Chapter 103
Why had this Offering Festival resulted in so many tragedies? Why had the priests—those who should have been most devout and reverent—ended up like that? Why were the outsider Princess and High Priest Illian the only ones who remained intact and were cleaning up the mess?
The people were angry.
“Goodness, they act so pure and clean on the outside.”
“Self-sufficient? Growing vegetables to eat? Ha. Looking at the embezzled amounts, they could eat three meals of gold bars and still be full!”
“Of course their wards stayed intact and the Offering was performed properly—if the monsters had come in droves, what excuse would they have had? And yet they expect us to trust them? I want my donations to the temple back, honestly!”
“I was terrified when the monsters came in swarms—praying, ‘Priest, priest!’—but weren’t those the very ones who called the monsters? Isn’t that the same thing?”
“The other priests too—were they all taking bribes? They’re all in it together!”
Yes.
The priests of the Southern Temple were in danger of being lynched in the marketplace by enraged citizens if they were turned out empty-handed. Even though Flux hadn’t revealed every line in the ledgers, that was how things felt.
Flux wore a smug expression, as if he didn’t care whether he ate or not, and smirked that keeping this kind of illicit ledger partially secret was more intimidating than exposing it all to the surface… I remembered the way he had clasped my hand with earnest gratitude—“This is all thanks to Her Highness the Princess”—and felt a light pinch at my side.
“Yep?”
The kindly-faced High Priest spoke to me.
“We’ve finished touring the city, Your Highness.”
My noise-canceling bubble had been so effective I hadn’t heard. Embarrassed, I dispelled the wind wall I’d made around my ear and glanced at High Priest Illian. Night had nearly fallen; the carriage stopped where we had arranged.
We stood in the middle of a city still partly unrepaired. More precisely—the black market. The place that had been overrun by the monsters.
Back when the streets had been packed with buildings it had been a bustling shopping area, but now it was quiet. We walked to one of the relatively intact brick houses. The door opened as if someone had been waiting for us.
“You’re late.”
Nabira stood there, looking thoroughly displeased. Her slightly disheveled red hair and seductive deep crimson eyes were as alluring as ever. I smiled and stepped inside.
Flux, Debi, and the perpetually displeased Risianshuss were already waiting. I sat on an empty chair and Nabira, as if she’d been ready to speak, rattled off words.
“Your guesses were almost all right. It’s not pleasant for us either….”
She looked at me as if assessing.
“…Yes. It’s obvious this is an opponent we can’t handle alone. Either way, we’ll keep holding hands with you going forward. It’s abnormal for someone to set monsters loose in the city for any reason, but we’ll deal with those who do.”
“But thanks to Princess Titania, things were handled surprisingly calmly.”
Flux flashed a confident smile at me. Lately, every time he looked at me his eyes gleamed oddly.
“Priest Cronen and the other priests will be sent to a quiet rural monastery to recuperate. They’re not currently fit to fulfil temple duties. Considering the amounts of money being routed through the Southern Temple, this is a huge blow to High Priest Margid. Isn’t that so, High Priest Illian?”
“Hahahaha. Don’t be telling me that. The aristocratic faction receives so much in donations from the great nobles that losing one Southern Temple won’t make the whole pillar topple, hahahaha.”
High Priest Illian sounded positively gleeful at the sight of a centuries-old enemy falling. Flux chuckled at the priest’s voice.
“Looking at the ledger… it’s truly a staggering sum. Even lower-ranking southern nobles who couldn’t directly reach the central aristocracy tried to use the temple to get a line into the capital with bribes.”
“Hahahaha, High Priest Margid’s belly is certainly plump—he’s taken in a lot from here and there.”
“Enough small talk.”
Nabira cut off the two men’s chatter and sighed as if tired. She handed me a stack of papers from the table. I took it and examined it slowly.
“Crown Prince Brian visited this city last year. Empress was with him, doting over the prince, but there’s a record showing the Empress used the black market.”
I suspected that the “Chernobog’s dark energy” poured in during last year’s festival was related to the Empress and Brian.
The relic Count Cortez smuggled away for his son’s recovery that had broken without much effect could also tie back to this.
In short, the Empress had some sort of connection—by some means—to the “contractor of Chernobog.” Since we’d gleaned that, we had to try to find more leads.
“That black market itself has been shut down, and I suspected Flux’s minor noble being attacked was unrelated… but we managed to catch a thread. One of the items the Empress bought back then was fabric woven from monster byproducts. There’s a small trading company that hides such cloth as ordinary fabric and distributes it. That company goes up to the capital at least once a year… and apparently supplied fabric even to the palace. Empress Cleo was satisfied with the cloth and told them to provide it annually.”
Though the Empress is the emperor’s wife nominally, Cleo held the real power within the palace.
Given the Empress’s precarious position—worried even about hiding me in her palace—anything that passed into the palace would likely be under Cleo’s influence.
She wouldn’t wear fabric woven from monster byproducts herself, so…
“Honestly, judging from what the Empress went through with you this time, she doesn’t seem to know the full details. Whoever’s truly rotten inside is probably using the Empress for their own ends. …Are you okay?”
“What can I do if I’m not? If it goes wrong, we’ll take out the madmen who set the monsters loose.”
Nabira’s expression was strange.
“…You and the little one—good grief, how did I end up mixed up with girls like you. My tolerance’s gotten filthy big.”
“Is that a compliment?”
I giggled and Nabira looked like she had a headache. Flux cleared his throat loudly.
“Mm?”
“Princess Titania… thank you for saving this city.”
“It wasn’t just me. High Priest Illian helped, the Castrain family helped, and—”
“Our first meeting was really the worst; I know I’ve been awful. It’s too late to make excuses. Well… I don’t know why I helped that piece of trash either. You can think whatever you want. I intended to help the Princess, but when your help arrived we barely kept the city and territory intact. Still…”
Flux handed me a small box.
I opened it to find a bracelet set with a pale silvery gem that gave off a halo-like light. It was surprisingly light given the gem’s size. My eyes widened.
“…What’s this?”
“My feelings.”
Flux averted his gaze for a moment, fumbling awkwardly.
“Gratitude… and… respect. Whatever you do, whatever you need—when you head up to the capital, don’t forget us. If you let us serve you, we’ll be grateful.”
I slipped the bracelet on immediately. Wow! It looked expensive!
“There’s a family crest engraved inconspicuously on the back of the gem. Show that mark anywhere and the Cortez family will handle it for you if you need goods or information.”
Wow! It was like a Cortez family guaranteed black card—perfect. The Castrain family had asked what I needed and offered everything, but that sometimes felt too much—overbearing.
But hey! After kidnapping me at first meeting and then healing me and saving the city, this card—well, bracelet—was mine to use! I joyfully took Flux’s hand.
“Really?! Wow! Thank you! I’ll use it well!”
“Yes… um… if you use it well… and also remember me—”
Flux babbled like a machine with a glitch. At that instant, Risianshuss, who had been silent as a statue in his seat, suddenly spoke up.
“Time.”
“Huh? Time for what?”
“Time to set off the fireworks.”
Out of nowhere—fireworks?
