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“I want to see your feet for a moment.”

Eden was taken aback by the sudden request.

“My feet…?”

“You injured your ankle yesterday.”

Startled by the gentle remark, Eden quickly looked down at her ankle.

Wait, did I really get hurt? It looks fine to me.

As she puzzled over it and tried to get off the bed, she let out an involuntary scream.

“Ack!”

Turns out, her ankle was indeed throbbing painfully. She must have twisted it while running with Asmun yesterday and tripped.

In the chaos of the moment, she hadn’t even realized she was hurt.

“Looks like it’s really injured…”

At that moment, Asmun, who had been watching her, suddenly knelt down beside her foot. Before Eden even had the chance to react, he gently grabbed her injured ankle and placed something white on it. To her surprise, she felt the pain subside almost immediately.

“Just keep it on for half a day, and it’ll heal nicely.”

Asmun then looked up to meet Eden’s shocked gaze. An awkward and strange tension filled the air. Eden realized Asmun had changed somehow.

Could it be… is he thanking me?

“I returned the mine to the Empire, just as the priest said.”

Asmun spoke unexpectedly as he continued looking up at Eden. It was already old news to her. Yet, he stared at her as if he awaited her response.

Eden stared blankly at him for a moment before quickly answering.

“Uh, good job.”

Asmun seemed satisfied, letting go of her ankle. For some reason, the spot where his hand had touched felt oddly tingly.

At that moment, an important thought crossed her mind, one she had almost forgotten.

“Oh! That monster! It’s an ancient monster. It can only be summoned through summoning magic.”

Eden exclaimed as the realization hit her, and Asmun looked at her with intrigue.

“Tannir was also a monster summoned with magic.”

Eden emphasized, her eyes narrowing. It was clear both monsters that had threatened Asmun were summoned creatures, so that was quite evident.

Asmun stood up and replied.

“Looks like Kiris is working with the dark sorcerers.”

Asmun was sharp as usual. He figured it out immediately, so there was no need to explain further.

That Kiris was in cahoots with dark sorcerers was something Eden couldn’t have known outside the game. She felt a surge of pride and nodded.

“Investigate the dark sorcerers. You’ll catch a lead.”

Asmun gazed quietly at Eden, who was advising him.

“Understood.”

Such an obedient response was somewhat strange. He was cooperating without a hitch.

“But how did you know the monster’s weakness? Did you receive a revelation?”

For some reason, there was no trace of sarcasm in his voice this time. Eden suddenly realized she hadn’t mentioned something important.

“Ah… no. Well, you see…”

“……”

“Actually… I can see information about monsters.”

At her words, Asmun’s eyebrows twitched. It seemed he was processing what she said. Then, he finally understood how she had known the weaknesses of the monsters all along.

While he wasn’t quite as shocked as Karon or Ibthan, Asmun did show a hint of surprise.

‘Haha… damn it. I should have said this earlier.’

In this tangled situation, Eden awkwardly smiled.

“And because of that ability, I ended up working in the Imperial Palace.”

At her next unexpectedly awkward comment, Asmun’s expression hardened. His voice turned stiff.

“You never mentioned that.”

“Yeah… I, uh… forgot to mention it…”

The atmosphere in the room turned icy and murky. But Eden bravely continued.

“Um… and I won’t be at the temple for a while. I’m joining the Holy Knights heading to the western border.”

Asmun’s face instantly returned to its previous coldness. It was expected, but he clearly was not pleased with Eden’s decision.

He probably felt like Ibthan. If something were to go wrong, it would mean losing a valuable information source like Eden.

“Don’t worry! The Commander of the Holy Knights is with us, and nothing will happen.”

Eden smiled, trying to reassure him, but for some reason, that seemed to backfire. Asmun gave her a glare that could chill to the bone.

“……”

As his piercing gaze made her feel suffocated, he finally broke the silence.

“It seems the priest is quite fond of the Commander of the Holy Knights.”

The unexpected comment left Eden dumbfounded.

“Huh…?”

“You were worried he might die from poison, but now you’re trusting him with your life.”

His calm voice held a hint of sarcasm. Eden realized he was referring to that day’s events.

“That day the Commander of the Holy Knights also got splattered with Tannir’s blood. If that really is dangerous poison…”

Eden felt a pang of worry.

“No, that’s….”

“Anyway, I understand.”

Asmun interrupted her, sounding indifferent, as if he didn’t want to hear any more.

‘No, what did Karon do…’

As Eden panicked, an image of Karon, who was grinning while drooling, suddenly flashed in her mind, sending a chill down her spine.

Could Karon… have been the problem for Asmun too?

Without needing to think deeply, it was clear they were opposites.

Things couldn’t already be going south.

As Eden worried, Asmun changed the topic.

“I’ll take care of the Great Temple, so please stay here until you’re fully healed.”

Those words made Eden’s eyes widen.

“No way!”

Her vehement refusal caused Asmun’s face to harden again. But Eden, with no time to spare to analyze his expression, jumped off the bed. The ointment on her ankle had worked wonders; she felt no trace of pain from earlier.

“I’m leaving now.”

Asmund gazed at Eden, who stood firm in her stance. Only then did she realize her reaction seemed overly intense—like she wanted to avoid being near him.

“I, um…”

Eden awkwardly smiled again.

“I need to clean up.”

In the end, Eden managed to return to the Great Temple through Asmun’s study. Until the moment she left, Asmun didn’t smile even once.

It felt like she had crushed whatever tentative bond had formed with her own actions, but there was nothing she could do. Although things with Asmun were settled, she still had a task left.

That task was finding Hagen’ti.

Just finding Hagen’ti filled her with the hopeless hope that she could somehow convince him to prevent a rampage. But that belief shattered violently. Hagen’ti had clearly tried to take her life, and now she couldn’t fathom why.

Moreover, a multitude of doubts swirled within her, all tangled and unresolved.

“Why on earth is the Chancellor…”

If it were a portal connected to the princes’ mansion, that would make sense. Suddenly, a realization struck Eden.

“The prophecy!”

So the Chancellor had received a genuine prophecy, and if that prophecy foretold Hagen’ti would go berserk and destroy the Empire, then everything made sense.

The Chancellor was searching for Hagen’ti with the same purpose as her, watching him closely to prevent his rampage.

“Eden!”

Eden opened the door with a serious expression, and Rita, who had been worried about her absence all night, rushed in, startled.

“Where have you been?”

“Oh, well, you see. I was praying at the private chapel. I felt like I had been neglecting my prayers lately.”

Eden made a vague excuse, and Rita looked at her incredulously.

“In that outfit? What about your priest robe?”

“Well, that… I got mud on it while cleaning. I was just about to change.”

It was a ridiculous excuse even to her ears, but she couldn’t come up with anything else. She simply didn’t have room for anything elaborate right now.

“What’s this on your cheek? Did you get hurt?”

“Ah, this? I, um… fell. On the stairs. Haha.”

Eden tried to laugh it off, but Rita’s face remained stern.

“If you were going to worship, you could have at least told me. I was worried sick.”

At those words, Eden, who had been hastily gathering an extra priest robe, paused and turned to look at Rita. Rita was staring back with a mixed expression of worry and relief.

Worry. Those typical, mundane words made her feel oddly uneasy.

“You’re okay, right? Did you eat?”

This certainly hadn’t been planned for. In front of her, Rita looked as vibrant as she had ever been since the first time they met.

“Yeah. I ate. Sorry. I’ll be sure to let you know next time.”

Finally, the worry on Rita’s face began to ease. Although Eden wished she could spend more time comforting the only friend who genuinely cared for her in this world, her own heart felt an urgency.

“Rita, do you know if the Chancellor is currently at the temple?”

“The Chancellor? I’m not sure…”

Eden checked her watch. Lunch hour had just ended. She had cleaned the office yesterday evening, so there would be two days until the next cleaning. But now, waiting two days was not an option.

“Alright. I’ll change my clothes and quickly visit the Chancellor’s office.”

“Huh? Why? Didn’t you clean it yesterday?”

“I just realized I forgot to water the plants. It might take a while, so you go on to evening worship first!”

After changing into her priest robe, Eden left Rita behind and dashed back to the tower, organizing her thoughts as she ran.

Yesterday, she had achieved the hidden quest to find Hagen’ti. So, it meant that finding Hagen’ti through the Chancellor’s office was part of the game’s design.

That meant it was also planned that Sereman knew about Hagen’ti.

And there was only one reason the Chancellor would keep an eye on Hagen’ti.

To prevent Hagen’ti’s rampage.

 

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