As the soothing aroma filled her nostrils, Roseliel finally managed to completely calm her mind.
She pulled out a gold coin with a special pattern and a small hole at the top from her dress pocket. This was also given to her by Mona, who had explained that it could serve as a container for wraiths while buffering the connection to the summoner and lessening its emotional influence.
"Come here, come on!" Roseliel said to that terrifying wraith Roseliel as if calling a dog, short of only whistling.
But the tall figure stayed right where it was, completely motionless, looking rather terrifying in the dark room.
Roseliel had the vague sensation that those seemingly hollow eyes were staring at her, a drop of cold sweat slowly trickling down her forehead.
"Miss Roseliel, please come in?" she tried changing her tone, adding a touch of pleading.
Finally, the tall figure moved its body and floated toward the gold coin.
With a feeling like a chilly gust of wind blowing past, its body gradually shrank, entering the coin like Sadako crawling back into a television.
After it went inside, Roseliel plucked another strand of her own hair, carefully tied it into a knot, and looped it through the small hole on the coin.
This was to maintain a continuous connection between her and the wraith, sustaining its existence in the real world.
Having done all this, she placed the coin into her inner brassiere pocket and jumped up and down a few times to ensure it wouldn't easily fall out.
Mm, having a bomb strapped to her body somehow gave her a sense of security.
Then she cleaned off the tabletop, tossed the talisman paper that had turned to ash into the wastebasket, and climbed back into bed.
Regardless, she finally possessed a bit of combat capability now.
As for everything else, she would worry about it tomorrow. Exhausted to the point where her upper and lower eyelids were fighting each other, Roseliel was swiftly subdued by her bed and quickly drifted off to sleep.
...
"I don't understand!" Lucia's voice sounded exceptionally loud in the quiet, dark church.
"Even if her excuses might make some sense, and even if we can't throw her directly into jail because of her status, we absolutely cannot allow her to meddle in the investigation! What if she deliberately tampers with the scene or even fabricates evidence to favor herself?"
"Don't get so worked up first; I don't trust her either."
At this moment, Seraphin looked just like a grandfather watching his granddaughter throw a tantrum, staring at the fuming Lucia with a helpless, bitter smile.
"I'm not worked up!" Lucia's volume rose a notch higher. "Trish even came specifically before the banquet to thank me for tutoring her for finals, saying she finally passed her exams without any danger! Then, just an hour later, her name appeared on the list of the dead! I don't even bother listing other examples—this is all that person's doing! Doesn't she deserve to die?"
Her fists were clenched tightly.
It felt as though if she spoke any louder, she could wake the bones buried in the church graveyard for centuries.
"She swore before the statue of the Goddess that she had nothing to do with this matter, and she received no punishment from the Goddess," Seraphin repeated his explanation once more. "I may just be a dim-sighted old man, but the Goddess is never wrong."
"She must have found a way to deceive the Goddess! That makes her guilt twice as heavy!" Lucia refused to believe Roseliel simply because she had passed the Goddess's test.
Seraphin usually admired this outsider girl's independence in not blindly trusting the Goddess, feeling that she was someone who could change the present Holy See.
However, he hadn't expected that when she became stubborn, even he would be completely helpless against her.
"I'm also doing this for your own good." Seraphin sighed, deciding to rephrase things. "Do you know how much time is left until the final selection?"
Lucia paused. She didn't understand why Seraphin would bring up the selection at a time like this.
The final selection was the ultimate hurdle for Saintess candidates to officially become the Saintess. Multiple candidates would compete across various domains, and only the final winner could truly wear the Saintess's crown.
"The other candidates are building their connections in every area. Your approval among the common people is indeed very high, but among the nobles in the royal court, how many support you?"
Lucia quickly caught on. Seraphin meant to use Roseliel as an opportunity to build a pathway for her into aristocratic circles.
"Have you grown senile in your old age?"
Roseliel was currently on the verge of leaving not just aristocratic circles, but the realm of the living altogether. Even if Lucia truly won her over, what good would it do?
In the entire kingdom, it was doubtful whether there were even five people who dared to speak to Seraphin like this.
However, considering this was Lucia—who had dared to yank on Seraphin's white beard as a child—her saying such a thing wasn't entirely shocking.
Seraphin sighed. "Perhaps. But I simply feel that she will be of great help to you. I am willing to believe this is guidance given to me by the Goddess."
He piously tapped his forehead, chin, and chest three times each, performing a brief prayer.
The two walked as they talked, gradually arriving at a hidden corner of the church. Before them stood a heavy iron door adorned with various chaotic runes.
Lucia knew this was the place the church specifically used to store confiscated items.
"What's fake cannot be real, and what's real cannot be fake," Seraphin said. "If she is truly innocent, then naturally everyone is happy. But if our investigation proves that she really is the culprit, then we have our own methods to deal with her, and she won't be spared a single bit of the price she ought to pay."
"She is merely a duke's daughter. If I insist, I won't let off even the duke behind her."
Seraphin's tone was exceedingly resolute, which allowed Lucia to relax slightly. What she feared most was that even this bishop, who had always treated her like family, had been corrupted to his core by power.
"If you really can't set your mind at ease and feel she will tamper with things, I can give you a useful item."
As Seraphin introduced it, Lucia's original anger gradually softened.
In its place was a sinister, scheme-successful smile that absolutely should not have appeared on a Saintess's face.
"Ngh?!" Roseliel twitched violently in her sleep.
That sudden feeling of stepping into thin air while asleep was not uncommon.
"...Hypnic jerk, probably," she mumbled incoherently, turned over, and fell back into a deep sleep.
"Good morning, My Lady. You seem very happy?"
Luna stood behind Roseliel, styling her fluffy blonde curls while studying Roseliel's face in the mirror.
Though her eyes were still slightly groggy, the corners of her mouth hadn't dropped for a moment.
"Hmph, naturally! Just watch this lady clean up those damned Snake Cult moles in one fell swoop today and clear my name!" Roseliel placed her hands on her hips, proudly tilting her chin up.
Now that everything was prepared, she only needed to follow the progression from the game, drag those culprits out one by one, and she would successfully overcome this hurdle!
This good mood lasted right until she met Lucia.
To be precise, it lasted until Lucia threw a collar directly at her without saying a word.
"Put it on yourself."
When she saw her, her face was still cold as frost, her tone leaving no room for discussion.
Roseliel's hand, which she had originally intended to wave in greeting, was frozen dead in midair. She looked down at the pitch-black collar on the ground, then looked at Lucia with a face full of utter confusion.
"Huh?!"
Is this person crazy?!
Throwing a collar at someone first thing when meeting?!
Is this supposed to be a good guy?!
Rate on N.U.
