‘Something smells fishy.’
It was a very murky smell, so pungent that it could numb his nose. A traveler had come to a remote, rural village and after hearing rumors about the estate, he had found a Bellid temple soon after? Furthermore, how had the rumors about it spread so fast?
“Why? Was he looking for a gold mine or something?” Someone joked after gathering all the information they gained, and the knights shared their opinions. All the knights chuckled at this, including Danny, and Greig kept his mouth tightly sealed. The traveler was really a strange fellow. Something was definitely going on behind these ridiculous rumors.
‘The question is whether the temple is a trap or a part of another grand scheme.’ Zich thought the latter was more likely, but he didn’t completely dismiss the possibility of the temple being a trap.
‘I should try going for now.’ Only then would he be sure.
* * *
The investigation team moved out as soon as the sun rose. After a light breakfast, they climbed the mountain that the village leader had pointed out. They didn’t know the temple’s exact location—the people had tried their best to not go near it, after the traveler had told the villagers that there was a Bellid temple in the mountain and had run off. Thus, they had no choice but to search for the site themselves.
‘Well, first of all, this place fulfills all the conditions for a Bellid temple to exist.’ Zich thought while looking at a lake right next to the mountain. After all, one of the conditions those fish-head worshippers needed to fulfill to build a temple was to have a body of water near it.
‘The size of the temple must be pretty small,’ Zich thought. Since the lake wasn’t that big, the temple would be similar.
In the end, the team separated into groups of two and began to search the mountain. The mountain wasn’t that big, and since all members of the team were super humans who wouldn’t feel tired from just searching an entire mountain, the investigation progressed quite quickly. Greig showed clear displeasure in being paired up with Zich, but Zich didn’t pay attention to his feelings at all.
The two passed through bushes obstructing their path and ran up a slope. Zich’s sharp eyes scanned his surroundings, and Greig did the same. Even though Greig was slightly ticked off by Zich, he knew the situation could turn serious from a slight mistake. After some time, Zich noticed a burrow under a boulder. He immediately approached the burrow. It was big enough to fit a person only if they crouched, so Zich kneeled with one leg and studied the ground.
‘Someone entered this place. Many of them too.’ Zich’s eyes glistened. He had gained a good sense of the place.
“It’s here.”
“What?”
“The Bellid temple is here.”
“How did you—”
Completely ignoring Greig’s question, Zich entered the burrow. Greig scowled, but after a short sigh, he also followed behind Zich. It was dark inside the burrow, but it didn’t hinder their vision. After they marched across the bumpy floor, the burrow gradually became larger. Soon, it became large enough for them to stretch out their backs and then the space expanded until it was big enough to fit a house.
“I don’t know how those fish-head bastards are so good at finding annoying places like this? Are they actually worshipping a cockroach instead of a fish head?” Zich nodded as if he thought his own words were very reasonable. The two continued walking and the size of the burrow continued to grow.
“It’s here.” A building appeared in front of them.
“…This is a Bellid temple?” Greig gulped and stared at the building.
“Is it your first time seeing one?”
“There’s probably not a single person in my family who has seen something like this.”
“Well, I guess it’s reasonable.”
Since the Bellids had the life force and secrecy of cockroaches, there was hardly anyone in this world who had seen a Bellid temple or a practicing follower in person while not belonging to the cult. They were so good at hiding that even among the Karuwiman Holy Knights, who had the motto, ‘Must kill all Bellids!’ engraved into their minds, there were many who had never seen a Bellid temple.
“You should have a good look at it with this chance. You should kill any guy who makes and lives in a dreadful house like this one.” Zich believed that doing such would be good for the whole world. Then, as Greig studied the temple with half-curious, half-fearful eyes, Zich went inside. The temple was the size of two average houses, and as Zich had expected, it wasn’t that big.
‘I can’t sense any presences,’ Zich observed. As soon as he entered the temple, the first thing he saw was that grotesque-looking Bellu statue, and there was an altar next to it.
‘Hm, based on its structure, it seems to be a place where small prayer meetings are held. They probably do some sacrifices here too from time to time.’ Zich didn’t think these sacrifices would be proper in any sense of the word, and the dried-up blood stains on the altar represented evidence of that.
Greig entered the temple. His eyes were locked onto the Bellu statue.
“Is that Bellu?”
“What do you mean Bellu? Just call him fish head. There’s no need to respect the faith of crazies who have a hobby in naming a fish.”
Even though Bellu was an evil god, Greig was shocked to hear how easily Zich taunted a god who inflicted so much terror in the world. In a way, it was the first time Greig thought Zich was really amazing—of course, it was in a negative sense. Zich searched the temple thoroughly, checking every nook and corner.
‘It doesn’t seem to be an abandoned site. Does a Bellid follower live nearby?’ Zich thought. Yet, the only people living nearby were the villagers. Then, did that perhaps mean that the villagers were Bellid followers?
‘There were no signs of that.’ However, one couldn’t be too sure since the Bellids always surpassed all imaginations.
Eventually, Zich didn’t find anything special about the place and went outside the burrow, sent a signal, and called the other knights to the spot. Then, after leading them to the place, they began searching the temple again. The knights responded like Greig upon seeing the building.
They glanced at the Bellu statue of Bellids and searched all over the temple. However, even though more people joined the search, they couldn’t find anything special. Zich and the others first moved out of the cave.
Danny said first while narrowing his eyes, “First of all, sir, it’s true that the Bellid temple is here. This has become a troublesome matter.”
There were three rumors spreading around the Steelwall Estate, and one of the rumors turned out to be true. Thus, people would think that the other two rumors could also be true, and the main problem was that the first rumor about Count Steelwall being a Bellid could end Steelwall altogether. Greig and the other knights probably had the same thoughts.
Greig asked Danny, “What do we do?”
“We need to first thoroughly destroy that temple and let it be known that we’re not related to the Bellids at all.”
Zich also had the same thought. Of course, the reason why Zich wanted to destroy the temple wasn’t to save Steelwall from danger. He thought that he might find a clue about the conspiracy while destroying the temple, and he also just wanted to destroy the Bellid bastard’s temple for personal reasons. However, regardless of their reasons, Zich and Danny both wanted to destroy the temple.
Even though they didn’t have a hammer or pickaxe, they didn’t need these tools to destroy a small temple like this. If they just infused mana into their swords and swung it a few times, they could even slice a tough rock like mud. Since they reached the same decision, they were about to go back to the temple to first destroy that eyesore when—
“We have guests.”
“Guests?”
Danny tilted his head at Zich’s words; however, his face soon stiffened and he raised his head. He also felt a presence while climbing up the mountain. ‘How did he notice them way faster than me?’
Danny Chriss Nunn was the vice-captain of the strongest force in the Steelwall Estate, the Steel Sword Knights. However, Zich sensed a presence climbing up this mountain way faster than him.
‘I knew that he got much stronger, but I didn’t know it was this much!’ It was to the extent that cold sweat dripped down his back. Was it possible to gain so much skill in just a few years? Danny was the first one to notice the presence among the Steelwall soldiers, and the other knights began to notice the presence one by one. The knights’ gazes, including Greig’s, moved towards Zich. However, Zich paid no attention to their gazes.
“They are…” The people wore shiny armor with a symbol etched onto it, and everyone knew who they were. Danny let out a groan, “The Karuwiman Holy Knights.” As a devout Karuwiman follower, Danny had no reason to feel so disgruntled to see them usually. Instead, he would have been the one to approach them first and exchange greetings with them with hearty laughter. However, the situation was different now, and he had no choice but to feel tense around them. The holy knights seemed to have also noticed them.
Zich asked Danny, “It’ll be okay if I deal with them, right?”
Surprisingly, Zich had been obediently following Danny’s words so far. The only one he had full control over was Greig, and when he made a suggestion or request, Zich didn’t control the soldiers however he wanted. However, the situation was a bit different now. They were dealing with Karuwiman Holy Knights, and as an Honorary Holy Knight, it would be easier for Zich to deal with them. Danny easily nodded in agreement.
Zich stepped forward, “All of you must be Karuwiman Holy Knights.”
“Yes. I’m Winstin Dyner, a faithful follower of holy Karuna.” Winstin used to be in charge of protecting Chelsea when the Saintess hadn’t been decided yet. He looked at the knights behind Zich, or more specifically, he checked the symbols etched on the soldiers’ armor.
“Are all of you knights from the Steelwall Estate?”
“Yes, they are. I’m Zich, and Steelwall’s collaborator for now. I also hold the title as a Karuwiman Honorary Knight.”
The holy knights behind Winstin exclaimed in admiration. Just the fact that he was a Karuwiman Honorary Knight was enough to gain their respect.
However, Winstin was different. ‘Honorary Holy Knight Zich?’
He had heard of this name before. He was the one who saved Lubella and helped her obtain the title of the Saintess. Zich was also the bastard who thoroughly crushed his plan to make Chelsea the next saintess and surpass that blasted Belri Weig.
‘It’s this bastard?’
Zich showed the Karuwiman Honorary Knight broach to them, and his status was confirmed. Winstin’s hand twitched. He wanted to immediately pull out his sword and slice this bastard’s neck. However, he didn’t do this because his goal was to surpass Belri Weig. He couldn’t ruin his future because of personal emotions.
Winstin smiled. “Ah, Sir Zich. I’ve heard of you before. You’ve helped Lady Lubella in many ways.”
Winstin and Zich shared a handshake. Winstin desperately suppressed his desire to immediately crush Zich’s hand as he grabbed it. Winstin and Zich shared a short conversation, but it wasn’t anything special. It was more like small talk shared between people before they performed an important task. However, Greig and the Steelwall knights were shocked by this sight. It was a whole different experience to see Zich being treated like an Honorary Knight by the Karuwiman Holy Knights.
“Wow, those serious holy knights are so friendly towards him.”
“As expected, Honorary Holy Knights really are different.”
“Quiet!” Danny made his subordinates shut their mouths and gazed at Greig who was staring intensely at Zich’s back.