“No way! Almost all the nuns in the Tribunal know me! You want me to lead them as a vampire? By tomorrow, rumors of the Saint colluding with a vampire would be flying everywhere!”
Lilith rejected Seraphiel’s proposal with sound reasoning, but the Saint merely shook her head.
“No need to worry. Only a few of the Tribunal’s girls recognize your face. Hardly anyone in the Academy knows your true identity. I’ll just say you’re a vampire acquaintance of His Holiness the Pope to keep everyone quiet.”
“I’ll claim you’re an inspector sent by the Central Church. Despite being a vampire, you’ve long been recognized by the Church. I’ll have the Central Church perfect your cover.”
“Besides, a vampire like you who can walk freely under the sun? Ordinary people wouldn’t even notice.”
“The Tribunal nuns also know they arrested the wrong person. This explanation is enough to keep them silent.”
“On regular days, you’ll blend in as a student at the Academy. In reality, you’ll be a special inspector from the Central Church, secretly monitoring the internal affairs of the border Church. You were mistakenly arrested by us.”
“With this, no one should trouble you.”
Lilith felt a headache coming on at Seraphiel’s words.
This girl… did she already plan how to handle me the moment she heard I was caught and brought to the monastery?
“Would His Holiness the Pope allow you to mess around like this?”
“Hmm… the old man is pretty kind. If I briefly explain the situation to him, he generally won’t refuse requests from us border Chosen Ones.”
Seraphiel gave a cheeky smile, as if telling Lilith to stop resisting and just follow her arrangements.
“Besides, this mess was caused by your vampire kin. Shouldn’t you take some responsibility?”
“Help me out, Lilith.”
Lilith turned her head away in annoyance, not wanting to deal with the scheming Saint.
“What does it have to do with me? You couldn’t catch the vampire because you’re too incompetent. Do you mean to say you can’t hunt down a single vampire without my help? The Church is supposed to be the shield protecting the people. If you need to call for outside help for this, I’d say you might as well disband!”
“I’m not worried that the Eastern Church can’t catch a mere vampire… Except for you, Lilith, even a vampire duke would have to flee in the face of a proper army! And that’s even with me taking most of our elite forces away…”
Seraphiel stepped forward and hugged the sulky little vampire princess.
Seeing that Lilith didn’t pull away, she was delighted and couldn’t resist nuzzling her silver-white hair.
But her expression soon turned serious.
“Lilith, I suspect this incident isn’t just about a rogue vampire.”
“I’ve reviewed the records from recent times, and I’m sure you’ve noticed something too… Even for a vampire who moves freely in the dark, it’s impossible to cause such chaos in the city without leaving a trace. Not a single clue has been found!”
“So there must be some influential figure in the city acting as their accomplice,” Lilith deduced.
After all, if the capital of the Federation Alliance couldn’t handle a single vampire, the city wouldn’t have survived in this perilous world.
The capital of the Federation was home to countless powerful individuals and factions.
Not just the Saint’s Monastery… there were the Witch Tower, the Institute of Mechanical Sorcery, the Royal Knights, the Court Mages, the Night Watch, the ancient legacies of the Upper City nobles, and the formidable mercenaries of the Lower City…
With so many forces unable to catch this vampire, it was telling.
Many had likely already suspected as much, which was why the city’s various factions and citizens had been in an uproar lately.
Everyone was pointing fingers, wondering who was sheltering the murderous vampire.
It’s like they’re playing a game of Florenca Werewolf…
“But what’s the motive? What benefit is there in letting a vampire run rampant? Is someone performing some evil, blasphemous ritual? Are they using the vampire’s killings to achieve some goal?”
Lilith racked her foggy brain but couldn’t come up with any matching occult sacrificial process.
In the end, she gave up thinking.
“I’m not sure either… Lilith, I can’t investigate this conspiracy myself right now.”
Seraphiel seemed to recall something, and the joy of reuniting with her long-cherished friend was slightly dampened.
“Right before I was summoned to deal with the Ideal Kingdom’s seal, I was investigating the source of the increasing anomalies in the city over the past few years.”
“In recent years, the anomalies in Florenca… their emergence has been rising at an unimaginable rate.”
“While most have been destroyed or contained by the city’s various factions…”
“But these abnormal phenomena are still causing unease among the people in the city.”
“Some scholars even suspect that the foundations of this place have been corrupted by something indescribable, and they’ve proposed relocating the capital.”
“I’ve actually found some leads… but the matter of the Ideal Nation is more critical for all beings, so I have to leave temporarily.”
“Those fanatics who believe in the Ideal Kingdom, hoping one day to be accepted by the Perfect City, are likely the culprits behind these incidents.”
“Most of the strong individuals who came to the border to stand against the Ideal Kingdom…”
“Many of their homelands have been attacked by those lunatics.”
“It seems they’re trying to stop us from further sealing the Ideal Kingdom… Those people have gone completely mad, their actions horrifying and utterly unscrupulous.”
“The Western Saint’s Church was nearly devoured by monsters summoned from the Otherworld by those fanatics.”
“If His Holiness the Pope hadn’t forbidden her from returning at this time, she’d probably already be charging back to the Western Territory with her sword in hand.”
Lilith silently processed the information Seraphiel shared.
Seraphiel wasn’t exaggerating; she had truly fulfilled her duties as a Saint over the years.
No slacking off on the job.
“So, you want me to catch that vampire and take down the Ideal Kingdom fanatics behind it all in one fell swoop?”
“No… Lilith, I truly hope things aren’t that bad.”
Seraphiel sighed softly, her arms tightening slightly around Lilith, her heart clearly conflicted.
“I actually don’t want you getting involved in those troublesome matters… It’d be best if you could just enjoy life at the monastery and wait for my return.”
“Though I said I wanted your help, that was just me being petty, wanting to get back at you for… the annoying things you did to me in the past.”
“For the rest, let the Cardinal Bishop here make the decisions.”
“She’s someone trustworthy.”
“But others… they’re inevitably bound by external factors.”
“Many of the clergy in the monastery were originally chosen from nobles or commoners outside.”
“At times, they might be swayed by their own affiliations, which could cloud their judgment.”
“And in critical moments, that’s the most fatal flaw.”
“A single mistake… could cost countless lives…”
“So, Lilith… if things truly spiral out of control and you can’t reach me…”
“Do things your way.”
“No matter the consequences, I’ll take responsibility for you!”
“You’re the only person in this world I can truly rely on… and trust completely.”
“Sure, you’re a bit of a flirt, but you’d never truly harm anyone… and you wouldn’t stand by while others commit evil under your nose.”
The “flirt” part was unnecessary… Lilith rolled her eyes, then reached out to ruffle Seraphiel’s hair.
Perhaps fearing that Lilith would find it too troublesome and refuse to stay at the monastery again, Seraphiel’s hands trembled uncontrollably.
Lilith felt the now-unfamiliar aquamarine hair slip through her fingers.
Gone was the sharp golden gleam, replaced by a color symbolizing divine selection.
And with it came the corresponding responsibilities.
The little girl who used to throw tantrums had truly grown up.
Though she said her duties as a Saint paled in comparison to Lilith, if that were truly the case, she’d have long abandoned her responsibilities, ignored the Ideal Kingdom, stepped down as Saint, and come running back to cling to Lilith.
Truly the Saint of the Year, worthy of everyone’s trust.
Even with her mind full of thoughts about sticking close to Lilith, she wouldn’t neglect her duties.
And she was clever enough to rely on Lilith as a fallback.
She could stay close to Lilith while setting aside the troubles back home to focus on confronting the Ideal Kingdom.
The Saint had played her cards perfectly.
But Lilith didn’t dislike this kind of scheming…
In fact, if Seraphiel were still the same as before, thinking she could keep Lilith by throwing tantrums and acting willful, abandoning those who entrusted her with power and responsibility for her own feelings…
Even if Lilith stayed at the monastery temporarily under Seraphiel’s coercion, she’d surely leave her again one day.
So Lilith decided to reward the hardworking and clever girl.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. Leave it to me. I’m here, so you don’t have to be afraid of anything.”
Her words, like soothing a child, made Seraphiel’s nose tingle.
Back in the dark underground water city, when she had nearly lost all hope…
Lilith had come to her side…
With words just like these.
Lilith felt the cool, moist touch on her lips.
Compared to the icy body formed of water elements, a kiss with warmth… was far more intoxicating.
But… this feeling wasn’t bad either.
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