Chapter 72
“You’re crying? Oh dear.”
Chess looked awkward but didn’t avoid her. He didn’t touch her, but he stood right in front of her, offering a cloth handkerchief and waiting until her tears stopped.
“Thank you.”
Her tears finally ceased after a long while. Irene expressed her gratitude to Chess for lending her the handkerchief.
“It’s nothing. Anyone would do this much.”
“Really?”
“Yes, so don’t worry anymore.”
Chess reassured her in a gentle tone.
“But if Adlen sees this, there might be trouble.”
“What?”
“She might think I made you cry.”
“I’ll tell her you did not.”
“I hope Adlen believes you.”
As soon as he finished speaking, something charged at Chess and kicked him in the back.
“Hey! What are you doing?”
“What are you doing!”
Chess shouted as he braced himself at the door.
“You said you were going to catch pigeons!”
“I did catch one! It was nearby. But why is the Saintess—no, Irene, crying?”
“I didn’t make her cry!”
Adlen turned to Irene with a fierce expression.
“Really, she didn’t.”
When Irene confirmed it, Adlen finally relaxed her expression.
“Please, think before you act.”
“Thinking is Eugene’s job.”
“Speaking of which, why didn’t Eugene come with you?”
“He hasn’t finished his work yet. I’ll have to go back soon too.”
“Good grief. You came in the middle of work?”
“I said I’ll be going soon!”
Adlen scratched her head and then turned to Irene.
“Don’t worry. I’ll still teach you how to roast the pigeon before I leave.”
“I’ll teach her. You should get back to your work.”
“Hey, I’m better at it!”
“I’m good at it too.”
As they bickered, a sharp sound suddenly pierced the air. Both Adlen and Chess immediately stiffened.
“That sound.”
“It means the damned thing is here. It’s not even time yet. Stay here with Irene. I’ll go check it out.”
Adlen threw the caught pigeon to one side of the room and dashed out. At the same time, Chess pushed Irene inside and closed the door.
“What’s going on?”
“It’s probably nothing serious.”
Chess spoke calmly, but his inner thoughts betrayed his words. That sound signaled the arrival of the heretics they had allied with.
‘We already received food and sent people. Why are they back?’
He couldn’t understand their reason for returning. They had mentioned attacking the Saintess this time.
‘Or perhaps…’
Chess glanced at the frail woman standing next to him. No, it couldn’t be. Although they lived secluded and were slow to receive outside information, it was impossible.
A Saintess with an ominous symbol? He had heard such rumors but never believed them to be true.
He knew people who vehemently rejected them, believing them to be descendants of demons and treating them cruelly. The goddess they worshipped would never show compassion to such people now.
Chess turned his gaze back. Irene was simply a comrade who had endured hardships and joined them here.
“Eugene!”
Adlen, who had gone to the village entrance, soon saw familiar faces. Among them were some she was happy to see and others she wasn’t.
“Lucy.”
“It’s Luciel.”
Luciel smiled, his green eyes narrowing. It was always an infuriating smile. If she could, Adlen would have loved to gouge it out.
“What brings you here?”
“Oh, nothing much. Just wanted to check if our comrades are facing any difficulties.”
Lies. Those were lies. But she couldn’t outright say that to his face.
‘Annoying bastard.’
Adlen glanced at the sky briefly before lowering her gaze to Luciel’s still-smiling face.
‘Hold it in, hold it in.’
Watching Adlen, Luciel clapped his fist into his palm.
“Oh, there’s one more thing I’m curious about.”
“And what’s that?”
“Why did you drop out of the plan midway?”
“I dropped out when it was time to drop out.”
“When was it time to drop out?”
The smile vanished from Luciel’s face, his eyes narrowing.
“We failed to capture the Saintess, our primary target. All we managed was to overturn the carriage as a warning. On the contrary, we suffered significant losses.”
“Anyway, weren’t the ones we took along just expendable as a warning?”
“Even so, it’s better to save as many as we can, isn’t it? We were fighting hard, but then, out of nowhere, the leader of our allies disappeared halfway through.”
Suddenly, Luciel’s face was uncomfortably close.
“How do you think I felt when I realized that?”
Adlen instinctively licked her lips. She needed to say something, but no words came out.
‘This crazy fanatic!’
He always tried to control people at his whim. And Adlen hated that.
“Stop it. We kept our promise. You know we can’t break our agreement anyway.”
“That’s true.”
Because they had hostages.
Luciel nodded and stepped back.
“Did you know the movements of the paladins were strange after the battle?”
“No, I don’t.”
Adlen replied curtly.
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