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There are three main categories of high-ranking clergy within the Cult.

First, the bishops who supervise the dioceses established by the Holy See in various countries.

Second, the Cardinals who assist the Pope in his pivotal role within the Cult.

Lastly, the priests affiliated with the National Affairs Council who manage political affairs and administrative tasks under the Pope’s command.

These figures are classified as core individuals within the Cult.

Both bishops and Cardinals hold the legal authority to elect the Pope. As such, they are treated as esteemed guests according to international customs, and this applies as well to the priests belonging to the National Affairs Council.

However, even these powerful figures dare not treat the Pope and Saints with disrespect.

The Pope is considered God’s representative, and Saints are revered figures who perform miracles as cherished descendants of God; thus, clergy cannot audaciously belittle them outside of ‘special circumstances.’

No matter how positively they are portrayed, clergy are mere mortals after all; battles are only waged among those of matching caliber.

In other words,

“Who ordered Lucia to take a leave of absence?”

“I did.”

Currently, there’s no one in the Empire who can punish Lucia, now a Saint, besides Veronica.

—

Episode 12 – The Strongest Magician Yet

—

The news of Lucia entering a leave of absence hit me quite shockingly.

“A leave of absence…?”

“Why? Is there a problem, Colonel?”

“No matter how I think about it, it just doesn’t seem fitting for Lucia.”

Even without considering her status as the Saint of the Cult, Lucia is someone far removed from the concept of a punishment or leave of absence.

Her character is upright and innocent, so it’s hard to believe that someone like her got into trouble and is now on leave.

Veronica coldly added, “If someone does wrong, they deserve a punishment.”

“That doesn’t sound like something you should be saying.”

“Colonel, do you really want to keep pushing me? It’s not a good habit to tease people.”

“I’m not teasing; I’m just stating facts….”

“Hmph…!”

Despite stating facts, the reaction I received wasn’t great at all.

With a shrug of my shoulders as if to say I didn’t say anything wrong, Veronica merely rolled her eyes at me shamelessly.

“If only those old-timers resembled me even a fraction, the Cult wouldn’t have ended up like this, you know?”

“So that’s why you sold the holy relics of Sophia Cathedral as contraband, Saint?”

As Veronica sipped her wine, she slammed the table. The cigar resting in the ashtray jumped up, and she yelled.

“Ah! It’s not like I sold them!”

“Then what happened?”

“I needed quick cash, so I temporarily pawned them, and somehow every last penny got taken from me!”

“……”

Quick cash? Pawning? All money taken?

This sounds suspiciously like a gambling story. I squinted my eyes.

“Veronica. Please tell me you didn’t lose money while gambling and pawned the Cult’s holy relics to borrow betting funds?”

“Ugh….”

The fierce yelling attitude was nowhere to be found. Veronica, avoiding my gaze, spoke in a begrudging whisper.

“It just happened that way….”

“……”

“Do you really think I wanted to lose?”

In my life, I’ve seen plenty of people ruin themselves through gambling—like the Arab civil servant who borrowed money from a Jew and died without paying it back, or the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan Executive who was slashed after borrowing from the Yakuza, or my colleague from the London branch who got beaten by his manager after blowing his salary on the EPL, etc…. But Veronica was different.

How could a Saint even consider pawning something as sacred as a holy relic instead of a house deed? Whoever ends up marrying her must have accumulated a hefty stack of karma in their previous life, as there’s no way anyone would live with a person like this otherwise.

As the Saint, who had been avoiding my gaze, licked her lips and began to stutter out excuses that were not really excuses.

“But please don’t worry. I got the relics back in the end.”

“How did you manage that? Didn’t you lose all your money?”

“I reported the gambling man who was running the pawn shop without permission to the Holy See’s guards. I cleaned them out of the holy relics, of course, along with whatever contraband and hidden cash they had!”

“……”

So you scammed a loan shark?

Is she insane?

“…I’m not surprised anymore.”

I barely managed to hold onto my wavering sanity. I always feel drained discussing with Veronica.

In fact, wouldn’t it be more appropriate for Veronica to take a leave of absence? Suddenly, Camila who burned down cornfields and Francesca who profits from smuggling began to seem like angels.

Rubbing my dizzy head, I resolved to change the subject.

“So, why did Lucia go on leave?”

“You already know, don’t you, Colonel?”

With her suggestive question, I nodded my head.

“It’s because she went to catch a demon without permission?”

“Correct. She conducted the Grand Exorcism without prior approval and even involved civilians in it.”

Veronica pointed at me.

Even though church laws and all that are not my strong suit, it was obviously strange that I got involved in the Grand Exorcism. But I had something to say, so I sighed and defended Lucia.

“I wasn’t planning to get involved in the Grand Exorcism at all. Lucia asked me to hide in the safest place before the ceremony began. But she got caught by a demon midway, which messed everything up.”

“I know.”

Veronica spoke, her voice carrying a slight hint of melancholy.

“I’ve known your sister for almost ten years now. Do you think I don’t understand her character? She would certainly have tried to shoulder all the risks to keep you safe, Colonel.”

“So….”

“But in the end, you ended up getting involved in the Grand Exorcism. It wasn’t intentional, but it ended up that way. You know very well that you fell into a very dangerous situation, right?”

I do.

If Veronica hadn’t arrived on time with the forces of the Inquisition, if Lucia hadn’t asked for help, we might have died there. While everything turned out fine in the end, that’s just looking at the outcome.

Getting caught in a trap and endangering civilians was undeniably Lucia’s blunder.

Veronica mentioned exactly that point.

“Still, it’s fortunate your sister was only a blesséd and soon-to-be Saint; in ordinary situations, she would have faced severe punishment. She must have decided to take leave because she realized she had done wrong.”

“Lucia voluntarily took time off?”

“Yes. Formally, it was me who imposed the punishment, but she decided on it herself. To be precise, she asked me to punish her.”

Tap. The sound of a glass being set down rang through the quiet restaurant.

After placing the dishware down, Veronica took a drag from the almost burnt-out cigar before releasing a deep sigh that was either one of relief or confusion.

Gray smoke drifted upwards. The thick haze concealed her face and expression, but the bitter smile lingering at her lips was unmistakable.

“Colonel, can I ask you something?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I’m curious about why your sister involved you in this. Do you have any idea?”

Veronica asked as she exhaled smoke in my direction. Unlike her usual bubbly demeanor, her voice now held a weighty, subdued tone that suggested concern.

“If it was a matter concerning the Grand Exorcism, your sister should have known better than I…., why did she seek the help of someone who isn’t even a theology student and lacks any prior knowledge?”

“……”

I sat quietly in place, maintaining my silence. I contemplated whether it was okay for me to utter this.

My deliberation didn’t last long.

The judgment was careful, and the decision was prompt.

After taking a sip of the water on the table, I wiped my mouth slowly and began to explain.

“The thing is….”

—

“So, that’s what happened.”

As I moved to a new seat after finishing my meal, I could finally divulge the entire story of this incident.

“Hm….”

Veronica nodded repeatedly as she settled into a luxurious sofa.

“So that’s how you and Lucia ended up taking action together.”

She silently nodded, carefully opening the cigar box placed on the table.

The three-tiered cigar box seemed to have come from nowhere.

As she unlatched the front and lifted the lid, a charm that controls temperature and humidity was revealed. The cedar-wood cigar box was stuffed with cigars, numbering well over a hundred.

Veronica pulled out a light brown cigar and used a cutter to snip the cap, then retrieved a match meant specifically for cigars and lit it up.

From cold draw to toasting, lighting, every step flowed naturally like water.

As she drew breath, the flame grew stronger, and after evenly igniting the cigar, Veronica tossed the match into the ashtray, lounges back comfortably against the sofa.

“I did hear some whispers in the National Affairs Council meetings regarding who was behind the terror incidents. Rumor has it demons or evil spirits were involved?”

“That’s right.”

“And you were tracking the terror’s perpetrator in the Northern Regions when you got wind of confidential intel on possessed individuals, contacting civilians through the priests within the diocese to hand it over to a joint investigation team. Lucia happened to stumble upon that information and then reached out for your assistance.”

“Precisely.”

The front end of the cigar began to glow bright red.

The moment I opened my mouth, a plume of smoke wafted from the back end of the cigar. Veronica savored the rich, spicy flavor, exhaling the smoke as she continued speaking.

“Your sister knowing about that information was coincidental. Yet, to whom did you pass over the intel?”

“I submitted it to Archbishop Theodosius, who oversees the Northern diocese.”

“Theodosius? You’re telling me you handed that intel to that old geezer?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Oh.”

A small sigh escaped from Veronica’s lips.

She raked her hand through her hair, muttering a small curse under her breath.

“Of all people, it had to be him….”

“Do you know the Archbishop well?”

“To some degree. He was a theology professor. But aside from that, we’ve crossed paths on several occasions for official matters.”

Veronica unabashedly disparaged Archbishop Theodosius.

The fact that she referred to the Bishop and Cardinals as old-timers was not surprising, but hearing her scorn him over bad grades was refreshingly new.

“Ah— just thinking about that time gets me so annoyed. I can’t count how many retests I had to take after barely passing because he graded me so poorly. At that rate, I nearly extended my theological studies for another year.”

“Uh, wasn’t it just that you weren’t studying enough?”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t study; to be precise, I bombed the exam. I partied too hard the night before, and the hangover made it impossible to test.”

“…Is that something to be proud of?”

Theology school lays down strict rules against alcohol and smoking. Abstinence is, in some ways, a virtue of the clergy, as they provide this type of education beforehand.

But to boast of drinking the night before an exam while being a theology student raises all sorts of suspicions about Veronica’s character.

Anyways, we needed to put aside debates about Veronica’s personality for the time being. That wasn’t what was important right now.

“I handed the information to Archbishop Theodosius, and Lucia read it. She sensed that I was providing information to the Archbishop and asked for help tracking down the possessed person.”

“No wonder, she’s not the type to cause trouble. Still, you got pulled into this.”

Veronica shielded her eyes with her hand and sighed deeply.

“You mentioned fighting against Inquisitor Agato when he was possessed, right?”

I nodded.

“In that case, it seems you aren’t completely unrelated to this situation.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain in detail, but to put it simply, you’re not an ordinary person anymore. You’ve encountered demons and sustained injuries from them, so sooner or later, you would have been dragged into this situation.”

Veronica explained that it was inevitable I would encounter demons at some point. She then began questioning me in a serious tone as she took another drag from her cigar.

“Have you encountered any strange occurrences recently? Like a sudden swarm of rats passing by, or opening a door only to find a horde of bugs scurrying into the wallpaper or furniture?”

“I’m not aware of those… but crows often show up near me.”

“Aha, then we don’t have to look further.”

I regarded Veronica with a slight sense of unease.

“Is that a problem?”

“Of course! Given that this is the situation, would you think there wouldn’t be any issues?”

“……”

To be honest, I did have a feeling that something was wrong. I may not know the details, but I felt that something strange had happened since I encountered the demon.

Thus, the Saint of the Cult, who had defeated two demons, spoke in a calm tone.

“With crows flying around, it’s not yet dire. However, it seems you should exercise some caution. Can you extend your hand for a moment?”

“My hand? Well, alright.”

As I extended my hand, Veronica set aside her cigar and grasped my offered hand.

With her eyes closed and silence reigning, she maintained the pose for a while before releasing my hand and opening her eyes.

“There’s a prayer of protection on you, albeit weak.”

“A prayer of protection?”

“It’s a prayer that guards against evil entities. It stems from a biblical tale about the archangels bestowing grace upon knights going into battle. It is often used by exorcist priests, and at a glance, it appears to be quite sturdy. I suspect it was secretly placed on you by our sister.”

Lucia, without my knowledge, had placed a protective prayer on me.

I thought it was simply a habit since she recited her prayers daily. When did she have the time to put something like this on me?

As I stared at my hand, bewildered, Veronica leaned against the armrest and continued with her observations.

“It seems this prayer has had quite a significant effect. It looks like those crows have only hovered around rather than swooping down.”

“If that prayer hadn’t been there, what would have happened to me?”

“Well, I’m not an exorcist, so I can’t say for sure, but if you got really unlucky, you would have likely spent your life mute, stuck in a mental institution. There are plenty of civilians who have ended up in long-term mental care after getting tangled with demons.”

“……”

I turned my gaze away from my hand. The thought that I could have potentially faced a lifetime of mental health struggles was horrifying.

To comfort me, Veronica assured me that everything would be fine since I had nothing to worry about.

I pulled out a cigarette from my pocket and quietly ignited it.

“Oh?”

Seeing this, Veronica tilted her head in surprise. Her reaction indicated she didn’t expect that.

“You smoke, Colonel?”

“Yeah.”

“I had no idea.”

I casually tossed the cigarette pack and lighter onto the table. The strong taste of domestic tobacco clung to the roof of my mouth as I exhaled the smoke, scratching my forehead.

“How does Lucia know about this sort of prayer? She seemed to have everything prepared for the Grand Exorcism.”

“That? She’s always been knowledgeable in that area. She attended many classes related to exorcism and totemism in theology school and had a lot of exposure to it since childhood. It’s quite likely she knows far more about the Grand Exorcism than I do.”

“Is that even possible?”

“More than you, I bet.”

“Yeah. Her talent is outstanding. If she hadn’t become a saint, she would probably be working as an Exorcist by now.”

“Hmph.”

I recalled seeing Veronica fighting in the caverns.

She blew the heads off monsters with a double-barrel shotgun, then grasped a pure white sphere and unleashed bombings from above. That vivid image flickered through my mind.

“No matter how I think about it, that seems a bit far-fetched…”

“Don’t say things you don’t understand. Our sister might be inexperienced, but it doesn’t mean she lacks skill. Give her a few years, and she could probably tear demons apart with her bare hands!”

Veronica had high praise for Lucia. Though she still retained some of her usual playful demeanor, the seriousness of the moment made it clear that this was no joke.

Normally, I would have brushed off such wild claims, but given Veronica’s demonstrated abilities, I couldn’t let it slide. I listened intently as she began to share what I didn’t know about Lucia.

“If things had gone according to the original plan, I would have taken on the role of Exorcist while Lucia would assist me. If it hadn’t gone awry, the two of us would have sent the demon inhabiting Inquisitor Agato back to hell.”

Veronica had come to the North with Lucia to conduct the Grand Exorcism. To this end, they sought the Pope’s approval and consulted with the Inquisition to address the legalities surrounding the Grand Exorcism, coordinating with the Imperial Foreign Affairs Department, Ministry of Justice, and the Magic Department.

However, due to the involvement of multiple agencies, the process was slower than expected, and they failed to inform Lucia in time, hence the missed connection.

“If I had just called my sister before leaving, we wouldn’t be in this situation. It’s sort of my mistake too.”

“That’s all in the past now.”

While Veronica spoke with self-deprecating humor, everything ended well in the end.

There were casualties, but most injuries were minor, and there were no fatalities. Lucia and I survived, while the necromancer helping the demon died, and the monsters that rose from hell fell to the blades of the Inquisition, burying the demon under a heap of rubble.

I couldn’t say for sure whether the demon was truly dead or merely barely clinging to life as it fled, but if it managed to escape, it wouldn’t have gone far.

After all, it had killed the necromancer by its own hands.

“Don’t worry too much. Everything turned out alright, didn’t it?”

As I reassured Veronica, I began to gradually piece together what she had shared.

She had chosen Lucia, who lacked real combat experience, as her assistant instead of the experienced Exorcists of the Inquisition,

Lucia had independently completed preparations necessary for the Grand Exorcism without any outside help,

she had extensive knowledge of the Grand Exorcism from a young age,

and Veronica assessed that Lucia’s talent surpassed even her own.

While Lucia’s past and detailed background remained shrouded in mystery, I instinctively sensed there was something significant about her history.

What stood out the most were the demon’s words that echoed in my mind.

‘So stop this futile act, dear child. Just as your mother and father did.’

The words made no sense, yet Lucia’s reaction to them suggested there was certainly something to take note of. Perhaps it related to the identity of Lucia’s parents. Even further, it might connect to why she grew up an orphan.

“Veronica.”

“Yes, Colonel?”

“Do you happen to know who Lucia’s parents were?”

“……”

In that moment, Veronica, who had been raising her cigar, suddenly froze.

After a brief pause, she resumed her actions with a natural air, taking a drag from her cigar, but I could sense her momentary flinch.

Veronica exhaled thick smoke, fixed her gaze on me, and replied, “I don’t know.”

“I see.”

I nodded, placing the cigarette in my mouth.

Then I retorted softly, “Let’s leave it at that, then.”

*

After finishing our meal, the conversation continued longer than expected.

Veronica and I discussed how to deal with what had unfolded in the underground waterways the previous night.

“The joint investigation team must have launched their forces, so both the investigation and the Military Government Headquarters are probably aware of the situation. I expect reports will reach the central command by this evening.”

“Wouldn’t this escalate into a diplomatic issue?”

“That won’t happen. The Duke permitted it.”

Fortunately, last night’s events didn’t present any legal issues.

To be precise, while foreign nationals fighting in a martial law zone could typically create a big fuss legally and diplomatically, such a problem could be minimized significantly because of the support from the Duke, a member of the Kien Empire’s royal family who had been ruling the north for a century.

After all, the Kien Empire is not a nation governed by law but a dictatorship.

Who would dare oppose the authority of the Duke and the royal family when the Emperor’s aunt requested cooperation? No one could openly rebel against the power of the Duke and the royal family on imperial soil.

Of course, there are exceptions.

“I can’t fathom what that old hag is thinking. It’s ridiculous that a monster is lurking in her territory, and she can’t even deal with that?”

“Veronica. Please, tone it down….”

“Why? I’m not in the mood to worry about that old lady.”

After throwing shade at the Imperial Guard HQ, Veronica began to act somewhat unruly like a slightly unbridled horse.

She used to attach the honorific “Your Majesty” to the Emperor, but now everyone was just “that old hag” or “the old fossil.”

Given that she didn’t even shy away from calling the cardinal, bishop, or even the Pope ‘old fossils,’ it was unsurprising she wouldn’t treat the Emperor with any special regard.

“Why should I bow my head to an Emperor? Even if I badmouth the Emperor in front of the palace, the imperial police and the guards will probably just pretend they didn’t hear anything, right?”

“Does being a saint give you a free pass? Is that what you consider your rank?”

“Of course! Isn’t that how it works? If they have a problem with it, they should have treated me better when they had the chance!”

Seeing Veronica talk about bashing the Emperor in front of the palace sent me into a confused haze.

To silence her seemingly endless rambling, I had to prepare a cigar and light it for her.

With that, I finally managed to regain my peace of mind, and Veronica began to smile and ceased her nonsensical chatter.

“Anyway, now that the military has been informed, the royal family will be issuing commands soon. I expect they’ll dig through the collapsed waterways to confirm the demon’s death either today or at the latest by tomorrow.”

Veronica confidently asserted that the Military Government Headquarters would soon retrieve the demon hidden in the underground waterways to check it.

She spoke animatedly, swaying her legs, in the way someone on cloud nine would.

“The bodies of the Muspel will be solid enough evidence. I bet the mages in the Magic Tower will fall quiet once they see those corpses.”

Since the start of the joint investigation, mages in the Magic Tower had been somewhat vocal in their opposition.

The first reason for their discontent was the Inquisition conducting a public investigation based solely on the mages being dark magicians, and the second was the fact that the Grand Mage, the Duke of the North, sanctioned it.

“I understand where the magicians are coming from. They probably believe we’re lying to escape responsibility since the Inquisition has killed mages left and right for being dark magicians. However, once the corpses of the Muspel come from the North, they won’t have a leg to stand on.”

“As if any clergyman can summon monsters from hell?”

“To be exact, only necromancers or demons can summon monsters from hell. And necromancers only come from among the mages.”

Veronica anticipated future events.

Whether it was just a prediction or she meant to create such a situation, I couldn’t tell, but it felt like it leaned more towards the latter.

“How much dissent are the mages stationed in the North expressing?”

“I’m not sure of the exact number, but I know there’s quite a bit. Evangelos Rysidike, the commander of the Magic Battalion, and Francesca from the Secretariat are currently calming the situation. They’re checking the mood among the mages through the Secretariat channels.”

“Hmm. It seems our little ones are really working hard. Do you know what our sister is up to?”

“If Muspel corpses are found in the underground waterways, will the mages’ opinions change?”

“Definitely. That’s the most definitive evidence. Oh, and speaking of which, there’s also the corpse of the necromancer who had their soul consumed. That could serve as evidence too.”

Veronica judged that once monsters and the necromancer were found in the underground waterways, it could shift public opinion.

If they secured that evidence, they could suppress the opposition from the Magic Tower and bolster the Inquisition’s investigation.

“Of course we can’t stop there.”

“I understand what you mean. You’re asking for support for the Administrator, right?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Veronica requested that I support Francesca. She meant for me to lend my help in punishing the mages who spread unfounded rumors and to strengthen Francesca’s influence over the mages dispatched to the North.

In simpler terms, she was basically assigning me a political maneuver. An indirect appeal for the involvement of foreign intelligence agencies into the Magic Tower.

I took a drag from my cigarette and spoke with concern.

“Veronica. You do realize if this gets exposed, it’ll be the end for both of us, right?”

“But if it succeeds, it’ll help my sister, won’t it?”

“The Patalia Intelligence Agency won’t look kindly on this. The Imperial Intelligence Agency probably won’t, either.”

Francesca is one among the public order offenders. The entire Raniere family has effectively been branded as public order offenders.

The only reason she could come to study at the Magic Tower was that she had sworn not to incite the Patalia magical community, regardless of the situation, which was precisely why she—despite being a descendant of a Grand Mage with remarkable talent—was unable to enter the political arena of the Magic Tower.

I learned that directly from a connection at the National Security Agency. From Sofia, the information officer who had been monitoring Francesca.

The situation at the Imperial Intelligence Agency was no different. For her to rise as a powerful mage, particularly within the martial law area of the Empire, would trigger a backlash from the Imperial Guards.

Murderous barbarians, capable of slicing through several people with a single motion, were not favored by the Abas Information Agency. Naturally, the Empire felt the same way.

At that moment, the Saint of the Cult tilted her head.

“I don’t see what you’re worried about. Haven’t you always been a person who enjoys adventure?”

“There’s a difference between being reckless and seeking adventure.”

“Well.”

Veronica, sitting comfortably with her legs crossed, rested her chin on her hand and smiled sweetly.

“A person who despises danger is quite bold for having dashed off with me to evade the Imperial Guards, right?”

“……”

“Just help my sister once, won’t you? It won’t be bad for you. Of course, it wouldn’t be for Abas, either.”

I looked into Veronica’s beaming face, full of mischief.

She bit down on the filter of her cigar, inhaling and then exhaling a puff of smoke. After a short while of smoking in silence, I crushed the cigarette in the ashtray and sank back into the sofa.

“Well, it’s not that big of a deal. But aren’t you worried?”

“Worried about what?”

“The demon. We still don’t have a definitive answer on whether it’s alive or dead, do we?”

“Exactly. So why worry?”

With a grin that never faltered, Veronica exhaled smoke.

In the mist-like haze, she wore an enchanting smile.

“After all, it will die at my hands or Lucia’s.”

*

After exchanging a few bits of information, I prepared to leave the room.

According to Veronica, Lucia was staying in a secluded room of the Cathedral of Saint Basil while under house arrest. Normally, she shouldn’t have contact with outsiders during her penance, but since dinner hadn’t been served yet, I planned to drop by and bring her some food.

“Just bring her porridge.”

“Porridge? Why give her that when we can have a proper meal?”

“Should I set a lavish feast for someone being punished? She requested this punishment, so don’t worry about it.”

While I wasn’t well-versed in the penalties of the cult, it seemed that even during penance, one didn’t just relax at home.

There were cases where they had to rewrite thick scriptures repeatedly for days or even fast, or resort to self-flagellation. I also heard that the latter had led to deaths and thus had been banned entirely.

“I really cannot understand why they live like that.”

“Religious folk. Sometimes they seem a bit mad, you know?”

“Of all people, you shouldn’t be saying that as a Saint…”

I listened as Veronica explained how to procure porridge from the kitchen and the way to Lucia’s quarters.

While asking passing priests or monks was fine, due to the cathedral’s vast size, Veronica advised me to memorize the path first.

Just as I was collecting my belongings to head out, she suddenly chimed in.

“Oh, wait a minute, Colonel.”

Her hand rested on the doorknob as I reached for it.

Veronica stepped in front of me, blocking my exit completely as she pointed to the doorknob, turning her back to me.

Taken aback by her sudden movement, I couldn’t hold back my curiosity and spoke up.

“What’s going on? Why are you doing this?”

“I just have one question. If you answer it, I’ll let you go.”

Veronica said this with a bright, teasing smile. She claimed I could leave if I answered her question.

It was so playful that I thought she was just messing around, and I sighed deeply.

“What could be so important that you had to block the door….”

“Colonel.”

Veronica interjected, cutting off my words.

“When you first encountered the possessed person, you got injured, right? That was from the Staff Sword of a combat priest, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“Did the demon directly injure you?”

“Yes.”

“Colonel.”

Veronica smiled.

“If you don’t answer my question truthfully, you might have a little regret.”

That abrupt ultimatum surprised me. I thought it was another prank and eyed her skeptically, but Veronica remained still.

In fact, she appeared serious.

“So please, answer honestly and sincerely.”

Although her smile was present, her tone conveyed an alarming seriousness.

I nodded, confused.

“Colonel.”

Veronica asked.

“What exactly happened between you and Lucia?”

 

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