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Chapter 54
“Cadet, it’s astonishing how empty your mana is.”
A chill ran through Rune’s entire body for a moment. Startled, he twisted his wrist to pull away, but Daniel and Ellen stretched out their arms, blocking him.
“What is this?”
A brief silence hung in the air, thick with tension. Isis raised both hands in a gesture of apology, smiling gently.
“I apologize. I’m sensitive to the flow of mana, so I must have inadvertently been rude. Now that I think of it, I heard you collapsed that day. Are you alright now?”
“…Yes, I’m fine.”
Rune felt a bit awkward. Had the temple known about his collapse? He fidgeted with his wrist and asked Isis:
“I left two injured children in the care of the temple. Do you happen to know anything about them?”
“Ah, yes, I remember those children.”
Isis nodded, then continued with a troubled expression.
“They ran away not long ago, which put us in quite a difficult situation. Their treatment isn’t even finished yet—such a pity.”
Rune narrowed his eyes.
“…Their village must be in ruins, and they have nowhere to return to. Shouldn’t we try to find them?”
“I’m afraid we don’t have the capacity to care for visitors to the temple right now.”
Seeing Isis shrug as if there was nothing he could do, Rune bit his lower lip. Despite her words of difficulty, her expression didn’t seem particularly troubled.
Why had those small children been forced to flee, dragging their injured bodies?
‘What could they have been so afraid of…’
Rune fixed his face sternly and asked Isis:
“…What happened to the women you took that day?”
“You ask such troublesome questions, Cadet.”
Isis squinted and smiled, brushing off the question with a short answer.
“That is an internal matter. I cannot tell you.”
Her voice was gentle but firm. A law of secrecy and silence. Rune muttered it under his breath, and Isis nodded knowingly.
“Ah, so you are aware of the law. That makes it easier to ask for your understanding.”
She took the request form and the sword from Rune, smiling silently.
“It seems you have many questions, but I’m afraid I cannot help. Cadet, what is your full name?”
“Rune Adeluz Este.”
“Cadet Rune Adeluz. Once the magic crystal is replaced, I will send this sword to Refium for you. May the sun’s guidance be with you.”
Luuz Segrado. Isis pressed his hands together in a bow and then turned toward the temple.
Daniel scowled as Isis slowly disappeared into the distance.
“Why is even the priest here so irritating?”
“Let’s go. We’re short on time if we want to stop by the shop.”
“What? Skipping snacks? That’s unacceptable!”
Ellen’s protest made Daniel leap, grabbing both of them by the shoulders. Despite Daniel’s hurried pace, Rune kept glancing back several times.
Isis, ascending the steps of the main temple, looked back at them. Rune returned a small bow before looking forward again.
“…Rune Adeluz, huh.”
Isis watched the three moving away and then gazed at the palm of his hand. He muttered the name under his breath, squinting and tilting his head in curiosity.
In all his life, he had never encountered someone whose mana could not be felt at all.
‘It wasn’t so much empty… more like blocked somewhere.’
A rare case of a malformed core, born to someone unfortunate enough to carry it. What made such a person think they could stop the ghouls?
One truth he had learned over the years was simple: the foolish who venture forth without knowing their place only hasten their end.
‘Perfect for shortening their own lifespan.’
He gathered his hands under his robe and entered the temple. Now was not the time to worry about such useless matters.
“Isis! Joffrey’s deputy has awakened!”
“Ah, I see. I’ll go immediately. A request to replace the magic crystal has come in; please check it.”
He handed the sword and request form to the young priest who had run to him, smiling.
Isis walked smoothly through the chapel and reached the innermost room of the temple. A small gesture made the guarding priests bow quietly and leave.
He knocked on the wooden door, its paint chipped in places. There was no reply, but as always, he opened it without hesitation.
Inside, Isis covered his nose with his long sleeve. The room reeked of the stench of a human on the brink of death.
He lowered the corners of his eyes with pity.
“Even without divine power, you are certainly different from ordinary humans. How you cling to life so tenaciously surprises me.”
“Cough… Isis Chronof.”
Joffrey’s deputy gasped, forcing out his words.
Isis’s gaze shifted toward the head of the bed. A red dress peeked out from the cracks of an old wardrobe.
“Oh? A guest has arrived first, I see.”
“No… no.”
Joffrey’s face went pale at those words.
Isis slowly opened the wardrobe. The girl inside, crouched and holding her breath, looked up at him in terror.
“Lady Glory. I thought you had escaped with the others. To think you are here.”
“P-please… save me.”
Glory Farnese shakily rose and begged with open palms.
“Hide among the women of the slums. Whatever happens outside, wait inside the carriage. Then those from the north will come for you. Please… may the light’s guidance be with you.”
She remembered Joffrey’s useless warning and shed thick tears.
Could she have avoided this nightmare if she had trusted and stayed hidden in the carriage?
But in that moment, surrounded by the once-human corpses, fear had left no choice but to flee. Even if returned to that moment, she would make the same choice.
Foolishly, she had run from the carriage, heading to a place she should never have returned to.
There was nowhere left for her to go.
Glory thought of her father, Count Farnese, who had left her at the temple, and sobbed. That face, which had seemed harsh, was now one she longed to see.
“Ugh… please… save me. Father, save me.”
“Ah, you weep so pitifully. That too pains my heart.”
Isis’s quiet words were followed by a sharp pain that pierced Glory, and she gasped.
“…Hah… ugh…”
A black branch seemed to tear at her heart—or was it a dried human hand?
With a wrenching pull, red blood dripped onto the floor.
As Glory Farnese collapsed, the dark red blood spread beneath her dress, staining the white carpet.
“Hm. I had some hope, but… as expected, empty.”
Isis wiped his hands in a basin beside the bed, expressionless. He dried them carefully with a towel and put on his white silk gloves again.
Joffrey’s deputy reached out, but his withered hands no longer shone with any light.
“Oh… God. Cloud. Watch over this poor lamb.”
Despairing, he let out a sobbing lament.
“Please… stop it… Isis. No matter how I beg, I cannot be forgiven.”
“I have no intention of spending my life on that, you see.”
Isis tilted his head, as if puzzled, and smiled faintly.
“It seems His Majesty wishes this pain to end. Don’t worry. The day usefulness is fulfilled, proper salvation will follow.”
He covered Joffrey’s eyes with his gloved hand.
“But not yet. You should sleep a bit more.”
Under the darkness covering his eyes, Joffrey let out a short moan before falling into a deep sleep.
Such a tenacious life.
Isis clicked his tongue and straightened up. A light knock came, and a priest’s voice called from beyond the door:
“Isis, the faithful await you.”
“I’ll be there soon.”
He flexed his fingers. Every time, this holy life was exhausting.
Yet, the chosen must act diligently.
Isis left the room silently, heading to the chapel. Those in the long corridor rushed to him, bowing low.
“Ah, Isis! May the sun guide you!”
“Blessings of Cloud!”
So many relied on him.
⚜ ⚜ ⚜
“The prophecy of Cloud?”
In the carriage returning to the academy, Daniel rummaged through a bag of snacks, looking puzzled.
“Is there really a fool in the Leonal Empire—or the entire Cartago continent—who doesn’t know this?”
“…Seems like one is sitting right here.”
Ellen, sitting beside him, looked at Rune with disbelief. She blew her bangs aside in frustration.
To think Daniel would even consider him a fool… A question she had wanted to ask Kylian suddenly came to mind.
She wanted to know why the temple took women from the outskirts. More precisely, why they were despised and neglected by the world.
“So tell me. What exactly is this prophecy of Cloud?”
Daniel asked, concerned.
“Do you know about the World Stone?”
“I know that much.”
Rune tilted his head, frowning.
The World Stone. A story taught before the founding of the Empire, detailing the origins of the Cartago continent.
