Chapter 13
And before Daisy could say anything, the monk dragged her away with a vicious grip.
Daisy tried to shake off his arm, but the monk's strength was unexpectedly overwhelming. Though rumors about Priest Berga were rampant in Ver, she had never heard stories of him acting this oppressively.
No matter how great Priest Berga's status in the monastery, there were still the eyes of the public to consider. Perhaps they thought it didn't matter since Daisy had no one to back her up.
They were already in front of Priest Berga's room. A monk standing as if on guard in front of the priest's room grinned when he saw Daisy.
"You really brought her."
"Is the Priest here?"
"He's still out of his mind. He keeps muttering to himself—seems like he's gone crazy, you know?"
"Don't say such irreverent things."
"You're more irreverent, bastard. Getting all worked up. Do you think the Priest will come back to normal just by looking at her?"
"It could happen."
From their conversation, Daisy realized that Priest Berga hadn't actually called for her at all.
The monk opened the door and shoved Daisy inside. Daisy hurriedly tried to turn the doorknob, but it wouldn't open, as if someone was holding it from outside.
"I'll let you out when the Priest's condition improves."
She heard the monk's words from beyond the door. Daisy released the doorknob. Helplessness flooded her entire body. Tears threatened to overflow, but she bit her lip.
If Priest Berga hadn't called for her, perhaps she could simply return safely.
But what exactly was Priest Berga doing? For someone who exerted such authority, what was his condition that he allowed the monks to act so freely?
Daisy stepped further inside. Priest Berga's room appeared twice as large as the rooms used by other monastics. She heard groaning sounds from within. No, was it gasping?
And the moment Daisy saw Priest Berga's appearance, she involuntarily stepped backward.
This was a completely unexpected situation.
Priest Berga had his head pressed to the floor and was drawing something. Several sheets of paper were crumpled, and spilled ink had stained the floor black.
The ink wasn't even applied properly, so the drawing on the paper looked like mere pressure marks on the surface.
Though the form was unclear, Daisy recognized what was drawn on the paper at a single glance. How could she not recognize it? That was the pattern that thing had been drawing when it wore the young miss's skin.
"I need to complete the hidden part. Is this it? This seems right...."
Despite making such a commotion, Priest Berga didn't even seem to realize Daisy had entered the room.
Priest Berga's hand moved busily. Daisy stood behind him and stared down at him fixedly. Her breathing quickened. It felt like she had returned to the time she secretly spied on the fourth-floor storage room in the Rohanson mansion, not the monastery. It seemed as if at any moment, something indescribable would emerge from the summoning circle on the floor, just like before.
If she left him be, he would really summon those eyes again.
No. He mustn't complete that. After everything I did to escape. I can't see those eyes again. I have to stop him... I have to stop him, but...
Daisy looked around for a way and picked up a statue of Rahel right beside her. The stone carved in the image of god was extremely heavy. Daisy raised both hands high and brought them down.
A dull vibration resonated through her fingertips.
The priest collapsed forward. When Daisy released her hands, the statue of the sun god Rahel fell to the floor and split in two. A red liquid stained Rahel's white robes, cut in half.
Blood flowing from the priest's head began to soak into the drawing. Without Daisy even realizing it, the blood followed the marks pressed by the pen, filling the drawing with color as if flowing through channels.
"What, what have I done...."
Daisy gasped as she recognized the atrocity she had created. I, I only meant to stop him.
What will happen if this is discovered? Killing a priest was a far graver sin than killing anyone else. Because she had dared to kill one beloved by god. If caught, she would be executed.
"I need to run...."
But this was the fourth floor—she couldn't jump down. Two monks were guarding outside the door. There was nowhere to escape. Unless someone helped her.
"Want me to help?"
Suddenly, a whispering voice sounded at her ear.
Daisy trembled as she glanced over, and there was a man who shouldn't exist right beside her, his eyes gleaming. A red tongue flickered between sharp teeth. Hair black as a swamp filled Daisy's vision.
"Shh. You need to be quiet."
The man covered Daisy's mouth with his hand. Daisy stopped breathing entirely.
"Hey. What was that sound? What's going on?"
"Why ask? Just pretend you don't know and leave it be."
"Ah...."
Whether they understood among themselves regarding the loud noise just now, the door didn't open. When the man's hand pulled away, Daisy exhaled the breath she'd been holding. Oxygen filled her lungs and her dazed mind returned. The man looked down at her fixedly, then tilted his head.
"I came because I smelled that guy, but why are you alone?"
"That guy...?"
"You don't know? That one with lots of eyes. He's called Phlauros."
At the word "eyes," Daisy's body trembled. Was the "eyes" this man spoke of referring to "that thing" she saw at the Rohanson mansion?
"Guess you do know. I have business with him. You'll need to take me to him."
Daisy shook her head. Go back there? Absolutely not.
"Can't be helped. You already made a wish, didn't you? I came out cheap, so you need to do at least that much to make it worth my while."
A wish? When Daisy looked puzzled, the man wiggled his finger. At the same time, the dead priest began to rise.
That scene reminded her of when Evangelin was resurrected. The nightmare of that day was repeating even more viciously.
"Ugh. By the way, you offered that thing as a sacrifice? Unless it's someone hungry like me, they wouldn't even look at it."
The man gagged as he looked at the priest's corpse. Perhaps because of his cheerful demeanor, the sight of making a corpse move seemed almost comical.
"There. Now that I've made that thing move, it's your turn to escape."
Before Daisy could even resist, the man snapped his fingers.
When she came to, Daisy was standing in the forest outside the monastery. In the room, now a mess of blood and ink where Daisy and the man had disappeared, the priest sat blankly in his seat. If one looked inside that thing, it would surely be empty.
"Oh right. I forgot the after-sales service."
And as if he'd forgotten something when going out, the man returned and passed by the priest to open the door. Before the two monks guarding outside could even be surprised by the stranger, lines appeared on their necks and their heads fell away.
What was strange was that rather than collapsing, the headless ones picked up their rolling heads from the floor and placed them back on each other's necks.
"Perfect. Yes, very good."
The man disappeared in satisfaction. That the two severed heads were incorrectly grafted wasn't particularly important.
***
"...What you're looking for is probably there."
Daisy said, pointing at the Rohanson mansion. The man, having confirmed the mansion beyond the carriage window, looked at Daisy as if appraising her, then nodded. Since he'd asked to be guided to his destination, it seemed he acknowledged that Daisy didn't need to go with him all the way to the Rohanson mansion.
"So it seems. The smell is strong. Did he set up house there?"
"...Probably."
If what the man called "eyes" was what she thought, it seemed to never leave the Rohanson mansion, so that statement was correct.
Daisy wanted to get away from here right now. Afraid those eyes might fix on her again, she wanted to distance herself from the Rohanson mansion as quickly as possible, and she also wanted to escape from this man who, despite his fresh and kind appearance, was clearly dangerous.
That thing was a monster Daisy had summoned. Just knowing the error she'd committed was still walking around suffocated her.
The transaction with the man ended here. He said he had business with those eyes, so once that was done, he'd surely leave on his own.
Surely he wouldn't stay here?
Coming here with the man, she didn't know how many people he'd killed. Saying it was his first meal in a while, he cut off people's heads, and with some twisted taste, he reattached them.
The people who should have died rose again like Priest Berga and walked around perfectly fine. If not for the red lines drawn on their necks, they'd be indistinguishable from ordinary people.
Finding the eyes was one thing, but had this man also resurrected Miss Evangelin? No, the man hadn't known the Rohanson mansion.
"If you need help, call me again. I'll charge proper price next time, though."
The man waved his hand lightly and got off the carriage. Through the small window, she saw the man's back. Where he headed, a fully bloomed cherry tree stood. That tree still hadn't shed its flowers even after the young miss had hanged herself.
"Where to, miss?"
The driver asked.
"Where to, miss?"
The driver twisted his neck to look at Daisy. The sight was so eerie that Daisy swallowed dry saliva.
"Where to, miss?"
When Daisy didn't answer, the question repeated with unchanged tone and speed. Did he intend to keep asking until he heard an answer? Daisy glanced at the red line drawn across the driver's neck.
Daisy recalled that nightmarish day and today as she decided on her destination.
"To the temple."
***
"Please, save me!"
He encountered a speaking black wolf. Shoot it in the face and capture... no, that's not right.
Is it injured? If it hadn't spoken, I would've thought it was a wild animal being hunted.
But it spoke, didn't it?
The rofan novels she'd seen so far flashed through her mind. With spirits appearing and things being strangely bleak, she had suspected, but this novel really did seem to be a work with some years on it. Why?
That's a werewolf.... A speaking black wolf? No need to think about anything else. It's like a mathematical formula.
The male lead is probably Gabriel, so is this one the sub-male lead? Suspicion bubbled up like a spring.
I could roughly guess the content too....