Legacy of the Living
"This Langen here is a bishopric. His Excellency Giacomo can be said to be a proxy lord appointed by His Holiness the Pope. And yet he is aiding the faction that stands against His Holiness—how could one say he hasn't changed?"
The old fence named Udo spoke as if sighing.
His tone carried unmistakable frustration. And understandably so—he was a citizen of Overlangen. His fate was tied to the Archbishop of Langen. If things went wrong, he might be forced to stand against the Holy Church itself.
It was not a situation that made sense.
Roberta could understand his frustration—but she could not understand Archbishop Giacomo's actions.
One could not rise to the rank of Archbishop through faith alone. Political acumen equal to one's faith—and the trust of the Kormilius family—were also required.
Moreover, the seat of Langen Archbishop was the highest position one could attain without belonging to the sacred bloodline. Above it stood only the Pope—and only those of divine lineage could ascend to that seat.
So why would someone who had reached such a position choose to oppose the Holy Church?
"Do you have any guesses?"
Ulrich asked.
"I do. Though it is only my personal speculation."
"Go on. I'll decide what to make of it."
"There was a visitor who came to see His Excellency last year. A fairy. One who wore earrings."
A fairy with earrings.
Such fairies were vassals of the Empire. During the previous empire—the Isturia Dynasty—enslaved fairies had been marked with earrings as slave insignias.
Though the Jokuster Empire no longer recognized fairy slavery, the custom remained. Fairies who became vassals of noble houses still wore earrings.
"Do you remember the name? That fairy's name?"
"I never heard it. I only learned afterward that such a guest had come and gone."
Ulrich placed a hand on his chin.
"Continue."
The old man paused, as if recalling his memory, then spoke again.
"I later heard that the fairy's group stayed at the temple. Even though, as imperial vassals, their association with His Excellency would be… uncomfortable. Yet they stayed for several days. And right after they left, His Excellency postponed the sacraments for several days."
Postponed the sacraments?
Roberta narrowed her eyes.
"It wasn't due to some health issue, was it?"
As she asked, she recalled Archbishop Giacomo's robust appearance.
"I heard he secluded himself in the prayer chamber, claiming divine inspiration."
"It's rare, but not unheard of."
She emphasized the phrase not unheard of.
"But meeting someone from the Jokuster side right before that… it's suspicious."
"That's not all. Not long after, His Excellency came to see me."
"Was it because of those rings?"
The old man lifted the necklace with Yusuf's two rings hanging from it.
"Yes. Out of nowhere, he began asking about a grave."
"A grave?"
"Yusuf's grave."
Roberta tilted her head slightly.
The old man attempted to rise from the bed. His son quickly came over to support him, and the two stepped out into the corridor. Roberta, Fritz, and Ulrich followed.
"This Langen Bishopric was one of the places where Yusuf was active. There are several ruins left behind by his followers, so many believe there are still undiscovered sites. In the past, relics have even been found, so previous appointees have shown interest from time to time."
At the mention of relics, Roberta briefly glanced at Ulrich before turning her attention back to the old man.
"So… did he find any significant clues?"
"Of course not. There is nothing beyond what has been passed down. That's why I say it was so strange. At a time like this… to be doing something like that…"
Yusuf had lived over a thousand years ago, and his grave had never been found. The same went for any real clues.
The possibility that Archbishop Giacomo had suddenly begun searching for Yusuf's grave out of mere curiosity was extremely low.
At a time when the conflict between Kormilius and Jokuster could erupt into open war—treasure hunting?
That went far beyond simple curiosity.
"He must have had some kind of certainty."
"It was definitely after meeting that fairy guest. That's what I believe."
The old man entered another room.
It was larger than the shop they had just visited, filled with even more shelves.
Passing between them, he sat at a table by the wall. His son retrieved a scroll from one of the shelves and spread it out.
"…A treasure map?" Fritz muttered.
It was a map of the entire Langen Bishopric, marked with numerous X's—more than twenty in total. These likely indicated suspected locations of Yusuf's grave.
"I'm a fence. One with some influence. If His Excellency wasn't planning to dig himself, he would need to hire people. And do you think those people would work for wages alone?"
If they found anything during excavation, they would naturally bring it to a fence to sell. And each time, the fence would ask about its origin—and record it.
The old man took a quill from his son and circled four of the marked locations.
"These four places haven't been touched by His Excellency yet. Since nothing has been found so far, the next search will likely be one of these. Anything else you wish to ask?"
Ulrich said nothing.
He simply studied the map in silence.
***
By the time the three returned to their lodging, Beatrice had already arrived.
Before visiting the Grand Temple of Overlangen, they had taken rooms at an inn. Though Roberta and Beatrice, as priests, could have stayed at the temple, Roberta wished to conceal her identity, and Beatrice had no desire to stay somewhere suspicious.
"You're back."
The inn was a three-story building, with a dining area on the first floor.
When they returned, it was an awkward hour—well past lunch, but too early for dinner.
Beatrice sat alone in the quiet dining area, without her attendants, tearing into a loaf of bread. It seemed freshly baked—the aroma reached them as they approached.
She took a large bite, then handed the remaining piece to Roberta.
"Yes, well…"
Roberta tore off a piece of bread as well, trailing off.
They had only agreed to travel together as far as Overlangen. Ulrich's group was headed to Novasolon, where the Pantheon was—not to investigate Archbishop Giacomo.
She wasn't sure how much she should share.
"How was it on your end?"
As if reading her thoughts, Ulrich sat across from Beatrice and asked.
"Hungry, and no results."
Beatrice paused mid-bite.
"I asked around, but he slipped away like an eel."
"So you found nothing that could count as evidence."
"Unfortunately, no. There's plenty of circumstantial evidence, though."
Her gaze shifted to Roberta.
Roberta handed her bread to Fritz and met her eyes.
"Sister Roberta, when you went to the temple earlier, did you see any regular priests?"
She furrowed her brow, searching her memory.
"No. I saw an apprentice priest, but…"
"They've either been reassigned or dispatched elsewhere."
"At a time like this?"
"Yes."
Obvious.
They had been driven out—those who didn't suit him.
"That's strange. Wouldn't that only increase suspicion?"
"Seems he's willing to accept that much. As suspicious as it looks… the problem is, even with him acting so openly, there's nothing I can do about it."
Beatrice muttered, as if annoyed.
"It seems His Excellency knows that as well."
"Why is that?"
Beatrice shrugged.
"He claims he's doing it to 'resolve the conflict between both sides.'"
"…His Excellency is remarkably composed."
Roberta spoke in a tone of disbelief.
"You think so too, don't you? But there's nothing we can do. He is in contact with Jokuster, but there's no way to know the details. And when he keeps sending donations to the Pantheon without fail and says things like that on the surface—what am I supposed to do?"
In the Kingdom of Osnover, Archbishop Vinicio had also refused the priest summons and remained. At the time, he justified it by saying it was to reconcile the conflict between Osnover and the Pantheon.
Giacomo's justification was the same as Vinicio's.
But unlike Vinicio, Giacomo showed no signs of trying to reconcile anything—only actions that raised suspicion.
Even if Inquisitor Beatrice's suspicions had nearly turned into certainty, she could not act.
In principle, an inquisitor could even punish the Kormilius family—but in reality, that was not possible. The same applied to an Archbishop.
The authority of the Holy Church was no longer what it once was, and the position of Kormilius within it had weakened. If the Archbishop of Langen were punished without solid evidence, the backlash would be uncontrollable.
"Still, there must be other ways."
"Well… this investigation began based only on circumstances."
Beatrice swallowed the last of her bread.
"Have you heard of Yusuf?"
At Ulrich's question, Beatrice tilted her head.
"Yusuf? What are you referring to?"
Instead of answering, Ulrich looked at Roberta.
Understanding his intent, she explained everything they had learned from the fence.
At several points, she hesitated—because parts of the story clearly hinted at Ulrich's past. But each time, he gestured for her to continue as if it didn't matter.
"…So after meeting that unknown fairy, he started searching for the grave."
After hearing the full explanation, Beatrice crossed her arms and closed her eyes.
"That is strange. From speaking with him earlier, Giacomo seemed like a very practical person. Why would someone like that go looking for a grave that hasn't been found for centuries—and might not even contain anything?"
Exactly.
If whatever lay in Yusuf's grave was connected to Giacomo's actions, then it had to be something extraordinary. Yet Roberta couldn't even begin to imagine what it might be.
Beatrice, Fritz, and Roberta—all three fell silent.
Six eyes turned toward Ulrich.
"As for the grave… even I don't know."
Roberta tilted her head.
"I thought you had a close connection to Yusuf."
"Not a shallow one. I was there when Yusuf distributed the rings."
From his pocket, Ulrich took out the second ring—Gamil's ring—and showed it to them.
"But that's where my time with him ends. As far as I know, this place is neither Yusuf's birthplace nor where he died. It's simply one of the places long suspected to hold his grave. Tell me—can you guess why Yusuf became a thief?"
After thinking for a moment, Roberta gave a wry smile.
"He didn't do it because he wanted to be some kind of righteous thief… did he?"
Ulrich let out a light chuckle.
"Of course not."
"As you know, between one age and the next, there is always great chaos. One age collapses, and disorder follows. Then the next age rises, extinguishing that chaos—it's inevitable.
After a new dynasty is established, there is a period where they are busy dealing with the remnants of that disorder. It's during that time that thieves thrive. Not petty thieves—but those who steal something far greater."
"…Like land? Titles?"
"That would make sense—but what I'm referring to are relics."
Ulrich continued calmly.
"When ancient houses or organizations are shaken by chaos, there are those who exploit that weakness and steal their treasures. Among the relics stolen back then, many are now designated as holy relics by the Holy Church—and some are even greater than that."
Greater than holy relics…
Roberta licked her dry lips.
"If such relics fall into the wrong hands… that would be disastrous."
"It would also go against the will of their original owners. That's why I decided to recover them."
Roberta nodded slowly.
"And Yusuf was one of the people who worked with you."
"Yusuf—and Gamil."
"Gamil is…"
Her voice trailed off.
The old fence had said it—forty-one rings made from Yusuf's sword. And the second ring belonged to the one who made them all.
And Ulrich possessed that second ring.
At first, Roberta had assumed Ulrich himself was Gamil—the one who made the rings.
But the old man had said Gamil was Yusuf's younger brother.
"That is my name—but it is also a borrowed one."
"…Ah."
Roberta let out a quiet breath.
She had heard something like this before.
"…Like Armin."
Ulrich had many aliases—but not all of them were originally his. Just as he now used the name of his deceased adopted son, Armin, he sometimes borrowed the names of others.
"That's right. I borrowed the name of Yusuf's brother, and together with Yusuf and thirty-nine others, we traveled the world tracking down and reclaiming lost relics."
He explained that the recovered relics had been entrusted to those he trusted.
Some were given to the Holy Church, some to knightly orders, and others to different races. According to him, many of the relics known today were among those recovered at that time.
"Yusuf kept some relics for himself, but as far as I know, they weren't anything extraordinary. Some say he passed them down to his descendants, others say he took them to his grave. The truth is unclear. All I heard was that he died and was buried somewhere unknown."
Ulrich paused briefly and placed the ring on the table.
"And now the Archbishop is searching for Yusuf's grave."
"Do you think he'll find it?"
At Beatrice's question, Ulrich simply replied:
"Hard to say."
He looked at the ring.
A grave buried over a thousand years ago, never found until now—could it truly be discovered at this point?
If so, then the Archbishop must have obtained a remarkable clue.
"But what matters isn't whether he finds it or not."
His voice grew lower, calmer than usual.
"What matters is why he is seeking Yusuf's grave now."
A quiet weight settled into his tone.
"I want to know why someone would disturb the rest of my old friend… and whether that reason has anything to do with me."
If they followed the Archbishop's movements, they would find out.
Ulrich spoke those words softly.
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