Chapter 134
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Chapter 134
"Ugh, ahhh...!"
Lemil, startled beyond measure, tumbled backward.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
The entire space was covered in hard, jagged ore.
He braced himself for his skull to crack against it, yet strangely, he felt something soft beneath him.
"Uh...?"
Lemil cautiously cracked open one eye.
Large flower petals clustered together, cradling his back.
Perhaps it was the fragrance.
The nausea that had plagued him moments before dissipated instantly.
As Lemil drew the floral scent deep into his lungs, Chesa toddled across the pattern with careful steps.
The blue pattern, which had been turning a vivid crimson, halted its transformation as if blocked by something—only its outer edges stained red.
The small child, bathed in a soft luminescence, waddled along and examined the pattern.
A scene so foreign unfolded in this space that had always been nothing but horrifying.
Lemil stared at the child in a daze, unable to grasp the reality of it.
Then, hesitantly, he managed to sit up properly.
"Ah... Chesa..."
As his parched lips moved, Chesa approached him.
The intoxicatingly sweet fragrance made him feel even more lightheaded.
"I came because I wanted to ask Remy something!"
This was a secret place located deep within the Temple Underground.
He should have shouted loudly to alert the priests outside to this fact.
Or at the very least, demanded to know how she had entered here.
But Lemil could not speak the words he should have.
No—he chose not to.
He feared being left alone once Chesa departed.
Originally, he was meant to remain trapped here alone for an entire day.
When the pattern turned completely crimson, a crushing pain would descend upon his entire body.
He would lose consciousness, as if being ground beneath some colossal presence, and when his eyes opened again...
...he would be lying atop the pattern, which had returned to blue.
Yet regaining consciousness did not mean the door would open immediately.
In this dark and dreary place, he had to wait endlessly—and wait still—before the door would finally open.
When Lemil had disobeyed, the door's opening was delayed.
So Lemil always strived to be an obedient child.
A good child who did not cry or throw tantrums.
'I don't want to be alone. Not the pain. Not the lost memories.'
Lemil gazed quietly at Chesa.
If Cardinal Milliod learned of this now, he would rage without end.
Yet the moment of committing his first transgression was sweet.
Lemil asked the question with a hint of perverse pleasure, playing the part of a bad child.
"...What would you like to know?"
***
With Chesa eliminated, the most promising champion candidate for the Pure Child Prayer Ceremony was Lemil of Hebaton.
The prince of the Hebaton Kingdom possessed all the conditions necessary to claim victory.
Rather than having Chesa struggle desperately to force a win, it would be far simpler to push Lemil toward victory instead.
Then seize the crown from behind.
'To strike at both the Holy King and the Cardinal in the process, I'd first need to expose the Holy Empire's secrets.'
The mere emergence of a demon from Hilderd, the Holy Sanctuary that should have been most pure, had already tarnished the Holy Empire's reputation.
But this alone was far from sufficient.
I wanted to unearth far uglier truths, piece by piece.
'Especially what happened to Hailon and how.'
From Lemil, who had undergone the same so-called education, I sensed a faint but unmistakable trace of Fairy power.
I wanted to investigate more thoroughly because the Fairy seemed entangled in this education—absolutely not because I was concerned about Hailon.
When I asked Aran to help Lemil, she agreed without hesitation or question.
"I'll follow whatever you say!"
Aran even gifted Chesa an expensive pearl brooch on the spot.
"In return, let's become very, very close friends with me."
I'd inadvertently accepted a bribe, but I'd wanted to befriend Aran anyway.
Hoping to grow closer through this opportunity, I set out to find my next target: Lemil.
I never anticipated that the process would lead me into the Underground Cavern beneath the Holy Empire.
'I only meant to catch him on his way to morning prayers, ask what I needed, and leave.'
Somehow I'd concealed myself as a butterfly and secretly followed him all the way to the basement, where I gasped at the sight before me.
It was a white space constructed from sacred minerals.
Yet for some reason, I sensed a subtle presence of Fairy power...
'Ugh.'
The Fairy power mixed with sacred force was grotesquely repulsive.
Though there was nothing overtly wrong with it.
As the intermingled power pressed forward and the blue patterns shifted to crimson, I paused.
Then I approached Lemil, who sat collapsed in the center of the pattern.
'Is this how they inject sacred force?'
Since it wasn't his own sacred force, he must be suffering side effects from the injection exceeding his limits.
'That's why he nearly went berserk last time...'
After surveying the pattern roughly, I approached Lemil, whose eyes were vacant.
Given that he'd spent so long under the Cardinal, there was a high chance he wouldn't cooperate willingly.
Fortunately, we were alone in this sealed space.
I approached casually, prepared to throw a few punches if necessary.
But surprisingly, Lemil was quite compliant.
He seemed ready to spill everything.
'Why is he acting like this?'
Perhaps the intimacy I felt grew from that wink he gave me last time.
Though I wasn't entirely sure, Chesa decided to ask a question anyway.
"Is education the answer?"
Remy nodded slowly.
"What happens if you receive it?"
"You gain holy power."
As Chesa exhaled with a soft hum, Remy blinked rapidly.
Desperate to capture more of Chesa's attention, he spilled everything he knew.
"I heard that Hailon also received education. Directly from the Holy King."
Because the Holy King personally oversaw the education and blessed him, he gained holy power stronger than anyone else.
Chesa, who had been listening quietly, hesitated before asking.
"...Does education hurt?"
Remy's pupils trembled for a moment.
As if no one had ever asked him such a question before.
"...Yes."
The child sitting on the cold floor gripped his clothes with his hands and spoke softly.
"It hurts a lot.... I don't want to receive education. When I do this, my memories disappear too...."
"Your memories?"
"After I lose consciousness, my holy power increases.... But my memories always vanish."
Yet he described feeling something unpleasant that words alone couldn't explain.
It wasn't simply losing memories from unconsciousness—it felt like wandering through endless darkness.
"Holes keep forming in my mind...."
"I'll find those memories for you."
"...!"
I grabbed Remy's hand as he startled in surprise.
Remy's face flushed all the way to his neck.
"I can do it."
It seemed that excessive holy power had been injected beyond what his body could handle, and the fairy's power had become tangled with it, causing memory loss as a side effect.
If I carefully sorted out the fairy's power that had entered Remy's body, his unstable condition would stabilize and his memories would likely return.
'I've done it once before.'
I had already suppressed Remy's energy once.
This didn't seem difficult to accomplish.
"But when you remember, tell me everything."
After reminding him, Remy bit his lips firmly and nodded quickly.
Chesa slowly pushed her power forward.
It was then, as I carefully moved my power so as not to accidentally damage Remy's body, where conflicting forces were so thoroughly tangled.
Remy's small chest heaved.
He was breathing heavily and rapidly.
"Ah, aah...."
Suddenly, Lemil's entire face became drenched in cold sweat.
It wasn't the pain from the Fairy's power that tormented him.
The erased memories were returning, and they were tormenting Lemil.
'What in the world did I do to him!'
Chesa gasped in horror and was about to withdraw her power when—
Her vision twisted and inverted before her eyes.
As their powers connected, Lemil's memories began to manifest before Chesa.
Within the lost memories of Lemil lay....
Hailon, drenched entirely in blood.
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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly on our official site: valirscans.org
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