"Lin probably went back already."

The night was growing late.

After autumn came to Belrand, a faint mist would always drift in from the Glein River through the city streets and alleys at night, carrying a chill that seeped into the bones.

With Holy Light protecting them, neither Liya, as a Saintess, nor Lin, as the High Sister assigned full-time to care for the Saintess, could truly feel cold anymore, much less be harmed by something as trivial as the cold. And yet, looking at the empty streets and alleys, Liya still could not help picturing poor Lin waiting all alone in the freezing night, shivering pitifully.

While she had been inside having the time of her life, Lin had been left outside keeping {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} watch for days on end... forget being a Saintess, even as an ordinary person, that was the kind of colossal mistake that demanded dropping to her knees and apologizing.

To do something like that... she was absolute trash. Worse than a certain yellow-haired scumbag!

"Ugh... I’m so sorry, Lin. I really didn’t mean to."

Liya pressed her hands together, stuck out her tongue, and felt deeply guilty all over again.

It was not that she did not care about Lin. Quite the opposite. Ever since her teacher had laid down the burden of being Saintess and left the Church, Lin, who had been assigned to care for her full-time, had naturally become the person closest to her within the Church.

It was just that she had been too immersed in the wonderful time after reuniting with Muen. On top of that, most of her attention had been tied up by those two cheating cats, and for the past few days she had practically been living in a state where she never even saw the sun. That was how Liya had, quite accidentally, forgotten Lin’s existence completely.

All in all... it was an accident. A pure accident.

"Hmph, it’s all Muen’s fault!"

Liya puffed up and muttered to herself, drooping her little face as she righteously shoved all the blame onto the bad man who had seduced her.

If that bad man had not been so irresistible, how could she possibly have made such a low-level mistake?

No matter how you looked at it... this was all Muen’s fault!

"I can only hope Lin isn’t too angry..." Liya secretly offered another prayer to the Goddess.

Because when Lin got angry, she was terrifying.

Usually, she always looked capable and composed, and she treated everyone around her with kindness. But Liya had personally seen her scold a novice nun so harshly for making a mistake that the poor girl burst into tears.

Lin at times like that... was basically a demon!

So after taking several deep breaths, Liya finally took out her communication stone.

Even if she got scolded, she still needed to contact Lin as soon as possible. Otherwise Lin might worry.

Liya dialed the communication stone’s frequency.

"Beep..."

"Beep..."

"Beep..."

The steady sound of the communication stone echoed through the silent autumn night, like the ticking of a great clocktower, carrying a strange kind of magic that could calm the heart.

But as the seconds passed, Liya’s perfectly shaped brows gradually began to knit.

"She didn’t pick up?"

Liya tilted her little head, feeling that something was off.

As the High Sister serving the Saintess, going this long without answering the communication stone was not like Lin at all.

"Could something... have happened?"

Liya’s little face tightened.

The soft, sweetly anxious air she had just had while wondering how to apologize and earn Lin’s forgiveness as quickly as possible vanished in an instant. As faint light from somewhere within the night reflected off the delicate flower crown atop her head, the holy purity and dignity belonging to a Saintess suddenly emerged from Liya.

She closed her eyes and clasped both hands tightly.

"Goddess, please guide this lost lamb..."

In an instant, within Liya’s darkened field of perception, a light flared up.

As a Saintess, Liya could naturally sense the Holy Light on other people with perfect clarity. So after steadying her mind and filtering out the traces of several clergy members elsewhere in Belrand, she quickly found the cluster of Holy Light that belonged to Lin.

And then she was shocked to discover...

"She’s fine?"

Liya opened her eyes and blinked. Her whole presence instantly turned cute and soft again.

In her perception, the Holy Light that belonged to Lin was resting just where the inn was. There was no sign of disorder or fluctuation around it at all. It was so calm that it could only mean one thing...

She was asleep.

"H-ha, haha... right. It’s this late. Of course she’d be sleeping. Not answering the communication stone is normal."

Liya awkwardly scratched her head.

Looking carefully, the hands of the great clocktower in the distance were already close to pointing straight up. Before she had rushed out of the ducal estate, she had been romantically sharing a candlelit dinner with Muen...

But in reality, since all of them had only woken up around dusk, that candlelit dinner had naturally been pushed very late into the night. Liya, whose sleep schedule had become utterly chaotic over the past few days, simply had not realized it right away.

"I was too tense." 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Liya patted her cheeks.

Thinking it through seriously, she had just been talking with Muen. Right now, the entire continent’s attention was most likely fixed on only two things: the war and the Abyss. On top of that, the cultists here had only just been purged by Pink Bear and the former Saintess working together. Who would pick a time like this to come looking for trouble with a little Saintess like her?

Besides, in order to make sure she had the chance to secretly meet Muen, she had been extremely careful lately. She had not even revealed her whereabouts to the Cathedral.

"Anyway, I should go back and find Lin first."

As reluctant as she was to give up her rare time alone with Muen, she could not really just leave Lin cast aside all by herself.

At the very least... she had to go back tonight and set her mind at ease.

That way, later on, she could ask Lin to keep watch for her again while she continued secretly meeting Muen!

"So this is balancing the water level?"

Liya waved her little fist proudly.

"Muen’s signature move—I can do it too!"

...

...

Liya sped all the way toward the inn.

By now she had already changed back into the black outerwear she had used for her disguise before. Her exquisite, holy flower crown was properly hidden beneath her hood, and her face looked different from usual, covered in freckles and made utterly ordinary.

After all, as the pure Saintess of the Church of Life, simply revealing Liya’s identity out in the open would create countless inconveniences.

For example, there would always be innumerable believers yearning for the Goddess’s radiance, swarming in to seek an audience with her, the Goddess’s representative in the mortal world. Or the people from the Cathedral would absolutely never permit Her Highness the Saintess to wander around outside alone. They would surely dispatch the Church’s finest knights and surround her three layers deep inside and out.

If that happened, forget going off to do what lovers do with Muen—having even a little private time of her own would be incredibly difficult.

That was why, when Liya returned to Belrand this time, she had not alerted anyone. To keep the Church from finding her, she had even chosen an inn in the Lower District, very far from Belrand Cathedral.

"Mmm... it’s kind of too far. I should’ve picked a place closer to Muen’s ducal estate."

Liya puffed out her cheeks. Because she did not dare use conspicuous Holy Light spells, she had spent half an hour flying here with ordinary magic. She had not minded before, but now it felt like all this travel time was just wasting the time she could have been spending with Muen.

Thankfully, she was almost there.

Liya landed, confirmed her bearings, and after a brief moment’s thought, did not take the same route she had come by. Instead, she suddenly turned and slipped into a narrow alley.

Of course, that was not because the inn where she was staying was so remote that she actually had to pass through a cramped little alley like this. It was simply because cutting through here would save several minutes. It was a shortcut.

Now that Liya was bathed in the halo of a Saintess, perhaps only a very small number of people knew that, just like Ariel once had, she had also grown up in Belrand’s Lower District.

She was very familiar with this place.

"This road still hasn’t been fixed... it’s been years."

Liya pinched up the hem of her skirt and skipped across the pitted path like a little girl playing hopscotch. A light rain from a couple of days ago had left the alley muddy and slick, but Liya moved lightly enough that not even a speck of mud touched her.

As for why she was not just using magic to fly through the alley, it was not because she was deliberately savoring this childish little pleasure. It was because overhead, line after line of laundry ropes hung with all sorts of clothes crisscrossed above her like a giant net, wrapping the whole alley tightly.

Everything here was familiar—not only the traces left behind by people who had struggled to live their lives here for years unchanged, but also the same old messy environment and atmosphere.

For example, even at night, it was impossible for the alleys of Belrand’s Lower District to contain only her.

Liya stopped.

"Meow—"

A startled black cat sprang out of a trash bin and bared its teeth at Liya in warning, its dark green eyes eerily unsettling.

"There, there... easy, kitty."

Liya reached out, wanting to purify the filth clinging to the cat’s body and also heal the wound on its left hind leg.

A pitiful little cat like this would probably not survive the winter if no one treated it.

But the black cat was obviously very wary of humans. Before Liya could come close, it darted into the shadows of the alley and vanished in a flash.

"What a shame."

Unable to pet the cat, Liya felt a little regretful, but she did not deliberately chase after it.

She might be a Saintess, but healing every stray cat in all of Belrand was impossible even for her.

Besides, doing something like that too deliberately might attract consequences that were not so good.

Better to let things take their natural course.

Liya continued onward. Not far ahead, a drunk lay sprawled under the open autumn sky, dead drunk. Empty bottles surrounded him in such numbers they almost buried him, and yet he wore only a single tattered shirt.

"You’ll get sick like this."

Liya crouched beside the drunk, laced her fingers together, and wove a warm blanket of Holy Light, gently covering him with it.

"Damn it... next time I’ll win it all back... I will..." the drunk muttered. As warmth gradually spread through him, his curled-up body slowly began to relax.

"Gambling isn’t okay either."

Thinking of something, Liya wrinkled her delicate nose and scolded him softly.

"If you’re not careful, you’ll lose everything."

"..."

The drunk stopped muttering, perhaps because he had heard Liya’s warning.

"That’s better..."

Liya nodded happily, stood up, and walked around the drunk, soon reaching the exit at the far end of the alley.

There, she stopped once more.

In the dark alleys of the Lower District, the three things one saw most often were usually these:

Cats.

Drunks.

And... crying little girls.

So quite naturally, at the very end of the alley, there was also a crying little girl.

"Waaah... Mimi, my Mimi... where are you?"

In the thick night, a little girl in black clothes hugged her knees and cried so miserably it was heartbreaking.

"Little one, what are you looking for?"

Liya stopped and asked curiously.

"I... I’m looking for my cat."

The little girl looked up. Her little face was grimy, and her big eyes were full of tears, pitiful and delicate.

"Miss, have you seen my cat?"

"If it’s a cat... I did just see one."

Liya pointed in the direction she had come from.

"It was a black cat."

"Really? My Mimi is black too!"

The little girl was so excited she almost jumped up.

"That’s great."

Liya patted the little girl’s head and smiled.

"It probably hasn’t gone far yet. You should still be able to find it."

"Mhm! Thank you, Miss!"

The little girl nodded hard. She showed no suspicion whatsoever toward Liya, a complete stranger, and ran off in the direction Liya had pointed.

Liya watched the little girl’s departing back until she disappeared from view.

A tiny flicker of light passed through her eyes.

"I just hope I don’t wake Lin up."

Liya puffed out her lips.

People who did not get enough sleep were usually in a bad mood.

She really did not want to see Lin get angry.

Liya kept walking, left the alley, and entered the unremarkable little inn across the street.

The light inside the inn was dim and yellow. The owner here—an old grandmother with entirely white stockings and all-white hair—was still sitting behind the counter by an oil lamp, sewing a torn hole in her husband’s trousers.

"Grandma, you’re still awake?"

Liya took a hurricane lamp from the wall and lit its wick with the flame from the oil lamp. In an ordinary inn like this, of course there was no magestone lighting, nor could they keep lamps burning all night long. But they thoughtfully prepared hurricane lamps that guests could take and use whenever they wanted.

"Mhm."

Though she was supposedly sewing, the old grandmother was already nodding off.

"Just one more stitch and I’m done, one more stitch and I’m done."

"I see... take care of yourself, okay?"

Liya walked two steps, then paused.

"Oh, right—my companion... Grandma, have you seen her?"

"What?"

The old grandmother craned out her neck.

"What did you say? Your copper plate? What copper plate would there be here?"

"I said my companion."

"You like companions? That’s no good. Those girls with girls and boys with boys, it’s indecent, downright indecent..."

"..."

Liya puffed out her cheeks hard, then finally gave up trying to communicate with the old woman.

"You really should get to bed early."

She gave one more reminder, then climbed the creaking stairs to the second floor.

"Oh, yes, yes, go to bed early... go to bed early..."

The flame of the oil lamp brightened a little. This time, the grandmother seemed to have finally heard Liya clearly. Leaning on her cane, she tottered away through the small door behind the counter.

The oil lamp flickered once, then finally went out.

...

The second floor of the little inn.

The place was very old, but it had been kept extremely clean.

Unfortunately, the Empire was still at war, and Belrand naturally did not have many visitors coming to sightsee. So aside from the room Liya had rented, most of the other rooms were basically empty.

Liya walked past those empty rooms one by one, and whenever she came to a closed door, she even reached out and knocked on it.

Only after making a full circuit did she finally return to her own room.

She pushed the door open, and the dark room was instantly lit by the hurricane lamp in her hand. Everything inside the room looked exactly as usual. On the small table, there was even the unfinished letter paper she had left behind earlier.

And on the only bed at the far end of the room, Lin was sleeping there.

"Lin, I’m back."

Liya sat at the bedside and took hold of Lin’s hand.

"I’m sorry, I’m really sorry. Please don’t be angry with me, okay? I promise I won’t make this kind of mistake again, I promise..."

Liya rambled on and on, but Lin did not react at all.

At that moment, Lin’s face was serene, her breathing steady, and her close-fitting nun’s habit rose and fell rhythmically with her chest.

She looked exactly like someone fast asleep.

And if she was asleep, how could she possibly react?

But as Liya kept speaking, her expression suddenly turned sorrowful.

"And also, I’m truly very sorry. This time, I was too careless. That’s why you ended up in danger, and even... had your appearance replaced by someone else."

Holy Light flowed through Liya’s palm.

At first, that Holy Light was warm, like sunlight, like spring wind.

But gradually, it began to grow fierce. Blazing hot. Scorching like burning coals, like molten lava!

It became so fierce that it almost seemed ready to melt the hand Liya was gripping.

"How did you figure it out?"

The "Lin" on the bed suddenly opened her eyes and said coldly,

"I considered my disguise flawless. Your Highness should not have been able to find a single flaw in my appearance, my aura, or even my Holy Light."

"...You really were perfect. And I really didn’t notice any flaws. But..."

A moment ago she had been apologizing in sorrow, yet now Liya looked utterly unsurprised by the change in the person on the bed. Lowering her eyes, she said,

"Someone as strict as Lin, who would grab a sloppily dressed novice nun and lecture her for half the day, would never go to sleep without even changing clothes."

"...I see?"

"Lin" froze for a moment, then said in sudden understanding,

"That is unfortunate. There was no way I could have known something like that."

Boom!

The Holy Light that had been gathering for so long suddenly burst forth. Liya’s attack was astonishingly decisive, leaving not the slightest room for mercy.

But the other side had also been preparing for a long time.

So the two terrifying powers collided at point-blank range with a thunderous detonation. The dreadful shockwave, carrying a searing torrent hot enough to tear everything apart, instantly ripped the entire second floor of the inn to pieces.

Dust billowed everywhere, but not a speck of grime managed to touch Liya. She landed lightly on the ground.

Liya looked up. In her perception, the other party had vanished completely. That body disguised as Lin had never truly been Lin, and it had not felt especially powerful either. Being utterly obliterated beneath the majesty of Holy Light seemed perfectly reasonable.

But then... what was this ominous feeling?

"Ah! Wh-what happened?"

In the alley, the drunken man was suddenly jolted awake by the explosion. He stared dumbfounded at the second floor of the inn collapsing into flaming ruin. After a stunned moment, terror filled his face and he turned and fled in the opposite direction.

But after only two steps, he tripped and fell.

"Wh-what is this now?"

The drunk looked down in horror and found that he had been wrapped up in a glowing blanket of light and could not move at all.

"Hm? So the drunk... really was just a drunk?"

Liya raised a hand and withdrew the Holy Light, letting the drunk scramble away in panic.

Looks like that precaution she had left behind because he had felt slightly off earlier was not going to be useful after all.

"Then..."

If that one was useless, what about the other...

"Miss..."

The little girl in black had appeared at some point not far from Liya.

Liya turned to look. Hidden among the girl’s hair, just like the drunk before, there was a faint glimmer of Holy Light.

"So it’s you, little one. Did you find your cat?" Liya asked.

"..."

The little girl did not answer. She only cried.

"Miss, you lied to me."

"Lied to you?"

Liya froze.

"What did I lie about?"

"That wasn’t my cat."

The little girl said through her tears,

"That wasn’t my Mimi..."

Pff.

Blood splashed.

Scorching crimson liquid suddenly sprayed before Liya’s eyes. Though it was vaporized by the Holy Light surrounding her before it could touch her, it still made her eyes widen slightly.

The crying little girl slowly collapsed.

"Meow—"

Behind her, a filthy black cat emerged from the darkness with a limp, one hind leg injured. It sat down not far from Liya and elegantly licked the blood from its paw.

"Our first meeting, Your Highness the Saintess."

The black cat spoke in the same voice the false "Lin" had used just now.

"To be granted a chance to be alone with you is truly rare. I am Cat Lover, Dennis Hollen, under the Salvation Society’s Third Seat."