Chapter 54

But judging from their current friendly relationship, it can only be the Black Princess White Knight. Crimson Moon has the Black and White-Winged Duke, and Black Princess also has the Black-and-White Knights.

And just as he thought—

"What happened, Brad? Why were we exposed? We've been hiding here so well all these years, and we haven't seen any Church members come here."

Altrouge Brunestud asked calmly, seemingly because she had already introduced the unconscious Avia, so the White Knight was not puzzled by the human who suddenly appeared in her master's room.

"Here's what happened. Today, one of the Royal Guard, Dead Apostle was temporarily living by begging, happened to receive alms from the Church. However, because he hadn't been able to suck blood for a long time, he couldn't hold it in and vomited all over the Church staff. As a result, he was subjected to mandatory confinement and a medical examination, and the result was..."

To be honest, this was the first time the White Knight had ever seen such a thing happen to the well-trained Royal Guard. It was so inexplicable, as if they had been cursed by something.

"They didn't drink blood, they usually feed on animals... Oh, is that so?" Ji Jun's usually cold face showed a rare frown. "Has the Church already sent people to arrest us? We should hurry and get everyone to evacuate."

"No, that's not the case. The Dead Apostle has been released." Brad shook his head. "The Cardinal of Constantinople Cathedral, who is confronting Rezovor, said he won't pursue us and will allow us to leave, to leave the territory of the Eastern Rome Empire. He just hopes you can discuss it with him before we leave."

The Black Knight, Rizzowal Stuart, is one of the three oldest Dead Apostle and one of the Black Princess's bodyguards.

The White Knight continued, "Although it sounds nice, Rizzowol and I believe that you, sir, must not be exposed to those people. It would be best to find another place to hide while we can, and avoid the Church's wrath."

Clearly, Brad's suggestion is the best solution.

However, Altrouge Brunestud glanced at the room's layout and shook her head, saying:

"The guards should withdraw from the city first. You go and tell the Cardinal that I will keep my promise."

"But like this..."

"There are no 'buts'."

"... Yes, my lord, you and I will protect you at all costs."

After Brad left, Princess let the White Demon Hound perch on her shoulder and suddenly spoke to Avia had been silent for a long time:

"Kishua said you're important, although I don't really care... But if you can really stand against the Church, I'll do my best to protect you. So, do you want to come along?"

"If only Lord Ji could be a little gentler with me, I might have come along."

Avia, holding her spear, joked, laughing as she looked at the White Demon Hound baring its fangs and claws on Altrouge Brunestud's shoulder.

"Is that so? I'll keep that in mind as a reference, and I'll try my best to be gentle with you, a human being."

There was not a trace of gentleness in Ji Jun's words, only her usual indifference.

But she paid no attention to Avia's reaction and slowly began to walk out.

"..."

As she reached the door, the black-haired girl seemed to remember something, stopped, and then turned around.

"Um, I'm leaving now, so you'll have to stay close to me, Avia."

She said it so naturally.

106: The Holy Teacher of the Church and the Doctor Grace

Due to the division of Rome, the Cardinal of the Diocese of Constantine were the leaders of the Church in the Eastern Rome. However, due to differences in doctrinal views, the two sides gradually moved towards a split, a division that lasted for more than twenty years, enough to influence the views of a generation.

However, after the split, relatively few believers were willing to stay in the Eastern Rome, resulting in a shortage of grassroots Church personnel in the Eastern Rome in recent years, which can only be cultivated slowly.

The Cardinal invited Princess to discuss the matter at a small chapel in the harbor, presumably to avoid arousing suspicion among the Dead Apostle and to show his sincerity.

"By the way, Princess, if you want to move outside of Rome, I can take you somewhere, but only if you can make sure things stay the same as they are now."

Avia, walking side-by-side with the Black-Haired Girl, spoke without hesitation.

The place he was referring to was the Hunnic Tribe. After all, the Eastern European region where the Huns lived was still fragmented and not yet unified. Furthermore, due to the discrimination against the Huns by the Western Rome, mysterious creatures were allowed to thrive there.

The Silver-Haired Boy had made his decision: to crush the Church corrupted by the Kihara for a century, one Scourge of God was not enough; he needed another.

Attila failed to destroy the Western Roman Empire, but he aimed to do so alongside it.

Before that, the Huns had to be unified more than ten years in advance.

Upon hearing this, Altrouge Brunestud gave Avia a meaningful look, which quickly disappeared.

"So, what is the price?"

"Do me a favor, and we can sign a contract as a guarantee for both of us."

Faced with the human's answer, the blood-red eyes swept over him, and in a tone as flat as the gaze, said indifferently, "Is that so?"

The White Demon Hound on her shoulder tilted its head and barked softly at the emotionless voice, "Fu, Fu."

Its cheerful cry seemed to say, "How could my great master possibly make a contract with a human?"

But the next second, Altrouge Brunestud gave it a cold look, which made Fou tremble again.

The two people and the animal walked toward the Church, whose walls were a light gray that blended in with the surrounding natural environment. The church roof was mainly made of wood and covered with thick thatch, giving people a friendly and warm feeling.

Several figures stood at its entrance, two of whom were Black Princess's Black-and-White Knights, while the others were likely members of the Church.

Altrouge Brunestud simply nodded to the Black-and-White Knights, and the two of them consciously made way for them without asking any further questions about Avia, who had come with them.

The interior of the church is bathed in soft, warm light, casting dappled shadows through the windows. These shadows move slowly throughout the church, creating a mysterious and solemn atmosphere that brings a sense of inner peace and tranquility.

Appearing before the two were an old man and a seemingly composed man.

"Has that princess arrived...? Oh, is that person next to her...?"

"So, it's a human who conspires with the Dead Apostle..."

A hint of menace crept into the man's calm voice.

"Augustine, watch your tone and attitude."

The old man said this, and as he spoke, the man regained his gentle demeanor.

"Let's skip the introductions," Altrouge Brunestud said, sitting down opposite them. "What brings you here, Bishop Jerome?"

"Before Kouhaku entered that Labyrinth, he told me, 'If I ever meet Your Highness, please give me a message.'" The old man said with a gentle smile, "As an elder of the Dead Apostle, your Labyrinth is always open to you."

Kouhaku was being hunted down after the Codex Trithemius was stolen by Mabul Kihara, returned to the Labyrinth he had built, a vast Labyrinth that had become dimensionally distorted over time and was almost inaccessible to anyone.

"Alright, that's settled. Your Highness, you may leave the Eastern Rome with your knights and Royal Guard. I hope you will never appear before us again."

After Bishop Jerome finished speaking, he began to drive them away without any mercy. This was normal, as members of the Church, no matter how much they disagreed with the Lord, still disliked the Dead Apostle.

The reason he told Altrouge Brunestud in person was probably because of K's request.

Avia thought silently, but at this moment he roughly understood the identities of these two Church personnel who stayed in the Eastern Rome.

Jerome, one of the four Holy Teacher of the Church in the West, translated the Old Testament of Hebrew and the New Covenant of Greek into Latin. He is also hailed as the greatest scholar in the ancient Western Church. However, in theory, he should be the Director of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, but he is now the Cardinal of Constantine.

And this Augustine is most likely the same person as Doctor Grace... Well, Avia is a little embarrassed, since in the First Century AD, what he promoted more or less bore the shadow of this person...

However, like Jerome, his life path changed, because in theory he should have converted to the Church just before his death.

"... I see."

Black Princess answered in her usual indifferent voice and walked out of the church without turning her head, but in reality, the girl's voice had little power.

"Augustine, Jerome, my name is Avia, see you again someday."

After Avia introduced herself to the two with a smile, she also walked out with them.

"Just as Lord Kouhaku said, it's really hard to persuade him."

Once only Augustine and himself remained in the Church, Jerome murmured softly.

Actually, when Kouhaku came to him, Jerome also asked Kouhaku why he didn't go and tell him himself.

Kouhaku's response was: she rejected my invitation without hesitation; her answer to me at that time was this—

"No matter how much I run away, I can't change the situation, can I? If it's something only I can do, then I have to face it head-on. As the only heir, I have the right to bear this responsibility. Even if it means being in danger, I will do what I have to do. I will never run away."

Perhaps it was precisely because of this personality that the Black-and-White Knights and the Royal Guard followed the princess on her journey.

"Lord Jerome, we discovered the location where those Dead Apostle were hiding a long time ago, why did we wait until today?"

"Augustine asked from the side."

"They haven't caused needless killings because of their bloodsucking, so letting them live their lives isn't a bad thing. After all, no matter how much we disbelieve in something, it still exists right before our eyes."

"Then why now...?"

The old man sighed and said, "Some things don't matter as long as they're not exposed, but once they are, we have no choice but to take action."

In other words, he would not have expelled the Dead Apostle from the Eastern Rome had it not been for the fact that the Dead Apostle had been exposed for strange reasons.

"On another note, what are your thoughts on this, Augustine?"

Jerome watched with interest this rising star carrying Bible and Prayer Book.

"That Avia, I always felt a strange interest in him, but unfortunately, he ended up with the Dead Apostle. Although it was his own choice, if Lord Novia were still alive, she would surely have been able to persuade him to join the Church."

Augustine was always inexplicably interested in that legendary Pope, and even once thought that if he could meet him, they could become close friends.

"Haha, then you should keep up the good work. You're still a long way from reaching that level."

As they walked out of the church corridor, Avia didn't say much, simply walking silently alongside Altrouge Brunestud.

With his keen observation skills, he naturally noticed that the Black-Haired Girl's pupils dimmed slightly for a moment.

From this, he could see that she couldn't ignore what she considered to be human words.

Because, what he said makes a lot of sense; it's only a matter of time before the Dead Apostle are wiped out.

"I agree to what you just said. Where is the place you mentioned?"

Altrouge Brunestud stopped and stared at Avia with her slightly dim, blood-red eyes.

"In that case, take your men and come with me to the north."

107: Meli, please cry.

The sky was a deep blue, and the sunlight gently bathed the vast land in its warm glow.

Occasionally, a few eagles spread their wings and soar across the sky—this is Eastern Europe today.

Its economic structure was relatively simple compared to Western Europe, mainly based on agriculture and animal husbandry. In short, there were obvious differences between Western Europe and Eastern Europe in various aspects at this time.

This region was the territory where scattered Hunnic Tribe roamed and ruled. In the eyes of the two great Western Rome Empires, the people of Eastern Europe were equivalent to uncivilized barbarians who could not communicate with them.

One of the tribal leaders was named Rua, the Huns elder who had found Attila's remains among the Giant God, and also the one who had his tribe adopt Avia.

According to the original timeline, the Huns would have unified under him in 432 AD, died two years later, and then Attila, the undisputed Huns War God, would have become the new master of the Huns Empire.

Rua wasn't too concerned about Avia's sudden return and her joining forces with the Dead Apostle. After all, the agreement was just to drink some blood and not kill indiscriminately, so it wasn't a big problem... In short, he did indeed follow Avia's instructions and gave Altrouge Brunestud and her Royal Guard a safe haven.

"Anyway, this is left to Attila and you. It's not that you can't make the decision. Attila won't think about these things anyway; you'll be the one making most of the decisions."

At that moment, Rua had an indifferent expression on his face, as if to say, "What's there to hesitate about?"

The only perplexity of this Huns leader was:

If you come here, does Attila know? If I leave her alone in the Western Rome Empire, I have a feeling something terrible will happen.

Avia had initially intended to say that she knew, but then she immediately remembered—

Oh no, the illusion stopped working long ago, after Wales.

If you do the math, it's been over a year since he left Milan. He spent four months initially searching for Fafnir, and then in Glastonbury, Britain, he was led by Fairy through the door to the inner side. Although it was only for a brief moment, he only realized six months had passed when he returned.

After that, she accepted Meli's request to go to Wales, which took two months. Finally, she was taken back to the Eastern Rome by Altrouge Brunestud, which took a month.

It took two months to bring Altrouge Brunestud to the Hunnic Tribe.

Avia could already imagine that the White-Haired Girl, who had suffered so much 'torture' at the Western Rome court, probably already had murderous intent.

But since things had come to this point, he felt that it wouldn't be a bad idea to make Attila wait a few more months.

Because he had originally planned to visit Meli in Britain after seeing Altrouge Brunestud off, and then return to Milan in the Western Rome.

As a result, Rua suddenly shouted when only he and the Huns elders were present:

"Those Three-Headed Dragon on the Dniester River in the Great Plains are truly despicable. They dared to harass us while our War God, Attila the Younger, was on his way to the Western Rome, causing our horses to live in constant fear. Ah, if only Attila were here."

"Yes, if Attila were here, she would have immediately gone to slay that dragon."