AN: Sorry for the wait, I got sick! ^^;
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“Ah, yes…”
The lord’s eyes squinted for just a second at what I realize must have been a very rude response, but I had a hard time caring. He even smiled just a bit wider for a second, probably trying to gently give me a hint to correct what I’d just done, but I still just stood there, staring, completely refusing to give into social cues or proper etiquette.
I needed to know about this relic, and I needed to know about it now.
Seeing that I wasn’t going to say anything else, the lord glanced away for a millisecond and then straightened himself up from the bow he’d been holding, retracting his hand so that he could tactfully cough into his fist instead.
“Ahem. Yes, of course you’d want to know about something so important first, Saintess. Forgive my frivolity during this important time.”
It was easy to see, even for me and my one track focus at the moment, that everyone but Kale and I were uncomfortable with the exchange that just happened. The slight shuffling, the clinking of all the armor even though none of the knights had moved, and even the frowns on everyone’s faces… It made it obvious that they were all unhappy, even while everyone stayed deafeningly quiet.
I swear I could even hear the leather insides of the lady paladin next to me’s gloves as she tightly fisted her hands in quiet rage. It’s no wonder she’d be mad, considering how much it seemed like she looked up to this guy I’m being rude to. I guess I’d better keep a special eye out for her; Having this group of knights attack us might just be dangerous, but an unexpected stab in the back from the lady paladin might be even more devastating.
Still, there’s one important thing I learned as I glanced around at everyone’s displeased at me faces:
Though the lady paladin looks angry and the guy paladin looks embarrassed, the lord’s knights actually look… shifty.
Sure they look uncomfortable like they should, but quite a few of them seem much less upset because of how I’m treating their lord and much more like… well, I’d say they look like kids who’re worried their mom is about to discover something bad that they’ve hidden. Honestly, it just makes me all the more worried about what’s going on here.
I swear, if this is related to the relic somehow…
-Sister. Sister, come here.-
Ah, who am I kidding? There’s no way that this can’t be related to the relic somehow. The voice that’s calling me, and this feeling on my skin… It’s all too loud and too strong. The relic must be very close. Why else would the lord’s group be camped out in this spot that the relic’s in if they aren’t here because of it?
…I’m just worried what the reason might be…
I have no clue what to even do if it turns out they’re doing something crazy…
Ugh. First, it’s important to see what’s happening before I freak out and get any more anxious over this. Weird though it would be, it’s possible that they were just huddled here for completely innocent reasons. I shouldn’t just assume that something bad is happening here.
“...You’re right, it is very important. I’m sorry, but since it’s so important, could you take me to see the relic right now, Lord Tarsus?”
I’d tried my best to reply a bit less rudely this time, both to expedite things and also to not make the lady paladin any angrier at me, but for some reason the lord’s smile still seemed to falter a bit. Before I could think too much about it however, he quickly began talking to me in a barrage of words.
“Yes of course it’s important! And of course I’d be delighted to show it to you! But you see, there’s just been an incident in the relic’s vicinity, and my men are very tired from chasing down and rectifying the incident, as you’ve seen. My lady Saintess, if you could only give my men, who have so tirelessly worked around the clock to keep the relic safe, a moment to catch their breaths before you went, I could assure you that your visit with the relic could be all the safer-”
…Why is he saying all of this to me? Why would I need his knights or whoever else present when I went to go see the relic? What, do they think it might hurt me too, like a normal person or something? Do they not know that Saintesses are immune to the curse from the relics? But how can they not know that, when Kale does? Didn’t he say it like it was common knowledge or something?
What, is this guy… trying to stall for some reason?
“...There’s no need for any of that. Just point me in the direction of the relic and I’ll be perfectly fine going there on my own.”
“Oh? Oh my… But you see, my lady Saintess, the relic is in a bit of an unclean state right now due to the recent incident. It would be awful to show the relic that had protected these lands under my jurisdiction all this time in such a state, and to a Saintess herself no less… If you would only allow us a moment to just-”
More delaying excuses again… It’s making me feel more and more anxious about this whole thing.
Ugh, I can’t take this anymore! If it’s going to be like this, then I’ll just have to find the damn relic myself!
For a moment I turned to Kale to try and ask him where the relic was, since he can feel divine energy much better than I can. However, remembering what had happened last time with Inaiah’s relic, I quickly looked back away from him again, realizing that he wasn’t going to be able to help me here. Just like last time, I was going to have to follow the call and let it take me towards the relic again.
“Kale, don’t let me bump into anything.”
“Yes, Saintess.”
…I’m glad I can still rely on Kale for other things, at least. If it’s him, he won’t let anything happen to me while I do this, even if the knights or the lady paladin suddenly try an attack while I'm busy finding this thing.
Reassured by Kale’s close presence, I closed my eyes, listening as hard as I could for the ethereal voice that had been calling for me.
-Sister.-
-Sister, it’s this way.-
-Here, over here.-
-You’re close, sister. You just have to go this way some more.-
Like a sleepwalker I followed the voice, ignoring all other sounds, my steps hesitant as they went over the uneven terrain, until Kale stopped me just a few short minutes later.
“Saintess.”
“Ah.”
I opened my eyes, looking down at the thing that my foot had just barely missed colliding with. It made my throat feel weird when I realized that it was a headless body.
“M-my lady Saintess, wait! Just a moment! Please, listen to me!”
A short distance away, I could hear the lord, who had apparently been blocked from following me by the guy paladin, calling out for me. I only let my eyes stray towards him for a moment, however, before Kale suddenly pointed at something.
“Saintess, there’s an odd pile over there.”
Just a short way past the dead body, I could see a forearm and hand, seemingly unfortunately sliced off at the same time as his head, laying on the ground, next to a shallow pit. And there, in the pit, was a pile of leathery cloth that seemed to have something inside of it, with the man’s discarded head laying next to it.
A small group of serfs stood nearby the hole, trembling as if they were going to be killed any minute. They seemed to be wearing the exact same kind of shabby clothes that the dismembered man, and even the one we’d heard the knights kill earlier, had been wearing. When I took a step closer towards the pit, they all flinched like frightened rabbits, immediately scattering away.
…Perhaps these were the ‘men’ that the lord had been referencing.
I watched them scatter blankly for a while as many awful thoughts began to run through my head.
-Sister.-
But when I heard the relic’s call once again, my eyes locked once more onto the suspicious bundle of cloth. As if I was hypnotized, my hands removed the layers of cloth one after another from whatever they were covering, only pausing when I stopped to inspect what looked far too obviously like the clothes from a high up priest.
“What-?”
But my curiosity was short lived, due to the ethereal voice spoke to me as if it were right against my ear.
-Sister… You found me!-
There, underneath the priest’s clothes, sat a dazzling glass box, just a bit larger than the head laying next to me, gleaming in the sunlight. With the priest's robe out of the way, I could feel the gentle heat that radiated from the relic now washing over me, comforting me.
Before I knew what I was even doing, my hand had already reached out, giving it a loving stroke, tracing the edges of the box's top.
-Open it, sister.-
