Chapter 107
Grand Sanctuary (3)
“So, what’s the situation?”
At the Pope’s yawning question, the priest fumbled through the docunts he had hurriedly brought with him.
“The relocation to the Grand Sanctuary has been successfully completed, and the estimated number of people is—”
“Not that. That’s not what I asked.”
When one serves those in high positions for a long ti, the first skills to develop naturally are tact and political savvy. The priest, too, had honed such skills to their peak while serving the Pope.
After all, he was well aware of the one subject that had recently drawn the Pope’s exclusive attention.
“I’ve heard that Aiden Kellermain and his party have safely arrived inside, Your Holiness. However—”
As expected, the mont he heard that, the Pope straightened up in his seat.
“However?”
“They displayed so interesting behavior as soon as they arrived at the Grand Sanctuary. I heard they tried to make contact with Princess Milene.”
“...Hmm.”
The Pope exhaled through his nose and brushed back his hair.
Of course, for the priest watching him, it felt like his blood was draining from his body.
...He could imdiately tell that sothing about that expression seed displeased.
“He’s like a wet swallow, that one. Does he flirt with every woman he sees?”
And when the Pope muttered sothing so cryptic on top of it, the sense of dread only doubled.
The priest was so terrified that, the mont he read the content of the first event of the succession ceremony thrown at him by the Pope, an irreverent thought crossed his mind—could this have been decided out of pure emotion?
“Y-Your Holiness. If we proceed with this format—”
The priest’s face turned pale as he stamred after reading the contents regarding the “Tournant.”
“They’ll get seriously injured.”
The Pope cut him off indifferently before he could continue.
“And so what?”
“......”
“It was worse when I beca Pope, you know?”
The Pope’s casual remark was brimming with old-man condescension, but the priest didn’t dare refute him.
Not just because the other person was the Pope, but also because the statent was undeniably true—sothing the priest knew from observing past succession ceremonies.
Although the ancient succession rituals, notorious for their brutality and near-massacres, had been reford and casualties had drastically dropped, it was still well-known that Pope Abigail III’s succession had produced a death toll comparable to those dark tis.
This man was the one who shattered records in such a succession ceremony to beco Pope.
It wasn’t for nothing that he ranked among the most notable figures in papal history.
‘…….’
In that regard—
“What reward will you bestow upon the one who stands out in the Tournant? If nothing particularly enticing is offered, most will likely forfeit early.”
“Anyway, the one who’ll rack up the most points is already obvious, so we can just set the reward for him.”
“...Excuse ?”
“I’m talking about Aiden Kellermain, that one.”
For soone like him to speak with such certainty about another man’s potential—it was unsettling in and of itself.
To be so sure soone would co out on top in an event this... ‘violent’ despite its extre nature—it was enough to convince anyone that the man in question was no ordinary human.
And the reward being prepared for that man was, without a doubt, extraordinary.
“Tell him we’ll allow him access to the Altar.”
The priest’s eyes widened at those words.
The First Vow—more specifically, the altar that held the hottest divine fla—was the place where Sia and humanity first made contact. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the holiest site in the Holy Crown Kingdom.
Even among royalty, only a very select few had ever stepped foot in that place.
‘...This man.’
The priest muttered internally, almost like a groan.
He truly intended to make that man Aiden the centerpiece of this entire succession ceremony.
Granting access to the altar ant bestowing a level of “power” that, symbolically speaking, was enough to justify naming soone the next Pope.
“......”
Honestly.
He couldn’t tell what this man was aiming for.
As those unspeakable thoughts swirled in his mind, more words ca flowing from the Pope.
“Oh, and one last thing.”
The Pope suddenly spoke again, as if rembering sothing.
“Who is that?”
“...Excuse ?”
“There’s soone who keeps obsessing over the promising candidate I’ve marked.”
“............Excuse ?”
The priest, completely lost, stamred in confusion. The Pope continued, clearly irritated.
“I attached a spell that lets see who’s trying to get close to that guy, and there’s soone who keeps watching him from a distance.”
“......”
“I’m asking who it is.”
...No, seriously.
This level of obsession—monitoring soone even beyond the priest’s assigned duties—was disturbing.
And to be this possessive while also resenting others for doing the sa—what kind of logic was that?
“...Just a mont. I’ll look into it.”
Still, orders were orders. He had to comply.
Rummaging through the docunts using the physical description provided by the Pope, the priest hesitantly recited the information.
“Elisha Gillias Craven... that’s the na, but there’s sothing odd about her profile.”
“What’s odd about it?”
“...Apparently, she ca to this succession ceremony looking for soone to be her family?”
“......”
The Pope’s expression twisted into sothing bizarre.
...It was certainly unusual.
▣
“Hm—”
Under the pitch-black night sky, Aiden sat on a crashing seaside cliff, stroking his chin as he marked a check on the makeshift map in his hand.
Similar markings densely covered the map.
He had spent the entire day tearing through buildings, but without any aningful results.
‘The layout’s the sa...’
He swept his eyes over the map with a sour expression.
The actual structure of the Grand Sanctuary was nearly identical to what he rembered.
“So even the interior facilities are the sa?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
At the sight of Alex rubbing his hands together as he replied, Aiden’s expression grew even more grim.
Which ant, in other words—
The events originally scheduled would likely proceed exactly as he rembered.
‘The first event is…’
The Tournant.
A land-grab battle conducted after each side had set up their own base.
You could call it a mock war. It wasn’t a brawl between nobodies filtered out in preliminaries—this was a brutal free-for-all among royalty. Starting the succession ceremony with sothing like this said everything about how ruthless it was.
It was also that important.
‘...The general outline gets solidified here.’
Alester, Milene, Julius.
It was likely the camps would eventually be divided among these three, the most prominent candidates in the succession ceremony. Among them, however, a few individuals always stood out purely by their own ability.
And as Aiden figured, that was where the real “variable” was most likely to erge.
‘Who is it…’
The traitor.
Soone whose reason for entering the succession ceremony wasn’t to claim the Pope’s seat, but simply to kill as many as possible.
At this point, anyone could be a suspect. None of the participants in this event had clean pasts.
And by all accounts, tomorrow’s Tournant would be the perfect stage for such a traitor to make a move.
Without a doubt, soone would try sothing.
“...There is, however, one minor but peculiar thing.”
In that sense, what Alex hesitantly said next made Aiden’s eyes narrow with interest.
“Sothing peculiar?”
“There are people targeting you.”
“......”
Aiden ran his eyes up and down Alex through narrowed lids.
“Not you guys?”
“......”
Of course, if given the chance, Alex would love nothing more than to clock Aiden in the back of the head—but the truth was, they were tied to him by their royal status, entire fortunes, and everything else.
Doing sothing reckless would only bring ruin upon themselves.
“...It’s not us.”
“Then who?”
“Soone nad Pierce—he’s an acquaintance of mine… It seems word got out that you spoke to Princess Milene.”
“And why would that be worth spreading around?”
He had only exchanged a few words with her as a courtesy—it wasn’t sothing that should’ve been a big deal.
But Alex looked back at him with an oddly amused expression.
“...Weren’t you trying to seduce her?”
“......”
“All your attendants are won, after all. Lionhearted and Deathwish, no less.”
…It seed his image had now been firmly cented in the public eye.
Before Aiden could even attempt to explain otherwise, Alex casually shrugged and continued.
“Anyway, Pierce has admired Princess Milene for a long ti. He’s the kind of guy who volunteers for a black knight role no one asked for.”
“That’s... exhausting.”
He couldn’t help but voice that sentint.
What other way was there to describe soone who jumped into other people’s business uninvited?
“But you said he’s your friend. Why are you spilling everything about him like this?”
There was a noticeably negative tone to his question.
Alex gave a small laugh as he replied.
“I don’t feel much loyalty toward him.”
“...Huh?”
“He was the first to laugh at when I ended up like this. Said I’d lost my edge. I wouldn’t mind seeing him end up in the sa state after going up against you.”
“......”
Such a futile friendship.
As Aiden mulled over that impression, a voice suddenly called out from behind.
“That’s kind of harsh, Alex. Though I always knew you were the kind to cling to soone like that.”
“......”
At the sound of such pompous words, each syllable dripping with arrogance, Aiden began massaging his temples.
‘...Guess none of these guys are noble material.’
When soone picked a fight this blatantly, it wasn’t even infuriating anymore—it was just absurd.
That must be Pierce, the one they were just talking about.
‘Another one picking a fight, again.’
Why did soone like this always pop up, no matter where he went?
But this ti, things unfolded a bit differently.
“Hey, you, you’re Aiden Kellermain, right—GAH—!”
Pierce, swaggering over to pick a fight—
-!
—was sent tumbling across the ground after being kicked by soone who leapt in as if falling from the sky.
“......”
“......”
His entourage stared in confusion. The sudden appearance was just too abrupt.
She was a girl who barely ca up to Aiden’s chest in height. Shoulder-length orange hair, a fixed headband, visible scars across her body, and lean, panther-like muscles.
She gave off a strong impression of soone hardened by countless battles. In so ways, even more so than Da Noel.
“...Um, and you are?”
The problem was, Aiden had no idea who she was.
When he asked in a hesitant voice, the girl spun around quickly to face him.
“Uh, uh, uh, h-hello—!”
She bowed her head in a flustered panic, like a girl eting the object of her one-sided affection for the first ti.
“My na is Elisha! It’s an honor to et you!”
“...Yes, nice to et you. But what was that just now...?”
“N-no big deal!”
Elisha pointed her thumb over her shoulder as she replied.
“I just couldn’t stand seeing filthy bugs like that cling to you, so I stepped in!”
“......”
“I just did what I wanted to do, so please don’t feel burdened—!”
...Strangely enough.
It seed Aiden had picked up another one.
Soone else playing the black knight, unasked.
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