The Witch and the Doll Swear

The blizzard that blew up from the night when the girl stepped into the city still has no intention of stopping completely.

The moon of star frost, in the middle of the month.

It has been a long time since I came to Bike City. For a long period of time, the astrologers in Bike City have predicted that the snowstorm that caused the city's logistics to rely on hard work by those brave young men running through the snow that cannot be shoveled clean will stop in the next few days. . But the number of times the blue sky on the border of the grassland appeared in these ten days can be counted even by scissors.

They can't be blamed either, it's too much of a challenge to make weather forecasts when the stars are barely visible.

In the vast white world, Ting Na truly understood what a foreign country is.

This is just the case of a snowstorm on a grassland in the south-central part of the mainland.

Even here in the temperate zone is so exaggerated. What kind of scene is the permafrost in the extreme north of the continent that Alice and Liliana described as the terrifying blizzard that rages all year round?

According to Alice, it looks like a city wall built of snow and wind is squeezing in all directions, like the doomsday hoarfrost that freezes the world.

Tina couldn't imagine it at all.

But even if a blizzard like that did come, it wouldn't change what she was going to do.

After all, that's not something she can interfere with. Even if the legendary dragon of the end climbed out of the snowy mountains in the north to devour the world, Miss Liliana and Alice would beat it back.

She just needs to do her job as a liaison and errands.

"Speaking of which, I can't see it in the city... It's something like a snow dumpling with a big mouth that I've seen on the grassland before..."

"If snow ghosts appear in the city, it will cause tragedy, so there are precautions."

"Precaution?"

Walking on the street along the street lights that had been turned on day and night for more than ten days, Ting Na, who almost bumped into a snowman built by someone's child, suddenly thought of the man with flaming hair.

Then I thought of the white snow waves that kept rushing over at that time.

Elemental monsters, snow ghosts, bloodthirsty monsters born from the snow.

After a blizzard, the whole village was left with frozen corpses, but no footprints of the murderer could be found. This kind of stories often appear in horror magazines, and the truth of the events explored is almost the same as Snow ghost related.

At this moment, there is snow everywhere in the city. Looking at this snowman who somehow used a small wooden stick to excrete tiger-like teeth in the mouth, the girl felt a little hairy.

"It's [Snow Sweeping], sweep the snow together and sprinkle a kind of alchemy raw material called [Elf Dust], so that the elements can be balanced and the birth of elemental life can be suppressed."

"Is clearing snow such an activity?"

"Miss Tina probably hasn't experienced similar activities, or the snow removal in the south of the mainland is different. This is a custom that originated in the north. Before this method was discovered by a certain alchemist, human beings would be in a snowstorm every winter. Several cities were lost in the middle of the war, and the snow ghosts could not climb the high walls that were well-defended, but they were able to break through the doors of ordinary houses."

The girl who was on her way to the auction house couldn't help but imagine what it was like.

Does all the snow open its mouth wide and show its icicle-like fangs?

Funny in a way.

"Hey Miss Alice, how do we go next..."

After bypassing this snowman taller than a person, we soon came to a three-fork intersection.

The surrounding buildings that can barely be seen are another hotel with a doorman standing at the door, and a study house whose signboard is lit with [luminescence]. On the other side of the road, only the light of two or three street lamps is faintly visible.

A templar is standing under the street lamp, and if he is not paying attention, he will see the silver armor and the white world as one.

The route she took today was different from yesterday and the day before yesterday. Tina turned her head to know from Alice which way to go next, but found that the puppet sitting on her right shoulder was frowning.

"Miss Alice...?"

Such a thought suddenly flashed in Ting Na's mind, who was still brooding over that prank.

Could it be that even Miss Alice went the wrong way?

Just when she was about to say this in a teasing tone, Alice was in her mind.

—Alice and Miss Tina are being followed.

Speaking of which.

The girl's footsteps froze.

——Could it be those "snow pigeons" with malicious intentions...

——If that’s the case, it’s fine. Turn left and walk to the end, which is the gate of the auction house.

--Eh? ok, ok...

Stepping towards the left end of the three-way intersection, Ting Na's mood, which was not serious at first, suddenly tightened.

For Alice, it would definitely be effortless to deal with some snow pigeons who took advantage of the poor vision and harbored malicious intentions. It should be... no, there is definitely no need for such a cautious tone.

But Miss Doll's tone was not relaxed.

If it wasn't for those people, who would be following him...

Almost immediately, Tina thought of the notice from the hotel earlier.

—The Templars eliminate a lurking Gorefiend in the city.

Could it be that it was an individual that was lucky enough not to be wiped out? It is said that it is a cunning and cruel vampire. If it is that kind of monster, can Miss Alice alone be able to deal with it? Do you want……

——Well, Miss Alice, should we talk to that knight...

——Then I should probably explain to him why Miss Tingna can detect someone following me in such a heavy snow day. Let me remind Miss Tingna first that living dolls are completely complete in the eyes of these guys who only have holy light in their minds. As for the ultimate evil, although Alice is not, as long as they are almost similar, they will not specifically distinguish them.

"Is this..."

Glancing quietly towards the templar across the street, Tina, who felt that he or she was more ferocious than the female knight she met before, quickened her pace slightly.

With such uneasiness in her heart, the girl's heart was not relieved until she arrived at the auction house and passed through the heavily armed guards in front of the gate.

"Hello, may I ask, is the goods for Miss Einsteins ready today?"

"Yes, Director Olem is already waiting for Miss Von Sia in the office, please follow me."

"Don't worry, I'll go by myself."

After exchanging pleasantries with the receptionist in the front lobby of the auction house, Tingna walked to a passage on the left side of the egg-shaped building, knocked lightly on one of the doors a few times, and walked in.

"Good morning, Monsieur Olem... Ah, I'm sorry."

However, in the room covered with desert-style woolen blankets and dark brown wooden furniture, there were other guests besides a somewhat obese middle-aged man.

They seem to have just walked through the heavy snow, and they did not pat the snow off their bodies at the door like Tinna. The snowflakes on the armor were melted by the slightly fragrant flames in the fireplace, turning into teardrops and falling, beating wet wool blanket,

Each pair of visors was opened, and the four resolute male faces all looked at this side because of the girl's push of the door.

"Ah, sorry..."

Tingna subconsciously avoided their eyes, and was about to exit through the door.

Perhaps because of Alice's previous words, she was a little terrified when she saw the four templars.

"No, Miss Tina von Shea of ​​Salt Sands."

But the girl holding the doll did not leave.

One of the only sitting knights moved his lips surrounded by beards, and accurately revealed Tinna's identity.

"That, that, do we know each other..."

The polite smile froze, Tina hugged the little doll slightly, and spoke as calmly as possible.

"Maybe you don't know us, but we know you. You are our guest here."

The knight stood up.

——It's like a brown bear in human skin standing on its hind legs.

"My name is John. I was baptized as Justin. You can call me John. I belong to the Zero Executive Department of the Church of the Holy Church. I am the captain of the sixth team and a Templar. Now, I want to ask Feng Miss Sia has some questions."

In her mind, Ting Na clearly heard the little puppet click its tongue.

——Zero is the initial number, which represents the beginning of everything, but it also represents [non-existence] and [nothingness]. Most people will not encounter the zeroth executive department, which is the shadow under the holy light, the bloody heresy countermeasure agency , a bloodthirsty mad dog waving the banner of holiness and justice...why are they targeting them? Anyone who knew about Lili's past should have died long ago in this era...

Very dangerous statement, in every sense.

As a basic knowledge, Tina has learned a little tactics in the fighting class of the academy. Now, there is a knight standing by the door and a knight standing by the fireplace. As soon as she enters the room, she is surrounded by four templar knights. among.

If she turned around and ran, the knight closest to her could grab her. Tingna didn't think she could pull that armor of unknown weight.

Maybe Alice can fix that, however.

—Don't be impulsive, Miss Tina.

After finishing speaking, Alice clicked her tongue.

——They have already set up a space anchor, but this is not a problem, anyway, Alice does not know [Blink] now, and there are other people's body temperature in the hall, Alice and Miss Tina are already surrounded.

Now Alice is a mourner of flames, an elf envoy loved by flames. The moment those people in the hall appeared, the ubiquitous elemental elves had already conveyed this message.

——Don't be afraid, Miss Tina, as long as Alice doesn't move, they won't be able to connect Alice with the living doll. Talk to them first, and Alice will inform Lily now... Tsk, communication hinders the enchantment .

"..."

Now, it seems really dangerous.

But what can I do without the power to restrain a chicken?

"What does Mr. John want to ask? I just came here to pick up the goods prepared for her by the auction house as my boss ordered."

After thinking, Tina walked into the room.

"It's just a routine investigation. I believe that Ms. Feng Xiya knows that as long as you don't pay attention, magicians will cause huge disasters. We welcome all magic that can make people's lives better, but we are also concerned about possible hidden dangers." You can’t relax the inspection and supervision, can you?”

Seeing the girl come in, the knight named John nodded and motioned her to sit on another chair beside the tea table.

When Tina sat down, the two standing knights also came behind her. The girl looked at Olem who was sitting behind the desk, and the fat man gave her a helpless smile.

"Oh, I forgot, Miss Tingna is from Salt Sand City. That weak church probably didn't dare to stand up and protect everyone. I heard that half a year ago there was a magician who razed an entire city and tortured the nobles. The incident of the attack, when dangerous monsters attacked the city, and the murder of city officials by cultists, it must be that Ms. Von Sia had a hard time there."

Then, as if suddenly remembering, I said this.

At this time, the girl also listened to the knight's words of superiority, "This kind of thing will never happen to the city we guard", and her nervous mood was immediately taken over by a sense of disgust.

"Pay attention to your words, Sir John. Virtue never fails, and thus the light continues to shine."

Imagining Liliana's tone, Tingna replied in a neutral manner.

I learned this sentence from Ai Lifu when I was in Yansha City. It was about the Thirteen-Day Jihad more than 300 years ago. With the help of the church's predecessor, the church's coalition forces, it survived and made a comeback.

Using this to counter the Templars is very effective.

"Besides, I also have something I want to ask... There should be no more dangerous monsters like blood demons appearing in the city, right?"

Coupled with the previous notification...

The girl saw that John's face became a little stiff, and even the two knights behind him coughed twice unnaturally.

"...Please don't worry, although I am not in charge of exterminating the Gorefiend, but I believe that my comrades who also believe in the Holy Light, then Miss Feng Xia, the question we want to ask is, do you know your boss— —What kind of goods did the honorary adventurer buy? What is he going to do?"

To cover up his embarrassment, the Cavaliers changed the subject.

Just when Tingna was going to tell them the truth that she didn't know.

"Regarding this matter, although it is a bit impolite to do so, now, I can make my own decision and let you inspect it."

Olem behind the desk suddenly spoke, and after casting a sorry look at Tingna, he picked up a space storage ring and rubbed it lightly. Soon, a large amount of materials piled up the desk. .

"Ordinary materials include all kinds of metal blocks and some spirits. The magic plants that can't be found in large quantities in the alchemy shops on the street include white tooth fungus, Cort cherries, Liquor, Taunos's Horns, more rare materials, and various small magic bones, knights should also know that after killing monsters, adventurers often pick those large magic bones that can be sold at high prices to bring back. You can't find it in a magic bone shop-"

He quickly announced a series of materials with his two lips. Before the attention of the knights was attracted, he winked slightly at the girl, and took out a list. At the end of the list, there was Liliana using Signature written by iridescent magic light.

"All of them are materials that can be bought normally in the store, but it would be too unrefined to buy them all over the street, so the beautiful noble lady handed over the order to us, obviously there will be no harm. The Chamber of Commerce is more efficient than our [Adamantine Roulette]."

"That's right. Although I only remember a few items that are easy to remember, they are indeed these goods."

Tina nodded expressionlessly.

"As for the usefulness...Miss Einstein didn't tell me much, and the knights don't think that I, who is not even a magic apprentice, can understand those complicated academic terms, right?"

"It's true, those mystics never even openly announce to their own family members. Except for themselves, no one knows what they are doing."

John nodded, but beyond the girl's expectation, he didn't ask any further questions.

"Next... Excuse me, can you give us the puppet in your hand? Don't worry, Master Naya is the chief appraiser of the temple and the most famous alchemist in Bike City, so he won't break it. of."

—Let them check, Miss Tina.

After the knight finished speaking, Alice said so.

——I don't have the right to refuse either...

In reply, Tina sighed inwardly, and handed Alice to the knight sitting next to John.

The old knight called Naya moved his armor-wrapped body with a little difficulty, muttering in a low voice that time is not forgiving, while taking Alice, probably from the space storage ring, Take out a magnifying glass.

"Hey... the simulated skin has warmth, and its softness is excellent, just like human flesh... This is the highest-grade active gel, it is generally used for surgery and repair of large wounds, umm... ...The eyeballs of gemstones, the softness of this hair, the silk of the Eastern Kingdom? Or the hair of monsters..."

Immediately, he showed an expression of admiration.

"Master Naya, is this a sad living doll with the soul of a living person sealed inside?"

"Is it a living doll that you use [Detect Evil]? Anyway, there are only a few that can cause the highest level of alert, oh... this, it's not a ball joint but a completely anthropomorphic one, holy light , for a doll this is extraordinarily delicate and expensive."

For an alchemist, Alice has a magical charm far surpassing that of Liliana. This is what Alice told Tingna one time. Tingna, who was somewhat disbelieving at first, now believes it.

Responding casually to the knight's question, the chief appraiser had completely forgotten himself.

"It's also...then."

The knight seemed to have nothing to do about it. After looking helplessly at his colleagues, he took a step back and solemnly sang the words of the gods.

"【May I be able to pursue and cut through all the nightmares under the shadows, may all the evils be invisible under the light, I will walk in the wilderness with my sword and bow every night, when darkness and confusion cover my eyes, O Holy Light, please Reveal the evil here!]”

From the knight's body, light appeared.

It's not dazzling or bright, but it looks sacred and bright. It reminds Tina of the ancestral spirits that the boy faced to protect his pony before coming to Bike City.

The light shone on Alice without any reaction.

Just like what Alice said, although she is very similar, she is not a living doll, and the magic to detect evil can only detect the evil written in the Holy Light teachings, so there is no reaction, even Tina saw this The crooked brow of a knight.

Even the examiner complained about not shining his eyes with the light.

"Then, Mr. Knight..."

Just when Tingna breathed a sigh of relief, she was about to ask the knight if there was no problem.

She saw Olem sitting behind a table of alchemy props, with a sudden look of panic.

——Why do you have such an expression?

Ting Na was thinking about it when she felt her shoulders being held down and her hands cut behind her back. The action was so rude that the girl cried out in pain for a moment.

Then her head was grabbed and pressed down by the metal gauntlet.

When she lowered her head, the girl saw it in her sea blue eyes.

A blood-like red light was shining on his body.

"...I really didn't expect..."

The knight's voice sounded in front of him, the girl was grabbed by her hair and raised her head, and John couldn't hide anything on his face.

"I thought……"

But before he could finish the sentence, he let out a scream.

A long snake of flames drowned his face.

Just in the blink of an eye, Tina saw on Alice's back, the flames stretched their wings, extending and enveloping the alchemist who was holding her in his arms. The master alchemist lost his voice after a scream. The snake is probably also her masterpiece.

There was no time to react, and the hands that were cut back were released.

There was the dull sound of a heavy object hitting the cashmere carpet from behind. The two knights holding Tina fell down at the same time.

Ting Na turned her head, staring blankly at the face that had been scorched in an instant, opened her mouth wide but couldn't speak.

The two knights standing behind had also stopped moving, their silver helmets were scorched black, the air was filled with the smell of burning flesh, and there was also some strange fragrance mixed in, the girl felt dizzy after smelling it a little.

I don't know if it's because of the scent that came from nowhere or because of the miserable scene.

"Miss Tina, they are just in a coma. Alice borrowed some special flames from Salamanda. They won't be able to wake up for a while, but they won't die. Alice knows that Miss Tina is in a mess now, but as long as Lily Everything around me is easy to solve—"

Alice couldn't finish her words.

——What happened today?

Confused, Tina watched the man in light armor suddenly appear in front of her, behind Alice.

——One by one, are you all in such a hurry?

The moment he appeared, Alice turned her head, and flames spewed out from under her dark mourning clothes, but the man disappeared before being engulfed in flames, and reappeared beside the doll, the fist blade in his hand pierced through the The burning barrier of flames.

"?!"

Immediately afterwards, the invisible blade tore her slender body apart.

"—As a knight, do you have the assassin's Noble Phantasm?"

The body of the puppet is in pieces.

The red pupils were as if they were about to burn—it really did burn, and the red lotus-like flames hit the man, but a reddish light lit up on his armor, dispelling all the flames.

"Because to fight against the darkness, it's not enough to have just methods."

Like an aristocrat, the man saluted gracefully, but there was an unconcealable anger on his face. Silk threads of light shot out from the fist blade, cutting the doll's body that had been divided into three into smaller pieces.

"Affiliated to the No. 0 Executive Department of the church, the real captain of the sixth team, Williams Saiwei and [Shadow Claw] send their greetings to you. My team members are taken care of by you, as a thank you for leaving their lives Li, please rest assured, we will definitely free you from this cursed puppet body and return you to the embrace of the Holy Light."

Alice was already unable to answer.

"And you."

"Ah, ah..."

Tingna sat slumped on the chair, looking at the scattered parts that once belonged to the puppet lady, even the ruby ​​eyes were torn apart, and only her helpless face was reflected in the tarnished short film.

She wants to scream.

"Let's see what you are."

For the girl, this short period of time is just three moments.

The man who claimed to be the true captain of these templar knights stretched out his hand towards the girl's neck.

The puppet lady shot and defeated the knights in an instant, and the knight appeared in an instant to attack Alice and crush her to death, and then.

The girl's eyes darkened.

………………………………………………………………………………………

"...It has the highest alert level response to detecting evil, but it's harmless to humans and animals... It's really strange."

"There is some secret on her body, that's why the living puppet, who didn't know what kind of craftsmanship it used, burned Master Naya's eyes. It knows that if Master Naya came to interrogate in person, this secret would be discovered soon. "

"But there are only a few kinds of evil existences at the highest alert level. She is not crazy and is not afraid of the holy light, so she gets rid of the shadow demon, she doesn't respond to the holy silver, so she gets rid of the shapeshifter, drinks the holy water, and uses the god of erasing demons Even the technique can't cause the slightest harm to her, so the puppets that fell into the lower world are excluded... What's left? I don't think any of the remaining ones are right."

"It's useless to deal with demons and cultists, so we can only treat her as an ordinary human being for the time being. Maybe it's because of some experiment by the magician behind her. Let her speak out, but don't kill her. Might be our trump card to drive those damned mages from the lands of the Light."

"Thank you, Mr. Williams, next, are you going home?"

"Yes, tomorrow is a rare vacation. I'm going to take my dear little Mary to travel to the Holy Land. She is looking forward to it too...why are you laughing?"

"After having a child, sometimes Mr. Williams can't see at all that he is a treasure-level powerhouse who can chop up a monster in an instant."

"Hey, that's too bad, in order to protect them, I can't be weak..."

Click.

The sound of heavy metal clinking.

Then there was silence, and the male voice—Williams Savy seemed to have left as the door closed.

So Tina opened her eyes.

It took a few minutes for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, but even so, there were only faint shadows around in the dim candlelight. Tina couldn't make out what the outlines were, and she didn't know where she was.

The only thing he could know was that he was put on thin clothes.

——No, that doesn't even count as clothes.

It's just, it's just a piece of fabric with a hole in the middle.

"Well!"

"Ah, are you awake?"

Realizing this, Tingna subconsciously reached out to touch the amulet on her chest, but after she failed, she realized that she was sitting on a chair.

Shackled chairs, warm sensations from the neck, arms, wrists, calves, and every finger and toe,

Tina tried to move, but couldn't move, not even a single knuckle, there were two metal buckles on each finger, these things fixed her to this metal chair, like being nailed to a painting. specimens in the frame.

"This, what is this place, you guys, what are you going to do with me?!"

The terror of her body being completely restrained even overwhelmed the young girl's shame. Facing the direction of the female voice before, Ting Na yelled loudly, her words kept breaking because of anxiety.

"Of course I won't tell you where this is. It's better to say that I have no obligation to answer any of your questions here. You are the one who should answer the questions."

Walking out from the candlelight was a masked knight.

The voice was also female, but not the one Tina had met in town. In her hand, she was holding a book with nothing on the cover.

"However, Mr. Williams also said that the possibility of you becoming a victim of a magician's evil experiment in complete ignorance is very high. Let me tell you a few things. Your personal items are safe and sound after our inspection The nuns are also doing all the changing of clothes, because the knights attacked by the living dolls and the masters of Naya are not in danger, so you can sit comfortably on that chair now instead of—— "

Crack, the female knight snapped her fingers.

Another candle lit up, and Tinna, who subconsciously moved her gaze over there because of the sudden light on her side, turned pale because of what she saw.

a chair.

A chair full of spikes, whether it's the cushion or the backrest or the armrests, everything.

"Instead of this or—"

Then another candle was lit, just in front of the chair that couldn't be called a chair at all.

A three-sided wooden cone supported by four wooden legs, above which a leather ring linked by three chains hangs from the ceiling.

"This, ah, you probably think that this thing can also be called a chair? But in fact this is indeed a chair, called the cradle of Judas."

The female knight who walked to the wooden cone pointed to the leather ring.

"This leather ring will tie you up, like holding a child to pee, so that you can't move, and then these chains will slowly put you down, slowly..."

Then, he pointed to the rough wooden tip.

The female knight shrugged, her face mask covering her expression, making her chuckle even more sinister.

"Until the tip fills up your rectum, then you're sitting on this."

More candles were lit.

In the darkness, although these flickering flames could not completely illuminate the room, it was enough for Tingna to clearly see the ferocious beast-like utensils in front of her and around her.

Standing open against the wall, there are countless magnetic nails in the coffin.

On top of an unlit carbon pile, a pitch-black metal bull statue.

A waterwheel that appeared indoors for some reason.

Stone implements similar to the rollers once seen on the farm—

Tina couldn't name those names, or maybe she refused to find the knowledge related to them from her memory, so she refused the words of the female knight.

But these things just stood there silent, screaming silently.

"..."

"Too scared to speak? That's not okay. If you don't say anything, these things will all be used on you."

"You, what do you want to know? I, I don't know anything." The terrifying torture instruments with blackened stains completely destroyed the girl's courage, and the terrifying imagination followed the female knight to introduce these things one by one. The painful and created props converge into four heavy and cruel words, which make the heart scream.

— Heresy trial.

She regretted reading so many novels, and from that she knew where she was now.

"No, no, you must know something, not necessarily about yourself, but about the female magician named Liliana Einsteins, she is too young for a magician, is it What kind of evil methods are used to maintain youth? For example, bathing in the blood of virgins every day, devouring babies' hearts and so on..."

"Miss Liliana is an immortal witch, so she won't do such evil things!"

"Look, isn't this a good way to say it?"

The female knight who stopped introducing had already walked in front of Tina. The mask covered her expression, but the voice coming from under the white mask with only two eye holes suddenly became ferocious.

"Witch? I see, she is not a human being, but an evil witch."

"That's—woo!"

Before wanting to refute more words, Tina bit her lips hard.

She still remembered the feeling when she was in [Mechanized Mind]. Relying on this feeling, she suddenly figured it out.

That magic, the magic of detecting evil, reacted to me, although I don't know why, but since it was brought here, no matter how I justify it, no matter what I say, it is meaningless.

Because he is evil, at least, for the knight in front of him.

"Why shut up? It doesn't matter if you keep talking."

The female knight sighed.

"I won't say anything."

—let her speak, but don't kill her, that might be our trump card to drive those damned wizards from the lands of the Light.

The powerful Noble Phantasm who attacked Alice said so, which means that no matter what he said, it might cause trouble for Miss Liliana.

During this entire trip, I kept causing troubles for Liliana and Alice, at least, only this is absolutely not allowed——

"Oh My God……"

The girl didn't have any deterrent power, and the knight through the mask could easily see through the deepest fear in those stubborn, sea-blue pupils.

But if there is silence, it will be difficult to continue the dialogue.

This is not good.

"Miss Von Sia, at your age, you probably don't have any children yet."

The female knight's tone suddenly softened, and she left Tingna's side and walked to a nearby small table.

"..."

"I don't know if you can understand the feelings of being a parent, but you should also know how dangerous magic is."

After a while, she came back.

In his hand is a pair of pliers.

The tip has several sharp and thin blades, which reflect cold light even under firelight.

Playing with the pliers, the female knight approached Tina slowly.

"Good guidance can benefit the world, but if it is used by people with ulterior motives to satisfy their own selfish desires, it will lead to unimaginable consequences. In that case, my family and my children will be in danger."

The thin blade at the top of the pliers gently touched the gap between the girl's ring finger.

... Goo... Liliana, Alice

The girl bit her lip tightly, the more she wanted to look away, the more uncontrollably her eyes fixed on the female knight's hand.

It was a pair of callused hands, just like my mother's, rough due to years of housework.

These hands should hold the pot handles and kitchen knives that make delicious food, should touch the soft hair of children and make them giggle, maybe it is not so strange to hold a sword to defend the faith, but.

"Whether I, or Mr. Williams, were inspired by the Holy Light to join the church, and in order to protect our families from heretics and evil magicians, and protect our most important children, we became shadows under the Holy Light... …Understood? Magicians are unstable and dangerous elements. They will do anything for their so-called truth, bathe in blood, and devour the hearts of young children. Do you think it’s just a story to scare children? Feng Miss Sia, if you think so, you are very wrong." However, these hands should never be holding such a terrible instrument of torture.

...help me, please, hurry up...

"For our children, to protect our children, for this reason, I will spare no effort to get out about that witch from your mouth. As long as they are in this city, I will have no peace every night."

If you want to hate, just hate the witch who brought you here.

A cross of holy light was drawn on the chest, and the mask was brought close to the girl's ear. The woman shook it regretfully, and immediately.

The coldness was deeply embedded in the girl's flesh and blood.

EP.24.5 Intermission

Ms. Shiva, who ruled the cold winter, seemed to have finally lost her temper. The blizzard that dyed the world white gradually began to weaken.

Leaving the dark basement and returning to the brightly lit church hall, the knight knelt on one knee and prayed silently to the brightly glowing cross.

Prayer without prayers.

Every time he left the heresy interrogation room, which seemed to be filled with indelible sorrow and darkness, he would pray like this, which had become his habit.

Pray that the divine light can illuminate the shadows on him, and pray that the holy light of tolerance can pity his cruelty.

"Williams Cavalier."

When the man got up, a nun was already standing beside him.

"Are you begging for forgiveness again? You have done nothing wrong."

"It's true that I did nothing wrong, but I did something cruel, Sister Thetis, that girl is younger than you, and my lovely Mary will grow up to be that age one day."

For what he did, Williams has never had the slightest confusion and hesitation.

The day the former archbishop of the Holy Church of Bike City, who has passed away, brought himself back as a thief from the slums full of prostitutes, murderers, liars, beggars, and even heretics. With blood on his hands, he swears Always fight for the light.

But now, he has a beautiful wife and daughter, and he also has a new vow, if it is for them, he will do anything no matter what.

Cruel things are cruel things.

If it is not cruel to send a young girl into a room where blood has flowed everywhere and brought nothing but pain and death, the scholars of this continent can change the word cruelty from Delete it from the dictionary.

Seeing the young nun looking up at him, the knight shook his head.

"It is not only the cruelty inflicted by the evil side that is called cruelty. Even if we are servants of the holy light and torture the evil enemy that brings disaster, it is still cruel. This is a necessary means to fight against darkness, but That's why we must always remember that we can't just get used to cruelty and take it for granted."

"Mr. Williams, you're always thinking about complicated things..."

The nun nodded half-understanding.

"Next, will Knight Williams go to visit them?"

"Well, I hope this incident can be resolved without incident..."

"I, I happen to have to go over there to deal with some things, let's go there together."

"It's my pleasure."

The arrest work went smoothly. It will probably take some time for the magician to react. It will take some time to negotiate with the church through the Magician Association. The sum of these two periods of time should be enough to get it from the girl. Intelligence protected her.

Then, tomorrow he can hand over his responsibilities, usher in the long-lost vacation, and take his wife and daughter to travel to the Holy Temple. This is the last job before the holiday, so it's fine if there are no accidents...

To visit his wounded colleagues, Williams headed toward the side naves of the church.

Just when he turned around.

"...?!"

The archbishop, the president of the Bike City Magicians Association, and... the president of the Adventurers Association?

A group of people walked past the church door, causing the knight's expression to change slightly.

"Does the archbishop have any plans to meet with President Bliss of the Association of Magicians and President Fana of the Association of Adventurers today?"

"Eh? I don't know...do I need to ask Lian Na?"

The nun saw them too.

She's not the Archbishop's Clerk so it's not surprising that she doesn't know, but.

However, Williams just had a bad feeling.

"...No, no need, I will directly confirm with His Excellency the Archbishop."

"Eh? Eh? Knight Williams?"

Ignoring the nun's voice, the knight ran towards the group of people passing through the church gate.

………………………………………………………………………………………

When the top leaders of the city's Church of the Holy Church, the Wizards' Association, and the Adventurers' Association walked into the church garden—that is, near the entrance of the underground heresy interrogation room that Williams had just stepped up from, the knight chased after him. on them.

"Your Excellency the Archbishop, President Fana, President Bliss."

Williams asked as naturally as possible, as casually as possible.

"Is there anything you three want to discuss today when you gather together?"

"Ah, Williams Cavalier."

The Archbishop, who seemed to have just shaved his beard today, bowed his head slightly after seeing him, and Fana, who was in a suit, and Bliss, who was leaning on a wand, also stopped and greeted Williams, a powerful Noble Phantasm.

Thus, a petite figure stepped out from among them.

Completely ignoring everyone's footsteps, and not greeting Williams, he just walked towards the garden on his own, his platinum hair fluttering in the cold wind, like a bright streamer.

It was a little girl.

It was the first time I actually saw her, but I heard about her beauty and likeness from the mouth of the surveillance personnel, and the knight recognized the girl wrapped in a velvet cloak at the first sight.

Liliana Einsteins.

--So fast!

The knight's heart skipped a beat.

Seeing that the lady didn't want to stop and wait, Bliss and Fana looked helpless as if looking at a wayward granddaughter, and followed after saluting, leaving a little room for the archbishop and the knight to talk.

"It was because of a misunderstanding, Cavalier Williams."

Signaling a priest to lead the way for them, the archbishop's face was a bit bitter, and he said to Williams, biting the word misunderstanding a little bit harder.

"The girl you caught today is the secretary of this lady magician, and also the liaison officer assigned by the Adventurers' Association to Ms. Liliana Einstein, who is an honorary adventurer. For some special reasons, She was parasitized by the Shadow Demon, but Miss Liliana used a special method to destroy the Shadow Demon's will and make it harmless..."

"How can this be?!"

Williams frowned, questioning quietly.

"People who are possessed by shadow demons will be affected by this evil monster without exception, and will become cruel and bloodthirsty. There has never been an exception in the records of the church, even those called shadow mages. Same……"

As we talked, even Williams himself was not sure.

Because the girl they caught did not show any characteristics of a shadow demon boarder.

In addition to Shadow Fiend, the characteristics of other existences that would have the highest level of response to detect evil are also completely inconsistent.

"...She must be trying to cover up something, it must be!"

"Williams Cavaliers, it doesn't matter what the facts are, this time we can only back down."

The archbishop shook his head, lowered his voice to signal him not to continue, and handed him a report.

"Both the Adventurer's Association and the Magician's Association claimed that this was a despicable act that questioned rationality and justice. An honorary adventurer with an unknown background, a nobleman, and a man with a tower in the city of a thousand towers A magician who is also a Noble Phantasm-level powerhouse... It is best not to conflict with her."

"But, are we just submitting to her power?"

"The attitude of the Magician Association is very strong, claiming that this will make magicians panic, and even dare not walk on the streets, and although we have the advantage, we can't do anything to them. In any case, this city needs magicians everywhere .”

"If they all follow the teachings of the Holy Light to benefit the people, there is nothing they dare to do."

Williams sneered disdainfully.

"They only feel guilty because they know how many shady things they have done."

"You can't say that..."

The archbishop sighed.

It is good to be jealous of evil, but it is also a problem to show your sharpness too much. In this world, there is not only justice...

A heavy roar suddenly sounded.

The ground shook violently, and a moment later, the clanging impact hit everyone's eardrums.

"How dare she!"

Williams' expression changed. A shadowy fist blade appeared in his hand, and the knight merged into the shadow. When he reappeared, the end of the downward steps in the garden was filled with smoke and dust.

Externally, this is the cold storage under the garden, near the fountain in the garden, some food that needs to be stored at low temperature is stored by cooling the water, and no one will approach this place except those who know what is there.

At this moment, the wooden door used as a camouflage was shattered, and the metal gear-engaged door seemed to be hit by something extremely heavy and huge, and it slammed open to both sides. The heaviest and hardest part in the middle was completely sunken in, and all the mechanical structures were completely scrapped.

The radiance of the Saigon Sun illuminated the gloom of the cellar.

The reflected things made the knight furious.

"?!"

Blood splattered everywhere.

Numerous deep cuts.

Objects that were once armor and instruments of torture.

besides.

Sprinkled in a pool of blood, rotten pieces of meat.

【Claws of hunting and killing at night】

The knight felt his brain buzzing, and the roar accompanied by the true name of the Noble Phantasm merged into the shadow created by the light, and the invisible blade that could shred even steel enveloped the expressionless girl in an instant.

As if she hadn't noticed the knight's roar at all, the girl who walked towards the bloodied girl sitting on the torture chair didn't make any reaction.

But the knight's attack was stopped.

"—Hey, hey, it's okay to sneak up on Alice before, but now you want to sneak up on Lily too?"

A bright beam of light.

The whip that was swung like a god precisely entangled the treasure in the knight's hand.

The invisible sharp blade is driven, but how can the sharpest blade cut through the dazzling light?

The long whip was hot and powerful, and the knight who was pulled out of the shadow was thrown out forcefully. The soft lining inside the armor slowed down the impact, but he still slammed heavily on the steps. Before he could stand up, brilliant blades of light had already surrounded him.

It only needs to hook the corner of the mouth dangerously, and the puppet holding the whip of light can turn him into coke, even if it is a Noble Phantasm level, the body that has been tempered for a long time is still just a human being.

"How many souls do you want to play with!"

Another living doll.

The knight growled.

But neither the puppet nor the magician paid any attention to it. Liliana didn't even turn her head to show any reaction to the knight's attack. In front of the girl.

"...Sorry, Miss Tina, I'm late..."

Of course, the unconscious girl cannot hear.

Liliana gently stroked the girl's hair just like a mother. Liliana untied the torture device that restrained the girl. Using her petite body, she picked up the tall girl, turned around, and walked past the flesh and blood again. muddy.

A light blue eyeball splattered under her leather boot.

"Bastard——!"

"Please wait a moment, Knight Williams, when Ms. Einsteins blasted open this door with [Bahamut Dragon Strike], it was already like this inside."

Fana, who was standing aside, spoke quickly.

"Is there no magic for monitoring here? Just call up the video and see."

"Miss Liliana, please hold back, don't add unnecessary sacrifices to this sad misunderstanding!"

Bliss also quickly dissuaded the puppet who raised his eyebrows and wanted to turn the knight into ashes.

Although the Adventurer's Association and the Magician's Association have always advanced and retreated together in this city dominated by the Holy Church, this time they also stood firmly by the side of this unknown but extremely noble girl, but unreasonable conflicts should be resolved as much as possible. avoid.

"Stop it, Williams Cavaliers!"

Even the archbishop who followed him was also dissuading him.

"...Damn...how did this happen, what happened...is this what you call harmless?!"

The livid-faced knight cursed through gritted teeth.

"...Even a cowardly rabbit will bite off the knight's finger when it is hurt. Or have you forgotten this truth after three hundred years of domineering on this side of the mainland?"

The witch who walked past the knight turned her face slightly.

"...President Fana, President Bliss, I will trouble you next, I will take Miss Tina to treatment."

Contemptuous glances can be felt.

—A self-made fool.

There seemed to be some faint, disdainful whispers.

"—Liliana Einsteins! By the name of the Holy Light, this matter is endless!"

A scorching blood rushed directly to the head, and Williams' eyes were red, and he roared like a wounded beast.

Liliana walked past the knight, the little puppet sat on her shoulders, countless blades of light disappeared from the knight.

From the beginning to the end, Liliana didn't look directly at this knight who was like a trapped beast.

………………………………………………………………………………………

Postscript of a certain day:

"...Lily...Miss Yana...Alice...Help, help me, it hurts so much, don't..."

"...I'm here, Tina, I'm fine."

"Finger... hurts..."

"Ah, it's because the nail was pulled out. It's only a minor injury. It will be cured soon. Don't worry."

"It hurts... I'm so scared... I'm afraid I won't be able to bear it... I said something that would cause Liliana to get into trouble, but I held back, I didn't say anything... I didn't say anything... The only thing you can do is... this."

"……Um."

"Thank you, Miss Tina, thank you."

"Aha, ha... Miss Liliana, Alice... Has the snow stopped..."

"...Well, it has stopped..."

"I want to... go home..."

"……Um."