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“Do you think things will end with my death! As long as human sin exists, we will continue to thrive!”

The demon left such a curse and met its end at the hands of Sophia. The body, tainted by evil energy, was burned to ashes in the holy fire lit with consecrated oil, and the space invaded by the demon’s magic was purified by priests dispatched from the church to prevent future troubles.

Bishop Yoannis Bethel, who witnessed a space contaminated by a demon’s poison for the first time in his life, turned pale, suppressed his nausea, and repeatedly sought guidance from the Holy Spirit, the Grand Master, and the Light. Sophia, sensing a slight increase in the bishop’s Light Power, slightly revised her evaluation of him.

‘When faced with true ugliness, reactions split into two. Either succumb and indulge in the darkness, or reject it and seek the light.’

If the bishop had been slightly more corrupted, his soul would have been drawn to the demon’s traces, naturally resulting in a decrease in his Light Power.

‘Contrary to first impressions, he seems unexpectedly useful.’

Sophia thought she should report on the bishop when she visits the Church Order’s headquarters.

Though they were Paladin knights who roamed the continent under the guidance of light and the Holy Spirit to eradicate evil, even they had a place to return to after completing a set number of missions. It was the Paladin headquarters located in the Church Order’s main office in the Holy City of Cairo.

Though they fought demons, Paladin knights freely roamed the continent. The perpetually understaffed Church Order naturally utilized their wandering monasticism.

Thus, Paladin knights had to handle and perform a wide variety of tasks depending on the situation. Inspection and reporting duties for various dioceses were also part of this. It was an open secret among the Church Order’s core leadership that the evaluation reports of Paladin knights were partially reflected in the personnel assessments conducted at the central headquarters.

Sophia approached the bishop, who, despite his pale face, was directing priests to incinerate the traces left by the demon. The bishop noticed Sophia approaching and greeted her with a nod.

The bishop spoke first.

“I’m sorry about last time. I didn’t really understand what Paladin knights do.”

The bishop’s face was twisted with a mix of sorrow and embarrassment. He genuinely regretted the friction—or rather, the one-sided tension—that had arisen between him and Sophia last time.

“I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’m not a bishop who underwent the Church Order’s regular training and was formally ordained. Due to Strasbourg’s unique political circumstances, I ended up in this position. I know a bit about secular politics, but I’m still a novice when it comes to the clergy.”

He spoke in a somewhat self-deprecating tone. It seemed he was quite shocked by the poison spread by the demon he had only heard about. Disgusted and even slightly contemptuous of himself for having taken the situation lightly until now, Sophia sighed inwardly.

‘Good grief. Now I have to take care of his mental state too? Well, it’s better to put in a little effort now than to regret ruining a perfectly good person later.’

After organizing her thoughts, Sophia spoke gently.

“No one can seriously think about something they’ve never experienced. Humans usually either rashly underestimate what they don’t know and get hurt, or are too vaguely afraid to respond properly. Everyone is like that. That’s why the first experience is important.”

She paused and looked around. Following her lead, Bishop Yoannis Bethel also looked around.

“See. Those who were optimistic and underestimated based on their first experience learn to be cautious and prepared, while those who were overly fearful finally learn to confront and fight.”

Sophia looked the bishop in the eye again. She spoke directly to him.

“If you don’t know, learn. If you’ve learned, remember and practice. You’ve just taken your first step. Those who wish to fight the world’s evil must know it well yet be able to laugh it off. You have the potential.”

Indeed, the bishop had potential. Knowing politics meant understanding human evil, and having seen demonic evil, he sought light and good without succumbing to it. Only such a person can fight against evil and preserve good.

Filled with such meaning, Sophia’s comfort and advice seemed to gradually restore the bishop’s strength.

“What should I do now?”

“Do what you do best. Think deeply about what you’re good at, what you should do, and what you want to do, and find your own ‘way of fighting.'”

The bishop listened intently with a thoughtful expression. Having said her piece, Sophia nodded and turned back to the scene. Suddenly, the bishop thought Sophia’s retreating figure looked very dignified.

+++++

The cleanup in Strasbourg lasted three days. The demon that had died had dispersed considerable power around to seize the castle.

‘If it hadn’t, it might have been a bit tricky.’

In the previous battle, Sophia had clearly dominated, but that was largely due to the total amount of power concentrated in her. The size of the bloodstone that appeared in Erchebet’s ‘Demon Realm’ was truly enormous. Had that power not been dispersed throughout the Demon Realm, Sophia might have faced a tough fight.

If that had happened, the Whip of Debauchery wielded by Erchebet would have been a very troublesome hindrance.

Sophia quietly imagined herself succumbing to sexual pleasure and becoming corrupted.

In his past life as Lee Beom-seok, he had wandered in search of power, experiencing many adventures and pursuing pleasure along the way. Sex had long been considered a path to mystery, and the older the esoteric tradition, the more it contained elements of primal sexual union and ecstasy.

Having encountered texts like the Kama Sutra and the Classic of the Girl in his past life, Lee Beom-seok had some expertise in sexual pleasure.

But that was a story from his past life as a man. In this life as a woman, it was a different story. Or so it should have been.

However, as Sophia, with her arms crossed and chin stroked, imagined scenes unsuitable for minors, she suddenly nodded in serious agreement.

“This would definitely be arousing.”

Sophia agreed without a hint of embarrassment, as if it were someone else’s business. Frankly, she was quite pretty. Even during her time as a nun, she had been called a beauty as long as she kept her mouth shut. Her figure, usually hidden under armor, was impressive when revealed.

Moreover, her attributes were just the right type. A nun + female knight? Isn’t that a blatantly targeted setting? If it were Lee Beom-seok in his past life, he would have definitely bought a hentai manga featuring a character like Sophia at Seoul Comic World, assuming the art style suited his taste.

“But it would be a bit problematic for my main job.”

Becoming a character with a sensitive body like those in manga or doujinshi would inevitably hinder her main duties. It would be quite troublesome to become a character who deliberately seeks out monsters for sexual pleasure, as seen in some erotic novels.

Moreover, Paladin knights were irreplaceable superhuman soldiers for the Church Order and humanity. Could such a serious world really have such a dark, extreme development? But then again, there was that prostitute demon wielding that adult-only whip.

In the end, no matter what, Sophia decided to think of a solution.

Anyway, after destroying the bloodstone and erasing the demon’s traces, she rested for two more days at the Strasbourg church for personal maintenance before setting out again without delay. There was guidance from the Holy Spirit.

After the Golden Age ended, the creatures of that era became Holy Spirits. Only those whose souls were filled with peace, holiness, and detached happiness at the moment of death, without any regrets or distortions, could become Holy Spirits.

Thus, the Holy Spirits moved to protect the world that had granted them a blessed life, aiding those with similar dispositions.

Not many within the Church Order received such guidance from Holy Spirits. Unless born with a disposition to attract Holy Spirits, only those who underwent the Church Order’s formal education and attained high Light Power were visited by them.

Exceptionally, all members of the Paladin, including monastic knights and nun knights, were each accompanied by a Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirits understood that this was necessary for the Paladin knights to fulfill their duties smoothly.

Sophia also had a Holy Spirit following her. Named Gabrielle, this Holy Spirit assisted Sophia in handling Light Power, warned her of impending dangers, and guided her to places where her power was needed.

The problem was that this Holy Spirit was overly sensitive. Just moments ago, when Sophia imagined herself as the subject of a thin book in her mind, Gabrielle, having noticed, blushed and scolded Sophia profusely.

Sophia, listening with a bored expression, let it go in one ear and out the other, which was somewhat endearing.

At least the Holy Spirit’s insight and foresight were genuine. Following Gabrielle’s guidance, Sophia always encountered those in need and evil to be vanquished. When tired, she quickly found places to rest, and the same went for food and drink.

Moreover? When traveling to regions with different languages, Gabrielle kindly handled simultaneous interpretation. Thus, Paladin knights never suffered from language barriers anywhere on the continent.

So, when Gabrielle advised Sophia to move now, there was a good reason for it.

And after several days of following Gabrielle’s guidance, Sophia encountered a village where a plague had begun to spread.

 

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