However, he could still not see what would be the right answer in this case. He could not sit in two chairs at once.
What he could do was choose not to place the two chairs side by side in the first place.
“I think that the father’s statement is nonsense.”
“Indeed. I think he is just afraid that it will be discovered that he dealt with the assets himself.”
Sligh spoke coolly. Considering how the cathedral and other organizations from the Church have acted so far throughout the kingdom, Col thought it was a natural response.
“I will have a little talk with the father.”
“Very well. I will search other places with my subordinates.”
Col could see a faint light at the end of the corridor, so he did not bring a candle with him. The steps were steep, so he let Myuri go first and took her hand, supporting her as they went down.
Then, like going down the staircase, he went deep into his thoughts.
This problem would not be solved by borrowing Myuri’s power. They had to convince Habbot to retract his statement that Ilenia was the culprit, then show the townspeople that he was innocent. But what if Habbot was not a shepherd but the real priest? What if he really did steal the treasure?
Furthermore, if when they learned the truth that Habbot was the priest and the culprit, could Col agree with the decision to send him to the gallows?
He should be held responsible if he had preyed on the townspeople and accumulated wealth for a long time, then used those assets to protect himself. Even a child would have their arm cut off if they stole bread. Had he managed to secure massive amounts of money, then no god’s protection would be able to save him.
Sins must be punished.
In the end, it was whether or not he was prepared for it.
Was he prepared to live not in a land of pleasure and warm, bubbling waters but in a merciless, wild world?
“Myuri, I—”
And just at that moment.
“Brother!”
Myuri whirled around and screamed.
When she tried to force herself past him in the narrow corridor, it was already too late.
The door shut behind them, and there came the sound of the lock.
“Hey!”
She managed to slip past him and practically galloped up the stairs to cling to the door, but there only came the sound of rusted metal scratching. There was a thick metal sheet on the back of the shelf.
She turned back to him and took the small pouch of wheat in her hand in the darkness. She wanted to return to her wolf form.
But he could neither agree nor disagree with her decision.
He could only think about Sligh on the other side of the door.
“Why?”
That was the word he came to. Sligh had shut them in. It was not a mistake or an accident. To lock the shelf, one would have to get on their knees and stick their hand under the boards.
Unsteadily, he made his way up the stairs and, over Myuri’s head, pounded the metal sheet.
“Why?!”
Of course, there was no answer. But in reality, he did not need to ask. Everyone’s actions spoke the truth louder than their words.
It was none other than Sligh who had stolen the treasures from the vault.
He did not feel anger, not even surprise.
The only thing in his heart was great disappointment.
“Brother?”
Myuri looked up from Col’s embrace with red eyes.
She may be able to rip the metal lid to shreds with her fangs and claws.
But he had one worry.
“In such a small place like this?”
Myuri was a slender girl in her human form, but she was big enough in her wolf form for Col to ride.
Her eyes lost a bit of redness, as though she had not thought of that, and she looked around, irritated.
“…My head might…fit…”
“It is much too dangerous to try that here. Let’s go farther in for now.”
She nodded reluctantly and followed him in.
Then in the room at the end of the corridor was Ilenia, bound and collapsed on the floor.
“Ilenia?!”
Myuri leaped forward and stopped just as she was about to touch her shoulder. Ilenia was unconscious. Myuri leaned forward with her nose to see if she had any injuries, then sniffed around her neck.
“She’s just unconscious. There’s a bump on her head, though…”
She must have been lured into this room, then hit on the head from behind.
“Ilenia? Ilenia?”
She unbound her, then lightly tapped her cheek as she called out to her.
Ilenia finally groaned faintly and slowly opened her eyes.
“Myu…ri?”
“Oh, phew. Are you okay?”
Ilenia cradled her head as she slowly sat up.
When she finally managed to get up, she smiled sheepishly.
“What a foolish lamb I am. I was caught so easily in this trap.”
She took a long sigh, then spoke, as though having recomposed herself.
“But you saved me again.”
When she said that, both Col and Myuri’s expressions tensed. Ilenia soon did the same and looked at the narrow passage behind them.
“Or could it be…?”
They would not just be getting out of this after being tricked.
“Yes. We, too, have just been shut in here.”
Discouragement did not appear on her face due to her merchantlike composure. Or perhaps, she felt relieved she was not alone anymore.
For the moment, Col decided to confirm the situation.
“…Was the one who locked you in here Mr. Sligh from the Debau Company? We were told you were charged with theft, and everyone was gathering here to investigate, and so we were brought here.”
“The same happened to me. It was probably Sligh who planned this. I…don’t think the father did it. I haven’t seen him since I was called here. He might already be dead, or he ran off after being bribed.”
Col shivered when he heard her say that as she dropped her gaze, searching her memory.
He prayed it was the latter.
“But I should have noticed…For someone to steal from this vault, they have to be, without a doubt, a local. Even if the father did it, it would take time. It’s hard to imagine he managed this with everything going on between the Church and the kingdom. Which means we should have been more cautious. There were plenty of chances for our actions to leak to the culprits…”
Even when they had been collecting information about Ilenia, Sligh had caught notice of it through his web of information. Merchants who took root in towns lived in that sort of world.
“So where is the secret escape route the father talked about?”
Ilenia made an expression asking for pity and looked to a corner of the room.
“I think it’s just a rumor. There’s just a small vent over there.”
That was why the air flowed through when the door was open.
“But…I just keep thinking how strange this is. How were all the treasures smuggled out of here? Even Habbot…I mean, the father did not know this existed.”
Habbot’s name accidentally slipped out when he spoke, and Ilenia chuckled.
“Did he confess to you, Sir Col?”
“…Did you know?”
“It’s a tacit understanding in this town. He is the only one who thinks he’s fooling anyone. That is why he’s being used.”
He almost pointed out that she was the same, but he noticed her meaningful gaze.
“Right. That was my chance for success when I first knocked on the door. But…you saw how that ended. A sheep can’t win against a shepherd.”
He hesitated for a moment as to whether or not he should laugh, and Ilenia continued speaking.
“It must have been because I was hit on the head, but I realized how they were stealing things the moment I knew Sligh was the mastermind.”
&n
bsp; As she said this, Col unconsciously looked toward the shelves. What was left there were large objects that should have been stolen straight away.
“The food delivery.”
“…Oh.”
Were there more uphills or downhills in the world?
The only path to the cathedral were the stairs from the foot of the cape, and it was plainly visible for all the town to see, and the beggars were watching.
If so, then there were only two possibilities. Either devise a way so that no one could see, or be in a position that would not cause problems if others saw. It was only the merchants who brought in food supplies who were the exception, who would not be doubted by anyone else.
And much like how uphills must eventually go downhill, those who brought in cargo could quickly change roles to someone who carried things away. That there were only large things left here meant that it was too big to take away in relation to the food they brought in, and they could not hide it as they carried it out.
“It is a fundamental rule of trade to get rid of empty loads. You make much more that way.”
“That was why Mr. Sligh was surprised when he heard that the collection went well…He must have known that we could not have collected fifty gold pieces’ worth without getting to this room.”
“I’m sure he paid the beggars to keep an eye on us, so he also must have known that we weren’t carrying a mountain of household effects or giant gold platters.”
“So he realized that you’d found something small but incredibly valuable. And that the treasure could be nowhere else but the secret vault. Along that line of thinking, it is obvious they realized that others saw their misdeeds, so they beat us to the punch before we could find out they were the culprits…”
Col sighed as he spoke and found himself impressed in a way by how shrewd merchants were.
Ilenia continued.
“Incidentally, they must have checked to see if there were other treasures left. They probably could not go as far to get the story out from the father.”
When she said that, Myuri stood, went into a corner of the room that the candlelight could not reach, then came back.
She was dragging a large cloth that looked like wool behind her. It must be the cloth that was wrapped around the boxes with the relics. Sligh and the others must not have thought it was very important.
“This is all that’s left. All those moldy boxes are gone, just traces of a hole they greedily dug, probably to check if there was anything else under it. It’s probably big enough for all of us to fit inside.”
Myuri smiled mischievously. She must have imagined Sligh and company desperately digging a hole.
“But, Brother?”
“Yes?”
“Is this the time to be sitting around chatting?”
Her eyes said that sins must be paid for.
But there was something that still bothered him.
“What does Mr. Sligh plan on doing with us?”
Ilenia’s face became pensive again.
“…If he simply wanted to silence us, it would have been faster for him to drop us off the cliff. So to gather us all together like this…perhaps he means to pin the blame on us. Everyone will eventually find out that there have been thefts. So without a culprit, someone will notice the truth.”
“But how?”
Even if they were handed over to the city council in this situation, he could not imagine they would immediately be beheaded as per bandit law. They would be put on trial, and he did not think that would be against their favor.
Because if the council got involved and they were put on trial, he would, rather, have a greater chance in his favor, since the royal Hyland was on his side. And above everything else, the townspeople regarded him well, calling him a cardinal. There was without a doubt that things would move forward in their favor.
Sligh should know that and Ilenia as well.
So he was especially puzzled by Sligh’s actions.
“Come on, you guys, what are you talking about?”
An irritated Myuri cut in.
“The treasures were stolen from here, right? If there’s people here, then they’re the culprits.”
Myuri loved pranks and was always brought back and scolded at the scene of the crime. She must have many experiences of times where excuses did not cut it.
But this was not a child’s world.
“That might be so, but there are things called trials in society, and by talking to one another, that is how they discover the truth—”
There, his words cut off.
Discover the truth by talking to one another?
He unwittingly looked around him. This was a room enclosed on all sides by stone walls with only one exit.
The priest was a fake, and those who called themselves council members were likely Sligh’s trusted underlings, so the ones who knew the truth were few and far between. And people rarely ever came to the cathedral.
Would they be talking at a time like this?
That was absurd.
“The dead can’t talk…you mean.”
“Yes! That’s why we’ve gotta get out of here and get ’em!”
Myuri pulled some wheat from her pouch and put it into her mouth, and began stripping off her clothes. Col was bewildered at how fast she was moving, but finally remembered she did not like him looking at her when she turned into a wolf, so he turned away and closed his eyes.
He opened his eyes when he felt fur rubbing against his cheek.
“My head might fit in the passage.”
She put her head in the entrance to the corridor, went a bit farther in, then returned.
“I thought if I could throw myself at it, I could easily…”
She looked up at the passage, and her words cut off.
She then drew back in surprise.
Wondering what was wrong, Col saw a snake slithering down the stairs.
A snake?
“What is…this…? Water?”
He immediately knew what it was.
“Myuri, get back!”
The end of the hall suddenly went bright. The light immediately grew strong, and it wavered as it came down the steps.
“Ah, ah, ah!”
Myuri, who was afraid of only one thing in the world—her mother—tucked her tail between her legs and jumped back.
The snake continued down the steps with such wild energy.
It was a river of oil, wrapped in flames.
“Wh-what should we do, this…?”
Myuri looked at the end of the hall in a panic and tried many times to jump forward but always hesitated.
The fire quickly blocked the hall, and black smoke covered the ceiling.
They would not escape unharmed if they jumped into it.
The burning snake was slithering farther and farther into the room; there was nowhere to run.
Rather, the situation must have been good for him as Col kept himself together, knowing that they had no choice but to look around the room.
“Myuri, knock over all the cabinets!”
She understood in a second, so she turned to the side and began ramming into the shelves, pushing them into the flaming snake to turn it back. Though they were made of wood, they could stop oil. This room was surrounded by stone walls, so as long as they could keep the oil at bay, they would not go up in flames.
Myuri must have thought the same as she knocked over two, three shelves and piled them at the entrance of the corridor.
“…They were ready for this.”
The deepest parts of the room, where the candlelight had not reached, were now glowing a deep red. There was a big pile of firewood.
To make it all worse, burning oil poured in from the air vent in the ceiling, and that, too, was set on fire.
Places meant for keeping others out were also perfect for keeping people in.
“Burning us alive and the treasure while they’re at it will certainly round everything off nicely.”
; Ilenia murmured with a half smile.
“Oooh…!”
Myuri growled and lowered herself, facing the burning wooden shelves.
Col felt the blood drain from his face, and he leaped at her.
“Myuri! Calm down! You can’t do it!”
“But we’ll burn to death here anyway! I might be able to open that door!”
She shook him off, and before he could call out to her, she disappeared into the corridor.
“Myuri!”
His voice and the loud echo of a banging on the door resounded at the same time.
He did not know if it was only a few seconds or long enough for him to take several deep breaths.
Before he realized it, a wolf jumped out from within the flames and black smoke.
“Agh…Ahhh!!”
Myuri could not stick the landing and instead collapsed on her side on the floor. There was a faint smoke rising from her body, and he could see small flames between her claws on her front and back paws.
“What did you do?!”
She did not try to stand, either because the smoke had gotten into her eyes or from the pain of her burning paws. Col immediately leaped toward her and cupped both his hands around her paws.
The fire burned his hands, and there came a sizzling sound.
With Ilenia’s help, Col desperately tried to hold Myuri down as she raged either from pain or confusion, and he continued to put the fire out with his hands. When he finally managed to put the fire out on her back foot, she calmed, panting heavily.
The fire continued to rage, and it was so hot and bright he could barely keep his eyes open.
“…I’m sorry, Brother. I couldn’t open the door…”
Myuri lay limp on the floor.
“Don’t push yourself too hard.”
As he spoke, she lifted her head, looking at him with red eyes.
“You tell me to be ladylike even when I’m about to die?”
She half-laughed in disbelief, and Col could not help but smile as well.
“Of course.”
She sighed and tried to stand up as her body trembled.
“Myuri, lay back down.”
“No. Everyone’ll die if I don’t open that door. If we’re going to be burned alive, then we may as well do everything we can first.”
But the door did not open with her first attack. He did not think anything would come of it if she tried again while her feet were burned. There was no way he could simply watch her jump into the flames over and over, still injured, as she slowly died in pain.
Wolf & Parchment, Volume 3 Page 19