By 10 p.m., Eden was able to enter the sanctuary as he was on duty to care for the eggs. Apart from him, there was no other paladin who volunteered. The back of his head, as he entered the sanctuary, caught the stinging gazes of his colleagues.
The eggs that he saw up close were larger than expected. They were rectangular, held together like ant eggs, each egg about fifty centimeters in diameter and about one meter in total width. In addition, the shell of the egg was soft, and the surface wriggled when the newborns were about to hatch inside. Even the knights of Actilus, who had seen all sorts of gross things, looked terrified.
Eden also couldn't help but feel sick physiologically.
At the scene in front of him, more than a hundred eggs were initially collected in one place, and only those that were about to hatch were moved to another location to imprint the body odor of the 'mother.' Beast cubs with no eyesight imprinted their mothers with their scent.
Since he took on the role of the imprinting target, the Actilus knights, who secretly ridiculed the paladin of Tunia as cowards, were surprised by Eden's decision but were also secretly grateful. By volunteering for the role they most shied away from, Eden was implicitly excused from doing boring and uninteresting jobs, and it was left to the Actilus knights to sort out which eggs were likely to hatch soon.
So, he was able to tour the sanctuary relatively freely until the eggs cracked in the shell came out.
As he lit up the sanctuary with a torch, although there were traces of rainwater leaking or places where the wind came in, it was a neat ruin for a long-neglected one. It may be because the monsters chose it as a place to lay eggs and carefully decorated it.
It was a strange feeling.
He was classified as a rational and calculating person... still, this place strangely blinded him.
The groundless thought that there would be something if he came here soon became a conviction and tenacity. More than anything else, he willingly surrendered to the strong attraction. Now was the time to check if his judgment was correct.
After looking around, Eden moved to the library.
When he took a class on the stolen land, he learned that this was a 'great library,' though it was a bit shabby on a scale to name it that way. The Actilus imperial library seemed to be much bigger.
'As I learned, I seemed to understand why they did that.'
It was better because it was small.
After lifting the lamp and measuring the scale of the whole, Eden tried to let the light reach the entire room as much as possible. The surface of the old, worn stone walls reflected the light of the lamps, leaving bright yellow clusters on each brick.
But somewhere, there was a space that was dark and dark as if sucking in the light of a lamp.
He approached that way.
While the sound of footsteps in an empty room reverberated excessively, adding to the tension, his nerves were on edge and he was frowning. Would he catch sight of something? Feeling as if something might come out, he thought it might be better to come when the day was bright...
Still, he continued to move, ignoring the warnings of reason. Like leaves being pushed by a mighty stream, Eden leaned toward the torrent of darkness.
It was a stone gate.
It was open about twenty
centimeters, and there seemed to be another space inside.
Then, he let out a sound inside.
"Aah."
The reverberation faded away in an instant.
Behind this, a narrow passage seemed to run long. He soon placed his hand on the door while glancing behind him once to see if anyone was coming.
...Should I open more?'
At the thought, he impulsively pushed the door open.
But instead of opening, the door slammed shut, and even though he pushed his upper body with force, it didn't budge.
Eden, who looked at the door in dismay, found that a letter was engraved on the doorknob. It was difficult to read because the dust accumulated and stuck to it layer by layer. After rubbing the dust clouds off with his fingertips, he lowered the lamp to where the letters were faded to make them easier to identify.
"When Actilla's blood is ready, open it with Tunia's sword..."
It was an intuitive and ambiguous remark.
Grabbing the doorknob, he frowned.
...Actilla's blood, Tunia's sword.
Actilla's blood seemed familiar. Raniero Actilus, since he serves as the god of war's avatar as Actilla's godson, wouldn't it be sufficient to let him bleed?
Though what was the sword of
Tunia?
Nothing came to mind for 'Eden,' the faithful lamb of Tunia.
...There's no such object like a sacred sword.'
He read the phrase carefully once again. Since the phrase 'Actilla's blood' was likely a metaphor, the same might be true of the sword of Tunia.
'First, I'll need to look in the library to see if there are any related documents, and if there are none, then I'll have to go to the Archbishop...
That was the moment he was about to come to that conclusion...
"Hey!"
Suddenly, one of the Knights of Actilus called out to Eden from behind.
It was a rude attitude like a person from Actilus.
When he looked back, the knight who stood a couple of steps behind him was staring at him with a very strange expression. Eden unwittingly turned around and covered the engraved sentence with his back.
"The egg is about to hatch. I think you'll have to see it soon to work on the engraving."
"I see. Let's go now."
The knight clicked his tongue and asked.
"Huh? You couldn't even hear me when I called you. What are you looking at in front of a blank wall?"
...A wall with nothing?
Hearing those words, he glanced behind him casually. The door was still there. Its shape was so evident that it could be called a door even if a person wasn't really looking at it.
As a chill ran down his spine, Eden swallowed dryly and replied in a cracked voice.
"That's right... it's a wall with nothing on it."
"What is it? This isn't funny, hurry up and follow me. You'll miss the hatching like this."
The knight turned around first and strode out of the library. And even though Eden seemed to follow without a word, he looked back around again from where the knight was standing.
No matter how he looked at it, it was the door that stood there.
A tightly closed door, unlike a while
ago.
*•°✿°•*
Two days after the subjugation force left, several wounded returned to the temple.
I looked to see if Eden was among them.
'There isn't.'
While I was glad that I wasn't hurt, it was a bit disappointing that I couldn't hear the story of the sanctuary from him. Seeing that the commanders hadn't returned, it seemed that the sanctuary had been safely recaptured. However, the faces of the returning paladins were not very bright.
If they recaptured a meaningful place like the old sanctuary, shouldn't they be excited...?
Although I was curious about the cause of the suspicious attitude, I took care of the Actilus knights along with the two ladies-in-waiting who followed me.
'Unfortunately,' the knights were injured to such an extent that they could no longer participate in the subjugation held back their words at first but then began to open their mouths after I persuaded them. When I heard about Raniero's strategy, I could feel chills running down my spine.
It was because it was an against humanity idea that no criminal could do, no matter how much the target was a demonic beast.
It felt like pouring cold water into my mind that had been soft for a moment.
Meanwhile, Sylvia's hand, who was helping me bandage the knight's leg, trembled starkly. For her, it must be a story that would make her heart sink. It was because she was in a similar situation to the beasts in the sanctuary. She must have remembered the time when she went into the hunting grounds to hunt her mother and brother. I don't think it would be good for her to hear more of this story.
"Sylvia."
She, who was trembling with unknown emotions, clenched her hands together to hide the trembling as if she had come to her senses at my words.
"...Yes, Your Majesty."
"The knights must be very thirsty, bring them something to drink."
It would be humiliating for someone in Actilus if I told her to go in and rest because she didn't look well. Not only that, but to say such a thing in front of the knights, who were the most 'Actilus-like person,' was really tactless. So in the end, it was better to tell her to leave for a while on the pretext of running errands.
Sylvia seemed to have noticed my intentions, too. She glanced at me with a complicated expression before bowing deeply and backing away.
I asked the knights.
"His Majesty must have left the sanctuary now. Did he take the newborn beasts with him?"
The knights answered yes.
Now, I had all the information I wanted to get from them.
When she returned with the medicine tea, I decided to leave Cisen to take care of the knights and leave the infirmary with Sylvia. However, the clever and pretty Sylvia seemed to know that I deliberately avoided her. She, who had maintained her calm and steadfast expressionless expression, asked abruptly.
"Your Majesty... why do you care so much about me?"
I was taken aback for a moment by
the direct question.
"What do you mean, why?"
"I'm... the daughter of a traitor and a trophy. Don't you despise me when I was begging for my life because I wasn't prepared to die?"
"De-despise...?"
No, such intense emotions?
"I don't understand why you treat me so excessively..."
"Then, do you want me to treat you badly?"
Sylvia kept her mouth shut at the question, but the question still remained on her face. When I saw her appearance like that, I bit my lip softly and turned my body completely towards her.
"Doesn't that mean you really hate me, as well? Don't you think that I'm responsible for the fall of the Marquis' family?"
I still doubt that Sylvia might poison my teacup. It was one thing for me to be kind to her and to be wary of her.
Sylvia's eyes trembled and her lips,
too.
Soon, she opened her mouth as if she was about to speak her mind.
"If I want to hate Your Majesty, you must first hate me."
"When I resent you for driving my mother and brother to death, I remember the moment I stabbed my mother with my own hands... So when I defended myself so as to live, I'll also defend Your Majesty with the same logic."
Sylvia tilted her head so as not to drop her welling-up tears.
Still, it was futile. Her thick tears flowed down her clear, smooth skin as she frowned and smiled slightly.
"When I remember the moment when I directly encountered my mother's murderous intent, I also vividly remember my struggle to survive in fear. At the same time, I also remember the moment when my mother's murderous intent was directed at Your Majesty..."
"Stop it."
Saying that, I approached Sylvia and gently hugged her on the shoulder as she buried her face in my shoulder and sobbed.