Chapter 156 – Rolling in By the Vine (3)

'Does the Condemnation of the Sun actually exist?'

That was the crazy priestess Cage's response. She seemed to be shocked.
That made Cale realize something.

'It is not an ordinary item.'

Jack started to speak as if he knew what Cale was thinking about.

'It is a divine item.' (I changed god's item to divine item. Chapters 51 and 52 have been updated. )

A divine item.
An item gifted by the god.
The thief that was the owner of the Sound of the Wind ancient power had died while running away with a divine item.
That was how precious they were. The reason that the secret organization Arm was able to kill the strong Blue Wolf tribe was because they had a divine item.

That was why Cale was excited as he asked.

'Where is the Condemnation of the Sun located? I will retrieve it.'

However, Jack shook his head with a bitter expression.

'I do not know.'

Jack had only heard about the existence of divine items while being taught by the pope the ways of a Saint. After that, the pope responded to Jack's questions of, 'Are there divine items?' with, 'Divine items? Something like that does not exist.'

The fake Holy Maiden, Hannah, who had been quietly listening to Jack, let out a scoff.

'The Pope said that it does not exist. That means that it is definitely somewhere. That greedy old man probably hid it somewhere safe.'

Jack said something interesting at that moment.

'However, the Pope would not have been able to use the divine item even if he knew where it was located.'
'Why is that?'
'The Popes have not directly been appointed by the Sun God since the Pope from about 500 years ago. The rest since then were all selected in a meeting by the church's leaders.'

Hannah put on another smirk.

'Meeting of leaders my ass. It was more of an ugly fight for power.'

Cale listened to the crazy priestess, the Saint, and the fake Holy Maiden chat for a while before asking Jack a question.

'What kind of divine item is the Condemnation of the Sun?'

Cale set a goal for this trip after hearing Jack's response.

He decided to steal it if he got lucky enough to find it.

'But I don't really have a way to find it.'

There was no way Cale would know the location when neither the Saint nor the Holy Maiden knew about it. That was why he added the part about luck.

Tap.
Cale turned his head toward the hand on his shoulder.
"Let's go in."

It was the crown prince.
Cale, the rest of the Roan Kingdom's investigation team, and the Empire's administrators all responded to Alberu.

Cale, Choi Han, Eruhaben, and the Vice Captain all followed behind Alberu as they headed into the Vatican.

There was still evidence of the explosion in the plaza outside the Vatican.
Part of the Vatican itself was still destroyed from the magic bomb as well.

There was a barricade along the site of the incident along with a large group of people gathered in the plaza just outside the barricade.

"Catch those terrible twins who destroyed the Church and killed our citizens!"
"The Church of the Sun God is disbanded! A church that seeks power is no longer a church!"

Many different voices could be heard.

"Catch and kill those devils who killed the Pope-nim!"
"The Empire does not need the Sun God! The Church of the Sun God that kills people, be gone!"

The Empire had revealed many things about the Church of the Sun God that they had discovered during their terror investigation. As a result, the Vatican was empty because the priests, as well as anybody else that was involved with the Vatican, were all currently under investigation.

'The Empire is quite an interesting place.'

Cale could tell that the Empire's royal family was letting these people do this on purpose. There were bound to be moles from the crown among those people as well.

However, Cale did not care about it.

-Human, human! Let's find a lot of treasures!

Cale slightly nodded his head at Raon's voice.
He then lifted his head up.

He could see the Alchemists' Bell Tower which was visible from all locations within the Empire.
He could see the tall tower that looked as if it could stab the sun.

In contrast, the Vatican was quiet and destroyed.

'Ah, so thrilling.'

That was what the fake Holy Maiden, Hannah, had said.

'I told Arm about the secret room. It is a location that only the Pope and the leaders know about. A lot of the Vatican's treasures are located there.'
'However, I did not tell them about the secret table inside of the secret room.'
'That is the path to the real treasure.'

Cale was more serious than ever before.
The path to the treasure. He needed to be focused. Cale had already chatted about things with Alberu.

'Cale Henituse. Let's proceed with the plan on the last day of the investigation.'
'Is it because the celebration is the next day?'
'Yes. We will swipe it when the Empire is busy with the preparations.'
'Sounds great. Then I guess I need to act like a dedicated investigator until then.'

Cale's solemn expression as he finished recalling the conversation made the Empire's investigation squad members stiffen up.

Rustle.
Cale stepped on some rocks that had fallen off the broken buildings as he slowly entered the Vatican.

"Do we just need to investigate as we want?"

The Empire's administrator lightly nodded his head at Alberu's question.

"Yes sir. However, we ask that you let us know of the location in advance and have one of us with you at all times."
"Hmm, is that so? Whatever. We'll do as you have asked."

The administrator let out a sigh of relief after seeing Alberu not getting upset. Alberu divided up the investigation squad and gave some orders.

"These five people including myself will investigate the central building."

The central building. The eastern Annex. The western administrative offices. Alberu distributed the team and pointed to the last building as he looked toward Cale.

"Young master Cale Henituse, you and inspector Ben will investigate the rear garden and the tower with the spire behind it.

Cale and Ben made eye contact.
Ben was one of Alberu's secretaries who had been named as an inspector based on his investigation abilities. He was, naturally, a disguised Dark Elf.

Cale started to speak.

"I do not need any other guards as I have three of my knights with me, your highness."

Alberu nodded his head as if that was not an issue.

"Do as you like. You, Ben, and an administrator from the Empire. Three knights should be fine for the three of you."

Alberu gave the order for all of them to start moving.
Cale put Ben in front of him and slowly headed to the garden.

'There is nothing in the garden.'

The fake Holy Maiden, Hannah, had said that there was nothing of value in the garden.
Cale could see the Empire's administrator smiling awkwardly as soon as they entered the garden.

"…Mm, it is pretty ugly isn't it?"

The administrator could see the flowers that were trampled. There were also blood stains, making it look more like a battlefield rather than a garden. The administrator could not help but smile awkwardly to show them such a terrible sight.

"Not at all."

Cale started to speak to the administrator.

"It just makes me sad to think about that terrible moment."
"Ah."

The administrator recalled that this young master in front of him was the one who put himself in harm's way in order to defend his kingdom. He leaned his ear toward the just noble's words.

"I pray that we can find the perpetrators in order to console the souls of the dead as well as the hearts of those they left behind."
"…Those are very touching words."

Cale acted like a just noble as he walked through the garden. He could see the tower behind the garden. There was a very small window at the top of it.

The administrator started to speak once he noticed that Cale's gaze was on the tower.

"It is said that there was a heretic when the Vatican was created hundreds of years ago. They supposedly locked the heretic up at the top of the tower."

Cale had heard this from Jack as well.

"It is a building with a staircase leading up to the top and nothing else. It is a pretty useless building. It has not been used for a couple hundred years."

That was what Hannah had said as well.

'…But what is going on?'

Boom! Boom!
His heart was beating wildly.

It had started from the moment he looked at the tower. Cale kept his gaze on the tower as he started to speak.

"Ben, let us split up and look. I will go toward the tower."
"Yes sir. I understand."

The Empire's administrator retreated to the entrance of the garden and started to speak.

"Please take your time. I will be right here."

It meant that he would be watching them.

Cale did not say anything as he started to walk toward the tower.

"What is going on, Cale-nim?"

Choi Han was following behind Cale.
Hilsman was with Ben while Eruhaben was with the Empire's administrator.

Cale casually responded to Choi Han's question.

"Nothing, my heart is just beating."

'Heart?'
Choi Han seemed to be confused.
It was at that moment.

It was as Cale got closer to the tower.
The moment that he could see the only door into this 15-story tower that looked cold and cruel.

Choi Han saw it.

"Cale-nim, in your hand-"

He could not say the rest as he looked around. He then quickly moved to Cale's side in order to block the view of the Empire's administrator.

Choi Han then pointed to Cale's right hand.

Swooooooosh-

A small gust of wind was forming on Cale's right hand.

"Ha, haha-"

A low laughter echoed in the area. The quiet laughter was filled with both admiration and shock.
It was Cale. Cale could not prevent himself from laughing.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
His heart was beating wildly.

His feet felt lighter as well.

It was the Sound of the Wind.
The Sound of the Wind was roaring in his mind more than ever before. Cale recalled the information about the former owner of this power.
The greatest thief who had stolen a divine item.
She was as bold as she was fast.

Swooooooosh-

The gust of wind on his hand kept wanting to fly toward the tower.

– Human, what is going on? Why are you causing the wind? Are you trying to destroy the tower with the whirlwind?

Raon's serious voice echoed in his mind.

– Don't do that! I saw your hands shaking last time! The great and mighty Raon Miru can easily destroy a tower like that if you want! I can destroy the palace as well!

Cale quietly responded back.

"We can't destroy it."
"Excuse me?"

– … You are not going to destroy it?

Choi Han asked with confusion while Raon responded with an oddly disappointed tone.
Cale brushed his face with his left hand.

He recalled the information Jack and Hannah had told him about the tower.

'Although they call her a heretic, the leaders get to know the truth. The woman who was imprisoned in the tower was the last real Holy Maiden.'
'You're right. She supposedly tried to reveal the church's wrongdoings, but she failed and ended up having to live the terrible life of being imprisoned in the tower forever.'
'The Pope tried to brainwash us from an early age that acting like that Holy Maiden would only lead to a pitiful life.'

The tower where the last real Holy Maiden lived.
She had looked down at the church from the small window at the top of the tallest tower in the Vatican.

Cale remembered the question he had asked Jack, as well as Jack's response.

'What kind of divine item is the Condemnation of the Sun?'

Jack had an awkward smile as he responded back.

'It is the Sun's judgment. Although it is hard to believe…'

He shook his head as he continued to speak.

'It is supposed to prevent the night. A white night. It is said to bring forth a bright night.'

The Condemnation of the Sun.
An item that destroys the darkness.
It was a divine item that only the Church of the Sun God could own.

Cale looked toward the tower again.

It is here.
The thief who owned the Sound of the Wind was quietly reaching out to him.

It is here.
The divine item is here.

Cale started to speak.

"Choi Han."
"Yes sir."
"We will secretly leave the palace tonight."
"•••Excuse me?"

Cale didn't even look toward the shocked Choi Han as he started to speak to Raon.

"Raon."
-What is it, Human?
"Show the assassin in my room some illusions tonight. Make him think that I am peacefully sleeping in the room."
– He is pretty strong, so I will need to create a magic circle with a magic stone.
"Use it."

Cale didn't care.
Why would he care about a magic stone when they were going to find a divine item?

Cale started to speak.

"Tonight. We will loot this tower tonight."

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Yu Ryeo Han]

[Translator – Anowa]

[Proofreader – Rai_Mayank]