Chapter 188 – The Words on the Notebook

「Hmm, bingo!」The chair crashed with a bang as Conia stood up.「Look! “The stipulation to politely treat a foreign messenger who arrived in advance is not absolute. Once done with his task, he should return to his own country immediately, or join the diplomat who will arrive later. Staying in the country is a breach of etiquette.” In other words, him staying in Agiapole is not a part of his job and there’s no need to treat him like a diplomat!」

「Y-You finally found it…」

「Th-That’s great, Lady Conia…」

Before her was a long table with tons of books piled on top. Most of them were about laws and regulations related to diplomacy and past cases. The maids and Gray Deacons who browsed with her were exhausted, faces down on the table.

「Thank you, everyone!」

Conia’s innocence brought smiles to everyone present. They all loved her character; they were here because they wanted to help her.

「I’ll go see the adventurer Hikaru tomorrow.」

Conia didn’t know that Hikaru simply spouted random nonsense about his rights. It would, however, be better for her and her friends that they never knew.

Hikaru drew his Dagger of Strength from its sheath and poked the notebook. He was ready to run if anything happened, but nothing really occurred. He then reached for the notebook, and after checking that no one was around with his Mana Detection, he moved to a corner of the dark room.

Hikaru turned on a magic lamp and started examining the well-thumbed, leather-bound notebook. A red string was wound around it three times and fastened with a metal clip which had traces of mana in it.

「A hidden notebook with a magic seal… I’m guessing it’ll burst into flames or something.」

He was not interested in the priest who left and what kind of person he was. There was no need to put himself in danger by reading the notebook.

「But my curiosity is killing me.」

Once again, Hikaru drew his dagger.

「All right. Here goes nothing.」

He cut the string, but nothing happened in particular. The clip didn’t do anything.

「Phew…」

He tilted the notebook and let the string and clip fall on the floor. His mask was in the way, so he removed it and shoved it into his pocket.

As Hikaru opened the notebook to its first page and read the contents, he pressed his hand on his forehead.

『This notebook has a magic seal on it. If someone other than me moves it for even a little, it’ll burst into flames. If the trap doesn’t activate, you may assume that I’m already dead.』

「Hmm. So if the priest was still alive, it would’ve burned the moment I poked it with my dagger. Man, I really need more knowledge about traps.」

Hikaru decided to have a professional in disarming traps teach him. But that won’t be for another time. I already opened it, so might as well read it here.

『I would like to believe it is my friend Dennis who opens this notebook. But if it’s not, could you do me a favor and send this to him? His full name is Dennis Lugrim and he serves as a priest in Vireocean’s capital, Ville Zentra. He will surely give you a huge reward. I advise you not to read the contents as it would put your life in danger.

—Scott Fairs』

「He sure is thorough.」Hikaru muttered as he flipped to the next page.

He showed no concern of the warning at all. He didn’t really care about the rewards since he wasn’t in any financial difficulty. No mana reaction from the notebook anyway. There shouldn’t be any problem if he checked the contents.

「Hmm.」

Hikaru continued reading. The contents were written in a diary format which changed drastically midway.

『It’s been two years since I came to the Tower, but I still don’t know what goes in the Pope’s mind. Eighty percent of the Red Priests in the Tower come from Agiapole even though the articles state that fifty percent should come from other regions.』

『I’ve taken over budget implementation duty since spring. I’m glad I took the job. My only regret is that I have less time to preach outside. Budget implementation is the last frontier of the priests who come from other regions.』

『I came across a strange entry on the budget list. His Holiness says it’s research funds for studying sacred relics, but studying these things is not the Church’s job. We should only manage them. Some unfamiliar traders and researches have been frequenting the secret passage. What’s going on in there?』

『My colleague, Father Gravey, has been dismissed. He was ordered to go to the countryside as a Gray Deacon. He said “I’m glad I only got dismissed. Scott, the Tower is not the only place you can walk the path of faith.” He further quoted Saint Beyond: “You’ll feel God as long as you’re alive.”』

『How sad. How, oh so, sad.』

『Where did the money go? Failure to make this clear would be betraying the trust of the believers. I have to investigate this research facility.』

『There are still pure and innocent people like Miss Conia. The Church can still start over.』

The notes ended there.

「Now that was worth the read.」

In the end, Hikaru had no idea what happened to Scott, but it was clear that the priest stuck his nose where it didn’t belong.

The next few pages contained a blueprint of the Tower and some notes regarding the suspicious budget. A spot on the map was labelled “Research Facility Entrance?” No doubt that Scott entered there.

「I’m sure he was a good guy.」

Hikaru could tell from the notes that he was worried about the Church’s future. He could see that Scott stayed true to the Saints’ teachings.

「He could’ve asked for help from others, though I guess that could also be dangerous. It sounds like everyone on the Pope’s faction is an enemy.」

A struggle between the priests from the Pope’s faction and those that came from other regions. Regional priests came to the Tower after recommendations from respected people. From their perspective, the priests belonging to the Pope’s faction were nothing but corrupt people who bought their status. Conversely, priests in the Pope’s faction found the regional priests’ adherence to the Saints’ teachings annoying. Agiapole’s residents were not idiots. It was clear which kind they revered.

「Power struggles wherever you go… Humans truly are sinful creatures.」Hikaru shoved the notebook into his pocket and turned off the lamp.「It’s not like I owe you anything Mr. Scott. I haven’t even met you.」

Hikaru thought about it for a bit. So far he only knew a few people from the Church—Conia, Gelop, and Shuva. It was clear who belonged to which faction.

「Then again…」Hikaru started walking towards the location on the map labelled “Research Facility Entrance”.「I’ll expose what the Pope is up to in your stead. I just don’t like these guys.」

Hikaru put on his mask once more. The lights on the corridor reflected dimly on the mask.

The path was hard to see since the walls and floor were white. Only authorized personnel could enter this area. Even the maids and guards’ numbers were kept at a bare minimum.

Their official reason for the place was that it led to an archive for rare books and documents. In fact, there was a storage for books, which provided for good camouflage.

When Hikaru made it to the end of the secret passage—the one that Scott entered the other day—a wooden door stood before him. It wasn’t locked. He opened the door to find a spiral staircase that led underground.

Without any window, the way down was completely dark. Fortunately, magic lamps hanging here and there provided enough light for a safe descent down.

There were four levels underground with a small room midway that people who came here probably didn’t notice. At least one person was always inside, checking the people who passed through a peephole. The only people who would know about it were the watchers, the person who ordered for the room to be built, and those who had detection-type skills.

There was a device in the room that notified the guards underground right away of any intruder.

I guess they got Scott with this.

Hikaru walked past the room. The person inside didn’t react. After all, he couldn’t see Hikaru.

He made it down and into a dimly-lit corridor made of stone. There was no need for white here anymore. The passage branched two three directions—front, right, and left. To the left was a path that went deeper underground, a large room seemed to be at the end of the path ahead, and to the right stood doors that led to smaller rooms.

「All righty, then. Here goes nothing.」

Hikaru took a step forward.

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