Saint Mallory Underground Passage (4)

Ject examined the Angel of Corruption he had brought down. The corpse of a winged being, far larger than an ordinary human at around nine cheok in height, lay toppled among the foul waters.

Rotten flesh, slime molds, and insects clung to its body. Though it had been neutralized by Ject’s sword and magic, it looked as if it had merely lost its power source for the moment and fallen asleep.

If the magical power of this underground passage became sufficient again, would it rise and move once more?

Thinking of that, it felt wasteful that so many of his subordinates had died merely to subdue this monster.

“Might not this itself symbolize the corruption of the Rescue Knights Order? Judging by the look of it, it seems they performed some strange research using an angel’s corpse… If we bring this corpse to the surface, we may be able to prove their corruption.”

As Ject examined the corpse of the Angel of Corruption, he cautiously uttered words of magic to analyze it.

“Ah.”

At that moment, a group appeared from the side of the underground passage.

Azadine and Haine, Zebec and Scott, had appeared here of all places and come face to face with Ject.

“…….”

For Ject, it was an awkward situation. He had exhausted his stamina and magic fighting the Angel of Corruption, and now of all times he had encountered Azadine?

“Sir Ject. What brings you here?”

Zebec asked.

“That is what I should be asking, Sir Zebec. Are you not a wanted man? Of course, you may not truly have murdered Darhan-Jadek, but if that is so, should you not have surrendered yourself to the Order and proclaimed your innocence? Yet instead of fulfilling that duty, you act together with an enemy of the faith.”

“Because I cannot trust the Order, Sir Ject.”

“Ha ha. Are you saying now that you distrust the Order? The doctrine and law of the King’s Church?”

“Do not equate doctrine and law with the organization of the Order, Sir Ject. You know very well how many innocent people that kind of wordplay has sacrificed, and how many voices it has silenced. Distrusting the Order’s organization is not the same as betraying the Order’s law or justice! Were it not the greedy high priests who truly betrayed doctrine, law, and justice?!”

“Hmm. Even if you say that to me.”

Ject looked at Zebec, who was protesting as though defying him, and was astonished. The Zebec he had known was not a man who spoke with his own voice like this.

“On the way here, I saw that Sir Maya had become a wereboar. Did you know that?”

“Ah, it was a regrettable accident.”

“As I saw it, you were the one leading Sir Maya’s party. Yet you are neither dead nor injured and stand here unharmed, while the young knight who followed you suffered such a regrettable accident? How very strange. Even from what I know alone, young knights who followed you rather closely were caught in such accidents very often, and in great numbers besides!”

Zebec was rebuking Ject, accusing him of deliberately leaving Maya to become a wereboar.

But Ject feigned innocence.

“You know as well as I that the duty of a Holy Knight is harsh and dangerous. Might not encountering many accidents simply be proof of diligent execution of duty?”

“Yes. I suppose that is what you would say. However, I cannot agree with that, and so I intend to prove my innocence in my own way and reclaim my honor. If you truly believe me innocent, then please do not interfere.”

But at that moment, Ject shook his head and drew his sword. The ringing cry of steel echoed through the underground passage.

“Hmm. I am afraid that would be difficult. If one suspected of regicide cannot be brought to trial, then how can the King’s law be spread throughout this world? Therefore, if Sir Zebec would trust that there is justice in the Order and entrust his person to us….”

“Sir Ject. Even for one such as you, you must have suffered considerable expenditure subduing that monster just now.”

Zebec did not back down here either.

Former master and disciple, the two stood facing one another with blades drawn, and even Ject’s subordinates, their bodies ruined and battered, gathered up their weapons.

‘Fight an Arbiter of the King’s Church…?’

For Haine, it was a suffocating situation.

This was not something a mere cleric or Holy Knight could decide.

It was a major crossroads that might lead to war between the two greatest faiths of mankind.

No matter that Haine had been delegated authority by the high clergy of the Benevolence Order, this was not a situation in which she could act rashly.

‘What should I do? I ought to stop them, but… the other side has been heavily depleted fighting the Angel of Corruption. But even so, if they fight and lose, we will bear all the responsibility and die.’

As the pressure laid upon her kept her from acting properly, Azadine stepped forward.

“Well now, Sir Ject. To meet in a place like this, I really feel we share a deep bond. Sorry to interrupt while you and Sir Zebec are catching up, but may I ask what exactly you are doing now?”

“…As you can see, I am looking upon the ugly underside of the Rescue Knights Order. Behold this Angel of Corruption.”

Ject pointed at the Angel of Corruption.

“The Rescue Knights Order obtained angel’s blood by truly killing angels. And this, here, is the corpse itself. The Angel of Corruption is what happens when magical power and curses take root in the dead remains from which the Rescue Knights Order drew angel’s blood and animate them.”

“With respect, do not leap to conclusions, Sir Ject. The Angel of Corruption is a remnant of an ancient war from long ago. To say that the Rescue Knights Order killed angels—such impious speech cannot be tolerated, not even from one such as you, Sir Ject.”

Haine refuted Ject’s claim.

At that, Ject gave a bitter smile.

“And yet, is that not what you also think, since you entered this underground passage? To uncover the secret that created the Celestial Fire Knights?”

“Ah, then Sir Ject, you entered here to uncover the secret of the Celestial Fire?”

Azadine asked with feigned innocence. Of course, Azadine, Ject, and Haine all knew one another’s true intentions, but because of their positions, none of them could say so officially.

“We merely came down here as part of the usual extermination campaign, to clear out the cultists hiding below.”

“What a coincidence. We too happened to come down to subdue cultists and investigate the strange sounds sometimes heard from the underground passage.”

Haine returned the same answer in kind.

“And Sir Azadine?”

“For sightseeing….”

“Sightseeing?”

“I have always been interested in Saint Mallory. Since childhood, I lived with Rescue Knights Order books tucked under my arm.”

“…….”

Ject thought Azadine was mocking him, but Zebec knew that Azadine was speaking in complete sincerity.

‘He is counting entering this underground passage as part of sightseeing?’

Haine half doubted it, but even she had no choice but to admit that Azadine truly was interested in sightseeing in Saint Mallory. He had in fact been paying a tour guide and touring the city of Saint Mallory.

“So then, what will it be? Sir Azadine. There are many matters piled up between you and me. Shall we settle them on this occasion? At a time when I am tired and my subordinates are wounded and struggling?”

“Matters piled up? Sorry, but I have no idea what you are talking about.”

“The copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth.”

“I told you I do not have it. I used it all up to restore the function of Vthuma’s throne. How many times do I have to say it?”

“And you expect me to believe that?”

“Yes. Believe me, please.”

“…….”

At Azadine’s insolent words, anger showed on Ject’s face as he slowly drew his sword.

But then, all at once, the surface of the sewer water began to tremble. Swarms of rats and insects started in fright and moved about in agitation.

“…This.”

“So there is more than one, it seems.”

They could sense another Angel of Corruption becoming active.

“This may sound strange to say in a situation like this, but….”

Azadine began.

“Rather than wasting our stamina fighting each other here, could we not first investigate just what the secret of the Celestial Fire is? It seems more reasonable than exhausting ourselves here for no reason.”

“And you would be able to trust me with your back?”

Ject laughed at Azadine as though he were speaking utter nonsense. But Azadine nodded.

“Of course!”

“?!”

For a moment, Ject doubted his own ears.

“So then, Sir Haine.”

“Yes?”

“How about… we form up like this?”

Azadine rearranged the team’s formation. His own party would stand in front, Haine behind them, and Ject at the very rear.

‘No, what is this… is he insane?’

Haine was horrified at Azadine’s arrangement. If Ject were to betray them and launch a preemptive strike, Haine would be the first one Ject killed.

In other words, from Azadine’s point of view, he had thrown the untrustworthy Haine in as a buffer between himself and Ject.

And if Haine wanted to stab Azadine in the back? Naturally, she would first have to come to an agreement with Ject behind her.

To place Ject and Haine behind himself by using the shape of this three-sided confrontation—what could be bolder than such a formation?

‘I-it is possible in theory, but what madman would entrust his own back to such a theory?’

Ject was no less flustered.

‘To act this boldly? Now that he has spoken first, he cannot very well claim it was a joke. But does this man truly not have the copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth?’

Projecting himself onto Azadine, Ject had never once doubted that Azadine had embezzled the copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth. Apart from learning the magic written in it, the copy was a magical treasure that served as a medium for gathering the faith of the King’s Church and a powerful source of magical power.

He had thought that failing to embezzle such a thing was impossible for a mage, but all at once it occurred to him that Azadine really might be the sort to do exactly that.

It was even possible that his claim of coming here for sightseeing was sincere.

“Well, this formation should satisfy everyone, should it not? I am glad we can cooperate. Then shall we go?”

Azadine pointed with his hand toward the heart of the underground passage, where the Angel of Corruption was causing magical tremors.

“…….”

Both Haine and Ject were struck dumb.

“S-Sir Ject. What should….”

Even Ject’s subordinates were at a loss.

They wanted somehow to resist, but they had neither justification nor strength left. They had already fought the Angel of Corruption once and suffered many dead and wounded, while Azadine’s party seemed scarcely depleted at all.

More than anything, Azadine’s relaxed attitude filled them with fear.

“You are to remain here, tend to the wounded and dead, and contact headquarters.”

“Sir Ject?”

“I have spoken my words, so I will act together with them.”

To keep his own word, Ject accepted Azadine’s proposal.

“Good. An excellent choice, Sir Ject. Welcome to the group.”

Azadine truly assigned Ject to the very rear of the party.