༺ No One Knows What This Is! (2) ༻
Everyone was in an uproar from the Priestess going missing.
“Judas, it really wasn’t you, then? Kidnapping the Priestess is dangerous even for you. Do you want to start a war with the Order?”
Brigitte, who was finished with work, asked me.
She thinks I’m behind any problem that occurs.
Of course, 80 percent of those worries were actually caused by me.
But not this time, really.
“I don’t even know what she looks like.”
“They say she’s white as snow, and that she’s blind.”
Snowy white but unseeing.
I couldn’t really picture it.
I did my best to imagine her appearance as I stepped into the mansion.
There could be a request like, “Please find the Priestess,” for all I know.
“Naru, I’m home.”
The time that Naru should’ve come home.
I called her as I entered the house, but Naru, who usually would have already greeted me at the gates of the garden with a “Dad, welcome home!” and a big hug, didn’t come out.
Was Naru also kidnapped?
I was momentarily concerned, then—
Clap— Clap—
I heard clapping from upstairs.
As well, the children’s laughter sounded.
“Here! Over here! Naru is here!”
“…Hina is over here….”
“This is where Cecily is…!”
I see.
Are they calling me up?
I followed the children’s voices upstairs.
But soon I realized that it wasn’t me they were calling.
“What is this?”
Clap— Clap—
The clapping children.
And a woman chasing them around the large, 2nd-floor corridor was what I saw.
The woman waved her arms around like she couldn’t see, and the children evaded her movements as they clapped.
“Over here!”
“Once I catch you, you’ll be sorry. Because I’m a wicked witch. Arrrrr.”
…Seriously, what the hell?
For someone calling herself a wicked witch, she was white all over.
She wore the white robe of nuns and her face was covered in a white veil, like snow.
And the way she moved like she couldn’t see….
“Oh, holy shh….”
I wasn’t stupid, therefore I could assess the situation.
That lady was the one everyone was searching for, the Priestess!
And Naru and the others must have kidnapped her!
To become their playmate!
“Got you! Bad children get the chomp.”
Finally, the Priestess reached out and grabbed someone.
“It was Cecily.”
“…Hiiik! L-Let go…! Aghh, fuck…! She really bit me! Saint Marika! This is hardly noble-like!” 1Possible Elden Ring reference.
Cecily struggled.
And holding onto the wriggling child, the Priestess chuckled like a villain.
“Not noble-like? I was originally a commoner. More importantly, since I’ve caught the child of a noble, I will fatten you up and eat you!”
Will Cecily be eaten if this continues?
Of course, that wouldn’t happen.
“Are you the Priestess?”
I revealed my presence.
At that, the woman who had Cecily jumped, strongly startled and crying out, “Ah, unn, ahh?” then spoke after putting Cecily down.
“Who are you? Since when? How did you get here? You startled me.”
I see.
As someone without vision and completely engaged in playing with the children, she hadn’t known I showed up.
At the commotion, Brigitte came upstairs.
“It’s so noisy. What’s going on up here….”
Brigitte arrived.
She looked between me, the kids, and the veiled lady in white before dropping her jaw, appalled.
“Judas! I knew it was you! You insane bastard!”
Recognizing Brigitte as she slapped my shoulder, the Priestess tilted her head.
“…Judas? Ah, I see. You are the famous thief Judas and you should be Brigitte the mage? Greetings. I am the Lord’s servant, Iris.”
The lady placed a respectful hand on her chest and bowed her head.
* * *
“And so, no matter what I did, Molumolu didn’t come out of the bag! Naru needed to pack quickly but Molumolu was stubborn!”
Dinner time.
Naru talked about all that happened today as she ate.
Mostly it was that Molumolu didn’t come out of her bag.
“So Molumolu is still inside Naru’s bag! Look!”
Molumolu was still curled up inside Naru’s bag.
━Meoowww.
It was like it anchored itself there.
Why was it like this?
But how could anyone know, really?
Even its name was Molumolu.2Reminder that Molu = I don’t know.
It was full of mysteries.
“…What kind of animal is it? It cries like a cat….”
The Priestess tilted her head in question.
Even to her, Molumolu was fascinating.
However, I was more fascinated by the Priestess getting lost, meeting the kids, and joining us for dinner.
“How did this happen? Priestess Iris, your disappearance has all of Freesia disturbed. The Order has been assured at least, but we would like details.”
Cariote questioned her.
The Priestess hummed in obvious pondering.
Then she said, “I’m not sure…. I came to and found myself wandering unfamiliar streets. I got lost because of my blindness, the children found me and led me here.”
I don’t get it.
And then Naru butted in.
“Iris can’t see, but she can tell people by their light!”
Hmm?
Their light.
What does that mean?
As I wondered, Brigitte gracefully dabbed at her lip with a napkin and spoke.
“Do you sense people as energy waves? That’s interesting.”
“Oho, indeed. How do I appear to you? By the way, my name is Cariote. Cariote Iscariote. We have met before. You should know me.”
Cariote questioned the Priestess.
To that, the Priestess shook her head back and forth, then opened her mouth to reply.
“It’s like a sharp blade. But it’s not merely sharp and cold. It has a beautiful ornament.”
A blade with a beautiful ornament.
It was a description of her very essence, a demon hunter of noble birth.
Cariote nodded, muttering, “Indeed,” as Brigitte also showed interest.
“Then how do I look?”
“Brigitte the mage. One of the great heroes. A powerful mage with whom I could have traveled. I see, this is how you are. Oho, this kind of feeling….”
“So what feeling is that?”
“It’s a black teddy bear. Its dark appearance may seem frightening, but it really means that you are a soft person like the doll.”
“Weird.”
Brigitte clicked her tongue as if finding it strange.
But I could accept the Priestess’ assessment.
Brigitte was a teddy bear-like person.
Then what about me?
“How do I appear?”
I asked.
At my question, the Priestess fell quiet.
Her silence lasted a bit.
About 10 seconds passed.
“You are….”
The Priestess opened her mouth to say something.
Right in that moment—
“This monk has come late to the meal.”
Enkidus showed up.
As he did, the Priestess yelped out loud.
And then she covered her face all flustered, saying “I-It’s so bright! It’s blinding!”
“Baldy, the Priestess is blinded by your bald head. Apologize.”
“Is that so?”
Is that so, my ass.
About a minute after that fuss, the Priestess breathed out like she finally calmed down.
“My apologies. I was reminded of the past. It was a long time ago when I had seen the Lord with my own eyes.”
The blind seeing the Lord with her own eyes.
I was finding that strange when Enkidus spoke.
“Were you able to see before?”
“Yes. I was one of many ordinary countryside girls. But one day, a god revealed himself to me, and upon seeing his splendor, my eyes lost their sight.”
I see.
She was blessed and became a Priestess, but lost her sight in return.
It was a common thing when it came to Demiurges.
Epar’s 「Nymph Hand」 had a very similar story.
Demiurges always demand a price to be paid.
“Anyway, Monk Enkidus, you are a brilliant being. I’m sure you resemble the sun.”
The Priestess seemed to be interested in Enkidus.
Enkidus shined in many ways, which did resemble the sun.
She had a good perception, indeed.
Soon, Enkidus put a hand in his pocket and pulled out the pearl.
“Can you recognize this?”
“This is…. I was doubtful when I first received the letter, but now I can see. This is the real deal. It’s the same treasure as the one I carry.”
The Priestess took out the pearl from her pocket.
A jewel shining brilliantly in 7 colors.
The two pearls placed in her hand started emitting a beautiful light, then soon flashed brightly.
Shaaa—
After recovering from the sudden flash, the pearls in the Priestess’ hand had combined into one.
Duplicate objects will combine into one—
Though I’ve seen it many times before, it was always surprising.
The Priestess also looked serious.
She opened her eyes that had been closed until now, and the complete whiteness of them was a bit scary.
“I have seen many things as a humble body being used by God, but this is a first. Much seems to have happened. Will you explain it to me?”
Explain, huh.
What should I do?
Not too long ago, we almost sustained significant damage from the Grandmaster, the leader of a religion.
It was difficult to determine if we should reveal to the Priestess what we knew.
Right then, Naru spoke up.
“Naru came from 6 years in the future!”
I see.
Naru at least deemed this woman trustworthy.
After that, I relayed many things to Iris who listened and nodded, commenting with, “Oho,” or “Indeed.”
Then, at last, she responded.
“Honestly, I can’t quite understand. It was only years ago that I was a mere country bumpkin who planted potatoes in the field.”
I see.
Explaining things like spacetime magic and time paradoxes would be too hard for her.
“An experiment to create an artificial Demon King…. It sounds very suspicious and difficult but it also piques my interest. May I see it? This testing lab place?”
She sounded pretty driven.
I was thinking we could go as soon as the sun came up when the Priestess pushed back her chair and stood up.
And then she spoke.
“Let’s go right now.”
Right now?
Isn’t it late?
Well, it shouldn’t be a problem, though.
So then after dinner, we headed towards the research facility.
The basement, deep under the facility.
A bubbling tank.
The Priestess spoke, standing in front of that tank.
“Is the thing inside the artificial Demon King? That so-called homunculus….”
To be honest, I didn’t know all that much about the experiment.
So I just let my eyes wander, and Brigitte, who was working on the experiment even up until this afternoon, let out a sigh and operated the buttons.
Soon, the tank lit up with a vooooom— and the object that shone inside was rather peculiar.
What could it be compared to?
Rather than a material or object, it was some kind of energy wave.
Badump— Badump— Badump—
Some kind of energy waves were surging within the tank.
“It’s the beating of a heart.”
The Priestess said.
Brigitte then added.
“We keep failing at making a physical body. The vessel can’t retain its form with the homunculus’ core at the center. All that’s left is this energy.”
Brigitte scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
“I wonder how I made Aru at the time. It was so long ago and my diary got burnt so without knowing which ingredient is missing, the progress…”
I see.
Brigitte too was struggling with manufacturing the homunculus.
She wasn’t able to remember the steps or ingredients of the experiment since it was too long back.
The Priestess brushed her hand against the glass tank.
“However, this energy is alive. It’s about to be born. It’s a step. One step.”
A ‘living energy’.
Interesting.
This will be the new Demon King?
Brigitte clicked her tongue.
“Originally, the Grandmaster had an important role. She was supposed to infuse karma into this artificial life form. But due to complications….”
There certainly were some complications.
Without taking her hand off the cold tank, the Priestess spoke.
“What is this one’s name?”
“Name? Hmm, I haven’t really thought about it. Just homunculus or dummy. Or test subject alpha…. What about the name?”
“Names are important. Even something minor like a rock will gain significance once it’s named. Alpha—”
The Priestess said.
At her words, the steady energy inside the glass tank changed, now thrumming.
Was it reacting?
Seeing this, Brigitte was surprised.
“There’s a reaction!? It has never done that before! A name! My goodness, to think that it was something so simple! Now that I think about it, I named Aru before it even had a form!”
“Mage Brigitte, the nature of truth is such that even a country bumpkin can understand it. That is why it’s called the truth, they say. Alpha…. There should be a more suitable name….”
The Priestess moved her head as if peering inside the tank.
What did the thing inside look like to the eyes that couldn’t see?
“I sense something destined in my coming here. I may be mistaken but…, let’s discuss the next steps.”
* * *
“… Naru, we’re not supposed to go into the testing lab!”
Cecily cautioned Naru.
The facility which they had come to with the adults.
Naru bravely headed into the depths of the testing room; the menacing, snarling beasts trapped inside cages were very scary.
But Naru couldn’t leave.
“Molumolu ran away again!”
Anytime they came here, Molumolu kept running off.
As they walked around in search of Molumolu, Naru and the other girls arrived at the basement lab filled with shining tanks.
It was the location where the girl who looked like Tywin was bubbling inside a tank.
The one looking like Tywin was nowhere to be found, instead, there was something strange.
Badump— Badump—
It was energy.
Energy that was alive and moving inside the tank.
“… This… What is it…? I think I might remember….”
Hina’s interest was piqued.
When she placed her hand on the tank, the energy hummed even more as if responding to her.
“What is that?”
Cecily was also fascinated.
The children gathered in front of the tank.
Within Cecily’s blue eyes, the energy moved unusually.
“What is this? I’ve seen it before. Where was it? A noble’s party? No. Where? I definitely know this. Naru, how about you?”
Cecily asked Naru.
Of course, Naru didn’t know what this was either.
The moment that she tilted her head—
“…Molu?”
Badump—!!
Badump— Badump—!!!
The thrumming of the energy in the tank intensified.
As everyone was watching this sight, something made a rustling noise.
━Meoooow.
“Ah, Molumolu, come here!”
Wanna read ahead? Buy coins You can unlock chapters with coins or rather “genesis orbs”
Wanna unlock all premium chapters? Check the Membership Chapters will seamlessly unlock no need to bother buying coins anymore.
You can also support us by becoming an exclusive member here
You can rate this series here
You can check our dɨşçöŕd for illustrations here
21
