Ch.263Episode 12 – The Strongest Mage in History

Religious buildings require silence.

This is not only to avoid disturbing clergy and worshippers during services, but also to preserve the atmosphere of the building itself.

The Cathedral of St. Basilius in the North is no exception.

Built on the site where St. Basilius once lived, this majestic structure sits on a gentle hill overlooking what was once a humble village but is now a great city. The mere sight of it inspires reverence.

In the early mornings, clergy and monks sweep the courtyard while worshippers offer their prayers in solemn silence. When the soft bell tolls the hour, embracing the city with its gentle sound, the devout clasp their hands together and fall into meditation.

Life’s sorrows and agonizing troubles wash away like dust in a rainstorm when one enters the cathedral.

Under the gloomy gray sky, this building—so incongruous with the war-torn North—had become more than just a religious structure for the residents; it was a sanctuary.

Thus, the Cathedral of St. Basilius was as quiet as a lake without ripples.

However…

“I’m just borrowing it and will return it!”

“No! Absolutely not!”

“Alright, please let go first. Let’s talk about this, brother.”

Today was different.

Episode 12 – The Most Powerful Mage in History

Several clergymen were gathered, raising their voices.

Judging by their cassocks, they were certainly priests, but they weren’t ones I’d seen at the cathedral before.

These unfamiliar clergymen were clutching a box. It was an elegant wooden chest engraved with religious symbols, and even at a glance, it was quite large.

One of the clergymen held onto the chest while raising his voice.

“This is managed by the Inquisition! We barely got permission to bring it out because it’s essential for our investigation. If we lose it, Commissioner Peter would…”

“Yes, I understand perfectly. I’ll return it on time, won’t I?”

“Uh, uhh…?”

A woman’s voice was heard, causing a commotion. The clergymen muttered with obvious confusion, and the one holding the chest staggered.

The other clergymen caught their colleague before he fell. However, despite several strong men holding him, the clergyman clutching the chest couldn’t regain his balance. Looking closer, I realized he was being dragged along.

Was a fight breaking out? As I observed the quarreling clergymen with interest, I turned to continue on my way to meet Archbishop Theodosius.

Just then, the clergyman holding the chest shouted:

“Please stop this, Saint!”

“…Huh?”

I looked at the figure pulling the chest from the opposite side of the clergyman.

“Saint Lucia?”

Lucia’s shoulders flinched. Her head turned slowly, like a child caught stealing, as she was in the middle of wresting the chest from the clergyman.

“W-what brings you here?”

“…That’s what I’d like to ask.”

*

As soon as I spoke, the clergymen parted like the Red Sea and began to act as if nothing had happened.

“…Ahem.”

“Hrm!”

“……”

Why are they pretending nothing happened? I’ve already seen everything.

While the clergymen were busy feigning innocence, Lucia finally yanked the chest away from the clergyman who had been holding it.

“Hah!”

“…Ah!”

Distracted by my sudden appearance, the clergyman lost his grip on the chest. Lucia hugged it tightly to herself, while the clergyman stared at it with bewildered eyes.

I looked at Lucia and the clergyman with an incredulous expression.

“Saint Lucia. Surely you weren’t extorting something from these priests?”

“Of course not.”

“Then what is that chest?”

“It was given to me. Just now.”

Lucia told this blatant lie with a straight face. She pointed to the box calmly, without even blinking.

Her audacity left me with no choice but to cover my face with my palm.

“…Zelna have mercy.”

Now we have a saint shaking down clergymen.

Veronica was bad enough, getting drunk, wandering around, and being scolded by the Pope at a gambling den. Now Lucia is doing this too. Can the Papal Office even handle them?

I don’t understand why these saints are like this. Has the Church fallen into ruin?

As I sighed deeply while rubbing my face, Lucia, who had been standing awkwardly, hesitantly opened her mouth. She seemed to know she should be ashamed.

“So, what brings you here…?”

“…I came to see the Archbishop briefly. Official business.”

“Archbishop Theodosius isn’t here right now. He had to go to Petrograd for a while. Is it urgent? If you contact the embassy, they could arrange a meeting today.”

“No. I just need to deliver some documents.”

“Then follow me. If you come with me, you can enter his office. I’ll guide you.”

Lucia strode forward with the extorted chest clutched to her chest.

The clergymen could only stare blankly at the chest.

Even though it had been taken from them, forcibly retrieving an object held by a saint of a religion could cause serious religious problems. So the clergymen could do nothing but watch the chest in Lucia’s arms.

“Shall we go?”

“…Ah, yes.”

I stepped back a few paces before following Lucia as she led the way. Despite being colleagues, I was too embarrassed to walk alongside her.

*

Documents about an investigator named Romain Cheire, baptismal name Agato, who disappeared in the Moritani continent twenty years ago and suddenly appeared in the North, were placed on Cardinal Theodosius’s desk.

“Thank you for your help.”

“There’s no need to thank me.”

Lucia replied with a kind smile on her face. Normally, I would have thought she had a nice personality, but…

Right now, that smile somehow felt off-putting.

I glanced at the wooden chest in her hand.

“Um… it’s not my place to say, but you really shouldn’t be shaking down clergymen.”

“Shaking down? That’s a misunderstanding someone might get if they heard you.”

Lucia’s attitude remained unchanged. With a face as thick as steel, she blinked her bright eyes innocently.

“By the way, what were those documents you delivered to the Archbishop?”

I had visited the cathedral today to deliver documents about an investigator to Archbishop Theodosius. I also had a favor to ask him.

But the Archbishop was away, and the documents couldn’t be delivered to him personally. Instead, with Lucia’s help, I was able to leave them in his office.

“Nothing special. Just some files.”

I answered with a dismissive wave of my hand, as if it were nothing important. However, Lucia looked at the documents with suspicion before turning her gaze back to me.

After placing the documents in a conspicuous location, I glanced at Lucia.

“So, Saint Lucia. What was that all about earlier?”

“Ah….”

A small sigh escaped Lucia’s lips.

Her blue eyes wandered aimlessly as she held the box. She briefly averted her gaze, choosing her words carefully.

“Just a small difference of opinion. Yes.”

“A difference of opinion? I remember you getting along well with the diocese people. Did something suddenly happen to cause a fight?”

“Ah, those gentlemen aren’t from the diocese. They’re specially dispatched from the Church. They arrived here a few days ago.”

She explained they were from the Inquisition.

All the clergymen assigned to the North had already entered when Lucia led another Holy Knight Order across the northern gate, so there wouldn’t be any new clergymen except those from the Inquisition participating in the joint investigation.

…Wait a minute.

“Hold on. So you didn’t extort an ordinary clergyman, but an Inquisition clergyman?”

“……”

This is maddening.

I stared at Lucia with a blank expression. She slyly avoided my gaze.

I wonder what she was thinking to cause such an incident.

With a nod of my chin, I pointed to the box she was holding—the one she had extorted from the clergyman.

“What’s in that box?”

“…Ah, you mean this?”

When Lucia placed the wooden chest on the table, a heavy thud resonated through the room.

The chest was made of high-quality wood. It was so well-crafted that I almost imagined I could smell the subtle woody fragrance rising from it, but there were a few distinctive features that made it unusual.

Golden patterns engraved on the surface. Religious symbols occasionally seen in Church cathedrals covered the box.

The size was also unusual. It was rectangular but seemed designed to store something elongated. It was also heavy enough to be slightly burdensome even for an adult man to lift.

That’s when it happened.

Clank! Clank! Suddenly, the box began to shake violently.

“Ah, goodness!”

I had been carefully examining the patterns on the surface when I jumped back in surprise. As the box began to move, the table and everything on it trembled.

“Step back.”

Lucia came forward and stood in front of the box. She placed her hand on the shaking container and gently closed her eyes, her lips moving slightly. I couldn’t hear the exact words, but from the appearance, it looked like she was reciting a prayer.

As Lucia began to murmur, the box shook even more violently. It bounced on the table as if about to leap off, but Lucia continued her prayer quietly, pressing it down with one hand.

After about twelve seconds, the box’s movements gradually subsided and then stopped.

“……”

Stroking the now-calm box, Lucia opened her eyelids.

“There. Were you startled?”

“…What is this?”

I looked at the box with suspicious eyes. What could be inside that would make it shake so violently?

“Did you trap some kind of monster in there?”

“Not exactly… though that might not be entirely wrong.”

“What do you—”

“Would you like to see for yourself?”

Lucia said as she unlocked the chest.

Click. Click. With a crisp sound, the lock was released. Lucia opened the box and stepped aside briefly, and I leaned in to peek inside.

And I was horrified.

“Holy shit, what is that!”

Regardless of my reaction, Lucia calmly reached into the box.

And when she lifted out its contents,

I retreated to the corner of the room, cursing and fleeing from her.

“Why are you taking that out! Put it back!”

“…There’s no need to be so alarmed.”

“Yes, there is!”

I shrieked.

“Why the hell is there a human forearm in a cathedral?!”

Dangling from Lucia’s hand was a forearm severed below the elbow.

A human forearm that had been inside the box.