Report
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
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Chapter 26: The Granting of a Title (2)
"I kept my promise."
Ono, with even darker circles under his eyes than when he left, spoke.
Hamel looked at him curiously and asked,
"What happened?"
It was a journey of over a week from here to the Letria Diocese.
How could the bishop have arrived here so quickly?
Ono chuckled and replied,
"A lot has happened. The Pope himself opened a gate."
"..."
Hamel was speechless.
A long-distance gate was last opened years ago when a special-grade demon appeared in the Imperial capital.
It was a taxing task even for the Pope and, above all, a matter that would draw scrutiny from the Imperial family.
Ono stared at the bewildered Hamel for a moment, then shrugged.
"Well, it means the Order didn't want to lose you."
It was unlikely that the Order had gone through such political trouble solely for Hamel.
A secular lord with a religious position was a very advantageous position for the Order.
But even setting aside such political dynamics, it was true that the Order had shown him great favor.
"...Thanks to you, Ono-nim."
Hamel bowed his head in gratitude.
Even with the use of a gate, it was only possible because Ono had ridden day and night for three days straight.
Thanks to him, he was able to keep his priesthood.
Ono, receiving his gratitude, clicked his tongue and turned away.
"That's enough. Anyway, make sure you get that title since I went through all this trouble because of you. I'm going to get some sleep now."
Sometime after Ono left,
Step, step!
Daniel approached, leading a horse.
"I'm ready. Hamel, are you all set?"
"What preparations are there to make?"
The salt mine was only half a day away, and they had rested plenty.
It was a particularly clear day.
Hamel took a deep breath of the damp earth and started walking.
With lighter steps than ever.
***
"Hmm, I wonder if they've left by now."
Antonio muttered, lying in bed.
"I wanted to see them off..."
Antonio, muttering regretfully, was confined to his room, forced to undergo treatment under the supervision of the head priest.
Just then,
Creak!
At the faint sound of the door opening, Antonio sat up and asked,
"Bishop-nim?"
"Oh, no, that's not me. My apologies."
Antonio tilted his head.
It was a man's voice he had never heard before.
The calm, low voice seemed to belong to someone quite old.
"Who are you?"
"Well, what does it matter? More importantly, may I ask you something...?"
The man suddenly stopped talking and slowly approached Antonio.
Then, he spoke with a slightly surprised voice,
"You're... Antonio from the Eastern Diocese, aren't you?"
"Yes? Yes, that's right. How did you know...?"
Antonio thought it was strange that the man who was looking for him didn't know him.
Then a possibility occurred to him.
Perhaps he was newly dispatched from the Holy See.
He had heard that someone would come from the Holy See in the south, separate from the bishop's group.
'Indeed,'
The Holy Sepulchre Knights were standing guard outside.
There was no one safer than him in the territory right now.
"You're from the Order, aren't you?"
"..."
"Huh? Are you not?"
"...No, I am."
For some reason, the man's voice was hesitant.
The man was silent for a while.
As if contemplating something.
Then he suddenly asked an unexpected question.
"Are your eyes... completely blind?"
"Yes, well, that's right."
Apparently, he could wear prosthetic eyes later during the treatment.
They said he would be able to see the world made of mana with those, but it still sounded like a fantasy to Antonio.
After a while, the man sighed deeply and slumped into a chair.
"There's no need to make things bigger, is there? So I'm asking you this, and you need to answer truthfully."
"If it's something I can help you with."
Antonio nodded.
He didn't know what the man meant by "making things bigger," but it was probably related to Hamel.
And as expected, the man started asking about Hamel.
Antonio briefly summarized what had happened.
The man muttered in surprise,
"Hmm. Hamel and Daniel are going after that David fellow, then?"
"I suppose so?"
"...I was talking to myself."
The man pondered for a while longer, then stood up.
As if he had organized his thoughts, he said,
"If that's how things are going, there shouldn't be any problem for now. I'll be on my way."
"Ah, please be careful!"
The man left without a word.
Nevertheless, Antonio was relieved.
He didn't know what it was, but it seemed like things had worked out.
***
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, we got here faster than I remember."
Daniel and Hamel nodded as they looked at the mountain in the distance.
It was a low, rocky mountain with few trees or grass.
It looked insignificant, but this mountain contained a large deposit of rock salt that had fed the people of this region for hundreds of years.
Hamel reminisced as he looked at the mountain.
Memories of his childhood came flooding back.
The memory of licking the rock salt given to him by a miner and cringing at its saltiness.
The memory of holding a pickaxe and mining rock salt himself.
The memory of sneaking into the mine to explore and being whipped by the lord.
'So many things happened.'
Just as Hamel shook his head,
He heard a faint sobbing sound from somewhere.
Hamel and Daniel exchanged glances and rode their horses towards the source of the sound.
At the entrance of a small village formed near the mine,
An old man was weeping, his face buried in his hands.
Hamel dismounted and approached the old man.
The old man, finally noticing someone's presence, weakly raised his head.
"...Who are you?"
"I am..."
Hamel hesitated for a moment.
Should he introduce himself as the lord, or as a priest?
"I am a priest. From the Order."
Hamel introduced himself briefly.
Come to think of it, he wasn't the lord of this place yet.
Daniel then stood beside Hamel and added,
"We came here at the request of the Imperial family. What's going on?"
"Huh? The Order... and the I-Imperial family?"
The old man was startled by their unexpected identities and hurriedly got up.
As he tried to kneel, Hamel stopped him.
The old man repeatedly bowed and apologized.
"I am truly sorry for not recognizing you, honored sirs."
"It's alright. We're not that important, so please don't apologize."
Hamel nudged Daniel in the side.
It wasn't wrong to borrow the name of the Imperial family, as it was indeed a request from someone from the Imperial Palace, but still.
It was a bit of an exaggeration.
Daniel shrugged lightly and smiled.
As if to say, when else would he get to use the name of the Imperial family?
'So he has this side to him too.'
Hamel was amused by Daniel's sly side, which he had never seen before, and turned his attention back to the old man.
The skinny old man looked haggard, as if he hadn't eaten or slept properly in days.
The calluses on his palms showed that he had been working in the mine for a long time.
"What's happening in the village?"
"...The miners haven't returned for two days. Including my son."
Hamel's shoulders slumped.
It certainly wasn't a normal situation.
If the mine had collapsed, there was nothing he could do to help.
"...Did the mine collapse?"
"No, that's not it, but actually... this is definitely the work of a demon."
"A demon, you say?"
Hamel looked at the old man, prompting him for more details.
The old man continued in a weary voice, as if he had already lost hope.
"It started a month ago."
One day,
A miner disappeared.
He had clearly left the mine with the others the day before, but he didn't show up for work the next day.
Finding this strange, the other miners went to his house, but his family had disappeared as well.
"Their belongings and valuables were all untouched. It was very strange, as if they had just vanished."
'Disappeared with their family.'
Hamel stroked his chin, lost in thought.
If they disappeared with their family, it would normally raise suspicion of them running away.
However, if they ran away, it was strange that their valuables were left behind, even if their belongings were.
If there were no signs of kidnapping or murder, there was a possibility that they were lured away by a demon.
The Mimic, which imitates human voices to lure its prey.
The Fox of Ermeda, which could charm people's minds.
'No, even if there are no traces, we can't rule out the possibility that they were taken by force.'
Hamel considered several possibilities and asked the old man to continue his explanation.
"A few weeks passed. A second miner disappeared. Along with his family."
"And then...?"
"Yes, a few days later, a third miner disappeared."
The atmosphere in the village grew heavy with the repeated disappearances.
However, unlike before, there was finally a witness for the third miner's disappearance.
"It was me."
The old man spoke with a pained expression.
"I went out to relieve myself in the middle of the night... and I saw a group of people entering the mine."
And, as expected, they disappeared from the village that day.
The old man told his son about this.
His son, the village headman, immediately gathered the miners.
And they decided to search the depths of the mine to rescue the missing people.
Hamel, who had been listening silently, frowned and asked,
"By the depths of the mine... do you mean the forbidden area?"
"How did you...?"
"..."
Hamel recalled his childhood memories.
The forbidden area was a kind of legend passed down in this region.
It was said that there was black salt in the depths of the salt mine, and a demon slept near it.
Although it was an old story, people were reluctant to set foot there.
There were plenty of other places to mine rock salt, and black salt had low commercial value.
"It's my fault. I shouldn't have said anything... No, I should have stopped them somehow."
The old man sobbed softly again.
Hamel gently placed his hand on the old man's shoulder.
"We'll go check it out. Don't worry. If it's only been two days, they might still be alive."
"...Really?"
"I'll do my best."
Hamel proved it with actions rather than words.
"Get on."
Hamel helped the old man onto the horse.
Then, he pulled the reins with all his might and rode off like the wind.
"He's lost it again."
Daniel muttered, clicking his tongue as he hurriedly chased after Hamel.
Soon, the entrance to the mine came into view.
The families of the miners who had disappeared into the mine were gathered there.
They all looked haggard, as if they hadn't eaten or washed in days, and their empty eyes were filled with despair.
Unable to follow them in, yet unable to give up, they simply waited there endlessly.
Hamel's appearance drew everyone's attention.
"..."
Hamel pondered for a moment about what to say.
How could he reassure and comfort them?
But there was no need for Hamel to say anything.
"A priest from the Order has come."
The old man on the horse announced to the people.
Their eyes lit up with hope.
"Sir, is-is that true?"
"A p-priest!"
"Someone from the Order has come!"
People looked at Hamel with expectation.
They clung to him as their last hope.
In the past, all this would have been a burden, but now it was different.
He was grateful to God for leading him to a destiny where he could help them.
Hamel dismounted and headed straight for the mine.
Then, pausing for a moment, he bowed briefly to the people watching him and said,
"I'll be back soon."
"...!"
Cheers erupted behind Hamel as he entered the cave.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Peptobismol]
[Proofreader - Max]
Join our Discord for release updates!
https://discord.com/invite/dbdMDhzWa2
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