Notice: Important notice in comments, please make sure to read. If you read on aggregate sites, suffer.Veirya’s Arrival
It was late at night by the time I returned to the inn I lodged at. It was already around three in the morning. Francis cheerfully went back to drink. Achilles frowned as if something was on his mind. I didn't know if he realised Angelina's involvement. I had no idea where Angelina was. She never appeared again after my visit to the chapel.
I wasn't sure if there were actual weapons inside the stone swords or not. Either way, I couldn't break them with my hands. Without proof, rashly acting would only provide the chapel with excuses to leverage. If they didn't have weapons, the one treated to a face slap wouldn't be me but Her Majesty. I was only suspicious they hid weapons inside. I was missing the most important component, unfortunately: evidence. I had no means of obtaining evidence for it, though.
The best evidence would be for the chapel to open it themselves; however, they had yet to receive the goods. The rights to the goods belonged to the dwarves until they collected it. If we smashed open the goods under Queen Sisi's name and didn't find any swords, the consequences would be even more serious. The internal strife would become a foreign diplomatic issue. Actually, that sounded as though it could be the chapel's plan.
I must say, the chapel played it very cunningly. They didn't accept the goods, thereby forcing the dwarves to hang onto them. As the goods were with the dwarves, I couldn't touch it. If something accidentally went awry, the goods wouldn't be the chapel's, thereby allowing them to easily absolve their involvement.
The chapel wasn't stupid; they were incredibly shrewd. They managed to obstruct me and cut off my paths every single time. I was relegated to reacting to their actions. Every time I acted, they'd hamper me.
I thought, "I have to find a breakthrough. Is there any evidence? Are there any paths that can allow me to escape the chapel's hands? They knew the places I'd look into, as well as my choices, well before I tried pursuing any leads. I'll never find the evidence I'm after if I continue thinking based on normal logic."
But nevertheless, there was one possibility, and that was they didn't have any weapons. The chapel might not have ordered any weapons. I didn't want to believe that, but the possibility couldn't be ruled out. If they didn't purchase weapons, all of my investigations thus far would've been running around for nothing, useless, pointless.
Queen Sisi wanted to hear my report tomorrow. My opinion was she was too hasty. It had only been one day. What could I find out in one day? Given how long the chapel had been in operation for so long, if I could find evidence to destroy them in one swoop in one day's time, I'd have to be a badass or the main protagonist of some overpowered main protagonist story. I didn't have the cheat skills of those sorts of main protagonists, while the enemy wasn't fodder who literally gave the main protagonists experience and kill counts. For me to obtain what I wanted, I had to rack my brains and rely on that teeny ounce of luck. I needed to have some sort of report prepared for when I met Queen Sisi tomorrow. I doubted I'd find what I wanted if I continued clinging to the chapel.
The biggest unknown factor was Ascilia. As the pope's most beloved daughter, I should've been able to acquire some insider information from her end. My visit should've already been brought to his attention. He might've been waiting for me alone at noon tomorrow. Not that I cared, though. Actually, I'd like to see the pope. Perhaps what came next would involve Veirya. I couldn't figure out what Queen SIsi was thinking. After she was done with the chapel, her next target might be Veirya. That was why I had to ensure Queen Sisi was happy, and the chapel survived. That being the goal, I had to make contact with the chapel.
I massaged my neck. Things looked simpler before the day. The previous narrative was the chapel was trying to oppose Queen Sisi for their own power or money, therefore preparing weapons and manpower to stage an uprising at any moment. As I began to investigate the case, however, things became more complicated. Even whether or not the chapel possessed weapons became a pending question. I suspected something was wrong with Achilles information; I couldn't take his word for it. I needed to make my own judgement with my own eyes…
I sighed then knocked on the door. Footsteps came from the other side of the door. The owner yawned as he opened the door. He complained, "Next time, it would be best if you could come back sooner if you plan to come back. If you do not come back, I cannot close up. Also, your wife arrived today, yet you still went out?"
"My wife?"
"Lord Veirya."
I froze. I left a simple apology and rushed upstairs. I staggered as I went up. When I arrived at the door to the room, it suddenly swung open. I couldn't brake in time, thereby crashing into the individual. The warm and soft chest was so nostalgic that I wanted to cry. However, I wasn't granted a tight hug. Instead, she stood there with a dumbstruck look and allowed my head to smash into her chest.
"What. Is the matter? Also, where is Leah?"
I heard a familiar voice overhead. I looked up to see Veirya's familiar face. She looked at me with puzzlement then looked around: "I. Didn't see Leah. I only found a sheet of paper. She said. She was heading out. And not. To worry."
"Leah…?" I repeated, smiling helplessly.
Leah must've hastily run off after catching Veirya's scent… I did tell Leah not to run around at night; it wasn't safe in the imperial capital. Who could predict what the chapel would do? Nonetheless, I had a hunch as to where she went. I doubted the chapel's knights would want to go near there.
"In that case, there's no need to worry. Veirya, why are you here?!"
I grabbed Veirya's shoulders. She was Veirya. No doubts there. She had short silver hair, blue eyes and her expressionless look no matter what happened. She sternly demanded, "I want. To. See Leah."
"And you don't want to see me…?"
"You can't see Leah in her current state…" I said in my mind.
Baffled, Veirya tilted her head: "Have I. Not. Already. Seen you?"
"… Okay, you win. What I meant was… was… is that it? Uh…"
"Mm."
Veirya suddenly stepped forward and gently bit me on my lip. I froze stiff in place. She gently licked my teeth than slowly moved her head, thereby teasing my tongue. She then clasped my face so that I couldn't move. She sucked my tongue. A numbing sensation similar to electrocution spread from my tongue to my entire body. I was left speechless and incapable of thinking. Even my legs were jelly.
"That. Is enough, right?" asked Veirya, releasing her lips and taking a step back. She said, "So, let's go. Find Leah."
"No… mm… Leah is fine… uh… I'm tired tonight… you… not sleeping?"
My entire brain shut down as a result of Veirya's passionate kiss, so I struggled to put my thoughts into words. Actually, I was struggling to think, as well. I was thinking about what to say to Queen Sisi tomorrow. Only to have my brain shut down in an instant. My gaze was set on the only bed. I looked at Veirya in a fervent manner.
Veirya shook her head: "No. Have to. Look for Leah."
I scratched my head. Hopeless, I responded, "All right, all right. Since you insist, let's go find Leah. It might take some time, nevertheless."
"It doesn't matter. I want. To see Leah."
"All right, then. Let's go."