'We were careless from the beginning by just locking her in that hole. Illska has a very strong physique; if she wanted to, she could have opened the lid of that hole by force,' thought Iskaria.
'Is she so curious about the outside world that she doesn't care that Iskaria will hate her?' thought Allen.
Iskaria ran as fast as she could, and the first thing she checked was the path where the bishop would walk since the biggest problem was when Ilska met the bishop. If Illska met other slaves, we could still do something about it, and Isabelle could still give them the command to be silent.
-BRUG
Iskaria accidentally bumped into someone. She was so focused on searching that she didn't realize someone was in front of her. And that person was the paladin, walking in front of the bishop.
"Oh, I'm sorry, miss. Are you hurt?" asked the paladin while giving her a hand.
Seeing Iskaria's face, which looked panicked, tired, and seemed to be in a hurry, Nicolas immediately preceded Ottar, held Iskaria's hand, and helped her stand up.
"Please forgive my friend," he said with a smile.
"N-no problem, your grace," Iskaria replied without looking at Nicolas' face.
Nicolas, who realized something odd about Iskaria's reactions, pulled Iskaria's hand away and whispered something to Iskaria.
...
On the other hand, Allen tried hard to look everywhere in the house. He looked everywhere, from the storage room to the kitchen to the maid's room, but he couldn't find Illska.
A moment later, he realized there was one place he hadn't been looking for.
"Finally, I found you," Allen said as he opened the door.
"Allen!" called Illska as she jumped towards Allen and hugged him.
Illska was waiting in Allen's room. She traced Allen's presence with her nose, following Allen's smell, and finally reached Allen's room.
Allen then pushed Illska's sticky body away from him, and he immediately closed the door.
"What are you doing here? Didn't I tell you to stay inside there?"
Illska's happy face turned gloomy.
"Angre, Illska just wants to see Allen."
"ONLY FOR THAT?! I told you that I would meet you every morning!"
"REDD! But! Since Allen looked so angry yesterday, Illska is afraid that Allen won't come back again..."
"How stupid! Iskaria is very worried about you, do you know that? You got out of that hole at the worst possible moment."
"Angre, don't get angry at Illska again, Allen."
"I'm mad because you've suddenly become so annoying! I forbid you to go out to help you! Why don't you hear me?! You can't leave that place! Nothing like this should ever happen again!" Allen snapped.
"!!!" Illska then cried. It was the first time someone else had yelled at her, so her heart broke, especially since Allen, who she liked, was the one who yelled at her.
Seeing Illska cry, Allen somehow reminded him a little of himself.
He tried to get out of his house when he was in the dungeon. And as a result, he almost died. Luckily, his mother was there to protect him at the time. His mother always told him not to go outside because it was dangerous, and Allen has always did what she said since that time. Until he met Lavinia.
When Lavinia suddenly disappeared from his home, Allen felt empty and lonely. Because of this, he tried to leave the house again, and it really ended badly, as his mother said.
"Angre, Redd, Lei seg, Allen sorry… Illska really feels sorry..."
Allen finally figured out the word Illska always used when she started speaking. It was what Illska's expressions and her feeling at that time.
Lei seg meant sad, Angre probably meant regret, while Redd meant fear.
Allen could see a reflection of his old self in Illska, and if it continued like this, Illska would probably end up just like him. Leaves his house and ends up regretting everything he did.
'This girl looks like me. I left my house to find Lavinia, and she left hers to find me. She feared our precious time together would end there, just like I did.'
Allen concluded that if prohibition couldn't keep her inside the hole, he had to give her something else to keep her from wanting to leave.
Allen held both of Illska's hands gently.
"I can't help it. I have to do this," said Allen.
"Allen?"
Allen looked straight into Illska's red eyes, which resembled his own, and then he said,
"One day, when the day comes, when you are allowed to go out, and people are no longer afraid of you... let's look up at the stars together. I will accompany you until you are satisfied. At that time, you can tell me all your stories about Olaug, Mor, Familie, everything else. Until then, you must stay inside."
Illska's red eyes shone brightly at that moment, as if a fire had begun to burn inside her eyes, lighting up her face. She felt the happiness in her heart, and there was not even the slightest doubt that Illska had in Allen's promise; more precisely, even if Allen lied, she didn't care.
"Really?!" said Illska with a smile on her face.
"That's right."
"How about seeing the sun? Let's compete who can see it the longest!"
"Let's do that."
"Then, after that, let us look at the sea together. Illska wants to eat the fish in the sea!"
"Alright, sometimes."
"Then after that, let's travel all over the world, discover all kinds of things, and eat all kinds of delicious food around the world! After that... after that..."
"Hmm?"
"After that, let's settle down, have kids, have grandchildren, and live in a cozy, animal-filled environment."
"What's that?"
"Illska doesn't really understand either. Olaug said that Illska should find someone to live with one day, and if I could find that person, Illska would be the happiest person ever. Illska thinks, if Illska is always with Allen, maybe every day Illska will be very happy!"
"I don't know... I don't understand. I can't promise."
"It's okay; we have plenty of time to explore the world. We will understand what Olaug means little by little."
Illska was in Allen's room late at night, alone with him, making promises and talking about the future. Illska had so many plans for her future that she wanted Allen to promise to do everything she wanted with her. Illska said something that Allen could only agree with.
With a promise, Illska could stay in the hole. Allen didn't mean to break it at all; he really meant to keep his promise.
But neither of them knew that the promise and future they were talking about might never come true.
.
.
.
Bishop Nicolas and Paladin Ottar—there was a reason why the two of them were chosen by the Archbishop to be sent to Wolverlope's residence.
First, the battle-loving paladin, Ottar Hannefson. He used to be a peasant, but the Archbishop picked him up and turned him into a paladin because he dealt with problems well. Before he became a paladin, he was a Mithril-ranked dungeon explorer who lost his whole group on the 6th floor. He was the only one who took the six dead bodies of his group out of the dungeon. The many cuts and bruises on his body and face showed that he let monsters attack him while he was carrying the bodies. No one could figure out how he got out without being hurt. His toughness and resilience were just what the emergency mission needed.
Second was Bishop Nicolas Kent. He was chosen to handle a case like this mainly because of his god's blessing. His blessing was being able to read a person's mana flow. When he touched someone with his hand, he could sense the person's mana flow for a day. And from there, he can tell if someone is lying or not. This god's blessing was perfect for investigating, especially those related to traitors of the state and church.
Inside the carriage, Nicolas looked at the commoners doing their routine; they seemed happy, but Nicolas' face somehow looked sad.
"Look, Ottar. Our people are happily living their lives. How could I ignore these people just because of a child."
Ottar sat in front of him in armor that looked stuffy inside the carriage.
"So that's it, you've confirmed it, huh?" asked Ottar.
Confirmed what?
"I am pretty sure that Earl Isabelle Browet Wolverlope is a traitor to the kingdom. I know from that maid's mana that she is hiding a Norttish who is still a child.
"Gahaha, it turns out that our choice to visit them was right. We were almost completely fooled because there was an other-worlder who happened to have a little white hair."
"Ottar… Is there no other way? Other than sacrificing them?"
"If there were another way, the two of us wouldn't have been sent here."
The bishop then wrapped the church necklace around his neck and said:
"May God forgive us for taking the lazy way to solve the problem."