Chapter 181: Cathedral
To say that we were hurried would only paint a part of the whole picture. Even though I had quite a few drinks already, it seemed that along with the growth of my cultivation, the resistance that my body offered to alcohol or any other kind of drug grew exponentially. As such, despite drinking as quickly as Teria did, I was the only one capable of walking straight when we moved out.
"Are you really sure it"s okay for us to enter in such a state?" Throwing a question to Longinus who also showed the signs of being quite tipsy, I didn"t expect any rational answer. After all, whether the drinks we had were basing on alcohol or not, I could feel their kick nonetheless. "If that"s your idea of fulfilling your promise so that we won"t be able to find any fault with you later on…"
Leaving the end of my sentence open, I cast a suspicious glance at the high mercenary.
"Come on, do I really look that smart to you?" Leaning his head to the side and casting a ridiculing look at me, Longinus ignored my probing. "We were waiting, so we had something to drink. Outside of your winged partner…" Longinus took a moment to send a glance to the lifeless body of Teria hanging from my shoulder. Out of all three of us, only she ended up completely wasted. "Actually, it will be better if you just leave her behind."
As suspicious as this advice would sound in any other scenario, I would be a hypocrite if I even attempted to put such a notion down, given how the same thoughts wandered through my own head a moment ago.
"To be honest, that might actually be a good idea." Shaking my hand while fixing my hold over the girl"s side, I looked towards the cathedra now easily noticeable in the distance. "In the end, she"s here just to escort me although for different reasons than you might suspect." Smiling lightly to my own thoughts, I decided not to dig any further into this topic.
There was no need for Longinus to know the reason behind Teria"s presence with me, nor the real reason why I wanted to visit the cathedral. As long as he would bring me to the place that the prince back at the frontline suggested, I would be happy with his help and willing to leave the place peacefully.
"Wait, are you for real?" Hearing my response, Longinus suddenly froze in the spot, instantly turning his head to look at me. His eyes widened in shock only proved that his earlier suggestion was nothing more but a slight joke.
"Yeah. Given the importance of the cathedral for your people, I"m worried she could go on a rampage or something." Breathing out a deep sigh of exhaustion, I raised my head to the slowly darkening skies. "Our relationship is… strange. But that means you will need to leave someone with her to pa.s.s my words to her. If she misunderstands and believes I actually ran away, this entire city would be in for a disaster."
Rather than biting the problem of leaving the barely conscious girl in the hands of a potentially hostile party, I decided to do it the other way around. Rather than threatening Longinus to make sure he would keep Teria safe, I decided to explain how not doing everything in their power to please the girl would mean a disaster to them instead.
"That can be done. But no matter what, I"m not going to even attempt stopping her if she suddenly wakes up and demands to be brought to you." Silently accepting that he wouldn"t understand just what kind of ties connected me to this drunk girl hanging off from my arm, Longinus just glossed over the topic before turning silent himself.
All the way to the cathedral which took us nearly an hour due to the dead weight slowing me down, not a single word appeared between the three of us. Yet, despite all my worries, no trouble appeared when we finally reached the place.
The first instance when I expected something to go south, was right at the gate. But before its guards could even ask a single question, Longinus already strode forward, dealing with them with just a few words.
The second time when things got a little tenser, was when we pa.s.sed through the ma.s.sive courtyard and reached the gate leading to the cathedral proper. Here, not even Longinus" attentiveness prevented the guards from screening the situation.
"So you are telling me, you are here just to check something out?" Looking at me with a clear doubt mixed with ridicule, the guard ignored everything that Longinus said in advance.
"Yes. And on that note, it would be extremely helpful if you could take care of this girl while I"m inside." Using all my remaining power to move the girl from my arm to a small bench nearby, after securing her on it I moved back to the guards. "She came here in order to retrieve an item that"s in my possession. But I still need to see whether my master"s guess was right or not before giving it to her."
Only this story which happened to be a rare piece of truth in my mouth managed to push us through the second check. As we moved inside the ma.s.sive building, I thought no more problems would appear, when my vision suddenly turned reddish, as a familiar alarm exploded in my head.
"Who are you?!" I managed to make just a few steps into the cathedra when a strong, female voice reached my ears. Given how I could feel how close I was to a potential fulfillment of my quest, I accidentally rushed forward, leaving Longinus still on the other side of the inner gate.
"Ah, I"m sorry, my guide is right behind…" Before I could even finish my words, the slight redness of my vision turned vivid as I noticed a peculiar point of light deeper into the cathedral corridor. And this single point of light quickly exploded towards me.
//ALERT
The attack was so fast that even the system failed to react.
"Stop!" Rushing forward, Longinus pulled me to the back, shielding me from the incoming attack. At the same time, the redness intensity of my vision only continued to grow to the point where I could no longer control my body.
"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?!" The light dispersed as quickly as it appeared a moment before. Diminishing before it could strike Longinus chest protected just by a simple, linen shirt, the caster of the attack diffused its intent, stopping the deadly ray of light before it could penetrate Longinus" chest.
"What the h.e.l.l am I doing? A better question is, what the h.e.l.l are you doing attacking this honorary quest of the republic?!" Hearing Longinus words, I finally felt power returning to the tips of my fingers. For a moment, my entire body was paralyzed. Or rather, it felt as if something else took over my body, lowering my center of weight in an attempt to brace, only to give up on the idea the very next moment.
And that alone was something worth investigating. Sadly, in the middle of the cathedra, there was no way I would have enough peaceful time to just think about this strange event.
"An honorary guest to the republic? Didn"t we set out to kill those two… Wait, where is the girl?!" Suddenly turning her tone from surprised to clearly hostile, the girl"s silhouette in the distance diapered in the shadows once again.
"Eh, and here I am, trying to deal with this matter peacefully." Shaking my head in defeat, I pulled out the recurring barrier stone. More for the sake of my own safety and to threaten the other party, I tightened my jaws.
Because using this stone in the confines of the cathedral would surely lead to its full collapse!
"What the h.e.l.l…" A new, yet familiar voice came from behind. Before the hostility between this strange girl hiding in the shadows and my side could begin, Teria pa.s.sed by the doors while struggling to keep herself straight.
"Oh, that will do for a perfect explanation." Suddenly changing the topic, I gestured at the girl to come closer. Still ready to fire the recurring barrier as soon as I would deem it necessary, I grabbed Teria"s arm before looking in the direction when the voice of the other female came from.
"I a.s.sume you are familiar with the power of the winged tribe, am I right?" Dropping this question to the empty corridor, I didn"t expect to receive an answer. Now that the girl clearly showed her hostile intentions, she shouldn"t be stupid enough to betray her position by speaking out loud.
"Before you attack me then, let me show you something. Teria…" Turning my head to the side, I smiled before reaching with my left arm to the back only to bring it cascading forward, slapping Teria with all the physical might I could harness in my left arm.
"What the he… WOAH!" Instantly jumping to the back, Teria"s shock changed into terror in an instant. With my recurring barrier stone right in front of her eyes, all her drunkness from before evaporated from her blood, replaced by adrenaline.
"That should showcase just how powerful this single stone is, didn"t it?" Quickly lowering my hand, I could see how Teria only now could attempt to stabilize her breathing. Even though I knew I would hear an earful from her later on, it was still better than turning this relatively peaceful mission into a full-blown conflict.
"It is." Confirming the situation and stepping out from the shadows, a tiny girl suddenly appeared barely a few meters away. With a sharp dagger in her hand reflecting the flickering light of the chandeliers hanging from the roof, she didn"t appear to be scared of Teria"s appearance at all. Rather than that, her eyes were glued to my hand where I held the recurring stone. "But that doesn"t answer the question. What the h.e.l.l are you doing in here?"
Given how the initial hostility was momentarily on hold, I decided to strike the iron while it was hot.
"Not to cause any trouble, that you can be sure off. In short words, I"m here either to deliver something or to at least ensure this is not the place where I should deliver a certain item in the first place." Once again, a rare moment of honesty happened. Not because I felt pressured to speak the truth, but simply because I believed the truth, in this exact situation, allowed me to further deescalate the potentially problematic situation.
"And for that, I need to check the main altar of the cathedral." Putting a smile on my face out of nowhere, I lowered my head a bit before scratching its back with my right freehand. "To be frank, I have no idea what did you turn this altar into, so I have no other choice but to rely on your help to find it."
As suddenly as it appeared, my smile vanished from my lips, replaced by dead and cold seriousness.
"That, or I will have no other choice but to try every single stone of the ruins that will remain of this place if you decide to hinder my mission."