Paladin of the Dead God

Chapter 73:

The priests and nobles, all displayed perplexed expressions at Isaac’s unexpected suggestion.

“The territory?”

“Yes. Didn’t everyone come here to collect the money lent to Kyle Hendrake?”

That was indeed the case. The reason they had all rushed here was initially due to the suspicion that Kyle Hendrake was trying to default on his debts. They intended to recover the financial losses from the Loracus incident, by threats or by force if necessary.

However, everything changed when Isaac appeared and slew the prophet of the red flesh.

The order needed to somehow make Isaac a saint, a symbol of the order, while the central nobles aimed to prevent this, keeping the balance from tipping further towards the order.

Both had concerns more pressing than the loss of the lent money.

But then someone spoke up.

“Is there anything of value left to dispose of in this place?”

All eyes turned to one side.

It was a man with calm features and dark blue hair.

Isaac recognized him as a Northerner who had come with the central nobles, clearly of a different origin, dressed like a seafaring merchant.

“Your name?”

“Aidan Bearbeck. I came as a representative of the North Sea trading guild.”

Indeed, he was from a merchant background. Isaac could even smell the sea on him.

“Disposing of the territory can wait.”

Delia interrupted the northern merchant loudly at that point.

“A celestial being died here, and you’re concerned about the territory now? We should be looking into how corrupt Kyle Hendrake was, whether he apostatized, was tempted, and see how many bad elements were involved! We can deal with such matters after everything is sorted out!”

Although Delia spoke sensibly, not many nobles seemed to agree with her.

Isaac noticed that not everyone had their priorities straight. Delia, being from a great noble family, might not care about losing a few coins, but among the nobles who followed her, some might face bankruptcy if they couldn’t recover their debts immediately.

Aidan Bearbeck seemed to be one of those.

‘That’s why he came all the way here.’

But for Delia, it was more important to check Isaac’s ascension to sainthood than the money. Perhaps she might downplay Isaac’s achievements or use harsh measures to prevent the order from fully claiming him.

However, Isaac saw her as a valuable asset since he also did not want to become a saint.

For Isaac, who couldn’t easily reveal his intentions, Delia was a useful tool.

“Rather than such trivialities, we should focus on who is behind the celestial influence…”

“That’s right. It is a trivial matter. But that’s why we need to decide what to do with this territory first.”

Isaac’s firm statement silenced Delia. The nobles seemed curious too. As a central noble, Delia couldn’t ignore the opinions of other nobles. After all, she too had suffered significant losses.

“We would like to hear the opinion of the Grail Knight.”

A young priest representing Bishop Juan spoke. With the order’s opinion now added to the mix, all eyes turned to Isaac.

“Why is disposing of this territory now considered important?”

At Eidan’s question, Isaac answered with a smile.

“Because the entire territory has been cursed by the prophet of the red flesh.”

***

That evening.

After a long meeting, discussion, and some tension, no conclusion was reached. After the meeting, Delia examined the remnants of the battle against the prophet of the red flesh atop the walls.

She said to Reinhardt, who followed her,

“They killed a celestial being here.”

“Yes. I saw it too.”

It was a redundant statement. By now, hundreds of witnesses, including villagers, had seen it.

In the darkest hour before dawn breaks, the witch who brought ruin to the territory faced the Grail Knight, revealing her horrific true form.

But in a moment of crisis, just as dawn approached, the awakened Grail Knight struck down the wicked celestial being…

Delia couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh.

“To be honest, Count Reinhardt, when I first heard that story, I thought it was some kind of joke. It sounded like something out of the era when General Ellil was building his legend, centuries ago. Doesn’t it feel too archaic and overly dramatic?”

“It is dramatic. But it is also what I witnessed.”

Delia brought up a topic that was difficult to mention casually, yet she felt compelled to discuss.

“The possibility of the Grail Knight being behind a conspiracy?”

“What sort of conspiracy?”

“Something like using the celestial being as a sacrifice to infiltrate the core of the White Empire… No, that’s too far-fetched.”

Delia sighed deeply. Her thoughts had ventured into the realm of the absurd in her attempts to undermine the achievements, given their dramatic nature.

It seemed likely that this Grail Knight named Isaac had indeed started a new legend. This realization was frustrating for her because the balance established by the emperor could potentially be upset by the emergence of this new saint.

She recalled Isaac’s words.

“This territory is cursed by the celestial being?”

A curse left by a vanquished celestial being is not uncommon. Therefore, Delia had not dismissed the possibility. It would be better if the being Isaac defeated was not a celestial, but if it was, then the likelihood of a lingering curse was significant.

Isaac had stated:

Hendrake territory has been cursed by the celestial being.

The nature of the curse might not be immediately apparent, but its signs will gradually manifest.

Any object, land, or asset could already be tainted by the curse. In a situation where the curse needs to be cleansed first, disposing of even a single log from this territory becomes difficult.

Even if it were to be sold, would it fetch its proper value?

For the stability and peace of the territory’s residents, who will take responsibility for resolving this issue needs to be determined first.

The priests and nobles felt ashamed upon hearing Isaac’s words. They had only been concerned with the property of Hendrake territory and the fact that Isaac had defeated a celestial being. However, Isaac had questioned who would take responsibility for the territory tainted by the curse.

“The Grail Knight is truly a Grail Knight…”

Delia was somewhat impressed by Isaac’s attitude, which suggested that whether he had killed a celestial being or not was less important than the suffering of the people afflicted by the curse.

But she also knew she had a role to play and could not neglect it.

“If a new hero has truly emerged…”

Delia thought it pointless to obstruct Isaac when hundreds of people had witnessed him defeating the celestial being. Should she then try to sway Isaac to the emperor’s side? She found this challenging as well.

From what she had heard so far, Isaac was the epitome of a noble knight. His drift towards the order seemed natural.

Of course, after meeting him in person, she noticed some nuances, but their nature remained elusive.

“Count Reinhardt, have you ever seen any evidence of this curse?”

“Not as of yet… But since the Grail Knight mentioned it, I believe it exists.”

Delia looked at Reinhardt.

Reinhardt, a noble from the frontier, was one of the emperor’s loyal nobles who had aligned with Delia. Yet, he seemed completely taken with the Grail Knight, Isaac.

Whenever she asked about Isaac, Reinhardt had nothing but praise.

“Well, there’s no point in worrying about the nature of the curse when we don’t know what it is. Starting tomorrow, I guess I’ll have to negotiate head-on with the order.”

“My lady, just in case, please keep this with you tonight.”

Reinhardt handed Delia something. It was a kind of amulet with the symbol of the Codex of Light engraved on a white piece.

“It’s not highly miraculous, but it has been blessed. My wife gave me a few for safety, and I would like to give one to you.”

“Thank you.”

While it was uncertain how effective this simple amulet would be against a celestial’s curse, it was better than nothing.

Holding the amulet, Delia felt a surge of motivation.

Even if the odds were low, her task was to entice Isaac.

Delia considered Isaac her greatest concern.

Until dawn arrived.

***

Dawn.

Delia suddenly awoke to a whispering sound.

She wasn’t fully awake, only her hearing had sharpened.

“[…died in the…]”

Caught in a half-awake state, Delia quickly became fully alert due to the bizarre whispering. When she felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand, she opened her eyes wide and sat up.

“[…waiting… in the darkness, for you who will not awaken again…]”

The whispering voice grew louder, resembling hundreds of people gathered in one place, chanting prayers. Delia felt a chill at the ominous and irreverent sound.

Attempting to examine the stinging back of her hand, she found her surroundings unnaturally dark. A dense darkness filled her room, making it hard to breathe.

‘Curse.’

The word flashed through Delia’s mind instantly.

She hurriedly grabbed the dagger from under her pillow. Pulling it out, a faint light emanated, pushing back the darkness, but it only provided enough light to barely see her hand.

“Be gone!”

Delia swung the glowing dagger, but the darkness remained uncut. Only then did she notice the wound on her backhand.

It was a small bite mark, the perfect size for a five-year-old child’s bite.

Such bite marks lined up from her hand to her arm.

“Ah!”

Delia belatedly felt a tingling pain all over her body. It wasn’t enough to cause injury but was enough to sting. She hastily checked her clothes.

Her body was covered in bite marks, as if hundreds had tried to bite her.

“[Ah! The one who wears the skin of the flayed gods!]”

As the chanting resumed, Delia, in a frenzy, swung her dagger around. Her room quickly became a scene of chaos. As she destroyed and tore everything in sight, a familiar voice reached her.

“Lady Lyon! Lady Lyon!”

Delia’s eyes snapped open. Beyond the wreckage, Reinhardt and the other nobles looked at her in horror from outside the door.

Breathing heavily, Delia looked around. The darkness that had filled her room had vanished.

She quickly examined her body.

Yet, the bite marks remained clearly visible.

With a pale face, she said to the nobles.

“Call everyone. Now.”

After giving the order, Delia leaned on the desk for support, feeling herself nearly collapse. That’s when something touched her fingertips.

It was the amulet Reinhardt had given her.

The once white amulet was now completely blackened, with the symbol no longer visible.

***

Watching the turmoil in Delia’s room, Isaac retracted the tentacles he had planted in the room.

‘Indeed, the colors from beyond are the answer to driving people mad.’

Isaac had sprinkled a few of Delia’s subordinates with the colors from beyond. This ability to spread dark, thick shadows that cause hallucinations and auditory hallucinations was enough to completely unsettle an unsuspecting victim’s mind. Although they might conduct an investigation into the nature of the curse, the colors from beyond leave no trace, making it difficult for them to find anything.

‘Now, onto the next step.’