Chapter 13.2

Before she knew it, Brienne was up on the wall, looking back in surprise at the place she’d come from.  

She was about to pull up the rope and lower it to the other side.  

“……But.”  

At that moment, Herace hugged Brienne tightly.  

“It’s strangely quiet around here, isn’t it?”  

Now that she thought about it, the voices of the knights who’d seemed about to break down the door, and the sounds of others searching for them, were nowhere to be heard.  

‘Could it be…’  

Brienne, suddenly feeling a chill, slowly looked down over the wall.  

A cold air that could stop her breath wrapped around her entire body.  

“Found you.”  

A woman met her gaze and smiled sweetly.  

Light golden hair, clear pale green eyes.  

Riela, standing among the Holy Knights surrounding the wall, smiled with her own face.  

The real Riela smiled.  

With Arthur, who had Kaiden’s face, affectionately linking arms with her.  

“Caught you, Witch.”  

She whispered in a sweet voice.  

Riela and Arthur.  

And the white-armored knights who followed them.  

There were easily more than a dozen knights surrounding the wall, even by a rough count.  

They were even aiming their swords at the top of the wall, as if ready to strike at any moment.  

“……What should we do?”  

Brienne swallowed hard and clung to Herace’s collar.  

They’d managed to buy time and escape before, but now there really seemed to be nowhere left to run.  

“Should we go back down?”  

Brienne looked around anxiously at the gleaming blades.  

But Herace turned around and pulled Brienne even closer.  

“No, going back down won’t help, either.”  

The way forward was blocked, and there were knights on the path they’d come from.  

It was truly a dilemma.  

Herace carefully pulled up the rope that was hooked on the wall. He did so in case the knights broke down the door and tried to climb up the rope after them.  

But at that moment, Herace realized something was off.  

‘……Even if I can’t use magic, how could I not sense even this much?’  

He was even starting to accept it as normal.  

Herace frowned.  

The reason he could confidently protect Brienne was that, even with his mana circuits closed, he could trust his body’s instinctive senses.  

But as the vision went on, he was returning more and more to being an ordinary person.  

As if it was before he’d learned magic.  

Was Demekia’s power growing stronger?  

Now, he felt uneasy that if they didn’t hurry and get out, something really might happen.  

At that moment, Riela stepped closer to the wall.  

“Hand over the temple key right now. The key you stole.”  

Riela reached for the top of the wall. It was far too high to reach, but Brienne flinched and held her breath.

Because Riela’s face, seen up close, was so identical to hers that it sent chills down her spine.  

Moreover—  

Her gait, voice, way of speaking, and expressions—  

Not a single thing was different from herself.  

Arthur, standing next to her, was just as perfectly identical to Kaiden.  

Brienne unconsciously furrowed her brow.  

Unlike earlier, when Arthur had helped Brienne, this time he said nothing.  

He simply looked up at the wall with slightly narrowed eyes.  

‘Did he help me before because he really mistook me for the real Riela?’  

Considering that he’d helped the witch in front of everyone and was now calmly standing beside Riela, maybe that was the case.  

Brienne stared straight at Arthur, who wore Kaiden’s face. In those deep blue eyes, there was a clear emotion that she had never found in Kaiden.  

Realizing this, she thought again that someone who showed their emotions so openly could never be Kaiden.  

Yes, it couldn’t be—  

‘Why do I keep doubting?’  

Was it because Arthur’s gaze, which didn’t avoid hers, wasn’t hostile? Or was it that his expression was closer to confusion, anguish, and sorrow?  

It was strange, indeed.  

Brienne unconsciously clung tightly to Herace’s collar. Herace’s arms around her tightened as well.  

“What will you do?”  

“Ah.”  

She’d asked for the key.  

Brienne finally turned her gaze back to Riela.  

Judging by the situation, it really was time to hand over the key bundle.  

“……It’s best to give it up, right?”  

“That seems wise.”  

At Herace’s reply, Brienne nodded and took the key bundle from her bag.  

Except for the one key they had set aside earlier.  

“Take it.”  

Clink. The key bundle fell to the ground below the wall. In an instant, the knights passed it back to Sally, who was standing at the very rear of the group.  

The way the keys went to Sally instead of Riela made Brienne curious again.  

‘Why does it look like they’re protecting Sally instead of Riela?’  

As Brienne puzzled over it, Riela spoke.  

“But how did you imitate me so perfectly? I’ve never seen a witch with such skill.”  

Her pale green eyes sparkled with curiosity—an almost pure evil gaze.  

“It’s creepy. What were you trying to do by mimicking me?”  

But that was exactly what Brienne wanted to ask Demekia.  

She’d been trapped in a vision, told to solve her original sin, but why was the real Riela left behind?  

As Brienne’s eyes trembled faintly, Riela burst out laughing smoothly.  

“So, you were aiming for Arthur, just like before? Showing up as me on the day Arthur and I are to be wed—how obvious. Witch, then tell the truth. Thanks to you, Arthur is in trouble.”  

Riela’s tone was fairly gentle, but Brienne was truly starting to feel irritated at being called a witch.  

“……I have nothing to say. I’m not a witch. And I think you’re mistaken.”  

Brienne sighed, glancing at Arthur, who stared at her intently.  

“I don’t care about Arthur or anything else. I didn’t imitate you. Rather, you’re the fakes moving around in this vision.”  

“……What?”  

She knew perfectly well that no one would understand her words.  

She was just too frustrated to hold it in.  

A brief silence followed Brienne’s absurd statement, and soon, someone’s snicker triggered laughter as people started mocking her.  

Sally waved her hand, pushing Riela aside.  

“Lady Riela, if you can’t even interrogate one witch, what are you doing? Knights, drag down that witch immediately. And the one beside her, too.”  

“Yes.”  

At Sally’s voice, the knights tensed and pressed close to the wall. It seemed they were preparing to climb up.  

“We’ll run along the wall.”  

Herace, quicker to grasp the situation, stood up with Brienne in his arms.  

“What? On top of the wall?”  

“When we first entered this vision, I saw a mountain behind the temple. I don’t know how far this wall stretches, but let’s aim to reach that place.”  

And, as soon as Herace finished speaking, he began to run along the tall wall.  

“Catch them! Kill them both if you must—don’t let them escape this time!”  

At Sally’s command, the knights quickly chased after them.  

The wall grew higher and narrower.  

At such a dizzying height, where one wrong step could mean death, Brienne caught her breath.  

The red sun was setting in the sky.  

“……Herace, let me open my bag for a moment!”  

Brienne hurriedly rummaged through her bag, found the glass model she had prepared earlier, and clutched it in her hand. Then, she threw it at the knights following below.  

“Ugh!”  

A knight hit on the head by the glass model collapsed to the ground. But the other knights didn’t hesitate.  

“Sally’s orders! We must catch them!”  

One knight was already climbing the wall, hot on their heels.  

So, even Brienne, who felt guilty about hurting others, had no choice but to fight desperately.  

“……Please!”  

‘Just leave us alone.’  

But she hadn’t packed many glass models, and soon she ran out. Brienne looked around in panic.  

To make matters worse, now even the villagers beyond the wall were running over and throwing stones at them.  

“Kill the witch!”  

“How dare you imitate Lady Riela on this sacred day!”  

“Kill that monstrous thing!”  

Angry voices rang in her ears. Amid the chaos, Herace blocked the flying stones with his forearm to protect Brienne.  

“Herace, don’t! You’ll get hurt…”  

“It’s fine if I get hurt.”  

Herace hugged Brienne tightly and gave a small laugh.  

“There’s never been a moment I was happier to truly help you.”  

Herace smiled as if he really was happy to take the injury himself.  

But he didn’t realize there were things he couldn’t block with just his body.  

“Save this evil witch and foolish servant with the light of Demekia!”  

With someone’s loud shout, a strong wind blew from afar.  

White light, like lightning, struck down from the red sunset sky.  

Holy power.  

As the mysterious light spread from Sally’s hand, everyone stopped and looked up at the sky.  

Their gazes soon shifted to Sally, the priest and follower of Demekia, who wielded the white light.  

“It’s a miraculous light…!”  

“Demekia is angry.”  

“All because of that witch!”  

But their faces turned fearful, as if they’d witnessed something forbidden, and they began to back away.  

At the same time, Herace stopped running.  

Brienne looked at him desperately.  

“He, Herace. What’s wrong?”  

Just moments ago, Herace had been smiling, but now his face was cold and stiff.  

“……I’m sorry, Brienne. My legs won’t move.”  

He whispered in defeat.  

“It’s Demekia’s power.”