“Teresa, you have ten minutes to pack up your stuff...”
In the end, Cheryl decided to use the excuse of ‘we’re going to Norland on a missionary mission’ instead of ‘betraying our faith and God.’
Her reason ended up convincing Teresa. Although the nun’s thinking was naive, she knew that she would be wasting her life by staying in the Heresy Tribunal all her life.
Not only that, she will also have to face the danger of execution after Cheryl leaves.
Granted, Teresa was prepared to receive the ‘punishment.’ Nevertheless, Cheryl managed to win over Teresa and persuade her to not let herself die in such a damned place with her eloquence and the charm of the ‘dwarf on a mission to rescue a princess’ game.
After they came to a decision, Cheryl led Teresa back to her room and told her to pack up and prepare for their escape.
Teresa didn’t have a lot of clothings for her luggage. To the inquisitors that had accepted the ‘power,’ clothes had become part of the power of the gray mist.
Though that might be the case, the nun outfit Teresa was wearing was manually made with real cloth.
“There’s a canon that I can’t find...”
Teresa’s luggage was packed with a bunch of old books. Those were all canons from the Holy Church, the words left behind by the God she believed in.
To all the pious believers, their private canons were priceless treasures. That was no exception for Teresa. Those were the only luggages she could think of.
“Could it have been eaten by rodents? Ahh... forget about it. What sort of canon is it? I’ll help you search for it.”
There were three bookshelves in Teresa’s room. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was a bed placed beside the bookshelves, this place could be considered as a small library.
Cheryl moved back and forth around the three bookshelves. The three bookshelves contained many diverse types of books. It would appear that Teresa was a girl who loved reading books.
Truth was, in the Heresy Tribunal, there was pretty much no other sort of entertainment apart from reading and listening to the choir’s hymns.
But, those inquisitors with deranged personalities would instead view the torturous interrogations and sentencing of the criminals as a sort of entertainment.
“Radiance Canon,” said Teresa.
“The canon for blind people? Let me see if I can find it.”
Cheryl examined through Teresa’s bookshelves. She was unable to find the Radiance Canon on the shelves. Instead, she saw a couple books with titles that caught her interest.
‘Dwarf Horscomb,”The Secret Annals of the Starker Empire,”Gladiator’ ...
The titles of those books seemed very normal. But, the Starker Empire was a nation that had fallen several hundred years ago.
It was said that the warriors of that nation were all brave and excellent fighters. But, they would never wear clothes on the battlefield...
“...”
Cherl took a glance at Teresa on the other side of the bookshelf who was earnestly trying to find the Radiance Canon. That naive nun might’ve, in a situation where she herself doesn’t even know, grew fond of some sort of... dangerous stuff.
But, Cheryl did not warn Teresa. After all, she had no time to correct the false ideas in Teresa’s head.
Soon, Cheryl found the Radiance Canon in a pile of strange books. She tossed the canon to Teresa and urged her to quickly finish packing her luggage,
“We’re... leaving right now?”
Teresa carried the slightly heavy luggage with both hands and walked over to Cheryl’s side.
“The Holy Church’s teleportation formation to Norland will only open once every two months. By tomorrow noon, the teleportation gate will shut itself. We have three hours before sunrise. To us, this is the best chance.”
Cheryl opened the door to Teresa’s room. She looked around and didn’t see anyone.
“Will the chapel in Norland be willing to admit us?”
Teresa’s mood grew slightly downcast after she said those words. In the Holy City, inquisitors were people that were not liked.
Ever since Teresa gained the identity of an inquisitor, the nuns that grew up together with her began to consider her as being different and were unwilling to approach her.
“They will. Even if no one in that chapel is willing to admit us, I can find some place else...”
Cheryl’s confidence grew dim as her words reached that point.
Her plan to escape came too sudden. It was so sudden that she had never planned on how they’re going to survive in the unfamiliar city of Norland once they reached it.
The moment she stepped out of the Heresy Tribunal, it would be equivalent to her having betrayed the entire Holy Church. Proceeding to Norland’s chapel and asking for their help would be practically impossible...
Furthermore, she possessed no other skills that she could use to support herself apart from murdering others. Perhaps she should seek that demon and ask for his help?
For some unknown reason, Joshua appeared in Cheryl’s mind. But, she soon dispersed that thought.
She refused to believe that she would not be able to find a place to survive on her own in Norland with her own abilities. Besides, she knew a lot of mages in Norland!
The interface for the magic network appeared before Cheryl’s eyes. The number of mages waiting for the latest update of ‘Diary of an Inquisitor’ was ever growing.
When it passed midnight, there were over ten replies inquiring about the diary’s update.
‘Why wasn’t there a new update today?’ Replied by: Ash-colored Owl
‘I’ve meditated till this hour all so that I could read Miss Skotan’s diary.’ Replied by: Whispers of the Magic Canon
‘Please update!’ Replied by: Firebringer...
The remorse in Cheryl’s heart increased to another level as she saw the series of replies. But, she had to escape from the Heresy Tribunal tonight. Thus, it was destined that she would not be able to write the new entry to the ‘Diary of an Inquisitor.’
As such, no matter what, she needed to reach Norland first.
“Follow me.”
Cheryl walked out of Teresa’s room. They began running toward the outside.
Her experience from living in the Heresy Tribunal for tens of years was finally put in effect at this time. Even if Cheryl was to close her eyes, she would be able to find the exit all over the Heresy Tribunal’s underground building.
Leading Teresa, she avoided many patrols. Soon, they escaped out of the Heresy Tribunal.
The Heresy Tribunal was located under the Cathedral of the Holy Light located in the center of the Holy City. After they ran out of the cathedral, Cheryl led Teresa to the teleportation formation located not far from the cathedral.
The teleportation formation was open to the public. Merchants from all over the world were allowed to use the teleportation formation during the times it was open.
On the carriage-filled street, Cheryl selected a lone merchant. While they were not paying attention, she dragged the merchant and the merchant’s servant into the alley and knocked them unconscious. At the same time, she stripped all the wealth from their bodies before changing her appearance to that of the merchant.
“I... think this isn’t too good.”
Following Cheryl’s instructions, Teresa had changed her appearance to the merchant’s servant.
“I’m only having them sleep for a bit. Didn’t the Dawn Canon mention that staying up too late will be detrimental to one’s health?”
Cheryl once again persuaded Teresa with her eloquence...
Having obtained an all-new appearance, Cheryl arrived before the teleportation gate. But, at this moment, she encountered a person she didn’t wish to see.
The priest in charge of conducting the Condemnation Ceremony earlier was standing beside the teleportation gate.
“Teresa, my child... you shouldn’t appear at this place.”
Before Cheryl could warn Teresa to escape, the priest managed to see through Teresa’s disguise.