To the Church Territory (4)

As soon as they arrived at the mage community, Yona secured an inn first.

Then, leaving Alec and Kaiyak at the inn, Yona went alone to the mage’s tower.

Alebiang was waiting for her in the lobby of the mage’s tower as if he had been expecting her, and they were able to go up to her room together as soon as they met.

And as soon as she received a teacup, this is what Alebiang said:

“I think we need to go to the church territory, pretty one.”

“The church territory?”

Watching Yona’s face crumple, Alebiang sipped his tea with a slurping sound.

She wasn’t entirely pleased with it either.

Not only because she had agreed to meet Ceres in the church territory, but honestly, she disliked the idea of Yona and Ceres meeting at all.

However, Alebiang had no other choice at the moment.

She still lacked the power to carry out her plan, and she intended to let things flow according to Ceres’ intentions and then—

“What’s wrong, why aren’t you saying anything?”

Alebiang suddenly came to her senses at the sharp voice.

It seems she had fallen deep into thought every time she looked at Yona’s face, so she hadn’t answered Yona’s question.

“Yes, yes… Pretty one, I agreed to meet Ceres in the church territory.”

“When are we going all the way to the church territory again…”

Yona rubbed the tip of her nose with her face still frowning.

Thinking about it, it’s not an impossible journey.

It’s a path they’ve already traveled once, and above all, since monsters don’t appear in the Medial Plains, it wouldn’t be a big deal even if they went for fun.

“Alright. So we just need to go to the church territory, right?”

“Yes. I think Ceres might already be there.”

Alebiang thought about whether it would be better for her to accompany them but gave up on the idea.

Although she desperately wanted to accompany Yona, going all the way to the church territory was another story.

If she went to the church territory and encountered Ceres, who knows what might happen. Alebiang herself had a rather low boiling point, and Ceres was particularly good at getting under people’s skin.

“Okay. I’ll need to prepare a bit and leave the day after tomorrow.”

Yona put down her teacup and stood up.

Alebiang silently watched Yona.

She always felt sorry for Yona.

Although Yona knew nothing, that’s precisely why Alebiang had to keep watching over her.

Yona, who would have to walk a path of hardship in the future—Alebiang could only watch over her.

“Have you heard any news about the hero’s party?”

Alebiang’s somewhat abrupt words.

Yona, who was standing and smoothing out the wrinkles in her dark navy pleated skirt, glanced at Alebiang.

Yona, well-dressed in a thick white linen shirt and a dark gray padded vest, was silently looking at Alebiang with an unspoken gaze.

“…No, I haven’t.”

In a world without telephones, where the only way to communicate news is through letters or messengers, how would she know about Rudvik and Bigrind’s party?

Besides, Yona doesn’t have a clear residence to exchange letters, and even if she did, they’re not really on letter-exchanging terms anyway.

“I heard they’re heading to Kapatia Port.”

“Kapatia Port? Why?”

It wasn’t something she was particularly curious about.

Whether they go to Kapatia Port or the Katus Empire, it’s none of Yona’s business, but since Alebiang mentioned it, she asked about the reason out of courtesy.

Alebiang took another sip of tea, put the cup down on the saucer, and sighed softly.

“They say they found traces of the dark organization in Evian.”

“…The dark organization?”

Yona’s eyes lit up at those words.

The ones who kidnapped Rubina in Kapatia Port.

And the ones who tried to summon Berbaria by offering Rubina as a human sacrifice.

Ultimately, the ones who caused Berbaria to dwell in her left arm.

The news that such people had infiltrated even Evian was not something she could ignore.

“Yes. The catacombs in Evian, remember? The place where that tattoo on your right arm was engraved.”

“I remember. How could I forget that place?”

“They say strange things happened there. The hero and the saint resolved those strange occurrences. It seems they found traces of the dark organization from those remnants.”

Yona sat back down on the sofa.

She wasn’t particularly interested in what the hero’s party had done anymore. They were strangers to her, and had nothing to do with Yona’s purpose.

Saving the world or whatever they were doing was their job, so Yona thought it had little to do with her own tasks.

Perhaps even Berbaria dwelling in her left arm had little to do with… Yona was trying hard to think that way.

“Thanks to that, they tracked the dark organization in Evian… and it seems to be related to the back alleys of Evian. It looks like they got information that those hiding in the back alleys came from Kapatia.”

“…Did Friki say that? Oh right, is Friki still alive?”

It’s been so long since she’d seen Friki that it wouldn’t be particularly surprising if he had died in the meantime.

“Yes. Friki is still alive. But I didn’t hear this from Friki. I heard it through Mary.”

“Is there some magical way of communicating?”

Alebiang just nodded without answering.

Yona, who had no knowledge of the magical world, thought that must be the case, but suddenly one possibility came to mind.

“Then is there a chance that they, I mean… Rudvik and Bigrind might also come to the church territory?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s uncertain. The only one who definitely said they’d come to the church territory is Ceres.”

“Then that’s fine.”

The hero’s party will take care of the dark organization.

Yona felt relieved at that answer and stood up from the sofa again.

Neither Bigrind nor Rudvik were easy people to deal with.

Honestly, she didn’t want to have contact with them as much as possible.

*

Alec closely observed Yona as she entered the inn.

She hadn’t returned to being a man yet, and judging by Yona’s hardened expression, there probably wasn’t any positive news.

Although it’s a pity for Yona, from Alec’s perspective, there shouldn’t be any positive news for Yona.

That would be good news for Alec.

Unable to overcome Yona’s stubbornness, Alec had sent her alone to the mage’s tower and remained at the inn with Kaiyak.

While anxiously waiting for Yona, seeing her return like this with her expression already hardened was almost a relief.

“Did you have a good visit?”

“Yeah.”

Shortly after Yona sat at the table, a bowl of stew and a pot of water were placed in front of her.

Alec and Kaiyak had already eaten, so only her portion came out, and Alec first poured a glass of water and placed it in front of her.

“What did they say?”

“It seems we need to go to the church territory.”

“Why the church territory?”

“Ceres… the Regent is supposed to be there. They say we’re supposed to meet there.”

“The church territory…”

Alec stroked his chin, lost in thought.

If we walk to the church territory, it’s still a distance that would take several days. The problem is that there aren’t any notable villages along the way, just a straight walk.

And now the party consists of three people: Yona, Alec, and Kaiyak.

This was the problem.

There are two things to do when we go to the church territory.

One is the lifting of the prohibition placed on Alec.

And the other is the removal of Yona’s tattoos.

Both were big tasks.

“So I’m thinking of leaving for the church territory the day after tomorrow, what do you think?”

Yona drank a glass of water before eating the stew.

As he poured more water into the empty glass, Alec nodded.

It doesn’t matter when they leave, but he feels urgent.

Watching Yona eat the stew, Alec became lost in thought.

Despite making such resolutions, he hasn’t done anything yet.

Although they haven’t had a deep conversation yet, it was clear that Yona still harbored a strong desire to return to being a man.

Isn’t her effort to erase the tattoos proof of that?

If she erases the tattoos and returns to the mage community, everything will be over.

*

“Sigh…”

Returning to her room, Yona flopped down on the bed and let out a long sigh.

Ceres, Ceres Allkamine, the Regent of Kapatia—

A woman who can do something similar to purification magic with personalization magic.

If she goes to her, she can erase the tattoos.

Yona had no doubt about that part.

No, she didn’t doubt that part—or rather, she didn’t doubt Ceres Allkamine as a person.

Throughout their journey together, she had consistently shown trustworthy behavior,

Honestly, wasn’t Ceres much more trustworthy than Alebiang, whose true intentions were hard to read?

‘The tattoos…’

That’s right.

The tattoos must be erased. Whatever happens, the tattoos must be erased.

Lying on the bed, Yona raised her right arm and undid the holy robe.

As the holy robe gently unraveled, her skin was revealed.

Skin so covered in black letters that it was hard to find its original color.

Ridiculously, even though just looking at it gives off such a negative feeling, there’s no problem with the flow of holy power,

That was even more strange.

The right arm would be the tattoos, so these should be erasable.

In fact, they’ve already become much fainter than their original color, and according to Ceres, if she undergoes a full-body purification, they should be erased.

Then the left arm is the problem.

This wasn’t something like a tattoo.

More than that, she wondered if she could enter the church territory with this left arm.

It’s literally like a mark where a demon has taken residence, so can she enter the church territory with this engraved?

Nothing was certain.

With nothing certain, she only felt anxious.

Impatient and anxious.

Before the question of whether she could return to being a man or not, the anomaly that had occurred in her body was suddenly weighing heavily on her, and that was more of a problem.

-Knock knock…

Yona, who was about to let out a long sigh, raised her head to look at the door.

When no answer came from her, the sound came again.

-Yona, are you asleep?

It was Alec.