Chapter 470

Narke seemed to have no concrete plan of his own yet either. After thinking it over for a while, he finally spoke.

“Okay. How about we list everything we know about St. Mark? You go first, Lukas.”

I still couldn’t think of any clear clue connecting St. Mark to the traitor in the Papal See, but since he had asked, I had no choice but to dig out everything I could remember. Counting on my fingers, I rattled off the words that came to mind.

“Evangelist, Gospel, Peter, Catholic—Eastern Orthodox Church, Alexandria in Egypt, the winged lion, an evangelist rather than an apostle… like St. Luke. And Jerusalem, Antioch, Cyprus, St. Mark’s Basilica.”

Mark was the author of the Gospel of Mark and had accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. He was venerated as a saint by both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, though they celebrated his feast day on different dates. After two missionary journeys, he became Peter’s beloved disciple and interpreter. He was also said to have been the first to use the word ‘Gospel’ in the Church—the word came from the Greek euangelion, meaning a gift given in return for hearing and delivering good news. Perhaps that might help us interpret the clue as well.

He was the first Patriarch of Alexandria in Egypt, and his symbolic animal was the winged lion. Jerusalem, Antioch, and Cyprus were places he visited during his first missionary journey. St. Mark’s Basilica stood in St. Mark’s Square in Venice. It was not where he was martyred, but it housed his relics.

Countless other pieces of information, connected like a web, came rushing into my consciousness. I narrowed my eyes slightly, focusing on my thoughts. Narke seemed satisfied with what I had said, as though he had managed to organize his thoughts.

“Good. We’ve got all the important pieces. All that’s left is connecting the information. I really like having a friend who can use his memory like an encyclopedia.”

“I’m glad. Make full use of that memory while you can.”

“Haha, that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Of course. With what we know, I’m starting to feel like we can actually figure this out. What about you?”

I answered with a smile instead of words. Narke suddenly tilted his head slightly, perhaps wondering where all my knowledge had come from—after all, he knew I was an atheist.

“But from Jerusalem to Cyprus—that was his first missionary journey. How do you even know things like that~?”

“I studied them separately after I became a cardinal. It was a religion that helped me, after all. I wanted to study it seriously and show it the respect it deserved.”

“Hmm, right. I think you said something like that before.”

“I probably just thought that to myself.”

“Aha~ Hahaha.”

“…….”

I could only shrug, dumbfounded.

Even though I had studied, there were still plenty of things in this world that remained unfamiliar to me. Modern Catholicism and 19th century Catholicism in this world differed somewhat in their liturgical practices, canon law, and the interpretation of certain doctrines. Modern Catholicism followed the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, which was held in the 20th century, but in this era of this world, the Second Vatican Council had yet to take place. It never would, either. A different council would come into being instead. If things continued to diverge like this, the 21st century of this world would be completely different from the one I knew—and from here on, there would only be more differences to come.

In any case, the basic knowledge I had brought with me often clashed with the reality of this world. To avoid arousing suspicion, I had to keep studying diligently. And, of course, even though the Papal See of this magical world had enthusiastically recruited me into an honorary position—basically making me a reserve who could provide divine power in an emergency—I had also genuinely tried to fulfill the duties that came with being a cardinal. I still felt indebted to the handful of sincere believers among the faithful.

As my thoughts reached that point, another question took over my mind. I pulled out the notebook I’d been carrying around since the day before yesterday and jotted down a few thoughts.

“So, Narke. The problem now is how we put all this information together. And once we do, how are we going to get word to the Papal See? Since we can’t go there ourselves, if we send the information in writing, someone might intercept it and come after us.”

“…….”

“To begin with, can you trust your aide, Lord Simone Savelli?”

“I’ll make a plan for that from here. Right now, the important thing is figuring out how to put the information together, like you said.”

“So?”

“St. Mark. This tells us a lot, but not what we actually need to know. Could the culprit be a priest or deacon of the Papal See named Marco? Or should we use the reference to ‘John called Mark’ in Acts and look for a clergyman named John? It’s worth a try, but the Papal See has already interrogated its clergy several times.”

I blinked, quietly waiting for him to continue. Narke slowly turned the wooden case he’d received as the means of deciphering the scytale over in his hands.

“First, I should leave another cipher and pressure Einsiedel into giving us more information. But he might not know anything beyond this, either. So…”

Narke trailed off, then his eyes lit up.

“We need Elias.”

At the mention of Elias’s name, a thought flashed through my mind like a bolt of lightning. Slowly, the corners of my mouth lifted.

“I mean that ability to use two symbols—the whale and Ishmael—from Moby-Dick, the Bible, and Leviathan to develop his own line of reasoning, then set those symbols aside again. We need someone who can somehow possess both originality and universality, even though the two are difficult to reconcile.”

“You’re right.”

I continued with a satisfied smile.

“Let’s meet in my room as soon as art class is over. We’ll all think it through together. I’ll bring Elias, too.”

“Good! I should head back to Trier, too. I’ll stop by the library there and borrow some books about Mark.”

“Oh, right. You can actually borrow books and take them outside. Nice.”

“You’re allowed to borrow them, too. Want me to find you something you might like?”

My eyes widened at that. Come to think of it, he was right. I should go there sometime soon and borrow a few old books that weren’t available for purchase. Reading old books and nonfiction was nothing more than a hobby, something with no immediate practical use, so the thought of visiting Trier again gave me a rare sense of anticipation.

I shook my head. I wanted to go to the library myself and pick out the books I liked before borrowing them.

That was something I could think about after the art exchange club and my basic art lessons were over. For now, I asked Narke, “More importantly, do you have any intention of painting?”

Apparently not. I didn’t want to paint either, so how did I end up getting dragged into this just because two of my friends kept pestering me?

The next day, I handed Ulrike the rose-colored three-dimensional collage canvas I had made the day before. Then I started working on another three-dimensional collage canvas for Leo, which took another four hours. For Ulrike’s canvas, I had built the collage up into a rounded shape like a volcanic crater, but this time I attached photographs to a three-dimensional structure based on a simplified cross-section of a cathedral, reduced to two lines.

For the piece I was making for Leo, I wanted to bring out more of the sense of volume, so I applied the modeling paste roughly before attaching the paper as thinly and closely as possible to the curved surface. That didn’t mean the result was particularly impressive—the application of modeling paste was a matter of manual skill, and I was practically on the verge of ruining the whole thing—but at any rate, I had done my best.

Because of that, it took a little longer, and I couldn’t finish it in four hours.

“I don’t see anything particularly strange about him, but he’s scary.”

That was Ulrike’s assessment of Eugène Lamour today.

“He scolded me for using rough lines in the shading. Why…? He said it was fine to use rough strokes when drawing the shadows of trees in a landscape. But you can’t do that on a person’s face?!”

“He does teach you technical things, at least.”

“Yeah. I asked him to teach me…”

Ulrike had spoken with a serious, stern expression while Sir Lamour was there, but as soon as it was just the two of us, his expression fell, and he let out a string of heavy sighs. Then he put a hand on my back and finally asked what he had been wondering about all along.

“But does Sir Lamour really not seem that interested in you, Lukas? I thought you were his target.”

“Exactly. I only exchanged two words with Sir Lamour today.”

“Then why on earth did he single you out? Did he really see some artistic talent in your eyes, Lukas? How did he even know you were capable of making something this incredible?”

“Thanks. I guess it’s lucky it was to your taste. You’re the only person who’s called this an incredible work…”

I snorted and quickly changed the subject before Ulrike could protest.

“Anyway, what do you think of Sir Eugène Lamour now?”

“It’s only been two days. If Sir Lamour really came here with bad intentions, there’s a good chance he’s keeping his claws hidden. If it were me, I’d spend months blending into our lives before stabbing us in the back.”

“So, you mean you still can’t tell?”

“Exactly.”

I nodded to show that I understood and got to my feet.

“Let’s eat and get ready for the next class. Come on.”

After lunch, I met the teacher who had come to teach me the basics of art. Then we went straight to the club he’d mentioned yesterday. There wasn’t any particular reason for it. His kindness was unusual enough that I figured I’d take a look around for about an hour and then leave.

“We have one more guest joining our club.”

The atmosphere in the club was warm and lively. Dim lighting, people wearing masks as though they had come to a masquerade ball, and drinks, easels, and canvases scattered throughout the room. Red silk wallpaper covered the walls, with gold decorations running along the molding. Regardless of their social standing, everyone was dressed lavishly enough to look quite wealthy. Their outfits went well with the jewel-encrusted masks, though personally, I wasn’t fond of such extravagance.

I followed the teacher to the center of the room. He stood on a thick orange carpet that was unmistakably made in the Ottoman Empire, spread his arms, and announced, “We will only be having him with us for a short while. He is just getting started, so please give him a warm welcome.”

“Welcome.”

The people already seated looked to be around twenty or so, and they were all smiling brightly. After the teacher showed me to my seat, I sat down in front of a blank sheet of paper. As I practiced drawing cubes and spheres as I had been taught, someone came over with a glass in hand. With his shirt and vest loosely undone, showing not a trace of manners or decorum, he waved his glass in front of me to get my attention before abruptly introducing himself.

“I’m Eleonora.”

“All of a sudden? Hello.”

“Hahaha! What do you mean, all of a sudden? We’re free to walk around while we work here.”

Unlike me, he was wearing what I assumed was a half-mask shaped like a yellow canary’s head, and he had no fewer than ten gold rings on his fingers… The moment I noticed that, I wondered if he might have been a gangster at some point. It was probably just prejudice, so I didn’t dwell on it.

“Is this your first time painting?”

“Ah, yes. Is it that obvious?”

“Do you even need to ask?”

“Well… yeah. Is it really okay for you to go around saying things like that?”

No matter what I said, he didn’t seem to care at all and kept firing questions at me.

“Where are you from?”

“Hmm. I’ll keep that a secret.”

“I see. I’m from Saxony, but I live in Munich now. More importantly, we hold an exhibition every quarter. Will you still be here by then?”

“Probably not.”

“That’s a shame.”

Eleonora took out one of his handmade cigarettes and handed it to me before moving on to someone else.

‘What a letdown.’

Everyone in the club seemed to be quite close with one another. They were all painting in a warm, friendly atmosphere. Other than that one comment that revealed a bit about Eleonora’s personality, there wasn’t much that bothered me, and not a single person seemed to be up to anything suspicious.

I didn’t have a lighter, I didn’t feel like smoking, I didn’t want to get involved in anything pointless for Luka’s sake, and I had no particular desire to smoke something someone else had made. In short, I just didn’t want it, so I moved it to the easel beside me and looked back at my paper.

“…….”

Actually, no. I picked up the cigarette, slipped it into the pocket of my robe, and left exactly one hour later.

In the end, there was nothing particularly suspicious. I had been a little wary of the two art teachers, but I couldn’t find any clear evidence to support the theory that either of them had some sort of ulterior motive or was involved in anything suspicious. Maybe because I had gotten so on edge over Sir Lamour, everything had started to look strange.

I arrived at my room—or rather, Leo’s room—and looked around. There was no one in the sitting room. I wandered down the hallway, looking for an unlocked door. When I entered a room with a key still in the doorknob, I found Narke, Elias, and Leo sitting around the table. I placed Eleonora’s hand-rolled cigarette in front of Leo, who was reading the old book Narke had borrowed.

“Leo. Look into this for me.”

“…What is this? Where did you get it?”

“I went to an art club earlier, and someone gave it to me.”

“You went where?”

“An art club. All the art teachers seemed suspicious, so I heard there was a club run by one of them and went there to kill some time.”

Elias, who had been lying with his cheek pressed against the table, looking thoroughly bored, suddenly asked, “Why were you suspicious of them?”

“I’m taking lessons from Sir Lamour now. You know him?”

“Of course. He’s always in the papers.”

“My basic art teacher seemed to particularly dislike him.”

“…You got suspicious over that alone? There’s more to it, right?”

“No?”

That really was all there was to it. In Sir Lamour’s case, I was wondering whether his goal was to approach me, and if not, I still couldn’t shake the question of how he had determined whether I was an artist or not. As for my teacher, I wondered whether he might be able to tell me something about Sir Lamour if he really did have some ulterior motive, or whether he was someone I needed to be equally wary of. It was all just precautionary investigation anyway. If my hypothesis turned out to be wrong, it would be better to examine it carefully and clear up the misunderstanding.

“Wow, Luka investigates things this trivial too. But if you’re investigating it, then it’s not really trivial anymore, is it? Right?”

“Hmm.”

“Ah~ I knew it. I was right. Is that why you’re dressed like that?”

I was currently wearing a robe that dragged along the floor, like something straight out of an old storybook wizard’s wardrobe. I had to dress like this to keep my leg cast hidden. I sat down and asked, “Anyway, I want to hear how we’re going to track down this St. Mark. There are millions of people in the Papal States alone, and around five thousand people in the Papal See. Do you really think the culprit is simply someone named Marco or John?”

“I have something to say, Lukas. We’ve got Elias on board now, right?”

“Yeah.”

“We’ve solved the first problem. So now it’s time to think about the second problem you brought up.”

“Even if we narrow down the suspects, we have no practical way of actually catching them. The Papal See has conducted several rounds of inspections already, and every time, they concluded that no one was involved in the theft of the holy relics. That means either this person is capable enough to evade surveillance, or they’re hiding in a blind spot.”

“…So you’re saying there’s no one we can even ask to simply inspect those ‘Marco’ or ‘John’ candidates again? If we send a letter to the Papal See, it’ll expose the fact that we’re after a traitor within the Papal See.”

“Exactly.”

“Then I suppose we have no choice but to go ourselves.”

“Oh, that was quick~”

“To do that, we’ll have to get permission from Headquarters. It takes two days each way by train, doesn’t it? That’s four days just for the trip. I might be able to get there in a day if I use a little trick, but… even then, I’d have to set aside at least a day for travel.”

The little trick he had in mind was hardly simple. It meant crossing into Italy through the Austro-Hungarian border and passing through a total of four border checkpoints. It was nothing more than a speculative idea, and I had no idea whether it would actually work. The uncertainty made me frown.

Just then, Leo took a sip of the omija tea he had prepared for me—Narke and Elias each had a different tea in front of them—and waved a hand.

“Who’s going to tell His Excellency the Chief of Staff about our schedule?”

Silence fell. I gave a hollow laugh and explained to my friends.

“For one thing, I already went straight to Headquarters when we came from Stadelheim. I don’t want to go back and tell them the exact same thing again. They won’t approve it. Besides, with the 98th Unit roaming around Munich, I don’t even want to go outside.”

“It’s probably because of the Stadelheim Prison rampage incident investigation. The representative of the 91st Unit is in Munich too.”

Right. But that wasn’t the important part. I stared at Narke, who was deliberately changing the subject.

Narke gave me a gentle smile and quietly said, “If the Headquarters finds out, they’ll come after us. Then they’ll learn that you’re Nikolaus, that there’s someone connected to the Papal See, and possibly even about the connection between Terminus Eukairia and Einsiedel. We already convinced them to let us go to Giesing, so we can’t give them any more clues.”

“…….”

“Do I need to explain further? After we reported that we were going to Giesing to find the person who did this to Heike and Ismailov, this latest terrorist attack happened. The Headquarters knows that it’s a sign that something bad is lurking around us. If we tell them we’re going to do anything, they’ll keep us under surveillance without fail.”

“So you’re saying we’re going to smuggle ourselves out of the country—no, into the Vatican?!”

“That’s right~ I’ve already convinced Leo, too!”

“How?!”

Leo gave me a small smile, as if he understood my reaction, then hesitated as he searched for the right words. He spoke calmly.

“Your identity is on the line here. What else could I do?”

“Oh, this is driving me insane.”

“Narke is right. The Command is watching us even now. We can’t leave behind even the slightest suspicious trace. You know why, don’t you?”

I knew, which was why I said nothing. As I looked at Leo with concern, he readily continued.

“If the Command catches on to your connection with the Papal See, your identity will be exposed in no time. They’re smart enough to figure that much out.”

“You’re right. But if we’re caught sneaking out of the country, wouldn’t that be even worse?”

“Of course it would. But what if you manage to pull it off?”

I lowered my brows and opened my mouth. What did he just say? Leo calmly looked around at our friends and continued.

“I haven’t heard the full explanation from you, but when it comes to certain areas, I trust your abilities completely.”

Leo deliberately looked only at me, avoiding everyone else’s eyes. I could tell he had another reason for doing so, rather than simply trying to convey some particular message to me. Then he gave a faint smile and looked around at the others.

“I can trust that you won’t put me, Bavaria, or yourselves in danger, can’t I?”

“…….”

“Good. I’ll stay in Bavaria and help you. The three of you can do whatever you think is best.”

“You’re actually saying something like that…”

“If this is the second step toward bringing Heike back, I don’t want to recklessly reject your proposal. Is that enough?”

I pressed my palms against my eyes. Slowly, I opened them again and looked at my friends, my lips moving before I finally spoke.

“Alright.”

The others grew tense and looked at me. Half resigned to what we were about to do, I said, “Let’s sneak out of the country. We have to go catch the traitor in the Papal See.”

“Yay~! This is exciting!”

Elias rapidly pumped his fists into the air as he shouted. I was left speechless by his elementary-school-like antics and fell into thought. Elias quickly turned serious and said, “And I’m nervous. This is nerve-racking.”

“Well, of course. If we get caught, we’re done for.”

At my words, Narke answered just as seriously.

“Let’s do our best not to get caught. And we’ll sneak across the border before the Command summons us.”

“Do you really think that’s possible? They could call us in as early as tomorrow, saying they need us for an investigation or whatever.”

“That’s why, from our perspective, this is a once-in-a-lifetime challenge.”

“…….”

Narke placed his hand on the table. Elias put his hand on top of it. I then gestured to Leo, who had only just cracked his eyes halfway open—as if he really hadn’t wanted to do this—and placed my hand over Elias’s. A moment later, even Leo put his hand on the pile. Narke spoke quietly.

“Let’s do our best.”

“Yeah.”

I said it just as quietly, then looked my friends in the eyes and asked, “So, how exactly are we sneaking out of the country?”

It’s hot.

In April, I’m wearing a black robe that hangs all the way down to my feet. At least it’s the middle of the night. What would I have done if it were daytime? And what am I supposed to do tomorrow during the day…? I’d taken off the half-cast and rewrapped my foot so it would fit into boots two sizes too big, but I still had to keep my foot as hidden as possible. I might even have to use magic tomorrow during the day, even if it meant overusing cognitive distortion magic.

“It won’t be hot for much longer, Lukas.”

Narke said softly from beside me in the carriage, resting a hand on my shoulder. He was already dressed in priestly robes. Obviously, they weren’t cardinal’s robes.

Elias, sitting in the front, was wearing a somewhat unfamiliar suit instead of clerical robes. He’d dyed his hair black and neatly trimmed the back. He had actually used hair dye. Since using divine power in a place where divine power was primarily used would be extremely dangerous, we had to change everything about our appearances.

With his hair color reversed, he didn’t look like Elias at all. When I stared intently at him, he seemed embarrassed and turned his head away with a little pout. That part of him hadn’t changed at all.

And with this lineup, we were riding a carriage from Munich to the Zugspitze. If everything went according to plan, in two hours we’d be setting foot on the Italian Peninsula.

I just nodded at Narke’s words before quietly saying, “I still can’t believe there’s actually a way to do this. How are we getting from the Zugspitze to Italy?”

Elias confidently thumped his chest.

“Trust me! I’m an expert at crossing borders illegally.”

“…….”

What am I supposed to do with someone who’s an expert at this…? I wanted to say that, but I actually liked seeing Elias act like this, so I just smiled.

According to Narke, getting to Italy wasn’t the end of it. Since the culprit had completely evaded the investigation so far, we couldn’t use our identities as cardinals once we were in Italy. We also had to avoid meeting anyone we knew as much as possible. We had to find the culprit in secret and report directly to the Pope.

That meant that even the clergy in Trier and Lord Simone Savelli couldn’t know that we were heading to Italy. No one could know except the Bavarian government.

The mountains, gradually turning white, drew closer. Before long, the wind began lashing fiercely against the carriage windows, and the coachman knocked on the front window and called out, “Prepare yourselves. We will be getting off soon!”

Good. Before getting out of the carriage, I finished the short diary entry I had been writing with my notebook and pen in hand the entire time.

*

Naturally, this is a written account. Not that I had anything to do with someone’s death, nor that I wanted the monastery to burn down in the end. I only hope our design is enough to blind them.

Narke, who had been looking over what I was writing with me, suddenly burst out laughing.

“Haha.”

“Why?”

“Nothing.”

I looked into Narke’s eyes as he said that. His bright irises met mine. There was nothing I could read in them. Perhaps the fact that we were like this seemed strange to Elias, because he gave my shoulder a few light pats.

By then, the coachman had opened the door, and Narke got out of the carriage first.

WHOOOSH—

The fierce Alpine wind rushed into the carriage. Elias, startled, let out a little gasp before whistling and jumping out of the carriage. Narke, who had gotten out first, looked slightly tense now, unlike before, yet he still wore a strangely casual smile as he held out his gloved hand to me.

“Let’s do our best not to get caught.”