Chapter 163: 088. Church of Caiolium -1 (Part One)

“No! Let me go! Don’t hurt me!”

The Second Imperial Prince, Ruppel, was screaming out desperately.

Unfortunately, he was still placed inside a small chest.

The chest in question was made with ‘Eltera’, the type of metal that boasted high resistance against magic. A Vampire who lost much of its strength wouldn’t even be able to resist when trapped inside.

Oscal and several Paladins stood tall around the chest. They were going to keep an around-the-clock surveillance during the trip, starting from this moment onwards. Since they were dealing with the Second Imperial Prince, they needed to strictly keep out anyone wishing to come closer.

Several carriages were lined up before us. One of them held the arrested Third Imperial Prince Ruppel, and White was also riding with him in the same carriage. With this, our preparation to depart to the Theocratic Empire was completed.

I shifted my gaze away from the carriages and stared at the Aslan royal palace.

…A portion of the structure had completely collapsed.

Even if it belonged to the vanquished country, well, what I did was basically the same thing as blowing up a friend’s house. As proof, Tina was still staring at her palace in a dazed, soul-left-her-body kind of expression.

“…I’m really sorry.”

I apologised to her once more.

The skeletons summoned by Necromancers were in the middle of repairing the palace. The job shouldn’t take too long, but until then, Aslan would remain unstable.

Tina was jolted awake, then quickly flailed her hands urgently to express that she didn’t mind it. “N-no, it’s fine. Once Damon arrives, we should have enough funds to pay for the repairs. I should be glad that no one was hurt all thanks to you, Lord Angel.”

Oh, I see that Damon who was managing the… ‘believers’ back in the ancient Aslan tomb has decided to come here. Well, quite a lot of the dragon’s relics could be found there, so it made some sense.

I figured that the treasure trove should be more than enough to pay for the palace restoration, and still have plenty left over after that.

“But… You’re really leaving us… I was truly surprised back when you first told me that you are an Imperial Prince of the Theocratic Empire,” said Tina while looking at the row of carriages with a bitter smile on her face. She glanced at me and carried on, “I still haven’t been able to repay any of my gratitude yet.”

“Never mind gratitude, you still have to deal with the yearly tribute problem, don’t you? Actually, I’m also sorry about that. That wasn’t something I could mediate on, unfortunately.”

“I believe everything will work out fine, Lord Angel. It may be difficult for us right now, but without a doubt, the situation will improve for us in the future.”

“Well, if you say so.”

I smacked my lips ruefully. What a positive child she was.

Tina continued on, “Please call on us anytime if you need help. I promise to do my best within my powers.”

“I’ll happily accept the sentiment, at least.”

Honestly speaking, I didn’t think I’d be in a serious need for Aslan’s aid in the future. Even if a war against the Vampires did break out, there was no way the Theocratic Empire would crumble down so easily.

More than anything else, Tina would be too busy with managing the unstable Aslan for a good while.

“Your highness.”

I turned my head.

Charlotte walked up to me and whispered in my ear, “The investigation into the warp magic circle the Vampires used to escape is still ongoing. Sir Harman has a report to make.”

I slightly nodded at her report and headed to an abandoned house some distance away from the palace along with her.

Paladins were on full alert all around us.

We eventually arrived at the empty house located fairly deep in an alleyway. Even at a casual glance, you could tell that this shabby, rundown house had been abandoned for a long time.

A warp magic circle was engraved on the ground.

More Paladins were guarding the building’s perimeter, while Harman and several Alchemists were investigating the magic circle together.

“Your highness, you’ve arrived.”

Harman saw me enter and lowered his head.

I scanned the house’s vicinity, as well as its walls. All sorts of rune letters were written everywhere like some kind of esoteric graffiti.

Even I couldn’t tell what they were about.

“How is it going?”

I asked, but that only elicited a groan from Harman’s lips.

“Your highness. It seems that this warp magic circle has been installed here since a long time ago.”

My brows furrowed all on their own from that. The ‘long time ago’ bit implied that the Vampire bastards had prepared several warp magic circles in various parts of Aslan, and that they did it quite a while ago, too.

I asked, “Does that mean the Vampires have been freely using warp magic whenever they want?”

“The possibility of more Vampire warp magic circles being installed besides this location is quite high, your highness. It’s likely that these things were prepared ahead of time in case they needed to escape in emergency situations. To make matters worse, the technology behind the circle is quite considerable as well. According to the Alchemists, they have not seen a magic circle technique this exquisite before.”

I heard that the Vampires had activated the warp spell without the use of sacrifices.

This ‘warp gate’ utilised different rune letters compared to the scroll made by Alchemist Hans. Actually, this thing was similar to the one employed by Nasus the Lich, instead.

Which implied that the user of this circle could freely travel to anywhere they pleased.

I asked again, “Do you think we’ll find these things in the empire, too?”

“Unfortunately, I believe we will, your highness. As a matter of fact, I’d wager that there are quite a few of them.”

Well, that sure sounded like a lot of trouble.

I mean, we just found out that the Vampires had placed installations enabling them to come in, rampage around, and merrily go on their way whenever they want. If that’s not trouble, then what is?

Harman groaned and continued on, “Also, it’ll be near impossible to figure out the coordinates they have escaped to, your highness.”

“What are you talking about?”

This was a warp magic circle with rune letters written on it. Meaning, it was connected to another warp circle on the other side somewhere.

As long as we figure out the coordinates for the other circle, we should be able to find out where the hideout of the Vampires were, but now…

“We can’t decipher the end coordinates, your highness.”

“Are you telling me that we can’t figure out the Vampires’ location?”

“Yes. The coordinates seems to be etched on the circle itself, that’s for certain, but the formula is just too complex and…”

Harman stared at the Alchemists.

They were sweating bullets while alternating their flustered gazes between the warp magic circle and some books.

“They say that they don’t have a way to decipher the coordinates. The warp circle itself seems to be based on an ancient sorcery technique, and the technical prowess behind it is just too otherworldly that they can’t seem to wrap their heads around it, your highness.”

These Alchemists were supposedly quite renowned in their field of expertise, but even their combined attempt to decipher the magic circle resulted in them shaking their heads in helplessness.

I could only feel rueful at this sight. If only we knew where they were hiding; we’d be able to hit them right back.

But it couldn’t be helped since finding out was next to impossible.

“Uhm, excuse me…” It was at that moment that Hans, who was spectating on the proceedings from the corner, suddenly spoke to us, “I think I can decipher the magic circle.”

The gathered Alchemists flinched in shock from that declaration, and openly shot hostile glares at Hans.

Well, these folks were renowned Alchemists within the Theocratic Empire. They must’ve been feeling flabbergasted, and not in a good way either, when some no-name, no-achievement merchant-wannabe said he’d decipher something they failed to do so.

Since I was in front of them, they couldn’t raise their voices too high and only grumbled under their breaths.

“Nonsense.”

“Busy saying rubbish.”

“These are ancient letters at least a few thousand years old. How can some Alchemist from the sticks…”

I roundly ignored what they were grumbling about. “Hey, Hans.”

“Yes, sir?”

“How long do you need to decipher this thing and figure out the end coordinates?”

Hans’s eyes opened wider at my question.

Did he feel happy that I believed him? He must be, since he suddenly yelled out with a bright expression, “Four months, sir! No, wait! Three months. Yes, three months should suffice, sir!”

Huh, that’s longer than I thought.

“Can you accurately pinpoint their location?”

“As long as I decipher it, reverse warping into the location will be more than doable, sir! Of course, you’ll need a lot of energy to do so, but still.”

Well, that’s good to hear.

Because it meant that we could send an army of Paladins there in the near future.

“You sure you can do this?”

“Yes! I’m confident of it as long as I have access to enough data!”

“I’ll grant you permission to utilise the imperial palace’s library. If you wish, I’m also willing to support you with everything you need.” I pointed at the gathered Alchemists and finished the rest of my sentence, “You can also ask these fellas to be your assistants, too.”

Hans animatedly nodded several times at that.

It was then that one of the Priests approached Harman and whispered something in his ear.

Harman’s expression hardened from the report, and he suddenly began glancing at me as if to gauge my mood first.

I stared at the dude who just didn’t have any talent in lying and asked him straight, “What’s the matter, Harman?”

He looked back at me with a somewhat dazed expression and responded, “Your highness, it… seems to have begun.”

“What has begun?”

“His majesty’s…” Harman shifted his gaze over to the distant carriage containing Ruppel and quietly muttered out, “…Purging of all the traitors, your highness.”