Chapter 24
Surviving With An Sss-Rank Inventory Chapter 24
Episode 24
The morning when the sun begins to rise.
When Dio opened his eyes, washed briefly with water from the stream the day before and was putting away his belongings, Sepia was looking at him with blinking red eyes.
“sepia.”
“yes.”
Dio approached Sephia, who straightened up at his call.
“I have something to say.”
“….”
Did he intuit that this wasn’t going to be just a light story like usual?
I see her eyes shaking.
However, Dio did not weaken despite Sepia’s nervousness that he might ask questions that would reveal his secret.
“You…”
Dio slowly begins to speak and Sephia becomes more and more anxious.
Still, I can’t help it.
In order to carry out the conversation, Sephia needs to be a little more honest.
So far, whenever Dio brings up something important, Sepia often changes the conversation or remains silent.
As I thought last night, using the power of an oath to force an answer was too dangerous.
However, it was too important information for Dio to just ignore it like this.
‘Sepia’s story is directly related to my survival. And Sepia’s own life.’
There is only one method I came up with here.
That is, letting Sepia tell its own story.
Dio, looking at Sepia full of tension, finally said what he had been thinking about last night.
“Are you a heretic?”
“…yes?”
[Sepia’s reliability has decreased by 5.]
* * *
Freud’s empire boasts a vast land mass.
However, even within the empire, there was one large city that was not greatly influenced by the empire…
The Holy Kingdom of Atra.
Atra, located near the capital of the empire, was the largest religious state of the Luna Church and was a sacred area that not even the emperor dared to exercise jurisdiction over.
“Thank you for your hard work in coming this far. “Sister.”
A middle-aged priest dressed in smart clothes greeted Clara with a smile.
Clara was tasked with searching for a forgotten temple.
She relayed the events she experienced during the mission to Luna through Jeon Seo-gu.
After that. I don’t know why, but Luna came to Atra after receiving a call from the Archbishop, something she had never dared to imagine.
“Wow… it’s so big.”
This was Clara’s first time visiting Atra Cathedral, so she let out an exclamation and followed the priest as she led the way.
A cathedral where access is restricted to general believers.
The majesty of the huge Gothic-style building was so grand that Clara was daunted from the moment it entered.
Clara passed the altar and statues decorated entirely with gold and platinum marble and climbed the spiral staircase deep inside.
Eventually, she was able to reach the room at the top, and even though she knew where she had been invited, she could not control her pounding heart.
The so-called ‘Saint Hall’.
As if its name suggests that it is a sacred space, the sturdy door of the Saint Hall was engraved with the moon and cross symbolizing Luna.
“Priest Clara. “You may have already received training several times, but I hope you will be careful about your behavior one more time.”
“Yes, yes!”
Despite the priest’s kind words, Clara tensed up and responded to the sharpness she felt from him.
That’s because the average believer knows what it means to reach the front of St. Hall.
There can be no greater honor than this for those who are just beginning to pursue their dream of becoming a priest.
Squeak –
The huge door of St. Hall opened of its own accord, but the priest quietly looked at Clara and nodded.
This was because only called believers were allowed to enter the St. Hall.
The Saint Hall was a sacred place where no one could enter without permission.
Step-step-
Clara entered the Saint Hall with stiff steps and immediately lowered her head.
“Greetings to the noble Moon of Luna.”
The Saint Hall is like a throne room where the king of a country is treated.
A platform so high that you have to raise your head to the point that your neck hurts.
There was a magnificent throne that could not even be compared to the cathedra, the bishop’s chair.
And the woman sitting on the throne.
Who could be more noble than that woman?
Who could be holier than that woman?
There are two positions that can be said to be the highest positions in the Luna Church.
One is the Pope and the other….
“Raise your head. “Priest Clara.”
Saint Kaleyna Luna.
Her voice echoed through St. Hall.
‘How can your voice be so noble!’
Clara was filled with ecstasy just by hearing the saint’s voice.
What caught Clara’s eyes when she raised her head was a pure white dress that only the Pope and saints could wear, and a white rim with dazzling golden waves attached to it.
Also, with flowing blonde hair that goes down to below the waist.
Chilly cold blue moonlight eyes looking down at me.
The overwhelming presence of Kaleina, also known as the Moon of Luna, seemed to fill the Saint Hall.
Clara was very nervous about having a private meeting with a saint, but that only lasted for a moment.
Clara’s eyes were immediately filled with awe when she saw in person the image of the saint she had only heard about.
“I meet the noble Saint of the Moon.”
Despite Clara’s repeated greetings, as if drunk with glory, Kaleyna’s icy cold expression showed no change.
Kaleyna’s firmly erect head seemed to always be looking down at her opponent.
But Clara, as if it were natural, approached the podium with her hands politely clasped together and got down on one knee.
“I heard about the forgotten temple.”
“yes yes.”
“Tell me again everything you saw, heard, and experienced.”
Clara swallowed her saliva as Kaleyna’s voice was like a choir’s hymn, and explained in detail what had happened.
From the joining of A-class mercenaries and the Death Knights of the Mural Temple.
Kaleina, who heard the story in much more detail than what was posted in the report, did not open her mouth for a long time even after Clara’s report was finished.
Kaleyna cried out to Clara, who was so nervous that she wondered if she had said something wrong.
“Monte.”
“yes yes?”
When Kaleyna, who seemed to be uninterested in everything, mentioned a person’s name, Clara was startled and asked.
“Where has he gone now?”
“That…”
Clara hurriedly tried to remember at Kaleyna’s unexpected question.
“I only heard that they were going to a southern city. “I don’t know what’s going on…”
As Clara trailed off in embarrassment, Kaleina spread her palms out as if that was enough.
“….”
Clara’s silence brought silence to St. Hall once again.
Kaleyna’s expressionless expression lasted for a while, and eventually she finished thinking and slowly opened her mouth.
“Thanks for your efforts. Clara Priest. “The sister’s performance has been of great help to the church.”
“That’s too much praise.”
“This diocese will pay appropriate compensation. Please contact Father Gideon outside for information on the schedule.”
“thank you! “Saint.”
“Luna’s blessing will continue to light the way for you, sister.”
“Infinite glory to Lu Luna and the saint!”
Clara, who had never expected to hear words of blessing from Luna’s saint, was filled with emotion and her eyes filled with emotion.
Regardless of performance, the blessing bestowed in the name of the saint is a great honor that is difficult for ordinary believers to experience, so her reaction was by no means excessive.
After Clara left the Saint Hall, the only sound that could be heard was the saintess closing her eyes and tapping on the nightstand.
How much time has passed?
“pole.”
At Kaleina’s call, a new type appeared in front of her.
“Did you call me, saintess?”
Besides the saint, Paul Eppenhaus is the only one who has free access to the interior of the St. Hall.
Although he was an archbishop, he was the most powerful person among the archbishops because he was assisting the saint.
Immediately after receiving the report about the forgotten temple, he ordered his subordinates under the saint’s instructions to track the whereabouts of a mercenary named Monte.
“There was no lie in what the sister said. What do you think?”
“There was no report of this kind from the southern territory. “It looks like he probably leaked a false story.”
“I think the same thing. Archbishop Paul. “I feel like the name Monte is false.”
Kaleina pointed a finger at Paul without even looking at him.
At a silent signal, Paul naturally handed over the prepared quill.
Kaleina took it and wrote something on the paper spread out on the nightstand.
After quickly writing, Kaleina lowers her pen and nods.
Paul put the document written by Kaleyna in the envelope he had prepared in advance.
Then, he sealed the envelope with candle wax and pressed the saint’s seal, certifying that it was a special letter.
“Tell that to River North. You are likely to find traces of him in the Earldom of Herrington, which administers the western part of the Empire.”
“All right.”
Paul disappeared immediately after receiving the saint’s letter.
As she watched Paul disappear as quietly as he had appeared, the saintess closed her eyes once again and was lost in thought.
* * *
It’s cold.
She promised not to lose her pace no matter what she heard, but the word ‘heresy’ was enough to shake Sephia’s resolve.
On the continent, ‘heresy’ refers to a group of people who worship darkness.
“Am I…a heretic?”
Sepia looked at Dio with cold eyes.
can not understand.
Warlocks are the ones who advocate heresy.
Sepia couldn’t understand why the man in front of her who saved her said these words even though he fought against a group of black magic.
“Why do you think that?”
“Do you know what those we call heretics believe?”
In response to Sepia’s cold question, Dio began to say what he had been thinking about.
“They only pursue strength, not faith. Even if it means sacrificing our own compatriots.”
“I…”
“The power you showed me. That type of power is something I’ve never seen before. “It was too disorderly to be called magic and too violent to be called faith.”
As if he had no intention of listening to Sepia’s excuses, Dio interrupted her and pointed out strange things.
Gulp –
I’m being suspected.
Until now, Sephia had thought that the person responsible for the suspicion was herself.
But whatever. Rather, it was completely unexpected that the person who saved him would be suspected of heresy.
It can’t continue like this.
Until now, my actions of being suspicious of others actually acted as a poison.
Sepia began to feel scared that Dio might think of him as a heretic who used dark powers like black magicians.
It is said that warlocks do not hesitate to sacrifice their colleagues.
Dio’s words had some validity, so Sepia quickly shook her head.
“That can’t be possible!”
“They say a strong negative is a strong positive…”
It was Sepia herself who became impatient with Dio’s reaction.
Instead of the friendly attitude he had shown so far, Dio looked at her indifferently, putting a lot of pressure on Sephia.
Sephia recalled the image of Dio she had seen before losing her mind when Victor attacked her.
The sight of Dio mercilessly slaughtering the warlocks is like…
‘Could it be… Holy Hwangcheong?’
Is it really necessary for a mercenary to go out and search for the bandits’ hideout hidden in the Tyr Mountains?
Moreover, the hideout of these thieves is no different from the den of black magicians.
There was only one force that could deal with them faster than the Rivernos Knights, to which her brother belonged.
A heretic interrogator from the Holy Emperor, who is said to be the first moon of Luna.
A terrible group that holds out the sword of judgment without mercy if there is even the slightest suspicion of heresy.
“…I’ll tell you everything.”
Survive as an SSS-level warehouse character