“Damn it, I can’t believe the knights have stormed in. We’ve ended up being the remaining forces after the bishop separated us.”

“…Maybe the bishop planned this all along. It’s painful, but after all, the knights don’t kill people, right? We can always rescue the ones imprisoned later.”

The group ascended a stone staircase, their armor marked with unique insignias, quietly making their way upward.

They wore sorrowful expressions, clearly disheartened.

“The bishop has been captured as well. What are we supposed to do now?”

“There’s no need to despair yet.”

Their temporary leader, one of the knights, led the weeping followers, offering them some words of encouragement.

“…All we need to do is summon the Torturer into this world. Once that happens, our harsh lives will come to an end.”

“…Yeah, we can’t give up now. If worse comes to worst, we’ll ask another bishop for help.”

With these murmured reassurances, they quietly left the underground space, determined to see their mission through next time.

While White Mask and I observed them, Muyeon had taken it upon herself to report everything to the knights. Under the vice-captain’s orders, about twenty knights descended, gathering the fallen cultists and loading them onto peculiar-looking carts.

The carts had large rake-like wheels, with flat wooden planks on the opposite side to make pulling them easier.

“Hmm? I’ve never seen this kind of design before. If you tried to use a normal cart on the stairs, it’d be a nightmare, right? That’s why the steps of the Rontan stairs are all uniform, and these wheels were custom-made for them.”

Ah, that makes sense. Come to think of it, the stairs all did look the same. I hadn’t really noticed, but I learned something interesting today.

As the knights were loading up the cultists, I noticed the unconscious girl lying on the ground.

“…What should we do with her?”

“We’ll have to take her with us. Leaving her here won’t solve anything.”

Part of me wanted to take her myself, but I figured I could handle her interrogation later if necessary.

So I approached to lift her up.

“…!”

But just as I reached out, the girl—whom I had assumed was unconscious—suddenly slapped my hand away and backed off.

Was she pretending to be knocked out, waiting for the right moment to escape?

A cold sweat trickled down my back as I realized I had let my guard down and almost lost the most important one.

However, what the girl did next shocked both me and White Mask.

“…Wait!”

Despite my shout, the girl moved without hesitation.

She slammed her fist into her own wrist, over and over again.

I could see a strange, engraved mark on that spot.

I rushed toward her, trying to stop her, but by the time I reached her, the mark had already bruised and deformed.

Fsshh

A sound like air escaping a balloon filled the air as the girl’s body began to disintegrate, starting from her head and turning to dust.

“What the…”

White Mask, too, seemed bewildered as he reached out in an attempt to grab what remained of her body, but his hands passed through her form, unable to stop the process.

This was the reason why Agartha had mentioned the girls suddenly disappearing.

I had just witnessed it for myself.

“…I didn’t expect them to go to such extreme lengths,” White Mask muttered as he went off to help the other knights.

But the sight left a bad feeling in my chest. I needed to confirm something immediately.

“Master, I have something to take care of. May I leave now?”

“Do as you wish. I’ll call for you if you’re needed.”

With White Mask’s permission, I sprinted back to headquarters.

This girl had far too many similarities with Asti.

Her connection to Ria, the red energy surrounding the altar, and, most of all, the half-materialized form of the Torturer with pale skin.

I had to see it with my own eyes.

Otherwise, the unease would only grow.

I ran at full speed, bursting into my room the moment I arrived at headquarters, panting as I flung open the door.

“You’re back, Master.”

Asti stood there, looking completely fine. But after seeing that girl, my mind started playing tricks on me, imagining Asti dissolving into dust just like she had.

Shaking my head to dispel the vision, I rushed over and grabbed Asti by the arm.

“Ugh.”

She let out a startled sound as I forcefully checked her wrists, pulling up her sleeves to see if any similar marks were on her arms.

When I finished my inspection, I finally realized.

…There was nothing.

Unlike that girl, Asti had no such markings.

I considered the possibility that the engraving might be hidden elsewhere on her body, but there was no way I could check that.

Still, knowing that nothing was immediately visible made me feel a wave of relief so intense that my legs almost gave out.

“Master, you look troubled,” Asti said, sitting down next to me to meet my gaze, her hand softly caressing my cheek.

Yeah.

It had been a deeply troubling moment.

The thought that someone else might leave me again… it was unbearable.

“If it’s troubling you that much, I’ll take care of it.”

Yeah, I was really troubled by this…

Wait.

What does she mean by take care of it?

“Hey, hey, stop!”

“Yes?”

I had been so lost in my own thoughts that I almost didn’t notice her start undoing the strings of her clothes!

“What are you doing?!”

“Well, you grabbed me, pulled up my sleeves, and looked so distraught that I thought this was what you wanted.”

“I mean, yeah, it looked bad, but no, that’s not what I want!”

…What kind of upbringing makes a child think like this?

It’s clearly the fault of whoever raised her to think this way.

Sigh.

I placed my hand on her head and patted her gently.

That girl had been pushed into this extreme behavior because of her connection to the Torturer, the Outer God.

But Asti was different from that girl.

That girl had been willing to sacrifice herself for her duty, to the point of death.

Asti, however, seemed to have retained some resistance to it all.

She hadn’t used Ria against me when she had the chance. That was proof enough.

“Master, have you eaten yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Shall I prepare something?”

“I’d appreciate that.”

She spoke casually, but the expression on her face carried the weight of everything she’d been through, despite her outward calmness.

I considered saying something but decided to just smile and let it go.

As long as she was okay, that was enough for me.

After eating, I made my way back to the knights’ headquarters. By then, it seemed the situation had mostly been sorted out, except for a few cultist women who were still putting up a fight. The knights, meanwhile, were chatting casually nearby.

I felt bad for not helping earlier, so I walked around, looking for anything I could still assist with.

“Hey, look who it is! The one who crushed the cultists, Sir Tanton!”

“A hero has arrived!”

To my surprise, I was met with cheers and applause from the surrounding knights.

I was completely caught off guard by their reaction.

“Salute Sir Tanton!”

They even saluted me, and I felt a little dizzy from the sudden attention.

“Stop, stop!”

I called out awkwardly, but still, there was a part of me that felt good about being recognized.

Until now, only the vice-captain, White Mask, and Muyeon had acknowledged my efforts, but now even the other knights were giving me the recognition.

It felt good to have my pride boosted a little.

“Ah, there you are.”

While wandering around, I spotted the vice-captain and the captain of the knights outside.

I approached them, saluted, and the vice-captain returned the gesture with a welcoming smile.

“Yes, Vice-Captain. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help more, it looks like everything’s already wrapped up.”

“No, resolving this case was a major achievement in itself.”

“But Muyeon and White Mask did most of the work…”

“I sent Muyeon home, and White Mask went off to inspect the railroads on his own.”

“?”

Of course. Leave it to a railway enthusiast to vanish like that.

As I chatted with the vice-captain, I noticed the captain of the knights holding something.

Wait, is that—

“Hey, can you eat this?”

“Captain, you shouldn’t touch that…”

The vice-captain tried to stop him, but the captain had already peered inside with one eye.

“Gyaah!”

“Captain!!!”

…The captain had “died” after receiving a psychic attack from the Outer Gods stored inside the bottle.

Of all the things he could’ve looked at…

The vice-captain, horrified, slung the captain over his back and turned to me.

“Tanton, the princess is eager to see you. You still have some time, so why don’t you head up there?”

“The princess?”

Again?

What could she possibly want from me this time?

“She mentioned wanting to reward you.”

“A reward, huh…”

Perhaps my constant refusals to accept rewards had gotten under her skin.

…Considering what might happen if I turned her down again, I decided I’d better accept this time.

“Understood. I’ll head there right away.”

“Good. I’ll go take care of the captain.”

As I watched the still-dazed captain being carried off, I shook my head in disbelief.

Who knows what kind of dementia would lead to that.

Alright, I’ll head up now.

The people who guided me last time were busy, so it seemed like I’d be making the trip alone this time.

Once I entered the princess’s chambers—

“…?”

I found myself sitting on a soft sofa, with the princess leaning against my shoulder.

…Why am I in this situation?