Another long sigh escaped Brod’s lips. “Damn you, Luciel. A student shouldn’t make his master worry. I’ll punish you, mark my words.”
“Well, that’s all I had to report about the empire,” Galba concluded. “Let’s move on to the next topic.”
The hour grew later and later, and yet the two of them continued to converse.
★☆★
“Whew... This whole situation with Dongahar only lasted for two days, but it felt like forever.”
It hadn’t been easy to convince Nadia and Lydia to stay with the pope, but I was glad they’d accepted in the end. I sat on my bed and let myself fall back, the weight of the day’s events crashing over me. I made a mental note to ask the pope if I could take Forêt Noire along with me as usual the next day. I still didn’t know why Dongahar had her spirit crystal in his possession. The pope had said that one could only touch a crystal if they had received the blessing of the spirit it belonged to, so Forêt Noire—the Spirit of Dawn, that is—must have given hers to Dongahar. But when? And did the pope know about it? Moreover, Forêt Noire hadn’t noticed that Dongahar had her spirit crystal, even though she’d given him her blessing.
Well, I supposed I’d have an answer to all these questions once he woke up, huh? Also, if I ended up bringing Forêt along to Illumasia, I’d need to ask the Spirit of Dusk if she planned on coming with us. Estia had managed to escape from Illumasia using the Spirit of Dusk’s powers. I hadn’t brought it up until now, but perhaps she would know secrets about the empire that could help us.
There was one problem, though: Returning to Illumasia might cause Estia’s emotions to become unstable again. I wanted to prevent that from happening, which was why I usually had her stay with the pope whenever I was heading somewhere dangerous. As long as she stayed in the Holy City, the Spirit of Dusk could most likely deal with any threats coming her or the pope’s way.
As I pondered these questions, I suddenly thought of Lihzalea, whom I hadn’t seen since the day we’d left the Kingdom of Dwarves.
“I wonder how she’s doing,” I muttered before closing my eyes.
Our next destination was most likely Illumasia, and I knew I’d be relying on Lionel a lot. After swearing to resolve this situation without anyone dying, I finally surrendered to the pull of sleep.
I didn’t know how long I’d slept, but a sudden chill in the air woke me up, causing me to raise my head from my angel’s pillow. Glancing around, I noticed a silhouette standing right next to my bed and immediately used Purification Wave. A bright light illuminated the room, allowing me to instantly recognize who the intruder was: Dongahar.
“Whoa!” I exclaimed in surprise.
Riiight. I’d put the hermit coffin into my magic bag, but I’d forgotten that once whoever was in the coffin woke up, they’d be automatically ejected.
“Why are you so surprised? If any of us has any right to be shocked here, it’s me. I can’t believe I’m still alive,” Dongahar said, perfectly calm.
I’m sorry? Anyone would be surprised under the circumstances! I yelled inwardly, but I tried to compose myself to deal with the situation with a level head.
“Anyone would be surprised to see someone right next to their bed in the middle of the night, especially with the lights off,” I retorted.
Yeah, the whole level head thing? I failed. Perhaps it was because Dongahar had been my enemy only hours ago, but I was terrified, though it wasn’t the same kind of fear as what I’d felt when Trett had done his wake-up prank on me.
“It seems that I failed to die when I meant to,” Dongahar said, inspecting his body.
“Well, it would be a huge problem for me if you were dead. I’ll save you as many times as I need to until you’ve told us the whole truth,” I replied.
He huffed in annoyance. “How very reassuring. But it’s too bad for you. I am going to die soon, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I had to agree to a soul contract to perform the demon summoning. It’s too late for me to run away.”
A soul contract? Was that different from a regular contract?
“The demon you made a deal with has disappeared, so shouldn’t you be in the clear?” I asked.
“Soul contracts are carved into one’s soul. Once made, they can’t be removed.”
“If you knew all that, then why did you... I mean, I get it was for the Church, but why go to such extremes like demonization and summoning when your body is so weak?”
“So, you read my farewell letter. Well, then you should know that I did all of this because I knew I had no time left. Besides, I believed that by making Her Holiness pass her judgment on me, she would grow from the experience.”
I felt anger surge through my body at his words. What a selfish man. Did he think that as long as it was to “help the pope grow,” he could force her to bear such a heavy burden?
I didn’t say any of that, though. He’d made up his mind and carried out his plan. I, on the other hand, had brought trouble to the Church by accidentally showing weakness. My words wouldn’t reach him, no matter what I said.
I drew in a long breath and decided to ask him the questions that had been weighing on my mind instead. “If you truly had betrayed the Church and allied with another nation, there wouldn’t be any point in asking you questions. But you didn’t. You don’t intend on hiding anything from us anymore, do you?”
“I don’t. I’ll reply to any questions you may have—as long as I have the answer, of course,” Dongahar said before settling into a nearby chair.
I’d already decided what to ask him first. “The necklace in the drawer of your desk—how did you get it? How did you get your hands on a spirit crystal?”
“A spirit crystal? So that’s what the gem is called?”
“Did you have it in your possession without knowing what it was?”
“Yes. That room used to be my father’s, you see. I have many fond childhood memories there, so when my father passed away, I asked the pope to let me move into his former room.”
So Dongahar’s father must’ve been the one who put the crystal in that desk. Did he also put the seal on it, then? I could try asking Dongahar, but he probably wouldn’t remember. His father used to be someone the pope trusted a lot, so it might make more sense to ask her.
Still, both Dongahar and his father must’ve been part of the Church’s elite elite to have joined the Executive Division. Not only that, but both had been quite high in the ranks. That proved just how much they’d contributed to the Church and explained why Dongahar had been so worried about its future, regardless of how crappy his plan had been.
I shook my head to pull myself out of my thoughts and decided to move on to my next question. “I’m going to ask you something else now. If you can’t answer, you don’t have to say anything.”
“My life might end any second now. Don’t worry about me and just ask your questions.”
He truly was an upright and honest man. I understood now why he’d been one of the pope’s closest aides. I wished we could’ve gone back to the time when we were deciding on the Church’s new guidelines, but alas.
“First question: You told me to go to Illumasia, but do you really think that I can just waltz into their territory and have any chances of success?”
“I have faith that you, Sage Luciel, can reach the empire’s central figure.”
“Why?”
“Because I know the empire has had to pay a hefty price for their research on demonization and demonic power.”
“Do you think I should spread rumors that I can undo demonization in the empire and wait for them to invite me over?”
“You won’t need to do that. They most likely already know that you’ve done it before.”
From his words, I deduced that there must be a spy from Illumasia within the Church. “You anticipated all that? Then you must have information about the empire for me, right?”
Dongahar nodded. A look of deliberation crossed his face before he eventually spoke. “I will start with the information I believe you’re most interested in.”
“I want to know everything. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t decide what I might find interesting.”
“Very well. I’ll start with the rumors circulating in the empire about the Lion of War.”
“Lionel?”
“Yes. When you were in Yenice, the Lion of War was fed food laced with poison by an inhabitant of a city Illumasia conquered during the war with Luburk. As a result, he spent some time hovering between life and death, and his memories are now clouded. I’ve also heard that he is now wearing a mask, since his face was disfigured by the effects of the poison.”