Chapter 16: The Corrupt Priest Kelton
Kelton... Kelton...
White walls covered in snow overnight.
The Blue Flame Priestess stood before Guis's east gate. Choosing Guis from several options wasn't for any particular reason. She had simply heard rumors of a Demon Slayer who had captured a giant demon with just a sword and felt compelled to come here.
After a simple identity check and entering Guis, she saw busy workers.
The once-destroyed city was slowly and steadily regaining its former appearance. Seeing the traces of destruction caused by demons, the Blue Flame Priestess's opinion of the Demon Slayer rose even higher.
Crossing the rebuilding city, the Blue Flame Priestess made her way to the lord's mansion. When she announced herself as the Blue Flame Priestess of the Holy Fire Church, the guards quickly ran to inform Tredon Phillian, Lord of Guis, of her visit.
The lord's mansion, which had been partially destroyed, showed signs of hasty repairs. The Blue Flame Priestess was guided to the lord's office.
"Welcome to Guis."
Silent eyes and a cold atmosphere; although his hair was gradually thinning, he was a man with enough gravitas to make such trivial flaws completely unnoticeable.
"I apologize for the discourtesy of greeting you in my office, but the reception room is destroyed. Moreover, my condition is as it is."
The lord, showing his wooden prosthetic hand, sank into his chair and sat comfortably.
"That's no problem."
"Anyway, it's quite rare for the Blue Flame of the Holy Fire Church to make a visitation. To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"
"Would you take a look at this? Have you ever seen this man?"
The Blue Flame Priestess presented a drawing she had made on her way to Guis. It depicted the face of the thief who had stolen a sacred relic of the Holy Fire Church.
Officially, this sacred relic thief did not exist. The church considered the stolen relic to be of little value, and after a few days of pursuit, he was immediately caught and, having already died, no official wanted poster existed. Therefore, the Blue Flame Priestess had no choice but to draw the man's appearance herself.
The problem was that calling the drawing 'crude' would be generous. Moreover, the person who presented this drawing had an unfounded confidence in her artistic abilities.
However, as soon as the lord saw the crude drawing, he immediately recognized that it depicted Marnak's face. After examining the drawing very naturally, he slowly opened his mouth, maintaining a neutral expression.
"Who is this man, that the Blue Flame Priestess is pursuing him personally?"
The Blue Flame Priestess sat quietly, gazing into Tredon Phillian's eyes, as if trying to discern his thoughts. After a moment, the Blue Flame Priestess's lips slowly opened.
"It's a personal matter," she replied curtly.
"I see."
The lord slowly examined the Blue Flame Priestess's face.
Long blue hair neatly tied back, and ice-blue eyes that showed no emotion. Her tightly closed lips hinted at her determination. The lord, looking at this striking beauty, fell into thought.
'She's clearly not after him for anything good. There's no need to tell her.'
"If that's all, I'm afraid I must ask you to leave. I'm rather busy at the moment, so I can't spare any more time."
"Yes."
At the lord's clear dismissal, she put the drawing back into the folds of her robe without hesitation and stood up. She hadn't come with high expectations anyway.
Leaving the mansion and stepping out onto the street, the Blue Flame Priestess showed the drawing to people, but of course, no one recognized Marnak from the crude drawing.
"Did he go to another city?"
Oblivious to the drawing's flaws, she concluded she'd come to the wrong city.
"You're being sent to the capital? That's awful! How will I ever see you?"
"I'll come visit when I have the chance!"
"What's there to visit here for? Don't make promises you can't keep... Just be careful! Traveling can be dangerous."
"Don't worry too much. I'm not going alone..."
The word 'capital' from the conversation between the red-haired woman and the grocer caught her attention.
"Capital..."
Even if she went to another city, her chances of finding him without a proper way to search were slim. The whole chase was based on a hunch anyway. She had no proof he was even alive.
And so, the Blue Flame Priestess resolved:
She would use her informants in the capital to find him.
***
Wheeeeeeeeng!
The Butcher ground the head of the second snow spider. Sticky goo splattered across my face. All I wanted was a warm washcloth.
- Keeeeeek!
Lost in thought for a moment, the last snow spider rushed at me and swung its sharp foreleg. But I wasn't alone.
Thwack!
An arrow flew and accurately pierced the snow spider's foreleg, delaying its attack. Yes, that was enough of an opening. The Butcher started its engine roughly again.
Wheeeeeeeeng!
I swung the Butcher and ground the snow spider's head. Finally, the last snow spider collapsed. I listened carefully and looked around, but there weren't any more coming.
I gestured to Carmen, who was still nervously nocking an arrow.
"I think that's the last of them."
"You think so?"
I wiped the goo off the Butcher and cleaned my face with the hem of my robe. My hair was still sticky, but at least my face was clean.
Carmen came over and skillfully sliced open the snow spider's shell with the sword at his hip.
"What are you doing?"
"Ah, I'm collecting the snow spider's poison sacs. Their poison is a powerful anesthetic, useful for all sorts of things. You can use it on arrowheads or just sell it for a good price."
I chuckled at his resourcefulness. Living with him, I'd learned that Carmen was surprisingly resourceful, especially for a nobleman's son.
"How do you know about such things?"
"I've been on a lot of monster hunts. There's no better way to improve your archery than real-world experience, right?"
Getting the poison sac meant cutting open the belly, which was bound to get messy.
"Might as well, since we're already covered in this gunk. Just show me where the poison sacs are."
Carmen wiped his face and grinned.
"Kelton's only half a day away. I'll show you how to extract the poison sacs. Let's get this done so we can get to the city and clean up."
"Good idea."
We each took two, extracted the poison sacs, and headed for Kelton, still covered in goo. And soon enough, we found out where the blood on the snow spiders' legs had come from.
A broken carriage, with blood and flesh scattered everywhere.
Carmen looked around, his face grim.
"It seems the snow spiders that attacked us did this. But it's strange."
Carmen rummaged through the broken boxes and tilted his head.
"There's not much stuff left for such a big carriage. Maybe they were heading back after selling their goods?"
"And there aren't even any corpses."
"Lots of blood and gore, but no bodies. That's the weird part."
Snow spiders suck their prey dry, so there should be bodies.
"Priest Marnak!"
"Yes?"
Carmen had already walked ahead, searching the area. I hurried over. Clear snow spider tracks were visible in the snow, leading into the forest along with the blood. Carmen pointed to the tracks.
"Looks like those four weren't the only ones. This is really strange. We need to tell the lord of Kelton about this as soon as we get there, before things get worse."
I nodded. There was no point in us chasing them down and playing detective.
"I agree."
We quickly checked the carriage for anything salvageable, but it was all wrecked, so we headed off again.
We picked up the pace and finally reached Kelton on foot. The city walls came into view. I ran a hand through my hair, stiff with dried goo, and said,
"We should tell the lord, but it would be better, and more polite, to clean up first."
Carmen nodded and replied,
"Yeah, this is way grosser than I thought it would be."
As we approached Kelton's west gate, the guards saw us and started scrambling, looking surprised. One of the guards hurried over to us.
"H-how did you get here?"
How did we get here?
Carmen and I exchanged confused looks.
"We came on foot, but...?"
"On your way here, did you encounter any monsters...?"
He stopped mid-sentence, realizing how foolish the question was, given our state. Carmen gave a wry smile.
"Can you tell us what's going on in Kelton?"
The guard swallowed hard and answered in a trembling voice.
"Kelton is currently under siege; all roads have been blocked for three days now. By monsters."
Roads blocked by monsters? Had we just walked right through a siege into a trapped city?
A higher-ranking guard came running out.
"Lord Stren Plkore requests your presence. I will guide you to the lord's mansion."
I pointed to my head and replied,
"Just a thought, but wouldn't it be more polite to meet the lord after we've cleaned up?"
The guard looked us over.
"The lord will probably allow you to use the mansion's bathhouse."
The lord's bathhouse. It was a very tempting offer. I glanced at Carmen, and he also nodded slightly, with a somewhat expectant look.
I grinned.
"Let's go."
***
The steam from the hot water felt good on my cheeks. I rinsed off quickly and sank into the private bath. The warm water was perfect.
"Hwaaaaaa..."
'K...i...l...l...'
I'd let Mother soak in the hot water first, and she was already completely relaxed.
"A private bath for guests? This lord knows what's up. He's already earned major points with me just for the hot water."
'Kill...'
Mother conveyed her agreement by flipping her palm over in the water.
After the bath, feeling clean and refreshed, I put on the fresh clothes the servants had provided. All I wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep. Of course, I couldn't do that.
Following the servant's guidance, I headed to the lord's reception room, where Carmen had already arrived and was talking with the lord. I bowed as I entered the room.
"Sorry I'm late."
"It's alright. Please sit over there."
The lord of Kelton was a slightly chubby and gentle-looking man, with a very young-looking face, and he didn't actually look very old. At most, in his mid-twenties.
As I sat down next to Carmen, the lord gave me a very welcoming smile.
"You're Priest Marnak, the Demon Slayer of Guis, aren't you? We're incredibly grateful that you've come to our city."
I bowed slightly and replied,
"I'm not that special. I just finished off a demon that was already on its last legs. The real heroes were the three priests from the Teachings Church who gave their lives."
"Finishing off a dying demon is not something an ordinary person can do either. Priest Marnak, you are a very humble person."
Just as the conversation was about to get longer, Carmen skillfully and smoothly changed the subject in a noble manner.
"I heard that the city is besieged by monsters."
Stren Plkore, the lord of Kelton, nodded with a gloomy look.
"That's right. The reason I called you two here is also related to that matter. As you two may have already felt, this siege is not just a simple monster surge."
The lord, slightly pursing his lips, uttered a heavy word.
"It's all the work of the Evil God's worshippers.”
