Chapter 63
“Hmm… that’s true.”
I nodded readily.
Right. Madmen often have a power that normal people can’t imagine.
What’s so great about exploring the ruins of an old chapel when there’s something you want to know? His will must have been strong enough to endure a vow of chastity.
Thinking that way, I could kind of understand how he avoided the curse. He must have surveyed the section with the stele about 9,352 times before going in.
But the fundamental question remained unanswered.
“Why did he go there in the first place? What was he looking for that made him visit such a place? Without saying a single word to me.”
It wasn’t like Leocel and I were that close.
But we were close enough to share our research findings with each other.
‘Especially something as forbidden as an area designated off-limits by the order. To research such a place without a single word to me.’
I shuddered with a sense of betrayal. Even if I didn’t trust him as a person, I trusted him as a scholar!
“…Could it be because of that?”
Suddenly, something crossed my mind. A memory I had long forgotten.
Whether he heard my muttering, Celesto turned to look at me.
“What do you mean?”
“Hmm… There was a time I refused a request from Leocel. Actually, it’s more like I just put it off…”
At my words, Celesto raised an eyebrow.
“…What was it? What did he ask you to do?”
“Oh, nothing much… Hmm, was he really upset about that? But it’s not like we had the kind of relationship where I had to do everything he asked.”
Was it because he was hearing this for the first time? Celesto grabbed my shoulder and pressed me.
“What was it? What happened between you two?”
“Uh, well…”
I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I should tell Celesto this.
It’s not that I particularly wanted to protect Leocel’s honor… but is it okay to tell someone in the same field this kind of thing?
But Celesto’s face was more menacing than I could have imagined, so I ended up spilling the fact I had kept to myself.
“He asked me to find a way to circumvent the vow of chastity. More precisely, a way to get around it…”
“…What?”
Celesto asked back incredulously.
“The vow of chastity is very old, right? Like all old vows, he said there must be loopholes… He asked me to find a workaround that would be okay just to put it in. He said he would endure the e*********n part himself…”
“…”
Was it because he learned of his brother’s shabby request? Celesto stiffened his face and said nothing.
After a long while, he spoke.
“Why did he ask you something like that?”
I tilted my head.
“Then who else would he ask? Among the few taboo scholars in the world, the best one is an old friend of Leocel Castanor’s?”
“No, that’s not what I meant!”
Celesto shouted out.
Then, as if belatedly realizing what he’d done, he ran his hand through his hair.
“Did he… do it with you too?”
“Are you crazy? Why would I have s*x with Leocel?”
“Then why did he say something like that to you? About making it so he could just put it in, about enduring the e*********n part himself.”
“That’s… just negotiating the terms before a request. If he wanted me to solve everything completely, he would have to pay me or exchange some worthwhile information.”
“…Negotiating.”
Celesto pressed his fingers hard against his temple. It seemed he had developed a headache.
“…So you refused?”
“Huh?”
“You said he seemed upset about something. That means you didn’t help him. A way to circumvent the vow of chastity.”
“I didn’t refuse outright, I just put it off.”
I answered, lifting the last fig.
“Honestly, it’s not an area I’m very interested in, so I wasn’t motivated. Whether Leocel can have s*x or not, what does that have to do with me?”
Even now, I thought it was a subject I was indifferent to.
If Leocel had told me what he was investigating, or even the fact that he was going in and out of the old chapel basement, it might have been different.
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