A moment later…
I found my magic stone glasses (I should put a string on it or something) and put it on. I pushed the divine beasts into my room. It was to greet a guest.
“……Are you okay? Would you like some more baklava?” I warily looked at Marian and asked.
The eleven year old child seated across the living room on a couch had an extremely puffy face from crying so much. But she still did her best to stop crying to show up with Monica. I found that to be admirable and wanted to cheer her on so I ended up constantly giving her things.
‘She might find this to be very uncomfortable.’
“Thank you very much.” The girl nodded her head, then peeked glances at me while taking a bite of a large piece of baklava. She ate even better once Christelle helped wipe some crumbs off the side of her mouth. She seemed to have a lot of things to ask me but was doing her best to hold back.
I quickly chuckled and focused on my healing circle again. The blue light gently wrapped around Monica’s body. The ether particles gathered around her eyebrow diligently showed off their healing power.
– Shaaaaaaa……
“Thank you very much, young master-nim. An extremely precious healing priest like yourself being willing to use your power on a trivial person like me…”
“I use my healing powers for everyone. I am not that expensive.” I chuckled and answered, making Monica bow her head even more, saying that she didn’t deserve such treatment. I felt relieved seeing that the bleeding had stopped. It was fulfilling to frequently use my circle like this because this was the reason I had memorized it.
The Imperial Crown Prince was seated at the head of the table silently watching us. Joanne and Sand were either drawing a portrait of Marian or pouring some goat milk into her cup. It was nice to see that everybody shared the desire to console the child.
“When will the Viscount, Lady Rambouillet and Isabelle come?”
“I’m not very sure. The wholesale happens instantly sometimes but can last all day if it takes a long time. We should probably discuss it among ourselves.” Christelle seriously added on.
Once the aftershock of the sandstorm and the earthquake settled down, the Zaum caravanserai quickly returned to normal business. Apparently weird phenomena like this were rare even in the neutral region. This time was abnormally large but thankfully, the staff and villagers didn’t seem too disturbed. Everybody calmly picked up the fallen items, fixed the broken things, and calmed the camels and horses. The specialty item trade, message exchange, and other businesses returned to normal as well. The Rambouillet family minus Christelle, had left the lodging to participate in the Zaum Village Market’s spices wholesale.
I nodded my head and looked toward the Vatican knight standing at the door. The man seemed to be in his late forties, with split-combed hair and red cheekbones. He immediately bowed silently once he made eye contact with me.
“Sir, you said that a horde of demonic beasts rushed out of the Zaum ruins where India should be?”
“That is right, young master-nim.”
“You said you believe tomb raiders disguised as archaeologists touched the wrong thing inside.”
“Yes sir. Based on how a horde of Dark Amber Bees that had been calm until now suddenly charged out…… Something seems to have happened inside the ruins. There are no caves nearby for a horde of bees to be hiding.”
“Would it be difficult to go back?”
“That…… Yes it would.” He finished in a concerned voice. His voice seemed to be getting quieter.
Joanne showed the picture to the teary Marian.
The knight’s neck and face was full of injuries from being bitten or scratched by the Dark Amber Bees. I tried to use my healing power on him but he looked behind me before respectfully declining.
‘Only the window and Sir Johann are behind me…… He must be extremely upset that he was injured by a demonic beast in his area of responsibility.’
I peeked at Sir Johann. He smiled in an extremely refreshing manner after we exchanged glances.
To be completely honest, I wondered if Sir Johann had been responsible for that scary tornado. However, Gerrit’s daddy returned too quickly to the lodging and did not seem to be lacking ether. Most importantly, he had no reason to hide that he used such an ability.
My hand still shook whenever I thought about the day his stigmata attacked me, but I really was okay. I was a bit scared, but I could understand since he was a Cardinal. However……
“You said that the sandstorm earlier was a natural disaster.”
“Yes sir. The Zaum village and lodging was lucky. It is the Almighty God’s…… Blessing.” The knight almost seemed to cringe as he said that.
Christelle and crown prince Cédric both snorted.
I motioned for the two of them to stop. This knight returned after working hard to protect this place; it was not respectful to react like this. I told him, ‘thank you. Please rest well.’ He stiffly saluted and left.
I heard that close to ten horses were eaten by the bees. They seemed to have received a lot of damage in many ways.
– Click.
The door then closed. The ‘theologian’ Marian jumped up from her seat. The dried tear marks were still visible but her eyes were very clear as she looked at me.
“I greet Prince Jesse Venetiaan who has received the blessing of the Almighty God.” She then said those words and bowed. I gasped.
The blue ether particles gathered in one location because of it!
“H, huh? You seem to have the wrong idea.” My voice cracked. I felt like even the ether particles were looking at me with pity.
“I saw it inside earlier. Your blessed purple eyes were sparkling and beautiful, your highness. We’ve been told since long ago that the eyes are the window to a person’s soul. I’m certain that the one and only god cherishes you quite a bit, your highness.”
“That, umm… Are you sure you are not mistaken because of the glare?” I said whatever came to mind. Now that I thought about it, my speech seemed to be lacking compared to this child as well.
The crown prince had a look of, ‘you sure are trying hard,’ as he glared at me. That terrible bastard.
“Furthermore, you are blonde and, as rumors mention, you are as beautiful as a fallen angel.”
“Mm.”
The little girl with ponytails sounded like she had a stuffy nose but said everything she wanted to say. The red color that covered her pupils turned green the farther it went out. They were the unique two-colored eyes that only a few on the continent possessed.
Monica couldn’t handle it anymore and grabbed Marian’s hand as she spoke. ‘The savior appears!’ “My deepest apologies, your highness. This child is still young and does not know that she is being extremely disrespectful. Please forgive her……”
‘She knows too! What happened to the anonymity of the guests?!’
My limbs relaxed and the healing circle turned off. I opened and closed my mouth anxiously and the woman awkwardly smiled. She then deeply bowed toward the crown prince.
Joanne laughed out loud and picked up a piece of orange with cinnamon powder on it. Christelle licked her lips while looking at her but did not touch an orange.
The owner of this lodging cautiously continued. “The stories of the great merchant Viscount Rambouillet’s daughter, Lady Isabelle, and her daughter, Dame Christelle, are well-known out here as well. We frequently have noble guests from the Empire. The stories of the adventures of the three extremely influential figures she has with his Royal Highness and you, your highness, make up the majority of the stories.”
‘That damn three. I wish the two of them would just start dating already.’
“I see……”
“I had my suspicions when Dame Christelle mentioned you were her friends, but the initials, ‘C. R.’ and ‘J. V.’ allowed me to figure out the respected names of our two extremely important guests. However, you seemed to want to hide it, which is why I pretended to not know.”
‘Damn it. I shouldn’t have copied that damn crown prince.’
But using ‘Gabag’ or ‘ReSeHo’ as my pseudonym wouldn’t have changed the fact that I was caught like an idiot, so I chose to accept reality. I gave up and took my glasses off, making Marian’s face light up. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Hello.”
“Wow!”
“Marian, you shouldn’t look at such a revered person as his highness directly like that.” Monica quickly scolded the child.
I told her it was okay, but she made sure that Marian properly showed her respects to the crown prince and me. The little girl bowed in both the Empire’s style and the Holy Kingdom’s style. She was very smart as I had heard.
“It is an honor to greet his Royal Highness. It is also an honor to greet his highness. This is the greatest honor I could have as a theologian.”
“Nice to meet you too, Marian.” I greeted her back. Christelle happily shook hands with the child.
Sand said something about how it was his honor to meet her since he had never met such a young theologian before. Marian must have been embarrassed as she bit down on her lips.
I looked around at my friends before cautiously asking. “Umm, your sister. You said that India followed some adults and headed out to the Zaum ruins.”
“Yes, your highness……”
The child’s gaze instantly became darker. I calmly continued.
“I was told it happened early the morning of the 28th.”
“……Yes, your highness.”
Marian answered in a shaking voice. I calmly asked.
“This is the third day. Did your sister take enough food and water with her?”
“Yes, your highness. India is a smart girl who knows how to take care of herself. She took jerky, ham, cheese, and even the leftover baghrir we had. We are also missing two water bottles. She knows how to find the right direction even in 1,000 year old ruins and is the best at puzzles among the children in the village. She’s even better than Tomi, who is fifteen years old.” The child rapidly answered as if she was reciting a spell.
Seeing her large eyes starting to tear up made me feel extremely sympathetic. Marian did not stop talking despite being thirsty and having trouble breathing.
“Grandpa Scotty told me. He said that India is someone who would find her way back to Zaum Village even if she was dropped in the middle of the neutral region on her own. Sob.”
“I see. Then…”
“She’s definitely not someone who would go far while leaving me behind. She said that I’m the scariest in the world when I get angry. She listens to me very well. Sob, she really does!”
“I know. That is why we sent the knights.” I calmly tried to console the child. Her pretty eyes soon started to cry and the baby fat on her chubby cheeks instantly scrunched up. ‘Aigoo.’
“Marian, listen. They are not enough……”
“Please! Please don’t give up. Please save my sister!”
The girl got down on the ground and dangled on my leg. I quickly bent down in shock. As expected, a child’s emotions swung quite frequently. Her small shoulders were moving up and down as if she was gasping. Marian started sobbing while shouting with desperation.
“India is my family. I only have one! I only have one family member in the whole world! Please help me!”
“I plan on doing so.”
“Please, please! If you leave like this, your highness…… No one with such a lofty title, sob, ugh, sooooob……!”
“Marian. We will go take a look. So don’t worry. Shhh.” I patted her small back and calmed her.
The child flinched and then slowly raised her head. Her hiccups did not stop. She looked like she could not believe it despite hearing it with her own ears. Her round eyes continued to form bead-like tears. I pulled out my handkerchief and dabbed the child’s face before putting it up against her nose.
“Okay blow hard, go hmph.”
“Hmph.”
“Your highness!” Monica gasped, got close, and helped the child up. Christelle gave Marian some water.
I started smiling. “Monica, I know how she feels because I also have a younger sister. Think about how hard it must have been for this little girl.”
“Why would such esteemed individuals as yourselves…… Want to personally go to somewhere so dangerous? I know that I should not dare to ask for such a thing, your highness.” She hugged the hiccuping child as she said that. She was worried about the missing India, but she seemed anxious that something might happen to us as well.
Our respected MC confidently retorted!
“This is a secret, but we are much stronger than the people who just came back. If we wanted to do so, we could probably cause a sandstorm like the one you saw earlier. So you don’t need to worry so much.”
“But……”
“Monica, you were the one who said it. You said that this desert trip will be a precious experience. Then we should try everything. Rescue a lost child, go into a ruin… See some treasures if we happen to see any along the way?”
“Hey boss lady. Don’t try to beat these people with words. I’ve been traveling with them lately and I’ve noticed that once they bite onto something… They never let go. They always see things through until the end. They are quite famous in the Empire for that. They got me good last year too.” Joanne, who was munching on an orange, waved her arm around and stopped Monica.
Marian’s wet eyes started filling with a sprout-like sense of hope. Monica urgently turned to look at the crown prince, but……
“I don’t want to leave behind any annoying situations.” She received a gruff response back.
Even the most elegant man on the continent was saying that he would head into the ruins. This place wasn’t a part of the Empire, but this punk truly acted as the son of Frédérique Riester.
The child slowly looked up at Monica who sighed as if she admitted defeat. As for Sand, who had been quietly watching the conversation, his face lit up.
“Then should I start packing now?”
– Screeeech!
The divine beasts rushed out of the bedroom. They seemed extremely anxious that we would leave them behind. Monica and Marian became shocked while seeing the cute red pandas. Demy was rolling Tithé, who was swaddled up.
“Ahahahahah!” Christelle laughed out loud.
“Demy, your little brother isn’t a ball!”
– Kiiiii?
Me? ‘What is the point of talking to him?’ I just turned completely pale!
*
– Swooooooosh……
The Tomb of the Forgotten. A bleak breeze blew through the Zaum ruins. The shadows with the thousand year long grudges roamed around as usual.
Ooooooooo—
– Ah ah……!
One of the ghosts turned toward the village at that moment. His empty eyes opened wide along with his dry mouth. This was proof of being shocked. Thump! The soul’s blood-colored outline thumped like an aorta. A ‘certain existence’ was approaching from the human village.
They would never mistakenly feel this bloodline. It was not a delusion nor a mistake. A scar deep inside this old and rotten soul was screeching. It is this human. ‘That person’ has returned.
– Ah ah, ah ah ah!
The sacred and sublime vessel. The body that has succeeded the envoy of the Almighty God.
– Aaaaaaaaaahh……!
The soul let out a dreadful screech. The other souls around it started to do the same. They were all starting to feel ‘that person’ as well. The realization spread like a poison, a spasm, a curse.
– Ah ah ah!
– Oo oo oo oo……!
– Uh uh uhhhh……!
Ominous and evil sounds dominated the entire ruins. Then whispers so quiet that even the night owls would not be able to hear seeped into the fog carrying their grudges.
– We want, we want, we want, we want……
—
Translator’s Comments
Uh oh…they thirsting for our boiiiiii!