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Translator: M.S
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: The Heretics' Chapel
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This was back when I was still sleeping rough in the Ilneon Dungeon.
Until I was seventeen, that is.
I swung my sword all day long because I felt like my heart would shatter if I didn't.
Every day, only after I was utterly exhausted, I'd wash up in the stream and head home. Daisy would run to me from the entrance of the ruins, shouting, "Big brother!" and give me a tight hug.
My youngest, exactly ten years my junior.
I can't describe how much that small, warm child meant to me.
Thanks to her warmth, I could sleep through those harsh nights, snoring softly.
* * *
“Daisy. Why did you do it?”
Daisy has pretty, sharp eyes and a short red bob.
Now seventeen, she kept her lips pressed tight and stared at her toes.
Her whole body was covered in blood, but thankfully, none of the wounds looked deep.
The blood seeping through the bandages wrapped around her was a pitiful sight.
I scratched my head roughly.
“You can't be doing this. What's this, drawing swords on family? Seklan. You say something too.”
At that, Seklan hung his head low.
“...I'm sorry, Teach.”
As if irritated by his words, Daisy's tightly sealed lips parted.
“Bullshit.”
Seklan shot Daisy a glare.
Daisy looked away with defiant eyes.
The little kids nearby started chattering, tattling on them.
“Teach, Teach! Daisy swung her sword at Seklan first!”
“That ugly man from before told her to do it!”
“Yeah! He said he'd take whoever won a sword fight!”
“Seklan didn't want to fight, but Daisy kept attacking him!”
Daisy...
I thought I understood how she felt.
We were falling apart.
With Ksias's tacit approval, we were getting pushed around by everyone.
To escape this damn situation, five of our younger ones who'd come of age had left us.
They said they'd go find a new, safe place for all of us to live.
After that, things only got worse.
Lord Ipsen was dead.
The kids were getting beaten up.
The few businesses we had left were in shambles.
My youngest, Daisy, must have been anxious.
She might have felt pressured to do *something*.
I get it.
I really do.
But still,
this wasn't the way.
“Daisy. Were you really trying to become a vampire?”
She didn't answer, so I asked again.
“Daisy, answer me.”
She feigned indifference, but finally, as if she couldn't take it anymore, she met my gaze, her breathing heavy and ragged.
“Why? Am I not allowed to become Ksias's vassal? You became one when you were my age! So why are you meddling?”
Mister...
She used to call me 'big brother' all the time when she was little... At some point, she started calling me that.
A corner of my heart ached.
I quickly hardened my wavering expression and spoke firmly.
“Daisy. Don't you know? Everyone died because of him. I was the only one who survived. And look at the state I'm in. You want to serve under him? As a bloodsucking vampire, no less?”
I shook my prosthetic arm, and Daisy's eyes wavered.
But she gritted her teeth again and spat out harsh words.
“What does it matter! Are you my dad or something?”
“I'm not your dad. Does that mean we're not family?”
Daisy fell silent.
I wanted to stop and just console her.
But,
“Forget it! Just forget it! We're strangers anyway! Who are you to protect us?! You don't have to! I'll live my life how I want, so why do you keep meddling! It's so annoying!”
Daisy screamed.
Strangers... That was too harsh.
“Hey. Daisy. Who do you think I... for?”
“Who! Asked you! To kneel?! Why! Why do you do it?! Why are you always...!”
“Daisy...!”
“Enough! Who are you to worry about anyone else? You're always bleeding all over the place. Mister. Please, just live your own life. Stop being so nosy!”
Daisy turned her back on me and disappeared with a leap.
A cold silence fell.
Maybe it's because I had two good teeth knocked out? I feel a little dizzy.
As I slumped down, Seklan approached and spoke carefully.
“Teach... Daisy probably didn't mean it. It's... she's a teenager.”
He says that, even though he's the same age as Daisy.
“I know. She couldn't look me in the eye when she was yelling just now.”
Seklan, who had been nodding at my words, carefully added.
“And... I know. That being able to kneel in that situation is also a form of courage... You taught us that. Don't worry about the means. And once you've made a decision, don't look back.”
...Is he trying to comfort me at a time like this?
This kid is so thoughtful.
I ruffled his hair.
He examined my wounds.
“You're going to need a potion. Wait here a moment. I'll go get Mister Balseon.”
Seklan hurriedly got to his feet.
But just then, a gruff voice called out.
“Lansen? Lansen! Are you okay?!”
*Thump, thump, thump!*
A large, bear-like man came running through the shadows of the ruins.
A potion bottle was held daintily in his large hand.
Knight Balseon. Our guardian.
But how did he know to come already?
Balseon approached and answered.
“Lina came by earlier. Said Daisy sent her. She said a fight broke out and it looked like you were going to get hurt, so she came to get me.”
Just then, a little girl popped out from behind Balseon's massive frame.
Lina, her hair in pigtails, shrieked.
“Ah! Mister! I told you it was a secret that Daisy sent me! She'll kill me if she finds out!”
Balseon, a beat too late, said, "Ah," and slapped his own head.
“Ah, right. You did.”
At that, a small laugh escaped my lips.
I glanced at Seklan and gave a slight nod.
See? Look how she worries about me, despite what she says.
That's the kind of relationship she and I have.
* * *
Thanks to the potion, the cuts healed quickly, but my knocked-out molars and broken ribs still hurt quite a bit.
Still, Mister Balseon had wrapped them in bandages, so I could move without much trouble for now.
‘Anyway, what should I do...’
Nagi will be back tomorrow.
He might even come every day.
That pig-like bastard will play with me to his heart's content, and in the end, he'll turn all my kids into his bloodkin.
He's that kind of cowardly scumbag.
“Ah, this is a pain... *Cough! Cough!*”
Damn it...
I coughed up blood again.
Dark clots of blood dripped onto the ground.
This is why I came to sit where no one could see me.
I keep wringing out my broken aura core... My already ruined body is just getting worse.
I probably don't have long to live.
That's why I'm worried.
Before I die, I need to sort out this twisted situation and be done with Ksias...
“Right. Nagi isn't the problem. In the end... I have to negotiate with the Count.”
I gripped the old necklace I wore around my neck.
An antique silver necklace. It was a keepsake from my mother and a treasure of the Vanroah royal family.
An ancient artifact, no less, inscribed with spatial magic.
When we fled the kingdom, I'd brought the royal treasures in here.
*Whoom—*
My hand vanished like smoke near the necklace.
I fumbled around inside the subspace, looking for something.
‘...There's not much of use in here.’
All that was left were symbolic items, like the royal seal or the king's sword, which were difficult to sell. What few treasures we had were sold off long ago.
“In the end... this is all I have left...”
What I finally pulled out was a single book.
This was the first time I'd ever taken it out of the subspace. Even I didn't really know what it was.
The book's cover was made of an impossibly thin, unknown metal that would ring out with a *clang* if you tapped it.
It was white overall, but when I held it, fine grooves in the surface would glow with a green light.
“The Book of Fate...”
It was said to be a treasure the royal family considered as important as the royal seal, if not more so.
From the first king, no, from his ancestor's ancestor's ancestor's ancestor... A book our family has supposedly protected since time immemorial...?
My father said that protecting it was our duty and our calling.
I was never told why we had to, what it was for, or what it truly was.
Just an unknown book.
‘It's all meaningless now.’
Things like the royal seal could attract the Empire's attention... so this was the only useful thing left.
“Still... it's worth a try. Count Ksias likes ancient artifacts, doesn't he? Anything with 'ancient' in the name is expensive.”
Right.
I'll offer him this and get his assurance in return.
That he won't touch our family anymore.
That he won't interfere when we leave Kushan City.
I'll make those my two conditions.
Ksias was a damn robber baron of a count... but he was the type to listen if you gave him something, so it was worth a shot.
I had no other options left.
“Teach!”
Just as I was organizing my thoughts, Seon approached from the darkness.
“Are you okay? Does it hurt?”
A small hand gripped the hem of my clothes tightly.
I shifted slightly to hide the clots of blood I'd spat on the ground.
“Yeah. It doesn't hurt anymore.”
“That's good! Were you looking at a book?”
“Huh...? Oh, this?”
I answered, thoughtlessly opening the book.
*Flip—*
Pages full of an ancient language swam before my eyes.
“Wow! Can you read this, Teach?”
“Of course not.”
Probably no one in the world can.
But then,
“Huh...?”
One of the pages I was flipping through suddenly caught my eye.
*Woooong—*
On that page alone, the letters began to glow with a greenish light.
But what was even more concerning was...
“Why can I read this...?”
An ancient language from at least 10,000 years ago read as naturally as the common continental tongue.
This is what it said.
“Luceras Calendar, Year 4673. March 17th, overcast. The heretics' secret chapel was filled with ominous symbols...”
The moment those words entered my eyes and embedded themselves in my mind,
*Thwump!*
My vision flipped.
It felt like I was a fish on a hook, yanked out of the world.
Suddenly, everything grew distant.
“Huh? Teach? Teeeach! Where'd you go!”
Seon's voice, searching for me after I'd suddenly vanished, gradually faded away.
Countless hours flowed around me like a river.
*Tick-tock-tick-tock*
The sound of a second hand burrowed into my ears.
I was falling into some unknown place.
* * *
A corridor made of granite.
Candelabras lining the walls bathed the surroundings in a sunset-like glow.
*Tat-tat-tat-tat!*
‘What the...’
When I came to my senses, I was already running.
Wearing a deep, black hood.
In front of me and beside me were six others dressed in the same attire.
‘What? Where am I? Why am I running like this?’
I was just reading a book.
Where am I, and why am I doing this?
Even my clothes have changed.
‘...First, I need to figure out what's going on.’
I didn't show my panic, moving only my eyes to observe my surroundings.
‘...This isn't an illusion. It's real.’
My body was, after all, once that of a Sword Master.
My keen senses can easily see through something like an illusion.
But,
‘Huh...?’
As I sharpened my senses and looked around,
something felt strange.
This place, it looks familiar.
The man running at the very front spoke in a low, raspy voice.
“An intruder has entered the chapel.”
It was a strange language I'd never heard before, but for some reason, I understood it perfectly.
“First, secure the Elixir.”
The other hooded figures answered the man, who was clearly their leader, with silence.
I took the hint and remained silent as well.
‘I don't know what's going on... but at least they don't seem to find me suspicious.’
*Tat-tat-tat-tat!*
The seven of us, myself included, ran together down the torch-lit corridor as if we'd been a party from the start.
‘Who are these guys?’
Judging by the way they ran, they were fairly well-trained swordsmen. Though they were still no match for Nagi's men.
The leader of the group was a bit better, at least.
But,
‘He feels strangely ominous...’
The leader.
For some reason, my instincts were sending me a warning. That guy is dangerous.
‘This is a new feeling. I feel like I could win, and yet... I'm hesitant?’
I raised my guard for the time being.
I carefully surveyed my surroundings, trying not to draw attention.
Looking closer,
I was sure of it.
‘As I thought... this is the Ilneon Dungeon.’
Our hideout.
I didn't recognize it at first.
The dungeon that had been dilapidated and worn was now in pristine condition.
The granite finishing on the floor and walls sparkled, and grotesque carvings were clearly visible everywhere.
But looking at the overall structure, there was no doubt it was the Ilneon Dungeon.
On top of that,
‘He said "Elixir" earlier, right?’
The story of an Elixir being excavated from the Ilneon Dungeon 200 years ago was very famous.
The Elixir, an ancient miracle that could no longer be made.
‘That Elixir... is here?’
*Shudder.*
Goosebumps ran up my arm.
A single hypothesis struck me.
The same structure as the Ilneon Dungeon.
But a pristine interior.
The Elixir.
And crucially...
‘Luceras Calendar, Year 4673.’
The words I read in the book right before I came here.
‘The ancient civilization that disappeared 10,000 years ago was called Luceras, wasn't it...?’
All these facts pointed to only one possibility.
‘Time travel...?’
In other words,
Right now,
I seem to be in the middle of the so-called glorious Age of Magic, 10,000 years in the past.
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