Welcome to the Café of the Dark Guild’s Successor - Chapter 121

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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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A café run by the heir of the Dark Guild.
Chapter 121
“It’s not working?”
“Let me try.”
All three took turns attempting it, yet none of them sensed anything.
Finding it difficult, the high priests began muttering among themselves.
“It seems Holy Power isn’t taking effect.”
“Scrying won’t work either… How is this even possible?”
I opened my eyes and looked at Gregory with a tilted head.
“They mentioned I might have an Immunity Ability. Could that be why?”
Unlike my casual tone, the high priests’ expressions transformed into shock at the mention of an Immunity Ability.
Gregory especially bore the most startled expression I’d seen from him yet, pressing one hand to his forehead.
“Are you truly an Immunity Ability user?”
“Possibly.”
Gregory muttered, unable to hide the trembling in his gaze.
“Is peace coming to an end? Is the seal truly about to break?”
At his incomprehensible words, I narrowed my eyes.
“Is there something wrong with me?”
Another high priest standing beside Gregory opened his mouth instead.
“At the moment of sealing when the long and endless war with the Demon Realm ended… there were not just five heroes.”
“There was one more person.”
With that, the three exchanged glances.
“To open and close the Dimensional Gate between the Demon Realm and this world—such different dimensions—an Immunity Ability user like you is necessary.”
This was something I’d never heard from my grandfather either.
While I stood confused, Gregory attempted Scrying several more times before giving up.
“Are your parents still alive?”
“No. They’ve both passed away.”
Whether he judged there was nothing left to hide, or perhaps believed I was involved in the matter, the high priest began speaking of the seal.
“The ice wall entity you encountered was the strongest among the generals who led the Demon Realm’s forces six hundred years ago. The heroes sealed him and used his power to sever the dimensions that were connected.”
“Alein Mountain is precisely the place where he was sealed, and where he remains sealed even now.”
Since I’d already suspected as much, I wasn’t particularly shaken by what the priests said.
“A seal is temporary by nature. Peace has lasted so long that everyone’s forgotten… but if the seal breaks at any moment, the Demon Realm will connect, and this world will end.”
“You mean the world will suddenly be destroyed?”
“Yes. People accustomed to peace will absolutely be unable to endure it. All will die in agony.”
It was a somewhat absurd story to accept outright.
But with all three high priests speaking in such grave tones, I couldn’t help but believe them.
“Then what about Cayden? What’s he doing alone on Alein Mountain?”
“He is the Guardian. A priest capable of accessing the intermediate zone near the seal. He purifies the Miasma in that intermediate zone. In doing so, he handles the Demonic Beasts and retrieves the souls harmed by the Miasma.”
The exhausted eyes of Cayden, who would arrive late in the evening looking troubled, came to mind.
“Why does he do such work alone?”
“Because only those chosen by the Divine can perform such a task.”
Sacrificing only one person for such a reason. My clenched fist tightened, nails digging deep into my palm.
“You know Cayden’s body is ailing, don’t you?”
……
“Is there a way to cure him?”
“There is something to show you.”
Gregory’s energy sharpened like a well-honed blade.
Following him out of the garden, through a corridor, we arrived at a chamber where a neat Altar had been prepared.
As the high priests and I stepped before it, with a heavy grinding sound, the Altar descended entirely below.
“What is this place…?”
The underground, brightly lit by countless candles, held over dozens of graves and tombstones arranged in order.
“This is where the Guardians are buried.”
Despite Gregory’s matter-of-fact tone, I contorted my face and walked toward the graves.
The tombstones all bore the names and ordinal numbers of those who must have been priests, written simply.
A long procession of tombstones. At the very end was an empty grave, earth already turned where a coffin would rest.
“What is this? There’s nothing written on the stone at all.”
“It is Guardian Cayden’s place.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“You prepared a grave for him to die in?”
“Because that is his ordained fate. All Guardians, when they die, are buried here.”
Cayden’s death was already foreseen, and there was no way to prevent it—such certainty.
The moment I saw with my own eyes the empty grave waiting for its master, the unchangeable reality felt vivid enough to raise my skin.
Especially the ages of the past Guardians inscribed on the tombstones—all of them impossibly young.
“Has there not been a single exception?”
I forced my mouth open to ask Gregory, though my voice didn’t feel like my own.
“The Guardian who lived longest survived thirteen years. The shortest was two years.”
“How cruel. To toil in obscurity, to fall ill, and then to die young without anyone knowing…”
“It is because they received the most love from the Divine.”
“Isn’t it the opposite?”
The high priests didn’t flinch at my cold response.
Their belief that Cayden’s sacrifice was natural and inevitable seemed unshakeable. So they had no intention of curing him whatsoever.
“Let’s go back up.”
We returned to the surface by way of the Altar we’d descended.
“The fact that you heard the voice of the sealed being and even crossed the wall yourself… that is dangerous. You may well be the key that opens dimensions.”
“That’s only when the seal breaks. If it doesn’t break, there’s no problem.”
“True. So I pray… we shall never meet again.”
If the world remains at peace. If we never encounter the sealed being again. Then the high priest and I need never meet.
“So do I.”
I truly wished for that with all my heart.
Gregory seemed about to say something more when he heard a knock and turned his head.
“High Priest. The prince of Ejezer Kingdom awaits.”
“My apologies. My schedule is quite full. If you wait here, we can speak more tonight…”
“No. Thank you for making time despite your busy schedule.”
I’d heard enough of what there was to hear, so I knelt on one knee in the temple manner and took Gregory’s hand.
“A pity. There’s still much more to discuss… Do convey my regards to Priest Cayden. I shall make time to visit soon.”
After Gregory, the other two high priests also blessed me and departed.
As I left the reception room, a Holy Knight awaited to guide me.
“You are free to look around anywhere you wish.”
“Ah, yes.”
It seemed they’d assigned the Holy Knight to ensure I could explore without restriction.
Returning to the main temple where I’d first entered rather than the annex, I realized I was on the third floor.
Leaning against the railing and looking down, my gaze suddenly fell upon a woman praying in the hall below on the second floor.
“Hestanya?”
I descended the stairs and approached the woman, who was praying fervently with her hands clasped.
Sensing my presence, she turned to look at me, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Rosia?”
“I thought I was mistaken, but it is you.”
She wore a hat with a long veil, perhaps to conceal her identity, but her hair and silhouette were unmistakable.
“Meeting you here in Helitria? This isn’t a dream, is it? What brings you here?”
“I came to pray.”
At my words, Hestanya’s eyes brightened with curiosity, but the light soon faded.
It seemed she’d remembered her own circumstances, and deep worry was etched across her gaunt features.
“I’m here for the same reason. Anyone who comes this far must have a desperate wish.”
“Did you find the stolen item?”
My direct hit darkened Hestanya’s face further.
“No… I couldn’t find any trace of it.”
“Did you try the place I mentioned?”
“My parents forbade me from getting involved. They’re afraid of the rumors spreading.”
No wonder I’d heard nothing of Hestanya’s movements. Moreover, there had been no word of the Sacred Relic anywhere.
“It seems like something organized is happening.”
“What do you mean?”
Hestanya, who’d been sighing repeatedly, lowered her voice and whispered close to my ear.
“Before I came here, I attended a tea party. It was a gathering of only the Five Great Families. And… it wasn’t just our family who lost the Sacred Relic.”
Hestanya continued, glancing around cautiously.
“It came up in conversation by chance. Three of the Five Great Families have had their Sacred Relics stolen. There’s a time difference between the thefts, but… it’s far too strange.”
Someone was deliberately collecting the forbidden Sacred Relics kept by the Five Great Families.
While it could simply be a thief after expensive items, having just heard about the seal made me all the more uneasy.
“Which families haven’t had their Sacred Relics stolen?”
“The Strophane and Marlate Families. Oh, it’s a secret! You won’t tell anyone, right? Promise me.”
I hooked my pinky with the one Hestanya offered, my mind already working.
The Sacred Relic the Strophane Clan had owned was now in our hands.
That left only the Marlate Family. And it occurred to me that there was a familiar face in that family.
‘Kayan, the Imperial Researcher.’
The one who’d pressed his business card on me, urging me to visit anytime.

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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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