Merula attempted to decipher the oracle, but not only were the characters not the ones in common use for official purposes across the continent, they were so different from any of the writing systems of any country Merula had encountered in her travels that she couldn’t read them.
Merula was a little disappointed, but she quickly changed gears.
No matter what, I got an oracle to come down. The next issue is whether the Lunarian Orthodox pope and his people can read this…
When Merula was thinking that, she suddenly heard footsteps from a number of people approaching. Those footsteps were rough, and she could tell they were running.
Oh, shoot… They noticed my infiltration because I touched the Lunalith?! Merula hurriedly used her ability to vanish and moved up against the wall.
Right after she did, six heavily armed men stormed into the room. These men, whose shields bore the emblem of Lunarian Orthodoxy, were members of the Orthodox Papal State’s elite unit, the Order of Holy Knights.
The man who seemed to be their leader looked around the room. “…I can still sense their presence here. They’re hiding somewhere! Two of you, cover the door! The rest of us will search the room!”
This is bad!
Their leader had detected Merula. On top of that, once the entrance was shut tight, it would only be a matter of time before she was caught.
Having come to that conclusion, Merula took off at a run. Before it closed, she managed to push one of the holy knights aside and get out through the door.
“Ah! They got away! Throw towards the exit!” the leader shouted.
“Yes, sir!”
Under the directions of the leader, one of the holy knights who had been watching the door pulled out the dagger stored in the back of his shield and threw it towards Merula.
“Guh…”
She was unable to dodge, partly because the corridor was so narrow, and so the holy knight’s dagger stabbed into Merula’s shoulder. The pain broke her concentration, causing Merula to turn visible.
When the holy knights saw her, they shouted out in surprise. “An elf?! Stop!”
“L–Like anyone would…” Merula made herself disappear with magic again and fled.
Because of her injury, she left a trail of blood, and though the chase dragged on for a long time, eventually she was able to shake her pursuers by diving into the small river that surrounded the main church.
However, because she got into the water while bleeding, she started to lose blood faster, and Merula lost consciousness as she drifted down the stream.
“So, when I found her washed up downstream like some ragged piece of cloth, I picked her up and took her under my protection,” Souji finished. “I’ve been hiding her ever since.”
“…Murgh.” Merula was hitting Souji in the back. It seemed she wasn’t happy about it, but the truth was that he had saved her, so she couldn’t say anything.
Inugami tilted his head to the side. “You are supposed to be a Lunarian Orthodox bishop, are you not? I find it surprising that you decided to help her.”
“I just thought she was a random passed out person at the time, you see. I was surprised a few days after I saved her when there were likenesses of her posted up in town, and she was wanted as a ‘witch,’ though.”
“Yet you still didn’t turn her in to the church?”
“…Well, having already helped her, I couldn’t change my mind and turn her in so easily.” With that said, Souji took a sip from his glass. “I mean, they say she brought down an oracle with the Lunalith. In Lunarian Orthodoxy, we learn that only the pope and a select few can bring down oracles. If word that a heathen high elf was able to bring one down spread, it would be a massive blow to the church. They’d stop being so special, after all. The loss of the church’s authority would mean a reduction in centralizing force in this country. That was why they named Merula a witch and were so desperate to find her. In order to make her disappear.”
“I see…” Inugami said.
“…I’m grateful to Souji.” Though Merula had acted annoyed by him before, this time she spoke sincerely. “I’m grateful to him for protecting a fugitive like me, and for healing my wounds. Also, I can’t thank him enough for sheltering me when I had nowhere to go.”
“Oh, hey,” Souji put in. “You’re being awfully meek now.”
“It’s how I truly feel. I want to do something to repay you, too. That’s why, while you’re sheltering me here, I took it upon myself to do all the housework for you. But!” Merula rose from her seat, pointing a finger at Souji. “You are far too messy! If you would clean up after yourself a little better, you wouldn’t spend so much time searching for things!”
“You say that, but you’re not much better yourself.” Souji stood up, unyielding, and looked down at Merula as he spoke. “I let you look after the house for a bit, and the next thing I know, my wine cellar’s been turned into some wacky experiment site. I’m telling you, you can’t just remodel a house without the owner’s permission.”
“I’m a researcher, so it had to be done. I paid for the materials out of my own pocket, so what’s the problem?”
“You mean the money you got from making me sell off accessories that you said you’d brought with you from your homeland? It was really hard making sure those wouldn’t be traced back to us. Honestly.” Maybe Souji had just remembered all of the hassle involved, because he started scratching the back of his head.
Which of them was really the guardian here…? It was hard to tell the balance of power between this couple.
Souji said, “Honestly now…” and sat down in his seat with a bang. “As you can see, I can’t go to the kingdom until I figure out what I’m gonna do about her.”
“Huh, wait?! What’s this about going to the kingdom?!”
Inugami explained to Merula about how they wanted to invite Souji to become the Kingdom of Friedonia’s bishop as a countermeasure against the Orthodox Papal State.
Hearing that explanation, Merula thought for a moment, and then nodded as if she had come to a decision. She turned to Souji and said, “What a perfect opportunity. I want to go to the Kingdom of Friedonia, too.”
“Oh, come on, are you sure? You really want to decide on it that easily?”
“If you leave, I’ll have nowhere to stay in this country,” said Merula. “That being the case, I want to leave for the kingdom with you while I’m still safe. I’ve already investigated most of what I can in this country, so I’d say now isn’t a bad time to take my research to a new frontier.”
With that said, Merula looked him straight in the eye.
“What do you say, Mr. Inugami? Do you think the king you serve would take in a woman who’s wanted as a ‘witch’ by the Orthodox Papal State?”
If, by some chance, the Orthodox Papal State managed to discover she was in the kingdom, it might lead to thorny diplomatic issues. Merula was asking if he would accept her with full knowledge of that risk.
If she were turned over to the Orthodox Papal State later, her life would be forfeit. If she couldn’t get a promise that that wouldn’t happen, she couldn’t go to the kingdom.
Inugami understood how serious she was, so he carefully considered the question before answering. “…Well, let’s see. His Majesty is always saying, ‘If they have a gift, I will put it to use.’ I am sure he would give a warm welcome to someone who has as broad a base of knowledge as you.”