Chapter 110: After the Bell Rang (1)
Murmur, murmur.
The people gathered at the main gate were largely divided into two groups.
“What’s going on! Why won’t you open it?”
“Is this related to the bell that rang earlier?”
“Don’t just stand there—at least give us an explanation! The auction bid is about to start! If we don’t go now, we’ll be late!”
But the guards blocking the entrance remained silent.
While those who didn’t understand the situation continued to protest, the insiders who knew the aning of the bell stayed quiet and glanced around nervously.
The fact that the bell had rung five tis in a row ant one thing: there was an intruder inside Dellowell.
They were keeping their silence, desperately trying to make it clear—
that they had nothing to do with it.
Creak!
Prrr, prrrt.
With the entrance blocked, the carriages filling the road were forced to stop one after another.
So waited inside, but many ca out and joined in the protest.
And there—
Eugene Carter, now neatly dressed in a guard’s uniform, was hurrying toward the main gate.
— …You truly escaped by the skin of your teeth.
‘Don’t relax yet. I’m not completely out of danger.’
He pushed through the crowd until he reached the guards stationed at the blocked gate.
One of them, seemingly the superior among them, cautiously asked,
“Who are you…?”
Eugene didn’t even flinch as he calmly replied,
“I’m Hans Arnim, Guard Captain of Marthus Land.”
The mont the word “Guard Captain” ca out of his mouth, the guard snapped to attention and saluted hastily.
“…Ah, my apologies! You were in a standard uniform, so I didn’t recognize you, sir.”
“Never mind that. Quickly, pick four n and put them under my command. We’re pursuing soone.”
“Pursuing… sir?”
Eugene leaned in and whispered like it was a top secret.
“There were individuals who escaped Dellowell before the closure bell rang. We’ve received intelligence that the culprit is among them.”
“Th-That can’t be…!”
“There’s no ti—assemble them imdiately. Five horses, too.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Led by Eugene, a team of five mounted pursuers hurriedly left Dellowell.
After about ten minutes of riding down the road together, he looked back at the faintly visible main gate and called the n to gather.
“All right, I’ll share the suspect’s description. Reddish-brown robe, black pants, wooden staff, silver bracelet, scar on the eye, estimated to be in his fifties. Don’t forget.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Keep communication open through the transmission orbs… We’ll spread out from here. Anyone suspicious, verify and report imdiately. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Move out!”
As the horsen scattered in all directions, Eugene grinned.
“Well then, let’s get going too.”
Inside his coat was the Reincarnation Stone he had sched to obtain from Torquemada.
— You escaped surprisingly easily, my friend. It seed like a situation where suspicion could have easily fallen on you….
Clina White, who had been watching in admiration, asked curiously,
— But was there ever a Guard Captain in Marthus Land?
‘No. There’s no formal guard force within the Velut Fortress. The gatekeepers are the only security they have.’
— Then why did those n…?
‘The guard unit is the only organization in Dellowell that employs external personnel. Do you think they’d know what goes on inside the fortress? They probably don’t even care.’
— …Then that suspect description you gave them?
‘Yeah. I made it up on the spot.’
— …….
Clina was speechless for a while before replying shortly,
— I know it’s late to say this, but I’m really glad you’re not my enemy.
‘Thanks for the complint.’
Smiling in response, Eugene spurred his horse faster.
Under the warm sunlight, the sound of hooves scattered unevenly across the earth.
Thirty minutes earlier, inside the Flavia Cathedral.
Karen Rosefield was certain sothing had gone terribly wrong.
“An intruder in Marthus Land?”
“Apostle Bover reported it. The Archbishop urgently summoned because of it.”
“…Let’s go together, then.”
When they arrived at the entrance to the Land of the Pilgrims, the guard stationed there told them sothing strange.
“The truth is… I heard there’s soone inside Dellowell in league with a black magician.”
“…What?”
“Who did you hear that from?”
“Th-That would be…”
Grabbing the man by the collar, Karen glared down at him with intimidation.
“Spit it out right now, unless you want to be torn apart.”
“I-It was from Lord Torquemada of Velut!”
“…Torquemada?”
The guard couldn’t bring himself to lie before the head of the Orthodoxy and the strongest woman of the faith.
“You an that bastard ca here? For what purpose?”
“T-That, I don’t know at all…”
Dooong— Dooong— Dooong— Dooong— Dooong—
The heavy peal of the closure bell began to echo throughout the area at that very mont.
“What in the world….”
“…I’ll go find Apostle Bover. Archbishop, please look into what Apostle Torquemada was doing here.”
“Wait, Executor!”
Ignoring his call to stop her, Karen bolted out like an arrow. Left behind, Dominico pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed deeply.
“Haa… What in the blazes is going on…”
“I-I’ve committed a grave sin!”
“Enough. Until we get to the bottom of this, no one is allowed to enter this place. Understood?”
“Y-Yes, right away!”
Outside the fortress, the situation was far worse.
Because of the inexplicable lockdown, the area near the main gate had descended into utter chaos.
The crowd was so dense that even carriages were bottlenecked.
And in the midst of the jamd carriages as she searched for Apostle Bover, Karen’s eyes caught sight of—ironically—Torquemada himself.
“…Lord Torquemada!”
He had barely escaped from a carriage, crawling painfully on the ground.
It took another eight hours for the lockdown to lift and for things to settle down again.
When the key figures of the incident reconvened at the cathedral, most of them sat with their heads lowered, their faces filled with confusion.
“……”
“Haa… This is unbelievable.”
Watching the Archbishop sigh as he leaned against the pulpit, Director Heinrich turned to the Guard Captain and asked,
“…So Bover couldn’t be found?”
“No, sir. It appears he has already left Dellowell.”
The chaos had barely been contained, but many uncertainties still remained.
Foremost among them was the mystery surrounding Torquemada’s movents.
“No, I’m telling you, I don’t rember any of it! Why would I even go to Marthus Land?”
“Are you joking? The Reincarnation Stone from Alugos’ chamber is missing! You were the only one in Marthus Land at that ti!”
“It could’ve been that bastard Bover!”
“The guards already confessed. Said you told them not to record anything because there might be conspirators working with black magicians. What ga are you playing?”
“I told you I don’t rember! How many tis must I—ugh!”
As Torquemada groaned and bowed his head in pain, his secretary, Albus, hurriedly supported him.
After helping his master sit down, Albus cautiously spoke up.
“Um… if it’s not presumptuous, may I offer a suggestion?”
“How dare a re secretary—!”
“Let him speak.”
The Archbishop imdiately silenced the Inquisition Chief who had shouted.
“Speak.”
After taking a slow breath, Albus began recounting what had happened the day before, one step at a ti.
The quarrel at the tavern, the strange reaction from the thugs afterward, and his master’s behavior—moving as if he were being pursued by sothing unseen.
“……”
“I was concerned, but as a re secretary, I had no right to doubt my master. So, I simply escorted him back to Dellowell. And… this incident happened.”
“…I see.”
After listening to the secretary’s account, the Archbishop pieced together the information he had gathered so far.
Soone had intervened with that man, Pierna. That much was certain.
He couldn’t even begin to guess who it was, but the intruder must have achieved their goal and escaped from Dellowell.
‘The goal must have been the Reincarnation Stone.’
But for what purpose did they want to use it?
When used on humans, it was no different from an ordinary mana stone.
The only practical use for a Reincarnation Stone—at least from what he knew—was to resurrect a beast.
And there was only one group in the Empire insane enough to attempt such a thing.
“…Ain Kabbalah.”
Those who worshiped vile black magic, operating from the shadows of the Empire.
If they had manipulated Torquemada and stolen the Reincarnation Stone, that would at least explain the circumstances.
‘Although, the details still make no sense.’
While Dominico silently drew his conclusions, Karen spoke up again.
No—this was practically a declaration to everyone present.
“If there truly is soone here colluding with black magicians,”
Her eyes blazed with a murderous intent unlike anything anyone had seen before.
“Whoever they are, I will personally cut them down.”
“……”
“……”
Even the Head of the Inquisition, who would normally rebuke her for such insolence before the Archbishop, could not speak under that suffocating killing intent.
While everyone fell silent under Karen’s threat—
“…I think… there were two of them.”
The one who broke the silence, unexpectedly, was Torquemada.
“One of them was called ‘Master.’ For so reason, he looked familiar… as if I’d seen him many tis before….”
As he trailed off, his expression suddenly shifted, as though struck by a realization. He spoke quickly, almost shouting.
“Bover. It was him. He controlled —it must have been him!”
“…What?”
Unable to contain himself, Director Heinrich slamd his fist against the nearby pillar.
KWAANG!
“How dare you suggest that Lord Bover was in league with black magicians! Even between Apostles, that accusation is far too severe!”
Ignoring the man’s outburst, Torquemada turned his head and asked coldly,
“There’s a record of when Bover entered Dellowell, right? When was it?”
The Guard Captain standing nearby, Dennis, flipped through his docunts before answering.
“Around 3 a.m. today, sir. That’s about three and a half hours apart from your own entry.”
“And we still don’t know if he’s left this place yet, correct?”
“…Yes.”
“And he’s ignoring all of our attempts to contact him too, isn’t he?”
“……”
That wasn’t wrong.
No one could offer a rebuttal. And so, Torquemada grew even more agitated, spitting out his words.
“Do you know what he said to before it all ended? ‘Thank you? No, I should be the one thanking you!’ That’s what he said! Why do you think he said that? Because he used to accomplish his goal! It’s so obvious—he was the one controlling !”
Another Apostle, Beckett, murmured in disbelief.
“That loyal man… colluding with black magicians…?”
“When I restrained Lord Torquemada, Lord Bover intervened—said there was an intruder in Marthus Land. Don’t tell all of this was…”
“Wait. You ntioned soone escaped during the incident, didn’t you?”
At Torquemada’s question, Captain Dennis imdiately replied,
“Yes, sir. He called himself Hans Arnim. Claid to be the Guard Captain of Marthus Land.”
“And his identity still hasn’t been confird?”
“No, sir. According to the testimony of the guards who went with him, they scattered midway and lost track of him afterward…”
“That’s it! That must’ve been Bover! I’m sure of it!”
“With all due respect, sir, if that person truly was Lord Bover, our n would have recognized him.”
“Then he must’ve been an accomplice! One of the pair who attacked —Bover’s subordinate! They called him ‘Master’ at the ti!”
While everyone threw out their own opinions and the room descended into heated argunt,
the Archbishop, Dominico, who had been quietly listening, finally spoke in a resolute tone.
“…There was one more, wasn’t there? The one called ‘Master.’”
The Executor of Blood narrowed her eyes.
“And that is… who?”
Recalling the humiliating eting from just a few days ago, Dominico answered.
“Gustav Hauzeger, Master of the Magic Tower of Duel—Mallet.”
The mory was still painfully vivid.
The arrogant words written on that agreent, his insolent remarks—
And more than that, the one person who had humiliated him beyond all asure.
Eugene Carter.
Even without concrete evidence, at that mont, Dominico couldn’t help but be certain.
“It was them.”
They were the ones who had stolen the Reincarnation Stone.
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