After hearing the news of the Wolfgar tribe's extensive plundering, Ansu accelerated his pace all the way.
The scenes along the road became increasingly bleak, with scattered bodies lying on the ground and more and more refugees appearing; the entire Talin region was falling into a sudden state of chaos.
Ansu looked back. Since they had already reached demihuman territory, Freya had taken off her hood.
Those fluffy cat ears were twitching slightly, sensitively capturing all sorts of unsettling messages from afar.
She noticed Ansu's gaze fixed on her ears, startled for a moment, and then a faint blush rose on her cheeks.
"Lord Ansu, what... what are you doing?"
Ansu looked at those fluffy ears that twitched gently with her mood and muttered silently in his heart:
I want to touch them.
Freya seemed to know what he was thinking, and her face turned even redder.
Ansu coughed, thinking his gaze might be a bit too much like a pervert's...
But they really were cute.
After building up a significant amount of mental fortitude, he finally suppressed the urge to stroke those fluffy ears with his hand.
Ansu's gaze swept across the surroundings.
It was a subconscious move, wanting to see where the vile witch's Reconnaissance Golem was hiding, but this time he felt something strange.
That feeling of being watched, which had followed him like a shadow... seemed to have vanished?
Ansu frowned slightly.
Was the witch's Reconnaissance Golem more hidden now? Or... was it for some other reason?
Just as Ansu was wondering about this, Freya suddenly leaned forward and gently tugged on his sleeve.
"Lord Ansu... over there!" she whispered, her ears leaning forward in focus. "There's a very heavy aura of black magic."
Ansu immediately looked in the direction she indicated. At the end of a fork in the road ahead, a small village was being shrouded in billowing thick smoke.
The two exchanged a look, and without needing a word, Ansu drove the carriage quickly toward the village.
After getting off the carriage and crossing a broken fence, Ansu looked toward the open space in the center of the village.
A few surviving villagers were scattering in terror, and chasing behind them were three hideous shadows wrapped in churning black mist.
They were undead creatures.
Ansu focused his observation. Those undead creatures had bloated, pale bodies, festering skin, and bulging fish-like eyes. They possessed no reason at all, and a dense black aura followed them like a shadow. Wherever they passed, even the wild grass on the ground withered and turned black instantly.
One of them suddenly twisted its neck, its pale eyeballs locking onto Ansu and Freya's direction. It roared, and its speed suddenly increased.
"Lord Ansu, watch out!"
Freya was filled with revulsion for such black magic creations that desecrated life. She stepped forward without hesitation, the holy seal badge in her hand lighting up with a soft, pure white glow.
Ansu didn't strike immediately. His gaze moved past the monsters lunging at them and toward the other side of the open space. Two humans had also just arrived on the scene and were fighting the undead creatures there.
And one of them...
Was actually Archbishop Paul, whom he hadn't seen in a long time?
This former archbishop of the Church of Holy Light was currently wearing only a simple black priest's robe, with a young attendant who had a determined expression and held a cruciform longsword guarding his side.
The two of them fought with perfect coordination, as if they had already experienced many similar battles.
The moment the attendant swung his sword to parry the undead creature's lunge, holy light suddenly flared. Following Archbishop Paul's cold and solemn chant, a blazing Divine Art - Punishment fell precisely.
In the next instant.
The holy light pierced through the undead creature's rotten torso like a sharp blade. Amidst bursts of roaring, its body quickly disintegrated in the light, finally vanishing into wisps of black smoke.
...
After Ansu's side had also cleanly dealt with the undead creatures.
The few villagers who had survived the ordeal supported each other, finally unable to suppress their loud sobbing. Archbishop Paul showed a smile toward Ansu and Freya, walking toward them with his attendant.
"Archbishop Paul!"
Freya was naturally very happy to see an old friend after so long. "How have you been during this time? I heard about the Church's punishment for you... I really didn't expect to meet you in the North!"
Archbishop Paul's smile grew softer as he looked at the pink-haired girl who was still as energetic as ever.
"There's no need to call me 'Archbishop' anymore."
He smiled somewhat helplessly and explained to the two, "After being demoted by the Church, I am now just an ordinary local priest. They let me choose any church with a vacancy within the Empire, and I chose Count Karl's territory on the northern border."
"So that's how it is..." Although Freya was happy about the reunion, mentioning the past made her feel a bit sentimental.
The former archbishop and Holy Maiden were now an ordinary priest and an apostate declared dead by the Church; it was truly evocative...
Archbishop Paul saw through her thoughts and comforted her gently, "It's nothing, child. Life always has its ups and downs."
"Besides, my life now is very good." His gaze was calm and candid. "Preaching in the North and bringing guidance to those in need, this is exactly the path of holy light I idealize."
"Mm!" Freya nodded, her eyes showing sincere admiration. "You are always so open-minded and devout... Sigh, the Church of Holy Light has suffered a great loss in losing you."
She had always felt that Archbishop Paul was the person most suitable to sit on the pope's throne, rather than the current conservative and exclusionary Eugene IX.
"Well then, Mr. Paul." Ansu took over the conversation, his form of address shifting somewhat awkwardly. "Why did you come to this village? Can you tell us what exactly has been happening in the Talin region recently?"
First, they heard about the wolf-born Wolfgar tribe's plundering, and now even undead creatures had appeared; it was indeed a bit unusual.
"It's a long story. Actually, I only just arrived not long ago." Archbishop Paul's expression became grave.
He told the two that he had suddenly received a distress message from a Church colleague in Talin two days ago, claiming there were signs of black magic activity in the territory, so he had come to support immediately.
However, after arriving, that local priest had already lost contact.
Subsequently, he and his attendant had encountered several waves of attacks from undead creatures on the way.
"There seem to be quite a few of these filthy things wandering throughout the Talin region, but I haven't found their source yet." Archbishop Paul pondered, "I suspect... all of this might be related to the Wolfgar tribe."
Ansu showed an inquiring expression.
Paul continued, "I heard that a very powerful high priest has recently appeared on their side."
Freya's gaze instantly became serious.
She knew deeply the significance of a high priest to a tribe, and... the reason her ears could no longer be retracted was precisely because of a spell cast by a demihuman high priest during a capture operation in Benalu City.
After listening to his narrative, Ansu completed some clues in his mind.
He nodded and suggested, "In that case, why don't we investigate together? We can look out for each other."
"Of course we can," Paul agreed readily.
Then, his gaze looked at the two with a bit of curiosity and the concern of an elder.
"Now, it's my turn to ask you... Why have you two young people come to this northern border?"
Ansu briefly explained about taking Freya home to visit her parents, naturally leaving out considerations like developing potential allies.
"I see." A look of realization and a gratified smile appeared on Paul's face. He looked at Freya with a hint of teasing in his eyes. "Back at the academy, I could tell the relationship between you two was unusual."
Freya blinked, wondering if she had been that obvious back then.
Archbishop Paul turned to Ansu, his smile deepening. "This child, Freya, looked forward to me going to Benalu Royal Academy to give lectures every time, because that way she could follow along..."
He paused, looking at Freya's slightly reddened cheeks, and continued, "Later, she even tried every possible way to create opportunities to leave the Holy Dome Cathedral just so she could stay at the academy a little longer."
Paul's tone was full of well-meaning banter.
"Ansu, tell me... who was she being so diligent for?"
"Archbishop Paul, please stop exposing my secrets..." Freya lowered her head in embarrassment, her voice becoming lower and lower from shame.
"Hahaha." Archbishop Paul laughed, his tone still gentle. "The Church's rules are strict, and I could only turn a blind eye; what I could do was truly limited. Seeing you two have such a result now, I am very gratified..."
As he spoke, his gaze toward Ansu was filled with approval.
Ansu and Freya silently looked at each other, both thinking... why was this conversation sounding more and more off?
Archbishop Paul had clearly already come to see the two as a couple.
Freya's cheeks turned even redder. "We, we aren't yet..."
"Ah? You aren't yet?" Archbishop Paul was startled for a moment, his gaze shifting between the two.
He thought to himself: So they're at the stage of being more than friends but not yet lovers?
Rate on N.U.
