“Feel free to come find me whenever you need, Lord Matian.”

“Please return safely.”

The only response was a resolute farewell. The priestess left the tent without receiving the answer she desired.

As soon as the priestess had completely departed, Matian’s kind expression froze into a chilly one.

With a displeased expression, he brushed off his chest where her hand had touched.

“Next time, call a male priest for me, Bolton.”

The priestess’s touch, laden with ulterior motives, was unpleasant. No, he felt uncomfortable with anyone’s touch besides Rukna’s.

“I did request a male priest. But what can I do when female priests keep coming this way? And you know, weird rumors are spreading because you keep requesting men.”

“What rumors?”

“That you’re… Well, that you prefer men. Maybe that’s why even fewer are coming.”

Saying that, Bolton hurriedly buttoned up his wide open shirt front, taking care not to reveal his attractive muscular frame.

If Matian’s preferences really had changed, it could be the fault of his own overly attractive body.

“Haa…”

Matian swallowed the harsh words and let out a long sigh.

Chad’s past provocation tormented him once more.

A sodomite? If a label must be attached to the act of liking Rukna Golden……

“It wouldn’t be difficult to become so.”

Matian muttered a belated answer to the absent person.

And another sigh flowed out pointlessly.

“Eek! That sigh just now, wasn’t it too blatant? It was burning hot even from over here!”

Bolton rubbed his shoulders and neck as if scorched, his eyes growing wide.

Damn, doesn’t the shape of my deltoids look particularly magnificent today?!

‘But what was I worrying about just now?’

Scratching his head, Bolton roughly changed the subject.

“Anyway, hurry up and recover. Chad hasn’t been around lately either, so I’ve been running the troops.”

“Chad has?”

“He must be busy seducing women again. Have you ever seen that fox properly do his job? He might be hiding in the female priests’ quarters.”

Bolton grumbled, saying it seemed like that jerk Chad had stolen his vitality-enhancing elixir and drunk it.

“Be careful, Bolton.”

“Of what?”

“Don’t let your guard down. Whenever Chad is absent, a major incident is bound to occur.”

A few hours later.

Rukna arrived at the Golden Plains with the rear unit.

“So the talented individual recommended by the Theology professor was you, Lady Rukna Golden.”

The head priest Jerome, who had arrived first, checked the roster and smiled brightly.

“It’s been a while, Priest. How is the situation?”

“Not bad. A few hours ago, after Lord Matian destroyed the mana amplifier, the frequency of monster appearances has significantly decreased.”

“Is Matian alright?”

“Pardon? Haha!”

“Why are you laughing?”

“It’s my first time seeing someone worry about the Weapon Master. There’s a reason he’s called the Weapon Master, no? Even if an imperial knight brigade swarmed him, he would win.”

“But he must have been in a lot of pain after being exposed to dark mana…”

“Oh my, he returned to his tent on his two perfectly fine feet with a smile. A priest was dispatched to that tent, so there will be no issues.”

The head priest rapidly flipped through a thick stack of documents. Now, let’s see. Lady Rukna’s mission is……

“Here it is. You are to purify the northern wheat field.”

Jerome pointed behind Rukna with the pen he was holding.

Beyond the withered wheat field due to contamination, a tall cypress tree and a small cabin could be seen.

“Priests have been dispatched to all other areas, but only the owner of that cabin has refused a priest’s approach. If it’s you, Lady Rukna, a student, he will permit entry.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“And when you have time later, I have a confession to request of you.”

“Yes, I under… Pardon?”

“I heard you do it well. Then, may the blessings of heaven remain with you.”

After whispering in a small voice, Jerome hurriedly left.

Rukna walked towards the cabin she had been assigned, scratching her head.

Beneath her military boots, crops that had dried into brittle straw due to contamination crunched with each step.

‘Ugh, the smell.’

The corpses of monsters placed here and there emitted a terrible stench.

‘Why isn’t anyone tending to this area?’

Rukna stopped walking and focused holy power towards a corpse by the roadside. As it was purified and turned to black ash before disappearing.

“Excuse me, Cadet!”

A young priest grabbed Rukna.

“Don’t tell me you’ve been assigned to that cabin area?”

“Yes, why?”

“D-don’t go!”

The young priest, his face pale as a sheet, tried to stop Rukna.

“A terrible gnome who collects human body parts lives in that cabin!”

“…What did you say?”

“I heard the senior priests talking. That’s why he prevented us priests from approaching. He’s afraid of being exposed as a dark mage.”

At those words, Rukna tilted her head. If that were truly the case, the head priest would have intervened directly. Even if not, he wouldn’t have assigned this area to her.

“Have you seen it directly?”

“Pardon?”

“Things like a dark magic circle or human body parts.”

“Well, no… But that rumor has spread among the gnomes!”

So they neglected this area based only on rumors. With this stench, more monsters will be drawn here.

“It’s true that another priest was rejected when he approached!”

“I see. Thank you for informing me. I’ll keep that in mind.”

After leaving him a brief greeting, Rukna headed towards the cabin again.

She wanted to confirm with her own eyes before making a judgment. She was briefly reminded of Matian who used to react sensitively to rumors about demons and such.

“Is this it?”

Rukna examined the cabin that had been damaged here and there from monster attacks.

Although the passage of time could be felt, the house that had traces of handling everywhere was tidy.

Both the windows and entrance were small and cozy, sized for a gnome, to the point it felt cute.

Still, the thing giving an eerie feeling was……

Muttering inwardly like that, the moment she turned her gaze to the side.

“Ahh, you startled me!”

Two flashing eyes could be seen through a gap in the window curtain.

Rukna’s shoulders trembled as she took a step back.

The curtain closed with a snap and angry footsteps could be heard from inside the cabin.

Then the door swung open.

“Who are you!”

A gnome man wearing a long pointed hat glared up at Rukna with an angry face.

Below his eyes, a ghastly tooth-shaped tattoo was engraved.

“I am Rukna, a student from Saint Officer Academy who has come to purify this place.”

“You can purify even though you’re not a priest?”

“Yes. You must have seen earlier.”

Rukna pointed in the direction she had come from. The monster corpses she had seen on the way had all been purified by her.

“Rukna Golden?”

At that moment, a familiar voice came from inside the cabin.

“Aaron?”

Aaron, wearing a black hood, walked out from there. In one hand he held a wooden hammer, and in the other a single white chrysanthemum flower.

I heard the student council was dispatched to the front lines, so why is that jerk here?

And in the house of a gnome rumored to be a human body part collector, wearing a black hood and holding a white chrysanthemum at that?

Rukna, who had turned pale, first checked the hammer for bloodstains. As she reached for the long sword at her waist, Aaron strode towards her.

Rukna was about to reach for the long sword at her waist.

“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but don’t block the way and move aside, Rukna Golden.”

Aaron sighed as he took off his hood.

His fairy-like pretty face was cold and expressionless as always. At times like this, his way of speaking was no different from the Northern Grand Duke.

“…Huh?”

“I’m on my way to my mother’s grave, so move.”

Aaron lightly pushed Rukna’s shoulder and left the cabin. Ugh, that tactless jerk!

“Hmm, so you really were Aaron’s friend.”

The gnome wearing the pointed hat looked Rukna up and down with a reaction of surprise.

Walking far away, Aaron raised his middle finger and shouted, “Not a friend!”

“I’m Tis. Aaron’s uncle’s cousin.”

Tis introduced himself while resting the wooden hammer he was holding on his shoulder.

An uncle’s cousin… Isn’t that practically a stranger?

“Judging by Aaron’s reaction, you seem to be a real friend. So I’ll allow you entry. But you…”

Tis looked Rukna up and down and smiled ominously.

“Are you human?”

“Y-yes?”

Tis reached out, grabbed Rukna’s upper lip, and lifted it.

As her lips parted, Rukna’s neat teeth were exposed.

“Hmm, I thought you were an underdeveloped human because you were short, but those are all permanent teeth, huh?”

Tis openly showed his disappointment.

“What are you doing!”

Rukna pushed Tis’s hand away and got angry.

Then, the cabinet inside the cabin caught her eye.

The collected teeth were neatly displayed in the cabinet.

What the hell is that. Was he really collecting human body parts?

‘Hey Bisbi, did I just set foot in a serial killer’s house by any chance?’

「…Hmph.」

‘Give me an answer, you narrow-minded hunk of metal!’

Rukna took a defensive stance, preparing for Tis’s wooden hammer to come flying at her teeth.

She couldn’t become a trophy of a serial killer here.

However, Tis paid no attention to what Rukna was doing and sat at the round table in front of the cabinet.

“What are you doing? Didn’t you say you’d purify?”

“…Huh?”

“The monsters attacked our house earlier, so there will be contaminated areas. Do it thoroughly.”

Tis spoke arrogantly, putting his short legs up on the table.

‘I must have misunderstood.’

Rukna dropped her defensive posture and examined every nook and cranny of the cabin.

Like a dwarf’s airship, the cabin that might have felt somewhat stuffy if Matian or Bolton had come was just the right cozy size for Rukna.

‘To think such a suspicious place would feel comfortable.’

A rocking chair with a fluffy quilted cushion and dried wildflowers neatly hanging on the walls.

If only that tooth-displaying cabinet wasn’t there, it would have been exactly like a fairy’s house from a fairy tale.

Rukna began to drive out the black energy sparsely covering the place.

Tis, who had been frowning at first, nodded his head as he watched the process.

Having finished purifying the interior of the cabin, Rukna moved outside to fulfill her duties.

She thoroughly treated the inside of the barn, its roof collapsed as if a typhoon had swept through.

She didn’t forget the task of purifying the corpse of a puppy that had lost its life to monsters while here.

“Go to a good place, little pup.”

“You’re really working hard.”

“…!”

Rukna turned around with a start.

Tis was squatting behind Rukna, watching her actions, having been there for who knows how long.

“The priest who came earlier cursed at me, calling me a dark mage, and ran away.”

“Y-you surprised me!”

“Well, it’s just a feeling. I’ll specially tell your fortune.”

“My fortune?”

“Yeah. Among gnomes, my fortunes are the most efficacious.”

She had heard of gnome fortune-telling before.

While the High Priest reads the will of god in the heavens, gnomes who farm read the energy of the earth and stars to predict the future.

The more skilled the farmer, the better they grasp the flow of nature.

“Don’t be shocked at how accurate it is, friend of Aaron’s.”

Tis took out twelve small beads from inside the pointed hat he was wearing and threw them on the straw-covered barn floor with a rattle.

Wait, looking closely, those weren’t beads, but……

“Aren’t those teeth?”

The very ones from the cabinet. Rukna, who had been squatting, fell on her behind in surprise.

Then Tis started giggling, his shoulders shaking.

“That’s right. They’re human children’s teeth.”