Teaching Tool
Night had fallen.
Outside St. Ruls Cathedral, two figures, one tall and one short, walked along the gradually quieting street.
“Your Eminence, are we going on foot?” Loruze asked.
“No.” Sylvia, who was nearly a head shorter than him, shook her head. She then reached out and poked the fat crow perched on her shoulder.
“Caw!”
With a shrill cry from Lakdevo, the air around them instantly turned frigid.
In the next second, before their eyes, a pitch-black carriage began to take form.
At the same time, the puppet girl waved her hand, and thick black gauze spread around them, enveloping the increasingly distinct eerie carriage.
“Get in!” The fat crow flapped its wings and shouted loudly, while Loruze, looking at the transparent figure seated on the horse at the front, visibly froze.
“What’s wrong?” Sylvia, who was about to board the carriage, turned her head slightly and glanced at her subordinate.
Loruze was silent for a moment, then pointed at the coachman summoned by Lakdevo and said in a low voice, “He... he was a knight of the Tribunal, with extensive carriage-driving experience.”
“But he died three years ago.”
“Caw, he’s just a summoned undead, without intelligence or consciousness,” the fat crow tilted its head and explained.
But Loruze did not respond.
“Is that so?” Sylvia’s movements slowed slightly.
“Get in. Tell me about him while we ride.”
The horses began to run, and the entire carriage sped down the road at an unimaginable speed.
The occasional pedestrians they encountered, however, seemed blind to it.
Sitting on one side of the carriage, Loruze organized his words before speaking, “Your Eminence, aside from hunting heretics, knights of the Tribunal are also responsible for maintaining nighttime security.”
“When the moon rises, spirituality becomes more active. Some monsters not belonging to reality will descend into the real world, bringing danger.”
“And we bear the duty of eradicating them.”
“Perhaps soon, we will see knights patrolling the streets.”
“The Six Major Churches are not only spreading the faith of the True Gods but also maintaining the stability of this world.”
However, just as his voice fell, a terrified scream suddenly rang out from outside the carriage.
The next second, all three of them simultaneously turned their gazes toward the window:
In the distance, under the bright moonlight, a slender humanoid shadow stood upright.
Opposite it was a girl who had fallen to the ground in panic.
“Your Eminence, that is our target,” Loruze said in a low voice, his gaze fixed outside the window.
“Even though you have converted to Hethorik and betrayed the Radiance?” Sylvia’s calm voice sounded, plunging the carriage into silence.
Meanwhile, the girl on the ground was slowly retreating backward, while the upright figure began to bend down.
“Yes.” At that moment, Loruze’s resolute voice rang out again.
“Your Eminence, I request permission to disembark.”
As his words fell, a pure white radiance gradually bloomed in his right hand.
“Caw!”
“Bastard, put away your holy light!” The fat crow's annoyed voice rang out, but it was interrupted by Sylvia’s wave of the hand.
At that moment, a playful glint flashed through the puppet’s differently colored eyes.
“Have you forgotten?” she said. “I am an apostle of the Outer God.”
“And Outer Gods are categorized by you as Evil Gods.”
“No, I...” Loruze was clearly stunned, hastily trying to explain, though his anxious gaze kept drifting toward the window.
But Sylvia did not give him the chance to speak. She waved her hand again, this time her fingers making two small movements.
“No need to say more. Let’s go.”
“But Your Eminence...” Loruze’s tone changed noticeably, but once again he was interrupted.
This time, however, it was not his superior who interrupted him, but the fat crow, Lakdevo.
“Caw!”
Amid the mocking laughter, that extremely unpleasant voice rang out:
“Idiot! Look out the window!”
With Sylvia's slightly amused expression, Loruze hurriedly turned his head.
Then, he saw the carriage speeding past the young girl, while the upright shadow abandoned its original prey and started to chase after the carriage.
No, it was not chasing!
The keen-eyed Bishop of Radiance suddenly noticed that the joints of the monster were visibly sunken compared to before.
That was...
“It is our teaching tool for today,” Sylvia’s calm voice rang out, pulling Loruze’s thoughts back to reality.
“Thank you for your mercy, Your Eminence.”
“Please forgive me for doubting you.”
Amid the fat crow’s laughter, Loruze lowered his head.
Seeing this, the girl smiled slightly and said:
“All right, don't be too restrained in front of me.”
“Besides, you all should understand that, at present, I hold no malice toward this world.”
“On the contrary, I actually somewhat agree with your... practices of the Orthodox Church.”
“I am merely searching for some things I need.”
For two seconds after her voice fell, there was no response inside the carriage.
Two seconds later—
“I understand, Your Eminence.”
“Caw!”
“Good.”
Seeing this, Sylvia nodded in satisfaction.
Meanwhile, outside the window—
The girl who had fallen to the ground slowly got up, staring blankly in a certain direction.
Just now, she had seen a pale carriage pass by, and the monster that was about to attack her had disappeared along with it during the chase.
“What... was that?”
...
The journey continued in silence.
The pale carriage crossed the flat road and entered an estate located in the northern suburbs of the City of Alova.
“Serborn, that’s the name of this estate belonging to the Lancaster family,” Loruze introduced as he stepped down from the carriage, looking at the still brightly lit main house.
“It’s not as luxurious and extravagant as I imagined,” Sylvia commented briefly.
“Huff.”
The huge shadow standing behind her made a strange noise in agreement.
“Apart from a few exceptions, nobles in the western nations generally dislike ostentation.”
“If you go inside and learn the real price of those decorations, you might think differently,” Lakdevo, standing on Sylvia’s shoulder, added in explanation.
“All right.”
“Little Isabella will go to sleep punctually at nine in the evening.”
As she spoke, she pulled out from her inner pocket a pocket watch she had “borrowed” from Loruze, opened it, and glanced at the time.
“Very good. It’s time. Let’s go inside.”
Loruze nodded and casually asked:
“Your Eminence, how are we going to enter?”
Hearing this, Sylvia touched her chin thoughtfully and said with interest:
“I had originally planned to teleport inside, but after hearing Lakdevo’s words, I suddenly felt like walking in and having a look.”
“...Fine.”
Thus, the three figures casually opened the gate and swaggered down the corridor, but none of the passing servants noticed them, not even when one accidentally brushed against a kneeling shadow on the ground.
There were transcendents here, and not just one.
While passing through the corridor, Sylvia thought to herself.
But then again, it made sense; as a noble family holding real power in the kingdom, it was obviously impossible not to have the protection of supernatural forces.
However, the spirituality she sensed from within this house gave her a familiar feeling.
She then turned to Loruze and asked:
“Is the protector of the Earl of Lancaster one of our people?”
Loruze shook his head and replied:
“No.”
“The task of protecting the Earl of Lancaster is usually handled by the church in the capital, since these powerful nobles spend most of their time there.”
Sylvia nodded thoughtfully.
At that moment, a door along the corridor was pushed open, and a figure emerged.
It was a tall young man with sharp facial features, golden hair, and deep blue eyes.
“Hm?”
Seeing this person, Sylvia stopped walking and began to scrutinize him with interest.