Picus – Part 03
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Translator: Kell
When I opened my eyes, it was already late at night. I poked Lily awake and crawled out of the cave.
Dropping on my knees, I crept closer and closer to the premises. Fortunately, tonight was a new moon. It was dark outside. If I covered myself with my black cloak, no ordinary person could spot me.
There were no guards in sight, most likely because of the natural defense that the cave provided.
“Now, how do we get in?”
I had no idea what temples were like inside before the rise of the Church. Was there a back door? If Zero was inside, where would she be?
“This way.” Lily raced off.
“W-Wait!” I hurried after her.
Lily ran up to one of the statues and pillars surrounding the temple, and pointed to the floor. “Here.”
As I looked closer, I found a rotting wooden door covered in ivy. A small mouse poked its head out of a crack and squeaked.
“A hidden passage?”
“My friend says there’s food.”
I see. A hidden passage to the pantry. Most churches and temples had them. Apparently that was the case even centuries ago.
Silently cutting the ivy with my knife, I slid into the hidden passage and climbed down a set of stairs. A wooden door stood at the landing. After confirming that there was no one around—by scent and sound—I slowly pushed it open. For a wooden door, it was rather heavy.
Then I heard something falling and breaking.
“Shit. Is this door disguised as a shelf?!”
It wasn’t uncommon for doors to be disguised as shelves, but it seemed that the people who didn’t know about them lined the shelves with jars. I quickly jumped in and closed the hidden door tight.
As I dove behind some sacks of grain, a couple of men came to check the noise.
“Oh, no!” a man exclaimed. “The salt jar’s smashed!”
“Must be rats,” another spat.
I watched nervously as the two men reluctantly began to clean up the mess. Then I heard a familiar clinking.
Keys.
Of course. Only someone trustworthy would be entrusted with the keys to the pantry. It would not be surprising if he had the keys to other rooms as well.
I breathed a soft sigh. I only had one arm, and there were two of them. What now? I glanced at Lily, who was struggling to keep quiet, and back at the sacks piled up high.
I flicked Lily’s forehead, and she let out a squeak.
Hearing the sound, one man came closer, defenseless.
“So that’s where you’re hiding, you stupid rat.”
“Hey, what’s up? We’re in the middle of a bet. Let’s head back.”
“You mean the ‘how many nails before he pisses himself’ bet? What’s so fun about torturing a dude? You can go. I’ll take care of the rat first. The adjudicator will kill us if the pest ruins our food. If we catch a few of them and hang their bodies, the rats will stay away.”
“Aight, cool. Good luck.”
One of them walked out of the pantry. As the other guy moved closer, I pushed the sacks of grain.
“What the—”
Crushed under the weight of several sacks—a single sack weighing about the same as a child—the man fell silent. He didn’t even have a chance to scream.
“I-Is he dead?” Lily wondered.
“He just fainted. If he wakes up, he’ll just assume he slipped or something. And once he realizes he lost the keys, he’ll want to keep it to himself.”
“Keys?”
“Here, take it.” I took the key from the man’s waist and tossed it to Lily.
As I carefully stepped out into the hallway, I caught the metallic smell of fresh blood.
“How many nails before he pisses himself, eh? Making bets while torturing is some fucked-up shit.”
I followed the smell of blood down the hallway. Then I heard men chatting. They were drunk, clapping their hands and laughing merrily. I didn’t just happen to overhear their conversation. More like they were talking too loud.
“This guy’s nuts! Not even a squeak from him!”
“I guess it’s true that adjudicators don’t feel pain. If he can withstand having all twenty nails removed, I guess we’ll have to call off the bet. So what’s next? Hot iron?”
“We can do anything as long as we don’t ruin his face, right? Anyway, we have to make him beg for his life, or we’re dead.”
I froze. Adjudicator? That could only mean the blind priest who betrayed us. But I couldn’t think of any reason for him to be tortured.
Slowly, I approached the wooden door and peeked in through the crack. I saw a table and candles. Coins and jewelry—their bets, most likely—glittered under the candelight.
Nearby were the familiar tools of torture: a needle, a file, and pincers with freshly ripped nails stuck to them.
I flicked my gaze and saw a green-haired man chained to a chair. The men in the room seemed to be well aware of the priest’s characteristics. The room was too bright even for me. And of course, they had removed his eyepatch.
His priest uniform had been removed, and there were whip marks on his upper body. Blood was dripping out of his torn skin, fingers, and toes, forming a pool of blood around the chair.
The priest’s weapon—a staff—was used to bind both his wrists, probably because it could not be removed from his fingers.
Lily tried to take a peek into the room, but I gently pushed her back. “Don’t look,” I mouthed. She backed away, fear in her eyes.
What now? We still didn’t know where Zero is. Barging in right now, alerting them of our presence, sounded like a bad idea.
The torture chamber seemed to go deeper. I could hear sobbing and moaning coming from the back. Judging from Lily’s reaction, her parents must be there. If we ignored them for now, we might not be able to get to them later.
All of a sudden, the priest began muttering something. “Zero… is underground… Corruption… has the key…”
The men regarded him, puzzled.
“What did he say? He was silent before,” one said.
“Did he say something about the witch underground?” another wondered.
“There are… twenty-three dogs… in the temple… Five here… Two guards… at the main entrances…”
“Hey.” One of the men grabbed the priest by the hair. “What the fuck are you mumbling about?! You’re only allowed to beg for your life. Otherwise, keep your mouth shut!”
“There’s also… a witch… controlling corpses…”
Controlling corpses? Is Sanare here? The adjudicator already gained control of the temple. Why would she be here? Then again, it’s not surprising for her to be everywhere.
If she was here, we would have our work cut out for us. Damn it.
A man punched the priest. “You got an imaginary friend or something?! Who are you talking—”
“Probably me.” I stepped into the room.
A normal human being’s reaction to a beast’s sudden appearance would be shock.
With a single swing of my sword, I chopped off the heads of the two men sitting in the chairs.
Next phase: I stabbed the one who was about to scream to silence them.
Third: The remaining men grasped the situation and readied their weapons. But there were only two of them left.
“H-Help—”
I threw my sword at the man who was about to call for help, finishing him. I then switched to a knife to slash the last man’s head off. Mission accomplished.
“Nice work,” I congratulated myself.
“Brute,” the priest muttered.
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” I pulled the sword I threw from the dead body and sheathed it. “My aim is a little off ’cause I’m missing one arm. Felt like I couldn’t really control my swings. I was trying to be a little more sneaky, but ended up making quite the mess. And we haven’t even found the witch yet.”
“That’s why I told you about Zero’s whereabouts and the security status. You barged in for no reason at all.”
“As much as I would have loved to get the witch, I had some personal business to attend to. I’ve been asked to help a certain couple in the back of this room. They’re alive, right?”
I didn’t need to explain who I was referring to.
“The husband was tortured before I arrived. I didn’t see him clearly, but I don’t think he’s in any condition to walk. By the way, can you do something about these chains?”
“You double-crossed us!”
“I was only pretending! Quit fooling around, and just—”
A shriek came from outside. Before I even realized it was Lily, I pulled out the sword I had just sheathed, and turned around.
The instant I spotted Corruption, she charged straight at me with a full-powered overhead swing.
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