Chapter 178: Amaranth Monastery (2)

In the end, destiny is like a paper boat thrown into flowing water, and like children endlessly running along the riverbank, knowing that someday the paper boat will sink. If there is no goal, the boat is bound to sink.

If there is no goal, the children will lose their purpose and merely spend time sitting dejectedly, empathizing with the emptiness.

Only boats that have the ambitious goal of going to the sea and steadily remove obstacles can venture into the distant ocean and achieve their dreams. Only the children who ran towards the goal of being sent to the sea earn the right to share in the joy.

Our dream was not one-dimensional revenge. We were small paper boats dreaming of going to the sea. We were people contemplating how to handle the aftermath after Alexander died, people who had to think about what position would allow us to kill the heroes without repercussions and move to the next stage.

Even if it wasn’t Milia’s suggestion, we would have used some opportunity as an excuse to catch and kill someone who worshipped demons. Because that process was necessary to send Lumia out into the great sea and concretize the next stage.

So, we decided to follow Milia’s suggestion and help her.

So now, I was sitting at an intersection with a clear view of the Amaranthine Monastery, looking through a teleport scroll.

“Magic is truly amazing. To think you can fly up to 100m away just by using this small piece of paper.”

The teleport scroll was an item procured from the magic tower. The usage method for portable scrolls was very limited. You couldn’t travel too far, and it could only be used at a location where a mark had been activated. I deeply embedded the teleport mark under a tree and hid the scroll in my inner pocket.

And then I faced the signboard once again.

Amaranthine Monastery.

The monastery’s director, Andre, believed that people who had committed sins could repent. He believed that by reflecting on their sins through penance and looking back at themselves through prayer, humans could certainly be reborn. He prayed for the sinners without missing a single day, and once a month, he went out to a nearby city to promote the monastery.

This information we obtained didn’t just mean Andre was enthusiastic about reformation.

It meant there was a day once a month when the monastery’s leadership, including Andre, would be away.

Having confirmed the specific date and cycle, we began preparations. Lumia contacted the capital through a church in the west, and I ordered a teleport scroll from the magic tower.

I had Taffy and Sophia wait at their respective positions, and instructed Rat Trap to follow Lumia. Due to my family being scattered, I was alone here now. Could I alone break through the complex and vast structure of the monastery, swarming with so many people?

To give you the answer first, it was impossible. I couldn’t know what demon was hiding deep in that basement, and the probability of the abbot returning before I could kill everyone alone was higher. There was also the probability that the demon would kill Kelly while I was causing a ruckus, and a strange security system might activate, leading to my capture.

Assuming the worst-case scenario, I moved forward. Seen from afar, my appearance would have looked like a shepherd or an idler wandering around this area. Because I was wearing a shabby vest and shorts, leisurely walking with a blade of grass in my mouth. My face was smeared black with charcoal, and my hair had been dyed through magic.

The gatekeeper frowned briefly upon seeing me, then soon lost interest and gestured.

“This is off-limits to ordinary people. Go back.”

Guards are kind to outsiders. As long as that person doesn’t make a futile attempt to enter, the guards become kinder and more taciturn walls than anyone. I showed him my teeth and smiled. The guard looked at me while frowning, then smiled awkwardly and nodded.

“Well, hurry up and go in. Don’t do anything strange.”

He seemed to instinctively sense my strangeness and started to coax me. And I ignored his kindness and started running towards the castle wall.

“Uh, uh! Wait a minute! Stop! Stop!”

The guard ran towards me, swinging his spear. But his spear only cut through the air; my collar fluttered in the wind generated by the spear. The guard, with his stance broken, could only watch me gracefully climb the wall.

“Emergency! Emergency! Intruder!”

A swift and quick response followed. Around the time I was climbing midway up the castle wall, the guard rang a bell, gathering soldiers, and they were converging on the wall. As I grabbed the corner of the rampart, clubs and stones flew in as if they had been waiting.

The soldiers gritted their teeth and tried hard to prevent my intrusion. I dodged the clubs flying in simultaneously and leaped over the wall. Pushing them away like in an obstacle course race, I threw myself inside the monastery.

“Stop there! Catch me!”

They tried to grab my vest or pull my arm. But before their open hands could grasp me, my body fell to the ground, and the soldiers hanging onto the rampart could only stare blankly at me.

Facing me upon landing on the ground were soldiers with bewildered expressions and prisoners moving their bodies for their walk time. They all faced me in white clothes with pale faces, trying to understand the situation.

“What, what is it!”

“Catch him!”

At the soldier’s shout, dozens of soldiers rushed in en masse. A small number of soldiers made all the prisoners face the wall to control them. Clubs and spears flew towards me, and I dodged them one by one, trying somehow to get to the prison.

With every step I took forward, I felt the soldiers swinging their spears even more desperately. The soldiers, gritting their teeth and looking at me with eyes turned red.

Just the fact that someone had already climbed over the wall meant the possibility of disciplinary action. Their determination to absolutely prevent me from going into the prison was visible.

And then someone grabbed my vest and pulled me back. Helplessly, I staggered and fell backward as clubs and kicks flew in. Curled up, I started screaming the most pathetic screams I could muster.

“Aaaagh! Aagh! Uwaaagh!”

Dust rose. My body went limp, and the soldiers looked down at me, breathing heavily. I waited for the next situation, rolling only my eyes. The soldiers were muttering amongst themselves, discussing how to dispose of me, and one soldier offered an opinion.

“Let’s lock him up. He’s a suspicious guy. Didn’t you see him jump over the wall in one go? It’s clear he’s a spy from some faction holding a grudge against our Amaranthine Monastery. He could be from the church, or maybe a member of some criminal organization.”

Another soldier said.

“I see. It certainly seems right for the Abbot-nim to personally use his power to investigate the guy.”

The other soldiers nodded at his words. They couldn’t just let go of a madman who had suddenly entered the monastery. With thick iron shackles put on me, I was dragged to the underground prison. Since the pretext was that I had lost consciousness from being beaten, the soldiers dragged me along.

“Search his clothes.”

“There’s nothing.”

The inner pocket was a device made very secretly. There was no way these soldiers, who hadn’t received special body search training, could detect it.

The soldiers, seemingly thinking that putting handcuffs and fetters on me was enough, threw me onto the prison floor. I rolled on the floor like a sack of luggage until I hit the wall and stopped. The soldier left me limp and securely fixed the chains of the handcuffs and fetters by nailing them down.

The cool sensation of wearing them after a long time was, for some reason, welcome.

“Wait here a moment. I’ve summoned the Abbot-nim now. Soon, we’ll know what intentions you had for invading here. Heh heh.”

The soldier scowled along with his pathetic threat. Avoiding his gaze, I only looked down at the floor. The soldier, seemingly thinking his threat had worked, came out of the prison and locked the door. And then, waving to a certain soldier coming around the corner, he said.

“Hey, Eddy. You were in charge of the prison area today, weren’t you?”

The soldier called Eddy nodded. He was a soldier I knew very well. Because Lumia had treated his mother when she was sick.

Eddy nodded silently, and the soldier handed Eddy the key.

“Then be careful. That guy climbed the wall alone. He’s a scary one.”

“Got it.”

After patting him on the shoulder, the soldier disappeared. The soldier’s footsteps echoed, and when even that echo faded, I got up from my spot.

Inside the quiet prison, only the sound of me moving resounded clearly. The handcuffs were made of a very sturdy material. I also knew where these handcuffs were used.

They were steel handcuffs used when subduing terrifying beasts.

“Wow, they tied me up with the thick ones.”

I reached my hands towards the sky and applied force. Like breaking glasswork, iron powder fell with a ‘hududu’ sound, and then the handcuffs snapped off with a ‘ttuk’ sound. I broke off the hanging chains like accessories with my fist and released the fetters by applying force with both hands.

Eddy silently watched as I became free.

I said with a smile.

“Eddy. So, where is Kelly locked up?”

Eddy, holding a torch, opened the prison door. Eddy asked me as I came out of the prison.

“It’s really going to succeed, right?”

“It’s a plan that cannot fail. Just guide me, and you just need to run away.”

Everything was planned.

Starting from the cabin where Eddy lived, before I was dragged to prison.