Chapter 21
“She’s merely asleep. There’s nothing wrong with her health at all. In fact, she’s in exceptionally good health.”
“And yet… she collapses like this?”
“Her body simply couldn’t handle the sheer volume of power it accepted all at once. More importantly, this power…!”
A gleam flashed in the priest’s eyes behind his glasses. For a moment, he even forgot the fact that his superior’s sacred artifact was resting in this black-haired mage’s hand, consumed entirely by sensing the woman’s power.
“We’ve found it.”
“Found what?”
“The Fountain of Divinity. This witch was the Fountain of Divinity.”
“…Witch?”
Ronius’s face hardened. His gaze, looking down at the priest, immediately turned icy. Lacing his words with venom, he continued, “And you call yourself a priest? I thought I was sick of the hypocrisy of Holy Kingdom priests obscuring the truth, but here you are, playing traitor… and now you have the gall to spout such nonsense.”
“N-No! It’s not like that at all! Quite the opposite! It’s precisely because she is a far greater existence than a mere priest that I call her that.”
Though his thigh trembled nervously beneath his newly donned cloak, Ronius twitched an eyebrow as if to say, “Go on, explain.”
“So, this witch… ah, I mean, this mage, you said she’s the Fountain of Divinity? I’ve actually been looking into it secretly lately… I was planning to tell you once I was more certain.”
Nuaves pushed his glasses back up.
“Keep talking.”
“Originally, the holy power used by priests and the magical power used by mages come from the same source. Mana. So, that Pope who so despises mages hid one away in a place no one would know, sealed tight, and siphoned her mana to use. In his own mind, he was ‘recharging’ his holy power. Priests age and get sick, after all.”
“No wonder his smug face gets smoother and more punchable every time I see him,” Ronius gritted his teeth.
“Right. But even so… this… mage was born with an immense vessel. Her innate capacity to hold mana was so vast that the quantity was staggering. No matter how much was drawn out, the mana just kept coming. If the mana she possessed had been any less, she would have perished long ago.”
The priest’s eyes lit up, seeing in her a confirmation that the direction of his investigation had been correct. He even began to entertain the thought that perhaps he could use her to further his research.
But even in his addled state, Ronius read that look perfectly.
“Just try thinking about experimenting on this woman,” Ronius uttered, his voice dangerously cool.
The priest waved his hands dismissively and let out a nervous cough. “Ahem, ahem…! Anyway. We’ll need to investigate further why the Pope died, but I believe it’s possible that as this woman regained her power, she absorbed everything, even his… all at once.”
Having said his piece, Nuaves focused intently on reading the mage’s mana flow, now acting as if he’d completely forgotten about his superior’s… predicament below.
His knights, unable to watch any longer, finally intervened.
“Hey, Priest,” Jerad said sharply. “What about that hand? Aren’t you going to do something about it? Can’t you fix it?”
“…Ah.” Only then, as if remembering, did Jerad channel his holy power toward the hand gripping the core. Ronius’s body jolted violently.
“Urgh…!”
“My apologies. Please bear with it for just a moment.”
For a good while, as the priest poked and prodded here and there, Ronius curled his lower lip, his body trembling uncontrollably.
The knights watched the priest’s diagnosis and whispered among themselves.
“See? I told you she’s a witch. Look at her, bold as brass, hanging onto the Captain’s… ‘chili pepper’ like that. She’s definitely a witch.”
“Didn’t you hear what the priest said? She’s not that kind of witch… I’ll admit she’s got guts, though. How did she even think to grab our Captain’s…? Isn’t she scared?”
“To dare something so terrifying… She really is an impressive woman. But what is the relationship between that mage and our Captain?”
I can hear you, you idiots…
Their gossiping voices reached his keen ears, but he was in no state to open his mouth. He stubbornly committed the names—Jerad, Dilton, Gillion—to memory and desperately longed to be freed from her grasp.
‘Damn it, I’m gonna c*m…’
Where had all his resolve to interrogate the priest gone?
It had been nearly an hour since his sacred artifact was captured. Dizzily, he felt his limit approaching.
To have it happen here, of all places, at this moment after so long, upon being reunited with Jeina, whom he thought was dead… What kind of humiliation was this?
He wanted to show her only his best side. If she saw him in a state like this, she might be utterly disgusted.
He gritted his teeth, pressing his lips together tightly. His face contorted as the pleasure, relentlessly lifting his body, became almost unbearable.
Then, finally, Priest Nuaves, having finished his task, straightened up.
But his expression was… odd.
“Um, Captain…?”
“……”
“Apologies, Captain. The power surrounding that… that area is simply too potent… It seems we must wait until the mage awakens.”
Ronius furrowed his brow, not understanding. For a moment, he wondered if his mind had been so addled by the searing heat that he could no longer comprehend words.
So… in other words, they were supposed to just wait for an indefinite amount of time, leaving this monstrous object in Jeina’s hand while she remained in this state?
He stared blankly, his gaze alternating between the woman’s pale face and his own sacred artifact clutched tightly in her grip. He felt like he was going to lose his mind. He was boiling inside.
“Huh?”
Speaking up for his dazed captain, Dilton raised his voice.
“Well, what are we supposed to do about it?!”
“Well……”
As the priest struggled to find an answer, the subordinate knights spoke up in unison.
“Captain. Please, hear us out without getting angry. It’s just that…”
“Sigh…”
“Should we just… cut it off?”
“…What? What did you madmen say? Cut what off?!”
“N-No, sir! Not that! We mean her hand! Should we cut the hand off?!”
“Have you lost your minds?!”
“Well, you said she’s a powerful mage, so surely she can… reattach it or something…”
“Everyone. Get out.”
“C-Captain…?”
“Are you deaf? Get the hell out of here, now!”
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