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Chapter 137
If I were to evaluate her objectively, I wouldn’t know where her growth would ultimately peak, but in terms of sheer combat power, she had long since surpassed ordinary lower-ranked angels and had reached a level difficult to compare even among mid-ranked angels.
And when considering her healing abilities, she was even more remarkable.
However, if one were to ask whether she had reached the level of a great archangel, that was still uncertain.
As I gently brushed her hair while she slept in silence, she instinctively clung to my arm in her sleep.
It was then that I sensed soone’s presence.
Srrrk.
I quietly sat up and snapped my fingers, creating a faint sphere of light.
When I stepped out of the room, I found the old butler waiting for .
"Young Master Leon, I apologize for disturbing you at this late hour."
"What is it?"
"The Lord is urgently requesting your presence."
At this hour?
That girl never sleeps, does she?
As I twitched my eyes slightly, the butler, as if expecting my reaction, continued.
"The Lord has asked to relay a ssage. High Priest Nabel is on her way here, carrying a sacred artifact."
"Understood. I'll head over imdiately."
Since the building I was staying in wasn't as vast as a mansion, the distance from the entrance to my room wasn’t far.
Creak…
"Leon, who’s here?"
Still wrapped in her bedsheets, she rubbed her eyes and walked up to , gazing sleepily.
I let out a short sigh and answered, looking at her half-drowsy eyes.
"We can finally go search for them."
My parents—and my youngest sibling.
* * *
lissa, waiting for with a serious expression, stared at intently.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Nothing complicated. Once we have the sacred artifact, we just need to go in, confirm, and bring them back."
"Finding sothing underwater is incredibly difficult…"
"True. If we relied solely on our vision, it would be."
The advantage of the Heart of the Machine God was its ability to gather all information within a designated area.
It wouldn’t be hindered, even by an overwhelming force.
"So, the plan is to enter the Forbidden Zone with the sacred artifact, locate them, retrieve them, and leave."
At last, I would be able to bring my parents and youngest sibling's remains back to our holand.
"Do you have a plan?"
"We'll get assistance from the rmaids to reach the area. Then, I'll use the sacred artifact to enter the depths."
lissa closed her eyes at my response.
"What kind of place is the Forbidden Zone for you to say even you can’t go in?"
"I don't know."
"Huh? You don’t know? Then why say it’s not possible?"
"Because I don’t know. The greatest danger isn’t just a strong enemy—it’s the unknown. Disasters happen because of ignorance. You know that too, from Berner and the Academy."
"Ah…"
Having t Professor Roml and heard so explanations, she seed to understand and nodded in agreent.
"I've also heard there are multiple anomalies occurring there. Carelessly sticking your head into the unknown is bound to end badly."
This wasn’t sothing I could afford to handle carelessly.
"Lord, High Priest Nabel has sent word that she will be arriving directly at the estate."
While teleportation gates were an option, she was choosing to ride a griffon to avoid drawing unwanted attention.
"She wrote that she would arrive at the territory first and visit tomorrow, but neither of us intend to wait, do we?"
"Exactly."
With a table between us, Luna, lissa, and I sat with our arms crossed, staring at one another.
"You look sleepy. Why don't you rest more?"
As Luna yawned silently, lissa casually tossed her a coffee biscuit, which Luna caught with a slight parting of her lips and began chewing absentmindedly.
After waiting about thirty more minutes—
The sound of the wind accompanied the descent of a griffon near the estate.
One was a holy knight I had never seen before, and the other was soone I knew well—the Saintess, Nadia Ten Lilibel.
Currently using the alias Nabel.
Wow, Cerberus.
"Whoa… Cerberus."
Beside , lissa murmured absentmindedly.
"You two really think alike, just like siblings."
"Ugh, that's disgusting."
lissa shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the thought and stepped outside the mansion.
Then, she gracefully approached Nadia and offered a polite bow.
Even wearing a robe, her presence was undeniably powerful.
"Welco, High Priest Nabel."
"It’s a pleasure, Countess Cascadia. I apologize for visiting at such a late hour."
"Not at all. Since we were the ones who requested this eting, we should be the ones apologizing."
"I have sothing important to discuss. May we speak inside?"
"Ah, of course. Please co in."
After giving brief instructions to the holy knight, she quietly followed us inside the mansion.
As soon as we entered the reception room, she let out a sigh.
"So, what exactly is going on that requires a High Prie— I an, a High Priest like yourself to visit so discreetly?"
As I guided her to her seat, I asked.
"To explain that… first…"
She trailed off, glancing at the holy knight standing nearby.
"Sir, could you please stand guard outside?"
"Understood."
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It was rare for a holy knight to treat even a high-ranking priest with such deference.
Did she even care to keep her identity hidden?
Her behavior made wonder.
lissa had initially thought I was mistaken when I told her about it, but now that she was seeing it firsthand, she seed to understand.
"The truth is, negotiations with the Hael tribe have ended poorly. The Holy Kingdom is now preparing an extermination force, while the Hael tribe is gathering its warriors, forging weapons, and securing battle supplies."
If this continued, the small barbarian tribe and the Holy Kingdom would inevitably go to war.
One might ask why the Holy Kingdom oppressed other races—but whether in my past life or this world, the answer remained the sa.
Would the Holy Kingdom be any different?
In the end, this was just another place where people lived.
And judging by the way things were unfolding, it was clear that internal factions within the Holy Kingdom were deeply divided.
“The Holy Kingdom seems to be in turmoil.”
“Ah… how did you…?”
“If the Holy Kingdom weren’t in turmoil, Lady Nabel, you wouldn’t have taken such a risky and secretive approach to bring the sacred relic here.”
“That’s…”
“To be honest, I expected it to take several months—no, at least a year—to obtain the sacred relic. Even as foreigners, we understand how difficult it is to remove one from the kingdom.”
And yet, she had managed to bring it in such a short ti?
There was only one possible explanation.
The Holy Kingdom must be in such a state of disarray that they had no capacity to handle the situation properly, and matters with the Hael Tribe must also be growing dire.
She fell silent, as if at a loss for words.
“Well, no matter how chaotic things are in the Holy Kingdom, that’s not really important. I just have one question, Lady Nabel.”
At my question, she straightened her posture.
The robe she was wearing shifted, as if revealing the presence of sothing hidden beneath.
“Yes, please ask.”
“If we borrow this, will there be any repercussions?”
It would be troubleso if this was used as an excuse to cause us problems later.
She hesitated for a mont before nodding.
“No, I swear on my na that no issues will arise.”
Saying that, she reached into her chest and pulled out a small accessory box.
Inside the box was a small ring.
“Oh… my god. Is that even possible?”
lissa whispered under her breath, making sure she wasn’t heard.
‘Is that the real thing?’
I asked the Librarian.
[Confird. It is indeed a sacred relic.]
That settled it.
Seeing Luna nod in agreent ant the verification was solid.
“I have fulfilled my promise to provide the sacred relic, so now, my lord…”
“When do you plan to depart for the Hael Tribe?”
“What? Ah… I was planning to visit soon. You’ll need a lot of materials to set up a teleportation gate, after all…”
“Finding the items will take a day or two at most, and we already have most of the materials, so don’t worry. When the ti cos, I’ll assist you imdiately.”
Her eyes widened in surprise at my response.
“You do realize that even searching a small lake usually takes months? Even if you hire professional rfolk, searching the ocean takes at least a month—sotis years—”
“A typical search, yes. But don’t worry. When I said a day or two, I was already factoring in travel ti.”
The actual search wouldn’t take long.
I wasn’t even hoping to recover the bodies.
A body subrged in water could disintegrate completely in a month, leaving nothing behind.
So what I was looking for were the keepsakes my parents had carried.
All three of them had items that wouldn’t vanish so easily.
But even those might already be lost.
The chances of retrieving anything were extrely low.
“I can accompany you, but… finding anything in the ocean will be incredibly difficult.”
“We have to try. Even if there’s no hope.”
I was just grasping at straws.
* * *
Bang!
A small girl was thrown into a decrepit attic, her frail body hitting the floor with a thud.
She looked no older than eleven.
Her gray hair, matted with blood and neglected for too long, was brittle and unkempt.
Her skin was covered in bruises and wounds.
Her sky-blue eyes were hollow and unfocused—one of them completely devoid of light, as if she had gone blind.
Her lips, sared with blood, barely concealed her broken teeth.
It was a cruel fate for a child so young.
“No food or water until tomorrow! Do you understand ?!”
A sharp, scornful voice rang through the air.
“Yes, my lady.”
“You useless wretch! We saved you when you washed up from the sea, and you can’t even work properly? You can’t even speak properly, and now you dare resist?! Beat her without rcy if she disobeys again!!”
Bang!
The door slamd shut, leaving the child alone in the dark storage room.
Her blank eyes blinked weakly as she struggled to move her lips.
Then, she slowly crawled deeper into the attic, dragging her battered body toward a pile of discarded junk.
With vacant eyes, she wiped her bloody hands on a scrap of paper and began to draw sothing.
They weren’t words—just a series of simple, childlike drawings.
She kept repeating the sa pattern, sketching over and over like a machine.
Then, she simply stared at the drawing before losing consciousness.
A faint light shimred in the darkness as a small rat approached her.
It sniffed her carefully before cautiously picking up the paper in its mouth.
And then, a soft glow began to emanate from her body as well.
The trait of a beast tar.
But her affinity was so strong it was almost instinctive.
The rat, as if understanding her intention, scurried away through a tiny crack in the wall, carrying the paper with it.
A mix of blood and tears dripped onto the floor.
As she lay unconscious, a fragile whisper escaped her lips—like the murmuring of a dream.
“…Brother… Sister…”
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