Ch.179Reunion with Leonor

Astraea.

The goddess of the scales, symbolizing order and justice, was not a particularly popular deity within the Empire.

Justice executed in the name of a god tended to be rather harsh for ordinary people.

For example, what would happen if a young man who stole bread out of hunger was caught by a paladin of Elpinel?

Though he undoubtedly committed a crime and would receive a whipping, after the punishment ended, he would likely be given plenty of bread.

If the culprit was a child rather than a young adult, they might even help find a way for the child to survive without resorting to theft.

The Church of Grace was merciful to people.

In contrast, if caught by a paladin of Astraea, regardless of age or gender, one’s wrist would be cut off first.

While this might be an appropriate punishment according to the law… it was only natural that others viewed Astraea’s followers as heartless, cold-blooded people.

A church that should have collapsed long ago after being shunned by the public.

The fact that they survived through religious wars and became one of the 11 Major Deities was entirely due to their military strength.

They were as strict with themselves as they were with others, and perhaps because of this, each paladin of the Church of Astraea was elite among elites.

This might have been a meaningful advantage in the Holy State, but not to the people of the Empire.

—-

In short, the faith of Astraea was quite a minor religion within the Empire.

Even the Imperial legal code was compiled with reference to Elpinel’s doctrine rather than Astraea’s.

The evidence stood plainly before my eyes.

Compared to the magnificent Extrashafel Cathedral, Astraea’s church was nothing more than a small chapel, not even a quarter of its size.

A brick building that would be packed with just forty people at most. The decorations were equally plain.

At this rate, there must be fewer than ten actual residents.

It made sense why Leonore had chosen to hide in this area.

With few people around, the chances of being spotted were low, and if by chance she was discovered and had to fight Isabella’s subordinates, she could request help from the paladins who were close by.

The location written in the letter was about 300 meters behind the church, an empty house with no occupants.

The exterior walls were covered in cobwebs, suggesting it had been untouched for quite some time.

A familiar presence was waiting for me, holding its breath.

Since I could only detect one person, it didn’t seem to be a trap.

I lightly knocked on the creaking door to announce my arrival to the person hiding inside.

“Princess Leonore Wittelsbach, I’ve come as promised. Am I a bit early?”

“…Just a moment.”

Unlike her previously vibrant self, her voice was cracked and quiet, like a patient worn down by life.

But it was unmistakably Leonore’s voice.

With the sound of a latch being undone, the old door creaked open cautiously.

“Come in.”

Without even showing her face outside, Leonore whispered quietly.

As soon as I entered, she immediately closed the door and locked it.

The interior, without a single light, was even darker than outside, and befitting an abandoned house, it was desolately empty except for some half-broken furniture.

“This doesn’t seem like an appropriate place to hide for long…?”

“This is just a disguise. The real place is below.”

Surprisingly, when Leonore lifted up a section of the floor, a secret passage to an underground area was revealed.

A faint light leaked from inside the underground space where a wooden ladder was placed.

“An underground passage…? How does an ordinary house have something like this?”

Well, they say you can’t judge a book by its cover.

“Just follow me. I’ll explain after we go in.”

Leonore led the way, climbing down the ladder.

I followed her down to the basement.

—-

“…What was this place used for?”

The inside of the basement had a completely different atmosphere from above.

A lamp on the ceiling illuminated the interior, and the walls were solidly reinforced with bricks.

On one side of the wall were stacked long-term preservation foodstuffs, and on the opposite side were furniture and a bed.

“It was a secret warehouse built by a smuggler I executed before. Thanks to him registering it under someone else’s name to avoid investigation, it’s still officially a proper house on paper even though it’s empty now. I never thought that renovating it as a hideout for fun would turn out to be so useful….”

Leonore shrugged as she sat on the bed.

Building a smuggling warehouse near the Church of Astraea—he must have been quite bold.

Perhaps he believed in the saying that the darkest place is under the candlestick.

“Anyway, thank you for coming. It feels like it’s been a long time since we’ve talked like this.”

“Yeah. You don’t seem to have been doing well… but I’m glad to see you’re safe at least.”

Leonore’s appearance under the light was haggard.

Her golden hair, which she used to keep rolled up vertically, hung limply, and she had a strong body odor as if she hadn’t properly bathed for days.

Even her uniform, which she always wore, was dirty with soil and dust.

Her eyes were slightly swollen and shadowed, suggesting she had been through emotional distress.

It was difficult to say she was doing well, even as a polite formality.

“Safe… yes, I suppose I am safe for now. At least I’ve avoided being captured by that woman.”

A bitter smile crossed her dark expression.

“That woman? I had guessed from the letter… So Isabella the Empress did do something. What happened?”

“Empress? That demon of a woman. I will definitely kill her….”

Leonore muttered, grinding her teeth.

—-

The story she told me didn’t contain any particularly new information.

It was exactly as Leopold and I had suspected.

“So you don’t know exactly what happened between them or what Isabella’s true intentions were?”

“That’s right. That night, as my brother said, I left the palace, warned our people, and then came here to hide. Since you’ve come, it seems the members are safe. Honestly, it was half a gamble.”

Leonore exhaled a sigh of relief.

“About that letter, what exactly do you want me to help with? I thought you might be asking me to find you a hideout, but looking at this place, that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“No, thinking about the future, I do need another hideout. There’s a limit to how long I can stay vigilant against others approaching by myself… and above all, there’s not much water here. If I use it only for drinking, I could last about two weeks. If I had known this would happen, I would have connected it to an underground water source.”

So that was why she couldn’t even wash herself.

I’ll have to ask Asha after all.

“I have a place in mind, but I’m not sure if it will work. Have you heard of someone named Asha?”

“The dwarf special student who received a medal recently? I heard you’re quite close with her.”

“That’s right. She’s currently using an entire building she bought on the island as her workshop.”

…She might have more than one building, actually.

“Since she’s a dwarf, she probably has no interest in imperial power, and even Isabella would have to be mindful of others’ eyes before barging in… As long as you don’t go outside, it seems like the perfect place to hide.”

“It’s definitely better than here. Dwarves aren’t particularly trustworthy as a race, but… if you vouch for her, I suppose I can trust her.”

Leonore nodded in agreement.

With this, the hideout issue could be considered resolved.

The probability of Asha refusing? I didn’t even consider it.

I could just promise her a massive reward after everything was over.

With Leopold or Leonore’s money, of course.

A reward paid by royalty—wouldn’t that be too large an amount for her to refuse?

“So the hideout issue is settled… what’s next?”

Surely she didn’t contact me at such risk just to ask for a hideout.

If she had planned to keep hiding like this, it would have been better to escape outside the island in the first place.

“My brother told me to entrust my safety to you and live on. He said you would protect me. He said Leopold couldn’t be trusted at all. But… there’s no reason why I should follow that advice, is there?”

Leonore gripped the hilt of her sword.

The veins on her pale hand bulged as she clenched it.

Her left hand was clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh, causing blood to trickle down.

“I have no intention of living my life under protection in the shadows. Aishan-Gioro Princess, I want revenge. I want to tear into thousands of pieces the enemy who took all my family from me. Without avenging this grudge, I might as well be dead even if I’m still breathing.”

Her gloomy voice was filled with terrible resentment.

Like a beast baring its fangs and growling, Leonore clearly expressed her hatred.

With such intensity that if Isabella were before her, she would draw her sword and tear her apart immediately.

“Dragging that whore down from beside the throne and throwing her to the bottom of hell. That’s the only help I want. What do you think, can you help me?”

Leonore extended her right hand, which had been gripping the sword hilt.

As if she had no one else to rely on, her voice trembled slightly at the end.

“Our minds think alike. That’s exactly what I’ve been wanting to do too.”

I took her hand in mine.