Veled bowed his head to her. As he watched her walk away, he pondered.

The Beril who seemed different from the temple, the one who showed no aversion to me, and her current state.

Veled continued to think about her even after returning to his office. Just doing so consumed a few hours.

“Perhaps.”

He tried not to harbor the slightest doubt.

I, who had feigned indifference to death, chuckled when hope appeared.

Did she really want to live? Did she want to hold on to hope that demons could survive if she supplied them with energy?

Is she really thinking of joining hands with the demons…….

Thinking thus, he let out an empty laugh.

He had been through much and thought himself numb to most stimuli. But it appeared not to be the case; rather, he seemed vulnerable to stimulation from not having experienced any in a long time.

It wouldn’t have shaken him this much if it were not the case, especially not by just one woman.

Returning to his mansion’s office, he closed his eyes to calm himself. Even if my end is predetermined, I have no intention of letting go of life easily, especially for the sake of the demons who have followed and trusted me.

Shouldn’t they enjoy as much as possible?

With that thought, he looked into the mirror again. He quietly observed his reflection, his eyes flickering, creating something.

Lying atop a snow-white hem of a dress, himself with closed eyes, bathed in sunlight. Then his eyes opened.

And it seemed like he directed his gaze toward the owner of the dress. And over him floated…

Veled couldn’t see what happened next.

“……?”

Nevertheless, he saw something strange and used his power again, examining closely what floated above him in the final moment.

Something green.

There’s no way I saw it wrong. It happened as he had been staring at the mirror for a long time.

―Whoomp!

It was Helbas’s signal. One of the brown feathers stuck on the office desk turned pitch black and disappeared.

Veled closed his eyes. It was Helbas’s magic, the ‘surveillance’ ability, that allowed him to borrow the sight of another demon residing in the human realm.
Before her eyes appeared Beril, writing a short letter in front of the place where the magic circle was being cast.

The fine hand gripping the pen produced the characters. Belede opened his eyes. It was finally time to understand the Saint’s thoughts.

—Thump.

He rose from his seat, closed the office door, and walked out briskly.

Somewhat urgently.

What had he just seen? Was the demon called Kilatiara originally… like that?

Feathers or scales were the typical features of monsters. Beril bit her lip.

Before coming here, she had assumed monsters and demons were one and the same.

But Vainka was not just outwardly slaying monsters, he was truly doing so. Even though they must be born of the same magic.

Yet on the other hand, holding funerals for monsters? No, has the demon turned into a monster?

She wanted to ask about the relationship between demons and monsters, but she couldn’t ruin her plans out of curiosity.

Initially, she should be someone who hadn’t seen all this. Someone who couldn’t even guess that Vainka belonged to a demonic lineage.

That’s why she managed her expression, quietly paid her respects to the creature—be it monster or demon—and returned.

As if it were a part of Vainka’s culture.

“This goes over there.”

“Yes.”

While finishing up the reception room with Decarabia, she couldn’t help but think about that scene.

Then,

“My lady, a letter has arrived.”

The voice of Naberus came from outside. There was a hint of displeasure in it.

From where did this letter come… Ah. The only place to send me letters was the temple.

“Give it.”

True to her maid-like demeanor, Decarabia snatched the letter from the family knight without asking for permission.

And asked her with a brazen expression that seemed to say, it doesn’t matter since you were going to receive it anyway, right?

“Shall I give you the letter?”

The tone suggested that it could be burned if she didn’t want to see it. She seemed to be assessing her.

Decarabia had already figured out where the letter came from. She seemed to be watching how Beril would react to the letter.

So Beril answered cautiously.

“I suppose I have to look, don’t I?”

With a face that didn’t seem too pleased about a letter from the temple. And then,

As expected, she frowned at the content. Wasn’t this rushing a bit too much?

It had hardly been any time since the meal ended.

At this rate, the letter must have been written almost immediately upon returning. It was transparent to the core.
Wanting to identify and eliminate the demon quickly so as to return to heaven. Still, it’s probably better than being directly monitored.

“Shall we take a break?”

Beril thought of giving Decarabia a suitable errand while reading the letter.

The content for the reply was already decided, so a brief moment would suffice to write it.

First, write the reply and buy some time, then it would be best to continue observing Vainka.

I need to take time to organize my thoughts.

Until that point, everything had been calm.

“What were you writing?”

She hadn’t even thought she would meet Belered within just a few minutes of contemplating that.