Recently, the Empire has been bustling with noise.

The reason is incredibly simple.

Black Fangs.

The organization that has always been shrouded in mystery has finally started making some moves.

Lucy was squinting at a newspaper filled with rumors about the Black Fangs.

In a way, it made sense.

The stories contained in that newspaper couldn’t be ignored by Lucy.

“I’ve met their leader before.”

Lucy had fallen into a weird delusion thinking that the bizarre belief in the Black Fangs was a sort of salvation.

But she had actually met the leader of the Black Fangs in person.

The form of the soul she had seen with her special eyes.

Something that defied human categorization.

There was no way she could forget that.

So, it was only natural that she would be interested in the current buzz around the Black Fangs.

But…

“Is it another dead end…?”

The face in the paper looked nothing like the real leader she had seen.

Even considering the mask, there was no doubt that the person being sought and the one she’d encountered were different.

It wasn’t completely impossible that the Empire was mistaken, but…

It seemed a bit far-fetched to think someone with a soul that significant wouldn’t be the leader of the Black Fangs.

The meager salary she earned.

She sacrificed the little money she had for snacks to buy a newspaper that was utterly useless.

The Empire’s newspapers are notoriously censored, distorting content was to be expected.

Still, if it were normal, one could filter out the Empire’s praises or random nonsense and glean some valuable intel.

Yet, now that this avenue was blocked, things felt hopeless.

“Well, if there’s any harvest at all, it’s that…”

Whatever means they used, they had managed to mislead the Empire. That alone hinted that the Black Fangs were more formidable than expected.

…Though whether that intel had any actual value was a different story.

“Sigh…”

To be honest, she’d like to use an information broker, but she had no money.

Not to mention, she didn’t even have time.

She had urgent work to attend to today as well.

Chasing after the Black Fangs wasn’t feasible.

Lucy sighed in frustration, but then… she composed herself.

Today’s task was something she truly loved.

Usually, “work” and “something I love” don’t go together, but in this case, it was different.

Lucy quickly wandered the streets of the slums. This was her job as an apprentice knight.

Finding the lost kids on the streets and leading them to the Holy Church.

Saving people.

How could she not feel pride and fulfillment doing such work?

“I don’t understand why the seniors dislike this.”

Well, those incompetent folks could steer clear of such an important task as saving kids anyway, so it was better for her.

But…

“Seems like they’re not around much.”

In the past, it felt like just a glance would show her kids who needed rescuing.

Nowadays, such occurrences had become far less frequent.

Perhaps… it was thanks to the Black Fangs.

Contrary to the ominous aura surrounding them, the Black Fangs seemed to be doing more humanitarian work than expected.

The rumors that their followers were helping people here and there were true by her firsthand account.

As Lucy pondered this, a memory resurfaced.

– Do you think I wouldn’t know what you’ve done?

– I know your ugly true faces.

Those were the words left by the leader of the Black Fangs before leaving.

In truth, that’s why Lucy fixated on the Black Fangs. She couldn’t comprehend what those words meant, no matter how much she thought about them.

“That nonsensical talk can be ignored.”

Even after telling herself to just ignore it multiple times, it became futile.

For some reason, those words kept lingering in her mind.

She felt like she was missing something truly important.

But…

“Hey, are you two okay?”

Those distracting thoughts vanished quickly.

She spotted two kids in the distance, probably siblings.

It looked like the younger one was limping, indicating he might be hurt.

What she needed to do right now was clear.

She pushed those strange words from her mind and hurried towards the kids to help.

…Not knowing she would soon regret that deeply.

*

After a long time, looking at the mansion made her feel a wave of warmth wash over her. It was only natural, after all.

Well, nowadays it was practically like home.

Having lived outside for so long, fatigue had piled up.

Recently, for some strange reason, her lower back had been hurting, so she quickly stepped inside the mansion to rest.

And then… she encountered her.

Rubi, with messy hair and dark circles under her eyes.

Her face screamed that she was suffering from overwork.

“…Um, welcome back! Did you have a safe trip? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Even her conscience stopped her from complaining about her aching back.

Instead, she nodded solemnly and spoke.

“Are you okay, Rubi?”

She looked more than just a little tired; it seemed like she might collapse from exhaustion at any moment.

Lucy looked at her with concern.

But Rubi reassured her, quickly flipping through the papers she was holding.

Despite her haggard appearance, the energy radiating from her eyes was anything but ordinary.

She began to report on the progress of the potion business.

By the time Lucy heard it all, her jaw nearly dropped.

“You can start at any moment.”

She pulled it off.

Honestly, she had expected it to take at least six months, but in the time it took her to handle the relief center, Rubi had finished all the preliminary work.

…Did she even gather Empire intel while working?

Lucy had no choice but to reevaluate Rubi’s abilities.

She thought only Siel and Lien were the overwhelming ones, but it turned out that Rubi was also a powerhouse in her own field.

Yet, despite achieving such results, Rubi seemed unsatisfied, biting her thumbnail and wearing a serious expression.

“We can start, but… the problem comes after starting…”

“What do you mean by that?”

When she asked, Rubi answered with a gloomy face.

“No matter how I think about it, there’s no way to avoid the Holy Church’s attack.”

Upon hearing that, Lucy understood the current situation.

Sure enough, there was a limit to how much Rubi could do by reaching out in various directions.

While she could negotiate or even resort to intimidation elsewhere, that wasn’t possible with the Holy Church.

“We might have fooled the Empire this time, but as soon as we start this business, the Holy Church will come at us with the intent to kill.”

That was obvious.

If potions became widespread, it would hit the Holy Church’s main source of income. They’d do anything to stop it.

It wasn’t surprising that even Rubi, no matter how much she thought, couldn’t come up with a solution.

But…

A smile crept onto Lucy’s face.

She felt a bit guilty for how hard Rubi was working. But this was her chance to solve the problem.

Time to make a small, extreme adjustment to the original plan.

Lucy grinned brightly and spoke.

“If they’re going to come at us, why don’t we attack first?”

At her calm declaration, Rubi’s face turned to shock.

She understood why.

The Holy Church is practically the second most powerful entity after the Empire.

With faith rooted in not just the Empire but in all nations, it might even be larger than the Empire itself when it comes to scale.

But…

That made it even more worthwhile.

Since they relied on people’s faith, what would happen if that trust and belief crumbled?

Well, to be honest, she didn’t really care even if they found a way to deal with it.

As long as they were too preoccupied to think about their business interference, that was enough.

So, why not drop a bomb right in their backyard?

If their own home is blazing, they won’t have any space to deal with a competitor.

Lucy told Rubi to leave the follow-up to her and to get some rest before quickly moving on.

She began to brainstorm suitable opening lines for a video targeting the hottest topic: the Black Fang’s leader versus the Holy Church.

And soon…

She thought of a solid first line.

“I ask you, what does the Holy Church exist for if it does not follow the will of god?”

It was time to bury the Holy Church in the name of the Black Fangs.