Chapter 285: Tough Guys (7)

The siege equipment brought up from the capital city were things I had only heard of by name but had never actually seen before. Items like catapults and battering rams decorated with goat heads were emitting a bloody momentum as they held a military parade in the open space in front of the barracks. I touched the smooth head of the battering ram in admiration.

"It is terrifying."

"They are siege weapons provided by the Northern Region. This battering ram here is a new one made in the Northern Region this time, and it is named Nancy."

"Nancy?"

It was a name I had heard a lot, but where did I hear it? For some reason, it felt like my head would hurt if I remembered it, so I decided to forget about it. Next to the siege weapons were knights preparing themselves while sharpening their swords. Since Karin had to return to the capital city with the arrival of the siege weapons, she was packing her luggage. She spoke to me with a face clearly showing signs of regret.

"I should also be of help to Sir Priest and Sir Hero, but I apologize. My post is holding me back."

"It's fine, Karin. You have been a great help."

"Thank you for saying so."

After saying that, Karin bowed her head in greeting. I looked around my surroundings once more. With a full-scale war ahead, the atmosphere of the barracks was entirely on edge. The knights scanned all directions with sharp eyes, and the soldiers forced jokes with only the corners of their mouths raised on their stiff faces.

Eve was swinging her sword in the air to get a feel for it, and AA was lightly doing gymnastics to warm up her body. Elsi, without any sign of tension, was nodding off while leaning against the fence. I looked at Karin. She bit her lip and contorted her eyes as if she couldn't bring herself to leave the barracks right before the war. It was now time for me to throw a joke.

"What will you do when you return?"

"First, I suppose I should take my dogs for a walk. I am worried they might have forgotten my face since we haven't seen each other for months."

"You have dogs?"

"Yes. I am raising about four of them."

Why was the image of Karin dragging around furry misters on leashes popping up in my mind? They were definitely just dogs. I continued speaking to erase the prejudice rising in my head.

"They must be cute dogs. I would like to see them sometime. I also liked dogs when I was young."

This was not a lie. I really did like dogs when I was young. I just couldn't raise one because of my family matters, but I always wanted to have a dog.

"Well... if the opportunity arises later, I think it would be fine... for you to come see them."

Karin slightly blushed at my words and twirled her hair with her fingers as she said that. I nodded my head and spoke.

"Thank you for the invitation, Karin. After this is over, if there is time, I will definitely come visit. By the way, what kind of dogs do you raise? A Tosa?"

"...I do not understand why everyone thinks of Tosas when I say I raise dogs. I am just raising ordinary, cute dogs."

Karin seemed a little offended when I asked if they were Tosas. However, I couldn't possibly imagine her raising small dogs like Yorkshire Terriers or Chihuahuas. I thought she would raise Dobermans or Pit Bulls and use them for the execution of criminals.

The assembly horn sounded. It meant it was now time for us to part ways. It was time for AA and I to head to the Church of Love, and for Karin to split off toward the capital city. I reached my hand out slightly and spoke.

"Then, I will come see the dogs later."

Karin hesitated for a moment before reaching out to me. I grabbed her hand firmly and shook it. Karin smiled and spoke.

"Please make sure to come see the dogs."

"Are you afraid I might die?"

"People who inspire me as much as Sir Priest are rare, so I am very worried."

So I was that kind of person. I smiled at her words and nodded my head for her.

"I will definitely go meet you."

She smiled brightly at my words and nodded her head. After finishing our farewells and returning, AA asked me.

"Shall we go, then?"

The legion was already advancing far ahead of us. Since we were the rear infiltration team, we needed to maintain a distance from them and follow behind. While the soldiers trembled with a sense of fear regarding the fortress gate, we looked at the map from a slight distance away and checked our infiltration route one more time.

"I heard the Temple of Love isn't a newly built building, but a modified fortress that was originally located at the edge of the Northeastern Region. So, records of the secret passages in the fortress remained in the kingdom, and after having scouts check them, they said the passages were still functioning properly."

"To think they didn't know there were secret passages; they are more sloppy than I thought."

"That is because a secret passage is hard to know about unless you are the one who made it."

According to the markings on the map, the entrances to the secret passages were located a short distance away from the fortress. AA added an explanation.

"It seems to be a place made for nobles or the leadership to escape. Personally, I think it would be convenient if we ran into that bishop on our way in..."

It seemed she also unexpectedly preferred an easy development. I nodded at her words. It would be even better if the woman next to Cutlass wasn't Evangeline but just some cosplay whore, and it would be absolutely perfect if Cutlass was just an idiot with high stats who couldn't actually fight.

"Groom. You're trying to have it too easy."

"Easy is good. Fuck, I'd love it if we got to that entrance and Cutlass was just sprawled on the floor panting."

"Cleric. Such a thing will not happen."

Eve and Elsi scolded me. Seeing that even my wives weren't humoring me, it seemed I really was trying to have it too easy.

"Looking at the map, it's here."

Above the entrance to the secret passage was a small cabin. It was a cabin built so suspiciously in such an isolated location, I wondered why Cutlass hadn't found the secret passage until now. If there was a house like this near his fortress, wouldn't it be worth sending someone to check at least once?

When we opened the door, dusty air was visible through the cracks of the windows where light seeped in. There were no traces of anyone having lived inside the cabin. There was only a crumbling bed and a carpet that was practically a lump of dust. When AA lifted the carpet, a square secret door revealed itself with a creak.

Because the hinges were rusted, it made a loud noise when opened, and the inside was so pitch black that the bottom couldn't be seen. I gathered divine power in my finger and tossed it down.

"It's deeper than I thought, isn't it?"

It was a depth slightly shallower than a manhole. It could be said to be a height where an ordinary person could sprain their leg if they just dropped down recklessly. AA stroked the wall surface before speaking.

"It seems there used to be a ladder, but it broke."

Was the last person to use this passage extremely heavy? Harboring such a question in my chest, I jumped down toward the floor. The moment my feet touched the ground in the dark corridor, a stifling air rose up. The stuffy and unpleasant air characteristic of being underground was flowing through the underground passage.

The suffocating silence unique to the underground accompanied it as well. AA poked her head out toward my direction and spoke.

"Sir Priest. Are you alright?"

"Yes. I am fine. Jump down."

I utilized my divine power to shine a light as I said that. Gauging the height with my light, the party jumped down one by one in turn. As soon as Eve came down, she frowned as if it was uncomfortable to breathe, and Elsi whined, saying her nose hurt.

"It is too stuffy in here. I want to get out quickly."

Eve let out a chuckle upon seeing Elsi whine with a nasal voice. I also felt just as stifled, so we decided to hurry our steps toward the direction of the fortress. Fortunately, the secret passage was a single path, so finding the way wasn't difficult.

"What kind of place was this that it had a fortress like this?"

"Who knows?"

It seemed AA didn't know either. As we got closer to the fortress, the ground was rumbling. A war must be in full swing right above us. To buy us time right now, the soldiers were recklessly hurling their bodies against the fortress walls. AA bit her lip tightly and spoke to me.

"Let's hurry. The soldiers are fighting above."

I gripped my mace tightly and closely followed behind AA, who hastened her steps. After passing through the long, straight passage and climbing the stairs, an oddly shaped wall blocked our way. Eve stroked the wall and frowned.

"How do we open this?"

I tried tapping on the wall. The sound was distinctly different from the other walls. However, there was no mechanism to open it. It wasn't that we couldn't find it. There was literally no mechanism on this wall. Even after touching the wall surface, pushing, pulling, and pressing the bricks one by one, nothing changed. If this was the case, there was only one conclusion.

"It seems they only assumed people would be exiting and didn't make an entrance from the outside."

Thinking about it that way, this dull, smooth wall surface without a single opening mechanism made sense. I held up my mace and spoke.

"Should we break it? It diminishes the point of a surprise attack a bit, but it's weird to just wait here forever for someone to open it."

AA nodded her head and spoke.

"I will do it. Because I can do it more stealthily."

AA gently pushed me aside and drew her sword. The blue sword blade emitted a mysterious light. She lightly swung the sword and spoke to me.

"Could you step aside for a moment? You might get hurt."

Eve and Elsi had already taken a step back. I nodded my head and went next to Eve. AA raised her sword and shrugged her shoulders. She exhaled heavily, then twisted her body as she forcefully swung up the sword she had lowered to the floor. Spinning broadly in the empty space, AA slashed her sword diagonally down once more. It was an excellent cross slash. As she lightly pushed the wall surface that had been cut into a triangular shape with her foot, it fell over with a Thud! sound. AA spoke.

"Let's go."

There was no leisure to praise AA's sword skills. We ducked our heads and entered the inside of the fortress.

The interior of the Temple of Love gave the impression of a neat church. The place we entered was the inner library, and the entrance we came through was also a bookshelf. The books that were cleanly sliced diagonally felt unrealistic, as if looking at part of a picture puzzle. And on the other side of the library. A woman was standing there.

A woman wearing a mask and draped in a robe. The moment AA and I urgently rushed at her, her hand flashed with a blue light.

"F-Fuck!"

At the same time, the entire library began to shine, drawing a blue magic circle.

Fuck. I'm screwed!