Chapter 199 - Chapter 198: Rescue of Mika
A dry sound of a wooden hammer, "Ka-eeeeen," echoed through the courtroom.
Mika began to manipulate his mana, preparing his magic.
(First, I'll just reduce the numbers somewhat.)
He wanted to see a hell of screaming and weeping, where countless invisible "Air Cutters" were launched, severing limbs and necks, leaving people confused, crying out, and running in panic.
His expression remained unchanged due to the gag, but surely, Mika was wearing a very nice smile right now.
The two men standing next to him were, for the time being, excluded.
Mika didn't know if they had actually committed crimes.
Well, they were brought here for heresy trials.
The possibility of a false accusation was high.
Believing in a different religion wasn't a crime anyway.
(Let's party~. No... ...wait, is it "It's short time"?)
Just as Mika was trying to manifest his magic while holding back a laugh, the outside of the room became noisy.
Shouts and metallic sounds.
Just hearing those sounds, Mika realized Yaroibarov had arrived.
Mika's eyes turned cold instantly.
(...Don't get in my way.)
This was supposed to be the start of a fun, fun festival of death raining down, the "Death Carnival."
Noticing nothing of Mika's state, the room itself grew noisy as well.
"What is going on?"
"What happened?"
"What are you making such a racket about?"
The old men on the raised platform exchanged glances, bewildered by the commotion outside the room.
The dozens of Church Knights inside the room felt the same way.
They were all saying something.
Kan-kan-kka-aaan!
The golden-haired old man struck the wooden hammer, silencing the noisy room.
"What are you spacing out for! Hurry up and go!"
The golden-haired old man pointed to the door with his hammer, ordering the Church Knights.
At the golden-haired old man's shouting, the Church Knights finally seemed to remember their duties.
A door different from the one Mika entered was on Mika's right side, and about ten Church Knights headed that way.
Opening that door, the shouts and metallic sounds from outside grew even louder.
"Gwaaah!"
"I don't care! Kill them!"
"Go! Don't let them return alive!"
Amidst the intense metallic sounds, such voices could be heard.
(...Is this place really a church?)
Even now, such a thought surfaced.
With the noise never subsiding, the Church Knights inside the room began heading outside one by one.
Glancing at the old men on the raised platform, they all had lost their color and their faces were contorted.
Mika looked toward the entrance that was the source of the commotion and let out a quiet sigh.
(...Looks like I missed out on the good part.)
It wasn't fun.
As he thought that, a familiar large man with a shaved head appeared at the entrance.
Yaroibarov saw Mika and his expression softened for a moment, but quickly turned serious.
"Just barely... looks like I made it in time."
Mika stared fixedly at Yaroibarov saying such things.
"What are you doing in the Holy Great Cathedral!"
"W-what, what are you guys!"
The sudden intruders caused the old men on the raised platform to erupt in chaos.
"I am Rubalwarus, the head of the Leventein Marquisate! What about you!"
The Marquis who entered the room following Yaroibarov introduced himself.
"T-the Marquis!?"
Several of the old men seemed speechless at the Marquis's title.
However, the golden-haired old man and a few others did not seem intimidated by mere nobles.
"Hmph! What of the Marquis! Catch them quickly!"
"Ho...."
The Marquis put on a chilling, very nice smile.
"Yaroibarov. I don't care about the others. You must capture those three."
A man in a bishop's robe who entered behind the Marquis proposed to Yaroibarov to capture the three people in front.
"Are the others fine?"
"The others can be dealt with later, but if those three escape, it will become troublesome. Please, do not let them escape under any circumstances."
"Alright."
Yaroibarov swiftly dealt with the Church Knights remaining in the room, kicked off the floor, and landed in a single leap onto the raised platform.
Standing on the table, he kicked the golden-haired old man and knocked out the old men on both sides with a ladle and a spatula.
Seriously, you.
Did you really come in with just that?
"You seem to be safe, Mika-kun."
A voice called out to Mika, who was looking at Yaroibarov with an exasperated expression.
Looking over, Ozendorwa, stationed at the entrance, was greeting Mika with a hand while dealing with the Church Knights.
(Ozendorwa is here too?)
Or rather, everyone Mika didn't want to make enemies with was gathered here.
Is this the first block of hell?
An unknown man wearing a bishop's robe came toward Mika and removed the gag.
"To conduct a trial with such a thing attached..."
He grimaced.
This person also has a scary face.
Whoever they are.
His hand cuffs were also removed, and Mika used [Heal].
He secretly rinsed his mouth with "Waterball," and his mood improved slightly.
"Thank you."
"No, it's fine. Rather, the Church will have to apologize to you profusely from now on."
He said this with a slightly pained expression.
It seems this person is from the Church, but appears to have a reasonable mindset.
Could this be the Archbishop of Sarbengeal that Nerisfeene asked for help? He was named Wagnerle or something, wasn't he?
"You! Wagnerle!"
"What is your intention!"
The old men on the raised platform began to condemn Wagnerle all at once.
However, Wagnerle, who was being named specifically, seemed to hear nothing.
And so, the hand cuffs of the men tied next to Mika were also removed.
"I don't know about you two, but well, do as you please."
He said such things.
The two men bowed to Wagnerle repeatedly with their fists clenched together.
As Mika looked up at Wagnerle, he smiled wryly.
"From now on, we won't be able to pay attention to such trivial matters."
Then, he looked toward Yaroibarov in front.
Yaroibarov tied up the three old men, hoisted them onto his shoulders, and jumped down from the raised platform.
He handed the old men over to men who seemed to be knights of the Leventein family.
"Well then, let's make our exit."
Saying that, Yaroibarov headed toward the entrance where Ozendorwa was blocking the way.
Mika walked alongside Yaroibarov, step by step.
"...What is it?"
"You're going to scatter them, right? I missed out on the good part, so I'm a bit frustrated."
I've been imprisoned for a week.
Everyone was killed off, and I was blocked from doing so, so I can't help but act out.
Yaroibarov looked at Mika and furrowed his brow in trouble.
Then, he gently stroked Mika's chin with the round part of the ladle.
Mika's consciousness cut off there――――.
Seeing Mika suddenly collapse, Rubalwarus was startled.
"Hey! What are you doing――――."
"Have your subordinates carry him."
Ignoring Rubalwarus's threatening glare, Yaroibarov's expression became somewhat serious.
"If I let this monk go wild now, a mountain of corpses will be made."
"What did you say...?"
Rubalwarus furrowed his brow deeply at the overly dangerous story coming from Yaroibarov's mouth.
"Probably, if we had arrived a little later...."
There, Yaroibarov closed his mouth.
Telling the Marquis that they might have been killed would bring no good results.
"When you are irritated, anyone loses the ability to hold back. Isn't that right?"
He covered it up by saying that.
"Come, let's evacuate. Please follow closely."
Yaroibarov and the others scattered and trampled the Church Knights who had flooded the hallway, escaping the Great Cathedral.
■■■■■■
In the faint light, consciousness began to surface.
When Mika opened his eyes, he saw a familiar ceiling.
Surely, this ceiling was――――.
"Mika-kun!"
"Guh-ho...!?"
Something landed on Mika, who was still dazed.
"Oh, looks like he's awake."
Turning his gaze toward the familiar voice, he saw Salomrassa, who had returned to the capital without him, and Kaerya, Gaeras, and Trys were also there.
And clinging to Mika was Kistil.
"Is this... the Leventein Marquis's..."
"Yes, it's the mansion in the capital."
The familiar ceiling belonged to the Leventein family.
Probably this was a guest room.
Mika was lying on a very magnificent, comfortable bed.
Mika hummed, pondering.
He remembered meeting Yaroibarov and the Marquis, but had no memory after that.
Why?
"Um..."
"It's no wonder you are confused. Well, let's explain the situation slowly."
Salomrassa spoke in a gentle voice, caring for Mika.
"No, I'm hungry."
At that moment, Mika's stomach rumbled "Gruu~..."
Salomrassa smiled wryly.
"That's right. I think they will prepare it immediately if you ask. Can you get up?"
Gaeras headed toward the door, surely to ask the servants to prepare a meal.
Mika tried to get up but looked slightly troubled.
What to do about Kistil, who was hugging him and wouldn't let go.
"Kistil. I'm sorry for worrying you."
When Mika said that, Kistil shook her head.
But she didn't seem ready to let go.
"Kistil-san."
Trys came over and gently lifted Kistil's body.
Kistil was shedding tears.
"I worried you."
When Mika said that, Kistil shook her head again.
"It's... Mika-kun's... fault...."
"Yeah...."
Mika slowly got up and stepped off the bed.
Then, swaying slightly, he moved toward a sofa in a corner of the room.
As soon as Mika sat on the sofa, bread and soup were brought over.
For now, they served things that didn't take much effort and could be prepared quickly, and they said meat would be grilled and brought over as soon as it was done.
Guts-guts-muby-gokkun, guts-guts-guts-zuzu-gokkun, guts-guts...
Everyone watched Mika eating with such incredible speed with dumbfounded expressions.
Kistil sat next to Mika and diligently helped with serving.
She cleared the finished plates and brought the untouched ones closer.
"Well, well, it's been a week since a proper meal... It's hard not to get like this."
"Y-yeah."
Seeing Mika eat, Kaerya seemed to get hungry herself and started gnawing on her own dried meat.
After filling her stomach to some extent, they began the conversation.
"What about the Leventein Marquis and Yaroibarov-san?"
"They are all at the Royal Castle."
Salomrassa, sitting on the opposite sofa, informed him.
It seems that causing a rampage in the Great Cathedral wouldn't go unpunished, and the Marquis himself went to explain the situation.
"Eh... ...are they okay, I wonder?"
"I think they will be fine. Well, it depends on how His Majesty the King rules."
It seems the Information Broker Guild released the information they held with great generosity.
It was the evil deeds of low-ranking priests and perhaps mid-level bishops, but they said they would release all the information they had been holding at once.
Mika threw a deep-fried potato into his mouth.
"Munch munch... If they release so much information, what about the payment?"
Isn't it a huge amount of money?
"I don't know the specific amount myself. The upper management of the Information Broker Guild [us] and Yaroibarov-san have made a deal. It's set as a fee to investigate the Church's movements."
Waaah...
Can I pay that much?
Now Mika's total assets exceed one hundred million Rats.
However, his Magic Bag was confiscated, so he doesn't have that much money right now.
By the way, his Guild Card was also stored in the Magic Bag, so he is in a state where he cannot move money immediately unless he gets it back.
(...I need to ask Yaroibarov-san later how much the information fee was agreed upon.)
Mika bit into the meat covered in yellow sauce.
"Munch munch munch... By the way, can you find out where my Magic Bag went? I want to get it back."
Kistil wiped the sauce around Mika's mouth with a clean cloth.
No, I can do that myself, you know?
"If it's that, don't worry. We already recovered it."
Saying that, Salomrassa went toward the bed and brought the Magic Bag that was placed on the nightstand.
"I think this is it."
Mika stuck his hand into the handed-over Magic Bag.
Undoubtedly, it was Mika's Magic Bag.
"Why is it here?"
"Well, naturally, because we recovered it."
It seems Kaerya's party, timing it with Yaroibarov's assault on the Great Cathedral, took advantage of the chaos to recover Mika's Magic Bag.
By the way, the idea itself was likely Yaroibarov's.
"Well, given the circumstances this time, I cooperated too."
Trys, sitting on the sofa next to him, muttered with a somewhat complex expression.
Trys originally belonged to the Church Knights Order in the capital.
Guarding places where luggage of those sealed in the tower was stored, the Church treasury, etc., was the job of the Church Knights Order.
She pinpointed where it was and told Kaerya's party.
However, since her identity was compromised, it seems she did not directly participate in the recovery operation.
"Um... I'm sorry. Because of me, you had to cross a dangerous bridge."
"It wasn't that dangerous a bridge."
"The Church seems to be in no position to worry about that from now on."
Salomrassa and Gaeras smiled at the apologetic Mika.
"In no position to worry about that?"
As Mika finished his soup with a "Zuzu..." sound, Kistil immediately prepared a refill.
"We don't know the details either. But I heard a bishop who came with them talking to the Marquis before going to the Royal Castle."
"It depends on His Majesty the King's thoughts, but they are going to decide whether to keep the Church itself or not."
"The Church itself...."
Mika had thought about leveling the Church grounds in the capital, but erasing the Church from the kingdom... ...he had thought about it a little.
He thought about erasing it from the face of the earth, yeah.
Well, Yaroibarov and the others weren't that far, but it seems they decided to recover it in advance in anticipation of future chaos.
If left alone, they thought the inside of the Church would become a mess to the point where it was unknown when it would be restored through formal procedures.
After that, he was told various stories about what happened since Mika was captured.
"Eh!? Charl told Stellan!?"
"Yeah. I think that was the name."
The fact that Mika was captured by the Church was discovered unusually quickly.
On that very night, the first delivery was made.
Mika thought Stellan moved because Cleiria told him, but actually, it was the reverse.
"Charl's friend told Charl, Charl told Stellan, Stellan told Cleiria. And Cleiria protected Kistil and Nerisfeene, and Kistil consulted with Yaroibarov-san."
For this to be conveyed in one day... or rather, in just a few hours, was surprising.
"That's right. I heard Kistil say that I was in the tower. How did she know?"
When Mika said that, Kistil made a strange expression.
Then, she looked around a bit and whispered softly into Mika's ear.
"Fee-chan told me."
"Fee!?"
He couldn't help but speak loudly.
Everyone looked at him with puzzled faces, saying "Fii?".
"Why would Fee... Oh, maybe she was following?"
She might have been sticking to him in stealth mode without Mika noticing.
Mika asked quietly about what he thought, but it seems it wasn't that.
Kistil whispered again into Mika's ear.
"Fee-chan said she's connected to Mika-kun, right?"
"Yeah...."
It seems they were in the same boat because of that.
"Fee-chan seems to know where Mika-kun is. Fee-chan possessed me and told me."
"Eh...?"
Fee [that guy], can tell where I am?
Not where, but direction.
Mika's face twitched slightly.
(...I can say it saved me, but it's a bit complicated?)
Well, she kept silent until a crisis, so let it pass.
Mika straightened his mind and ate the meat vigorously.
Then, Kaerya looked at him enviously.
Mika silently offered the skewer meat plate to Kaerya.
Kaerya took the skewer meat in both hands and started eating it deliciously.
"What about Cleiria and Nerisfeene? Haven't they returned from Sarbengeal yet?"
When Mika asked that, Kistil nodded firmly.
"She seems to have gone to Sarbengeal with great effort... She plans to leave tomorrow after resting for a day, but she will probably return by carriage."
"So, she won't be back for another three or four days?"
The opportunity to retaliate directly against the Church members was taken away because the Marquis came, but thanks to him coming, it can also be said that he avoided becoming a fugitive.
(It's a bit of a relief, but in terms of resolution, it's almost shelved. Moreover, it's out of my hands.)
It was troubling, or rather, vaguely unsettling.
At this moment, there was almost nothing Mika could do.
Mika held the spoon in his mouth with a strange expression.
For now, Mika decided to watch how things unfolded.