Chapter 139: Tracks
Teresa quickly filled me in on the situation.
Those heretics… they seemed to have sensed something. The traveling merchants, who were initially expected to arrive in four or five days, had quietly sped up their journey and arrived early. To prevent them from stealthily moving the Lotus Seed Grass, people from the Sword of Kanli were keeping an eye on things, but… Teresa seemed a bit uneasy.
“The Sword of Kanli hasn’t dealt with them before,” I said as I hurried down the stairs alongside Teresa. She turned to me and asked, “I heard from Her Majesty the Queen that you’ve had some run-ins with those folks?”
“Yeah, back in the Empire.”
“Empire… I think I’ve heard some rumors… Can they actually be killed?”
“Sure. As long as you wait until they’ve run out of energy.”
“Really?” Teresa nodded thoughtfully. “If things get out of hand later… I’ll be counting on you, Silvya.”
“Sure.”
I understood what she meant.
The clerics following us were visibly tense.
The Gate of Truth hadn’t shown up in the Western Continent for a long time. The church had been advertising them as extreme evildoers, bloodthirsty maniacs, which inevitably left a terrifying impression like they were some kind of wild beasts. For these clerics, it was most likely their first encounter with them, so their fear was understandable; when push comes to shove, we couldn’t really bank on them.
She wanted me to understand that.
As we silently walked out of the main building, I heard faint breathing sounds from behind a wall at a corner on the way to the iron gate… Someone was lying in ambush!
I swiftly halted Teresa in her tracks.
“What’s—”
Her puzzled inquiry was cut short as I quickly turned to her, signaling her to be quiet while pointing towards the corner. Teresa immediately grasped my meaning and frowned slightly.
Who’s trying to obstruct us…?
Whoosh—
The sound of wind whooshed past my ears as trees and grass flew by. A small figure darted around the corner and, in a swift movement, grabbed the shadow hiding behind. With a thud, they slammed him against the wall.
“Uh—”
“Who are you!… Huh?”
As I gradually recognized the somewhat frightened face—it was Abe.
…That silly rascal, what’s he doing?
Wasn’t he supposed to be doing that blessing ritual with the kids? How did he end up here?
I quickly released my grip, straightening his rumpled collar. “Sorry! You okay… what are you doing here?”
Abe didn’t speak; he just shook his head while extending his right hand towards me. His rough fingers were gripping something tightly, turning pale, but he seemed to want to give me something…?
Without thinking, I instinctively reached out, but then saw Abe hurriedly retract his hand, shaking his head at me again.
He looked anxious, as if worried about something, and his stiff eyes were filled with tension. Then, he swiftly stuffed whatever it was into my small satchel.
“Don’t let anyone see.”
Abe whispered to me and then bolted away without looking back.
What’s with him? Is something going on?
“Did something happen?”
Teresa came over with a frown, and then she spotted Abe’s retreating figure, looking somewhat surprised.
“Is that… Abe? What’s that kid doing here instead of going for the blessing?”
“He…”
Just as I was about to answer Teresa’s question, Abe’s words echoed in my ears. After hesitating for a moment, I shook my head.
“When we came, I gave him some candy. He wanted to say, ‘thank you.’”
“Really?” Teresa still looked puzzled. “Isn’t the blessing supposed to wash away sins and purify the heart? Something this important… how could he not go? He’s usually so sensible… Did he run into some trouble?”
She glanced at Abe’s distant figure, then turned her gaze back to me, confusion filling her beautiful blue eyes.
“I don’t know,” I shook my head and urged her, “Teresa, let’s hurry.”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
She glanced again toward Abe’s departure and then chuckled, “That kid… when he comes back, I’ll have to scold him.”
…
The same old man opened the door for us.
Outside the iron gate, two familiar church war chariots were parked. Teresa and I climbed into one of the chariots, and the driver whipped the chariot into a speedy gallop, racing towards the city gates. As soon as we halted, a hawk-nosed man in his thirties strode over. Recognizing the badge on his shoulder, I knew he was a member of the Sword of Kanli.
Without time for pleasantries, the hawk-nosed man got straight to the point. “The merchants just left not long ago, heading towards the eastern suburbs.”
“Did you notice how they got through the checkpoint?” Teresa asked impatiently.
“There was no inspection at all,” the hawk-nosed man replied darkly. “Those merchants didn’t even open their cargo boxes; they just chatted with the guards for a bit and were let through, with a hat-wearing man there to meet them.”
“Hat-wearing…” My brow furrowed as I looked at the man before me. “Did the Sword of Kanli send someone to follow?”
“The deputy captain took some people after them. They’ll mark the rooftops with resin incense along the way. Follow me.”
With that, he leaped onto a nearby rooftop.
The war chariot began to move again.
The hawk-nosed man soared in the direction of the markings, with our chariot bumpily tailing behind as we zigzagged through the streets before finally stopping in a quiet, old alley.
Getting down from the chariot, I saw the figures on the rooftop signaling us. I didn’t greet Teresa. I took a few steps and jumped onto the rooftop using Moon Step, landing near the hawk-nosed man.
The mysterious speed of Moon Step visibly startled him, and he looked at me in shock. There were two others huddled nearby, both bearing the Sword of Kanli badge. One of them, a slender woman, seemed familiar, like I’d seen her at Victoria’s estate that night.
Seeing me, the woman broke into a smile, her beautiful face lighting up. “Hello, Miss Silvya.”
I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. I quickly squatted beside her and asked, “Where are they?”
The woman pointed towards a deep alley. “Over there.”
I followed her gaze.
The old alley twisted and turned, dark and narrow, with cobblestones all uneven. Some stones jutted out, and green grass peeked through the gaps, obviously long overdue for some maintenance. On either side of the alley were ancient houses, eerily desolate, as if few people lived there.
At the end of the alley, several wooden cargo carts were blocking the entrance of an old building, tightly sealing off the small path. Many plain-clothed people stood around, chatting idly. I roughly counted at least fifteen or sixteen of them. Most were men, but there were women too. I even spotted a woman with a baby in her arms, casually breastfeeding as if no one was watching.
This reminded me of those merchants who were burned at the stake in Winter City. I remembered Valar telling me before he died that most of those people… hadn’t even heard of the Gate of Truth.
At that time, he wouldn’t have lied to me.
I really needed to explain the situation to Teresa later.
“So, what about that hat-wearing man?”
“He went inside the building.”
“Any familiar faces?”
“None so far.”
“Tell the people on the opposite side not to act rashly; let’s see what they plan to do.”
As I listened to the brief conversation beside me, I quietly asked, “What does Victoria mean?”
“The Queen ordered us to track the Lotus Seed Grass’s whereabouts and see who ends up with it… she already has a suspect in mind.”
“Who is it?”
The woman gave me a curious look at my inquiry.
“Sorry, I can’t say.”
