Chapter : 106

“I heard you weren’t feeling well… it seems serious.”

“I’m sorry….”

Theo, lying in bed, put on a pathetic expression and sobbed.

Hmm, are the tears a bit over the top?

In any case, it was an undeniable fact that he was a patient in poor health.

Because he had drunk poison as soon as his body had calmed down.

“For the most important witness to end up like this, the Sword of Doctrine is foolish as well.”

He probably knew what had happened since I’m sure Benaya didn’t hide the fact that they had fought, yet it was infuriating how he clicked his tongue as if it were a pity.

Fine, if he’s going to come at me with a smiling face, I should smile back just the same.

“How could I shamelessly blame His Eminence, the Sword of Doctrine, for what happened while I was trying a new magic?”

“A new magic from the Lisitoel family, how exciting.”

“It’s nothing much. It’s a teleportation magic….”

I decided to drop a hint.

In any case, it was best to alleviate the Pope’s suspicion as much as possible.

Though I doubt that man would be so easily fooled.

“It seems I developed a problem in my body while trying to improve it into a more easily usable method.

I don’t think I can use it twice.”

From where to where was the lie, Caelus keenly observed Theo’s face.

He enhanced his hearing with holy power and quietly gauged his heartbeat.

There was no room for doubt in the irregular yet steady heartbeat, as if he were in pain somewhere.

But why did he feel the urge to doubt?

The Pope’s eyes narrowed.

Despite the deepening suspicion in his eyes, Theo paid it no mind.

Rather, he relaxed his body and whimpered as if he were about to die.

In fact, he was in a lot of pain.

Not because of the aftermath of the teleportation magic, but because of the poison he had received from Lerwon-sunbae and drunk, he felt like he was dying.

“If you had succeeded, you could have left another great achievement, what a pity.”

“Like how my father deciphered holy magic?”

“Of course, that too is an achievement that will go down in the history of magicians.”

Indeed, provoking others is quite enjoyable.

As I became a little more cheerful and my body relaxed, pain naturally followed.

I frowned, and my body twisted.

The Pope, who had been slowly watching all of this, stood up from his seat.

“It seems I’ve held the patient for too long.”

“You can stay a little longer.”

“I must prepare for the verification.”

At a glance, he seemed relaxed, but an unconcealable anxiety was visible.

It was a natural reaction, as the tool he had believed to be under his complete control had plotted a rebellion.

Moreover, he had not hesitated to reveal his weakness in front of Ferdiel.

“Then, farewell.”

“Are you keeping what you took in a safe place?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Theo feigned ignorance for a moment, but when his eyes met the Pope’s, he subtly confessed.

“I swallowed it.”

It wasn’t just the poison he had swallowed.

He had swallowed the ring along with it.

He had stored it safely in his stomach with the Writer skill, and he could take it out with the skill again whenever he wanted.

The expression Lerwon-sunbae had made when I showed him me spitting out the swallowed ring was quite amusing.

“I see.”

If it came to that, did he have no choice but to give up the ring?

The benevolent smile disappeared from the Pope’s face as he surmised that the aftermath of the teleportation magic might not be the only reason for his being bedridden.

“A pity.”

With those words, the Pope left.

Theo, who had been blankly following the Pope’s back with his eyes, rubbed his arm, which had goosebumps.

“You crazy….”

For a moment, he had seen a glimpse of Solomon in the Pope.

Just as there was a goodness planted in Fel’s origin by a certain female priest, there was an unconcealable evil dwelling in the Pope’s origin.

There was no helping it; it would eventually rot away.

《You are quite reckless.》

Albedo, who had peeked out, climbed onto the bed and stuck to Theo’s cheek.

The warm temperature of the lizard felt like a hot pack, and sleep slowly crept in.

Theo began to blink slowly.

“I had to alleviate his suspicion.”

That way, the Pope would willingly swallow the poison in the holy grail without knowing.

He tried hard to open his drowsy eyes, but sleepiness had already begun to spread throughout his body.

《So you drank poison to do that?》

“Is this the first or second time?”

《It is precisely because it is not the first or second time that I am making it an issue.》

Theo, who had crawled under the blanket, blinked sleepily.

The world was already beginning to fade away. Albedo’s grumbling voice echoed in his ears.

“Sorry.”

Leaving behind a small apology, Theo fell into a deep sleep.

Albedo, who had been looking at his master’s pathetic face, let out a sigh while still stuck to Theo’s cheek.

《What value is there in a peace achieved by grinding one’s own body to dust.》

The lizard let out a sigh.

How did he, the first shadow born from a human and the king who reigned over all demons, end up wearing this shabby shell and acting as a mere human’s helper?

Albedo slapped Theo’s cheek with a light tap-tap sound, checking to see if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

Seeing no slight movement, Albedo got down from Theo’s cheek and stopped near his stomach.

Albedo quietly gauged the power of that thing which infringed upon the king’s authority.

A power similar to the Holy Sword, but with a completely different nature.

If Lucius had made something like this, Albedo should have remembered it, but Albedo didn’t even know that ‘something like this’ existed.

As if a part of his memory had been scooped out.

《Who on earth are you.》

Who on earth could commit such an atrocity against Baal?

As if revealing his complicated feelings, Albedo lay down and went to sleep.

It would be revealed someday.

《Perhaps, the existence of this itself….》

Is it a provision that Lucius prepared for you?

Why on earth did he think that? Albedo closed his eyes.

If I stay with you, the day will surely come when I find the answer to this question. It must.

* or

I’ve only been in bed for less than two days, and I’m so bored.

All I could do was read books and sleep.

I wanted to try something else, but I couldn’t show a rapid recovery.

Should I prepare for the final exams?

My body feels heavy as I open my eyes.

Is it because my body is sluggish due to the injury?

No. When I opened my eyes wide, a stranger was standing in front of them.

I reflexively twisted my body.

From behind my back, the tip of a sword cut through the air with a swish and passed by my side.

“!!”

The chilling killing intent instantly woke me up.

I put distance between us and used magic.

Twelve ice swords instantly surrounded the assassin and rained down on him.

He twisted his body and escaped through an empty space!

“Where do you think you’re going!!”

The ice swords, like the energy swords from a martial arts novel, flew nimbly and pursued the assassin.

The assassin, who had failed in his surprise attack, did not look back, as if there would be no more attacks.

“You think I’ll let you get away?”

I’ll aim for his legs first!

The moment the sword with a will of its own was about to graze his leg, an explosion occurred.

A huge roar was a bonus.

“Tsk.”

It’s definitely someone sent by the Pope, but I’m not sure if the magic was cast properly.

“Theo Lisitoel!”

“Ah.”

It hasn’t even been a minute since the explosion, so was he on his way to my room?

“Well, that is.”

I subtly gave Ferdiel a thumbs-up.

“In any case, I survived, so that’s all that matters, right?”

People gathered behind Ferdiel.

They all looked at the ruined room with their mouths agape.

“I’ll… pay for the damages.”

“No, it’s fine. I think I have a general idea of the situation.”

Fel even looked a little dejected.

While Ferdiel was sending the people away, I diligently blocked the wall with a circle of earth.

It’s a temporary measure, but it’s much better than a room full of holes.

At the sight of the neatly stacked earth, Fel had the eyes of a spectator watching a strange trick.

“Did you send everyone away?”

“Yeah, this building doesn’t get many people in the first place.”

“Oh, really?”

When I shot him a look as if to ask if there was a reason, Fel said nonchalantly.

“This used to be the Church’s orphanage.”

“Could that place be….”

“After the ritual was performed in the basement, the building was immediately demolished and rebuilt.

By the time ‘Ferdiel’ came back here, the old orphanage building was long gone.”

He says such things with a smile.

“Since it’s a new building built on top of one that collapsed in an accident, everyone avoids it because they think it’s unlucky.”

Wouldn’t people who think it was an intentional crime rather than an accidental one also have the reason of not wanting to get involved in complicated matters?

A person capable of demolishing a building within the Church would be counted on ten fingers, and there’s nothing good that can come from getting involved with such people.

“Hmm.”

Why did I have to get involved with the culprit?

It’s what I deserve, a self-inflicted disaster.

“Do you regret it?”

“It would be a lie if I said I didn’t.

But what can I do, this is just my personality.”

Getting involved in things like this every time was more troublesome than I thought.

But what could I do when I just couldn’t pass by?

All I could do was pray earnestly that I wouldn’t lose my life and get involved.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if one day, Young Master, you were found as a cold corpse by the river.”

“An assassin was just here, you know?

Don’t say such ominous things.”

“That’s why I think you’ll die soon.”

Fel said with a laugh.

It’s not a secret that I’m anxious because I think that might really become a reality.

Hmm, can I change the color of the earth too?

I tried changing the color of the earth to match the white building.

When I recalled the faint memory of the color of white clay, the drab brown earth soon turned white.

“Oh, you can do something like that too.”

“I’ll get revenge for you, though.”

“Huh?”

I think we’re talking about different things right now.

I blinked my eyes and mulled over Fel’s words.

So, if I get murdered, he’ll get revenge for me?

“Can’t we just go in the direction of protecting me so I don’t get murdered?”

I value my own life too.

The memory of the killing intent from before made me touch the back of my neck for no reason.

“I don’t think protecting you is going to work.”

What, that’s scary.

“It seems like it would be hard to follow you around and protect you all the time too.”

The fact that I can’t refute that is even scarier.

Just how many life-threatening situations do I have to be thrown into to be safe?

After changing the last of the earth to white clay, I lay down on the bed.

I didn’t really like it, as it was the place where my life had just been threatened.

I didn’t think I could rest comfortably either.

“Can you move me to another room?”

“Of course. There are plenty of rooms to spare.”

That’s very welcome news.

I packed a few important things and followed Fel out of the room.

It was a relief that Fel didn’t notice the mana stretched out like a thread from his fingertips.

Now then, shall we follow the assassin who has been caught in the spider’s web and see where he’s going in such a hurry?

It was difficult in many ways to suppress a sly smile like a mastermind.

As expected, I’m not suited to be a mastermind who operates in the shadows.

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