Chapter 177
Do-Jin looked awful by the time he returned to the Central Continent and reached Elthomagia’s main tower. The report filed against him at the Celestial See was irritating, but compared to what he’d dealt with in his previous life, it was trivial. Karin’s reaction was what had bothered him.
She looked completely crushed.
After overhearing his conversation with Sion and realizing they’d both been marked by the Celestial See because of his ties to vampires, she couldn’t even meet his eyes. She apologized over and over until it sounded like a confession, then disappeared. She hid so well that Do-Jin never saw her again, not even once during the entire trip back to the Central Continent.
“Haaah...”
Do-Jin remembered the duke’s face before he left the castle. The man looked expressionless as always, but Do-Jin had seen the darkness twisting beneath those eyes. A daughter who had worn a fake smile for nearly a thousand years had only just started learning what it meant to smile for real, and now someone dared to try to take that away.
There was no world where a father wouldn’t be furious. It was easy to forget because the duke always looked cold and unchanging, but the very origin of the vampire race had been a father’s love twisted into something monstrous. He had thrown everything away to save his daughter.
“I will help you with anything you require,” he had told Do-Jin.
And since Sion had made such a noisy spectacle above his territory, the duke must have figured out the entire situation already. The tone had been calm, but the black fire burning in his eyes made it clear. His version of “help” wasn’t simply a gentle nudge.
I bust my ass trying to keep sparks from turning into wildfires, and the whole thing nearly explodes because of one stupid report.
Trolls were truly a pain in the ass when it came to this game. It didn’t matter how one went about reinforcing the walls. If a deranged clown walked up and yanked out a brick, the whole castle could crumble in an instant. However, there was still time to do damage control.
While he was sorting through his thoughts, the mage walking beside him let out a startled noise. The hallway suddenly curved, and the surrounding space began twisting like a sheet of fabric being wrung out.
“Sion,” Do-Jin called out.
Only one person in this tower could bend space like this. Just as expected, the distortions caused no harm. They simply peeled him out of the corridor, sending Do-Jin exactly where Sion wanted him.
As always, the technique is beautiful.
Do-Jin admired the way space folded, unfurled, bent, linked, and merged around him. She could have teleported him in a single snap, but instead she chose to put on an elaborate, technically absurd display. Though it was probably because she wanted to show off, her ability was impressive enough that the childishness was easy to forgive.
“U-uh-uh-ack!”
A strange sound suddenly echoed through the distorted pathway. Do-Jin turned his head. A man was floating far off in the distance, separated into mosaic-like pieces. His body parts were drifting slightly apart as if he were made of broken tiles, and every fragment of him was flailing in terror.
What the hell?
The man’s movements and voice were so pitiful that Do-Jin almost reached out a hand and asked if he was alright. He nearly did it without thinking. But before he could do anything, the room snapped into place around him. The mosaic-like shards of space that had made up the distorted corridor all slammed together at once.
In the blink of an eye, an elaborate yet unnervingly precise reception room assembled itself out of thin air. Two people sat inside in plush armchairs, both deathly pale, their spines locked straight as they reassembled into place. It reminded Do-Jin of what someone with extreme acrophobia would look like after being strapped into a four-hour gyrodrop ride where the machine kept yanking them up and dropping them nonstop.
“Th-this...” the young priest finally forced the words out. His voice cracked as if he might cry at any moment. “What is the meaning of this! We were told it might be a little dizzying. You said it would be nothing more than that! I could endure it, but how dare you subject the Saintess to this kind of treatment!”
He looked ready to burst into flames. Clearly, this man was the Saintess’s attendant, and he was furious on her behalf.
Honestly, if I went through something like that, I would swear at Buddha too, Do-Jin thought.
His own transition had been smooth without a scratch or wobble, but theirs had been broken down like the hallway, dragged across space in pieces, and then rebuilt. If they experienced all of it in full clarity, it truly must have been a different kind of hell.
This is too much, even for a prank or a power play.
Do-Jin sighed inwardly and stepped forward. The young priest still glared like he wanted blood, while the Saintess trembled faintly, white as a sheet. He decided to give an improvised explanation to smooth over Sion’s ridiculous magic show.
“First of all, I owe you an apology. I forgot that creating a sealed space like this makes entry extremely complicated. It is easy to forget when you’re used to the process. It may have been nothing to us, but for someone experiencing it for the first time, it can be overwhelming. I should have accounted for that.”
“Security? Do not insult us with such excuses!”
Sharp little bastard.
The young priest’s accusation hit hard enough that Do-Jin had to force himself not to flinch, but years of quest-hardened poker face kept him perfectly steady.
“Why would I lie? This entire space is a barrier in itself. What you experienced was the natural result of entering a location that has no conventional entrance. It must have been unpleasant, but it also means this place is fully secure. The protections here would take even someone on the level of Sion Grace several days to break.”
To calm someone whose mind had completely short-circuited, it was best to make them think. Any rational thought would lower their panic. Of course, if they realized the explanation was nonsense, it would backfire. But for now, it worked. These two would never notice.
The moment the name Sion Grace came up, even a university professor of magical theory would hesitate to call it nonsense, and clergy who had spent their lives praying would not even know where to direct their doubt. As expected, the young priest who’d been spitting fury and the Saintess who’d nearly fainted both calmed down a little. There was still wariness and hostility, but considering what they had just endured, it was a miracle they were composed at all.
“This is why dealing with mages is always...” The young priest muttered under his breath, the same complaint most clergy would make when faced with sorcerers.
“I agree. It is rare to find a mage who counts as normal. Sometimes I wonder if such a creature even exists.” Do-Jin said it so bluntly that the young priest froze.
He had spoken without thinking, assumed he had made a mistake, and was ready to scold himself for it. Now the priest had no idea what to say.
“Keilo, apologize.”
“But Saintess...!”
“We have already received an apology. He explained that it was unavoidable for security. And even if we suffered something unpleasant, that does not justify rudeness. That would not be proper.” Her voice was calm, gentle, and entirely sincere.
The young priest looked as if she had just handed him a divine revelation. His face flushed with guilt as he bowed his head. “I was thoughtless. I sincerely apologize for my rash words.”
He acted as if every move he made could tarnish the Blue Star’s name. From Keilo’s posture and tone, Do-Jin could tell he was a genuine believer, a true cleric rather than a political operator. The fact that the Saintess brought only someone like this meant she wanted this meeting to stay as quiet as possible, without any political weight tagging along.
“It is fine. As I said, I am well aware that mages are a notoriously unhinged group. Let us set that aside. Since we are not here for pleasant reasons, shall we get to the main issue?”
The Saintess let out a weak, awkward smile. “Should I say... You truly sound like a mage...? You seem like someone who values efficiency above all else.”
Given the situation, she couldn’t relax. The Saintess sat where she believed she ought to sit, then watched Do-Jin as he took his own chair.
“I heard that the one involved in all of this is supposedly Sion Grace’s disciple. Is that true?”
“Yes. Something like that,” Do-Jin said casually, though the weight of his words landed clean.
Everyone knew that Sion Grace spent centuries as Tower Master and never once accepted a direct disciple. If news got out that she finally took one, it would shake not only the mage community but every major faction on the continent.
“But this must stay secret,” Do-Jin followed up. “Very few people in this tower know, and neither my teacher nor I enjoy making noise.”
“I see.” The Saintess nodded softly.
Do-Jin thought to himself, If only she knew how much of a secret it really is. I only found out recently that I’m her disciple.
Once she absorbed that first answer, the Saintess finally asked the question that mattered.
“Then let me ask the true question. The accusation against you. The claim that you have been in contact with vampires. Is that true?”
If he denied it here, the matter would likely vanish behind political fog. Someone would bury it, someone else would ignore it, and the whole thing would fade out. But Do-Jin had no intention of doing that.
“Yes. It is true.”
Her eyes clouded instantly. Whether it was because she didn’t expect that answer or because the matter involved vampires, he didn’t know. Either way, it shook her.
“The reason is... irrelevant, I suppose. You understand it is treason. I came here because I was asked to come. I will listen, whatever your explanation or proposal may be.”
Whether it was a justification, a bargain, or a plea to bury the matter, her job was to hear it and relay it. That was the role she believed she’d been sent to fulfill. The Saintess’s goal was simple: do nothing that might anger the Cardinal faction, and deliver the message without stirring political waves.
“I did not approach the vampires for anything sinister. I approached them to find a way to break the Blood Curse binding their entire race.”
“What... did you say...?”
“To break the Blood Curse.”
“Why... would you attempt that? Is this some kind of curiosity you mages have?”
Do-Jin sighed faintly. “The only reason the centuries-long cold war remained stable was that Duke Tiren suppressed the feeding instincts of the entire vampire race by himself.”
“That is absurd! If that were true, then why do rumors keep spreading about people being killed by vampires? They are monsters obsessed with blood. They sneak down into human settlements every night, feed, and vanish.” Keilo cut in sharply.
Do-Jin answered without pause. “If that were truly the case, then explain why not a single vampire has been captured in nearly a thousand years.”
“This world is overflowing with creatures that kill humans. Whenever the killer is not clear, the rumors evolve into ghost stories. Some of those stories blame vampires.”
“Is this meeting meant to defend vampires?” The Saintess asked, her tone tightening.
Do-Jin shook his head. “No. I was only explaining the motivation behind my contact with them. I will keep it simple. I already knew the duke was suppressing the entire race. Eventually, a thought occurred to me. One man, no matter how powerful, cannot bear the weight of an entire species forever.”
“When the strain surpasses his limit, when the suppression finally cracks, it will start again. The war between those who want to eat and those who do not want to be eaten.”
“And to prevent that... you sought to break the curse?”
“Yes.”
“So this is where you say the Celestial See should overlook it because you had noble intentions?” Her displeasure deepened.
“Of course, I am not asking for charity.” Do-Jin placed something on the table.
Any talk about being a so-called “Apostle of the Star” would sound delusional. But a physical object was different.
“This is...”
“It is a relic created long before the founding point of the current Creation Church. It belonged to those who worshiped Bella during the earliest era. It holds meaning for your people.”
The Saintess of this world was the real deal, so there was no way she would fail to recognize a genuine relic tied to Bella, especially after reconnecting with one just days ago. Her pupils shook harder than before, more violently than when she’d arrived half-convulsing from the teleportation shock.