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It took about three minutes to calm my startled heart.

Lucia returned her bony, skeletal hand back inside, and I plopped myself down at a spot far from the box.

“Did that surprise you?”

“What on earth was that?”

Lucia, who had just put the lock back in place, answered.

“It’s the remains of Saint Balthazar.”

“…The bones of a saint?”

“That’s correct.”

The wrist inside the box belonged to the saint. Lucia explained that the remains were those of Saint Balthazar, one of the three saints who received revelations from God during the time of creation.

“He’s one of the three priests who received divine visions. What you just saw was the remains recovered by the excavation team of the Holy See, based on a 1190 ancient document.”

I had heard of the cult’s excavation team. Just like the excavation teams from the Magic Tower and Ivory Tower, which tracked relics left by ancient magicians scattered across the world to evade the Inquisition, the cult’s team explores history and excavates relics connected to religion.

Given the excavation team’s long history, it’s known they possess a substantial amount of artifacts and books. Thus, the excavation teams from the Magic Tower and the cult are often regarded as two towering giants in the academic world.

I stared blankly at the box.

“…But why is such an item here? No, more importantly… didn’t it just move?”

Lucia’s gaze subtly shifted towards the wooden box. She silently looked at the box containing the saint’s remains while I fixed my gaze on her profile, demanding an explanation.

“Well, it’s a complicated story to explain…”

“……”

“…But to put it simply…”

Lucia turned her head and met my eyes.

“This relic was brought to capture a demon.”

—

Episode 12 – The Mightiest Magician in History

When four Inquisition officers were killed, and Priest Rebecca managed to gather the casualties and barely reached the cathedral, Lucia and Archbishop Theodosius suspected that a necromancer or a possessed person was behind the incident.

The necromancer, who borrowed power from an evil entity through a contract, and the possessed person, who was possessed by a malevolent being. Although there are many differences when delving deep into specifics, one undeniable fact was that both were linked to dark forces.

And that evil entity is what the cult calls a demon.

“The wounds weren’t healed by the divine. After seeing the wounds rotting within just a few hours, I thought it might be a curse and attempted to provide some divine aid, but that didn’t work either. As the wounds blackened instead of healing, the Archbishop and I concluded that a demon was involved.”

Lucia and Archbishop Theodosius immediately relayed the news to the cult. The words of the archbishop, who oversees the diocese, combined with a canonization ceremony underway for a saint, carried considerable weight, but the news they delivered was something no one ever expected. Thus, it felt even heavier.

Upon hearing the news, the Pope immediately convened a National Affairs Council meeting. Saint Veronica and Inquisition Director Petrus also participated.

“I heard that right after that meeting, the Inquisition proposed a joint investigation to the imperial government.”

“Who told you that?”

“Saint Veronica mentioned it to me.”

I was well aware of the events that followed. Lucia and Archbishop Theodosius sent letters to the Duke of the Northern Regions and the imperial government. The Duke permitted the Inquisition’s forces to investigate within his territory. Meanwhile, Evangelos, the commander of the Magic Tower Magician Battalion, and Francesca tried to calm the anxious magicians of the Magic Tower.

However, there was something I didn’t know.

“When we informed the National Affairs Council with the archbishop, I had pleaded with the Pope to allow the sacred relics to be taken out.”

“……”

“That’s the relic of Saint Balthazar you see here.”

Lucia gently brushed the wooden box. I looked back and forth between the box and her, questioning with suspicion.

“But did the National Affairs Council actually allow the relic to be taken out?”

“Of course. Since the permission was granted, that’s why Saint Balthazar’s remains are here.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I’m asking if the Holy See permitted you, Saint Lucia, to manage the remains.”

Reflecting on what I just heard, the people transporting the remains were clerics of the Inquisition.

In other words, the entity responsible for transporting and managing the remains was the Inquisition’s clerics, specifically those participating in the joint investigation. If Lucia had indeed been appointed as the one to manage the remains, then there would have been no reason for the Inquisition’s clerics to endure such a situation.

Sure enough, at my questioning, Lucia began to slightly avert her gaze.

“Well, you see, the approval hasn’t…”

“You haven’t received it, have you?”

“……”

Averting her gaze, Lucia turned her head to look at me. More precisely, she slightly tilted her head and peeked at me with sidelong glances.

After hesitating to answer, she suddenly blurted out.

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Huh?”

“I’m not planning to use it for anything bad. I’ll just borrow it for a bit, use it well, and return it to its rightful place…”

What a nonsensical array of empty words. To snatch away the remains of a saint without authority from a cleric and then say such things!

Lucia boldly proclaimed with an unapologetic demeanor.

“It’ll be used for a good cause, so the Pope shouldn’t be too upset. Protecting life is a sacred act, and even God will forgive me.”

“That’s, uh, a great sentiment, but it doesn’t seem fitting to hear that from someone who’s just snatched away a saint’s remains.”

“Sins can be forgiven.”

“……”

“And anyway, I’m…”

“Isn’t that a saint? Who would dare scold me?”

“Is that what you call a saint? The cult is doomed. They can’t even handle Veronica, and now Lucia is going crazy too.”

What sin did I commit in my past life to be surrounded by such lunatics? As I sighed and stared blankly at the ceiling, Lucia cleared her throat to wrap up her excuses.

“Anyway, since demons are involved, it wasn’t hard to get permission to take out the relics. Just like the saint’s bones, we were able to bring some items needed for the ceremony.”

“A ceremony, you say? What ceremony are you talking about?”

“The Grand Exorcism ceremony. Didn’t I mention it? We’re going to catch a demon.”

So that’s why they brought the bones.

I nodded in understanding.

“I see. What do you plan to do with the relics?”

Lucia placed her hand on the wooden box and answered.

“The bones of Saint Balthazar will be used to find the demon. Of course, we should prepare ourselves as well if we want to find it with the bones.”

“‘We,’ you say…?”

‘We’ is a term that combines the speaker and the listener. And in this conversation, there was no one else besides Lucia and me.

Feeling curious, I looked around to see if someone else was there and asked Lucia again, doubting my hearing.

“Why am I suddenly involved in this?”

Lucia replied in a meaningful voice.

“You should know that better than anyone else.”

“…?”

“Recently, materials regarding an investigation involving a necromancer or possessed person were delivered to the Inquisition. It was personally handed over by Archbishop Theodosius.”

Lucia added, “Wasn’t that material passed on to the Archbishop by the Colonel?”

“No. What on earth does that mean…?”

I had no chance to explain myself. Cutting me off, Lucia reached out and picked up the envelope from Archbishop Theodosius’s desk, the very document I had placed in the office with her help earlier.

It didn’t take long to tear open the envelope and check its contents.

Lucia skimmed through the neatly organized information about the investigation before meeting my gaze.

“Do you have anything else to say?”

“Is it okay for you to just steal someone else’s belongings like that? Moreover, as a priest?”

Instead of answering, Lucia shrugged her shoulders.

“If it helps prevent a significant disaster, I could endure a bit of a scolding.”

“…Seriously.”

“Of course, I’m not an official exorcist, and what I’m doing isn’t formal inquiry, so if you won’t help me, there’s not much I can do.”

Holding the materials in one hand, Lucia raised the wooden box.

With an air of complete calmness, she smiled slightly and said, “But you will keep this a secret, right?”

I looked at her with a dumbfounded expression. After a moment of silence, I shook my head, as if to say “You can’t be serious.”

“Why don’t you tell me how you’re going to catch that thing? I’ll listen and decide from there.”

***

Northwestern Petrogard.

“Hooo…”

Light cigarette smoke filled the street.

A man stroked his chin. It felt freshly shaven, and he leaned against the entrance, exhaling smoke towards the road.

At that moment, a bell rang.

With his hand in his pocket, the man pulled out a small device, quickly deciphering the brief words reflected on the screen before he stubbed out his half-finished cigarette with his shoe and walked into the house.

“Good news. Everyone, get ready to move.”

The man sitting at the table typing on the device turned his head.

A man of mixed heritage with a neatly trimmed mustache leaned back in his chair, his exotic appearance apparent.

“Did we get the northern access pass?”

“Not yet. The employee on-site said he’d resolve it by today.”

“Well, he better hurry…”

The mixed-heritage man stood up.

From upstairs, sounds of bustling activity could be heard, and a few people who were standing up gathered their luggage and boxes and trudged down the stairs.

The man who was smoking threw the device he had received onto the table. Then he spoke to the mixed-heritage man, who was organizing said device.

“You can wake him up.”

“Me?”

“I just went out for a smoke.”

He pointed at the large box sitting in the corner of the living room.

“That one hates the smell of smoke.”

“Got it.”

Luggage and boxes were placed on the table. The people huddled together, unpacking and inspecting various electronic devices, wires, ammunition, clothes, and firearms from the bags and boxes.

Meanwhile, the mixed-heritage man approached the large box in the corner of the living room. He gently tapped on the box twice, careful not to let too much light in as he slowly opened the lid.

“Wake up. It’s time to work.”

As if responding to his words, a pair of cat ears perked up slightly from the small opening.

A thin voice echoed from inside the box right after that.

“Meow.”

 

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