“Escalion…? How are you here?”

Before she could even call out, he was already there? How did he get here so quickly?

Escalion wrapped his thick arm around Belladonna’s waist, pulling her close to his body as he whispered softly.

“I’ve been following Nicholas from the start. Midway through, I saw you get out of the carriage and hurriedly chase after him.”

Ah, he was already following? Belladonna pursed her lips, feeling sheepish.

She realized that if she had made a mistake, she could have clumsily ruined Escalion’s tailing rather than helping him.

“Well done. I didn’t know my wife could be so swift and stealthy.”

As if reading her thoughts, Escalion spoke in a low voice.

Belladonna let out a small, self-deprecating laugh.

She knew she was far from swift or stealthy to anyone watching, but she appreciated him saying so.

Keeping his eyes on the direction where Nicholas had disappeared, he asked quietly.

“Is that a chapel?”

“Yes, it’s an old building that people rarely visit. I was told it was built when the Papal State was first established here in Astanya.”

“It seems the passage from underground to that building has existed since then.”

Escalion muttered briefly before moving forward.

Belladonna, almost cradled in his thick arm, naturally leaned against him as she walked.

In the darkness, his golden eyes gleamed coldly.

Glancing up at Escalion, Belladonna shifted her gaze to Nicholas’s back.

Carefully surveying his surroundings, he was hurriedly moving into the old chapel, hunching his upper body as much as possible.

“Shouldn’t we call for more people?”

“We might lose the Pope if we cause unnecessary commotion.”

As Nicholas approached the chapel door, it opened automatically.

Belladonna frowned as she recognized the person who came out from inside.

The thin man wearing a long white robe that covered down to his ankles had somewhat messy, long hair that reached his shoulders.

With a gentle expression that seemed out of place in the situation, he looked even milder with the round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

“Who is that?” Escalion asked.

“The Mage Tower Master.”

“The Mage Tower Master?”

The brief question contained much. He probably didn’t expect the highest-ranking magician in the Elineros Empire to be such a young man.

After observing him for a moment, Escalion spoke again.

“According to the imperial knights, the Mage Tower Master had returned to the tower after the birthday celebration ended.”

“That would have been the case normally… No, that probably was the case in reality, but there’s no place within the Elineros Empire that the Mage Tower Master can’t access. He can create portals to travel anywhere he wishes.”

She recalled the portal created in Griblata. The portal that sent the assailants who threatened her and Escalion, and kidnapped Scarlet.

“Whether it’s the Pope or Cardinal Nicholas, someone must have called him here urgently. Perhaps he came ahead of the imperial knights after learning that His Majesty the Emperor decided to investigate the Papal State.”

“In any case, it’s clear that the Mage Tower Master hasn’t let go of the Pope’s hand yet.”

Belladonna bit her lower lip.

Why is the Mage Tower Master going to such lengths?

As she was lost in thought, Escalion suddenly lifted her and tucked her firmly against his side.

Dangling in the air, Belladonna looked up at him.

Is he treating me like a bag right now…?

“We don’t have time, so bear with it for a bit. If the Mage Tower Master creates a portal inside and sneaks the Pope and the Cardinal away, it’s all over.”

Before Belladonna could reply, Escalion began to move.

She blinked as she felt the scenery before her eyes rapidly disappearing behind them.

She thought she hadn’t heard any sound, but suddenly they were right in front of the old chapel’s door.

What was that? Teleportation? He’s really agile and fast…

After setting the amazed Belladonna down, he slightly opened the chapel door and peered inside.

“Damn it…”

He muttered a curse after confirming something inside the chapel.

Judging by the bright light and the amount of wind flowing through the slightly opened door, it was clear that the Mage Tower Master was creating a portal inside the chapel for the Pope to escape.

Have we arrived too late?

Escalion, who had been glaring inside, briefly placed his hand on his waist before quickly pushing open the chapel door and throwing his thick sword towards the front.

With a heavy sound, the sword that had cut through the air landed right in front of the Mage Tower Master, who was creating a portal in front of a large full-length mirror on one side of the chapel.

“…!”

The Mage Tower Master, who had been extending both hands forward to create the portal, instinctively dodged.

As a result, the magical power he had been manipulating stopped, and the portal that had been gradually expanding in front of him disappeared in an instant.

“Will you stop now?”

Belladonna entered the chapel, following Escalion who was striding inside.

She hurriedly turned her head to look around.

Inside the old chapel, where eerie darkness and musty air had settled everywhere, there was no one to be seen except for the Mage Tower Master slowly raising his upper body in front of the large mirror.

Neither Cardinal Nicholas, who had entered just before, nor the Pope and Scarlet were visible.

Have we already lost them? She immediately felt anxious.

At that moment, the Mage Tower Master, who had been looking down at the sharp sword that had left a tremendous gash on the wooden floor, slowly raised his head.

“… What are you doing? Who are you?”

It was a very calm and composed voice that didn’t match the situation.

Escalion spoke as he approached him step by step.

“The entire Papal State is under investigation by the Imperial Knights dispatched to investigate Pope Pronuns. Unauthorized movement is prohibited.”

“Don’t you know who I am?”

“At least, you don’t seem to be on His Majesty the Emperor’s side.”

The Mage Tower Master raised his light gray eyes to stare quietly at Escalion.

Escalion met his gaze without avoiding it.

After a moment, the Mage Tower Master’s gaze, which had been quietly observing Escalion, moved towards Belladonna standing behind him.

Belladonna startled and looked at him.

“Saint Belladonna, it’s been a while. I was disappointed that I couldn’t see you in person at His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday celebration. I heard you bestowed many blessings this year as well.”

Such a leisurely greeting in this situation…

Belladonna, wearing an expression of utter incomprehension, reluctantly opened her mouth.

“… Where are His Holiness the Pope and His Eminence the Cardinal?”

“Oh, you can speak?”

The Mage Tower Master’s eyes widened slightly before returning to normal.

Belladonna, feeling an inexplicable sense of rejection, spoke again.

“I saw Cardinal Nicholas enter this place. Where are they?”

“I don’t know.”

As soon as the Mage Tower Master finished speaking, Escalion pulled out the sword stuck in the floor and brought it down hard on the wooden altar standing right in front of him.

With the sound of solid wood breaking, the altar was completely split in two.

Between the ruthlessly split wooden pieces, old candlesticks, law books, and other miscellaneous items could be seen.

Escalion, who had been looking down at them indifferently, said,

“If not here, then the pulpit?”

His footsteps headed towards the pulpit, which was a little distance from the altar.

Then, someone who had been hiding under the pulpit crawled out in a hurried and awkward posture.

“S-Stop…”

The one who revealed himself was Cardinal Nicholas, clumsily raising both hands.

Belladonna saw a flash of contempt quickly pass through the Mage Tower Master’s eyes as he looked at him.

Escalion placed the sharp tip of his sword under Nicholas’s chin, who was standing straight.

“What were you doing hiding here?”

“…”

Cardinal Nicholas couldn’t give any answer and just rolled his eyes.

Escalion, who had been staring at him as he kept moving his lips as if about to say something, perhaps intending to buy time, applied pressure to the tip of his sword.

“I’m asking what you were doing.”

“I-I was looking for His Holiness the Pope. When I heard he had disappeared, I was worried…”

“Did you find him?”

“N-No, I couldn’t find him. We don’t know the internal structure of the Papal State perfectly either.”

Escalion, who had been staring at him, turned his head and asked the Mage Tower Master.

“What were you doing, Mage Tower Master? Were you helping Cardinal Nicholas look for His Holiness the Pope?”

“…”

The Mage Tower Master turned his gaze without responding.

He was staring into space with a bored expression, as if he had nothing to do with this situation.

Escalion, who had taken his eyes off him as he seemed unwilling to open his mouth no matter what, spoke to Nicholas again.

“Guide me to the Pope.”

“I-I told you I don’t know where he is…”

“Don’t you know that the Imperial Knights are all over outside? Evidence unfavorable to the Pope is piling up, aside from that fact you’re trying so hard to hide. And soon, that will be revealed too.”

“Ugh…”

The tip of Escalion’s sword dug deeper into Nicholas’s neck.

Nicholas closed his eyes tightly with a pale face.

“I-I don’t know…”

“Kyaaa…!”

At that moment, someone’s scream was heard from above.

“Damn it…”

“Scarlet?”

Upon hearing the familiar voice, they quickly looked up towards the choir loft upstairs, where they saw Pope Pronuns firmly gripping the struggling Scarlet’s shoulders with one arm while holding a sharp poisoned needle to her neck with the other.

Belladonna covered her mouth with one hand as she confirmed her appearance.

As Escalion was about to charge at him, the Pope brought the sharp poisoned needle closer to Scarlet’s neck and said,

“Stop. Stop right there. Otherwise, I’ll stab her.”

At his words, Escalion halted his steps.

Belladonna looked up with a shocked face.

The drug on the poisoned needle pressed against Scarlet’s neck was likely the Pope’s experimental drug used to artificially create saints.

It could potentially cost Scarlet her life or cause severe disabilities.

The Pope’s eyes gleamed as he looked down at Escalion, who had helplessly stopped.

He spoke again with a distorted smile.

“Throw away your sword completely too.”

“…”

Escalion, who had been glaring at him with his golden eyes for a moment, dropped the sword he was holding.

As he dropped the sword to the floor, Cardinal Nicholas quickly ran over and kicked his sword far away.