Asher observed for a long, asured mont, his face unreadable. His eyes flickered with an internal struggle, but when he spoke, there was no hesitation in his voice, only a quiet resignation.
"In the underground dungeon," he began, his voice steady but low, "you might have seen the room when you ca there to see ."
A mory sparked in my mind—vague, but persistent. I recalled the cold, dimly lit corridor, the boarded door reinforced with a strange mana-cancelling alloy. At the ti, it had felt like nothing more than a void, an anomaly I’d been told to ignore. But Benedict’s words had lingered, his warning not to think about that door raising more suspicion than reassurance. Now, the realization that the Saint’s room had been so close all along filled with a simring irritation
"To think," I muttered, more to myself than anyone else, "the child’s room was right there, and I had no idea."
Asher’s expression softened, though a flicker of sothing—guilt, perhaps—clouded his features.
"What is the extent of his power?" I asked aloud, my voice tinged with curiosity and concern.
"I don’t know but for so reason, His Holiness and High Priest don’t want anyone else to associate with the Saint. And since they are letting Mirielle be with him that ans that he must be under a lot of pressure."
I pursed my lips trying not to let my brain create scenarios of what the child might be going through and I inhaled deeply before I looked at Asher.
"Though the Saint looks really happy when he’s with Mirielle so, I can’t say what he might be hiding behind that smile. Mirielle looks quite happy to be spending ti with him too so... I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that."
He looked down at his hands and I sighed.
"I understand, besides that, do you know anything about any other secret passages that exist in the Temple?" I asked and his eyebrows furrowed a little.
"There are a couple of secret passages that lead outside the Temple, I don’t know about most of them."
"Is there any passage that leads from the office of so Priest?" I asked and he seed to contemplate over it.
"None that I know of," he admitted and I sighed.
"I guess I’ll have to do it on my own," I muttered as I leaned back and Lyall looked at .
"Are you going to enter the Temple then?" Asher asked and I tilted my head with a smirk.
"Not enter, it’s called breaking in." I corrected making his face go tight.
"There are a couple of things that you might or might not know but I have questions so, I’ll ask you," I said as I crossed my legs one over the other.
"Was it the Temple who placed the bombs around the market center during the Saint’s parade?" I asked and his eyes widened.
"What? No!"
"How can you be so sure?" I asked.
"Because it’s highly unlikely! The Temple needs the Saint and it would create a huge chaos if anything happened to the Saint. So, the only ones who are capable of doing it are the Nobles’ side."
His voice dropped while speaking the last bit and I shook my head.
"It’s not them." I told him.
"How can you be so sure?" He repeated my question and I smirked.
"Because they are working under ,"
Asher’s entire body stiffened. His eyes widened in shock, and for a mont, I thought he might leap to his feet. Instead, he remained seated, though his posture grew rigid.
"So, you’re on the Nobles’ side." He hissed and I nodded.
"If you put it that way, but I’m not really their pawn or anything. I’m using them instead for my motives." I explained making his eyes grow cautious.
"Your motive of exposing the Temple?" He asked and I nodded.
"Yes,"
"What are you planning to do with Mirielle and the Saint after that?" He asked and I smiled.
"I’ll take them ho,"
"... Was it necessary to use Mirielle into this dangerous plan?" He asked, "Do you even know how bad the ones at the temple are? If they got to know that she-"
"They couldn’t do anything to her," I interrupted.
"Don’t underestimate my power or even hers for that matter. She’s not that weak to let so corrupt humans take her down. If she is there to protect then she is capable of protecting and even fighting for the cause." I told him.
He didn’t look quite convinced so I added.
"Love doesn’t only an protecting the person you love. It also ans that you are supposed to help them grow stronger and let them fight their battles to realise their strength." I said making a muscle pop over his jaw.
"So, you sending her to the Temple was your way of loving her?"
"It is my way of trusting her strength."
He pursed his lips again and then looked at Lyall.
"So, you purposely, got defeated by those people just so that, Mirielle could co with ?" He spoke up.
"It was my Master’s order." Lyall said instead.
Asher’s gaze flickered at then and he asked Lyall another question, "Would you even have killed Mirielle on his word?"
"My Master’s word is absolute." Lyall said and I scoffed as Asher’s jaw clenched.
"I don’t hurt my people, Asher." I said.
"And what if Mirielle decided to leave you tomorrow?"
"She’s free to do what she wants."
"And if she wants to beco your enemy?"
"Will you stop with these moronic hypothesis?" I spoke as I sighed.
"Lyall follows my word without any hesitation but he also knows well." I said.
"He’s a re puppet who kills on your word." Asher spat and I sighed.
"That’s true," Lyall spoke up, "I will kill on Master’s word without looking who it is. Because I trust that my Master can never be wrong. Even if he is, he knows how to correct everything so that the innocents won’t get hurt. You are alive right now and that’s the rcy of my Master. Or I would have killed you the day when you decided to ruin my Master’s plans by attempting to kidnap Lady Mirielle."
Asher grimaced at Lyall while I smiled, this man was thoroughly devoted to and it made gave the slight sense of unease. I didn’t want to let the faith that he had in down.
"Consider this as a warning, I let you off the hook because Master told to not inflict any life threatening injuries or else you would be long dead."
"Now, now, Zoro don’t scare the poor kid," I waved my hand a little and Asher glowered at .
"I’m sure he knows what’s the best. Also, Asher," I said and leaned ahead, "I hope you know that whatever we spoke about today remains between us. It’s your choice if you want to tell Mirielle or not. But don’t discuss about it openly."
Asher seed like he would want to throw a punch at but he grunted out, "All right."
Before he stood up and I looked at Lyall. He understood what he had to do.
I watched as Asher left the tavern with Lyall on his heels before I stood up myself and started making my way back to the inn from where I would teleport back to the Temple.
I had reached the inn only a couple of minutes later and for so reason, I couldn’t feel at ease. I knew where I had to go and what I had to do but the fact that the child had been suffering so much was making it hard for to keep my cool.
I wanted to drop a bomb on the Temple, I did have those bombs that I had taken from the market center place at that ti and I still had no idea who those bombs belonged to. I had my suspicion on the Temple since they were the only ones capable of it but then again, why would they try to hurt their Saint?
There were still too many questions that I needed answers to.
I teleported back to my room and since I was in my male form, I had maintained the invisibility it’s just, I didn’t expect what I ca back to.
Sothing was wrong.
A presence.
A dark, oppressive force coiled through the room like a thick, suffocating fog. It slithered against my senses, brushing past my skin with a chill that felt almost sentient. My muscles tensed as my blood boiled for action. This wasn’t just any intruder—it was sothing far more dangerous, sothing familiar.
I stood rooted in place, my eyes scanning the room as I adjusted my breathing to stay silent. The air itself seed to hum with malevolence, vibrating with a dark energy that prickled at the edges of my awareness. mories flickered in my mind—the sa presence from before.
The dark presence that I had sensed during the ti when my people were kidnapped at the ti when Lord Devil was in trouble. This presence had tried to kill when I was in that cave.
I didn’t expect it to be here, not even in this kingdom let alone in this room.
I didn’t say anything, not did I remove the invisibility spell as I waited. Soon enough, it left.
What was that thing doing here?
I lowered the invisibility spell, the magic dissipating with a soft hum. The room seed unchanged, but the lingering sense of unease remained. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was no coincidence. The presence had been deliberate, purposeful in its intrusion.
This gave rise to a lot more possibilities, most of which I didn’t like.
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