I hesitated before moving towards the altar.

“Ugh……”

A half-split corpse was lying on the altar.

Barely suppressing the rising nausea, I started to push the corpse aside.

Swish…… Thud!

The sound of the corpse falling echoed heavily.

Suppressing my trembling legs from tension, I looked at the top of the altar.

The man in the memory definitely felt around this altar.

I bent down like the man did, and suddenly noticed something engraved on top of the altar.

Letters appeared as the blood spilled by the man filled the hollow grooves.

It was literally letters written in blood.

I slowly scanned the letters with hardened eyes.

‘It’s not the Imperial language.’

Unfamiliar letters.

I could recognize it right away.

“Ancient language……”

I slowly read it, tracing it with my fingertips.

“Here lies…… the meaning……”

[Here lies the meaning.

What the god desires is only one thing.

The complete resurrection of our god.]

“Complete resurrection……”

For a moment, it felt as if the blood in my body had frozen.

Feeling a chill down my spine, I turned around to check, and seeing nothing, I looked back at the altar.

‘The god…… must be referring to Egrid?’

If so, is the goal of Egrid’s followers the resurrection of Egrid?

But…….

‘Is that even possible?’

It doesn’t make sense from the start.

And yet, the resurrection of a god?

No believer would ever think of resurrecting a god.

Because a god is a perfect being just by existing. Isn’t death a prerequisite for resurrection?

The traces on the altar didn’t end there.

I looked at the place where the blood had pooled particularly deeply.

It was a deep hexagonal hole.

It looked as if it was made to insert something.

‘What on earth happened here……?’

Gulp, I swallowed and bent down.

And I felt around the bottom of the altar with my hand.

Sticky blood clung to my fingertips.

I wanted to withdraw my hand immediately due to the unpleasant feeling, but I inserted my arm even deeper.

‘Surely here……’

Click.

At that moment, I felt something press against my fingertip.

Simultaneously, with a rumbling sound, the wall where the altar was began to open.

I quickly withdrew my hand and looked at the opened wall. A narrow path just wide enough for one person to pass through had opened.

‘That’s it!’

I instinctively knew that this was where the man had escaped.

‘It seems to have been made as an emergency escape route.’

Thank goodness.

I immediately ran to Cardien.

“Your Grace, please hold on a little longer.”

We can escape now.

Thinking this, I put Cardien’s arm over my shoulder and tried to lift him up, but then I realized what I had overlooked.

“He, he’s heavy.”

That is, Cardien’s weight was beyond what I could carry.

From the start, it was a big mistake to think that I could carry Cardien, who was taller than most men, with a slim but large build, and in an unconscious state.

‘No, I didn’t know he’d be this heavy!’

“Nnngh!!”

I used all my strength, but I could barely lift him off the ground.

Moreover, my current condition wasn’t very good either.

I was in a state where it wouldn’t be strange if I collapsed at any moment.

Sure enough.

Drip, drip…….

Blood started dripping from my nose.

‘This is bad……’

After roughly wiping my nose with my sleeve, I looked at the opened wall with dismayed eyes.

What should I do?

Should I escape alone and ask for help?

‘I’m worried about leaving Cardien alone.’

Something might happen to him while I’m gone.

What if Egrid’s subordinates appear again?

While I was pondering alone, suddenly I heard what sounded like footsteps from beyond the wall.

Thud, thud…….

Being underground, those footsteps echoed clearly.

And they’re getting closer. They’re definitely coming this way.

‘Wh-what should I do?’

After floundering for a moment, I grabbed Cardien’s arm and dragged him behind the altar.

Just as we hid behind the altar, a black silhouette appeared from inside the wall.

“Hmm.”

Along with a man’s voice, a lamp illuminated the darkness.

At the same time, the silhouette’s appearance was clearly revealed.

An ordinary appearance in all-white attire.

‘……A priest.’

How is a priest here?

‘So the priests and Egrid were indeed connected?’

While I was thinking.

A voice echoed in the quiet interior.

“Ah, is it not here?”

A low, dignified voice.

He was looking around.

As his gaze briefly turned this way, I flinched and quickly ducked my head inward.

‘I don’t know what the situation is, but.’

The thought that we mustn’t be discovered rushed in strongly.

‘Please go away……’

As I was muttering inwardly, I heard the voice again.

“It should be here? Is anyone there?”

“……”

“Hmm.”

He made a sound as if deeply pondering something.

I quietly held my breath.

However, the next moment, I couldn’t hide my shock.

“Ah, I thought the ‘Butterfly of Fate’ flew this way, but was I mistaken?”

It was a random mutter, but I clearly understood its meaning.

Could it be…….

“……Mr. Lemon?”

As I carefully raised my head and spoke, the man’s head turned sharply in this direction.

Indeed, an unfamiliar face.

‘Was I too hasty?’

A worry suddenly arose, but the man was already striding towards me.

Eventually, the man who stood in front of me looked me over with unreadable eyes, then smiled gently and said.

“Ms. Livia, you’re safe. I’m glad. I was worried.”

The low, dignified voice suddenly changed to Lemon’s characteristic soft and light tone.

“……Is it really you, Mr. Lemon?”

“Ah, you can’t recognize me in this form, can you?”

He chuckled softly and put his hand under his chin.

Then.

Rip, riiiip.

His face…… is peeling off.

‘Wow……’

It’s grotesque.

The sight of his entire face peeling off was grotesque, but I couldn’t make such an expression to his face, so my expression awkwardly contorted.

As his face completely peeled off, a familiar countenance finally appeared.

Platinum blonde hair and lemon-colored eyes with a handsome appearance.

“Wow…… it really is you, Mr. Lemon. Were you disguised as a priest?”

It seems the unfamiliar voice from earlier was a modulated voice.

He nodded and answered with a gentle smile.

“It was the only way to sneak into the temple.”

I nodded my head in agreement.

Lemon, who couldn’t get an invitation, had no choice but to disguise himself as a priest to infiltrate the baptism ceremony.

‘They’d be too busy during the ceremony to notice who’s who anyway.’

They wouldn’t have thought that the master of the information guild would be hiding among them in disguise.

‘I expected it, but.’

Seeing his disguise skills in person made it even more impressive.

A cold smile formed on his lips as he slowly looked around.

“It seems quite a lot has happened to you too, Ms. Livia.”

His gaze fixed on the half-destroyed corpse of the man.

I spoke in a tired voice, not even feeling like smiling.

“Good timing. Mr. Lemon, could you help me?”

He stared at me intently and then said with a mischievous smile.

“If you want to use me, you’ll need to pay a proper price.”

“That-“

As I was about to speak about the price, he added first.

“But I do owe Ms. Livia a favor, so I’ll help you for free just this once.”

He winked playfully.

Is it just my imagination?

It seems like he’s glowing.

Feeling a surge of emotion, I led Lemon to where Cardien was.

“I need to move His Grace, but it was too much for me alone. Together……”

“Hup.”

I was about to ask for help supporting him, but Lemon wrapped Cardien’s arm around his shoulder and lifted him up.

“Ms. Livia, do you know what you look like right now?”

“What do I look like?”

“You look like if we supported him together, the number of people needing to be carried would increase to two, Ms. Livia.”

“Ah……”

I looked down at myself.

Only then did I notice my appearance, which had been invisible in the darkness.

‘……It’s a mess.’

The dress and shoes that Cardien had gifted me were all torn and covered in blood, in a tattered state.

‘I liked them.’

And with the nosebleed on top of that, my face must be a disaster too.

“This much is fine……”

I couldn’t continue speaking.

Lemon was already passing through the wall with Cardien on his back.

He glanced back at me and asked.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“……Let’s go together.”

Finally giving in, I hurriedly followed behind him.

“By the way, how did you find me?”

Lemon answered my question in a leisurely tone.

“You might not know, Ms. Livia, but I’ve been watching you since you entered.”

“……Me?”

Feeling somewhat creeped out, I asked again, and Lemon replied in a cheerful tone.

“Don’t misunderstand. The reason I was watching Ms. Livia is……”

He trailed off, then said with a grin.

“Because, knowingly or unknowingly, a lot of interesting things tend to happen around Ms. Livia.”

“……”

“And this time too, I saw quite a few interesting things.”

Lemon’s expression was meaningful as he said this.

“Anyway, when you suddenly disappeared, I was looking for you, and I saw a suspicious guy, so I followed him and found this place.”

“……What about that suspicious guy?”

“Sometimes, there are things better left unknown.”

He said that, but I had already seen it.

The bloodstain was briefly visible on the sleeve of Lemon’s priest robe.

……Let’s not ask about it.

“When I came inside, it looked like there had been a battle, so I thought maybe……”

“The reason you spoke in a roundabout way about the ‘Butterfly of Fate’ was……”

“If I misspoke and your identity was revealed, it wouldn’t be good for anyone.”

“……”

He’s thorough.

‘As expected of the head of the information guild.’

I inwardly exclaimed in admiration.

“By the way……”

His voice trailed off as the corners of his mouth turned up.