Chapter 37

Cyrus was escorted out the door by Segalot.

The three corpses still lay sprawled across the corridor, blood flowing all over the floor.

The smell in the air was inevitably unpleasant.

"Walker."

Cyrus's call made Walker, who had been anxiously searching at the end of the corridor, look up at once.

Delight immediately appeared on his face, and he quickly headed toward Cyrus.

Segalot stood inside the doorway, dressed in black as though he wished to hide within the darkness, profound and tranquil.

In his right hand, he concealed the delicate little bird whistle Cyrus had taken off and handed to him.

His fingertips slowly brushed over its finely carved patterns as he softly said, "I look forward to your eventual victory, Little Rose."

Cyrus paused as he walked toward Walker and involuntarily turned his head, meeting Segalot's slightly dim golden eyes.

The latter curled his lips into a smile at him before turning and returning to the room.

The door slowly closed before Cyrus.

"Count!"

Walker hurried to Cyrus's side and anxiously checked him over, dropping to one knee to carefully inspect him from head to toe. "Are you all right?!"

Cyrus came back to himself and shook his head. "I'm fine, Walker. Let's leave the church quickly."

"Okay."

Before picking Cyrus up, Walker frowned at the three corpses in the corridor and the tightly shut door beside him...

Just now, someone had been standing behind that door and speaking to the Count... Who was it?!

There was no time to think about it.

Bass Riches's men were still inside the church. They had to withdraw quickly and meet up with the soldiers outside the royal city.

Cyrus had Walker take him to find Marco Case first.

As they retraced their route, they happened to encounter Marquis Case, who was locked in combat with the royal city knights halfway there.

After dealing with the royal city knights, the group charged out of the church under the soldiers' cover.

Segalot returned to the room and looked indifferently at Bishop Bolton and the acting bishop.

He played with the exquisite little bird whistle in his hand and said casually, "How much money and benefit did Bass Riches promise you to make you participate in this royal murder?"

Bishop Bolton's face was covered in cold sweat. His lips trembled several times before he managed to speak clearly, then he begged, "Y-Your Holiness, please forgive me..."

The acting bishop had likewise been frightened limp.

Segalot said, "You allowed Bass Riches to commit slaughter in the church, staining the divine statues with blood and disregarding the Holy See's sacred will."

"According to church law, you will be stripped of your status, removed from office, and answer for your crimes with death."

"No! No, no..."

The acting bishop backed away, pale and terrified, trying to escape this room that resembled a prison of death.

He tried to scramble up from the floor and rush out the door, but he was not faster than the black-robed man standing nearby like a statue.

The man immediately seized his hair and ruthlessly dragged him before Segalot's feet.

Segalot's expression remained mild as he said, "Do it."

"Your Holiness, spare—"

Before the acting bishop could finish, the black-robed man sliced open his throat with a blade. Blood instantly sprayed out, blooming into a trail of patterns across the floor.

Bishop Bolton knelt nearby, staring in horror as the acting bishop futilely clutched his neck and struggled before finally collapsing soundlessly to the ground.

The black-robed man approached him with a bloodstained scimitar in hand.

Bishop Bolton shuddered.

He did not want to die like this. In his panic, he pulled a dagger from inside his robes and slashed at the black-robed man, hoping to seize the chance to escape while the man dodged.

However, he was merely a lamb fleeing blindly, with all hope extinguished.

Moments later, the black-robed man drove a blade through his chest. He died before the door, swallowing his last breath with his eyes open.

"Your Holiness."

The black-robed man's muffled, hoarse voice sounded. "Is there any need to keep the church in Kaies?"

Segalot put away the bird whistle and said coldly, "No."

"Yes, Your Holiness."

The church in the royal city of Kaies suddenly caught fire.

The blaze swiftly became fierce.

It began in the rear half of the church and gradually spread. The fighting was forced to stop, and everyone fled from inside, quickly moving away from danger.

The fire also bought Cyrus and the others time.

They successfully broke free from the royal city knights' encirclement and temporarily hid Marco Case in a concealed location.

"Walker, medicine," Cyrus said.

Marco Case's back injury was rather serious.

Because he had kept moving, the wound had been pulled open. Blood was now constantly seeping out, and his face had become even paler.

Walker hurriedly took ointment from inside his armor and deftly bandaged Marco Case. "My Lord Marquis, Bass Riches has already completely taken control of the royal city. The knights who threatened and coerced you in the church were only part of his forces."

"He must be deploying the other royal city knights now. You cannot remain here any longer, or your situation will become very dangerous. Leave with us—"

Marco Case shook his head and interrupted. "No. My son Nat is still here. I can't leave."

Cyrus said, "Then we'll find Nat Case."

He asked, "Walker, where are Judas, Taylor, and Bana?"

Walker said, "Butler Judas and Bana secretly slipped out of the city to contact another unit of soldiers so they could receive us outside the city at any time."

"Taylor, meanwhile, is holding Keith William hostage to draw away my father and some of the royal city knights..."

Otherwise, it would have taken him longer to break into the church.

As if recalling something, Walker said, "Oh, right. Earlier, many clergymen were also preventing us from entering the church."

"Later, though, for some reason, everyone from the church suddenly withdrew."

Cyrus understood why.

He recounted what had happened behind the church. "...Someone who could make both the bishop and acting bishop kneel on the ground with fearful expressions... I think there can be no one else besides the Pope."

"Besides, Judas once mentioned rumors about the Pope to me."

"I heard he was born in the Sacred See within the Holy See of the Saint Airo Empire. When he was born, all the Divine Flower Belanka planted in the Sacred See bloomed, and they did not wither for a long time afterward."

"It is said that this was the Creator God's favor toward him—the current Pope, Augsger."

The Pope's full name was Segalot Wordsworth Augsger.

Cyrus said, "His age fits, and the black-robed men beside him... I saw a glimpse of golden armor plates beneath one of their robes..."

He had caught sight of them by accident while the black-robed man fought the three knights pursuing him in the corridor.

Click to view.

Marco Case could not help nodding. "They should be the golden-armored knights who follow the Pope. Every one of them is highly skilled and responsible for protecting the Pope."

"The Count is right as well. What happened at the Pope's birth truly occurred."

"The Pope has received deep favor from the Creator God and displayed extraordinary traits from childhood. Otherwise, he would not have inherited the Holy See at such a young age and earned such immense prestige."

[Honestly, I've recently been using this app to follow updates. It supports switching sources and has many reading voices, available on both Android and Apple.]

Walker had not expected the Count to encounter the Pope in the church of Kaies.

He could not help feeling deeply relieved. Because of that, the Count had remained safe before Walker found him.

Although they did not know why the Pope had come to Gadayat,

the most urgent matter was to leave the royal city of Kaies quickly.

If Bass Riches led his knights to block the roads out of the city, their situation would become even more critical.

Walker contacted Taylor through the bird whistle.

Taylor and the others had restrained Harry William by holding Keith William hostage, and they had been moving toward the city gates according to their previously arranged plan.

By the time Walker arrived with Cyrus and Marco Case, Harry William was already furious, his face livid. At the sight of Walker, he nearly attacked regardless of Keith William's life.

Harry William said, "For an outsider, you actually want to defy your own father?!"

Walker said, "You made a mistake. I cannot make the same mistake with you, Father. It is not too late to stop now..."

"What do you know?!" Harry William snapped.

His cold gaze swept toward Cyrus. "Walker, think this through."

"Are you really going to oppose the Duke for someone who has nothing to do with you?!"

Walker frowned and said nothing.

However, he stood firmly behind Cyrus, making his stance perfectly clear.

"Fine, you've grown bold..."

Harry William gritted his teeth, trembling with rage.

Yet he could not make any move, because Keith William was still in the other side's hands.

At that moment,

Bass Riches finally arrived with a unit of knights.

The royal city knights wore armor, their steps producing heavy, cold sounds that carried an oppressive air... Behind them lay the empty streets of the city district. Commoners and slaves had been frightened into hiding, while fierce flames still burned in the distance where the church stood...

Kaies fell silent for a moment.

Bass Riches's sharp, sinister gaze swept over Cyrus and the others. He then raised a hand, and two knights behind him came forward, each gripping one of a person's arms.

"Damn it, let me go." The captive struggled constantly.

"Nat!" Marco Case shouted at once, panic appearing on his face.

The person Bass Riches had captured was Nat Case.

After seeing the church on fire, Nat Case had gone to look for his father Marco out of worry. He had not expected to run directly into Bass Riches's men.

The knights' grip was strong enough to make Nat Case's face scrunch up.

"Let him go!"

Marco Case became so agitated that he accidentally pulled at the wound on his back. His face grew even paler and weaker.

Bass Riches said, "I can let him go. Exchange him."

He lifted his chin and pointed at Keith William.

Cyrus agreed. "An exchange, but not here..."

They had to go to the city gates. Otherwise, once they lost their hostage, escaping from the heavily guarded royal city would become even more difficult.

"Duke."

Harry William's gaze was urgent. He had to save Keith.

Bass Riches's expression shifted uncertainly.

Still, following Cyrus's proposal, both sides slowly retreated to a location not far from the city gates.

Cyrus called out to Walker.

Walker raised his hand. The soldiers behind him all blew their sharp, piercing bird whistles. Amid Bass Riches and the others' ugly expressions, answering whistles suddenly sounded outside the royal city, transmitting a message.

The gates of Kaies opened with a boom.

Judas and Bana confronted the knights guarding the gates ahead, fully prepared for battle.

Cyrus said, "Exchange them now. One person brings one person, and they walk toward each other."

Taylor said, "Count, I'll go."

Cyrus nodded.

Marco Case could not help clenching his fists in worry.

As both sides slowly approached one another, Keith William inconspicuously exchanged a glance with Harry William.

Once they reached each other's side, Keith William suddenly exerted force and broke free of Taylor's restraint. But Taylor reacted quickly as well. When he realized he could not pull Keith back, he immediately moved to seize Nat Case.

Taylor kicked away the knight restraining Nat Case and pulled him rapidly backward.

However, Harry William shouted at that moment, "Archers, fire!"

Arrows shot toward them from hidden corners...

The deadlocked atmosphere shattered in an instant, and both sides began slaughtering one another. The cold stench of blood gradually spread.

Taylor had difficulty holding them off alone, especially while protecting Nat Case. His movements were inevitably full of openings... Just as they were about to regroup, an arrow flew toward Nat.

"No!"

Marco Case moved nothing like an injured man. Before anyone else could react, he threw himself in front of Nat Case.

Nat Case widened his eyes and cried, "Father!"

Cyrus immediately shouted, "Walker, Taylor, bring them back quickly!"

The chaos continued.

The soldiers led by Judas and Bana almost instantly dealt with the knights guarding the city gates and came to support them.

Fortunately, Bass Riches had not prepared many archers. Once they crossed a certain distance, they were beyond the arrows' range.

Thus, under the soldiers' protection, Cyrus and the others quickly escaped the royal city.

"Pursue them! We cannot let them leave Kaies!"

"Yes, Duke."

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