If You Devour Poison / Doku wo Kurawaba Sara Made

Chapter 15: Suimo

The Shrine, which administered the Dragon God faith in Palcemith, had a relatively simple structure.
From the pavement so level that even carriages could easily ride through, extended a stone staircase. Climbing up the stairs, one would be greeted by an arch-shaped gate that imitated a gigantic dragon. This was the entrance. Surrounding it was a grass-covered outer courtyard. The altar for the believers to pray was a place where the floor was much more elevated than elsewhere and was deep inside the building. The building was separated by white pillars that held up the roof from the place of worship. Passageways extended from both sides of the place of worship. The tiny rooms that dotted the passageways at regular intervals served as waiting rooms for nobles as well as important people. And it was in one of these rooms that Lutora stayed. If you went up the stairs to the second floor, there was a corridor where you could see the place of worship in one sweep.
The passageway extended further behind the small rooms and led to a U-shaped building. This was the residence of the Priests, the ladies-in-waiting serving the shrine, and the orphans. Enclosed by the three-story building was a courtyard with a fountain. The Dragon Priestess was allotted a well-lit room facing this very courtyard.
Accompanying Malacia, Lutora stepped into the courtyard of the residential building. What he saw were ladies-in-waiting with bandages on their hands and feet, dull and tired expressions on their faces, all beaten black and blue. At the same time, the shrill shrieks of a young girl reached his ears.
As he approached the Dragon Maiden’s room, the shrieks grew louder. When he stood in front of the closed door, he could clearly discern the words to be unbearably filthy utterances.

“No! I don’t want it! What did I do wrong? You are all scum! Bastards!”
“Ugh…”
“Lady Priestess…! Please, please calm down.”
“Shut up! You whore! Die! Die in my place!”

As Malacia wordlessly opened the door with a frown, the scene that unfolded before their eyes was akin to hell.
A young girl with disheveled hair was stomping on the flanks of a fallen lady-in-waiting. She mercilessly threw a clay vase at the other ladies-in-waiting who were coming to her rescue. The one who had her stomach stepped on was groaning, while the other one, whose head the vase crashed into, silently fainted.

“Ahahahhaha! Maggots! Mealworms! Ahh, feels so good!”

Her bloodshot eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets, and as she looked down at the injured lady-in-waiting, the corners of her mouth foamed as she let out a vulgar laugh. There was no mistaking the proponent of this repulsive behavior. It was the one whom all of Lutora’s allies were worried about, Melia Laturi herself.

“...You must be joking.”

Lutora doubted his eyes, but that was understandable. There were no traces left of the beauty that had made Melia and Nasha look like two peas in a pod. Her cheeks were sallow and her ribs were visible. She was skinny like a withered tree. Her bruised skin seemed dry and flaky with countless red scratch marks on it.

“Mr. Malacia.”

One of the ladies-in-waiting noticed the two standing like statues in front of the door. She walked up to Malacia and kneeled, revealing her legs that had nothing but bruises. Malacia immediately got down on his knees and cradled the woman's hand that seemed pitiful with all the fresh wounds.

“I a-apologize… she was calm till now, but...”
“It’s all right, Nemo. It’s not your fault. What about the healers?”
“Early in the morning, the last one ran out of magic. We planned for them to work in shifts, but as Lady Melia was unwilling to wait, we were unable to do so.”
“I see.”

Malacia gave a long sigh.

“I’ll do it instead. Lutora, follow me.”
“Ah... yes.”

Accompanied by Lutora, Malacia approached the bed as quietly as he could. No sooner had she recognized him, Melia let out a piercing shriek and spit on his unblemished face.