The bishop had the appearance of a young woman, but in reality, she was a middle-aged woman who had experienced all sorts of things in her life.

She treated people like animals, and Chad was no exception. Soon, her whip flew towards Chad’s back.

“Get your act together!”

The thin leather slashed across his back.

Right now, Chad’s heart was full of only the bishop. Boiling hatred swelled up like steam.

This was the most blind and indelible emotion. How thrilling would it be if Rukna thought of him this way?

“We made you our priest not because you are great, but because of the prophecy that you are a descendant of the dark wizard Karzan!”

At those words, Chad, who had been cowering like a child, looked up at the bishop with eyes full of rebellion.

“I’m not great, you say?”

No one could match him in dark magic.

Of course, the bishop was also powerful, but that was due to the difference in experience, not the difference in power. However, the bishop did not acknowledge him.

“Yes, you’re absolutely hopeless. If you were so great, would the emperor have abandoned you over a mere oracle?”

“……”

“Look at how you attacked Wiegratz’s territory without consulting. Didn’t the schedule get delayed because you wasted your energy in useless places? You squandered the sacrifices and power you had prepared for the cause!”

“You’re the same.”

“What?”

“You thought I was insignificant, didn’t you? You said I was the best, but in reality, you treated me like a second-rate inferior.”

Chad caught the flying whip with his hand and smiled bitterly.

His head was already ringing with annoyance over Rukna’s matter, and hearing that he was hopeless on top of that, it felt like something snapped inside him.

“Aren’t you going to let go? Cheyren Steward!”

The bishop shouted, but Chad glared at her with turbid eyes.

“Thanks for raising me all this time, Bishop. But you’ve been sitting on your high horse for too long.”

Tentacles like octopus legs shot out from Chad’s back and pierced straight through the bishop’s heart.

Everything happened so suddenly. The bishop spewed blood without even being able to defend herself.

Even an elephant, if tied up from a young age, cannot escape the vicinity of the stake. Yet Chad broke the collar she had tightened around him so easily.

“Deacon over there.”

Chad wiped the red blood splattered on his face and smiled with his eyes closed.

The dark mage of deacon rank bowed his head in confusion.

“Keep this one barely alive. If you attach a parasitic demon to the heart, it won’t die early.”

He lightly kicked the bishop who had collapsed on the floor.

“We’ll need to use it as a sacrifice later.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Around the same time, Rukna was staggering. Her vision was blurred with despair.

“Lady, please let go. We’ll take it from here.”

Was it Carlyle from the Dawn Knights?

That fellow approached, reeking of blood, and brushed off her hands that were performing CPR. She heard the doctor’s diagnosis that this was a miracle.

“Hey, snap out of it!”

Bolton was shaking her, making her vision dizzy.

“What, what should we do? Rukna looks unwell. She overexerted her divine power to the point of purifying this entire mansion. Huh? Ru, Rukna?”

With Perta’s trembling voice, Rukna fainted briefly and woke up.

With the help of Bolton and Perta, she immediately returned to the temple.

The people of the ducal residence all dissuaded Rukna, but her decision was firm.

The distance to the capital was quite far. Someone secretly followed and guarded Rukna’s group, but she pretended not to notice their presence until the end.

Even if it was Matian, she had no intention of turning her horse’s head.

“Your face has become half of what it was, you.”

The archbishop looked down at the haggard Rukna with pity.

“Did Viscount Matian overwork you like this?”

“…You know that’s not it.”

Rukna tried to brush it off, but the archbishop sighed.

“Tell him to take it easy. Men like that tend to be more obsessive. To the point where he even threatened the emperor… sigh.”

“Threatened the emperor with what?”

“Rumors have spread that Viscount Matian threatened the emperor to protect his woman. Why else would the emperor retract the imperial order he himself issued?”

“That reminds me, Your Holiness, I have something to tell you about supporting the war.”

“Say as much as you want. I will lend an ear to your words.”

The archbishop slightly bowed his upper body towards Rukna and offered his ear to her. It meant he would listen carefully.

“I intend to go to the battlefield in accordance with the previous imperial order.”

“Hmm? You’re going to bring hardship upon yourself?”

“I think Chad plans to revive the demon’s egg in three months.”

“…!”

“I want to take care of that damn guy with my own hands. I don’t want to see any more precious people lose their lives for my sake.”

[This is the timeline separator]

The archbishop finished the last service and left the temple.

With a fragrant herbal tea in one hand, he sat down on a long bench under a tall tree.

Raindrops began to fall one by one, but the tree acted like an umbrella, blocking the raindrops.

He reached out one hand to check the raindrops and spoke to the air.

“I heard that the grand duchess is unwell.”

“……”

“Did you properly check your mother’s condition before following the young lady?”

The archbishop grumbled that this is why raising sons is useless.

Just then, Matian, who had been on the tree, jumped down and took the seat next to him.

“Mother is rapidly recovering. The doctor described it as a miracle bestowed by God.”

“Our priestess Rukna is indeed an outstanding talent.”

“Please refrain from using the term ‘our’ when referring to my woman. It’s irksome, Your Holiness.”

“Don’t get all worked up over every single word like a child. I’m also fasting and praying, so I’m just as irritable, you know?”

The archbishop urged him to get to the point quickly.

All day long, Matian had been sending him pleading glances from outside the window, to the point where he couldn’t concentrate on his prayers at all.

“Can’t you stop her?”

“Stop what exactly? Don’t tell me you want me to stop Priestess Rukna’s will?”

“I tried to persuade Rukna directly, but she refuses to listen at all. She said she won’t even meet with me until the war is over… and told me to fulfill my duty as a hero.”

Faced with her resolute attitude, Matian couldn’t even refute and was turned away at the door.

It seemed Rukna was distancing herself from those around her, thinking that she was the cause of this entire situation.

Matian tightly pressed his lips together with a troubled expression.

The archbishop didn’t miss that opportunity and teased him thoroughly, saying, “Are you perhaps sulking because you got rejected, Viscount?”

“I’m not in the mood for jokes. I didn’t know you were such a frivolous person, Your Holiness.”

“The same goes for you, Viscount.”

“What do you mean?”

“You used to be more mature when you were younger. Back then, it was really hard to even strike up a conversation with you. But now, how should I put it… you’ve become really human? This is all thanks to our Priestess Rukna.”

“Don’t use the term ‘our’.”

“If you keep pointing it out, I might start calling Priestess Rukna ‘our darling’.”

Just then, a grasshopper leaped onto the archbishop’s lap.

The startled archbishop was about to let out a scream, but his mouth gaped open. Matian, with quick reflexes, caught the grasshopper and swiftly threw it onto the grass on the other side.

And then, he politely asked the man who had been teasing him just a moment ago, “Are you alright?” It was truly a perfect model of a gentleman’s etiquette.

‘No wonder young ladies can’t come to their senses with the rumors of Viscount liking men.’

The archbishop muttered to himself and recalled the wish lanterns that were hung in the temple during festivals.

On those lanterns, one could often find the wish of women wanting to marry Matian.

The archbishop handed the herbal tea he was holding to Matian and stood up from his seat. Matian, who had received the teacup in surprise, looked up at him.

“What is this?”

“Don’t you have nightmares on rainy days, Viscount?”

The dream where the Black Sage begs him to release the seal. It tormented Matian with Rukna’s face.

“It’s a tea that helps with sound sleep. If you go over there, there are temporary quarters used by the priests. Why don’t you go and get some shut-eye? Then you might be able to see Priestess Rukna before she leaves.”

“……”

“I’m telling you this because I’m afraid a person of your stature might end up sleeping in a tree while chasing a woman’s tail.”

With that, the archbishop returned to the temple.

Matian silently looked down at the herbal tea, then downed it in one gulp. Gripping the empty teacup tightly, he clicked his tongue.

‘I wonder if the archbishop usually takes care of Rukna like this too.’

Damn it, he somehow felt like he had lost.

[This is the timeline separator]

Huff! Rukna took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

She had a dream where she was drowning in black fog rising from beneath her feet.

She was stepping on the corpses of those who loved her like a staircase, and in the end, she was engulfed in it. She really thought she would suffocate and die.

‘Let’s pack our things.’

The rain that had been falling all night must not have stopped yet, as the early morning sky was darker than usual.

Rukna lit the oil lamp on the small side table and packed the necessary items into a bundle. The luggage was simple.

A small staff used by priests when going on pilgrimages, some simple clothes, and a small coin purse stuffed with a few bills were all.

Rukna went to see the archbishop, who was in the middle of early morning prayer, to bid farewell.

“Then I’ll be off, Your Holiness.”

“So you’re really leaving me in the end?”

The archbishop looked disappointed with a haggard face.

“Leaving you? No, I’m going to help end the war quickly. That way, you can retire as you wished, right, Your Holiness?”

“That’s true. The war needs to end soon so I can pass on this dreadful position to Jerome.”

The archbishop, who had never shown any signs of fatigue while praying for the empire until his hands wore out, only complained in front of Rukna.

‘Has his blood sugar dropped from fasting?’

Rukna put a snack made by preserving fruit in sugar into the archbishop’s mouth.

It was something she had packed to eat on the journey.

The exhausted faith of the empire smiled broadly and muttered, “Happiness is actually nothing special.”

“Do you know that when an archbishop retires, the country provides a stipend until death?”

“I’m hearing this for the first time. But why are you telling me this…?”

Was he bragging that while priests don’t have pensions, archbishops do?

“Eating the snack you gave me made me think I should definitely tell you. The fact that I have a fate where I can live comfortably until I die.”

“…?”

“I’m just saying. So come back safely without getting hurt.”

[This is the timeline separator]

Rukna moved to the area that needed the most aid.

She had heard that due to the appearance of demons and the aftermath of the war, the public sentiment had become barren and bandits were rampant everywhere. Yet, Rukna remained safe throughout her journey. And that too, with a female priest traveling alone.

Night fell again, and Rukna lit a bonfire on a suitable flat ground.

There were spots of dried blood here and there, as if a battle had taken place on this land.

On a nearby hill, there were many swords stuck in the ground instead of tombstones.

It seemed to be a temporary cemetery made by burying the corpses all at once.

‘This is a bit scary.’

She would reach her destination tomorrow, so this was the last camping. Repeating to herself that she just needed to endure well tonight, she spread out her sleeping bag next to the bonfire.

“……”

Rukna’s gaze shifted confusedly between the cemetery and the bloodstains.

She hesitated for a moment, then spread out the sleeping bag a little wider. Then she shouted towards the forest.

“Come out, don’t hide.”