Clearly, it’s an absurd thing, but why do I keep worrying about it?

Irene glanced sideways at the window where her father had appeared, clenching her hand hidden in her sleeve.

Scared that her father might appear again.

Yet determined to catch him if he did this time.

However, even after a long time, the man she thought was her father did not appear.

Did I really see it wrong?

Irene felt uneasy, but at the same time relieved as she smoothed her chest.

Kalos, who approached her, said.

“Hand.”

“…?”

Irene, bewildered, held out her hand as he instructed.

Then Kalos placed a candy wrapped in translucent paper on her palm.

Why this…?

As Irene looked up curiously, Kalos pointed to the candy with his chin.

“They say eating something sweet makes you feel better.”

“…”

So he brought it because I looked unhappy?

Her heart tingled at this consideration she had never received before.

“Thank you.”

Irene unwrapped the candy and put it in her mouth.

A sweet and sour strawberry flavor filled her mouth.

Whether it was true that eating something sweet makes you feel better, her gloomy mood improved a little.

“When Deuce brings the carriage, we’ll return to the castle right away, so bear with it a little longer.”

“Are we taking a carriage on the way back?”

“Yes.”

“But we came out secretly… is it okay to ride in a carriage?”

Won’t everyone recognize the carriage with the Esper family crest prominently displayed?

Kalos answered while personally fixing Irene’s disheveled clothes.

“Our business is done, so it doesn’t matter if we’re discovered.”

Is it just my imagination that it sounds like he’s saying it’s because of me, not that it really doesn’t matter?

Irene hesitated, then said in a small voice.

“If you’re doing this because of me… it’s okay.”

Kalos smiled coldly.

“Why do you think I’m doing this because of you?”

“…”

At a loss for words, Irene awkwardly rolled the candy in her mouth.

Maybe because it had been in her mouth for a long time and lost its sweetness, it wasn’t as sweet as at first.

Just then, the relief center door opened and Deuce entered.

It meant that the carriage to take them to Esper Castle had arrived.

“Let’s go now.”

“Yes.”

Irene came out of the relief center with Kalos.

In front of the relief center, a black carriage with the Esper family crest prominently engraved was waiting.

Kalos personally opened the door and helped Irene into the carriage.

Whoosh-.

Deuce drew the sword at his waist and threw it somewhere.

The long sword flew like an arrow and accurately pierced between a man’s legs, embedding more than half into the outer wall of a building.

“Hic.”

The man let out a groan as if he was about to lose his breath and stuck to the wall.

Though fear rose from his toes making his legs tremble, he couldn’t sit down because of the sword stuck between his legs.

A terrifying killing intent settled in the purple eyes looking at the man.

Kalos smiled eerily, smoothly raising the corners of his lips.

“I don’t recall allowing pigeons to enter my territory.”

By pigeon… does he mean priest?

Deuce, who had been standing blankly in shock at Kalos’s sudden action, instantly sharpened his gaze.

In the blink of an eye, Deuce approached the man and slammed his head into the ground.

A loud noise like a rock breaking resonated.

What happened?

As Irene tried to stick her head out of the carriage, Kalos blocked her with his body.

“It’s nothing, no need to look.”

He didn’t want to show her either.

“Let’s return to the castle now.”

As Kalos got into the carriage, Irene naturally moved back.

Although Kalos said it was nothing, Irene, who had sensed that something had happened, asked.

“Did a problem arise?”

“It did.”

A very important problem of having to deal with a pigeon that dared to secretly enter his territory without fear.

But bringing Irene safely back to the castle took priority, so Kalos closed the carriage door.

In the meantime, he could leave the priest to Deuce, so it didn’t matter.

When Kalos knocked on the window connected to the driver’s seat, the carriage began to move.

Despite the driver’s seat being empty, the carriage headed towards Esper Castle without hesitation, as if knowing it had to go there.

*

After the monster rampage incident, all the magical beasts and guides living here moved to Esper Castle.

Although no one lived in the magical beast training center now, a guest had just entered.

Dragged in like a dog by Deuce’s hand, he was thrown into the underground prison usually used to confine problematic magical beasts.

“I, I am Sergio from the Ephram Temple! I have identification here, and if you’re suspicious, you can contact the Ephram Temple to verify! I’m absolutely not a suspicious person, so please let me go!”

Sergio shouted until his throat was raw, but Deuce didn’t even hear it.

Standing like a stone statue guarding the prison entrance, he only moved when Kalos arrived.

Thud, the sound of heels echoed eerily in the dark underground prison.

Meeting the even more chilling purple eyes, Sergio prostrated himself on the straw-covered floor, trembling.

Although his head throbbed with pain from when Deuce had slammed it on the street earlier, fear was greater than the pain.

After all, he was facing the infamous Duke of Esper.

Having heard stories of a priest who went to judge whether the woman he took was a witch and ended up dead, he was even more terrified.

“Se-Sergio, a faithful servant of the Lord, greets the esteemed Duke of Esper.”

Barely managing to greet with a trembling voice lest he give any cause for offense, a mocking laugh quietly echoed.

Clang, Kalos opened the iron cell door and entered, looking down at Sergio who was still trembling with his head pressed to the floor, and asked.

“How did you enter Esper territory?”

For a priest to enter Esper territory, they absolutely needed permission from the lord, Kalos.

But Kalos had never given permission for a priest to enter, and had told the guards at the inner city gates to capture any priest who came, not let them in.

Yet a priest was in the inner city. It was impossible.

Moreover, a priest in Esper territory at this time would likely be part of an investigation team sent by the temple, so he had to be even more wary.

“Speak. How did you enter Esper territory?”

With the terrifying killing intent pressing down on his shoulders, Sergio swallowed dryly.

Though his throat felt choked as if Kalos was gripping his neck, making it hard to speak, Sergio squeezed out his voice, thinking he had to somehow clear up the misunderstanding.

“Forgive my impertinence… but I did not come here in the capacity of a priest.”

Kalos frowned.

“You didn’t come as a priest?”

“Ye-yes. I came to Esper territory… the day before the Fireworks Festival. I wanted to see the famous festival I had only heard rumors about, so I set aside my priestly status and came as an ordinary person.”

In other words, he had been in Esper territory since the Fireworks Festival until now.

Kalos sneered coldly.

“You expect me to believe that?”

Sergio rubbed his head against the straw pile as if bowing and cried out earnestly.

“It-it’s true! I’ve been in Esper territory from then until now!”

He didn’t seem to be lying, but Kalos couldn’t trust him since he was a priest.

I should interrogate him more.

Kalos stroked his chin and asked.

“Why didn’t you return to the temple and stayed here?”

“Th-that is…”

As Sergio hesitated, seeming to debate whether to speak or not, Kalos firmly stepped on the back of his hand.

Crack-.

The sound of bones breaking echoed in the dark prison like an echo.

“Aaagh!”

Sergio’s face turned bright red as he screamed. The whites of his eyes were no longer visible.

“I’ll ask again, Sergio.”

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Why didn’t you return?”

“Ha-hand…”

Though he couldn’t finish his words due to the rising pain, Kalos easily understood what he was trying to say and removed his foot.

Sergio clutched his swollen hand and stammered.

“I-I was looking for someone!”

Kalos’s eyes narrowed.

“Who were you looking for? Is that person also a priest?”

“N-no. Someone I became close to while sightseeing at the Fireworks Festival, but they suddenly disappeared after the monster riot…”

Kalos snorted.

“You’re saying a priest didn’t return to the temple for over two weeks to find someone you briefly met and became close to?”

This was the one thing he didn’t want to say out of embarrassment.

But since his life would be in danger if he didn’t speak, Sergio closed his eyes tightly and said.

“Th-that person stole my identity token!”

All people living on the continent receive an identity token when they become adults, but the tokens differ slightly depending on rank and status.

Especially the identity tokens held by priests were important objects blessed directly by the Pope, and if lost, one was judged unqualified as a priest and excommunicated.

In short, he had his identity token stolen and stayed here all this time trying to find it, unable to return to the temple?

It was absurd, but ironically, it was the most believable thing he had said so far.

Kalos chuckled and leaned against the moss-covered wall.

He’d need to investigate further to be sure, but for now it seemed certain that Sergio wasn’t part of an investigation team sent by the temple.

“So, what’s the name of the bastard who stole your identity token?”

Usually people don’t touch a priest’s belongings for fear of divine wrath.

How brazen must they be to steal it, he wanted to see their face.

“Th-that man’s name is… Ron.”

The corners of his lips that had curved up froze for a moment.

Kalos asked again, doubting his ears.

“That man’s name is… Ron?”

As Sergio nodded, Kalos laughed hollowly and rubbed his furrowed brow.

“Just calling each other by name seems too stiff, so shall we decide on nicknames?”

“I’ll call you Ron, so you call me Del.”

Could it be that you acted directly, Dale?

*

“Ah, that feels good.”

As she sank into the bath water Jessie had prepared, a sigh of satisfaction escaped naturally.

Irene stared blankly at the rose petals floating in the water, recalling the man she had seen at the relief center.

The man who looked exactly like her father.

‘Who was that man?’

Since there was no trace of him fleeing, she wondered if she had seen wrong.

But no matter how she thought about it, it didn’t seem like she had seen wrong.

‘Should I have told the truth to His Grace the Duke?’

If she had, he might have found him right away.

“…Never mind.”

Let’s not trouble Kalos with uncertain matters.

In the first place, it was uncertain whether he would help, and she didn’t feel right relying on him too much.

If he appears before her eyes one more time, then she should seriously consider telling Kalos.

As Irene was about to get out of the bathtub, shedding her fatigue along with her worries.

Clang-.

“…!”

The bathroom door suddenly opened without a knock.