Lucifer grabbed the cloak from the old man and put it on the priest. He then slowly guided him towards the door.
The hood was covering his eyesight, so the priest had no idea where he was being taken to.
Michel understood what he was trying to do, so he went along and checked if there was a back door leading further inside the church.
As he expected, there was one and it wasn't locked.
While the guards were distracted by the priest, whose face was under the cloak, the two went through the backdoor towards the church's hallway.
Only priests and few others were allowed in these halls, so there was almost no one there. However, now they had to find a way out of the church while avoiding the guards.
"Hey, old man. Aren't you supposed to be a guide? Find a way out of all this."
They were opening one door after another, but all of them were empty. It looked like the priests were all busy with work. Considering the time of the day, it wasn't surprising.
"I am a guide, not a thief who knows the way around everyone's houses."
"Then what's the use of even having that class?"
"Says the mage who can't do a single magic."
"Tch! That's because I just became one. You will see what I can do. I just need to train a bit."
"Oh, look! they are there!"
The two heard the guards coming at them from behind. Both of them were mid-level warriors, so choosing to fight them was utter foolishness.
Before long, they reached the end of the hallway, which was the dead end. The only way to go further from this point was to go into one of the rooms.
There were three doors in front of them. The two on the sides were normal-looking doors, while the one straight had a well-crafted golden door.
In that rush, they chose the most eye-catching door of all. And by some luck, it ended up being the right choice.
There were big locks from inside that could prevent anyone from getting in. However, the problem here was someone out there must have the key to this room. So, they needed to come up with a way to escape quickly.
In the room, there were several golden chairs and a large throne in front of them. The flower vases and paintings used for decoration there looked old and expensive. There was a statue of angels holding large spheres behind the throne.
"Well, looks like this is the place where the high priest imparts his knowledge to others."
"Yeah, yeah, but what now, old man? This is an even bigger mess than the last one."
"Well, let's think about that later. First, help me push the throne to the door. It's heavy, so they won't be able to open it for a while."
The two tried pushing the throne, but even with all the energy they could muster, it barely moved. But giving up there was not an option, so kept on pushing, and were slowly able to move that thing little by little.
After moving the throne to block the way, the old man walked up to where the throne was and started tapping on the floor.
"Hey, boy, help me out here."
Lucifer walked up to the old man and tapped on the floor, just to realize that the space below was hollow. There definitely was something below the large marble tile under the throne.
"What are you idiots doing? Just break in faster."
"Dammit! This all had to happen when the high priest was away."
"You are of no use. Let me do it!"
Not before long, they could hear the loud bangs on the door. It was apparent that the soldiers were trying to break through. By the sound of things, they looked a lot more worked up than they should normally be, which pointed towards there being something important down there.
If things were ordinary, there wouldn't be a need to worry that much about two trapped escapees.
However, the problem here was moving the tile. Even though there was space below, the tile was strong enough to hold that heavy throne and a person above it.
"Tch! Let's use this."
Lucifer grabbed the sphere the statue near them was holding. He then hit the floor, right at the gap between the tiles.
Using his and the old man's weight, the two were able to lift the tile. Upon lifting it a little, they were able to insert two legs of one of the chairs in the gap.
Now that the two were able to grab it properly, they used their hands to lift the rest of the tile. Inside, there was a wooden door.
The door had no locks in it, so the two could easily open it. And after entering, the two pulled the tile and placed it right back, so the shoulders wouldn't be able to figure out where they went for a while.
Inside the door was a staircase that led them deep down underground. There were lamps made of lightstones illuminating the path forward. What's surprising was how big this entire structure was.
The passage underground was at least 3 meters wide and four meters tall. And the end of the passage had another door.
Inside that door, was what one could call a treasure room. The room was filled with gold coins, artifacts, gemstones, and ornaments.
"Oh damn!"
The churches were richer and more powerful than the entire kingdom, so it shouldn't be that surprising. However, seeing it right in front would make anyone open their mouth wide in awe.
There were three other rooms connected to the vault. The room on the left was full of wines made hundreds and thousands of years ago. The sheer worth of those wines would probably be more than all the gold they saw outside.
The room at the center led to the record of research, illegal deals, and experiments done by the churches. The old man started checking the documents and maps with great interest as soon as he realized what they were.
"Ho-ho-ho! Damn these scums. They even have a hand in slave trades and prostitution… Not just that, oh god... theft, planned murders, illegal deals, and even stealing a share from taxes paid to the government."
While the old man was mumbling while reading all the documents excitedly, Lucifer went to check the third room.
Unlike the other rooms, this one had a thick door with small ventilation on the top of it. Upon opening that door, he realized that it could only be opened from outside and the place was somewhat like a prison.
Unlike the other rooms, this one looked empty. But as he stepped in, he heard someone breathing heavily.
"I…"
Upon hearing the voice, Lucifer rushed to the corner of the room where a lean purple-haired woman was lying on the floor.