NOVEL NEXT Chapter 3
Hilderd, the Holy Empire, was a city-country with Holy Priests and Holy Knights under the protection of the Holy King.
It was also a country that was recognized for extraterritorial rights that were free from the laws of all countries on the continent.
It was because it was a country established under the name of God.
The reason why the king was called the Holy King, not the Holy Emperor, also meant that he was below God.
Hilderd took charge of restoring order on the continent.
In order to punish heresies that deviate from God, they are not picky in any way and method.
In particular, the ‘Heresy Inquisitor’, who only the most exceptional divine knights were selected, was a fearsome existence that made even a crying child stop.
All the aristocrats of the continent, even the imperial family, were careful about their words and actions in front of the Heretic Inquisitor.
Because they don’t want to get on their nerves.
However, Chesha was the Heretic Inquisitor’s enemies.
It was because, as the daughter of a fairy who had gone mad, she was born with misaligned powers.
It could be said to be a symbol of heresy.
It wasn’t enough just to live quietly, because she was involved in various incidents, she was a thorn in the Holy Empire’s eyes.
Chesha remembered the man who was chasing her relentlessly.
The man who always looked straight ahead with burning blue eyes.
The words he whispered in his icy voice were still vivid in her mind.
“How far do you plan to destroy me, witch fairy?”The sound of the white chain clanking echoed in her ears like an auditory hallucination.
Chesha wrinkled her nose and rubbed her ears with the palms of her hands.
‘Well, it’s time for him to come after me.’
She stayed quiet for a month because she was stuck in an orphanage.
If it was the usual time, she would have committed a couple of accidents, he would came after her while doubting what was Richesia up to
‘It’s not something that needs to go through an inspection.’
Apparently, it was largely because Richesia hid for a month without leaving any traces.
‘Wait for me a little bit, brat.’
She was thinking of committing an accident right away as the matter with the House of Count Basilian was resolved.
It was already fun to imagine tormenting the Holy Knights and holy priests.
It was a time when Chesha laughed sinisterly for a moment.
“The witch fairy Richesia.”
Kiern muttered as he lightly rubbed his chin with his long finger.
“Come to think of it, she’s been quiet lately.”
The underworld was a neutral zone, extraterritorial in a different sense from the Holy Empire.
A place where those abandoned from the world gather.
The chaos that happened disorderly in the underworld often had an impact on the outside world as well.
Thus, the witch fairy Richesia was a well-known figure on the continent.
However, there was something meaningful about Count Basilian’s self-talk.
‘You speak like you know her very well, don’t you?’
While Chesha brooded over her strange doubts, the Holy Knight made a polite request.
“Excuse me, but could you show me your identification badge?”
Kierne replied with a refreshing smile.
“Nope?”
“….”
Both Chesha, who was messing around, and the holy knight, who was checking, were at a loss for words.
He slowly got off the carriage.
The Holy Knights, who felt uneasy, put their hands on the handles of the swords.
Either way, Kiern held Chesha with both hands and held her up in the air.
“Isn’t she cute? She’s my daughter.”
Someone makes a feigned laugh at the absurd action.
Hearing that, Kiern smiled like a half moon.
“But I want the fact that I am adopting a daughter to be a secret.”
A strange light shone over the red eyes.
He whispered in a soft voice.
“I want everyone to forget.”
It was a tickling yet deep whisper, like a snake burrowing into the ear.
The eyes of the Holy Knights who were about to pull out their swords became blurred at once.
Just like the director and children she saw at the orphanage earlier.
Chesha recalled old memories of where she had seen such a scene in the past.
And immediately freaked out.
‘Count Basilian is a dark mage?!’
While stunned, Kiern snapped his fingers.
Dark shadows rose from beneath his feet in all directions.
Complete darkness enveloped Chesha.
When the shadows covering her vision lifted.
The surrounding landscape was completely changed.
It was obviously just an ordinary road until just now.
But now, in front of Chesha’s eyes, a black castle soared.
Flags fluttered everywhere in the castle, which had a black roof on a grayish-white stone exterior.
It was a black flag with the Ouroboros* pattern entangled with a silver snake wrapped around a sword biting its own tail.
*The ouroboros or uroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail.The castle, overflowing with a gloomy feeling, was solid.
Neither outsiders invading nor insiders allowed to escape.
Dozens of knights in black uniforms lined up in front of the huge gate.
They all knelt down in unison and bowed.
“Congratulations on your return, Count.”
Kiern lightly brushed his disheveled hair and smiled.
He said to Chesha with a bright smile.
“Welcome to the Snake Castle, my daughter.”
***
“Ugh, urgh…!”
The man ran recklessly.
Pointed branches and thorns scratched his limbs in a mess, but he felt no pain.
It was the sound of chains clinging to his ears.
No matter how much he ran away, the sound that never went away quickly gnawed away at the man’s spirit.
The man who had been running madly opened his eyes.
“Cough!”
A white chain grabbed the man’s ankle.
The man, lying on the rotten leaves and wet soil, crawled desperately to the ground.
But it was already too late.
The white chain bound the man and lifted him into the air.
The man struggled, tearing off the chains that wrapped around his body.
The man who had been drooling made a shrieking sound.
“Hick….”
A man in a bluish-white uniform approached with neat steps.
A blue cloak draped over one shoulder fluttered in the wind.
The man who had been staring at the slowly approaching condemned man with bloodshot eyes hurriedly opened his mouth.
“Ugh, urgh, ple, please forgive…!”
The desperate plea did not end properly.
The man was shattered into fragments of pure white light.
The chain that destroyed its target returned to its owner with a sizzling sound.
The chains that filled all sides disappeared without leaving a trace.
The Heresy Inquisitor, who was standing among the scattered fragments of light, glanced aside.
“Hilon-nim!”
The holy knights who had followed him belatedly looked at Hilon with eyes full of respect.
Hilon said coldly.
“Sort it out.”
“Yes!”
The holy knights began to purify the place where the man died.
The holy light removed the corpse and blood.
Hilon, who watched their purification work for a while, moved slowly.
He asked a short question to the adjutant who quietly followed.
“About the witch fairy?”
“Not yet. Even after being checked, there is no information coming in. I can’t find any traces….”
Hilon’s straight eyebrows furrowed.
He sent his watchful adjutant to the holy knights, and Hilon walked alone.
As he walked through the bleakly dark forest, he touched the bracelet on his wrist.
The simple-looking white bracelet was ‘the chain of doom’, the holy relic of the Holy Empire, Hilderd.
The power of the chain, which only Hilon could handle, was simple.
Pursuit, bondage, and destroy.
The chains of doom have not missed a target since it fell into Hilon’s hands.
Except for one time.
“….”
Hilon bit his lip.
It was because of the hot heat around the nape of the neck.
A place hidden from view under the stiff uniforms.
A red flower pattern was stamped on the straight collarbone.
A pattern that doesn’t suit the clean body, and not only crafty, it even feels like a bizarre pattern.
It was a mark left by the witch fairy Richesia.
The mark she left to indicate that he was her prey would occasionally heat up to make his presence known.
As the Heresy Inquisitor of the Holy Empire, she was a being that must be eliminated.
However….
“You are my prey, Hilon.”Red eyes that sparkled like a coveted rose.
Richesia, who brushed her dazzling golden hair and smiled coquettishly, put the mark.
“So don’t die recklessly.”So he couldn’t die
Even at the moment of death, he survived in the end.
Hilon twitched his lips and smiled.
He doesn’t know what else she is up to, but he will find out somehow.
So, this time, he will put her in a dungeon….
To make her exist only in front of his eyes.