Kidnapped the Saintess of the Hero Party

23 – Panachia Celaria

If we want to escape, we have to break through one side, but if we run away from Black Fang, we won’t be able to survive in this area, Panachia. Lucion didn’t try to hide his feelings. If we think from their perspective, they are also right.

“Why should we tell you? Kid.”

The black rabbit’s shoulders twitched. Lucion deliberately said the words he hated to hear the most. After all, it was the black rabbit who blocked our way first. It didn’t sit well with him to just be on the receiving end.

The effect was excellent.

“You better watch your mouth.”

The black rabbit clenched his fist.

– This, this is getting out of hand.

Soon, a rumbling sound followed.

– Let’s go.

– Let’s go.

– Should we run? Our leader seems really pissed off.

The jet-black rabbit standing with its ears perked would have heard everything.

The black rabbit regained composure. After taking a deep breath, it inquired with a serious demeanor.

“After causing such a spectacular incident, are you pretending not to know?”

A spectacular incident? What could they be talking about? Lusion waited for the rabbit’s next words.

“Unusual phenomena have been observed at Matop for the past two weeks.”

Lusion remained silent.

“Come to think of it, there was a Celestial Artifact in the black Matop in Panathia.”

The Celestial Artifact automatically observed and recorded events happening from a very distant place. There had been stories about several of them being antiques in the black Matop.

At the current moment, it was fifteen years before Lusion’s death. Until this point, it seemed it wasn’t an antique.

The black rabbit interpreted Lusion’s silence positively.

“Is it really your doing?”

They didn’t seem to sense the difference in eras.

Just wearing a robe up to the head was suspicious enough.

After entering the village, there were thoughts about taking off the robe, but ‘that’s unreasonable.’

Lusia’s side profile, glanced at discreetly, was still beautiful, making it awkward to go public without the robe.

Excessive beauty can make a person’s life exhausting.

Should I hold onto it until the end? Such thoughts crossed the mind briefly. However, Howard, who was in Shia’s arms, poked his head out and barked, “King!”

For a moment, there was a static silence.

“Haah.”

Lucion looked sideways. Looking at it, Harold was not an ordinary existence.

It’s a fact that any adventurer knows.

That [priest who accompanies Harold] = [a priest like a hearty rice dish].

Moreover, Harold grew up quite well. He also showed a certain familiarity with Sia.

The black rabbit nods, indicating to look at that.

“Are you going to cause trouble?”

Even as an apprentice priest, Harold doesn’t handle things well.

Anyone can see that Sia is a top-level priest, or at least has that level of skill.

And to Lucion, who wants to stick to Sia like his own mother, it felt like an unwelcome intrusion. Above all, the solidity of Lucion is what the black rabbit failed to perceive at first glance.

The black rabbit usually assesses the opponent’s level at a glance.

However, Lucion couldn’t gauge it.

His gait, posture, and breathing. None of them showed any signs of wavering. He seemed flawless.

“Either he’s an exceptionally talented warrior or an adventurer.”

The recorded magic observed was the magic of a mage who had trained for at least 5 years. The explosive power was recorded as “17 villages destroyed,” so it must have been a concern for the Matop when such a mage approached.

In terms of defense as well.

Lucion was already paying attention,

The black rabbit had only set out on a mission.

“So that’s what it was.”

After assessing the situation, Lucion calmly said,

“I have to go eat dinner.”

“Ha… Ha?”

I turned the conversation around.

Well, there were just too many eyes watching.

#

Somehow, I ended up having a meal served by the Black Rabbit.

Knowing that the Black Rabbit had no talent for cooking, Lucien had to be on high alert while following behind him. Fortunately, the Black Rabbit led them to a restaurant.

Panasia Celerya.

A restaurant that served steak accompanied by tropical crops.

Even here, steak was considered a luxury dish, and in Lucien’s previous life as a lower-class citizen, he had only been able to take Lucia here once a month.

Experiencing luxury cuisine in this life feels different.

There is no rush for culinary pleasure.

Well, he had devoured a dragon, so it was satisfying in its own way.

Before the food even arrived, the Black Rabbit asked.

“So, what’s the deal with you?”

Lucien let out a sigh.

That rabbit is impatient.

“I’ll explain.”

He complained.

“The food hasn’t even come yet.”

He was quickly cut off.

Lack of familiarity was apparent…

The Black Rabbit spoke quickly. It wasn’t bad. After all, in my past life, we were quite close, the Black Rabbit and I.

Even though we had only been colleagues for a month, we were still colleagues.

“More accurately, I was her superior.”

Despite her rank, the Black Rabbit remained friendly towards her subordinates. Just look at her now.

“Did you come here to eat steak again, even though we have no budget?”

“Of course. I need to grow taller.”

Her subordinates often teased her like this when they were bored. If she hadn’t enhanced her hearing through divine power, she might not have been able to hear them, but the Guild members of the Black Claw were still scattered within earshot.

The Black Rabbit slammed the table, but not too forcefully.

It was still a threat. Perhaps it was also a warning to her subordinates.

“Reveal where you came from. Then maybe I’ll make it less painful for you.”

After a long period of deliberation, there were only two possible answers.

Should she honestly say that she came from an orphanage, or should she lie about her background?

Lucion remembered the time he served as a noble lord. He recalled the face of a subordinate who lied about his background. Lying only led to bigger lies.

He remembered driving away those subordinates. In the end, they were all in the palm of his hand. He had committed sins to avoid punishment. The solution to handling this situation was surprisingly simple.

“Panachia, in the southwest. I came from an orphanage.”

“The southwest?”

“Yes. It’s where Sir Lucas, the White Knight Commander, serves as the director. If you don’t believe me, go and confirm it. We grew up there.”

The Black Rabbit nodded.

His response was indeed appropriate.

The southwestern part of Panachia is where retired monsters stay. Lucion didn’t know this, but Heuktochi did.

“Because my master is there too.”

If that’s the case, it’s understandable why Lucion and Lucia have such impressive skills. They must have been taught by a retired archmage.

However, understanding is one thing, but there was no evidence.

Just as Heuktochi was about to voice the lingering question, Lucion pulled out a piece of evidence from his pocket.

It was a silver necklace that Lucas, the former White Knight Commander, always wore and now serves as the only proof of Lucion’s identity.

Heuktochi carefully examined the evidence and nodded as if acknowledging it.

“Alright. It’s certain. It’s the mark of the Kingdom’s White Knight Commander. What’s your name?”

“Lucion. And this is Lucia.”

“Siblings?”

Their names were similar.

Lucion didn’t feel that he and Lucia looked alike, but in their previous lives, people around them always said they looked similar.

They only had the same hair color and eye color. Other than that, they didn’t seem to resemble each other at all.

“If having two eyes, one nose, and two ears is considered resembling, then I guess we resemble each other.”

Heuktochi stared intently at Lucia’s face.

The reason was not difficult to understand.

A beautiful priestess holding Howard in her arms.

She was wearing a robe in the streets, but inside the shop, she revealed her appearance without the robe.

Golden hair parted to the side after being brushed back. Wavy hair flowed down to her waist. Her face had a small but cute nose and long eyelashes that curled like a crescent moon. Her sky-blue eyes were clear, as if they could capture the world without any filter.

Although she had a small and adorable face, it matched the beauty standard that was prevalent throughout Osland.

In other words,

“Pretty, isn’t she?”

“Yes?”

It’s the mark of the Black Rabbit.

Moreover, a priest who travels with Harold.

As an agent who can also extract information from those in power if necessary, Lucia is a talent worthy of cultivating, collecting almost all the information needed to maintain balance.

‘I had an interest in her in my past life too.’

However, there’s no intention to entrust her this time.

Even though they were quite helpful in my past life, capable former colleagues are now the target of Lucia’s anger.

There was no former colleague who showed up when Lucia was executed.

‘Yet, they were comrades we spent a month together.’

In reality, Lucia spent more time in the Black Rabbit. The time directly spent with the guild leader, the Black Rabbit, was only a month. The time spent in the Black Rabbit amounts to almost half a year.

Even so, there was no intention to show affection through actions.

‘They also move calculatively over there.’

The purpose of the Black Rabbit’s visit was not to reveal its identity. If it had only wanted to know the identity, there was no need to bring her here and stage a protest.

If they wanted to know the identity, no matter who they were, if they just waited for a day, various subordinates would reveal their identities while squirming, exposing everything from one to ten.

The Black Rabbit’s goal was to apply pressure.

‘Black Rabbit moved through generations. Moreover, they set up camp in front of the guild.’ This news will spread throughout the entire Panachia region.

To go to such lengths, there is no guild that will approach Lucia and Rusia for recruitment first.

So, I’ll say it without hesitation. It feels uncomfortable that the Black Rabbit’s attention towards Lucia is excessive.

“Do you have an interest in women?”

“What… what? What are you saying!”

“Huh?”

If you let this side go, the other side will suffer, right? It’s okay to be a little forceful.

But, it’s a bit sharp when both of them glare at me at the same time.