Chapter 3: The Empress's Hounds

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......

The two crouched in the shadows on either side of the corridor, leaning against the cell doors that had turned rusty due to years of neglection.

"I say, heretic, isn't that thing just a walking corpse with a huge axe?" Jeanne asked, one hand tightly gripping the black long sword. After reluctantly accepting the life force of her companion's corpse, her first thought was to send the heretic in front of her to hell, an intention she promptly executed. Thereafter, the contract told her firsthand the consequences of violating the terms—pulling the soul into the lowest Warren.

"We've seen this thing on the first level of the dungeon—purifying it isn't tougher than torching a helpless heretic believer."

Sensing this tendency, she immediately stopped her actions and saw Salser turn around, his face showing an unsurprised expression. Obviously, he had anticipated this.

"How did you venture into this dungeon devoid of any insight into its structure? Were the documents of the Holy Cross Church not explicit in delineating the stark contrast between the butchers of the deep dungeon and the guards at the entrance?" Salser observed the subtle movements under her expression.

The question was why the Scorcher would come to this forgotten place. Even if he, who had hastily prepared for reincarnation, did not fully comprehend this godforsaken place, let alone these fanatics who loved to burn precious spell documents? 

"Claudius's hounds, we followed their tracks to arrive here."

She said, and buried her body deeper into the shadows.

The Hound troops of Her Imperial Majesty, what an unpleasant name.

A shadow passed over his eyes, the madwoman who had pursued him to this point of reincarnation.

"Have they all perished?"

"A dumb question, the answer is obvious." Jeanne said in a lowered voice, "We've only found their tracks so far."

Salser felt his mood sour.

If only I had managed to destroy those spell documents left in the Senate before the Empress's coup, I wouldn't have ended up like this at the hands of the hounds.

"Got knocked down by the Hounds and scrambled back to life in a hurry, didn’t you?" He noticed the Scorcher's mocking smile, “Ever ponder the day the coup would come while cozying up to the Roman Senate, heretic? Your life’s a parade of woes. Might as well snuff it out here—spare yourself the bigger dooms waiting.”

Salser responded with a calm gaze, thinking, "If you have the guts, just thrust your sword at me." He noticed that after the Scorcher failed to violate the contract, she never tried to backstab him again. After coming to the corridor, her personality was also restrained... probably. Only occasionally she couldn't help but reveal her vicious nature in her words. This was understandable; if she lacked the ability to assess the situation, she wouldn't have climbed to the position of leading guardian knights to hunt heretics.

"If we encounter those hounds, would you agree to kill them?"

“The Lord doesn’t despise the Hounds as much as those heretics. If it were up to me, I’d team up with them… Scratch that, I’m not keen on joining forces with anyone. You lot deserve to be nothing but cinders,” Jeanne declared. “It’s way too dangerous here. You wanna take down the Hounds? Be my guest, but I’m not sticking my neck out for it.”

"Tsk... forget it, I don't want any unnecessary complications either. At present, I stand as an esteemed knight of the Holy Cross Church, unassociated with the hound troops in any manner."

He muttered to himself, placing his fingers on the ground, chanting a spell, and learned how long ago the thing that left behind the footprints had left.

"You don't even know the name of this body." Jeanne looked at him, her expression turned serious. Despite the thorns in her words, Salser could see that she had reined in any superfluous emotions. Her movements were slight, displaying the restraint befitting a killer.

"I'll know when I return to the Church with you. Then, you might declare that the name ‘Salser’ is the baptismal name you have graced upon me" he recalled the timing of the owner of the footprints patrolling so far, and the intervals of crossing the cell door, “Regarding the reason, you may profess – a profound gratitude to your devoted knight, whose valor preserved your very existence.”

“Ugh, this is awful, I feel like puking. Is everything you think about always this disgusting?”

If you have the ability, go ahead and puke for me. The bearded face turned to her, "This method is straightforward, potent, and adept at concealing numerous facets. Or perhaps you would offer a better idea?

"..."

Salser sneered in his heart, his gaze passing over Jeanne, "This dungeon level is a loop, we ought to trace these footprints," he said, "Check if there's a door to another level on the patrol route. However, should we accidentally encounter them..."

"Then purify those disgusting things." Jeanne's gaze met his.

"As a mage, it is incumbent upon me to assume a position of support when the moment arises."

“Cut the jokes, is that sword just a prop? You realize how many people the Church has lost to your enchanted weapons? Step behind me, and I’ll chop your head off before my soul falls into the lowest Warren.”

"Indeed, that's quite impressive," Salser shrugged, then gestured to her, "Follow me."

......

The dark corridor was lined with rusty iron doors, most of which were securely closed, with the occasional half-open cell door visible in the dark. If one peered through the cracks, they could see skinned corpses lying on the ground or hanging from the ceiling. Small rooms always had braziers, the red light flowing slowly along the bones of the broken legs of the corpses, like spreading mold.

At the end of the circular corridor, there was a moving firelight, the sound of fluffy footsteps, and the sound of chewing raw meat. The vaulted ceiling here was high, with devil sculptures embedded in the upper walls with their rat-like light red eyes watching the Dark wizard and the Inquisitor, the firelight flickering in front of them, casting elongated, slender black shadows onto his eyes hidden under his black hair, and onto her smooth golden hair that showed a bit of color due to her companion's life force.

The firelight stopped—the monster was motionless.

The two stopped in the corner, hidden in the shadows.

"Why do you think that thing stopped?"

"Death," Salser said, his eyes flickering with strange light, "It's the butcher guarding the deeper floor of the dungeon, I sensed its death."

"Are you sure?"

Jeanne stared into his eyes for a while, her lips showing a bit of color due to the damp environment, her throat seemingly moistened, her voice no longer as dry and deep as before.

"Who do you think might be here besides us?" The Dark wizard probed.

"—The heretic empress's hounds," Jeanne laughed twistedly, "Those pesky flies have hidden in the holy city way too long. We tracked them down here – all to snatch them up and toss them into the interrogation chamber. If they’ve got a grudge against the Church, we’ll light them up; if they’re clean, well, it’s the noose for them.”

Salser pressed hard on her shoulder.

"What?"

"Eliminate the patroller lingering by the butcher's corpse," Salser said, "I require souls to construct additional spells, and I also need to glean information about the hounds from the butcher."

"Is this supposed to help me escape or what?" Jeanne snapped back, not playing along one bit.

Damn it, this woman is really hard to please.

"Given that the hounds have ventured into the dungeon by their own volition, they undoubtedly possess knowledge of its contents and the means of egress—is my assertion accurate?" he said, secretly thinking that if this wasn't right, he'd knock her out and throw her over as bait.

"—Makes sense to me," she replied with a completely unembarrassed indifferent expression, "Just make sure you pull your weight when the action starts."

"Indeed, as you affirm, I am your cherished knight of the Holy Cross Church, how could I possibly shirk my duties?"

"I can’t stand your sarcastic tone when you speak, but hey, you’d fit right in at the theater, heretic."

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