“Second brother, are you sure these two little girls really have money? Wouldn’t young ladies from rich families normally have bodyguards with them when they go out?”
One of the shorter, more timid mysterious men looked curiously at the two figures not far away.
His companion, annoyed at his lack of insight, kicked him.
“Such short-sighted thinking. Don’t you know that young ladies love sneaking out to have fun? And look at that person’s clothes—”
The silver-haired girl had her head hidden under a large hat and veil, making her face impossible to see clearly, but the temperament and style of her outfit alone clearly revealed that her status was anything but ordinary.
Of course, what the mysterious men noticed was the dazzling purple gemstone embedded on the girl’s chest.
At a glance, it was obviously something of immense value. If even her clothes were that expensive, there was no mistake—this was definitely a rich young lady!
As for the black-haired one beside her, with that cold, aloof look, she was probably her personal bodyguard.
“…Eh? Why did that black-haired one suddenly disappear?”
The very next second, the lackey beside them suddenly screamed and ran off, as if his eyes had been covered.
Like a headless fly, he spun around wildly and smashed straight into a nearby wall, knocking himself unconscious.
Beside him stood the black-haired girl who had just vanished, now staring at him with cold disdain, an oppressive aura radiating from behind her.
“Speak. While I still feel like leaving you alive, tell me which blind fool sent you.”
From the moment they left the shop, Idledra had felt that something was off.
Even though they had clearly disguised themselves, there were still unknown gazes constantly sizing the two of them up.
If it were only because Hailey looked too cute, Idledra would have simply hidden Hailey in her arms and not let others admire her.
But the gazes were filled with malice and vigilance, forcing Idledra to temporarily separate from Hailey—especially since she faintly sensed a threat.
In reality, however, the source of that gaze was nothing more than a few nobodies.
Idledra did not even need to exert any real effort; just a trace of black magic revealed at her fingertips was enough to make them submit.
“W-wait! We really weren’t sent by the Imperial Family! We just saw that you were dressed very richly…”
The restrained mysterious men pulled off their cloaks, revealing their wretched, idiotic street-thug faces.
They had only planned to scare these two girls, never expecting something so terrifying.
The two brothers had been lurking around this area for a long time, and after finally encountering two people who looked less dangerous—two girls walking alone on the street without anyone protecting them—it naturally seemed like the perfect target.
“If we had known you were such an important figure, even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I wouldn’t have dared to touch either of you!”
This street thug, notorious for bullying the weak and fearing the strong, had previously only followed a few minor leaders doing intimidation-for-hire jobs.
He had never fallen so low as to rob pedestrians.
That only happened recently, after the boss who had been leading them failed while working for a merchant and was suddenly assassinated in a tavern.
Everyone said he had offended someone he should never have provoked.
Listening to the other party’s words—made especially sincere by their fear of death—Idledra instead felt puzzled.
If they were really just these two nobodies, how could they have made her feel a sense of danger?
Unless there was an even more dangerous presence hiding nearby, one that had caused even her to misjudge the situation…
Meanwhile, Hailey, who was walking along as if nothing were wrong, felt that this road seemed both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time…
“Calm down.”
“I’m definitely not bad with directions. It’s just an illusion.”
As she looked around the surrounding streets in confusion, a strange figure suddenly brushed past her, clearly heading straight for her.
“Hey, stop! Y-you, what are you doing… are you asking for directions?”
But as the person drew closer and Hailey finally saw his face, she was already so frightened that she could not move at all—
That face was still calm and gentle. What was different was the dark shadow behind him.
“Good morning, Miss Edhailey. May you have a pleasant life.”
The visitor was none other than the highest leader of the Holy See, the Pope, Issar, who had paid them a visit not long ago!
Hailey wanted to run in the opposite direction, but her legs were tightly entangled by the suddenly appearing black aura.
The other party smiled and slowly approached her. She suddenly regretted not sticking close to someone…
“Don’t be nervous, Miss Edhailey. I went to great lengths to bring you away from the outside world, so naturally I wouldn’t bear to lay a hand on a child.”
Only after hearing his words did Hailey realize that this place was no longer a familiar street. The surroundings were filled with a thick, black-mist-like aura that made it hard to breathe.
Compared to the aura Idledra had sensed before, this one was even more suffocating, even more oppressive…
“You guessed correctly. This comes from the same place as what is on Saintess Idledra—one could even say it is the same thing.”
“Originally, only she and I knew this secret. Now, it seems I must decide whether to kill you… or make you obediently keep your mouth shut…”
The Pope merely patted her shoulder lightly, and the dark magical power seemed about to swallow Hailey whole—first her sight and hearing, then all her senses, as if she were falling into a black hole.
“Don’t worry. With your little Saintess’s current abilities, she probably won’t be able to directly break this magic.”
When Hailey finally recovered from the suffocating sensation, the Pope was once again smiling at her as if nothing had happened.
After being toyed with so many times in a row, even a clay figure would lose its temper.
“You bastard, what exactly do you want to do?! Believe it or not, I’ll stake my life today and fight you to the end?!”
Hailey glared viciously at the Pope. Even though she clearly had no real means of resistance, at worst…
At worst, I’ll self-destruct and let Idledra go completely dark and avenge me!
Though she thought so, the instinctive trembling of her body still betrayed her inner unease.
Seeing this, the Pope temporarily lowered the right hand he had been preparing to use.
“In that case, Miss Edhailey, I would like to ask you a question. Are you willing to completely replace Idledra’s position?”
“Huh? Do villains these days really love recruiting people that much? And not to be self-deprecating, but am I really some kind of rare talent?
Sorry, hurting girls is something I can’t do.”
Seeing the shock and disbelief in Hailey’s eyes, Issar slowly raised his hand and calmly threw out an entirely new olive branch—
“The Holy See needs a Saintess to act as the Goddess’s spokesperson. And if you wish, you could become the one and only Saintess…”
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