Chapter 9. Check (5)
night. rain. bar.
Isn’t this a very fitting combination? Calian thought so for a moment.
If there’s one thing that doesn’t fit, it’s a fifteen-year-old boy who came to a bar in the rain on this night. Or is this the sight you see before your eyes now?
As I entered the place where I thought there would definitely be a group of blue warblers, I found something very unexpected, so my lips underneath my robe drew an arc like it always did.
“I guess I was too anxious.”
Calian said this while looking at a woman with sea-colored hair who was cleaning a glass cup while standing inside the bar.
Anyone who sees it will not be able to resist praising its appearance. The woman was so beautiful that she didn’t belong in a bar like this. In some ways, it was even more beautiful than Silique.
So isn’t it strange?
On a rainy night at a bar run by such a beautiful woman.
There are no customers and the smell of blood is overwhelming.
The woman with long eyelashes put down her cup and quietly raised her head. Calian looked at her and opened his mouth in a low voice.
“Those outside are just following me.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not so heartless as to send knives to people I don’t have a relationship with. They are also annoying people to deal with.”
It was obvious that she was waiting for Kalian, so the woman smiled and answered the words she said out of concern for Yuran and Kirie who were left outside.
Calian’s mouth twitched.
“It seemed like you were heartless enough to send a bow to a man who was in need of money and a young elf. I’m glad you did.”
“Because they became related people.”
The woman smiled again and accepted Calian’s words.
Calian glanced at the seven corpses strewn behind the woman. They were the same in number as those who had fired arrows at Calian’s party during the day. The woman who was following Calian’s gaze and looking in the same direction said.
“So did they.”
The Blue Warbler, a woman with sea-green hair, said so.
* * *
Lemain naturally took out his glasses and put them on when he saw Alan who came to see him in the middle of the night. I thought he was going to take out a bunch of documents again. Alan saw that and said with a smile.
“I just came here because I had a question, so please make yourself at home.”
“That can’t be possible.”
Alan smiled and said to Lemain, whose expression was now slowly beginning to appear on his face.
“I have lost a lot of trust.”
Only then did Lemain take off his glasses and go to the sofa.
Lemain said as he looked at the wizard who was now willingly sitting across from him without being advised.
“I can’t believe you came to me at this time to ask me something. From being treated as a person in charge of the crown, you have now become treated as an informant.”
Even though his dissatisfaction with the late and unexpected visit was not hidden, Alan spoke without hesitation.
“I remembered that your Majesty was looking into the answer to a question I was curious about the other day. So why bother checking with someone who knows so well?”
In the past, when Alan visited Lemain to talk about creating a magician’s corps, the documents Lemain was looking at were related to the residences of the priests. It was Alan who came to the palace that way because he remembered the King of Riverne scolding him for not seeing such things in person.
“I was curious as to how many of Tensil’s priests were located in Kairis.”
Lemain’s brow furrowed slightly. It was a response to a question about Tensil’s new view at this time.
“I don’t know if you knew what you were asking or if you just happened to be curious.”
This time, Alan’s eyebrows moved.
“Is there anything else related to Tensil’s fuse?”
“Even so, Tensil’s messengers came because of that.”
The sudden arrival of a messenger from Tensil was something Alan was well aware of. Of course, I didn’t know the reason for the visit.
Lemain looked at the desk for a moment and continued.
“There are currently fourteen priests in Kairis, and they will find and take all of them except one here in the palace. They said you should not ask for any more priests.”
Of course, there was no way those small, powerless envoys of Tensil would come to a country the size of Kairis and say such aggressive things. It may sound like they were trying to turn things around, but it wasn’t a pleasant situation for Kairis.
“In the first place, Kairis never asked Tensil for a priest, so it’s unpleasant to see it come out like that.”
Even the healer in the palace was the one sent to commemorate the wedding of Tensil’s princess Aisha and Lemaine.
Everyone knew that the healing powers exercised by priests were very effective. However, it wasn’t to the point where I had to complain about Tensil’s weakness in Kairis to ask for a fuse to be sent. It was especially not Lemain who threatened to give up such a thing.
“To commemorate this or that, they sent out priests of their own accord, and they spoke as if they had forcibly taken the priests from Kairis and were using them, so I had nothing to say.”
Alan, who was listening to Lemain, laughed softly. This is because the way LeMaine was talking about what happened with Tensil was like a child telling a story about how something unfair happened to him.
“I don’t know to what extent the priests have become scarce, but it seems like things have become very difficult. I don’t want to reveal the situation, so I have to take the priests with me.”
Lemain nodded.
“It seemed like it.”
“So what did you do?”
“I thought about finding the priests and hanging them all.”
Alan knew full well that he wouldn’t have said that. Lemain would not know that the war with Tensil would begin at that moment.
“Under the current situation, fighting a war would only benefit Brisen, so that’s not possible. I saw Randel and he said he would endure it for once. Since he wasn’t being managed separately, he told me to find him and take him back on his own.”
“Good job. Anyway, please let me know. This is something Prince Calian is curious about, not me.”
LeMaine’s forehead wrinkled again. This was the expression Lemaine was making because he had also received a report about where Calian was now.
“Why bother asking that when we have already arrived at the place where the priest is?”
“Which place are you talking about?”
Alan suddenly felt somewhat uneasy. Although I didn’t hear the details, Calian clearly asked as if there were no priests around.
“Latran. Before Tensil started a war with the desert, Tensil gave Count Latran a priest as a gift. Although they have now become estranged, the relationship between Randel and Count Latran was quite good at the time. There is no need to return the priest once sent. “I don’t think so.”
After hearing that answer, Alan was silent for a while. Lemain’s voice continued.
“Is something wrong?”
Alan quickly regained his frown and shook his head. Then he pulled out a hastily made excuse.
“No. The prince’s maid is a healer, so I guess she wanted to show it to the priest.”
“I don’t think so.”
The look on Lemain’s face when he looked at Alan was not very nice. Alan said, smiling softly.
“I guess I’ve really lost your trust. You don’t trust me like this.”
“I said I came to the king’s office at this hour just to ask such a question. Who would believe that?”
Actually, that’s true. Alan gave up his excuses and spoke honestly.
“Actually, I don’t know the details, so can I come back tomorrow and tell you? I think it would be best to tell the prince this story first. In any case, there is no person, be it Count Latran or anyone else, whose life is boring enough to harm the Prince of Kairis. So don’t worry.”
Since I had to leave the palace to deliver the information to Calian, there was no benefit in wasting time. Lemain, who had decided to compromise moderately, replied that he should do so with a disapproving look on his face.
* * *
Calian, who was looking at the blue warbler who had stopped dressing as a man, which he usually liked to do, took off his robe with a slow movement and placed it next to him and said.
“Someone attacked my group during the day, so I thought they knew who I was and attacked me.”
“I knew. I left it behind. It was careless.”
The blue warbler, which turned its head following the gaze and saw the same thing, responded.
The blue warbler seemed to have followed the elf named Luca after warning them not to attack Calian and his party. However, it was said that her group had them shoot arrows at Calian, and that’s how they ended up with seven corpses.
Calian, who understood the situation, nodded slowly. Then he raised his head and asked in a passing tone.
“So now I’m a relevant person too?”
It was a question asking whether the blue warbler was planning to attack Kalian.
“I was going to say so…”
The blue warbler stared at Calian for a while. Soon the blue warbler took his hand off the hidden sword. Along with that, Calian’s sharp killing skills that were aimed at the blue warbler disappeared. The blue warbler looked at Calian with curious eyes and said.
“It won’t be easy.”
Instead of answering what she said, Kalian asked something else.
“Is the elf you were following already dead?”
“It was difficult to chase the elf that ran away through the forest path. I had a headache about whether I should chase him again or give up. So when I came back, I found something even more painful.”
Calian looked again at the dead people who had lost their heads. The blue warbler turned his head and looked at the same thing one more time and said.
“I’m not very happy with the prince and the knights chasing after me. We haven’t been harmed much, so could you please go back? Then, I’ll also take my hands off the kid.”
“I came here to meet you, but you just asked me to go back.”
Calian shook his head and continued.
“Just ask and tell me a few questions and I’ll go back.”
The blue warbler seemed to be thinking for a moment, but then nodded.
“I’ll answer whatever you’re reasonably curious about.”
“If you’re not a priest, why did you look for a sacred object?”
Calian’s question came out right away.
“It’s quite expensive these days.”
“That sounds like you were selling a new product.”
A blue warbler poured a drink into a glass cup and drank it.
The blue warbler, frowning slightly at the strong smell of alcohol, answered.
“There are many times when I feel a little regretful about only having a day job.”
It was said that he came here to sell the new items he had acquired while working as a sergeant in Kairisis.
At that time, a faint energy of magic was felt from Calian’s fingers.
Calian, knowing what Alan was looking for, imbued the ring with magic. Immediately, Alan’s voice was heard.
– I heard that Prince Count Latran has a priest.
– Are you saying that you already had a priest with you?
When I asked about priests, he kept saying nonsensical things like whether or not there were any.
– I understand for now. But, Master. Do priests use a lot of sacred items? Enough to keep buying it over and over again.
– no. One or two will last for ten years.
The blue warbler continued to talk as if he had been selling new products.
It was said that the priest did not buy it to use it himself.
Calian raised his head and asked again at the blue warbler.
“Is there a person in Latran who buys divine goods now? There’s no reason to sell them in a rural area like this. If it’s Kairisis, it will be easier to find priests.”
“There is no one who pays as much as the buyer. He was also a person with a connection from the beginning.”
‘Are you someone who originally had a connection with Secretia’s Sejak?’
“Originally, I was connected to Secretia’s Sejak for something else, and then it became a relationship of buying and selling new items.”
It sounded to Calian that someone had been selling Kairis’ information to the Blue Warbler, and now instead of buying the information, they were buying new items.
Calian’s brow furrowed. Soon Kalian asked the last question.
“The buyer. Is that Count Hale Latran?”
“I don’t think that’s the right question.”
The blue warbler smiled brightly.
By not answering, it was as if he was saying yes.
– Hail Latran. He is a person who hides the priests he has and buys unused sacred objects at high prices and has ties to Secretia Sejak. It seems a little strange.
– okay. It seems like your behavior is unusual.
– Yes. I think I should check.
Calian’s eyes sank deeply.
