Chapter 12
What Happened in Tillon (4)
“What am I missing?”
I was sitting beneath Yaron’s cross at the front of the chapel. Kneeling there, I filled a golden chalice with wine until it was brimming. But nothing happened.
“What are you doing?”
Orléans asked me, breathing heavily and frowning.
I didn’t answer her. Instead, I placed a finger to my lips, signaling silence.
Something was wrong. I was missing something—but what?
I set the chalice down on the floor and stared at it intently. Was I holding the wrong wine or the wrong grail?
I turned my head to look at the White siblings and Orléans. Judging from the chalices and wine they had brought, everything seemed correct…
So it wasn’t the objects. It felt more like the method was wrong.
Then I remembered the line I had read in the underground chapel.
“‘This cup contains the covenant between you and me, bound by blood. I shed blood for you, and you for me.’”
After that line, the two characters in the novel drank wine together. They poured wine into the chalice and mixed it with a drop of each other’s blood…
Yes. A covenant of blood.
“B-brother! What are you doing?! You’ll die if you do that!”
Orléans screamed as I untied the bandages compressing my abdomen to stop the bleeding. Seeing this, she panicked, and the White siblings rushed toward me.
“Don’t move!”
This was a sacred ritual. The covenant of blood was the key to opening the door. It was a medium of promise binding me to power. No interference was needed.
“How much do I put in? The novel said one drop, so that should be enough.”
I caught the blood seeping out and let it drip into the chalice. The wine inside reacted violently, as if it had been waiting for my blood.
I took a deep breath, staring at the mixture of wine and blood—holy blood. Then I raised the chalice toward Yaron’s cross and drank it in one go.
“Cough!”
The moment I swallowed it, blood burst out of my mouth.
“Brother!”
“Uncle!”
The White siblings and Orléans panicked.
But I raised my hand to signal I was fine. I really was fine—it was just that I choked and spat it out. I had drunk too fast.
Still, not all of it had come out. I had swallowed enough for something to happen.
But…
“Why isn’t anything happening?”
No notification appeared.
Maybe it was because I spat some out, so I poured wine into the chalice again and added more blood. This time, I drank it slowly.
“You really shouldn’t drink like that while injured.”
“That wine looks like it’s ancient… probably rotten.”
“Does wine even go bad?”
“It does if you leave it for years after someone drinks from it.”
The duo started their usual nonsense beside me.
I tried to tell them to be quiet, but my body was dizzy from drinking while injured, and the alcohol surged through me like waves. I should’ve gotten a notification by now… what am I even missing?
“Ah, screw it. I don’t know.”
I collapsed beneath Yaron’s cross, staring blankly at it. Maybe I should’ve just gone to the chapel for treatment instead.
—
-Notification-
[Linked mission completed.]
[Key has been awarded.]
—
Just when I thought it had all been wrong, the notification appeared—and something flashed in my hand.
I opened my palm. A formless golden light shone brilliantly before being absorbed into my hand.
It seemed my hand had become the key.
“Burp.”
I let out a drunken belch.
And my eyes closed.
—
A blinding light shimmered over my eyelids. Pain spread through my body like droplets rippling from my lower abdomen outward.
“Sister, she’s sweating too much. Bring a clean towel.”
A familiar voice rang beside me. I opened my eyes.
“Oh! You’re awake. How do you feel?”
A man with thick bandit-like black facial hair, round glasses like those from the early modern era, and striking blond hair was looking at me.
I flinched in shock.
He was the bishop of Tillon Cathedral—the same man who had once thrown me out.
“This is why sinners shouldn’t live like that,” he sighed.
“How am I here?”
I quickly scanned the room and asked.
“Your younger sibling and the children brought you here. They said you were stabbed and in critical condition… though I’m not sure if it was the stab or the alcohol that nearly killed you.”
There was an edge in his words. Shouldn’t a priest speak more gently to a patient?
I was still injured, after all.
“You shouldn’t get up yet. Our cathedral’s mage is inexperienced. Your wound is large, and while it missed vital organs, it will take time to fully heal.”
I looked at my wound. Compared to before, the scar was still clearly visible.
“You also shouldn’t drink. It’ll get infected.”
“I don’t really like alcohol.”
“Yet you drank that much?”
“I had my reasons…”
His gaze said this guy is definitely lying again.
Annoying.
“How long have I been here?”
“Today is the second day. Your siblings and the children are resting at the inn. They stayed up all night watching over you.”
Two days.
That meant if Lashin was alive, he would have time to recover too. And he would surely know that the cathedral was the only place for treatment.
That made things dangerous.
If Lashin came for me, he would definitely come here.
“Are you staying in this room the whole time, Bishop?”
I needed to reach the underground chapel as soon as possible.
“If that cat burglar stays quiet, yes.”
That damn old man…
—
Night deepened.
I hadn’t been able to sleep after two days of unconsciousness.
The bishop was snoring loudly beside me.
Why was he even sleeping here? Curled up in a chair like that.
If I left quietly, I could probably get away with it…
But then—
“Grrr… snore… cough!”
The bishop’s loud snoring echoed.
I slowly got up.
Pain shot through my body, but I bit my lip and moved.
I slipped past him and opened the door, suppressing every sound.
—
Snow was falling.
Thick enough to pile up quickly.
Great. Just what I needed.
Then—
“Found you.”
A voice I didn’t want to hear.
“Still alive.”
Lashin stood in the dark like a cat, eyes gleaming.
His face was wrapped in bandages.
“You little rat… I’ll make you pay for ruining my handsome face.”
“You were handsome?”
He had never looked handsome to me. Just vile.
“Zero aesthetic sense.”
Lashin drew his sword.
I should’ve grabbed anything as a weapon…
“Before I kill you, I’ll say thanks. You saved me the trouble of searching for you.”
“I have no intention of dying.”
“That’s not your decision.”
He tightened his grip.
Three seconds.
I steadied my breath.
“Die screaming in the afterlife.”
He lunged.
I sank my foot into the snow.
Then—
“Now!”
I kicked up snow and dirt into his face.
“Gah! What is this?!”
I kicked him hard, sending him tumbling.
But alarmed voices rang out.
Soon the cathedral would wake up.
I ran.
“Stop!”
Lashin shouted behind me.
“Intruder!”
Lights flickered on.
Clergy began pouring out.
I bit my lip and pushed through the pain.
—
At the stairs to the underground chapel, I stopped.
“Damn it!”
The bishop had sealed the entrance with heavy wooden planks.
I kicked, shoved, pulled—nothing worked.
Then—
Clang!
Lashin’s sword pierced the wood next to my ear.
He charged again.
“No way out…”
Only one option.
“Then we go together!”
I grabbed him mid-swing and threw myself into the barrier.
The wood shattered.
We tumbled down into the space beyond.
—
A massive gust of wind erupted.
The chapel doors had opened.
Wind roared like a storm, hurling Lashin away and crushing me with unbearable force.
Pain beyond anything I had ever felt tore through my body.
“AAAAAAH!”
A voice—like a hymn—echoed in the storm.
“Pray with faith.”
Without thinking, I whispered it.
And the wind stopped.
—
-Notification-
[“Dance with the Clergy” mission completed.]
[Reward: 20 novel points, Map Shop (Level 1)]
[Skill acquired: Wind Shield — negates any attack. 3 uses. Upgradable.]
—
I let out a hollow laugh.
Footsteps were approaching.
I couldn’t even move a finger.
“Well… at least I get to survive three more times.”
