’re that determined to stay silent, I’ll just find it myself."
I had some hope, but he’s completely useless.
Cabelenus’s voice was now more of a growl than a man’s speech.
The knight felt a damp sensation trickling down his leg.
The liquid seeping down horrified him, but he was too powerless to do anything.
He knew, logically, that he should resist—that he mustn’t submit to the enemy’s demands.
But as the grip around his neck tightened, terror overpowered reason.
The sheer difference in strength crushed any thought of resistance.
It felt like being caught in a beast’s jaws, completely helpless, awaiting death.
If this continued, he would die. No, he was certain of it.
When he first heard the rumors about the Grand Duke of Schwarhan, he had laughed them off as exaggerations.
But now, he knew—every horrifying tale about him was true.
The raw strength of the grip around his throat perfectly matched the rumors that he could tear a man apart with his bare hands.
Finally, the knight gave in.
Keeping his lips tightly sealed, he weakly lifted his trembling hand... and pointed in the correct direction.
