Red Riding Hood - Chapter 54

As expected, the village was suspicious.

And the most suspicious of all was the priest himself!

Bétor had encountered many priests, but never one as refined and silver-tongued as this man.

For someone like him to be holed up in such a remote village was undeniably strange.

Resolving himself, Bétor spoke.

“Priest, would it be possible for me to take a look around the temple?”

Quiel replied smoothly, without hesitation.

“Unfortunately, our temple is off-limits to non-believers. However, if you truly wish to explore it…”

From beneath the white goat mask came a voice laced with mockery.

“You must convert and swear to become a resident of this village.”

At his words, both Bétor and Leardon swallowed hard.

Then Quiel added softly,

“You both seem like worthy candidates.”

Leardon nudged Bétor’s side with his elbow and whispered, barely audible,

“Let’s search the village first.”

Snapping out of his thoughts, Bétor nodded.

He stepped forward and said,

“While I am not uninterested in new religions, we’ll first search the village. Priest, we will conduct our search with respect for your people.”

Quiel nodded in agreement.

***

After the priest left, Cinq, now alone, rushed to the door and yanked at the handle.

Unsurprisingly, the door was locked.

She banged her fist against the door and shouted,

“Is anyone there? Please open this!”

She twisted the handle forcefully and even tried ramming her shoulder against the door, but the thick, solid wood didn’t budge.

She scanned the room. Quiel had sealed all the bedroom windows, plastering over them to ensure not a single ray of sunlight could enter.

The only openings were ventilation holes in the thick walls beneath the roof. Those seemed to be her only way out.

Cinq roughly estimated the size of the holes and dragged over a decorative table to place beneath one of them. Climbing onto the table, she peered inside the hole.

The semicircular opening wasn’t very large, but she thought she could squeeze through. The real concern was where it led.

She reached up, grabbed a protruding brick, and hoisted herself upward, wriggling her head through the hole and pushing forward until she slipped out.

A sharp wind slapped her face as soon as she emerged.

She shook her head to clear her vision of her windblown hair and looked down.

Beyond the ventilation hole was a sheer stone wall that plunged into the abyss below. It seemed she was in a high tower.

Turning her head, she scanned her surroundings. To the right was nothing but the tower wall, but to the left, not far away, was the roof of another building connected to the tower.

That building was also quite tall, but she thought she might be able to land safely on its roof.

Cinq made up her mind.

I have to escape and find Ylfus, no matter what.

Perhaps it was the urgency of the situation, but her mind felt increasingly sharp.

But there might not be a way down from the roof, and I could get caught again. If someone’s guarding Ylfus, it’ll be hard to rescue him alone. I need to call someone to help us.

Earlier, someone had informed Quiel that knights from Kalasca had arrived and were inspecting the pyre in the square.

It seemed Ylfus’s coded message had reached the knights safely, allowing them to track him to this village.

She needed to summon them here.

Cinq wriggled back through the ventilation hole and returned to the bedroom.

She moved the table to the ventilation hole closest to the roof she had seen. After searching the room, she found a glass lantern on the bedside table. Holding the lantern, she climbed back onto the table and crawled into the hole.

The hole was indeed narrow, but she managed to squeeze her small body through after pushing her head in first. With the lantern’s handle clenched between her teeth, she wriggled out.

Pulling herself up with her hands gripping the edge of the hole, she peered down. Just below her, at about her height, was a triangular gabled roof. She had to land on it safely.

She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them wide. With determination, she pulled her legs out of the hole.

“…!”

The next moment, her body slid down toward the roof.