“They stayed at the Duke’s residence for a few days, so they know. That Liz is the actual leader of the survivors. Constantly wandering around the office and your surroundings is probably an attempt to kill Liz… No, an intention to kill the contractor can be assumed.”

“…”

Now, even Aston closed his mouth, and silence fell. Since the story that Sienna might kill me came up, life seemed to have disappeared from his red eyes.
“After Sienna arrived, I haven’t revealed myself. It’s because a human with a god by their side can be the biggest obstacle for the culprit.”

“…Can’t we just kill her?”

Aston said, placing his hand on the hilt of the sword tied to his waist. If given permission, he seemed ready to barge into Sienna’s room and behead her.

It was my responsibility to stop him.

“Please, Aston.”

“You said she might kill you.”

“Sienna is a bothersome presence to us, a ticking time bomb we don’t know when will explode… On the contrary, she could be a good source of information to identify the culprit.”

The first zombie that looked human.

With a high probability of receiving the mastermind’s instructions, being capable of conversation, and according to Zero’s system, not losing her memories.

‘Merely sealed.’

Then, wouldn’t it be enough to awaken Sienna’s memories?

“Are you suggesting using Sienna as bait?”

I nodded in response to Benedict’s question.

“If only she can recover her memories.”

No one in this group, except Aston, knew that Sienna was inherently a good person.

“Then, if it works out that way, we might find out the identity of the culprit pressuring us through Sienna.”

“That’s optimistic, but… If the one who made Sienna like that wanted to prevent her from easily recovering her memories, wouldn’t they have placed some kind of restraint on her?”

Ruth’s worried question prompted Zero to respond on my behalf.

“Hmm, the little sorcerer. We also thought about that. Fortunately, we have something my contractor and Zero here found recently, ‘Everything about curses.'”

Zero confidently spoke for a reason.

“Sheri and Jacqueline, who are analyzing that book, have delivered the news that the power of sanctity could help counteract curses.”

“Really?!”

With Zero’s words, the expressions of Ruth, Benedict, and Michael all brightened.

“It’s true. They reported to me after staying up all night, their eyes reddened.”

Their efforts to analyze and organize the books day and night had paid off.

〈Sanctity! Sanctity can counteract curses!〉

The news, more valuable than treasure, was conveyed by Sherry and Jacqueline, whose eyes sparkled with hope like zombies.

〈We haven’t finished analyzing the book yet, but… Still, I hope it helps, Duke.〉

〈It was more than helpful. But more importantly, I hope you didn’t overexert yourselves. Take a proper rest like Nadia advises.〉

〈…To surpass that kid, there’s still a long way to go.〉

〈Huh?〉

〈It’s nothing. Well then, see you again later!〉

Fully immersed in their work, the two complained that not even Cloud could stop them.

‘Nadia, who became adept at tactics under the guidance of party members, seems so relaxed when it’s time to rest.’
It seemed like they considered Nadia as a rival and were passionate about their roles as collaborators.

“I will work hard, but I hope it’s appreciated.”

That way, the probability of clearing the final quest would increase.

“So, Michael, Miss Ruth, and Sir Benedict, your roles are crucial.”

Looking into each of their eyes, I spoke.

“What do you want us to do?”

“Help Sienna consume a small amount of sanctity without her noticing.”

Sherry and Jacqueline discovered that ‘sanctity can exert a force against curses.’

‘After that, I haven’t grasped the details, such as how to use sanctity to unravel curses and how much time it would take.’

The essential point was to gradually inject a minimal amount of sanctity to potentially release any ongoing curses.

“Sanctity can’t kill zombies. While Sienna is sensitive to sanctity, creating situations she can’t avoid and slowly injecting a small amount might bring some changes in Sienna.”

Adjusting the amount of sanctity to a level Sienna wouldn’t notice was crucial. It needed to progress discreetly, so she wouldn’t be aware that she was gradually imbued with sanctity.

‘I can’t kill Sienna, who could be the only clue to the identity of the culprit.’

Although I didn’t know who was behind this, they were skillfully concealing their identity and operating from the shadows.

Look at it now; they are resurrecting Sienna to use her as their pawn.

“We have an ample supply of holy water, and Michael can use sanctity on his own, so it should be fine, right?”

Ruth, Michael, and Benedict hesitated but eventually nodded.

“We’ll give it a try.”

“If it’s a method to save Sienna, it’s worth trying.”

“I’m willing to do it if it brings her peace.”

Good. It was fortunate that the party members, who had fallen into despair, were recovering.

However, Michael looked at me and asked hesitantly.

“Your Grace is a saint, and Sienna frequently approaches you. Can’t you participate in this operation with us?”