Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 66

Rubel sat in silence for a while in the small sitting room on the second floor of the inn, trying to collect his thoughts.

In this small village, this was the only place to stay, and with several knights and priests sharing the same building, rooms were always in short supply. No matter how careful they were, the building was inevitably noisy.

Those who knew their commander disliked noise tried their best to stay quiet, but it was unavoidable. Rubel sank deep into the sofa, trying to soothe his aching head.

He absentmindedly tapped the armrest of the worn-out sofa with his fingertips, like someone playing an invisible piano. The countless demands from countless people, the ever-growing list of tasks—none of it really bothered him much.

To be completely honest, the reason his head was pounding like this was all because of that woman.

The foolish witch. The witch who killed Hecate. The witch who saved him. The witch who stubbornly called herself a priestess.

He knew she had spent the whole day dashing around like a stray dog, draining his energy from his right arm as she went. But he hadn’t expected the reason to be that she was gathering herbs to restore his divine energy.

‘These herbs are supposed to be good for restoring divine energy.’

After saying that, she had awkwardly added, “No, it’s nothing.” as if embarrassed. Did she not realize how ridiculous she looked? Rubel had spent the entire day with her swirling around in his head (not because he was in love, but because of the divine energy he had tied to her), and her constant, clumsy attempts to get his attention were incredibly irritating.

Her words echoed in his mind, refusing to leave.

‘These herbs are supposed to be good for restoring divine energy.’

‘No, it’s nothing.’

“…….”

‘These herbs are supposed to be good for restoring divine energy.’

‘No, it’s nothing.’

What the hell is wrong with me?

His heart simmered as if he were sick, and his breathing grew rough, as if he were angry. He sighed and roughly ran a hand through his hair.

His neatly combed red hair caught in his fingers, coming undone in a tangled mess. Just then, footsteps sounded on the stairs, and Rubel, assuming it was Eir, quickly looked up.

But it was only one of his subordinates, standing awkwardly on the stairs, having seen their commander in an uncharacteristically disheveled state.

“Miss Eir is downstairs…….”

The subordinate spoke without being asked, and Rubel’s expression darkened at the unsolicited answer.

“Why are you telling me that?”

“I-I thought you were waiting for her……. Never mind.”

The subordinate hastily tried to recover, and Rubel, aware of his own embarrassing behavior this time, decided to let it slide.

“So, what is it? I thought we’d settled on handling the lord’s request tomorrow.”

Rubel’s voice grew lower, a subtle tension creeping in as he wondered if there was news from the Holy Temple or the Emperor. But Lord Vale’s expression was serious, as if something urgent had happened.

“Hecate’s body is missing.”

“What?”

Rubel’s voice was laced with irritation, as if questioning how they could have mismanaged things so badly.

“Is it Crowley’s fault?”

Since transporting the witch’s body to this territory had been a complicated process involving permits and guards, Rubel immediately suspected the Crowley faction, who had shown hostility toward him since his arrival.

Vale nodded, but his expression was uncertain.

“It happened while the Crowley knights were on guard. But…….”

“Just spit it out. Don’t drag it out.”

“One of their knights was found dead.”