Vol 3. Chapter 41: Within Her Plan

“B-but, Lord Sub-Priest, she—she’s a foreign woman of unknown origin???”

The Marsmo soldier still hadn’t recovered, eyes blank.

“What’s wrong with that? So what if I take what I fancy, huh??? It’s not like—”

He broke off, then jabbed a finger at that Marsmo soldier.

“And ‘unknown origin’? Who said she’s of unknown origin? Is that what you think???”

“Ah—no, no, no—nothing of the sort! Since she’s your fiancée, then this is all a misunderstanding.” The squad leader forced a tight smile.

After all, he had truly never seen any Sub-Priest actually take a foreign woman as wife. It was something rare to the point of unheard-of. In Marsmo, no Marsmo would do something so beneath their status.

“In that case, we won’t disturb you and your fiancée. Since you’ve done this, you must have your reasons. You’re a lord of the Sub-Priesthood—Sub-Priests do as they please. For this to pass smoothly and not bring trouble on us is already as good as it gets!”

So the squad leader hurried to have his men stand down and get back to their duties—resume patrol.

These Marsmo soldiers clearly meant to do just that. A Sub-Priest was not someone grunts could afford to provoke. Who would go looking for bad luck at a time like this??

Move along—don’t risk your posts over this.

Vinny looked toward the temple under construction in the distance. Marsmo soldiers in golden armor barked at the slaves, ordering them not to slack.

Vinny clicked his tongue inwardly. A civilization like this, a country like this—its fall was indeed a boon to the world.

“Hey! You mangy slave—where do you think you’re going?!”

Seeing a slave tip off his stone slab and turn to run, the Marsmo soldiers roared and sprinted after him.

A slave who couldn’t even fill his belly couldn’t match soldiers in stamina; he didn’t get far before he was pinned and dragged back.

When it came to runaway slaves, Marsmo had plenty of torments—enough to make them remember forever what the consequences were.

Alright—Vinny knew these were all people long dead. What surfaced before his eyes were replays of what had happened. He and Isatia now stood within a domain governed by a new Divine Authority born of

Eternity and Continuance, each split off in small part and fused together.

This domain had its own set of rules—rules that could not be violated.

Just like how the word “fiancée” had slipped inexplicably out of his mouth, and how the Marsmo soldiers recognized the plaque but not the person—

—all of it showed the status quo of the deep-buried secret realm could not be easily broken.

Vinny guessed that if he tried to beat these Marsmo soldiers,

he might trigger some sort of loop—and these soldiers would be absolutely unkillable.

“Um, Isatia—are you... alright?” Vinny walked to Isatia’s side. Feeling that anything else would be inappropriate, he hesitated a moment before forcing the question out.

“...I-I’m fine, Vinny.”

With effort she lifted her gaze and looked at him in silence.

“Ah—about what I said just now—don’t take it to heart. Th-this might sound unbelievable, but that sentence just slipped out. I didn’t mean—”

“I know.” Isatia cut in coldly before he could finish.

“Ah—ah?”

“You came in for that reason too, didn’t you?” Isatia continued, “The names engraved on those bricks are all recorded by ‘family’ unit. In other words, so long as a slave still has family, that family member’s name will appear together with theirs on the same brick.”

“Yeah. That’s right. Exactly that.”

No wonder people preferred talking to the smart ones—you didn’t need to explain a thing. One glance and they’d grasp seventy or eighty percent of it—and this was while Isatia was in a weakened state.

“The reason is, uh... I think you know, right? For certain reasons everyone knows.”

Vinny sneaked a glance at Isatia.

He meant, of course, the betrothal set by the last Saintess and the Tyrel Emperor.

A betrothal that formal—requiring certification by both Church and Empire—if that didn’t count as formal, then there’d be no such thing as a formal betrothal in this world.

And in terms of meaning, a betrothal is also a kind of “contract.” The people of Marsmo took betrothal with utmost solemnity—ritual and contract—iron law under Marsmo code.

“We’ve both been affected by Divine Authority,” Isatia said softly after a moment’s thought.

“Yes. I think so too.” Vinny agreed. If she understood, all the better.

“I may have... talked myself too tired.”

“Eh??” Vinny blinked. That sounded like an apology—a thought he truly had trouble picturing from someone as forceful as Isatia.

“Are you mocking me for admitting it on my own?”

Isatia pursed her blue-tinted lips and glanced at him. “One acknowledges objective facts. What’s wrong with saying so?”

“Nothing at all.” Vinny shook his head.

“Either way—you didn’t do it on purpose, and it’s already happened. Saying more is pointless. Let’s focus on solving this.”

Vinny looked around and caught sight of a Marsmo city-state rising in the distance.

Because Marsmo civilization stood in the desert, even the city-states were ocher. Domes were gilded, gleaming under reflected sun.

Mm. Though Marsmo were burrowing moles by habit, they were particular about city-state construction.

While Vinny was surveying the surroundings, he noticed Isatia studying him and couldn’t help but be puzzled.

“What is it?”

“Nothing.” Isatia shook her head and withdrew her gaze.

She had thought that a man like Vinny, blundering into an unknown domain, would surely panic—lose his head—or else act on his own and refuse counsel.

Yet once they were actually inside, the one telling her “it’s fine,” “don’t worry,” was him. First she was surprised—then she began to reappraise who Vinny was.

“Should we head into the city first and think of a plan there?” Vinny suggested.

“Mm.” Isatia didn’t object—or rather, that had been her intention from the start.

But at this rate—an awkward question came up again.

“Do you still have medicine?” Isatia asked.

“Ah—are you out?” Vinny finally recalled the many empty vials by Isatia’s feet back in the shallow layer. So this time, she’d already drunk all the stimulant elixirs he’d sold her.

No wonder the bouts had put Isatia down again—she’d fallen back into a sluggish weakness.

Vinny didn’t press about the nature of her condition.

It was far too private—and not something he needed to pry into.

“You’re curious, aren’t you?” Isatia read his face in a glance and knew what he was thinking.

“A bit. But if it’s inconvenient, I won’t ask.” Vinny looked toward the Marsmo city-state in the distance.

Isatia said nothing.

“Can you stand?” Vinny asked.

Isatia did not answer. Her actions told him plainly: right now, even sitting up was difficult. The slightest attempt to brace herself slipped away.

“Alright—looks like you can’t.” Vinny shook his head.

“Then—are we still going to the city-state?”

“Go.” Isatia’s voice was clearly lacking in breath, soft—but the backbone and bearing remained, firm as ever.

“Okay. But—I can’t get you there without touching you at all.” Vinny spread his hands.

“No problem.” Isatia, too, understood. After a moment’s thought, she enunciated each word.

Now was not the time to mind such small details.

“Got it.” Vinny turned his back to her and crouched, slid his hands under her smooth, delicate thighs to lift, guided her arms around his neck, and, with the motion, shouldered her up.

“Mm. Weight-wise—just a touch heavier than Aesphyra. Not by much—about the same.”

With Vinny’s current build, carrying a girl of her frame was nothing.

Because there was that awkward betrothal issue between them, Vinny usually kept a careful distance from Isatia to avoid gossip—afraid of any physical contact at all.

Why was he moving so fast now? Because Vinny knew the order of priorities. This was no time to split hairs. They were in a Divine Authority domain—if Divine Authority had a will and wanted them dead, it could take them in minutes.

At a crisis point, when your life’s on the line, Vinny’s wits took the high ground.

“Brooding over this now would be pure stupidity, right? Even Isatia isn’t hung up on it. If I, a grown man, get hung up—how am I supposed to act?”

“Mm.” Once pressed close, their warmths and heartbeats were palpable. A girl’s fragrance and softness flowed in an instant across Vinny’s back and arms.

This should have been Isatia’s first time being this close to a non-kin male. But Vinny figured she probably felt nothing—she was a glacier in matters of the heart.

It was also Vinny’s first time in this sort of contact with such a beautiful girl—especially her body.

He’d had closer contact with Aesphyra and with Mirexia; he wasn’t as fazed by such things anymore.

Isatia had no reaction at all.

It was her first time slack and helpless in someone’s arms—and that someone was a male classmate not close to her. It meant her safety was placed in another’s hands. It meant she could only rely on him.

By rights, Isatia would never like such a feeling. She traced her outlook to herself: only the strong can control their fate; only the weak have their fate controlled by another.

Mm—but that was in principle.

For some reason, after entering the deep-buried secret realm, she suddenly felt a faint dependence on the man carrying her.

Even Isatia herself might not have sensed this intangible reliance.

The rules of the Divine Authority domain affected more than just Vinny.

[Virtue +30.]

[Current Virtue: 2714.]

For her, this was also her only chance so far.

It was to solve the problem of her bloodline that she had taken this enormous risk to come here—only to collapse, powerless, right by the exit.

Though Isatia wasn’t heavy and Vinny could shoulder her easily, the city-state was still too far. By the time he reached it, he was panting.

“Ah—ah—sure, this is a secret realm made by Divine Authority—but who knows how big it is?? Don’t tell me it’s as big as Marsmo itself—??” Vinny groused.

“Am I very heavy?” Isatia asked, out of nowhere.

A chill ran through Vinny. For some reason, this felt like a death question.

Even with zero dating experience, instinct told him that much.

“Ah—no, not heavy, not heavy—just a bit of a long walk.”

Vinny laughed it off.

“You could have just said it. Only the inwardly weak deliberately avoid objective facts.”

Isatia’s tone didn’t ripple a hair.

“...Alright. Compared to Aesphyra—yes, a bit heavier.”

Which made perfect sense. Vinny knew why Isatia weighed more than Aesphyra. First, Isatia was taller. Second—

That old, oft-visited subject: even just carrying her, he could feel, on his back, the two soft mounds that belonged to a girl.

He hadn’t figured why she weighed more than Aesphyra?

Well—some parts had far more fat than Aesphyra’s. How could she not be heavier??

“Mm—maybe compared to the people I’ve carried before, yes, heavier.”

Vinny said it straight. Only when he saw no change in [Virtue] did he exhale in relief.

Isatia truly had no emotional fluctuation over it. She wasn’t interested in men to begin with—why would she care about a man’s opinion?

They reached the city-state. Two Marsmo soldiers blocked their way, glaring at their outlandish clothes and unfamiliar faces.

After Vinny presented his pass, the two soldiers’ attitudes flipped to deference and they let them through at once.

“You’ve carried other girls?” Isatia asked.

“Yeah.” Vinny didn’t mind. What was said was said.

“Isatia, I don’t know what trouble you’re facing now—but I figure you came for the two Divine Authorities of Continuance and Eternity, right? To cure your illness?”

Vinny ventured.

“You’re about thirty percent right.” Isatia didn’t hide it—she said it outright.

“Ah?? Thirty percent—don’t you think that’s a bit too precise???”

“Vinny, take me around—through the Marsmo city.”

Isatia’s voice was serious.

“Ah? Oh—okay.” Isatia wouldn’t do anything pointless—especially now. Trapped in the deep-buried secret realm, she couldn’t just be here to sightsee, right???

“Relax. Since you brought me in, I’ll show you how to get out.”

As Vinny was thinking, Isatia spoke suddenly from his back. Exhaustion edged her words, yet the tone still landed with the abundant confidence that belonged to a princess of the Tyrel Empire.

Vinny fell silent.

If Isatia had calculated she would enter the deep-buried secret realm, then she surely had a way out.

It was just—would developments truly proceed according to her plan?