21. A New Key
“…M-My grandmother disappeared near my house. And then they told me to come to <this place>. Now that I think about it, I think there was a map drawn on the note.”
I looked down at what Giyet was sketching. The map to <this place> that they mentioned was drawn pretty roughly, so I couldn’t make much sense of it. But Giyet was different. After he finished drawing the map, he looked briefly surprised.
“Ah! I know where this is. Here, it’s Gille Village.”
“Uum, Gille Village?” I rolled the name of the village around in my mind. It sounded familiar somehow.
Meanwhile, Giyet was sharing any potentially useful information he could think of, in no particular order. “It’s a village my grandmother visits often. Ah, and! They said they’re with her and want to have an honest conversation with you, Do-Doctor Wot. An honest conversation.”
“…An honest conversation?”
A village name that felt familiar. And now the hint of an ‘honest conversation.’
My eyes widened. An honest conversation. Those were the exact words Duke Reshaniel used with me more than anyone else. And where did I hear them the most? In that damned sanctuary!
“Gille Village is a holy place, right?”
“Ah, yes. Gille Village is where Saintess Evangeline sacrificed her own body to save the people. It’s also known as the Village of Light, because there are hardly any days in the year when the sun sets.”
Now it all started to make sense, like the pieces of a puzzle finally coming together. Duke Reshaniel, under the guise of persuasion, had locked me away in that freezing cold sanctuary.
“Aah, so you don’t want to take my hand? Fine. I’d like to persuade you more in the sanctuary.”
“This is the place closest to God, Giselle. It’s also where the divine radiance lingers. Let’s pray together.”
If the sanctuary was where Grandma had been taken, rescuing her would be a piece of cake. I’d been locked up there so long, it practically felt like my own home. So, all I have to do is bring everyone to the sanctuary and rescue Grandma, and then… Wait, no. Damn it, how could I have forgotten!
“Duke! News just came that the city guard is approaching the sanctuary.”
“How troublesome… where did we slip up?”
“There seems to have been an issue during the last ‘persuasion’ process.”
“It can’t be helped. We’ll shut this place down. Giselle, get up. Today’s prayers are finished.”
Back when my mana was being drained, and I was trapped in the sanctuary, private soldiers or guards had come searching several times. But that cockroach-like Duke Reshaniel would shut down the sanctuary and hide all information every single time.
I can’t bring a lot of people in. So then, what should I do…? As I mulled over everything I knew about the sanctuary, I suddenly froze. Wait. When Duke Reshaniel talked about the sanctuary, he called it the divine radiance, didn’t he?
I immediately clenched the key in my pocket.
<Only when God shines His light on me will the door open>
The phrase engraved on the key <Only when God shines His Light upon me> and what that mosquito said about <the place where the divine radiance lingers> kept echoing in my mind.
It might just be a wild guess, but… I started to wonder if there might be a way to use this key in the sanctuary. It was all just speculation, so I couldn’t be completely sure. Still, it’s worth sneaking into the sanctuary to find out. Besides, my current combat strength was at its peak, with the dragon and willow warbler. The best thing I can do is rescue Grandma and unlock the key’s secret.
After assessing the whole situation, I made up my mind. “I’ll go meet them alone, for now.”
“What?”
“Didn’t you say we can’t risk information leaking to anyone else? I’ll go first and try talking to them. They probably need me, so I doubt they’ll try to kill me. I’ll free Grandma first, then meet with them one-on-one.”
Whatever Giyet made of my words, his eyes grew moist with emotion. “As expected, Doctor Wot, you are a true hero of our time.”
Honestly, I just wanted to figure out how to use the key my father left me, out of selfish desire… Well, I am taking on a big risk, after all.
I nodded solemnly and added, “We have to rescue Grandma as soon as possible. She could be in danger right now.”
“Da-Danger?” Giyet looked like he was about to faint.
Duke Reshaniel had a group of soldiers known as the Shadow Legion. The Shadow Legion remained in the darkness of the Reshaniel family, handling all their sinister tasks. They used to lure people who went against Duke Reshaniel’s wishes into the sanctuary and torture them. Grandma could be in danger too.
I grabbed Giyet’s hand tightly and whispered to him, almost like I was brainwashing him. “So, I’m going to rescue Grandma. But listen. Six hours from now. If I haven’t returned by then…”
“Huh?”
“Go to Count Florette or Duke Kalinos and ask them for help. Tell them to come rescue ‘Wot.’”
“I-I see.”
I grinned as I drew a map of the sanctuary’s interior on his hand. “I have no intention of dying, so if half a day passes, come running to find me right away!”
* * *
Meanwhile, the sanctuary felt even more damp and oppressive than usual. Clang!
“W-Where am I?” Grandma, her eyes covered with a blindfold, weakly muttered as she rattled the iron-barred door. “What on earth is going on? Why is this happening? Why are you doing this to an old woman like me…? Y-You said you’d let me see Giyet, didn’t you?”
But no answer came.
Giyet’s grandmother curled up and shivered in the bone-chilling cold of the freezing cell. They’d told her Giyet had suddenly fallen ill and that they’d take her to where he was. The young men, who looked like thugs but spoke as gently as angels, had changed in an instant. Then they’d blindfolded her and thrown her into this freezing cell.
Where am I anyway? Her body, still weak from illness, felt twice as cold, but there was something that worried her even more. She asked the silent figure in the darkness, her voice barely a whisper. “Giyet is safe, isn’t he?”
“Come on, Grandma, quit making a fuss and get some sleep.”
Even as the man spat on the floor with a loud splat and spoke to her so rudely, she didn’t have the strength left to protest.
“S-So, Giyet…”
“If you just stay put, you’ll be released eventually, so stop making a fuss and get some sleep.” The man, sounding every bit the swaggering thug, offered no more information and left.
She curled up, shivering uncontrollably. It was going to be a cold night. But what worried her most was the thought that Giyet might try to rescue her, and something might happen to him. If this becomes a problem for my grandson’s future… Then she would die without hesitation. Even in this situation, with no idea what was happening, she thought so seriously.
It would be better if no one came to save me at all. With the instincts honed over decades of survival, she realized this place was quite sinister and dangerous.
* * *
So this is Gille Village.
As I headed toward Gille Village, I stared at the mirror in my hand. A woman with honey-blonde bobbed hair glared back at me. It was definitely Wot’s face. But just for today, I don’t have the necklace. I absently touched my bare neck, feeling strangely exposed, then quickly looked away. Everything’s ready.
Taking a deep breath, I gazed toward the entrance of the village where Grandma was supposed to be, and before I knew it, the air around me had turned chilly and ominous.
“So we meet here.”
“Doctor Wot.”
Two men in black stepped out from an alley, and I stared right at them. Maybe I looked reckless, showing up all alone, or maybe they just seemed suspicious themselves, but the men eyed me warily.
One look at their faces and I knew. Of course, they’re that mosquito’s lackeys. I recognized them. They were members of Duke Reshaniel’s Shadow Legion. They were the worst of the worst, ringleaders with absolutely rotten personalities.
“She might be trashy, but she’s got a pretty face, doesn’t she?”
“He’ll probably toss her aside once he gets bored. And then…”
I could still hear those mocking voices from when I was locked up in that ice-cold prison in the sanctuary. The trauma threatened to come rushing back, so I glared at them and bit down hard on my lip. No, they don’t know I’m Giselle. It’s fine. It doesn’t matter. I’m okay. And there’s no way I’m going to let scum like that intimidate me.
I lifted my chin and stared them down, bold as brass. “That thing.”
“Your words are rather curt. What are you referring to, Doctor Wot?”
“That thing in your hand. Is it a sack, by any chance?”
They exchanged glances and smirked.
“Too bad, you’re pretty sharp.”
Whoosh! Without another word, a black sack came flying toward my head.
I shoved my head right into the sack and shouted, “Come on, just kidnap me already, if you’re going to do it!” My voice buzzed and echoed inside the black sack.
That’s what you call seizing the initiative like a total lunatic.
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