The Priest

"I-I'm truly sorry for misunderstanding your question, Lady Francia," Ian was completely flustered and frustratedly swept a hand on his hair.

"It's alright, Your Highness. It's natural to sometimes mistake one's question, after all. And… I'm flattered to think that you see me as someone pretty on top of it."

Ian stayed quite at her remarks and only nodded his head. It was a known fact that on top of being a genius among her peers, Artemis also had an extraordinary appearance that separated her from the others. The notorious black hair and eyes that she owns were like an icon to others. It showcased her gallant personality and ability to wield the light. All black-haired people paired with midnight eyes had been recorded as light wielders that dated centuries before magic was even known. And among the country of Fardenheit, only the Francias had the history of birthing it. This was also one of the reasons as to why they were able to rise amongst others.

And speaking of unique appearances, Ian can't help but think back to the time he had accidentally helped Celethene get down from a tree. Her golden eyes had left a strong impression on him. It was his first time seeing such bright eyes from someone. Not only was it golden, but it was also completely saturated that it was overwhelming to look at unless you get used to it. It gave someone the feeling of looking at something they shouldn't.

Ian was brought back from his thoughts when he saw Artemis suddenly crouch down and grab an object that he couldn't properly see. The previous tension in the air completely disappeared as they thought of the mission currently waiting for them.

"What's that?" He asked.

"…it's a jade pendant."

He was confused as to what connection it had to do with their objective when Artemis closed her eyes trying to remember something hard. Back in the forest, the lighting had been poor and she was not sure if it was the same, but she swore she saw something dangling in the body when it was carried. It may be something completely different but that dangling object looked just like the jade pendant she was holding.

Artemis remembered the recording that Ian had and turned to look at him, "Can you give me the recording? I wanna check on something."

He nodded and grabbed something from his sleeves. It was the recording box and he handed it to her. Artemis muttered a quick thank you before turning on the recording box with a supply of mana. She had already mastered simple acts like this back in the manor for emergency situations. The act of supplying magic to a magic crystal was relatively simple and she did not have too much trouble doing it.

The moment her mana entered the magic crystal, a holographic screen spread out in front of her from the crystal. It was a high-definition repeat of the scene back in the forest. Even the way rain poured down was pictured perfectly. No matter how much Artemis looked at the scene, she could still feel the shivers. As she zoomed in on the body grabbed by the buffed man, she once again saw the object dangling from his waist. Due to the fog and the rain which blurred the recording a little bit, she had a hard time recognizing the object. But from its general shape which was an unusual fish shape, it had been apparent enough to know that it was the same object.

Different from what Artemis could visually see that day, the recording had been clear enough to actually portray both the faces in the video. It was surprising to see that the face of the mysterious man had actually been handsome. As someone in his fifties, his face had aged like fine wine and had sharp features. With a clean-cut hair and an angular jaw, he could look like an authentic western model if he had wanted to.

And the body that he was carrying had blood smeared all over his face making it difficult to recognize him. The one thing she could only pinpoint was his long hair that reached the ground and his white robes which had been dirtied way too long ago.

If all information they had collected so far was accurate, it was safe enough to assume that the owner of the body was the priest.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that the body is the priest missing," She muttered while staring hard at the recording. She was afraid of missing even a little bit of important detail. Ian nodded his head in agreement. It was clear that they thought the same. There were several reasons as to why it had been so. First was the pendant owned by the priest was also found dropped by the young man when he ran away. Without confirming, they knew that the priest must have given a copy to the young man in order to confirm him as a proper worker of his. And even if they need to confirm, the priest was a well-known person. If they ask someone, they were sure they can confirm it.

The second was his set of robes that had red lapels. Outside the abandoned house was a rack of the same design hanging to dry. And the last reason which may be stretching it too far was the coincidental disappearance of the priest that coincided with the burying. They had witnessed the man being buried and at the same time, the priest had gone missing according to the local people.

Ian had agreed with all the evidence pointing out so far, but there was one question that lingered in his mind.

"Shouldn't the young man with the pendant be a suspect? We do not know whether he's a shape-shifting demon or whether he has the magic to disguise himself and grab the pendant from the body." They did not know if the man grabbed the pendant as he was facing them with his back when he was burying the priest.

It was a good question but unfortunately, impossible.

Artemis shook her head in disagreement, "Even if it was the young man, I did not sense any magic fluctuations or demonic energy in him. It's impossible to disguise yourself as a young man to a muscular man or vice versa without any type of magic. The height alone is not the same. I'm sure His Highness can feel it too—"

She stopped at the last minute when she realized just what mistake she created. Amongst light wielders and blessed people, there was one specific ability that they had in common. And that was the ability to sense whether a person was wielding magic spirit or demonic energy. And now that Artemis knew that Ian was wielding darkness—the complete opposite of being blessed, it was obvious that he won't be able to sense it. She was too foolish to forget about that.

Now that she remembered it, she was determined to search as to why he had turned out like that. Someday.

Ian who had heard the gist of her sentence suddenly turned quiet and a myriad of emotions flashed before his eyes. But in a second, it was immediately gone that Artemis did not catch it.

"Hm," He muttered in faint agreement.

Artemis stared at him with conflicting emotions. With such a dark secret that he needed to keep to himself, she could not simply imagine the hardships he had to endure in order to hide it. What did he do when others wanted him to showcase his blessed abilities? Would the royal family suspect him if he did not do it?

Just thinking about it made her head hurt and what more of Ian? For the first time during the time she was transported to this world, Artemis felt sincerely sympathetic to him.