VIO Ch 43 – Castle Town and Ghost Story (I)

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Translator: mii

editors: sleepchaser, ASplashofMusic

After leaving Dally McWell’s Holly Pavilion, Vio’s group parted with Night on 3rd Avenue and headed for the residence of Rille’s parents on 4th Avenue.

Since Rille had said no one would be at home during the day, they visited the Great Temple beside it. Different from the various shrines that served as places of worship for the spirits, this temple housed the Verdurous Spirit Yuglena, who protected the Kingdom of Istiah.

Only some priests and members of the royal family could meet Yuglena. According to rumors, Yuglena changed appearances according to their mood. Sometimes, they would assume the form of a ball of light. Other times, that of animals or humans. They also didn’t like to appear in front of anyone apart from their favorite humans or beastmen. The ordinary visitor wouldn’t feel like they had entered the personal residence of the spirit; at best, the atmosphere was merely akin to a temple’s prayer hall and ritual hall.

After they’d passed through the gate and disembarked from the carriage in the front yard, Vio caught sight of several parked carriages, some of which belonged to nobles. He didn’t know whether they visited out of true devotion or simply out of pretense, due to the many distinguished individuals swarming to the royal capital at present.

“So this is the Great Temple. It’s my first time coming here. What a splendid-looking building,” muttered Vio in admiration as he stared up at the temple. It had green stained glass with beautiful floral patterns for windows. Tall steeples also topped the temple.

“That building serves as the barrier protecting the Great Spirit, so great attention and effort was poured toward its construction. Let’s enter, Master,” said Rille. She then took the lead and walked in the direction of the temple.

They entered through a thick wooden door, beautifully carved with patterns of flowers and plants. It was dim inside, save for the colored light pouring onto the altar through the stained glass windows, creating an austere atmosphere. Benches were lined up in rows in the hall, with the exception of the pillared corridor that acted as the aisle. Scattered around the room, figures of humans and beastmen praying could be seen seated on these benches. 

“I will call my family, so please wait here and take a look around,” said Rille in a soft voice before bowing. Following that, she walked to a priest in green standing by the corner of the room and chatted with him. After a while, they entered through a door. 

Vio shot Rille a sidelong glance as she disappeared into the door, before leisurely roaming around the hall. However, he stopped after a few steps. There was a wooden scaffold on the left wall. He raised his head toward the ceiling. 

There was a man with a small yet fit physique. By his side, two young men acted as his assistants. He was painting an image of Yuglena at the center of the ceiling. It seemed like he also intended to paint humans and beastmen around the spirit in postures of worship, but so far, only a third of the ceiling was layered with paint. Meanwhile, the wall remained untouched.

As Vio took in the painter’s skilful brush strokes, Lantz whispered, “This temple is still under construction. It took a hundred years to build it into its current state.”

“A hundred years? That’s amazing…” Vio stared at the temple, this time with a different light in his gaze. Even though magic existed in this world, construction still had to be done manually. As he felt deeply impressed by mankind and beastkind’s amazing skills, a loud noise reverberated throughout the whole temple. It was the sound of a paintbrush hitting the stone floor.

It seemed that the painter’s hand had slipped. When Vio once again raised his head toward the ceiling, his gaze met that of the painter. He was looking at them from above as he clung onto the railing of the wooden scaffold.

The painter’s gaze was rather frightening, like he was eating at Vio’s soul. It didn’t seem like he was searching for his paintbrush.

Vio scanned his surroundings for anything that could have attracted the painter’s attention, but there was only Vio and his group in the vicinity. He turned to Legion, who stood beside him, but Legion only shook his hand, denying that the painter was looking at Legion. After that, Vio thought Lantz was the subject of the painter’s focus, but he also shook his head.

So it’s me?! What did I do?

Had the painter been irritated by their shared whispers? But before he could gather his thoughts, the painter climbed down from the wooden scaffold, his movements akin to those of a mad man. It was surprising that he hadn’t fallen down. Upon reaching the ground, he ran toward them, fierce like a wild boar. “Hey,” he screamed with bloodshot eyes. “You there!”

Sensing danger from the painter, Vio stepped back out of reflex, while Legion shifted in front of Vio to protect him.

“Not you!” The painter tried to push Legion away, but he didn’t budge.

“You’re being rude,” said Legion. “Go away.”

“Annoying! You’re a nuisance!” The painter leaned to the side, staring past Legion and onto Vio fixedly. With satisfaction, he then said, “Oh, this is great. The model I’m looking for has finally come! This must be Great Spirit’s will. Hey you, be a model for the ceiling piece.”

Vio couldn’t comprehend the painter’s words. “What…?”  

To the left of Vio, Lantz asked in suspicion, “Are you talking about making him the model of one of the people in your painting?”

“That’s right. I’ll reward you too. So, you don’t mind, right? Here! First, I have to sketch you.” In the midst of the painter’s extreme excitement, he grabbed Vio’s right arm, not giving him time to refuse.

“Huh?” Then Vio’s arm started to hurt. “Wait, ow!” The moment he yelled, the painter suddenly released his grip. Vio also heard a heavy thump. Upon looking toward the painter, he saw him toppling to the floor.

Legion looked down at the painter with cold eyes. In a low voice, he said, “It’s your fault for ignoring my warning. I won’t allow you to treat my master with such rudeness any further”

Even for Vio, Legion’s threats, paired with his tone, sounded scary. In the middle of lifting his upper body from the ground, the painter turned pale.

At that moment, Vio heard footsteps rushing their direction. 

“Goldra! Are you at it again? Please stop being rude to the visitors!”

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It was a man with dark-brown hair and white rabbit ears. He had a good physique underneath his priestly green robes, and his silver earrings, a leaf motif to them, gleamed in the light. His red eyes burned with anger as he stood right before the painter in a daunting pose.

He looks similar to someone…

Then Vio saw Rille behind the man. And he realized she had those exact same eyes when angry.

The priest made the painter kneel on the spot as he gave him a scolding in a nagging tone.

Right after that, a priestess, who had also come running behind the male priest, approached Vio and bowed deeply. “Our temple’s employee has been extremely impolite. Let me apologize in his stead. Please forgive him.”

She was a rabbit beastwoman. She was dressed in a green robe and had her dark-brown hair in a braid. Her fluffy rabbit ears were covered in white fur, with a bit of black at the tips. Similar to the man, she had silver earrings as well.

“It’s okay. He only grabbed my arm,” said Vio.

“Pardon me, but may I take a look at your arm?”

“Huh? Sure…”

In a gentle manner, the priestess pulled up Vio’s sleeve, and her face twisted in a frown. Marring his skin were some red scratches.

Unsuiting her image, the priestess clicked her tongue, before bowing once again. “Thank you very much. Really, I’ve told that slouch countless times to cut his nails… Please follow me so that I can treat those marks.”

At that moment, the painter shouted in panic, “H-hey, wait! Be my model!”

“You’re still saying that? Please cut it out already. If it weren’t for the head priest’s protection, you would’ve long been dismissed from the temple. Good grief,” said the male priest out of amazement. When the painter tried to move, the male priest grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to stay in place.

The painter’s tenacity brought a bitter smile to Vio’s face. “My apologies, but I can’t accept your request to be a model. Please look for someone else.”

“Don’t say that. Please be my model…” said the painter, voice louder due to his extreme sadness.

Vio pitied him a little, but his father had ordered him to not stand out. Acting as a model for a painting was just unthinkable for him.

The priestess said, “There’s no need to waste your sympathy on his concerns. Please follow me.”

“Yes, just like what my elder sister said. Let’s go, Master,” said Rille, pointing at the door leading to the shrine’s inner area.

“Elder sister?” Vio asked, surprised.

The woman quickly corrected her posture. “Excuse our rudeness. I am Reina Lentetta, and this is Musica Lentetta, the father of me and Rille. My sister has been under your care.”

Reina possessed an aura that was as cold as a block of ice, completely different from the cute aura Rille possessed, which was reminiscent of candy. Despite this, Vio strangely felt comfortable around Reina. Meanwhile, their father Musica had a gentle atmosphere, similar to Rille.

“No, she’s the one who has been taking care of me. Thanks to her, I can remain at ease every day.”

At this, Rille quickly lowered her head, an expression of shyness crossing her face.

Reina’s gaze calmed to some degree. “I’m relieved to hear that. Then, shall we go? Ah, before that…” She turned to two young priests and ordered, “Ryan, Bell, give that guy a bath and cut his nails! I’ve reached the end of my patience with him. And while you’re at it, cut his messy hair as well!”

With youthful voices, they replied, “Yes, we understand!” “We’ll do our best!”

“A bath, you say? And you’re going to cut my nails and hair too?! Hey , you’ll be cutting the source of an artist’s insight!”

One of the young priests retorted, “I don’t believe you at all, Goldra.”

“Yeah. After angering Miss Reina, you should be grateful that she’s letting you off lightly.”

The priests each captured one of the screaming painter’s arms before leaving through another door.

“Well, then. Let’s go now, Lord Violant,” said Reina, a refreshing smile on her face.

“…Yes.” Not knowing how to respond, Vio only nodded for the time being.

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