Chapter 4: Red eyes
Pastor Benjamin glanced at Lucien, and walked to the ruin of the witch’s house, in his special rhyme, he talked with a low and gentle voice, “evil wizards and hags enjoyeth twisting the mind and believes of valorous men, especially in such a night und’r the silv’r moon shineth. Howev’r the beldam didn’t acquireth the pow’r of true evilness, h’r witchcraft can only affect one ‘r two p’rsons.”
At first Lucien was kinda confused about what Benjamin is talking about, but then he realized that he was explaining why only Lucien hear the crying , but the neighbors nearby still fell asleep, and even if they were woke up, they heard nothing.
Without giving Lucien a chance to talk, Benjamin reached out his hands in clean, white gloves, and continued talking, “F’r me and the four church guards, we has’t the providence of god, to heareth the evil voice. “
The guards, who are standing in a line, at once cross themselves, and hail with one voice：
“Nothing endures but truth！！”
Along with the hail, their mind became visibly more excited.
The people around also prayed quietly, “Nothing endures but truth.”
They whispered, “This is the power of God, this is really the reverend pastor.”
Surrounded by the faint praises, Benjamin’s rawboned face became more serious and solemn, he raised his hands with the pure white gloves, an odd syllable comes out of his mouth:
“Pâśo”
Right after the short and hurried syllable ends, the entire ruin was covered by a layer of faint white light, just like the silver moonshine pouring down from the sky.
Shrouded by the white light, on a broken wall between the ruin and Lucien’s house, a mysterious scarlet color appeared, in shape of the mouth of a cave.
Under influence of the mystical incantation and divine arts, Lucien was as shocked and fluctuated as the crowd around him was , but they were more in awe and veneration, while Lucien had an intense desire hidden behind his fear.
Benjamin put down his hand, and ordered the guards in front of him, “Gary, this is the secret door, there are not magic traps, thee can wend and ope t.”
Gary threw his chest, with his armor making the clinking sound, “Aye! Sir Benjamin.”
While Gary and another guard walked toward the door, Lucien heard Benjamin curse in a whisper, “those megalomaniacs in the tribunal who only uses ‘Sense magical traps’, can’t those idiots please learn ‘Sense secret door’ as well? Bah, being so ignorant because she’s just an apprentice?”
With the help of divine arts, Gary demonstrated his physical strength, and easily brings down the wall.
Then, another guard drew his sword, along with a fierce roar, he struck a hidden link in the corner, a dark hole was finally exposed at the bottom of the wall.
The entrance was not large, only one man at a time could enter the doorway, the wind whistled through, brings a disgusting smell from the whole. Benjamin slightly knitted his brows and covered his nose and mouth with his right hand; while Lucien almost threw up, and immediately stood back.
Gary took a deep glance into the hole, and ran back, “dir Benjamin, the secret entrance is connected to the sewerage.”
Benjamin knitted his blonde eyebrow, his nose and mouth was somehow pressured to deformation, and his voice is deeper, “You sure?”
“Yes sir, I can see the sewerage just a short distance underneath,” Gary replied with a sense of certainty.
Benjamin didn’t say anything, as a noble, elegant pastor, and the descendant of the long-lasting, honorable Lafayette family, he felt disgusted when he thinks of the miserable and dirty sewerage. There were several divine spells which he had mastered and inscribed the casting processes in his spirit, but “Cleanse environment” was not among them. If he wanted to cast the divine spell, he needed the corresponding incantation, features, reagents and casting materials. No one knew the exact location of the secret room, or how many “Cleanse environment”s were needed.
Anyway, it’s just an apprentice magician, there’s not going to be any problem with the Holy Badge of Truth. Benjamin thought without caring much. He turned to Lucien, removed his right hand, and his voice became slow and solemn again, “Neighb’ring the beldam, thy body has’t been taint’d with evilness, only through sacred atonement can thee purify such evilness. yet thee devotion to the Lord convinces me to lendeth thee mine own Holy Badge. Whenev’r thee decontaminated the remaining evilness from the beldam, god’s grace shall fav’r thee again. Wend, Lucien, s’rve our Lord, the Heavenly Fath’r shall gaze thee from above.”
Successfully reaching the church, and led Benjamin here, Lucien was now much more relieved, there were priest and guards, it was not going to be hard to remove the wraith——even if it was hard, it’s not the job for a common man like him——therefore, Lucien’s mind went blank when he heard Benjamin’s order. He was ordering me to purify the wraith? I, I’m just a common person, though!
Watching the surprise and resistance on Lucien’s face, Benjamin asked slowly and graciously, “So thou art refusing?”
The question shows no hostility at all, but Lucien trembled and realized that if he answers no, he may become a corpse in the next minute. And according to what Benjamin meant, he was lending Lucien his “Holy Badge”, and there would be more or less several guards following him, against the remaining wraith of a “not so important” apprentice, probably it was not going to be that dangerous.
No matter if Benjamin was actually disgusted by the dirty sewerage, or if he had some other thought, messing up this “piece of cake” could do no good to him.
Lucien stifled his hate and resistance, and replied with an uneasy smile, “It’s my pleasure to serve the Lord.”
Paying no attention to Lucien’s stiffness, Benjamin removed the badge from his chest, and gave it to Lucien, “This is the Holy Badge of Truth, I will cast a ‘Divine bless’ on you, which helps you to concentrate your spirit easier, use your finger and your mind to communicate with the Holy Badge, together with the incantation, you will be able to activate the power of the Lord in it.”
Lucien’s curiosity on the Badge that can cast divine arts quickly overcame his fear.
The Holy Badge of Truth had gold as the color of its base, a white cross was engraved on it, giving out subdued light; around the cross, many twisted lines, shapes like circles, triangles and rectangles were carved out on the golden background, they were connected in an odd way, foiled with the cross in the middle, giving off a mysterious and majestic feeling.
Holding the Holy Badge on his hand, Lucien immediately felt a warm and gentle energy forms in his entire body, even if the cold winds blows through in midnight, he felt the warmth just like under the shining sun.
“In the Badge, there are two informal divine spells: ‘Light’ and ‘Lesser heal’, they are available three times a day; as well as three Mono-ring divine arts: ‘Divine shield’, ‘The sword of light’, and ‘Holy strike’, which can only be used once a day.”
Lucien had no choice but to go down there, therefore power of the divine arts was crucial to him, and he paid the highest attention when learning the incantations from Benjamin.
The incantations were all short syllables, but the intonations were tongue-twisting , Lucien spent a lot of effort to be barely correct.
Benjamin nodded imperceptibly and raised his right hand.
This time there was not an incantation, a pure white holy light shrouded Lucien, and then slowly disappeared Lucien felt an unbelievable strength and health from his body, and his mind was much more concentrated and sensitive than before and could hear the talks much farther away.
“The Reverend Clergy let Lucien go down there, and gives him the Holy Badge?”
“Didn’t you hear that? It’s the mercy of pastor Benjamin, to let Lucien cleanse his guilt.”
“Praise the lord. Praise the Reverend Clergy.”
Lucien didn’t know much of the common senses in this world, so he decided to wait quietly for Benjamin to cast the “Divine bless” pm Gary and the other two guards.
There were about two to three seconds between each time Benjamin cast the divine bless. Cooldown.
Finishes all those, Benjamin looked at them, “Paul, guardeth the entrance, Gary, Howson and Correa thee three, wend down th’re with Lucien.”
Then, his face became more serious, and marked a cross on his chest, “May the Lord’s glory protecteth thee!”
“Nothing endures but truth！！”
The three guards answered loudly with excitement, Lucien was half-beat slower, which left him in an embarrassing situation.
Benjamin didn’t care much about that, but he watched the four of them slowly stepping into the sewerage.
The other guard Paul whispered to Benjamin, and asked, “Why him, Reverend Benjamin? With the Badge and incantations, even guards like Gary could activate the divine spells in it, while the time it takes is a little longer than the priests or those evil magicians, but even so, it’s better than that bloke who knows nothing and didn’t even strengthens his body. Pastor Benjamin could give the Badge to Gary, Howson or Correa if he doesn’t want to go down there himself.”
Benjamin starts at the entrance, covered his nose again, “His spiritual strength is a little higher than a normal man, allowing him to better activate the divine spells in the Badge.”
“However he is too old and training him brings us no value.”
……………………
As soon as they climbed into the secret entrance, stinking of multiple smells assault their noses. Lucien couldn’t help himself but retch.
“Dude you live in Adrien District, but you aren’t getting used to such smell? Seems like you are not as poor as I thought. You know, no matter it’s the City of Chant or Antéfleur, there are many REAL poor people that don’t even have a hovel to live.” Correa, who entered the hole in front of Lucien mocked at Lucien, he had black hair, tall and thin cheekbones, and completely different body outline as Gary and Benjamin.
Before Lucien could make any response, Gary, who followed him in, said “Quiet.”
Correa shrugged his shoulders and closed his mouth, he stepped forward in the tunnel and jumped into the sewerage, which extended to all directions.
Lucien followed, he stepped on something wet and slippery, which he couldn’t tell what it was.
These things were everywhere, and the walls around them were covered by odd-shaped moss. It emitted faint lights, which prevented the sewerage from being in complete darkness.
Gary whispered, “Me, Howson and Correa are all High-order Squires, remember to cooperate with us when you activate the Badge. Whenever there’s anything dangerous, summon ’The sword of light’ at once.” He was a man in blonde whiskers, his moves were calm and reassuring, vaguely Lucien felt that he was the one who leads among the four guards.
When he finished giving each person their mission, Gary held a long sword with his right hand and a round-shaped shield on his left hand, calling Howson, Correa and Lucien to follow him, and started looking for the origin of the ghost’s crying.
Lucien, lacking common sense, found the situation both funny and embarrassing, “How am I supposed to know the ability of High-order Squires and what’s dangerous?” But he also could just ask Gary directly.
Sad, miserable crying, echoed and resounded in the narrow sewerage, feeling like it was from every direction, and hard to distinguish its actual origin.
However, the guards were specially trained, and Lucien himself had decent spiritual strength, with the help of “Divine blesses”, they easily found the way.
The next section of the sewerage was horrifyingly quiet, they haven’t seen any poor people, according to Correa, who lived there. After several forks, they stopped in front of an ordinary corner in the sewerage.
Gary looked at the wall covered by cyan moss, spoke to Lucien with a serious voice, “cast ’The sword of light’.”
Being scared and curious at the same time, Lucien calmed himself with the help of Divine bless. He concentrated on the Holy Badge, communicated with the warm and gentle power in it, and rubbed the white cross at the center of the Badge with specific rhyme; at the same time, he read out the odd syllables of the incantation:
“Qysãwenn.”
Lucien felt that the spiritual forces he used to concentrate on the Badge were absorbed by a burst of white light. Pieces of white light emerged and combined, and finally formed a shining sword of light.
“This is my voice?” The incantation Lucien used to activate the divine spell, its tongue-twisting tone, combined with the visual impact of the sword, sounded strange and mysterious. Lucien was even startled by himself.
Holding the light sword tight, sensing the transcendental strength, Lucien was greatly excited, but soon was chilled by Gary’s next sentence, “Strike that part of the wall, with the power of the light sword, magical traps won’t work——she’s just an apprentice.”
Looking at the space Gary points at, Lucien slightly shivered, he was going to face the mysterious, and probably powerful magic, what will happen and the possible dangers were all unknown.
“Coward and brainless.” Correa sneered.
Lucien knew that he needed to go anyways. He took two deep breaths, and calmed himself using the stinky smell, “Hope nothing happens!”
He struck the wall straight from his shoulders, onto the wet and disgusting wall.
White light beamed out, the rock wall couldn’t stop the sword at all.
When Lucien cut through the wall, he also cut through something else, which gave him an inexplicable feeling of breaking something, faint black gasses disappeared rapidly under the shining blade.
The entire wall broke.
It was heavy darkness behind the wall.
All of a sudden, two dots of uncanny, apathetic and hideous scarlet color light appeared in the darkness.
More and more reds of such kind filled the darkness.
Lucien’s mouth parched and tongue scorched, his mind strained and his hand sweated——These are all pairs of eyes!
(Notes: Mono-ring spell is just an expression of Lv.1 spell in this book, there’s gonna be di-ring, tri-ring, tetra-ring magics and etc.)
Proxy Translations 