Chapter 19: The Church of God’s Light’s Hideout
Several days had passed since Ruri and the others remained on standby at the castle. The spirits hadn’t reported in. The soldiers in civilian attire scoured the capital in search of the Church of God’s Light on a daily basis, but there was still nothing. It was a complete dead end, and it made everyone even more impatient.
In the midst of that, the only one pleased as punch was the Spirit of Fire—aka “Heat.” The ladies’ man that Heat was, he flirted with every woman worker in the castle and enjoyed little stints with them.
The women were confused at first and questioned who this flirty stranger was, but as soon as they heard he was the incarnation of a supreme-level spirit, the spirit-religious women started to fawn over him, looking at him with respect and adoration instead.
Heat was getting such a big head over this treatment that he didn’t just hit on young girls; he hit on every girl under the sun—children and elderly alike. It was causing some issues that were difficult to clear up. Although he said that age wasn’t a matter for spirits, Ruri had to put her foot down when it came to flirting with kids.
Heat would flirt with any girl that entered his sight so much that Ruri wondered if anything female with two legs was good enough for him. It also made her question why he was giving her the cold shoulder. It was frustrating to watch. He’d said she wasn’t his type, but he obviously wasn’t picky in the slightest.
Ruri decided to voice her complaint to him. However, he replied, “I have preferences that laymen just wouldn’t understand.” It seemed he wasn’t planning on changing his attitude toward her any time soon.
Heat was currently in the middle of living it up with Arman’s queens in the throne room. With an abundant assortment of food and wine, he sat in the middle while Arman’s many wives circled him, all scrambling for a chance to snuggle against him and pour his wine. Heat gleefully accepted the affection with a dopey look plastered on his face.
Arman had been so busy with the Church of God’s Light incident that he hadn’t had time to see his wives, but Arman’s harem seemed to be turning into Heat’s harem. Arman’s jaw would probably hit the floor if he saw what was happening right now. If they didn’t wrap up matters with the church quickly, Heat was likely to take over the entire harem.
As all of this flirtatious merrymaking went on, some long-awaited news finally reached Ruri.
“Ruri, we found them~! The Church of God’s Light!” reported a spirit.
“Really?!”
“Yup, the others are keeping an eye on ’em right now.”
Ruri rushed straight into Arman’s office.
“Beast King, Sire! The Church of God’s Light has been found!”
“Yes, I’ve just received reports myself,” Arman replied. “It seems they reached out to a soldier of the kingdom.”
The soldier in question had recently been dumped by his girlfriend, meaning that his sad performance was most likely extra convincing. They hadn’t caught on to the fact that this was a sting operation yet.
“What should we do? Apprehend them? Leave them at large?” asked Ruri.
“We’ll leave them at large for the time being. We’ll tail them back to their hideout and pinpoint their location.”
“So, just be careful we’re not detected, correct?”
“Yes. I’ve ordered the soldier to say he wants to meet their leader and to ask them to lead him to their hideout in town. If that doesn’t work, well, then we run into an issue.”
“What kind of issue?”
“Trailing them is fine within the confines of the capital. The huge population makes it easy to hide among the crowd and tail whoever. But if you take one step outside the capital, then you’ll be met with desert wasteland. There’s barely anything to take cover behind until you reach the mountain, so they’re bound to notice anyone tailing them. I’m not sure what we should do...”
Since the amount of people thinned out the closer you approached the mountain, the church was guaranteed to be on high alert if found out. That being said, it was environmentally difficult to tail them without being seen.
“In that case, what about transforming into animals and trailing them? I’m sure there’s no shortage of demi-humans here in the Nation of the Beast King. The church wouldn’t be suspicious of their beast forms if they found them, right?”
“That won’t work. While you have a point that they might not suspect a beast, a well-trained eye can tell a transformed demi-human from a real animal. And if our men are found out, then all our hard work will go up in smoke.”
Just like how catkin in cat form had two tails in comparison to a real cat’s one, there were differences that a trained eye could spot. It made using demi-humans for this operation dangerous.
Ruri pondered over it for a bit before proposing an idea she knew would be shot down.
“Then, why don’t I go instead?”
Arman blinked. “You?”
“Yes. Well, since Kotaro and the others are spirits inhabiting the bodies of beasts, they should be all right even if they are found out, shouldn’t they? And with Kotaro’s wind powers, we’ll be able to trail them even at a distance.”
The desert wastelands lay between the capital and the mountain, and there was nothing to use as suitable cover. Trailing the church under those circumstances would be a recipe for disaster. That was where Kotaro’s powers would help. Kotaro could keep them safe as they trailed their targets into the mountain, where the Spirit Slayer hampered their search.
“What are you going to do, though? You’ll be spotted in human form.”
“I’ll turn into a cat with my bracelet. It’ll be all right. I’ll use a ribbon or something to hide it and pretend to be a runaway house cat. They’ll be none the wiser.”
The Church of God’s Light possessed bracelets that transformed the wearer into rats, so there was a chance they’d realize Ruri wasn’t a cat if they saw the bracelet on her paw. She needed to make sure it was concealed. Hiding it with a ribbon was a good way to throw them off and convince them that she was just someone’s pet that ran away from home.
Accompanying Ruri would be Kotaro, Rin, and Chi—a wolf, a clione, and a capybara respectively. It was a rather odd assortment, but they shouldn’t suspect that a bunch of animals were hot on their heels.
“Still, it’s too dangerous,” Arman said with concern.
“It’ll be fine, Sire. I’ll just be tailing them to find their hideout, so I’ll be a safe distance away. I assure you, there won’t be any danger.”
“And why don’t you just stay at the castle and give the bracelet to someone else to use?”
“That’s an option, but will someone else be able to stop Kotaro and the other spirits if things turn ugly? The Church of God’s Light are responsible for my assassination attempt, so they’ve earned much of Kotaro and Rin’s ire. Faced with my would-be killers, they might give in to their rage and tear them limb from limb.”
“...Yes, I can see that being an issue. Be that as it may, I can’t put a Beloved in harm’s way.”
“I have Kotaro’s barrier around me at any given time, so there’s no risk of someone accosting me like with the fake Reapers. I think Kotaro and the others were a little too overconfident back then. They never expected something like that would happen right under their noses. But now Kotaro keeps an eye out around the clock, so I sincerely doubt they’ll be able to exploit any gaps in defense like last time.”
It was hard to tell if Arman found it difficult to refute Ruri after hearing Kotaro and the others would accompany her or if he simply decided that Ruri’s plan was the most sound. Either way, Arman reluctantly agreed.
“...Just be certain not to get too close. If it looks like danger, you are to leave immediately. Also, do not leave the supreme spirits’ sides.”
“Yes, I know. I’m too afraid to go off on my own with zombies wandering about.”
“You’re just following them. Clear?” Arman said for clarity’s sake.
Ruri nodded, replying, “Once we find the hideout, we’ll come right back.”
With that, Ruri left the room.
It wasn’t long after their discussion that Ruri was on her way—not to the town in the capital but to the skies far above the outside gates of the town. Now in her cat form, she rode atop Kotaro as they flew through the air, the capital spreading far and wide below them. There they waited for the Church of God’s Light’s member who had reached out to the undercover soldier.
According to the lookout spirits, after the church member talked to the soldier in a pub, they interacted with several other people seeking help from the Church of God’s Light as well. Some of them were simply inquiring, but a few seriously pleaded for help in exchange for becoming members themselves. Ruri needed to settle this quickly or the church was likely to make even more zombies.
“Ruri, they’re coming out now,” said Kotaro.
After a few moments of mid-air waiting, a single man appeared from the city gates. The soldier in on the sting was going to ask the member to take him to his leader, but it seemed that didn’t pan out. Ruri would have backed down if the soldier had found the hideout through conventional means, but since that wasn’t going to be the case, Ruri was forced to act.
Rising further overhead, they trailed behind the man. They locked on to their target using Kotaro’s powers, but they made sure to keep enough distance so that no one would suspect them.
Ruri and the others preemptively descended as they approached the mountain. Taking cover in some shrubbery, they all watched as the man ascended the mountain from a spot devoid of the sentries permanently stationed there.
He appeared to be wary of his surroundings; he kept glancing around as he proceeded onward. Ruri and her group followed him, being careful not to make any noise.
Kotaro and Chi were having problems keeping track of him—possibly due to the Spirit Slayer. It wasn’t just in one isolated area either. It affected the whole mountain. They made sure to keep their eyes planted on the man so as to not lose sight of him.
Higher and higher up the mountain they ventured. As soon as they passed a certain point, they felt the sensation of passing through an invisible layer like in the past.
“This is the barrier that was up in that village of the dead,” Kotaro stated.
“The one set up so no one can get out?” asked Ruri.
“One and the same.”
This barrier practically confirmed that something was up ahead.
Ruri’s party proceeded with caution until they noticed a tree rustling off to the side, opposite of where the man was. Out of nowhere appeared the one presence that Ruri couldn’t help but fear—a zombie. “Ngyaaaah!!” her cat voice rang out in panic.
“Who’s there?!” the man exclaimed, naturally realizing that someone was behind him.
Once Ruri came back to her senses, she quickly poked her head out from the grass and cried, “Meooow.”
“Oh, just a cat...” the man said, his doubts quelled. He began to walk again.
Ruri and the others let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Ruri...” said Rin in a scolding sort of tone.
“I’m ashamed of myself...” Ruri replied, drooping her tail.
The zombie was still there, looking at Ruri and the others, but it didn’t react, most likely because of the lack of blood. With a blank stare, it started to wander off elsewhere.
They encountered a few more zombies after that, but Ruri managed to contain her screams. She also walked with caution so she didn’t accidentally hurt herself. If she was to spill even a drop of blood, the game of tag with the zombies would commence and losing their target would be the least of their worries.
As such, Ruri and her party walked carefully, trailing behind the man in secret, until a giant cave came into view ahead. People were standing at the entrance, but the man waltzed right past them and went inside.
“So, is this the Church of God’s Light’s hideout?” asked Ruri.
“I would assume so, yes,” answered Kotaro.
Ruri’s group continued to observe the entrance and noticed that there weren’t many people coming in and out. Only two people stood guard outside the entrance, both dressed in the same white robes. And according to Kotaro, there was a different barrier surrounding the cave, one which was designed to keep people from entering, unlike the barrier from earlier. It was the type that required either mana stronger than the barrier master or the permission of the barrier master themselves. It was probably to keep the zombies from getting in.
It was impossible to tell how big the cave was or how many people were inside just from the exterior. The villagers said to have left with the Church of God’s Light could also be inside as well.
“I’m going to go check,” Rin said before separating from the group.
“Huh? Wait a second, Rin!” Ruri exclaimed.
“The rest of you stay there.”
“Stay here? What you’re doing is dangerous! What if you’re spotted?”
“It’s okay. I’m hard to spot since I’m so small.”
Granted, even if they did find Rin, it wasn’t like she couldn’t handle herself. Ruri’s concerns really lay with the people inside.
“...Just look. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary,” she cautioned.
“Yes, yes. I know,” Rin said. Then she slipped past the eyes of the guards and headed inside the cave.
“And there she goes...”
“Should I go along as well?” asked Chi.
Chi’s size made him easy to spot. Plus, he seemed likely to do something off the wall to satisfy his curiosity. Ruri doubted he’d just go scope out the situation.
“No, Chi. I don’t know what you might do.”
“Tch, you’re no fun.”
After a few worrisome minutes of waiting, Rin came out of the cave, safe and sound.
“Great, you’re back, Rin. Looks like nothing happened.”
“No, they didn’t notice me. But there seems to be an issue.”
“What kind of issue?”
“...There was a dragonkin soldier inside.”
“A dragonkin? Wait, a soldier of the Nation of the Dragon King? Why?”
“Let’s return to the castle for now. I’ll give you the details there.”
Clueless to the situation, Ruri made her way out of Mt. Ulawoon with her pack of beastly spirits in tow.
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