Chapter 17.5 “I am in blood Stepped in so far that, should I wade no more, Returning were as tedious as go o'er”

A few minutes before Cecilia and Wallace left this Holy City, on the ground floor of the Cathedral, Marie was entertaining the knights who were sitting on the waiting room sofa, waiting for their permit process to be completed. Since the Cathedral was established with the goal of saving and protecting humanity, during its construction, their predecessors installed a Magic field—a set of rules prohibiting anyone from carrying sinful weapons, or in other words, weapons that have been or will be used to kill or hurt someone.

Therefore, if a weapon is created specifically for killing, it must be blessed to carry out its tasks within the Cathedral. If not, the wielder of the weapon will be cursed for their entire life and the lives of their descendants.

Currently in front of Marie were sitting three very strong knights. Even with just the three of them present, the people who were carrying torches and singing did not dare to come near the Cathedral where the residents suspected that Wallace was hiding and being cared for inside.

“So, how much longer do we have to wait for this permit process?” asked a knight carrying a Zweihänder on his shoulder.

“Maybe ten to fifteen minutes?” answered Marie.

“Ah, it's so long! Moreover, why did our predecessors create a Magic field that prevents us from carrying weapons? Look, because of their actions, we can't easily perform our duties.” complained a black-cloaked Assassin.

“Let it be. Besides, since the beginning, this place was created to be a sanctuary and a neutral ground from all wars.” said a spear-wielding knight.

“But this is taking forever! Hey, you wouldn't be intentionally slowing down our work, would you?”

“For what? There's no benefit. Besides, if you want to hurry, why don't you just go upstairs? Maybe Kalina, who's currently acting like a mad dog, will devour you immediately.” retorted Marie.

“Hey! Watch your words! Don't you know who I am?” the Assassin snapped.

“Sorry, please forgive me. I'm just a little annoyed because our tools take a long time to make three crests at once.” Marie apologized, with a fearful expression.

“Hah, it's all because of you, Siegmund! Imagine if you had asked that woman to make them one by one; surely, one of us might have caught Wallace hiding on the upper floor.” Said the Assassin to the man who was carrying a Zweihänder on his shoulder.

“Considering the circumstances, I also didn't expect the tool to work this long.” Siegmund replied.

“Um... Do you all want me to cancel this and then make the crests one by one?” Marie asked.

“Would that be faster?” Siegmund inquired.

“Who knows? Moreover, with our world which is always peaceful nowadays, we rarely or even never use this tool, so yeah... we don't know.” Marie answered.

Unexpectedly, a sharply piercing sound of broken glass suddenly echoed from the upper floor, piercing the ears of the knights on the lower floor.

“Hey, did you hear that?” the Assassin asked.

“Shit, we've wasted too much time! Enough! Forget the permit ritual! Julius, drop all your weapons and immediately go to the upper floor! Dylan, come with me! We'll go out and find where the broken window is!” ordered Siegmund.

Immediately, the Assassin named Julius and Dylan, who wielded a spear, stood up from their sofas. However, just as the three knights had stood up, suddenly a sonic boom resounded loudly as if it almost shattered their eardrums from the upper floor.

“BOOOM!”

In an instant, all the windows in the beautiful Cathedral shattered and scattered like a sparkling snowfall.

“Kyaaa!” Marie screamed, immediately ducking and hiding under her receptionist desk.

“Gahhk! What is this sound? So loud!” Julius complained while holding and covering both of his ears.

“Don't ask too many questions! Quickly, before it's too late!” Siegmund commanded, running out to find where the first broken window was.

But as he and Dylan went outside, they both realized that all the windows in the Cathedral had truly been shattered without leaving a trace of where the person who escaped had passed. And a few moments later, Julius came up to them.

“Julius!? Why are you here!?” Siegmund shouted.

“Huh? What!? I can't hear!” Julius replied, While picking at his ear which was still ringing.

“I'm asking, why are you here!? Didn't I tell you to go to Kalina's room!?” Siegmund shouted louder than before.

“Oh, that? If you want to force me to be poisoned and faint before reaching that room, fine. But just so you know, all the stairs leading to that room have been filled with poisonous gas. So, if we want to enter that room, it's better to go through the upper window.” Julius explained.

“... This is annoying. Because if we sniffed the aroma, it seems like Wallace is no longer in that room.” Dylan commented.

“Really? If the king of hunters like you says so, then there's nothing we can do. Let's go home. Because right now, there's nothing else we can do with this place.” Siegmund said.

“What about Kalina? From her scent, it seems she's still in that room.” Dylan asked, pointing to one of the rooms where Kalina's scent originated.

“Just forget her. It seems the Bishops have another plan for her.” Siegmund said, walking away from the Cathedral, which now no longer had any of its beautiful stained glass windows.

When the three knights had completely left the Cathedral, Marie immediately lifted her head from under the desk.

Before her lay a chaotic scene—scattered books, sharp and scattered broken glass outside the Cathedral, and the unimaginable condition of the room now damaged by Cecilia after producing a sonic boom on the upper floor.

“Hah... If I knew everything would end up like this, I should have asked for more fees from her. Hah… what a shame. Hopefully, Cecilia will give me a bonus for successfully helping her.” Marie sighed as she took the broom that was near the reception desk and started cleaning and tidying up all the things that were now scattered around.

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And a few hours later, Kalina woke up from her sleep and found that the night had now turned into morning. She then looked around and realized that the place was now dirty and messy compared to before, with many broken window glasses and some fallen curtain fabrics.

“… Big bro?” Asked Kalina, who was still a little dazed.

After realizing that her older brother was no longer beside her, Kalina immediately stood up and checked all the spaces under the bed in the room, but she still couldn't find her brother.

“Big Bro! Where are you?” Kalina shouted, but there was still no answer.

Cold sweat started to pour from the pores of her skin. With anger and disappointment, she then bit her lip and hit the wall of the room very hard, causing additional damage to the interior of the room.

“Damn it! I shouldn't have slept at that time! Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!!!” Kalina shouted while continuously cursing herself.

“I'm sorry... Forgive me, Big Bro. I promised to protect you, but... I have disappointed you...” Kalina whimpered while staring at the bed where she had slept with her brother.

“.....”

“...... Hmm?”

Kalina began to realize that there was something strange with the blanket on her bed. She then approached her bed and immediately turned the blanket.

Inside the blanket, she found several snacks and packaged drinks gathered on her bed.

“......”

Kalina just stared at all the food without any change in her facial expression. Then, she moved aside each snack and drink, finding a piece of paper with messy handwriting.

“... a message? For me? But why is the handwriting so messy like this?” Kalina thought.

“Kalina, it's me. I'll be gone for a while to restore my lost power, so sit down and stay calm. Because one day, I will come back to pick you up. And also, here's some food and drink for you. Eat it, because I can't bear to see you become so thin and so pale like that. See you again. Big bro.”

After reading the message, Kalina then flipped the paper and found the charm that she had given to her brother, now attached behind the letter.

Seeing her charm left behind, Kalina then cried and tears fell from her eyes. Then, with all her strength, she threw the letter away from her.

“Big bro... You fool!” Kalina scolded.

While crying, Kalina then sat on the floor and leaned against the wall while looking at all the snacks on her bed.

“That letter... Although not neat, I'm sure if it's not Big bro who wrote it! I will find you! Even if it's to the ends of the world, I will keep looking for you! Wait for me, Big Bro! Because I will save you!”

“.....”

“........”

“.... because you are my goal.”

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