Chapter 57: Salvation Church

My eyes must be playing tricks on me. Could something like that even be possible?

The wall was becoming soft and pliable. I wasn’t seeing things. The woman’s hand was halfway into the wall, which flowed like water.

‘Am I finally losing it?’

No, that wasn’t it. The newly arrived members’ eyes were bulging as if they might pop out.

I stopped doubting my eyes and started pondering something else.

‘How is that even possible? It can’t be magic… can it? Some kind of sorcery? Can sorcery do that?’

It’s frustrating not knowing anything about sorcery.

Even amidst all this, the woman didn’t give me any time to sort through my thoughts, continuing her actions without pause.

“Alright, follow me.”

The woman disappeared into the wall. The members who seemed to have experienced this before followed without hesitation, and even the newcomers tentatively pushed themselves into the wall.

Once everyone was inside, the wall returned to its original solid state as if nothing had happened.

The only one left behind, even the priest, left the room as if he had other things to attend to. As soon as silence returned, I dashed out from behind the curtain and stood before the wall where the woman had touched it.

‘What is this? What did she do?’

She definitely touched it and muttered something under her breath.

That’s not enough to figure it out. I ran my hands over the wall, feeling around. After a few tries, a subtle sensation reached my fingertips.

So well-crafted that it was difficult to see with the naked eye, only able to be detected by touch—

‘A gemstone?’

My confusion was brief.

This made it clear. This was sorcery.

What else could produce effects similar to magic by paying a precious price?

A type of method humans discovered to counter the magic of the demon race was unfolding before my eyes.

‘Just who is behind all of this to be using sorcery of this level…?’

A hollow laugh escaped me.

This is getting more and more unsettling. Should I just stop here? I expected it to be more than just your average pseudo-religion, but sorcery? That’s too much.

An ordinary person wouldn’t encounter a sorcerer more than ten times in their entire life. That’s how difficult and expensive it is to hire one, so for sorcery to appear here, is this even real?

I want to run to the Imperial Palace right now, grab the Emperor, and tell him I can’t do this anymore, but…

‘That damn Cruel…’

Not only would the Emperor not easily allow me to give up, but more importantly, there’s Cruel.

There’s no way I’ll let the wish-granting right fall into his hands, even if dirt goes into my eyes. I’d rather make a scene here.

‘…Should I really do it? Maybe going down in flames together wouldn’t be so bad.’

Even if I lose the mastermind, the Salvation Church will just pop up somewhere else, but at least the headquarters would be destroyed, and the Emperor wouldn’t be able to nag me.

As I considered how to cause a ruckus, I became so engrossed that I even felt like it was getting noisy outside.

‘If I really were to make a scene… this would be the first thing I’d smash.’

The gemstone in front of me seems to be the medium for this sorcery. Breaking it would undo the spell.

…Should I break it?

As I stared at the gemstone, lost in thought, a hand suddenly shot out from the curtain right next to me and grabbed my arm.

That alone was enough to startle me, but the hand didn’t stop there, pulling me forcefully.

It all happened in an instant.

Of all things, it was the arm that had been hit by an arrow, causing me to gasp in pain.

‘Hngh?!’

‘Shhh—’

Of course, even that was stifled by the hand covering my mouth.

Confused, I looked up and met the calm green eyes looking down at me.

At the same time, I couldn’t suppress the rising disgust and tried to shake them off roughly, but—

Slam!

Another priest wearing robes entered somewhat roughly, causing me to stop moving.

This wasn’t the same priest from before. This priest, with a face I’d never seen, rushed towards us with an urgent expression and pressed down on the gemstone I had been eyeing, twisting it to the side.

“Hurry, hurry…!!”

…Why does he look so flustered? No, but why is it so noisy outside?

Faint cries of ‘Hand over our lord!’ and the like made me feel uneasy. Come to think of it, where is Sir Lien and what is he doing?

A few seconds passed, and a bit of static came from the gemstone before a clear voice flowed out.

“What’s going on?”

“We have an intruder!”

“…I see. How many are there?”

“Just one!”

“…Just one?”

Yes, they’re searching the building looking for someone called ‘Lord’!”

Crash!!

With perfect timing, a loud crash echoed.

The woman who had kicked open the already open door, drawing everyone’s attention, spotted a priest standing there dumbfounded and spoke harshly, trying to sound calm.

She held a sword in her hand, likely taken from one of the guards here.

“Where is your lord?”

“….”

“….”

Amidst the bewilderment and confusion, with no one able to speak and even the voice from beyond the gemstone falling silent, I identified the troublemaking intruder’s face and quietly lowered my gaze.

I felt an intense gaze from above but tried to ignore it.

I don’t know why that person is here, but it’s none of my business. I don’t even know who that person is. Definitely don’t know. It has nothing to do with me.

‘…Damn it.’

Why are you showing up here…?

***

Smash!

“W-what was that?!”

Due to the disruptive intrusion, guards swarmed in instantly. Lien didn’t even have time to brush off the glass shards stuck to her body before she swiftly struck the nearest guy’s neck, knocking him out and snatching his sword.

It wasn’t her own sword, so it felt a bit awkward, but it wasn’t a big problem. Now, she needed to find the Count’s whereabouts….

Lien adjusted her grip on the sword and scanned her surroundings. Sensing her unusual skill, those whose gazes met hers flinched and backed away.

“…Where is your lord?”

She was only hired; she hadn’t sworn any allegiance, so she should have called him Count instead of lord…. But in this situation, revealing the Count’s identity wouldn’t be wise.

‘Forgive me, Count. I will take responsibility for this.’

She offered a brief apology in her mind and stepped forward. The sight of them retreating with each step she took was quite amusing, but she didn’t have time to focus on that now.

What if something were to happen to the Count while she wasted time here!

“Does no one know?”

“……”

“I see. Then….”

“W-who is this lord you’re talking about?!”

Just when she was about to give up and look for someone else, an unexpected, urgent shout came back.

Lien stopped and turned to the person who had spoken.

…That’s right. What should she say? Count Deon Hart? A hero? Either way would be revealing his identity, so she couldn’t say it.

After a moment of deep thought, she finally—

“…He is my lord.”

—Could only offer such a bewildered reply.

She walked past the dumbfounded guys who looked like they doubted their own ears and headed for the door.

These guys were lucky. If there wasn’t a need for people to spread the word about this commotion, they would be sprawled out on the floor by now.

‘I put some thought into it, in my own way….’

As expected, schemes and strategies didn’t suit her. That’s why she didn’t know any efficient way to find and rescue the Count.

So, today, she would do what some called ‘making a scene’ here. If a knight went on a rampage searching for their ‘lord,’ surely a few people would feel guilty. They would either report it to someone or try to handle it themselves, and she could just follow those guys.

“Hand over my lord!”

“Ugh, so who is this lord?!”

“Looks like you don’t know.”

“Aish, seriously!!”

Lien began to wreak havoc inside the Salvation Church, swinging her sword.

She didn’t kill anyone. There were no orders from the Count to do so, and there was no need to escalate things by killing people.

For some reason, there weren’t any civilians in sight, so she caused an even bigger commotion without restraint. After a while, a suspicious priest finally caught her eye.

He looked terrified at the chaos and ran off somewhere.

‘That’s him!’

Following that guy would lead her to the Count’s location.

Pretending not to notice his actions, she continued to stride through the building, naturally following behind him.

It goes without saying that many people were left sprawled out in her wake.

The guy who had been running hastily opened a door at the end of a corridor and slipped inside.

Before following him, she suddenly had a thought.

‘Maybe this is a trap. If so….’

—Charge in even harder to gain the upper hand.

It seemed like she was getting influenced by the Killer Knights, but there was no other choice.

Either way, she had to go in. There was no knowing how many people were inside. In that case, there was only one way.

Lien chuckled, thinking of the knights under her command.

‘After all, I’m the leader of a pack of mad dogs.’

Time to be a proper mad dog and tear things up.

Crash!!

She kicked open the already open door, showcasing her shining personality as she barged in.

Her first priority was to point her sword at the person who seemed to be the priest she had been chasing, and her second was to assess how many others were around.

She was momentarily taken aback by the fact that there was no one else besides the priest in front of her, but Lien forced herself to remain calm, concealing her emotions and asking in a low voice,

“Where is your lord?”

***

– Where is your lord?

“……”

Sareen quietly sighed at the voice coming from beyond the gemstone.

Despite having ordered the security to be strengthened, they were this incompetent? She should have known from the moment they failed to notice Cruel Hart entering.

It was only because they served the same master that she wasn’t more surprised when they bumped into each other inside the building.

Barely managing to calm her startled heart, she recalled the news that Deon Hart had also received the same mission.

If they hadn’t even noticed Cruel’s intrusion, then Deon Hart’s entry would have been even easier.

Thinking that far, the red-eyed commoner briefly crossed her mind, but when she went back to look for him, he was already gone, so she dismissed the thought.

And now a knight was barging in, searching for their ‘lord.’

‘It’s him for sure.’

She knew it the moment she heard the voice. It was the suspicious knight she had chased away at the entrance.

A ‘knight’ barging in searching for their ‘lord.’ And coincidentally, the red-eyed commoner who visited around the same time.

Sareen was from a common background but was quite sharp. With such perfectly fitting clues, she quickly grasped the situation.

‘It’s Deon Hart. The guards said they saw someone leaving, so did they just miss each other? Or maybe he’s still inside.’

Of course, even understanding the situation, she had no intention of taking action.

Not only was she unable to act, but the Salvation Church had long since achieved its initial goals, and all that was left was the cleanup. She merely hoped that Cruel Hart, not Deon Hart, would be the one to handle the cleanup.

She would just watch and wait, and if Deon Hart looked like he was about to reach the core, then she would step in and take care of things herself.

Until then, there was no need for her to interfere. The Duke had instructed her as such, so Sareen had no intention of doing anything beyond acting as usual.

‘I’ve done enough.’

She had warned them to strengthen security, and she had hidden the important documents in the deepest part of the building.

The most important thing right now was to prevent the knight from noticing the gemstone embedded in the wall.

She was sure he would break it the moment he saw it.

Not because the sorcery would be broken, but because something that should never be revealed might be exposed.

A secret that could potentially threaten everything the Duke had, even his life….

‘So, it must never be discovered.’

Careful not to even let her breathing reach the other side, Sareen decisively cut off the connection with the outside world and turned around.

Opening the door to the room, she turned to the people sitting there staring at her and said with a kind smile, as if nothing had happened.

“My apologies for the interruption. Shall we continue?”