Chapter 114

I asked subtly, driven by my fan interest in the heroine and the human affection that grew from experiencing things with her firsthand.

At that, Iris’s eyes sparkled.

“Ah! That’s right. It would be strange for maids to speak formally to each other, wouldn’t it? As expected of you, Lady Chacha!”

Ah, no. That wasn’t what I meant.

But unfortunately, Iris didn’t seem to grasp my true intention at all, and she stared at me, blushing adorably.

“…Then, Chacha?”

Having a beautiful woman I liked call my name while shyly blushing had immense destructive power.

I grew shy myself and couldn’t bring myself to answer, only managing a nod. My cheeks must have been flushed just like hers.

I quickly reached out my hand.

“Let’s go now, Iris.”

“Hup.”

Startled, Iris jumped slightly, then carefully took my hand, her face crimson up to her ears.

Could shyness and bashfulness be contagious? Feeling my face about to turn red again, I quickly led her out of the tent by the hand we were holding.

‘I need to quickly change the atmosphere…!’

Nine, Norman, and Kroel stood tall in front of the main encampment. They were there to see us off.

A smile came to my face the moment I saw Nine, and I waved, but his gaze, upon noticing me, instantly sharpened.

As soon as I approached, he started lecturing me.

“Chacha. Promise me that even if you don’t get information on the Pope, you’ll leave if the situation worsens. Safety is the top priority, no matter what happens. I trust you’ll go and return safely without doing anything reckless.”

What Nine was saying was clear.

‘Surely you won’t betray my trust and act recklessly?’

Since I kept jumping into things he disapproved of, Nine seemed to have changed his method of urging me.

As his lecture continued, I peeked at Iris.

Iris was being lectured by Norman.

“You, of all people… Even if the Duchess is accompanying you…”

Hmm. Let’s not listen to that anymore.

I chuckled wryly and decided to only pay attention to Nine’s lecture.

As I nodded appropriately and listened, Nine, who had stopped talking at some point, tightly grasped my hand and put something in it.

“It’s a magic tool earring. We will keep the other one here. The earrings are connected, so we can receive voice transmissions. Call us if anything happens.”

What he gave me was an earring with a dangling, teardrop-shaped blue gem.

It was small and inconspicuous, with a simple design.

“And if something happens, break this gem. You will be instantly transported to where the other earring is located. You will be transported along with anyone you are touching, so escape together.”

Nine, having explained the uses, personally fastened the earring to my ear. Before his close face could move away, I pressed my forehead against his and said.

“Yes. I’ll be back safely. Thank you, Nine.”

He stared at me silently, then hugged me as if he couldn’t help himself.

I felt their eyes on me from behind all the way as I left the encampment, following the scout.

I turned around once to confirm those watching, and then didn’t look back again.

As we walked, it was already noon, with the sun high in the sky.

The outline of the city grew closer.

Just as we were quietly about to enter the city, following the scout guiding the way, a groan was heard from somewhere.

“Ugh.”

Since we were already far from the encampment’s outskirts, we heightened our alertness.

‘Where is that coming from?’

Looking in the direction of the groan, we saw a place where a pile of firewood was stacked. Seeing a few corpses nearby, it seemed to be a place for cremating bodies.

“Gasp.”

Another groan was heard from beneath the pile of firewood.

Startled, we rushed over and saw a man painfully crawling out from the pile of firewood.

“Anyone, anyone th…”

“H-hold on a moment!”

The three of us immediately ran to help him.

But the problem was what came next.

Since only his face was barely visible, we hadn’t noticed, but once we pulled him out, his attire looked familiar.

Quite similar to the fake Pope we saw in the video orb… ‘Similar?’

It seemed this man was one of the Urkel Cult’s fanatics.

Looking at Iris and the scout, they seemed to have realized too, as their expressions hardened.

‘What should we do?’

We exchanged glances in deliberation, but the man asked us first.

“Thank you. Did you come from the mansion? On patrol?”

Thanks to the clothes we had prepared and worn, he seemed to mistake us for people from the Count’s mansion.

Thinking this was actually for the best, I fabricated a worried expression and agreed with him.

“Yes. It’s a relief we were passing by here.”

As I helped the fanatic stand up, the scout tactfully took the lead.

Iris hesitated, then helped the man from the opposite side.

The man kept thanking us repeatedly and continuously mumbled the Cult’s doctrine, grateful that he could still serve Lord Urkel.

It was a chillingly firm and twisted belief.

Thanks to the man, we were able to infiltrate more easily than expected.

The scout, who was infiltrating as the mansion’s coachman, split off before we entered the mansion.

As soon as we entered the mansion, other fanatics who spotted us rushed over in surprise.

“You’ve returned alive! Bishop!”

It turned out the fanatic we had saved was a person of some standing within the Cult.

Thanks to the attention being focused on him, we were naturally overlooked.

I signaled to Iris with a glance, and she nodded slightly.

We naturally handed the man over to the converging crowd and slipped away.

Thanks to having memorized the interior layout beforehand, finding our way was not difficult.

However, we couldn’t just wander around aimlessly.

We stopped in a suitably quiet spot.

Iris tilted her head.

“Where could the Pope be? Ah, no! Where could he be?”

“I don’t know. Since it’s lunchtime, maybe he’s in the dining hall…”

I pretended not to notice Iris’s habitual use of formal language while racking my brain.

Just then, I saw two maids coming from the end of the hallway, carrying laundry baskets.

“Over here!”

I immediately grabbed Iris and hid behind a large grandfather clock.

“Hey, isn’t that person called the Pope strange?”

“What is?”

“He’s always spacing out, you know. I saw him going to the dining hall for a meal earlier… and his eyes looked unfocused…”

“Nah, you must have seen it wrong.”

“Really? More importantly, did you hear that story?”

The chattering maid, finding her partner unresponsive, vaguely glossed over it and started a new topic.

Iris and I nodded to each other and immediately headed towards the dining hall.

The Pope known to the public is likely the fake one we saw through the video orb. The maid must have been talking about him.

If the maid’s words were true, the fake Pope must be under a hypnotic spell.

‘Just as Roon was near the Emperor, someone else must be by his side. That person is highly likely to be the real Pope.’

“…Chacha, a-aren’t you nervous?”

While walking down the hallway, pretending to be maids, Iris asked. When I turned to look, she was visibly tense.

I was nervous too, but I pretended to be calm, took her hand, and reassured her.

“It’ll be fine. I’m here.”

“U-uh-huh!”

Iris nodded and confidently walked ahead.

But it seemed my reassurance had backfired rather than easing her tension.

Iris, her face flushed, was walking by extending her arms and legs parallel in the same direction.

Her stiff gait, like a toy soldier, made me burst out laughing involuntarily.

A few hours later.

‘In the end, we didn’t get anything.’

We, having gained no significant advantage, were eating in the servants’ exclusive dining hall, with slumped shoulders.

‘Haa, is it an advantage at least to have found out that there are many Spinelle tribe members inside the mansion?’

I had naturally assumed the Spinelle tribe would be central, but their number was greater than expected.

Judging by the servants’ respectful demeanor, they all seemed to hold high positions in the Urkel Cult.

For that reason, it was even harder to pinpoint the Pope.

‘I can’t believe even the butler was of the Spinelle tribe.’

It made me realize how deeply the former Count Laurel, Hawkman, had been immersed in the Urkel Cult.

Perhaps running out of energy, Iris was silently eating her meal. It was also difficult to talk freely because of the presence of others.

Thankfully, due to the territory’s current state, everyone was eating silently with dark expressions, so our actions didn’t draw attention.

Suddenly, I recalled the dizzying moments we had just experienced.

In truth, in the few hours since arriving here, we had gone through all sorts of crises.

There was only one thing I realized through those events.

‘Iris truly is the heroine.’

The world must surely love her, or we wouldn’t have remained safe like this.