Chapter 414: The Conspiracy
“What are you talking about?” Spear’s voice went flat with disbelief. “Devil’s minion. That’s a fabrication.”
“His Reverence will draw his own conclusions,” Redwyne said, louder now—performing for the room. “You deceived Father. That’s already over. Soon everyone will know who you really are. You belong in hell!”
“Tell me: did you invent this, or did someone invent it for you?” Spear’s tone had turned to ice. “I suspect the latter. Father chose me because you and our brother were useless.”
“Shut—”
A sharp noise, then Spear’s grunt of pain.
“Enough,” someone else said, calm and final. “Bring her to the church for questioning. She’s still a member of the nobility until verdict—maintain the forms.”
The Judgement Warriors filed out with Spear Passi between them. Soon only two voices remained in the room, visible to Nightingale only as dark holes in her field of vision—the God’s Stones of Retaliation they wore blotted everything out. She placed one voice as Redwyne. The other was new.
“You’ve done well, Mr. Redwyne. Perhaps I should address you as Earl going forward.”
“So it’s settled, Mr. Rosad?” Redwyne’s excitement leaked through every word. “The earldom is mine? The Lord’s title?”
“As long as you honor our agreement, you may go even further.”
“What comes next?” Eager, almost breathless. “Can I take her room? She won’t be leaving her cell—”
“Spear Passi will be hanged as a witch in the square. That was the condition.” A pause. “As for what follows—I’d recommend calling her ministers, knights, and men together and distributing her authority among them. Give everyone a stake in the new arrangement.”
“Do I really have to do all that?”
“If everyone benefits, your position becomes much harder to challenge. It clears the way for our future plans.” Rosad’s voice didn’t change texture. “If you find administration difficult, the church can assign a priest to advise you.”
“Yes—please, that would help.”
“Good. Having a compliant lord here serves us well.” A sound that might have been a satisfied laugh. “The church is glad to help with such things.”
Both men left.
Nightingale stepped out of the Mist. Lightning and Maggie appeared a moment later from their respective perches.
“We have a problem.” She looked at both of them. “The church arrives at exactly the right moment. That kind of timing doesn’t happen on accident.”
“They said her brother found out she was a witch and told the church,” Lightning said. Her eyes were bright—the expression of someone who’d already decided what came next. “Now we have something to do.”
“Why didn’t he find out before? Why now?” Nightingale frowned. “Something’s wrong.”
“Whatever it is, we’re not going to watch them execute her.” Lightning lifted her chin. “We rescue her and destroy the church.”
“Destroy it, coo!”
“Your confidence has grown considerably since the battle with the demons.” Nightingale shook her head. “That’s not always a good sign. We can’t defeat the church outright—not yet. But they built this conspiracy around a false accusation. If we dismantle the conspiracy, Spear’s position reverts. And if we pull her out of that cell, she’ll have every reason to come back to Border Town with us.”
“We’re not fighting?” Lightning’s face fell.
“Fighting is the last option. They outnumber us and they have God’s Stones of Retaliation everywhere. Routing all of them at once is a serious risk.” She thought for a moment. “I’ll go to the church first and learn what I can.”
One thing she kept to herself: if Spear believed Roland had arranged this, the mission was over before it began. That had to be avoided.
“What about us?” Lightning asked.
“Be ready to meet me outside.”
The church of Fallen Dragon Ridge stood at the city’s edge—modest in scale, a prayer hall and residential quarters and a three-story tower enclosed by a single wall with one gate. Nothing that could slow Nightingale for more than a few seconds.
She had the layout mapped by the time the evening faithful dispersed. The God’s Stones were thick—more here than in the castle—but navigable. One stone occupied the prayer hall’s center, a heavy suppressor designed to kill any magic in the room; certain corridors had stones built into the walls. She detoured around them, or simply passed over the relevant floorboards.
She found Spear Passi in the tower basement: unhurt, frustrated, walled in by iron. Nightingale marked the time, finalized a plan with Lightning and Maggie, and went back in to wait.
She chose the top floor. The largest room. The priest would be here, and a priest with questions in him usually answered them eventually under the right kind of pressure.
When the tower’s bell struck nine, the door opened.
She drew her dagger but held still. Two sets of footsteps.
“What an unexpected bonus.” A woman’s voice—cool, with something underneath it that wasn’t quite warmth. “We had no idea Marquess Spear was a witch. We’ll need to adjust the plan.”
“Lady Saint,” Rosad said, his tone several registers more deferential than it had been with Redwyne. “Doesn’t this make things more convincing?”
“It changes things. According to the Supreme Pontiff’s current orders, any newly discovered witch is to be transferred to the Holy City for execution immediately.” The woman was matter-of-fact about it. “For the public execution here, substitute a masked death-row prisoner of similar build. Let the locals see a burning.”
“Understood. But why has His Holiness set such a demanding protocol—delivering witches to Hermes?”
“I don’t know the reasoning. My superiors say it’s a return to tradition.” The Saint’s voice went a degree colder. “You don’t need to know more than that. Finish the matter here. I’ll be leaving for Redwater City once it’s done.”
“Yes.”
Who is she? The Priest had practically folded himself in half with deference. The church hadn’t known Spear was a witch before they grabbed her—this whole operation had been about the title, not the witch. So the witch-accusation was a convenience, discovered after the fact.
Nightingale stepped from cover inside the Mist to get a look.
The woman wore no God’s Stone of Retaliation. Inside the Mist, the magic power moving through her body blazed like a lamp in a dark room—the only color in the black-and-white world.
She’s a witch.
“Who’s there?” The woman’s head turned instantly toward Nightingale. A silver light launched across the room.
Nightingale moved before she thought.
Chapter 414: The Conspiracy
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
“What… What are you talking about?” Spear asked in disbelief. “The devil’s minion? This is a complete fabrication!”
“Fabrication or not, His Reverence will draw his own conclusion,” Redwyne raised his voice and said. “Just because you managed to deceive Father, it doesn’t mean that you can deceive everyone else! Soon, people will know who you really are. You belong in hell!”
“Did you make all these up?” Spear’s tone suddenly became icy cold. “Or someone else put you up to it? I think the latter is true. After all, father chose me because you and our third brother were completely useless.”
“Shut up!”
Nightingale heard a rattle and the Marquess groaned in pain.
“Enough, bring her to the church for questioning,” someone said, “but she’s still a member of the nobility before her verdict, so maintain your etiquette.”
As Spear Passi was carted away, the Judgement Warriors followed right behind her, and soon there were only two people left in the room. Nightingale couldn’t see their faces clearly because of the effects of God’s Stone of Retaliation, but she could tell that one of the voices belonged to Redwyne, the man who spoke to the Lord. If she was not mistaken, this person seemed to be Spear’s younger brother.
“You’re doing really well, Mr. Redwyne; perhaps, I shall address you as Earl going forward.”
“So that’s it, Mr. Rosad?” Redwyne could not hide his excitement. “I really can inherit the title of Earl and become the Lord of the Fallen Dragon Ridge?”
“Of course. As long as you abide by our agreement, you may even go further,” came the reply.
“So, what should I do next?” he asked eagerly. “Can I move into my sister’s room? She won’t leave her cell, right?”
“Spear Passi will soon be hanged to death as a witch in the square as per the terms of our cooperation.” The other man hesitated for a moment, and continued, “As for what to do next, I suggest you relay this incident to all her ministers, knights and men and divide the rights of the Marquess.”
“Do… do I really have to do that?”
“If everyone can benefit from the incident, your position will be much more secure, which will help our future plans to proceed smoothly,” Rosad said. “If you’re still confused, I can always assign a priest to you. He’s very good at handling government affairs and can always advise you on any questions you may have.”
“Yes, please,” Redwyne replied quickly.
“It’ll be very helpful for us if you can hold the Lord’s position, so the church is happy to help with these issues.” His peals of laughter filled the room.
After the men left, Nightingale emerged from the Mist, followed by Lightning and Maggie.
“We’re in trouble.” She stared at both of them and said, “How could the church show up at precisely the right time and place?”
“I thought they said her brother found her true identity and revealed it to the church,” Lightning said, her eyes flashing with excitement. “Now we have something to do.”
“Why didn’t they find it out earlier? Why right now? I feel like something’s wrong.” Nightingale frowned.
“No matter what, we are not going to watch them execute Spear.” Lightning held her head up high and said, “We must save her and annihilate the church!”
“Annihilate it, coo!”
“The confidence of this blonde girl has inflated since defeating the demons. This is not a good sign.” Nightingale shook her head and responded, “We can’t defeat the church for the time being. They must have participated in this conspiracy, so if we removed these people, Spear would naturally return to her position as Lord. This might be an opportunity for us. If we sneak her out, she’ll probably agree to go back to Border Town with us under these circumstances.”
“Awww, we’re not fighting the church?” Lightning asked, disappointment in her voice.
“Battling will be the very last resort since they outnumber us and have a large amount of the God’s Stones of Retaliation. It’s pretty risky to try routing them all at once.” Nightingale contemplated for a moment and said, “I’ll go to the church first and find out what’s going on.”
There was one concern that she didn’t mention. Spear Passi might be thinking that His Highness was the one framing her if the situation wasn’t explained clearly. That, Nightingale knew, should be avoided at all costs.
“What about us?” the little girl asked.
“Just be ready to meet me outside.”
…
The church of the Fallen Dragon Ridge was located on the outskirts of the city. It was small and had a prayer hall, a residential area for the believers, and a three-story tower surrounded by a wall with only one exit. None of these obstacles posed a problem for Nightingale.
She had familiarized herself with the entire area by the time all of the faithful had departed in the evening. Although there were many more God’s Stones of Retaliation here than in the castle, Nightingale still managed to find her way. There was a huge God’s Stone placed right in the middle of the hall to stifle any magic in the room, and the same was true for some corridors. However, she could always take a detour or even hop over the floor.
Nightingale found the place where Spear Passi was imprisoned in the basement of the tower. She didn’t seem too hurt, just a little frustrated. She intended to rescue the Marquess during the middle of the night.
Nightingale snuck back into the tower after sharing her plan with Lightning and Maggie. She ascended to the top floor and hid in a magnificent room.
“This,” she thought, “would be the Priest’s room. He would probably spill the beans if he found me here with a dagger.”
When the bell of the Fallen Dragon Ridge struck nine, swung open.
She drew out her dagger stealthily but didn’t attack. She judged from the footsteps that there were two people.
“What an unexpected joy!” said a woman’s voice. “Little did we know that Marquess Spear is actually a witch. It seems that we need to tweak our plan.”
“Uh… Lady Saint,” Rosad answered with a very respectful tone, “isn’t it more convincing if she’s a witch?”
“It’s different from before, because according to the will of the Supreme Pontiff, any new witch who comes to realization shall be handed over to be executed in the Holy City as soon as possible,” The woman said. “As for the execution, let’s not hang her, but burn a masked death-row criminal with a similar build.”
“Yes,” Rosad answered. “But why did His Holiness set such a troublesome rule of delivering a witch to Hermes?”
“I’ve no idea, but according to my superiors, it’s simply returning to tradition,” she replied.
“Returning to… tradition?”
“You don’t need to know too much. Just fix the matter at hand hand.” The Saint said brusquely. “I’ll have to head towards the Redwater City once everything is done here.”
“Understood,” Rosad answered crisply.
“Who is she exactly? How come even the Priest is so respectful towards her? It seems they didn’t know that Spear Passi was a witch before they captured her. Could it just be all a conspiracy to seize the throne of the Fallen Dragon Ridge?”
Nightingale couldn’t help but come out from her hiding place and looked at the lady while hidden in the Mist, only to find that she was not wearing a God’s Stone of Retaliation. The magic power inside of the Saint was as bright as a fluorescent light in her world of black and white.
“She’s a witch!”
“Who’s there?” She responded in an instant, and a dazzling silver light shot towards Nightingale!