As Yuder lowered his arm, Kishiar, who had risen from his place, approached and deftly unbuttoned Yuder's uniform and even the inner shirt without hesitation.
Feeling a touch that was unusually practiced for a prince who rarely dressed himself, Yuder felt slightly strange.
It wasn't that he had never undressed in front of someone or been undressed, but he realized that this was the first time someone else had undressed him in this manner.
What's more, the person doing it was Kishiar La Orr. Despite spending countless nights with him in his previous life, it was an unfamiliar experience he had never encountered.
"Done."
With the last button undone, Kishiar stepped back nonchalantly, and a faint fragrance wafted from him. It was a subtle scent, different from the perfume he had given off when Yuder had come here to decide whether to go to the Shin or Sul Division.
Yuder was momentarily mesmerized by the scent, then shook his head and opened his mouth.
"You are… adept at dressing and undressing."
"Well, yes. I think everyone would agree that I'm probably the prince who can unbutton and button up the fastest in the thousand-year history of the Orr Empire."
"Did you practice?"
"Practice, should I say..."
Kishiar, about to answer, faded his words for a moment and slightly lifted one corner of his mouth, only to lower it again soon.
"Well, that's not the most important issue right now. Now, show me how much you've burned."
Yuder slowly took off his shirt and gloves, looking at his right arm from which a dull pain was emerging. Kishiar's sharp gaze went towards the violet spot spreading across the bandaged left forearm and shoulder.
"… It's hard to even call it spot at this point."
As he watched the color of the spot darken almost to black, Kishiar murmured softly. His voice was heavier than usual.
"Is it still hurting? Answer truthfully, regardless of whether it's bearable or not."
As if he had guessed what Yuder would answer by his expression, Kishiar quickly added to his question. Yuder closed his mouth hesitantly, then opened it again. It felt as if his thoughts had been read because he was about to answer exactly as Kishiar had predicted if he hadn't added that comment.
"It hurts."
"To what extent?"
Kishiar asked back, like a doctor questioning a patient.
"As you can see, it's not severe enough to interfere with conversation… but occasionally, it hurts as if I've been struck by lightning."
"Occasionally, you say? Does that mean it's periodic or..."
"It's intermittent. I'm not sure what triggers the sudden increase in pain."
"Intermittent, huh."
As Kishiar muttered to himself, lost in thought, he tapped his fingers against his knee. At that moment, his faithful adjutant appeared, carrying several items, and the conversation between the two was temporarily put on hold.
'That's… a Purification Stone and a holy seal used in the temple? And there's more.'
What Nathan had brought were various tools used by the priests of the Temple of the Sun God. Most of them were used for purification, but there were also items used for healing or enhancing divine power. As he carefully piled the items on the table to prevent them from collapsing, Kishiar picked up one of the Purification Stones as if he had been waiting.
The Purification Stone was known to be particularly good at cleansing impurities. It was created by imbuing a transparent magic stone, known for its cleansing properties, with a hint of divine power. Most of them had a white hue, with the cloudiness, resembling milk diluted in water, indicating an inferior quality product. The clearer and more transparent the white light it emitted, the more superior the stone was considered to be.
And, of course, the Purification Stone in Kishiar's hand was a superior product, shining like a top-grade gemstone.
'Even if they didn't know, a Purification Stone of that quality would have the same value as a chunk of gold of the same weight.'
It was impressive that Nathan had managed to acquire enough to fill the table in such a short amount of time, but it was equally astonishing that Kishiar had paid the price for them.
Yuder was genuinely surprised by the fact that Kishiar had prepared so much for his treatment.
"As soon as I received the letter, I ordered everything that could help with cleansing and healing from the temple. It seemed difficult to solve with my power alone," Kishiar quietly explained, noticing Yuder's gaze fixed on the Purification Stone.
"It seems... quite expensive."
"Compared to the burden of using my strength directly, it's cheap."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to kidnap a priest?"
"One must be cautious when increasing the number of those who know a secret."
In Kishiar's words, Yuder realized that he did not see the disclosure of his secret to Gakane and Devran positively.
"...I had no choice."
"I know. I trust that Gakane Bolunwald and Devran Hartude aren't ones to speak easily."
However, not everyone would be like that. Kishiar's red eyes silently conveyed such meaning.
"I don't intend to continue this way. There is a need to hear the opinion of your expert. However, it may take some time to find someone who is tight-lipped and experienced, so until then, let's try to minimize the need for treatment."
The pressure was even greater than before, given that he had bought enough Purification Stones to buy a mansion and still have leftovers. The atmosphere around Kishiar softened when Yuder obediently nodded.
"Now, let's begin. Could you extend your arm?"
As Yuder reached out his hand, Kishiar placed a Purification Stone on the back of it. At the same moment, a white light burst from Kishiar's hand and began to absorb into Yuder's skin through the Purification Stone.
'Ugh....'
Yuder felt a tingling sensation, as if his shoulder was being pricked with needles. As he clenched his teeth and took slow, deep breaths, he saw the previously translucent magic stone gradually darken to a gray hue. Not much time passed before Kishiar removed the Purification Stone, which had become an ordinary stone, and placed it aside.
"Luckily, there seems to be an effect."
As Kishiar said, there was a change. The range of Yuder's shoulder that had turned purple had reduced compared to before the Purification Stone touched it. However, the problem was that the reduction was only about the size of a finger joint.
"However, the effect seems less than anticipated. We might run out of the prepared Purification Stones at this rate."
As Nathan, standing behind them, quietly responded, Kishiar nodded and picked up a symbol of the Sun God from among the piled objects.
The divine symbol, adorned with twelve radial stripes of gold and silver of varying lengths encircling a red ruby, exuded a sanctity that was entirely different from the ordinary wooden ones commoners would carry around. It was a luxurious item that seemed fitting for a pope to carry.
"Surely, he wouldn't give me such a flashy item," thought Yuder. Perhaps noticing Yuder's apprehensive glance at the divine symbol, Kishiar chuckled softly.
"Don't worry. It's my job to handle this."
"That's a relief..."
"This divine symbol was created with blessings bestowed directly by the 45th Pope, known for his particularly strong divine power. It's a good medium to amplify divine power."
Kishiar wound the gold chain connected to the holy symbol around his hand and lifted another Purification Stone. The second stone that touched the back of Yuder's hand transformed into something resembling a black pebble within minutes.
However, it was apparent that the effect was slightly stronger than before. The purplish hue that had been hovering around the shoulder line had noticeably receded below the shoulder.
After confirming the effectiveness, Kishiar began the repetitive process in earnest. Each time he infused the purification stone with divine power and touched it to the back of Yuder's hand, the purple specks gradually disappeared downwards, revealing the original white skin beneath.
But the pain that felt like a knife stabbing and twisting continued, and soon Yuder's forehead and back were drenched with cold sweat. Flecks of sweat could also be seen on Kishiar's forehead as he continually exerted his divine power.
"If you keep gritting your teeth like that, you'll hurt them. Better to talk about something."
"...What should I talk about?"
Kishiar picked up a new purification stone and spoke again as Yuder responded a little late.
"There must be stories that couldn't all be written in the report."
"..."
"For example, stories about an Awakener named Nahan who had illusion abilities."
Kishiar continued as he infused the purification stone with divine power.
"Or the political situation in the East as seen from your perspective, or stories about the Apeto and Diarca families. Anything will do."
"If I start now, it will sound too disjointed... Wouldn't it be better for such a report... to be received separately later?"
Due to the pain that surged like sparks from time to time, Yuder's responses had unwittingly slowed. Despite showing an astonishing lack of distress or discomfort on his face, pain was still pain. Kishiar managed to muster a quiet smile at his assistant who seemed too accustomed to enduring pain.
"Why waste time like that? I'll filter it out myself, just go ahead now."
With that, Yuder couldn't argue. Despite the ongoing pain and tension that made his head increasingly numb, he rummaged through his mind and finally started to speak about the topics he had intended to bring up.
The suspicion that Nahan was more than a mere bandit, the powerful illusion ability he had which could kill people without any visible attack, the need to investigate the strange research taking place in the Apeto estate, and even the conversations he had had with Zachlis Hartan – as these sporadic words flowed out unchecked, Kishiar used up a dozen more Purification Stones.
