The Saint’s Manual for Redemption - Chapter 101

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 101
Had Arden finally discovered the true nature of that golden liquid?
That was my first thought as I watched him draw something from his pocket—a question that had been climbing my throat throughout my entire conversation with the Archbishop.
I’d nearly asked outright what that liquid he’d given me was, but in the end, I’d held my tongue.
This wasn’t the moment to play that card. Better to keep it in reserve as leverage against the Archbishop’s throat once the Imperial Court’s Prakti scheme ran its course.
Besides, if the Archbishop truly had handed me something harmful and I now threatened to make an issue of it, I couldn’t predict what choice a cornered man might make.
A cornered rat will bite a cat, after all.
As long as I hadn’t yet seized complete control of the Temple, the Archbishop remained useful. So it was safer to loosen his leash gradually than to strike at him outright.
But what Arden produced was not the golden liquid.
It was a small glass box, no larger than a matchbox. Inside it lay a single gray stone that, at first glance, looked no different from any pebble you might find lying in the street.
“Why would this stone…?”
“It’s an Eavesdropping Artifact.”
As I looked at him with confusion, Arden caressed the glass box with his fingertips and continued his explanation.
“They come in pairs. Whatever one hears is transmitted directly to the other. It’s a tool commonly used for intelligence work.”
“Where was it found?”
“On top of the lily flowerpot that the Temple placed in Your Highness’s quarters.”
I took the glass box from him and examined the stone inside more closely.
No matter how carefully I looked, I could find nothing remarkable about it. It was the sort of thing you might believe had been picked up casually and set down as a curiosity.
“How did you know this was a Magical Tool?”
At my question, Arden simply smiled without answering.
This is precisely why I can’t trust this man completely. He’s using one himself—that’s how he knows.
“Is this one deactivated?”
“It’s a soundproofed box. As long as the artifact remains inside, no sound will reach it from without.”
He answered calmly, but the fact that he’d even prepared such a box was extraordinary in itself.
Whether he’d anticipated finding an Eavesdropping Artifact and carried this precaution, or whether he simply always travels with such things, I couldn’t say.
Either way, it spoke of anything but ordinariness. I looked again at the stone inside the glass box and made my inference.
“Then it wasn’t placed there by the Temple.”
They couldn’t possibly be unaware of how many times I’ve removed those damned lilies from my quarters.
Even if they didn’t know I hate lilies, at the very least Rilette must have mentioned that the flowers and pots are regularly moved outside my door.
If the Temple had installed it themselves, they would have had no reason to choose a lily flowerpot—one that would likely be moved out of the room. There were countless better hiding places: under the bed, behind a bookshelf, inside a candlestick.
Yet they chose the lily flowerpot, of all things. Whoever hid this didn’t know me at all.
“Then there is more than one Prakti serving the Imperial Court.”
Arden spoke in a lowered voice.
“They appear to have planted this in advance, just in case Your Highness wasn’t assassinated.”
So the Second Prince had anticipated not only my evasion of the assassin-priest’s watch but also the possibility that I might make a secret deal with the Duke. He’d even planted someone within the Holy Sanctuary to eavesdrop on my quarters. I almost wanted to applaud his foresight.
The Second Prince needed to be eliminated thoroughly. There was no room for future trouble.
And now I understood, at last, why the Archbishop had wanted to dispose of both me and the Second Prince together.
In the Archbishop’s eyes, the Second Prince was quite the nuisance. So bundling him with me—another thorn in his side—and sweeping us both away was the cleanest solution.
I returned the glass box to Arden and spoke.
“Investigate whoever arranged the lilies and whoever moved them into my quarters.”
It was likely that the Second Prince had already removed the relevant Prakti from the Temple to cover his tracks. But I had to obtain at least some evidence that an Imperial agent had been present within the Holy Sanctuary.
I had no intention of entrusting this matter to the Archbishop.
If I funneled everything through his hands, he would begin to believe I was entirely within his palm.
He could select which information to pass on, omit or distort what was unfavorable, and the advantage I’d managed to secure would likely slip through my fingers once more.
So this matter had to be my own discovery. And only the results would be reported to the Archbishop.
That would be the most effective way to remind him that I was not someone to be handled carelessly.
“The scope is narrow enough; we should uncover this quickly. Not many can evade the eyes and ears stationed throughout these halls.”
Arden lightly shook the glass box in his hand and smiled—as though he’d already conjured several faces in his mind.
It seemed he’d already begun investigating before reporting to me.
Then again, it’s been days since the lily flowerpot was moved outside the door. If he hadn’t started investigating by now, that would be neglect of duty.
To openly tell me that his eyes and ears are stationed all about. I couldn’t tell if he was expressing his trust in me, or subtly warning me.
I regarded that smile for a moment, then added:
“And leave that Eavesdropping Artifact alone. Don’t dispose of it. It might still be useful.”
If I could let them believe they were still listening to my quarters, I could deliberately allow certain words to reach them.
Since the eavesdropping device was already discovered, turning it against them would serve better than destroying it.
“Understood.”
He left to begin his investigation, closing the door quietly behind him.
Another card to hold in reserve. That meant I, too, had work to do.
I rose from my seat and called for Rilette, who had been waiting outside the door.
“Rilette.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“I intend to descend to the Underground Dungeon shortly. Please inform Johan that I’m requesting an escort.”
Rilette bowed at once.
“Yes, Your Highness. I shall bring him immediately.”
As the door closed, the sound of Rilette’s hurried footsteps receded down the corridor.
In the interim, I straightened my garments and mentally reviewed once more what needed to be confirmed today.
I had to meet with people from Norwald’s household, and I intended to confront directly both the Priest who had accepted a bribe from the Second Prince and registered him as a Temple member, and that Imperial candidate who had infiltrated as a ceremonial priest.
Before long, a familiar footstep approached rapidly from down the corridor.
“Your Highness!”
Johan, who had rushed over at nearly a run, struck his right fist against his left shoulder twice in the salute of a Holy Knight.
“I heard you intend to visit the Underground Dungeon. Please leave the escort to me.”
His mouth remained as grave as possible, yet the eager glimmer in his eyes could not be hidden.
His face was alight with barely contained joy at the prospect of finally confronting that Imperial candidate delivered from the Croen Duchy.
It seemed he had harbored considerable regret at not having received that candidate while he remained in the Croen Duchy.
The mere fact that he could now see him confined in the Underground Dungeon of the Holy Sanctuary seemed to have lifted his spirits considerably. The man was truly simple in more ways than one.
I stifled a smile and nodded.
“Let us go.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Once the escort duty actually began, Johan shed the earlier excited air and returned to the bearing of a Holy Knight, devoting himself entirely to my protection.
We proceeded deeper into the Holy Sanctuary.
As we descended the stairs, leaving behind the corridors touched by sunlight, the air grew steadily colder, and only the faint glow of Holy Stone Lamps mounted on the walls dimly illuminated the passage.
From the damp stone walls, the stench of old moisture seeped forth, and from somewhere distant came the muted sounds of chains scraping, dull coughing, and the rattling of shackles.
The Underground Dungeon of the Holy Sanctuary.
It was a place where criminals, heretics, and secrets the Temple wished to keep hidden from the world were gathered.
One passageway from the Underground Dungeon led to the Heresy Interrogation Chamber—a place all prisoners here dreaded.
After walking for some time, I came to an abrupt halt.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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