chapter 28
Chapter 4: The First Revenge (complete)
“What on earth do we do now?”
Meanwhile, another late-night meeting was held at the Etoile Cathedral.
This time too, the saintess summoned all the chief priests. Because things were so bad.
“Since Brother Dave sent me a message a few hours ago that he is now going to kill Edmund, there has been no reply for several hours. The same goes for the rest of Edmund’s party.”
I didn’t bother to say what this meant.
The chief priests were also sitting in their seats with gloomy expressions, and no one was able to express their opinions.
The hero failed to kill Edmund. The message it implied was so great.
The goddess does not want Edmund’s death. Or Edmund is so powerful that he even breaks the will of the Goddess.
Either way, it was a result they found difficult to accept.
At the time when everyone was silent, the saintess’ crystal ball was comfortable in blue. She got a call from Dave. The saintess was contacted right away.
“Stand… Holy Maiden.”
“Yes, please.”
“Sin… sorry! We failed!!”
And Dave’s words completely shattered the hopes of the saintess and her chief priests, who had been relying on a 0.01% Chance.
“Tell me in detail. What exactly happened?”
“We went after Edmund. And… One by one they were properly caught in the trap he had dug, and one by one they were thoroughly killed. When I woke up, I was the only one alive.”
“Then, what about Calia and the hero?”
“Calia-sama… I do not know. It seems that he changed the battlefield and fought, but I don’t know more than that.”
“… It means you can still be alive.”
Coldly, even the saintess did not think that Calia would win a one-on-one fight with Edmund. She just might not have lost thanks to the warrior’s protection.
“For now, let’s reserve accurate judgment. Maybe Calia killed Edmund. If the Goddess helps, it’s completely possible.”
“… Do you really think so? Or are you denying reality?”
At the saintess’ optimistic conclusion, her senior priest, Pascal, quietly asked.
“Ugh! What do you dare to say now?”
“Are you saying you don’t believe in the saintess right now?”
“No. Let’s listen to him once.”
The saintess restrained the protesting chief priests and gave her voice to Pascal. Of course, her expression hardened.
However, Pascal spoke his mind frankly.
“From the beginning, this plan was reckless. We tried to defy the will of the Goddess on our own. And what are the results? The imperial army was devastated, and the Great Edmund’s party was annihilated.”
“Calia may still be alive. Why are you so lacking in faith?”
“Let’s face it. The revelation of the Goddess doesn’t change for a while. Even if it changes, it doesn’t change by killing Edmund. It will change if we come to our senses and seek a hero from him.”
“Edmund is already a traitor who has turned his back on the Empire! How can he be saved?”
“Didn’t the warrior who tried to assassinate the princess hug you? Why do you say no to Edmund?”
“Does that make sense?”
“Stop it!”
Eventually Saint Lucy raised her voice. Pascal and the other chief priests who had been arguing were all silent.
Continuing, the saintess looked at Pascal with her eyes that had lost her composure unlike her usual, and she said.
“Brother Pascal. It seems that the brother lacked faith in the Goddess. At this moment when everyone in the church should be of one heart and one mind, the Emperor mistrusted an important task by doubting.”
“What is that now….”
“I will declare in the name of Goddess Etoile. You are no longer the High Priest.”
“Saintess.”
“Leave now.”
When the saintess commanded, the paladins who were guarding their seats in the corner of her conference room stepped forward and tried to drag Pascal.
Pascal said to the saintess while being dragged away.
“How long are you going to go crazy? Stop this madness now! That is the only way Etoileism can live!”
“No, I can’t stop now.”
The saintess quietly muttered to such Pascal. And her gaze turned to the other chief priests.
“First of all, we’ll be counting on the possibility that Calia killed Edmund. Even so, if you really hear the news that Edmund is alive… Then I will kill him by any means necessary. Do you understand?”
Unlike usual, the head priests shrank at the resolute appearance of the saintess. However, those gathered here instinctively felt it.
Sooner or later, blood will blow in the Empire.
***
Speth fell asleep after the crazy party the previous day.
Early morning when the sun has not yet appeared.
I walked the quiet street alone.
Is it the effect of yesterday’s party? A bloody smell emanated from every corner of the village, and the heads of fallen imperial soldiers were stuck on long spears.
A new fact. Speth never leaves the corpses of his dead enemies unattended. Rather, he hangs his hair like that to set an example for his enemies.
I’m glad I didn’t stop and kill the prisoners.
After staring at the head of the imperial army on the window for a while, I went to see Calia in the middle of the plaza.
No, once Calia might be a better term.
She, who was at the heart of yesterday’s festival, is now tied to a tree.
Even from a distance, she was a miserable figure.
I went closer and saw her condition.
The first thing I noticed was her torso, with all her limbs cut off.
Thanks to this, Calia looked more like a bust you see in a museum or a mannequin used in CPR training than a human being.
Here’s a question. I came to Lee Ji-kyung, but how is she still alive? First of all, there were traces of fire on the first cut. It was also a magic flame with much higher heat than normal flames, and it was an earthquake mark.
This was not only to give her pain, but also to stop her bleeding. Thanks to this, excessive bleeding could be prevented.
Of course, if the bleeding was stopped only with flame, the side effects could be severe, and Calia could die from the extreme pain.
Therefore, Rafaela properly healed Calia’s burns using her various recovery magics, and recharged her energy so that she would not lose consciousness.
‘Rafaela must have been overworked.’
Thanks to that, she ran out of mana yesterday. She probably fell asleep as soon as she went to her quarters.
What also stood out was Calia’s head, which had not a strand of her coveted hair left. In addition, all the eyebrows were plucked out.
And her face. She was severely swollen because she had been beaten badly. She was gagged now, so I couldn’t see her very well, but she probably had a few broken teeth as well.
Thanks to that, people who knew Calia wouldn’t be able to recognize that she was Calia when they saw her now.
“Ughhh….”
But an important fact. Nonetheless, she was still alive.
I was even conscious now. As I sat in front of her, Calia lifted her head slightly.
“How are you feeling?”
I asked, gently pulling the gag down over her mouth.
Calia quietly looks up at me.
Perhaps he was glaring at me, but his eyes were so swollen that he could hardly see.
“Uh… uh… friend… ….”
She opened her mouth and made a noise, but she couldn’t make out what it was.
Instead, through the shape of her mouth, I inferred that it was roughly similar to ‘kill me’.
“You want me to kill you?”
I asked and she nodded her head. I said, stroking the hair on her head.
“But we’ve been colleagues for the past three years, haven’t we? I have an old love How can I kill you?”
“…… !”
“You promised. I want to live.”
“… ….”
“Think of it as a last mercy.”
I said, putting a gag on her mouth again. Calia mumbled, moving her torso as hard as it could, but I couldn’t hear any more.
Actually, Ji-kyung Lee came, but there was a way to restore Calia to its original state. The wounds on her face can get better if she treats them steadily, and her severed limbs can also be restored with body cloning magic.
Even now, Calia’s limbs were well preserved in Speth. Just create a new one based on that.
Of course, that will never happen.
After her last encounter with her Calia, I headed to her lake shore where she and her duel were fought. It was less bloody when I moved away from the plaza.
Only then could I walk in the fresh air.
And when I reached the shore of the lake, I gazed at the calm lake and lost myself in thought.
Am I a good person by nature? He smiled and grinned in front of Calia, but to be honest, she was uncomfortable.
Well, that doesn’t mean I sympathize with her. Because she’s causal retribution for what she’s done.
But I don’t feel comfortable. Maybe it’s because revenge itself doesn’t make you feel better. Or is the method of revenge he took this time wrong?
‘I need to be more careful.’
Either way, I came to the conclusion that the next time I would get revenge, I would have to do it in a different way.
In that sense, I started thinking about my next target.
… In conclusion, nothing has been decided yet from here on out.
I want to get revenge on the saintess quickly, but it would be risky because her influence is so great.
So, after returning to the Empire, I plan to look at the situation and come up with a plan accordingly.
I took out the crystal ball.
– Edmund. When are you planning to return to the Empire?
– Just talk anytime. I can bring you here through Mina. Then let’s talk.
Perhaps Mina didn’t say something secretly with me yesterday, but it seems that the princess still intends to bring me to the empire under her watch.
I put off replying to her for a while, and looked up the contact information of someone I hadn’t contacted in a long time.
When I first came here, the next person I met after Pesima.
An apprentice of Blanc Magic Tower who took magic lessons with me.
She has now become the master of the Mage’s Tower due to the sudden death of Pesima.
Marion et.
After checking her name, I called her right away.
“Long time no see, Marion. Do you know why I contacted you?”