Volume 8, Chapter 5 – An Ancient Legend

“The temple in the Royal Capital… In my time, this was just an altar.”

“The tea is very good. It has a hint of Master’s scent.”

“Mary, what kind of scent is my scent?”

“Flower tea.”

“Tiffany is right~”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

As she spoke, Tiffany, sitting on a single sofa and holding a teacup with both hands, drank the scalding tea in one gulp, causing a nearby nun to gape, her jaw nearly hitting the floor.

Fortunately, only the nuns saw this, otherwise the scene would have become very awkward.

Yisi, also sitting on a sofa, was secretly relieved.

This was the temple in Dahl City, the capital of the Hels Kingdom. When Yisi arrived at the temple gates and presented the Crest of Saint Mistilteinn and the Cardinal’s staff, the High Priest, the Captain of the Holy Knights, and the Chief Inquisitor immediately came out to welcome her and her party. Now, the three usually arrogant high-ranking figures were nervously wiping their sweat, awaiting Yisi’s judgment—when Yisi arrived, they had been in the middle of receiving another messenger, from whom they had accepted quite a few benefits.

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Of course, Yisi knew nothing about the bribery.

Completely ignoring the two members of the Blood Clan in the room, the High Priest smiled fawningly at Yisi, who was sitting on the sofa holding a teacup.

“Lady Yisi, are you here in Dahl City to announce Her Holiness Evelyn’s decision?”

“No, I am just passing through and will be staying here for a while.” Yisi’s words made the three of them sigh in relief, but her next sentence immediately put them on edge again. “Although there is nothing in particular, I do have a few questions that I hope the High Priest can answer for me.”

Is she going to ask about the bribe just now?

The High Priest had long heard of Evelyn’s iron fist. Those who had made a fortune during Julius’s era had all been beheaded. The few of them were only in their positions because their predecessors had been recalled by a single order from Evelyn—and no one had ever seen those people return. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that they had surely been executed by Evelyn. Therefore, when Yisi said “questions,” everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats. The Chief Inquisitor, who had secured his position through bribery, was already trembling with fear, his face turning exceptionally pale, as if he might faint at any moment.

The High Priest gritted his teeth and forced himself to answer.

“Please speak, Your Eminence.”

“On my way here, I noticed many refugees outside the city. Although this is the territory of the Hels Kingdom, the Church has a duty to provide relief everywhere. Yet, I have heard that you only provide aid to those who have paid. Such behavior that damages the Church’s reputation is probably not a good thing, is it? If Evelyn were to find out—”

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“E-Evelyn!”

The Captain of the Holy Knights let out a shriek like a woman’s. Only the High Priest knew that the Captain of the Holy Knights was frightened by Yisi’s form of address. Even if Yisi was a Cardinal, second only to the Pope, she should still add “Her Holiness” after Evelyn’s name. To call Evelyn by her first name could only mean one thing: their relationship was that close.

Thinking of the Crest of Saint Mistilteinn, which hadn’t been seen in a hundred years, the High Priest wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

“Is-is there such a thing? I will immediately send someone to investigate.”

“I hope the High Priest can be more attentive to the refugees.”

“Y… Yes.”

Is this Cardinal toying with me, deliberately making things difficult, or does she simply not know about the bribery? The fact that the temple only helps those who frequently donate is common knowledge. Or rather, during Julius’s era, everyone tacitly accepted such a rule. It was only after Evelyn came to power that she re-emphasized the original ordinance: that the temple must help anyone in need, on the grounds that it would increase the Church’s influence.

Yisi placed her teacup back on the table.

“Well, those are all trivial matters. What I want to ask is something else. The refugees outside the city are here because of the continuous rain. How long has this rain been falling?”

“This…” The three of them looked at each other, none of them knowing what Yisi was up to. They could only answer truthfully. “…Almost a month?”

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“A month? Has it ever stopped in between?”

“When the rain first started, it did stop for a while. But later, for some unknown reason, His Majesty the King stopped using the King’s Tower to prevent the rain, and it has been raining continuously ever since.”

“The reason? Do you know the reason?”

“No… The Church is not to interfere in the internal affairs of the kingdom. This is the foundation upon which the Church established a temple in the kingdom, so we do not know why His Majesty stopped using the King’s Tower.”

“I’m not asking about that. I’m asking why the rain won’t stop. Even during the rainy season, it wouldn’t rain nonstop like this.”

What was even stranger was that the rain was limited to the Royal Capital and its surrounding areas. The Hels Kingdom’s capital was located in a water-scarce region east of the Dragon’s Spine Mountains. The moisture from the kingdom’s west coast was completely blocked by the mountains, and to the east of the capital was the desert region of the Taris Marquisate. Logically, such a prolonged period of continuous rainfall should be impossible.

“Your Eminence came from outside, yet you do not know the reason?”

“This is my first time in the Hels Kingdom.”

“I see. Then it is only natural that you are unaware.”

As long as it wasn’t about the bribery, it was fine. The High Priest relaxed a little and carefully chose his words to explain.

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“To the west of Dahl City, there is the Dragon’s Spine Mountain range, which runs vertically through most of the continent. Among the stories passed down through generations in the Hels Kingdom, one of them records the reason for the formation of the Dragon’s Spine.

Legend has it that when the Goddess first descended upon the continent of Alexia, the World Dragon, who prided itself on being invincible, challenged her. However, before the Goddess even made a move, the World Dragon was dismembered by her attendant angels.

Even so, the World Dragon did not die. So the angels intended to burn it to ashes, but the Goddess, considering that there was only one World Dragon on the continent, stopped them. In order to prevent the World Dragon from continuing its evil deeds, the Goddess commanded the angels and the human representative at the time, the King of the Hels Kingdom, to bury the dismembered body parts separately. The head, wings, feet, body, and tail were buried deep underground from north to south. As a result, because the World Dragon’s magical power was so immense that it altered the terrain, the present-day Dragon’s Spine Mountain range that runs through the continent was formed.”

“What does that have to do with the rain?”

“Er… I heard this from the nobles as well. It seems that the World Dragon’s head has recently broken its seal and is about to emerge from the ground. This heavy rain is the aftereffect of the seal being broken,” after saying it, the High Priest himself felt that it was too childish and awkwardly touched his nose. “I’m just repeating what I’ve heard, I can’t be sure. After all, it’s just a story. If it really is the World Dragon from the legend that caused the topographical changes, then I’m afraid only the Goddess Ymir and her angels descending once more could save humanity, ahaha…”

Not only the High Priest, but the Captain of the Holy Knights also laughed along with him. Neither of them believed that this was the true cause of the rain.

Resting her chin on her fist, Yisi assumed a thoughtful expression. Just then, a commotion was heard from the corridor outside.

“M-Miss Alice, a Cardinal is visiting today, you can’t cause trouble!”

“Don’t bother me, I’m not looking for your Cardinal. That person not only threatened me but also dared to point a weapon at my face. I’m going to teach her a lesson today.” Alice’s voice suddenly rose several octaves, so loud that most of the temple could hear it. “Which one of you is Yisi Enya? Get out here!”