After exiting the main building, Dietrich spotted Melana in the distance, swinging a huge scythe.
A woman exuding an ominous—no, downright terrifying—aura that anyone would find unsettling.
A ghostly sound flowed out every time she swung her scythe in all directions.
She’s seriously amazing at acting!
But even witnessing such a scene, Dietrich couldn’t bring himself to be suspicious.
Since Johan had said she was an actor, then it only made sense that her performance was top-tier.
He was hopelessly simple-minded.
“Right. I should pretend to fight.”
He was currently in disguise as someone from Eden’s main church.
Johan had even instructed him to play along, so following orders was the right thing to do.
Zzzt!
Dietrich immediately stomped on the ground and charged toward Melana.
“……?!”
Melana was momentarily startled by how quickly Dietrich closed the distance.
“A message from Senior Johan.”
“……?”
With a bright smile, Dietrich revealed that he was on the same side.
But at the same time, without hesitation, Dietrich swung his sword.
“……?!”
Clang!
Melana couldn’t hide her confusion as Dietrich came at her with a smiling face and a swinging sword.
What is this? Enemy? Ally? He said he had a message, so why is he attacking?
Johan had met Dietrich right after separating from Melana.
So from Melana’s perspective, it was still too soon to determine whether Dietrich was friend or foe.
“Urk?!”
So, she decided to treat him as an enemy for now and counterattacked. After all, it wouldn’t be wrong to retaliate after being attacked.
You’re making my skin crawl!
Melana had always been a skilled fighter who survived the cradle, but now, with the added power of the Chain, someone like Dietrich was no match for her.
Although she had been overwhelmed by Ariel, that was simply because her opponent had been beyond the norm.
Now, Melana was pushing Dietrich back with near sincerity.
“The west annex, the second floor of the main building, and the central tower.”
“…Huh?”
As the two continued their intense standoff, trading blows—
Once Dietrich confirmed that others had backed off from the area, he got straight to the point.
“These are the areas Senior Johan identified as suspicious. I’ll head to the west annex…can we cooperate?”
“I’m not sure what this is about… but fine.”
Melana still couldn’t be certain whether Dietrich was truly an ally.
However, it was also true that he wasn’t someone easy to deal with.
As long as she had a clear goal, resolving things without a fight was the best option.
“Then be careful not to die.”
Whoosh!
Just by Melana shifting into her stance, Dietrich could feel a blade-like pressure slice through the air.
Screeeeeech!!
At last, with an ear-splitting shriek, Melana’s scythe cleaved through the space around them, sweeping toward Dietrich.
“Hup!”
But despite the overwhelming display and fierce aura, it was ultimately just a puffed-up show of force.
A bluff, essentially. Dietrich let himself be struck by the attack.
From the outside, it looked like he had failed to block her blow and was sent flying by its power.
Right after sending Dietrich flying, Melana turned and began sprinting toward the tower.
Whether it was thanks to her duel with Dietrich or Johan’s ploy, the encirclement around them had become noticeably looser.
There was no way she’d let that moment slip by.
But then—
“Ugh?!”
Melana flinched from a sharp sting, shrinking back for a brief moment.
I got hit? By who? From where?
There was no one around.
Yet something had definitely struck her shoulder. Something sharp, like a sword or an arrow, had clearly driven into her shoulder.
“What is this…?”
Clutching her shoulder, Melana finally realized what had attacked her.
A sword wound.
But there was no culprit to be seen.
No—more precisely, the culprit had already vanished.
“What a strange ability.”
Melana looked in the direction Dietrich had been thrown.
It didn’t feel like it had been aimed intentionally.
If it had been a deliberate attack, Melana’s head would’ve been the one flying.
This felt more like a mistake. Like a child accidentally unleashing a power for the first time.
“Haa…”
The growth of someone is always something to be celebrated.
Even more so when it’s the awakening of an ability.
But for Melana, that brief moment had caused her to miss her opportunity.
The encirclement was closing in again.
“Why is it that everyone associated with that bastard is so goddamn annoying…?”
Melana gritted her teeth. Not at the person who had wounded her shoulder, but at the one who had sent them.
***
It was practically a high-speed pass.
Walking around so openly and confidently must’ve made the soldiers think we were guests of Viscount Alec. They simply bowed as we passed and didn’t attempt to stop us.
Of course, once we actually bust Jeff out, things won’t go this smoothly.
Even if Viscount Alec had been thoroughly duped, he’d realize something was up once we tried to help Jeff escape.
Still, just reaching Jeff’s location hadn’t been all that hard.
“Open it.”
“Uh… what?”
“I said open the door to the tower. Didn’t you hear me? …Then again, I suppose it’s not like you’ve been ordered to do that.”
I frowned and grumbled as I spoke, and the guard at the tower entrance started hesitating.
But since he hadn’t received direct orders, he didn’t recklessly open the door either.
No matter how much we tried to rely on the mood and pressure, this was the limit.
Well, it made sense. It would be odd if someone just opened the door to a hidden area without question.
“Yuna.”
“Mhmm.”
Snap!
In an instant, Yuna twisted the guard’s neck and took him down.
Taken down… right? Or wait—did she kill him?
“He won’t be getting up for at least three hours.”
“Good. As long as it’s not never getting up, we’re fine.”
“Should I make it permanent?”
“No, there’s no need for unnecessary killing. Let’s just stick to the mission.”
“Okay~”
After we tossed the downed guard somewhere out of sight, we immediately began climbing the tower.
As expected, probably because most of the troops had been dispatched to where Tillis was rampaging, there weren’t any additional guards in sight.
And just like that, we reached the top of the tower.
It was a place decorated to the point you could almost call it sacred.
“Hey, it’s nice to see your face again. What’ve you been up to lately? Judging by the looks of it, you landed a job as a sacrifice?”
“Johan…?”
And in the center of the room stood Jeff who was bound just as we’d been looking for.
There wasn’t much of a sense of accomplishment.
The location was obvious to begin with…
Above all, it wasn’t even my job.
All I felt was something like, “Ugh, guess this annoying task is finally wrapping up.”
“How’d you…?”
“What do you mean, ‘how’? Your girlfriend clung to my pant leg, begging me to save you…so here I am.”
“We’re not like that.”
“Still? You dumbass.”
“……”
Seriously, even when it’s this obvious, you’re still just friends?
There’s no bigger pushover than this guy.
“Right? Meanwhile, Johan came to his senses and ended up engaged.”
“……”
“When I realized it, things had already gotten that far. I was totally caught off guard myself.”
There was a sharp edge in Yuna’s tone.
Better to ignore it and focus on getting Jeff out of here.
“It might be a bit of a shock.”
I drew my sword and brought it down on the chains binding Jeff.
Clang!
Sparks flew and a metallic clang rang out. But the chains that got struck with a blade imbued with aura didn’t even get scratched.
“Some kind of special chains?”
Clang!
Just then, Yuna who’d been watching from the side cut through the chains with a dagger.
“Doesn’t seem like it!”
“……”
Well… I guess it was possible.
Come to think of it, cutting through steel wasn’t exactly an easy task.
I had just been a bit arrogant. Those chains were ordinary.
“So, are you going to cut the rest too? What are you spacing out for?”
“Why are you mad at me?”
“Because you shattered my pride.”
“Want me to patch it up a bit?”
“…No.”
There was something sly about that look. I didn’t like it.
Who knew what she’d try to do to me?
“Haah… Well, we’ve gotten the restraints off. You can walk on your own, right?”
“Yeah.”
Once freed from the chains, Jeff stretched slightly and then healed himself using the light of dawn.
“Wait… could you have escaped on your own?”
“Hmm, not really. Even with healing, I wouldn’t have been able to get past Viscount Alec.”
“Was Alec really that strong?”
“He was.”
I had expected him to be powerful.
It made sense. The territory he governed was far too large for someone of viscount rank.
Sure, the Empire was vast, and it wasn’t uncommon for even barons to be granted their own lands, but receiving a territory of this scale was something else entirely.
To put it bluntly, his territory was larger and more prosperous than Count Damus’ lands.
The residence he lived in wasn’t just a single mansion either. It had a main building, an annex, a garden, and even a tower.
I had assumed he must’ve earned some recognition, but maybe he was even stronger than I had given him credit for.
“First, I’d like to know just how strong he is. Tell me everything you’ve got.”
“…I mean, I’m grateful you saved me and all, and I do intend to repay the favor, but do you really have to use that pushy tone, Johan?”
“What about my tone?”
“No… whatever. It’s not like I’m in a position to complain anyway.”
He knew his place.
So he’d better act like it.
***
The mansion was still in chaos. From the distant sounds of explosions, it was clear our lunatic saintess Tillis was going wild without holding anything back.
Thanks to that, no one had noticed we’d rescued Jeff yet.
We just had to move carefully and avoid people.
“Seriously, how do you plan to deal with the fallout after blowing this up so much?”
After I explained everything that had happened, Jeff spoke with a tone of exhaustion.
I didn’t understand his reaction.
“Why would I deal with the aftermath?”
“Huh…?”
I’m done here. I’m out.
You guys should handle the cleanup. Why are you asking me what I’m going to do?
“Hey, there goes your girlfriend. How about waving at least?”
“She’s not my girlfriend… Anyway, I guess it’d be better to help.”
I handed the sword I was holding over to Jeff.
It was practically a signal that I was stepping away from this point on.
And at the same time, it was my way of saying I wouldn’t be fighting.
Violence is bad.
“Thanks for helping.”
“Send me a letter later. I expect payment for helping you guys.”
“Yeah, got it.”
Jeff accepted the sword with a good-natured smile and disappeared.
Soon after, a ray of light could be seen shining toward the place where Melana was.
That’s one thing resolved.
He should be able to escape on his own.
Besides, Viscount Alec wouldn’t have the time or energy to worry about Jeff anyway.
Even if he found out Jeff had escaped, with the Judge going wild outside, he’d have to think twice before making a move.
“So, should we just pick up Dietrich and head back?”
“Mhmm!”
Yuna and I walked confidently, just like we had when we first arrived at the tower.
So far, no one had discovered our crimes, so no one would suspect us.
***
By the time we casually arrived at the western annex, I found it half-destroyed, with Dietrich soaked in blood.
It wasn’t Dietrich’s blood.
“Senior.”
“Looks like things didn’t go too well.”
It seemed Dietrich was the one who destroyed the annex and wiped out the troops gathered in the area.
He must’ve seen something truly horrific. This was likely the result of his rage.
“How could someone who looks human do something like this?”
“No idea.”
I had no way of knowing exactly what Viscount Alec had in mind.
At best, all I had were guesses. And even then, that wasn’t nearly enough to say I fully understood his intentions.
“I just can’t accept that someone so evil exists in this world.”
“Well, that’s one way to think about it.”
I didn’t know what Dietrich had seen here.
And I didn’t have any desire to dig into it and find out, either.
I’d already suspected things might have turned out like this.
Brainwashing kids to turn them into followers of Eden? I thought that was probably the mildest version of the truth.
But the moment I saw the structure of the tower Jeff had been locked up in, I dropped that idea.
This wasn’t just brainwashing.
Anyone could see that Viscount Alec had been conducting rituals using human sacrifices.
And those rituals were… likely nothing more than insane acts born from baseless fanaticism.
“What do you want to do?”
I asked Dietrich, who had his head lowered.
“The second floor of the main building.”
“……”
“What’s there?”
“Whatever it is, it’s nothing that would do you any good to know right now.”
“……”
Dietrich didn’t respond.
He simply walked forward in silence with his head still bowed.
He was probably planning to check what was on the second floor of the main building, no matter what I said.
I figured as much.
This was a turning point for him.
So I just added a few words.
“Viscount Alec’s supposed to be pretty strong.”
“……”
“If you don’t want to die, you’d better give it everything you’ve got, no matter what it takes.”
“Thanks for the advice, senior.”
Dietrich forced a smile and then took off running.
I watched his back for a moment before I started walking again.
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