On the second night since staying at the Holy Palace.
Yulia and the village chief trudged back to their lodging.
“We’re back.”
“We’re back…”
The two looked utterly exhausted, like they were ready to collapse.
Lloyd, who had been sitting at the table, tapping his fingers, welcomed them.
“You’ve managed to complete today’s quota, right?”
‘That devil of a young man.’
‘He stayed at home doing nothing.’
Both Yulia and the village chief grumbled inwardly, refraining from voicing their thoughts since Lloyd’s personality had taken a sharp turn recently.
A wrong word could invite endless nagging.
Although he appeared indifferent, Lloyd had been remarkably sharp lately, striking at weak points like a ghost.
As if reading their minds, Lloyd spoke.
“I wasn’t just slacking at home, you know.”
Yulia flinched at the light jab as Lloyd’s eyes scanned their pockets.
“You left quite a lot behind.”
“It was tough! Why don’t you try it yourself!”
The chief cried out indignantly. And rightfully so.
—These tiny things are magical tools that allow both eavesdropping and recording. Place them wherever you think important people will be.
How many? As many as possible. If you can use them all, even better. Only ten each? That’s easy. Even you can do that much.
If the priests block you? Use your head, or push through with emotion. Most of them have been stuck in the Holy Palace, so they’re vulnerable to temptation. Piece of cake.
You could get it all done in three hours. But don’t get caught. If you do, they’ll get arrested again. Sure, they have excuses prepared, but that’s a hassle, right?
That was the task Lloyd had given them.
“Easy? What’s easy? It wasn’t even this hard when I was courting my past lovers!”
The village chief exclaimed.
Most of the priests were men, and having to curry favor and beg just for one entry left the chief with an aversion to even looking at priestly robes by the end of it.
“Well, you did well, though. Looks like you’ve managed about half.”
“Well… that’s true.”
Lloyd said, and the compliment seemed to ease the chief’s mood. As he scratched the back of his head, Yulia asked firmly.
“So, Lloyd, what have you been doing here?”
Yulia asked point by point.
Her voice was sharp, though her posture was slumped. She looked like she could collapse from exhaustion but still had enough energy to question out of frustration.
She was also curious.
‘What on earth are we planning to do with those eavesdropping devices?’
There wasn’t much time left.
They only had about three days, and this was the second day. Pulling off something big in a single day seemed unrealistic. Wouldn’t it be better to cause some major chaos instead?
Break something, maybe…
“Don’t even think about it, Your Highness.”
“Huh? I wasn’t thinking about anything.”
“You had the face of someone planning rebellion.”
Can this boy read minds or something?
Yulia thought, just as Lloyd dragged something from the room.
“I’ve mapped out something using the devices you placed.”
“What’s this? A drawing? Lloyd, you’re not much of an artist, are you?”
The board was covered in a mess of lines, drawn crudely in thick pen. Lloyd spoke defensively.
“It’s not a drawing. It’s a diagram. I’ve mapped out the power dynamics within the Holy Palace.”
The chief studied the “whiteboard,” as Lloyd called it, but it still made no sense to him. To him, it was still just a messy drawing.
“Your drawing skills are still…”
“Hold on.”
Yulia placed her finger to her lips, signaling the chief to be quiet. He shut his mouth reflexively.
After a long moment of studying the board with narrowed eyes, Yulia finally spoke.
“If you look at this chart… The structure of the Holy Palace seems a bit odd, doesn’t it?”
“In what way?”
“The Holy King’s influence appears weaker than expected. Not to the point of being insignificant, but it feels like he’s barely holding on to half of the power. And that’s assuming the Saintess is fully on his side.”
From Yulia’s perspective, this was a difficult interpretation to accept.
After all, wasn’t the Holy King essentially the Emperor of the Holy Kingdom of Constantine? He was also known as the Father of all believers.
In the Deus Church, the Holy King was supposed to be an absolute authority. That was the expected order of things.
“That’s true. At least, it was before the Demon King was defeated. Since then, the power dynamics within the Holy Palace have shifted drastically.”
“The Demon King’s defeat caused such a big change?”
“Yes. Saintess Aria became incredibly popular after that.”
“Then shouldn’t the Holy King’s power have increased?”
“No, it didn’t. Aria didn’t fully carry out her role as Saintess.”
“She didn’t? But she was famous. Everyone across the continent praised her, didn’t they?”
Lloyd shook his head.
“Popularity doesn’t immediately translate into power. It’s like having a shiny sword handed to you—it doesn’t become power unless you wield it. And Aria isn’t the kind of woman with the courage to do that.”
“So she had no real substance?”
“You could say that. She probably just let others take advantage of her. That’s the kind of person she is.”
“So in the end, someone else reaped the benefits that the Saintess should have claimed?”
“Exactly.”
Tap. Lloyd’s wooden pointer landed on a name.
“This person.”
Archbishop Julius.
The one who effectively runs the Holy Palace.
“The results of the wiretaps indicate that this person is the actual power behind the Holy Palace. And what’s more…”
The circumstances fit perfectly.
Following the defeat of the Demon King, the Deus Church rapidly expanded, fueled by Saintess Aria’s rising popularity. The growing number of believers led to an exponential increase in administrative work, which the Holy King couldn’t handle alone. He became increasingly dependent on Julius, who held the highest rank among the administrative officials.
As the workload increased, so did the need for more priests. Julius, being in charge of administration, easily filled these positions with his own people, and his influence grew rapidly.
“The problem is that this man’s ambition didn’t stop there.”
Despite the short amount of time, they had gathered a lot of information through wiretapping. The devices they had previously placed in the interrogation rooms and hallways were immensely helpful.
“This guy… as we suspected, he’s in league with the Blood Cult. He’s also likely the one connected to One in the Holy Palace.”
Beep.
Lloyd pressed down on one of the wiretap devices lying on the table.
“And, he’s managed to get his hands on a rather formidable weapon.”
Multiple voices began playing from the device, one of which belonged to Archbishop Julius himself.
After the playback ended, Lloyd smirked.
“Get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow’s going to be a busy day.”
◆
The Holy Palace was bustling from the early morning.
At 5 a.m., morning prayers commenced, marking the beginning of the priests’ daily routines.
Meetings began right after breakfast, meaning that for Aria, it was another morning of enduring endless criticism without even having time to digest her meal.
— Bang!
A hand slammed down on the table, startling her before she could react. The barrage of reproaches flew at her from every direction.
“Saintess! Is this what you call a believer recruitment strategy? This is absurd!”
From one side…
“The income from relic sales has decreased significantly. We are in a difficult situation. It seems that the only solution is for you, Saintess, to put in more effort.”
And from another…
“Aria, you seemed too timid during the last ritual. Are you still struggling to adapt to the Holy Palace? If there’s something troubling you, tell me. But don’t assume you have an unlimited amount of time.”
Even the Holy King himself.
With each meeting that passed, Aria’s complexion grew more and more drained.
“Enough…”
By the time it reached 10 a.m., Aria finally returned to her quarters. As if possessed, she immediately buried herself under her blankets.
All she could hear was the rustling of the sheets.
“Hah…”
She let out a long breath. The mere absence of people’s voices provided her with a small, albeit fleeting, sense of relief.
Yet, her body continued to tremble uncontrollably.
After another sigh escaped from beneath the covers…
“…I really want to quit everything.”
Her quiet mumbling seeped through the blanket.
Aria could no longer bear it all.
The excessive criticism directed at her, the scornful gazes of the priests who looked at her as if she were nothing, and the complete absence of hope.
At times like this, she always thought of Lee Han.
During their time in the Hero’s Party, whenever they would watch the moon together at night, Lee Han would sit beside her and share his thoughts.
— Aria, your weakness is that you’re too soft-hearted. You have to toughen up. Wield the sword you’ve been given. If you don’t, someday that sword will end up in your back.
He was always right.
Perhaps, Lee Han was the only person who truly cared for her.
“…Lee Han.”
The tears that had been gathering in Aria’s eyes began to fall.
She missed him.
She longed to speak with him again, even just once more.
At that moment…
— Knock, knock!
A knock came from the door.
Aria curled up under her blanket.
She didn’t want to meet anyone.
— Knock, knock!
But the knocking didn’t stop.
No. Aria shook her head and suddenly realized.
That knocking sound. It resembled someone she knew.
— Knock, knock!
The knock came again.
As if in a trance, Aria found herself walking toward the door.
