Upon arriving in my chambers, Fran poured a glass of water for Dad, who had just sprinted across the whole city carrying me. We then moved to the hall to talk. Fran was the first one to speak, doing so in a quiet voice.
“I will begin from when you and the others left, Sister Myne.”
It hadn’t been long after I had started being escorted home that Dad had arrived at my chambers. He said that the noble from before had entered the city, asking Fran to report that to the High Priest before sprinting back to the city to check that I was okay.
“I hurried to the High Priest’s room to tell him what had happened but, unfortunately, Arno informed me that he was absent. With no other options available I decided to return to your chambers, but I was stopped by Delia on the way.”
“Delia? Did she have some business with you?”
“She said that Dirk’s adoptive father had arrived and wished to discuss Dirk’s health with you, since you had raised him, but I sent her away as you had already left. I was relieved that you were not here while the High Priest was absent, but...” Fran frowned at me as if expressing his frustration that I had returned, but I wouldn’t have any of that.
“A lot happened to me too.”
I told Fran exactly what had happened on my way home. He crossed his arms and fell into thought.
“If we consider both sides of this story, it is possible that the High Priest was summoned by the Knight’s Order. He will likely return when Sir Damuel does. The archduke is always accompanied by a group of knights when visiting the Sovereignty, so there is no mistaking that the Knight’s Order is lacking in manpower right now,” he murmured. “Sister Myne, please change into your blue robes before Sir Damuel arrives.”
I put on my robes with the help of a worried-looking Rosina, and it wasn’t too long after that Gil returned with Damuel; the Knight’s Order had contained the disturbance in the lower city and instructed him to return to his guard duty. Fran gave them both water, then explained the circumstances in the temple.
“...That’s strange,” Damuel muttered in confusion. “I didn’t see Lord Ferdinand among the other knights—they even told me to report this to him. Are you sure he’s not here?”
We were all confused by this revelation, and so decided to try visiting the High Priest’s room once more. At the very least, we would have to interrogate Arno as to where he had gone; Damuel made it clear that the situation was bad enough to demand that level of drastic action.
“Apprentice, hold onto this.” Damuel, as if suddenly remembering he had it, took a ring out of a small pouch on his hip and placed it in my hand. It had a small, slightly murky gem attached to it. “This is evidence I got off of the man from before. See the noble’s family crest on it?”
“I shouldn’t have something this important!”
“It’s small and not that high in quality, but it’s got a feystone. Hold onto it in case something happens. Unlike Lord Ferdinand, I don’t have any decent feystones I can lend to you.”
Apparently, as a noble on the poorer end of the spectrum, Damuel didn’t have enough feystones to be able to lend one to someone else. I put the ring on, figuring that it would be better than nothing, even if it did belong to a criminal. It didn’t change size to fit my finger, perhaps because it wasn’t a magic tool like the ring the High Priest would always give me.
“...It might be broken. The crest is all we need for evidence, and there’s no point in putting it on if you can’t use it. Can you put mana in it?” Damuel asked.
I tried pouring mana into the ring. “Umm, it looks like I can. Just a bit.” Likewise, unlike the ring the High Priest always lent me, I could barely put any of my mana into the ring.
“That’s a low-quality stone. It might shatter if you put too much mana into it at once. Be careful.”
I clenched my fist so as to not let the half-broken ring slip off of my finger as Fran prepared to take us to the High Priest’s room. I was positioned directly behind him, with Dad and Damuel on either side of me.
“Gil, watch over my chambers for me.” As a child with no fighting experience, he would be staying behind. He had been taught his whole life that violence was wrong, and the shock of seeing someone killed in a spray of blood today had really gotten to him. He looked sick and it was obvious that he wasn’t in a good state of mind, but as much as I wanted to stay with him, that simply wasn’t an option right now. So we left the room, a stiff-faced Gil seeing us off.
“Sister Myne, please be careful. Please.”
We entered the noble area of the temple just as the High Bishop and a group of people turned into the same hallway. Beside the plump-bellied High Bishop was an ugly, toad-like man who was just as overweight. He wore different clothes, but he was the spitting image of an evil minister or some other politician. They were followed by gray shrine maidens and some plainly dressed servants, bringing their party up to about ten people.
Fran smoothly turned a nearby corner to avoid the High Bishop’s group, taking us into a hallway that led to the Noble’s Gate. It would be a long detour to the High Priest’s room, but that was better than meeting the High Bishop along the way. Dad picked me up, Damuel scanned the area, and Fran led the way as we power walked to the High Priest’s room.
“Sir Damuel, who was that with the High Bishop?”
“Count Bindewald. He’s the archnoble from another duchy who used a forged permit to enter the city.
