Fina Nisi was terrifyingly strong.
With just a single sword strike, she silenced everyone, and made Aililan even more wary—when dealing with someone like her, you can only play by the rules and reason things out, or else, if you flip the table, she’ll flip your skirt.
Seeing that no one dared speak, Aililan also seized the moment, snorting coldly as she said, “Bishop Wilma, you don’t mind if I bring the Chastity Knights with me to Emile Cathedral, do you?”
Wilma wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and hurried to reply, “Of course, I’ll arrange for someone to escort you there at once.”
Not escorting Aililan personally? That seemed a bit disrespectful, didn’t it!
But Aililan glanced at Bishop Wilma and realized she probably had a lot to discuss with those Governors, so she nodded in understanding.
Escorted by the knights, Aililan slowly left the hall.
Wilma’s face turned ashen, a mixture of fear at Fina Nisi’s power and anger at the Governors.
“Yarikel!” Wilma gritted her teeth.
“W-Wilma, Bishop, please listen, this really has nothing to do with me.”
“Cut the ****,” Wilma roared, her anger nearly out of control as she questioned, “Then answer me—where were the City Guards responsible for the inner city? How did the Chastity Knights, who were supposed to be stationed outside the city, end up inside? This is blatant dereliction of duty, and do you not realize the safety of the Saintess is paramount?”
“If Saintess Aililan was even scratched today, not only would all of you bear full responsibility, even I would be questioned by the Holy Land’s Tribunal.”
“If you don’t give me an explanation, be ready to rot in prison.”
Wilma raged endlessly.
Only after venting did she finally storm off.
As the Defender-General of the city, Yarikel’s face was now dark as ink. But it wasn’t anger toward Aililan or Wilma for their rebuke—it was deep dissatisfaction with his own subordinates.
Looking to his fellow officials, he saw them all turn away, unwilling to engage with him for now. Keeping out of trouble was the wise choice; after all, who knew if this Defender-General would still be their colleague tomorrow?
“Damn it!”
“Useless idiots! All of you are worthless!”
“Periante, you’re my most reliable subordinate. Tell me what the hell happened!”
“I don’t know.” Periante shook his head.
“Then what are you standing around for? I want every detail within half an hour. Otherwise, don’t bother showing up tomorrow—none of us are going to survive this.”
“……”
With Yarikel’s command, the entire defense system of Atast City was mobilized.
Yarikel now had to consider one thing—should he just run for it?
He feared the responsibility was too great.
This was far beyond what he could bear.
Ending up in prison would be the best-case scenario; if accused of colluding with the enemy, his whole family would be doomed.
In just over ten minutes.
The answer came back regarding why, during the arson and assassination attempt at Aililan’s estate, the inner city guards didn’t respond in time.
Reading the report, Yarikel’s eyes burned with rage.
[Akoma’na!]
She was ranked third within the City Guard, and also one of Yarikel’s subordinates.
The summarized report was simple: Akoma’na, who was on duty that day, suddenly redeployed a large number of City Guards, resulting in the City Guard garrison lacking sufficient manpower during the assassins’ arson attack—and no one to command those who remained.
“You ****!”
“You ****ing ****!”
“To take so many guards at once—was her brain kicked by a mule? If I die, I’ll make sure I kill you first, you damned idiot.”
Yarikel staggered twice.
His trusted aide Periante rushed to steady him.
“Lord Yarikel, you mustn’t collapse at a time like this!”
“I-I… I’m fine. Periante, take my seal and immediately head to the City Guard garrison—assemble everyone and bring Akoma’na back to me.”
“My lord, have you forgotten? The City Guard garrison is now… it’s already… under the control of that terrifyingly strong leader of the Chastity Knights, Fina Nisi.”
“I—!” Perhaps from his burning anxiety, Yarikel’s nose suddenly started bleeding, bright red drops falling one after another, but he couldn’t be bothered to care. He hastily instructed, “Periante, you’re all I can rely on now. Take my seal, go to Akoma’na, and take command of all City Guards still outside.”
Yarikel paused for a moment.
As if steeling himself.
He drew his hand sharply like a blade, saying, “Traitor Akoma’na colluded with outsiders and conspired against the Saintess—execute her on the spot.” Yarikel had to do this, pin all blame on Akoma’na, or else the entire City Guard system would be purged from top to bottom.
Whether Akoma’na was really responsible or not.
She had to die today.
Periante accepted the order and rushed at full speed toward the outskirts near Morion Village.
There, the mercenaries who had been facing off against the inner city guards suddenly seemed to receive a command and, not long after, began to disperse like a receding tide.
The City Guards and their allied mercenaries erupted into cheers.
[They’re leaving?]
[Great, we won!]
[My life is finally safe, haha.]
[I knew those mercenaries were just putting on a show. Lady Akoma’na is the best in the world.]
[…]
The leader of the Lionwind Mercenary Company, looking like he’d just escaped death, praised sincerely, “As expected of Lady Akoma’na! Your reputation is known by all in Atast City.”
Akoma’na exchanged a few words, then approached the head of Morion Village and declared, “Listen up, from today onward, I call the shots in Morion Village. Understood?”
She was about to say more—
When the sound of a galloping horse came from afar.
Seeing who it was, Akoma’na was taken aback.
Periante rode up, flames of anger in his eyes, and roared, “Akoma’na!”
Akoma’na forced a laugh. “So it’s you, Periante. What brings you here?”
“Akoma’na, your crimes are unforgivable.”
“Periante, what nonsense is this?”
“You took it upon yourself to redeploy the inner city guards, leaving the defenses empty, which led to the Saintess being attacked by Assassins and her residence set ablaze.”
Akoma’na’s mind went blank—a wave crashed in her head. Because of her unauthorized redeployment, the inner city was left defenseless, and right at that time, Saintess Aililan was attacked by Assassins and her estate burned down?
She felt—
An itch in her scalp?
“P-Periante, I’m sure there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.”
Periante kicked her down with a snarl. “Misunderstanding my ass!”
‘Shiiing~’
Periante drew his sword.
“No—you can’t kill me! I… I want to see Defender-General Yarikel!”
“You dare mention Lord Yarikel? Because of your stupidity, he’s barely able to protect himself now! You’re the one who doomed us all!”
Periante said no more.
With a single thrust, he killed Akoma’na.
He couldn’t defeat Fina Nisi, but as one of the top ten fighters in Atast City, dealing with Akoma’na was easy.
From start to finish.
Akoma’na died without ever knowing she had angered the Saintess.
Aililan’s status was simply too high—Akoma’na didn’t even have the right to appear before her. She was just struck down by the fury from above, dying without a chance for recourse.
Just a small figure, nothing more.