Episode 393

We can't let him die. That thought crossed Ludwig and Seren's minds at the same time. They had a lot of information to dig out, so they had to force themselves to save this man.

Ludwig was about to take out some medicine when a guild member appeared at the door that had just been smashed, looking anxious as he exclaimed, "Master! The church members are coming!"

Seren clicked her tongue. The church's main force was supposed to have already been depleted. Still, judging by the size of the hideout, it didn't seem like there would be many more people inside.

She wondered if it would be best to continue fighting, but concluded that would be a mistake. In the first engagement, her side had also suffered damage that couldn't be ignored. Besides, the Dark Church wasn't an opponent to fight recklessly against while she was with a suspicious individual.

Seren asked, "What about our traces?"

Her subordinate answered, "They have been erased, but I don't know about the bloodstains."

"It can't be helped. Have you secured an exit?"

"Yes, but I don't know if it is safe."

"It doesn't matter as long as the path itself isn't blocked. Let's go for now. Just take care of this man." Seren pointed to Varus.

Her subordinate asked, "Isn't he going to die soon?"

"Do whatever it takes to keep him alive. I still have many things to ask him."

"I understand." The subordinate nodded and put Varus on his back.

Suddenly, Ludwig exclaimed in surprise, "Watch out!"

"Huh? Aah!" The guild member who was carrying Varus cried out and hurriedly leaned back.

At that moment, something fell from the ceiling.

Bam!

It was a dagger that fell in a straight line and pierced the foot of the guild member.

"Ugh!"

As soon as they heard the sharp impact sound, Ludwig and Seren simultaneously thrust their swords toward the ceiling.

Ludwig's eyes narrowed as he thought, That hit was shallow.

The opponent had dodged the swords in the cramped space between the narrow ceilings. They were surprisingly quick.

Thump!Thump!Thump!

Loud noises came from the ceiling and dust fell down. It seemed the opponent was planning to run away.

That won't work, Ludwig thought. pulled out the dagger strapped to his chest, slipped it between his fingers as if performing a trick, and threw it.

The dagger lodged in the ceiling. It didn't pierce the mysterious figure, but the loud commotion instantly stopped. The blade had limited the opponent's room to maneuver.

"Over there!" Ludwig called out, pointing at a spot.

The moment she heard him, Seren's rapier pierced the middle of the ceiling.

The abdomen? No.It's more like the solar plexus? Seren judged the location she hit by the sensation as she retrieved her sword and slashed the ceiling in a cross pattern.

Then the ceiling of the room collapsed and a man dressed in black fell down.

"Cough!"

The man, who had been pierced through the solar plexus, staggered with a pale expression. Then he raised his head at lightning speed.

It was an act to set up a surprise attack, but Ludwig wasn't caught off guard. Some church members who devoted their souls to the gods of disaster were monsters who didn't die even when their throats were cut, so there was no reason to relax after a few stabs.

The man spat out something that he had been holding in his mouth. For a moment, Ludwig thought he had a dagger or needle in his mouth. On closer inspection, it was saliva mixed with blood. Somehow, it shot forward with the speed of a bullet.

Bam!

The attack was aimed at the guild member whose foot had been pierced. He twisted his body to dodge, but—

"Ah!"

Varus, who was on his back, was hit by the blood instead. It pierced straight through the center of his forehead. At first glance, it looked like a small dot. Then blood soon gushed out from that spot.

Seren tried to belatedly finish off the man in black, but Ludwig stopped her.

Seren exclaimed, "What are you doing?"

Ludwig replied, "He is already dead."

Seren looked down at the man in black and saw that his pale face had already stiffened. He must've used his last effort to spit out blood.

"What the hell is this guy?" Seren muttered with a sigh.

There was no time to idly rummage through the corpses. They had no choice but to withdraw.

"What about Varus?" Seren's gaze turned to her subordinate.

He replied with an apologetic expression, "He is dead. I'm sorry. I was only preoccupied with dodging."

"Don't worry about it. He was on the verge of dying anyway. I'm glad you're safe. Let's avoid this place for now." Seren patted his shoulder and her subordinate's dark expression improved somewhat.

Ludwig was a bit impressed when he saw this. He had wondered how a relatively young woman had become the master of an intelligence guild, but it turned out she was born with natural charisma. In addition, he could feel the dignity in her speech, behavior, and swordsmanship.

Is she from an aristocratic family? Ludwig was suspicious, but he didn't show it. She was probably just as suspicious of his identity as he was of hers.

Meanwhile, there were two more casualties among the church members. One was the man in black who had just died, and the other was Varus, whom the man in black had killed.

He was distracted dodging? Ludwig thought skeptically. He looked at it a bit differently. It felt like the man in black hadn't targeted the subordinate, but attacked Varus from the beginning. Of course, it was impossible to be sure. It had happened too quickly.

"Sir James? There is no time to delay," Seren said.

"Ah, yes. Let's go for now." Ludwig nodded.

Just before following Seren, he picked up the dagger thrown by the man in black. The pattern embedded in the hilt of the dagger was particularly impressive. It seemed to belong to the Blood Moon faction.

That meant the man in black was an assassin of Hadenaihar. Ludwig had suspected as much from the man's movements, and sure enough, this confirmed it.

When factions fought intensely, it was common for them to take each other's lives. Still, this seemed a little too blatant. It made Ludwig a bit nervous. He wondered, What was their purpose? If the intention was to kill Varus, then why? Was it to silence him? So what was the truth that had to be kept silent at all costs? What did Varus know?

Ludwig sighed. He had questions to ask, but the most urgent thing to do now wasn't to investigate the church. It was to share the situation with his youngest sibling, who had infiltrated the labor camp.

He said the name of the priest was Obi, right?

Ludwig decided to visit Luan as soon as possible. He just hoped his troublemaker youngest sibling would make it through without any incidents.

***

I asked, "Has anyone come to visit me?"

"No," Jisal replied in an unpleasant voice. He scratched his protruding belly and looked at me with irritation.

He'd had this attitude ever since I was called by Vice Principal Obi last time. It seemed like he was keeping his distance because he thought I had angered the vice principal.

Well, the top floor had been my responsibility since then, so it was understandable.

I asked, "Can you check it again?"

"Even if I check it again, there is nothing. In the first place, wouldn't you be told immediately if you receive a visit request?"

"Well, yes."

It was strange.

Of course, Seren didn't know my identity so it made sense that she wouldn't contact me. The Iron-Blooded Lord had also come recently, so not hearing from him wasn't a surprise either. However, it was around the time to start sharing the situation and exchanging information with Ludwig. He had probably come into contact with Delac as well, so he knew that the execution day was the last day.

That made me wonder why there was no news from him. Could it be that he was avoiding me because he was with Delac? It was possible, but I doubted that was the case.

I thought about various things. Then I asked Jisal something else. "Then would it be okay to go to the living block? Perhaps sometime this weekend."

The end of the month was the day after the break day. In other words, the only chance to meet Leone was this weekend.

Jisal looked displeased again. Then he waved his hand and said in annoyance, "Take care of it yourself. It isn't my job, so go and talk to Larsen."

"I understand," I replied. It made sense that I had to talk to Larsen.

I nodded, took a short break, and went about my day's work. I cleaned the hallways, organized the supply storage, tended to the senile old dwarf, and roughed up the vampire Berwick in a fit of anger. Then in the evening, I went to Larsen and told him that I wanted to stop by the living block for a bit.

"Uh... That would be a bit difficult," he replied, to my surprise.

I wondered, "What is so difficult?"

"The atmosphere in the punishment building is a bit tense. There is talk that there will soon be an audit from headquarters."

"Why does that matter?"

"So it is like this. You are a model prisoner and you are doing a good job, but haven't you just moved here? Not even a month has passed and you already want to visit the living block? What will the inspectors think? They will probably think you are pampering the prisoners want to go back to the living block out of laziness."

Looking at his expression, it seemed this reason could actually be true. Come to think of it, I'd never experienced any unfairness from Larsen.

I asked, "Then when will it be possible?"

Larsen answered, "Let's see. I don't think it will be possible this month. At the very earliest, it will be next month."

"I understand for now." I nodded and headed to the dining hall, receiving my food.

I was convinced I was being isolated, and intentionally at that. I couldn't be sure when this situation had been created, but I wasn't dull enough to dismiss everything as a coincidence.

The one small bit of fortune was that this isolation didn't seem specifically aimed at me.

"Shit, does this make sense? They said I could get a pass to go out, so all I did for half a year was clean the toilets! It was also the toilet of that senile old dwarf! That old man definitely poops while standing on his hands. Otherwise, there's no way it would be so dirty..."

"Dammit, I'm eating so don't talk about poop."

"What?"

"Hey, you aren't the only one. I also wanted to see the faces of the kids in the living block for the first time in a while, but they told me to not even dream about it until the end of the month."

"Really..."

"No, the inspection period has never been this strict before. Why is it suddenly like this?"

I heard these complaints from my fellow model prisoners while eating. I thought about it as I scooped up the tasteless stewed beans.

Maybe all the guards like Jisal and Larsen were puppets of the Dark Church. Of course, whether they were aware of that fact or not was another matter.

The Dark Pope had the ability to interfere with the mind, and they could approach the other person through dreams. That meant it could be possible for them to plant commands within the subconscious. Without a blessing, resisting the church's mind control would be difficult. After all, such wicked arts were usually the result of demonic power.

At this point, I finally felt the need to talk to Obi. It had already been four days since I met the possible Dark Pope, and I hadn't seen Obi since then. There was only a note in the supply room where we had a secret conversation. According to its contents, he was busy lately.

I thought he had something going on, so I hadn't pressed him. However, the situation was like this now, so it seemed necessary to force a meeting. Jisal had the highest rank among the few people I was familiar with, so I went to him again to convey my intentions.

"You want to see Vice Principal Obi? You bastard, is the vice principal your friend? Can you go to meet him whenever you want just because you have something to say?"

Jisal glared at me like expected. This time, I didn't avoid his gaze and just stared at him.

The situation had changed. Now there was no time to deal with such a rotten guy.

Jisal couldn't make eye contact for a long time and averted his gaze. He clicked his tongue and said, "The vice principal is busy these days."

"So what is he busy with?"

"Shit, do I really have to spell everything out? Ugh." Jisal grumbled. "A new prisoner is arriving today. It seems he has a lot to handle due to that."

"A new prisoner? Just because of that?"

"It isn't an ordinary prisoner. It's a heinous criminal who will enter the top floor."

I didn't show it, but I was a bit flustered hearing that another prisoner was being added to the top floor at this point.

Jisal suddenly added, "Ah. Weren't you the director of Block 107?"

I replied, "That's right."

"Then you might know the prisoner."

I looked at him with questioning eyes. He narrowed his eyes and muttered, "He is probably the director of Block 108, no, Block 106. His name is Kusta, Custa, shit. What was it? It was a western name... Ah!"

Jisal nodded with a satisfied expression. "Gustav! Yes. That is his name."