Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-45

Chapter 45. The Lightkeeper (1)

“I already anticipated this,” the maid spoke coldly.

“It wasn’t hard to predict. But I didn’t know you’d be a Wallachia human hunter…”

Isaac had expected a paladin from the Golden Idol to come for him.

A paladin that could be associated with the Golden Idol guild, known for not having any paladins, was essentially a mercenary.

The Golden Idol had the power to hire paladins from different faiths without hesitation and pit them against each other, just like Caitlin hired Isaac and Yukhar hired the Wallachia hunter standing before him now.

They might not consider it a power, but it was something no other faith outside the Golden Idol could do. Moreover, mercenaries hired by the Golden Idol consortium could receive blessings of luck from the Golden Idol.

With a swift motion, the maid launched her spear. Isaac felt a familiar sensation from the barely missed spear trajectory. Her skills were not ordinary, surpassing those of Wallachia hunters he had previously encountered in a valley.

‘Almost or slightly less skilled than Heinckel? Impressive.’

Isaac tensed up, readying himself for a tight battle if it came down to pure skill.

Of course, Isaac had no intention of fighting fair, assuming his opponent felt the same.

“What’s your relation to Heinkel Gullmar?”

The maid seemed to ignore Isaac’s question, but her spear trembled slightly. Trying to hide it was futile; her ability to transform into red mist and her mastery with the spear clearly indicated she was trained by the same person. Isaac quickly deduced that the maid was affiliated with the Gullmar ducal house.

“Don’t tell me you’re Hesabel Gullmar? the heir to the Gullmar ducal house, right?”

The maid clenched her teeth. Her inability to hide her facial expressions was evident. The dramatic change in her emotions was too conspicuous to be angry about being discovered. Her face was filled with shame and anxiety.

“Why would the heir to the Gullmar ducal house be here, dressed as a maid, working as a mercenary?”

“Hey!”

The maid finally yelled, swinging her spear wildly.

With tremendous force, the walls and pillars were ripped apart, leaving a massive scar.

Watching this, Isaac couldn’t help but feel bewildered.

“Really?”

Hesabel seemed to lose her strength, lowering the tip of her spear. Isaac didn’t miss the opportunity and launched himself forward with Isaac Swordsmanship: Eight Branches. In an instant, the walls, floor, and ceiling of the room were ripped apart with eight trajectories aiming at Hesabel.

Caught off guard by Isaac’s sudden change in stance, Hesabel was unprepared for a fight, expecting a conversation instead. A spear wasn’t a weapon that could be readily prepared without a prior stance, showing its large preparatory movements.

Isaac noticed that among the eight movements he initiated, two trajectories wounded Hesabel, but the rest were deflected. Despite the brief moment, Hesabel managed to execute advanced spear techniques, evident from the smoothly penetrated marks on the walls where she struck.

Had Isaac not dodged or blocked, those strikes would have precisely bored holes through him.

The wounds on Hesabel, as if gnawed by a saw, quickly healed into a mist of blood.

Realizing he couldn’t kill her without using his tendrils, Isaac opened up for a conversation.

“Shall we talk?”

“This bastard…”

She started to mutter a curse but quickly covered her mouth. Isaac shrugged.

“I have no idea what you bloodsuckers are doing deep in the White Empire. Working under a criminal lord in a border city? Plotting some conspiracy?”

Isaac wondered if the Wallachia hunters, like they did in the Ariet Monastery, were plotting something here too. Though, to be precise, it was the plot of the Immortal Order, not the Red Grail.

Hesabel gnashed her teeth, then aimed her spear at Isaac.

“It’s because of you!”

“Me?”

“My uncle had the rite of Division, and you stole it! I came to retrieve it!”

The Rite of Division, a relic of the Red Chalice Club, was indeed something the heir to the Gullmar ducal house would chase after, risking their life. Unable to bring an army, she would have come alone or with a few elites. However, there were still unanswered questions.

“But why are you in a maid’s outfit?”

“Shut up!”

Hesabel swung her spear again. Isaac considered mimicking the Prophet of the Red Flesh, as he had done with Heinckel, but it seemed there was no time for that.

Loud footsteps were approaching from outside.

“Who’s there!”

Alerted by the commotion Hesabel caused, the guards and security personnel of the accommodation were rushing towards them. As it was a well-equipped lodging, there was a substantial security force. Hesabel glared at Isaac, but she had already missed her chance.

She quickly disappeared into the mist that enveloped Seor, becoming a red mist herself.

Isaac didn’t lose track of the flow of the red mist.

***

The main flow of logistics in Seor was through the riverside, hence the waterways were well-maintained, with sewers leading into these waterways throughout the city.

Isaac chose one of these underground sewers to enter.

Of course, Isaac wasn’t planning to wait until Yukhar readily prepared the Shepherd’s Figurine.

Given that Yukhar sent an assassin dressed as a maid instead of an apology and the figurine, he would be preparing to flee or resist.

In fact, this was somewhat intended.

Isaac had almost ruled out the possibility of Yukhar willingly handing over the relic.

Instead, by striking at his weakness, Isaac thought Yukhar would desperately run towards the relic. And things were going as expected.

‘It is within here.’

The will of Zihilrat was conveyed to Isaac. Thanks to possessing a higher intelligence than a rat, though the speech was awkward, the vocabulary was rich. Fitting for a creature born from a rat, Zihilrat was useful for assassination, infiltration, and tracking.

‘To think it would lead me straight to the relic this easily.’

Isaac smirked bitterly, concluding that Yukhar had nothing but the relic to rely on. The Golden Idol guild was deciding on his punishment, and the power brokers and merchants of Seor wouldn’t be pleased to learn they had been manipulated, especially after being fed a suspicious potion.

What else could Yukhar rely on besides the relic?

That’s when it happened.

[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]

[The Nameless Chaos desires the ‘purification’ of this desecrated sanctuary.]

[A reward from Chaos awaits you.]

Isaac’s steps halted.

‘The Shepherd’s Crook is kept in a sanctuary?’

He knew there were sanctuaries in Seor, as important places often had one. But this place was likely a sanctuary of the Golden Idol guild, and he had no intention of meddling with it.

But it was strange that Yukhar came here to borrow its power.

‘The Golden Idol is a bit… weak on the defensive side.’

However, it seemed clear why he had hidden here, seemingly with no place to run. And why the Shepherd’s Figurine could exert such strong power.

He had been drawing on the power of the sanctuary.

And there was another entity protecting Yukhar.

“Hello, heir to the Gullmar ducal house.”

Hesabel stood facing Isaac, looking tired. Unlike the previous dawn, she was not dressed as a maid but wore the distinctive, high-quality hunting attire of a Wallachia hunter.

“Don’t call me that if you know my name. It feels like an insult.”

“My name is Isaac. You knew that, right?”

Hesabel nodded and drew her spear, but she didn’t seem intent on fighting immediately, resting the tip of her spear on the ground.

“Just return the Rite of Division. Then, I won’t interfere and will go back.”

Isaac looked at her with interest.

He had no intention of returning it, but he was curious why the heir to the Gullmar ducal house would be serving under Yukhar in the dens of Seor’s criminals.

“Tell me why you were working under Yukhar.”

“…It’s because of you.”

“If it’s about the Rite of Division, you could have just ambushed me at night.”

Hesabel tried to remain silent, but Isaac pulled out the Rite of Division from his waistband. Her eyes shook violently.

“Speak the truth, and I might give it to you.”

“You, you!”

“I swear upon the Codex of Light.”

Although it was a deity Isaac was indifferent about, Hesabel was startled by his oath. She hadn’t expected a paladin to swear on their faith over such a matter. But the possibility of regaining the Rite of Division with just a few words tempted Hesabel to finally speak.

“…I ran out of travel funds while tracking you.”

Hesabel had been following Isaac from the Ariet Valley, thinking she just needed to retrieve the Rite of Division and return.

The problem was, this was Hesabel’s first time wandering alone for months. Moreover, she hadn’t anticipated the journey would take so long or require much money.

Food was manageable by drinking blood, and she was accustomed to sleeping outdoors, but the harsh winter journey was unbearable for a duchess used to luxurious living.

Additionally, avoiding the sun and hiring help discreetly cost a lot.

By the time her funds were depleted, Hesabel had arrived in Seor.

“So you heard about the loracus boom?”

“…Yes.”

Hesabel thought it was a good opportunity to secure funds, but she had no money left.

“So, you took out a loan.”

“…A loan? From Yukhar?”

“Yes. He even demanded collateral…”

With her unclear status, only someone like Yukhar, a big shot in the back alleys, would lend her money, and that too against collateral. Perhaps, the collateral was the very goal.

Being the heir to the Gullmar ducal house, Hesabel had plenty of valuables that could serve as collateral.

Isaac looked at her incredulously.

“Did you actually pledge another relic as collateral?”

“…Yes. And with that money… I bought loracus coins.”

Hesabel bit her lip several times.

“That’s absurd.”

“Dealing with heavy, earth-smelling loracus seemed less practical than loracus coins, right? Besides, cash was said to be a primitive relic of the past. Loracus coins were supposed to replace all cash in the future. At first, they even paid dividends! But then…”

The problem began when the payment of dividends started to delay. Yukhar told her that as the price of loracus rose, so did the value of loracus coins, suggesting she sell them to make money. Hesabel believed him and bought more loracus coins.

By the time she realized, she had less than a third of the money left from when she pledged the relic.

Greed had engulfed not only the foolish farmers, merchants, and power brokers but also the heir to the ducal house of the Walaika Kingdom.

‘How could you be so foolish? Did you drink the loracus wine, too?’

Isaac almost blurted out those words but managed to restrain himself.

“Just kill Yukhar and take the money.”

“I can’t. Then I won’t be able to retrieve the relic.”

Hesabel muttered, stabbing the ground with her spear.

“And… if you talk nonsense, the price of loracus will crash. I’m stuck with loracus coin gold at 4.2 each. If the price of loracus goes up, I can pay off my debt and get the relic back. I will stop you at all costs!”

The cry of a high-rise dweller trapped on the 42nd floor echoed heroically through the sewer.