BTVF 25

Chapter 25

Aria nodded as if she had been waiting for this moment.

Just then, she had an opportunity to prove her worth.

“Let me go outside the castle for a while.”

Aria snatched the teleportation scroll from Karin.

The scroll, which contained a continent-spanning teleportation spell, was worth more than an entire mansion.

In that sense, “snatching” was the correct word.

Karin cast a lingering, regretful look at the scroll in Aria’s hand and said,

“Should I make a magical puppet to replace you while you’re gone, Miss?”

Aria nodded.

In fact, one of the reasons she revealed her identity to Karin and convinced him was precisely this—

Now she could secretly step outside for a short while.

“You may fool others, but the Grand Duke and the Grand Prince will notice immediately.”

“I’ll return before anyone comes looking for me.”

“Ah, I don’t know if this is wise… Since you already have the scroll, return at once if you sense danger.”

Aria nodded and prepared to tear the teleportation scroll.

“Grrk!”

It was then.

Silver, who had been quietly waiting throughout their conversation, suddenly leapt at her at incredible speed.

Before she could react, the spell activated.

She felt a strange sensation, as if her body had been shattered into pieces and reconstructed, and when she opened her eyes again—

She was in the Holy Empire, in Garcya.

“I told you not to dash forward all of a sudden.”

Aria bopped Silver’s head while speaking.

Silver let out a short, sharp yelp and then muttered in protest.

“Uuuuh…”

Still, it was his way of saying, You need me, don’t you?

Silver often carried Aria back and forth between the main and auxiliary palaces, taking pride in it.

“No one in the world can run faster than me!”

Silver insisted.

He felt threatened by the jaguar, who had recently grown close to Aria.

Wolves probably aren’t faster than a jaguar… Aria thought internally but sighed and let him be.

After all, she had planned to travel on foot without a mount, so Silver’s intervention was actually timely given the limited time.

The scroll’s destination was, unsurprisingly, set to the Papal Seat.

“Follow the direction of the rising sun and run straight.”

Aria climbed onto Silver’s back, recalling stories she had heard in her previous life.

Where there is light, darkness always exists.

Even if it is called the Holy Empire, the land chosen by God, there is no exception.

Even if the Pope worked tirelessly for the relief of the poor, there would still be people who starved.

The easternmost village.

In the Holy Empire, it was called the lowest place.

Originally a hollow, empty ruin, it gradually became a settlement for vagrants and criminals with nowhere else to go.

In short, it was a lawless zone, completely ungoverned.

“Don’t loiter around, scram!”

As Aria prepared to dismount Silver and enter the village, a drunk vagrant staggering along collided with her.

“Hey, what’s this? That hair color is unusual. If your face were nicer, you’d sell well.”

He reached out, seemingly interested in Aria’s pale cherry-colored hair, trying to pull off her hood.

“Grrr—”

Silver crouched low and growled, as if ready to leap and tear the man’s throat out.

“Waaah!”

The drunken man finally noticed Silver’s menacing stance and wide eyes.

Terrified, he bolted.

Aria couldn’t help but feel a little exasperated.

I haven’t even set foot in the city yet, and I almost got kidnapped.

If she were an ordinary child, she would have been sold into slavery immediately.

Aria understood why even the Pope had abandoned this place and shivered slightly.

“Stay here, Silver.”

“Kiiing!”

Silver protested.

But Aria stroked the wolf’s head and said,

“You’re too big, you’d stand out. If I bring you inside, all sorts of criminals would rush at you. They’d probably sell you in the black market.”

No matter how impressive Silver was, even professional hunters, smugglers, or slave traders could catch him if they set their minds to it.

Aria nudged him toward some brush to hide and tightened her hood.

Her goal was to move about quietly.

The sky had grown pitch black, and night had arrived.

Aria naturally slipped into the darkness.

“Help! Please save me!”

“Kyah!”

“If I were sold into slavery, I’d better work properly!”

“Die!”

“Ha ha ha! Do you really think you can run away?!”

“Die! I said die!”

As night fell, horrifying noises came from all directions.

She realized why it was called the lowest place—she was seeing humanity’s underside.

Aria crept along, holding her breath.

Could anyone remember that a temple once stood here?

The glory of the past had completely vanished.

No one would have guessed that a sacred relic lay hidden there.

“Who would imagine that a relic could be sleeping in a forsaken temple ruin?”

“Exactly. Only a saint who can gaze even to the lowest depths could have found it.”

Saint Veronica was meant to discover the relic in this temple, now reduced to rubble.

That would have been the natural course of events.

Aria stood by the crumbling temple wall and took five steps, tapping the ground as she went.

She circled the area, repeating the same action.

After a while, she tapped the ground and heard a hollow, empty sound.

Here.

Aria brushed away the dirt to reveal a wooden plank.

It was the entrance to a secret passage.

She grasped the plank and heaved it up without hesitation.

“…What’s all that noise?”

A human voice spoke.

Aria froze stiff in that position.

She slowly rolled her eyes and saw a drunk vagrant, lying on the ground as if dead, tossing and turning.

“Mm…”

He had fallen asleep.

Phew…

Aria silently sighed and lifted the plank again.

She climbed down the ladder installed inside carefully.

The darkness made it hard to distinguish front from back, but Aria’s keen eyesight allowed her to check her surroundings without hesitation.

Nothing but dust and cobwebs.

Soon, she found a black box.

Opening the lid revealed the relic that had been talked about in countless rumors.

The Judgment of God.

It was recorded in the temple.

To punish humans who dared challenge God’s authority, a lightning strike imbued a branch with divine power.

Got it right.

Aria confirmed the branch in the box and secured it.

Now, all that remained was to leave this place.

As she thought this, she sensed something.

What was that just now…?

She tried to push herself up, placing a hand on the wall.

It’s just a wall.

Aria tapped the wall lightly.

Could it be beyond the wall?

I can’t break through it.

As she wandered around, she noticed a poorly repaired brick.

It looked removable.

She carefully pulled it out and peered inside.

A small space was revealed, just big enough for a hand.

She hesitated briefly before reaching in.

Her fingers touched something.

This is…

A small velvet box, palm-sized.

She opened the luxurious box, completely out of place in such a ruin.

Inside was a necklace, crafted in a neat teardrop design.

The necklace the saint always wore.

Why was it here?

She wondered if this was also a relic, but it didn’t seem so.

It barely emitted any divine energy.

What could this be used for?

It didn’t seem like a mere accessory would be stored here.

Hmm, no idea.

Aria put on the necklace and stood up.

It was better to think about it after leaving the place.

She climbed the ladder back up, restored the plank, and finally exited.

“Finally, I’m out.”

At that moment, she found herself surrounded by giggling, drunken vagrants.