Following that attendant, she twisted and turned through countless corridors, going around in circles several times, until Iri was completely disoriented.
Is it true that whether it's the Empire, the Kingdom, or your Theocracy, you all like to play this game? Do all the leaders like to hide in such hard-to-find places?!
Learn from Nazarick!
Uh… it seems Nazarick also has this 'nature,' so to speak; if it weren't for teleportation, walking directly from the main entrance to the Throne Room would probably take several days. Thinking about it this way, Nazarick seems even more excessive.
After a few more turns, the attendant finally stopped in front of a grand hall and signaled the guards at the main entrance to open the door.
So the door opened, but looking in from the outside, the interior was completely dark, even though it was a bright sunny day outside. What kind of ghost is this with no light inside at all?
Iri hesitated when she saw this situation. Could it be a trap? Would she be bound by tentacles attacking from all directions the moment she stepped into this darkness?
Uh… the Theocracy shouldn't be that heavy-handed, right?
The attendant saw Iri standing at the door, conflicted, and urged her, saying that the Bishops were waiting for Iri inside and for Iri to hurry in.
There was no choice but to bite the bullet and go in. If it really didn't work out, she could just put on the ring, go berserk, and escape. She was alone, with no worries, and a teleportation scroll was in the hidden pocket of her cloak. Even if Death Knight was waiting for her inside, she could run away at any time.
So Iri stepped directly into that darkness. As soon as Iri's front foot entered, the door slammed shut with a bang. At the same time, a beam of light shone down in the center of the hall, illuminating only a solitary chair.
"Please, sit down, Clementine."
The sudden voice startled Iri. She immediately activated her senses. Since someone was speaking, there must be someone there! Yet, even with her senses activated, Iri couldn't detect any signs of life within this pitch-black hall.
However, Iri still obediently sat down on the chair. After all, if the Theocracy truly intended to harm her, there would be no need for so many theatrics. They could have acted when she first entered. Asking her to sit down and such, she guessed they wanted to interrogate her.
As soon as Iri sat on the chair under the only light source in the center of the pitch-black hall, the light illuminating Iri dimmed considerably. What followed was a strong light shining directly at Iri from all directions. For a moment, it flashed so brightly that Iri couldn't open her eyes… she could only instinctively cover her eyes with her hand to avoid the direct'shot' of the strong light.
However, many presences with an incredibly strong sense of presence appeared in front of this strong light. Due to the strong light, Iri could only barely make out that these shadows all seemed to be high-backed chairs with an incredibly high 'level' of sophistication. Then there were people sitting on those chairs, and they were everywhere. This meant… Iri was now like a prisoner, surrounded by a group of Bishops who looked incredibly 'high-level.'
Uh… where did you learn this trick? If there was also a pork cutlet bowl, it would be perfect, but there's no such thing as a pork cutlet bowl in this world, right? Iri thought to herself.
Joking aside, these guys really knew how to play. Now Iri's eyes had adapted to the strong light, but she still couldn't see the true faces of the Bishops sitting in those high-backed chairs. All she saw were blurry black shadows. It seemed to be the effect of some item, and their security measures were quite thorough.
"Then, let's begin! Former Black Scripture Ninth Seat, Clementine Hassaya Quintia, Gelos has already reported the misfortune you encountered during this mission. For this, we can only express our regret to you."
A voice, presumably an Old grandpa, came from among the black shadows. Perhaps due to the environment or other items, Iri couldn't tell which black shadow spoke. It sounded like a home theater surround sound system directly in her ear, making it impossible to determine the direction.
"That… Bishop? Is there no way to recover?" Iri asked, feigning a very 'panicked' expression. Of course… she had to go all out with the act. Here, she needed to show her unease about losing her memories.
"According to Gelos's report, your situation is quite rare. In our opinion, there is no hope of recovery," a voice came from within the black shadows again.
"Is that so…" Iri could only put on a somewhat dejected expression. However, this was for the best. If these Bishops were to bring out some inexplicable item to "examine" her body and discover that she hadn't been affected by Falling Beauty of a Nation at all, it would be disastrous.
"Don't worry, even if you have lost your memories, you are still a part of the Slane Theocracy."
Hearing them say this, Iri breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't expect them to accept her identity so easily, did she? Or were they quite confident in the effects of Falling Beauty of a Nation?
"Then let's get to the main point! What did you see on the Katz Plains?" the black shadows asked again.
Upon hearing this, Iri immediately became alert. Logically, if Gelos had reported to them, he would certainly have included what she had fabricated about her observations on the Katz Plains.
However, now they were asking her again what she saw on the Katz Plains. Is this a repeated interrogation method? Are they trying to pick apart the details and find her flaws? Hmph hmph! These old foxes are indeed cunning, but unfortunately, you are still too naive!
"My encounter on the Katz Plains…" Iri repeated, word for word, the story she had fabricated to deceive Gelos, describing it again. She had arrived to find Gazef already dead.
Due to the presence of the Great Demon and the gigantic demon beast, she couldn't approach. After the demon and the demon beast left, she immediately ambushed the two individuals who were retrieving Gazef's body and engaged them in combat. Then, fearing that staying too long would attract the attention of the Great Demon and the gigantic demon beast, she only managed to snatch two of the Kingdom's four secret treasures before retreating.
Of course, Iri wasn't foolish enough to repeat it exactly word for word. She simply described the process in a different, more detailed way, but it conveyed almost the same meaning as when she had deceived Gelos.
After Iri finished her description, the black shadows seemed to be in some 'commotion,' and some low murmurs of whispering could be heard. However, there were too many, too chaotic, and too 'disordered,' so what reached Iri was a 'jumbled' mess of human voices. Even Iri couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Very good, to be able to complete the mission 'excellently' under such circumstances, you've worked hard, Clementine," someone among the black shadows said. The other black shadows stopped discussing, so it seemed the one who spoke this was definitely the leader.
"No, I only brought back two of the Kingdom's four secret treasures. That doesn't count as completing the mission," Iri said, feigning an unwilling expression.
"It's enough. To be able to complete the mission 'excellently' even with such an unexpected incident, that is already enough, Clementine. You did very well this time," the leader among the black shadows continued to say.
---------------------------------
If you'd like to read the next 70 chapters in advance, you can support me on Patreon.
I regularly post chapter previews there, so you'll always be up-to-date and won't have to wait too long.
patreon.com/SolyuraMT
And if you enjoy the story, don't forget to give me a Power Stone. Your support really motivates me to continue translating!