Baaaam!
The force from Tornium’s swing destroyed a huge part of the Bellid temple, and the allied forces swarmed inside.
“It’s over,” Weig said while watching from behind.
“Aren’t you going to join, Sir Weig?” It really was strange that someone known to ruthlessly destroy Bellid followers, and accordingly nicknamed the ‘Bellid Exterminator’, would be standing at the back.
“I came here as the Saintess’ guard. Although my hands are itching to move, I can’t let anything get in the way of me fulfilling my mission.”
“Oh! I’m fine. Sir Zich is with me along with the others. If you want to, please go.” Lubella intervened. There were many Karuwiman holy knights in this area besides Weig. There was a low chance that the Saintess would be endangered, and no one would rebuke Weig for going to the frontlines to help. Yet, Weig shook his head.
“I can’t do that. I have to lead by example.” Weig stared at the crumbled area of the Bellid temple, peered inside it, and said, “I also have something to confirm because of what Sir Zich told us.”
Weig didn’t even need to explain what he was talking about and Lubella said, “You must be talking about Zenard.”
“I’m sure there’s a reason why Sir Zich thinks so poorly of him. I want to look at him carefully from behind to see what kind of person he is.”
“I am doing the same thing.” On the same lines as Weig, Lubella had been watching Glen’s movements since the beginning of the battle.
“So, did you notice anything from observing him?” Zich asked them both.
“Nothing yet.”
“It’s the same for me.”
Deciphering a person’s true self by the way they swung their sword in battle was a feat too great for even Lubella and Weig. However, it wasn’t like their efforts were completely fruitless.
“If I had to point out something, he seems to have a desire to show off,” Lubella pointed out.
“I agree with you on that, Lady Lubella, but we can’t simply call that bad. Most people have a desire to be recognized, and there are times when that desire could be used for the good. Of course, there are many cases where it could be used negatively too,” Weig responded.
“Well, we’ll have to watch him a bit more,” Lubella said and then took one step forward. “Let’s go in then.”
“Sorry?”
“Sir Weig, it’s necessary for you to learn more about that man anyways. It’s the same for me too. Since we can’t see him too well from here, the right choice for us is to go in,” Lubella said in a carefree tone as if she was suggesting for them to take a walk in a garden behind a house.
“Let me warn you first, Lady Lubella. It’s still very dangerous inside. Since we will be entering it, there’s a high chance that someone could suddenly ambush us. Even areas that seem perfectly cleared of enemies are no exceptions.”
“Do we need to worry though? When you will be protecting me, Sir Weig?” Lubella smiled and Weig burst into a laugh.
“I suppose I can’t refuse when the Saintess puts so much trust in me. Yes, let’s go in.” Then, Weig turned to Zich. “What are you going to do, sir?”
“I will follow you both in. I am also a Karuwiman Honorary Knight, so I should do my share to protect the Saint,” Zich said jokingly and winked.
“Fufu! If so, I really don’t have to worry for my safety. Who would be able to pose a danger to me when both Sir Weig and Sir Zich are guarding me?” Lubella said and walked to the temple. Zich and Weig protected her from both sides.
The three passed by the crumbled temple’s walls, and the messed-up insides of the building came to view. There were corpses everywhere and the place was soaked with blood. However, Zich, Weig, and even Lubella weren’t bothered much by the corpses, since they belonged to Bellid followers who shouldn’t have existed in the first place. Then, the three moved toward the direction where they heard noises. From time to time, Bellids who had been in hiding or pretending to be dead attacked them after recognizing Saintess Lubella, but they all died to Zich or Weig’s sword before they could even approach her.
After wandering around the temple like that for a while, they finally found their target: Glen. They could see evidence of Glen’s work all around the inside of the temple too. Glen went around and annihilated all the Bellids in sight. His movements made it seem like he was overjoyed that he was finally in a place where he belonged. Meanwhile, Zich watched coldly from behind and didn’t join the battle. He knew the official fight would only begin after this battle was over anyway.
* * *
The battle was over. Every Bellid follower died without exception, and the allied forces began cleaning up the area. They gathered the debris and corpses in one area, and those who didn’t join the cleaning searched every corner of the temple to see if they could find any other information relating to the Bellids. This group included Zich’s current team.
After looking around the room, Lubella said in disappointment, “Hm, there isn’t much here.”
They were in a room with several beds and what appeared to be the Bellid followers’ living space. Yet, nothing there could be labeled as valuable information. Eventually, the group went out of the room. Several people in front of them gathered into groups and hurriedly walked past them. Seeing this, Weig scowled.
“The atmosphere doesn’t seem good.”
Zich furtively glanced at the Steelwalls and Karuwimans and said, “Well, it’s only natural since one side is suspicious of the other, and the other side is displeased for being under suspicion.”
“The Steelwall soldiers and knights joined the Karuwimans to fight against the Bellids and performed exceptionally well. Why are they still suspicious of them?” Lubella slightly narrowed her eyes as if she was displeased by the Karuwiman holy knights’ behavior.
However, Zich shook his head. “It’s difficult for the Steelwalls to escape suspicion with just that. Since the existence of Bellid temples has already been revealed, there’s also a possibility that the Steelwalls are merely taking the initiative and working hard to destroy the temples to avoid suspicion. If I take this one step further, it’s possible for the Karuwimans to think that the Steelwalls might be taking the initiative to erase any suspicious evidence connecting Steelwall with the Bellids.”
“…This is a really troublesome affair.”
“Lady Lubella, even though it really hurts my heart, this is the world that you have to get used to.” Weig’s words pierced Lubella’s heart.
“Well, considering how they didn’t completely exclude Steelwall forces from the Bellid temple investigation, the situation doesn’t seem to have reached the worst possible scenario yet,” Zich said as he removed a large rock that had fallen in front of him.
Lubella carefully walked through the open tunnel. “Was anything found in the temple?” she asked partly out of curiosity.
However, Zich’s reply was firm. “It’ll be found, and it’ll definitely be evidence that’ll make people even more suspicious of Steelwall’s connection with the Bellids.”
“…How are you so sure?”
“Lady Lubella, do you recall what I told you before? The current situation at Steelwall has all been done under the goal of dragging down Steelwall to destruction. If my predictions are correct, there is no better place than here to throw in a critical piece of evidence. Judging by the size of this temple, there’s a high possibility that this is the main base where the Bellids control the other temples spread throughout the Steelwall Estate. Or at least that’s what people would think. I predict that this evidence would be hidden in a secret room or tunnel.”
Right after Zich’s voice faded, someone shouted, “It’s a secret tunnel! We found a secret tunnel!”
Lubell and Weig’s gazes turned towards Zich, and Zich just shrugged. “The minds of those who set up plans like this are all pretty similar.”
“…If something like this happens to Karuwiman too, we should definitely ask Sir Zich for help.”
“I deeply agree.” Weig passionately agreed with Lubella’s opinion.
* * *
Zich’s group immediately headed in the direction of the voice. There were already a significant number of people there, so Zich and his companions squeezed through the crowd. No one could stop a group that Saintess Lubella and Belri Weig were part of. They were able to soon stand in front of the crowd.
Zich scanned the secret tunnel which was part of a wall. Judging by its structure, it seemed like a type of tunnel that would only be revealed after a special function pushed a part of the wall back. Two holy knights stood in front of the tunnel’s entrance and stopped people from going in. They were blocking the Steelwall forces and even the other Karuwiman holy knights, but they couldn’t act against Lubella or Weig.
“Are you stopping people from entering the tunnel?”
At Weig’s question, one of the holy knights standing guard immediately replied, “Yes, sir. We are stopping everyone from entering the tunnel under Sir Dyner’s order.”
As soon as Winstin Dyner’s name popped up, Weig was immediately displeased. “I guess Sir Dyner has enough power to give out an order like that. So what’s the reason?”
“He told us that there might be unforeseen dangers inside and said that if there is evidence inside, it might become damaged if too many people go inside. Thus, Sir Dyner took a small group of people inside and told us that he’ll check the situation first and come back.”
There was nothing to criticize about Dyner’s reasonings. Weig asked, “Who were the people who went in?”
“Sir Dyner, five holy knights that he picked, and Sir Zenard, who is a Karuwiman Holy Knight, and his teammates. One of his teammates is Lady Chelsea Widne, who was previously one of the top saint candidates.”
Zich suppressed a groan from coming out. This was the perfect situation that Glen Zenard could control. Even though Zich already knew the answer, he asked just in case, “Who was the one who found this tunnel?”
The guard gave an expected answer. “Sir Zenard.”
Lubella and Weig slightly glanced back at Zich. Since Zich had already warned them before, they felt slightly suspicious that the person who found the tunnel was Glen.
Weig said, “Let’s also go in.”
Lubella nodded and took a step forward. “Sir, we can go in, right? Even though Sir Dyner told you not to let anyone in, I don’t think he also meant us.”
“Of course, Lady Lubella!” The guards backed away one step as if to say that she could enter whenever she wanted. Zich and his companions disappeared into the tunnel. The guards went back to their positions and sharply looked around the room to ward off anyone else from entering.
* * *
The inside of the tunnel was dark. The floor and ceiling were well organized, but it wasn’t decorated lavishly. The tunnel wasn’t very long either since they didn’t have to walk long to reach the room connected to the tunnel. When they entered the room, they saw Winstin, the holy knights, Chelsea, Pina, and Glen Zenard.