Retrieving The Divine Statue And Infiltration

After Rebecca and I quickly finished preparing to depart, we left the city just as the daylight had almost completely disappeared. We kept walking without stopping, even while eating along the way, and continued for about five hours… until the fatigue finally caught up with us and we decided to rest for the night.

When the two of us entered the Divine Domain together, Lady Seremees welcomed us while sitting comfortably on the sofa.

“Welcome.”

“Lady Seremees, excuse us.”

“It’s fine. After all, you’re walking outside the city at night because of my request. Thank you both very much. And eliminating the Stampede helped tremendously as well. Thank you.”

Seeing Lady Seremees’s gentle smile, like a pleasant breeze blowing by, made me feel as if my heart were being cleansed.

“I’m glad we could be of help.”

“I’m sure I’ll ask difficult things of you many times in the future, but I hope you’ll continue to help me. I’m counting on you.”

“Yes. Please take care of us as well.”

After enjoying a conversation with Lady Seremees for several dozen minutes, we went to bed early since we had another long day ahead of us.

The next day, just like before, we continued walking, and we arrived at the village slightly earlier than planned. After retrieving the divine statue, we immediately set off toward the Royal Capital again.

Even though we took several breaks along the way, we kept moving our feet… and somehow managed to return to the Royal Capital just before midnight.

Entering the city at such a late hour required more complicated procedures than usual, and we were delayed at the gate for a few minutes, but we both made it safely inside the city.

“I’m seriously tired…”

“Me too. But sneaking in should still be fine. How about you, Luca?”

“I can manage that much too. Though if someone asked me to fight a powerful monster right now, that would be tough.”

“I’d have to refuse that too.”

While chatting like that with Rebecca, we slowly walked down the main street, turning several corners in the direction of the church. After about ten minutes… the church stood before us in the darkness.

“A church at night is kind of scary.”

“…I know what you mean. It feels like ghosts might appear.”

“People who died with regrets in this world might stick around a church.”

“Hey Luca, don’t say things like that!”

“Haha, sorry, sorry.”

While exchanging those quiet jokes, we entered the alley beside the church.

“Lady Seremees, how does it look inside? Where can we enter from?”

“There’s a place ahead where the wall surrounding the church breaks off. You should enter the grounds from there. It seems to be used as a back entrance, but the door is broken and left as it is. Go in from there… and there’s a window nearby that’s slightly open.”

“Understood.”

That was careless… though since churches usually didn’t have anything worth stealing, security was probably lax.

“Rebecca, follow me quietly.”

“Understood.”

Just as Lady Seremees instructed, we successfully entered the grounds and crouched near the window that served as our infiltration route. Perhaps because of the time, no one seemed to be awake—the church was completely silent.

“What kind of room is inside this window?”

“It seems to be a young woman’s private room.”

“What!? We’re entering that!?”

“It’s the only window without a lock.”

Even if it was Lady Seremees’s request, the guilt was strong… And if the woman woke up, it could leave her with the worst kind of trauma.

“Luca, what’s wrong?”

“…This is the only open window, but it’s a woman’s private room.”

When Rebecca heard that, she looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“Wait a second, I didn’t choose this place.”

Since we couldn’t speak loudly, I hurriedly defended myself, and Rebecca nodded with a wry smile.

“I know. But entering a woman’s room does feel a little awkward…”

“Lady Seremees, isn’t there a storage room or something? I’d like to try unlocking the door there.”

“The storage room is… across the hallway from the woman’s room. You can go around from the back.”

“Understood. I’ll check there first.”

Carefully moving without making any noise, we reached the storage room. Its window was the old vertical sliding type. Sliding windows were popular these days, but this one looked old.

If it was an old vertical window, the stopper might be loose enough to move easily.

When I peeked closer… the stopper was indeed a very old type. When I applied a little force to move the window, it shifted slightly to the sides.

In that case, if I wanted to avoid leaving evidence, wind magic or ice magic might work.

“Rebecca, I’m going to try something. If a loud noise happens and someone finds us, we’ll escape to the Divine Domain, so can I hold your hand?”

“Of course.”

After seeing Rebecca nod with an expression mixed with tension and curiosity, I returned my gaze to the window. A wind strong enough to move the lock might disturb things inside the storage room, so I decided to try ice magic first.

I created a small ice ball on the other side of the window and struck the stopper with it.

After repeating it several times… the stopper finally moved, and the window slid upward.

“Luca, that was amazing…!”

“That’s only because the security on this window was terrible.”

I slipped through the opened window into the storage room and lit the surroundings with a small light. This storage room seemed to hold items that were rarely used, as dust had accumulated everywhere.