Night had fallen, and the carriage sped along the main avenue of Doff City.
Passersby caught sight of the Holy Land’s emblem on the side and hurriedly stepped aside, not daring to block its path.
The wheels rattled over the cobblestones, jolting the interior.
+++
Sophie sat with her head lowered, hands resting on her knees, silent.
“Not even a single word, Miss Sophie? This is completely different from the last time we met—you were so cheerful then.”
Ellis broke the heavy silence in the carriage.
She was escorting Sophie back to the Holy Land.
Under normal circumstances, traveling within the Saint Luo Empire required ordinary means of transportation.
There was, however, one special option: teleportation magic arrays.
By setting up portals between locations, activating an array at one end allowed travel dozens of times faster than usual. Through a series of jumps, one could reach the final destination.
But large-scale teleportation arrays were astronomically expensive to build and maintain, and their use came with strict limitations, making widespread adoption difficult. For civilian purposes, they were practically unprofitable.
Thus, only a few major imperial cities had them, and common people could not access them.
Thanks to the Pope’s direct order, however, Ellis was able to take Sophie straight to a designated portal. The empire would temporarily grant the Holy Land permission to use it—a privilege extended by the emperor.
“Miss Sophie, I don’t understand. You have always followed the rules to the letter and carried out the Holy Land’s orders with utmost devotion. So why did you choose to defy them today?”
“Ellis, is your thirst for answers this strong part of Belon’s orders too?”
Sophie replied in an impatient tone, devoid of her usual courtesy.
“You really do want to chat with me.”
“Is this your true nature?”
“Think whatever you like.”
Sophie normally suppressed parts of herself, striving to meet everyone’s expectations and inch closer to her mother’s image.
In truth, her personality leaned more toward her past life—her words could carry a sharp edge.
Right now, her mind was in turmoil, and with Ellis prattling on endlessly, she genuinely had no energy to deal with it.
“Is it because of Miss Via?”
Ellis asked.
“No.”
Sophie denied it immediately.
“Then I was right. You disobeyed Archbishop Belon’s orders because of Via.”
“Ellis, has no one ever told you that speaking so bluntly makes people dislike you?”
Sophie shot her a glance, her tone far from polite.
“Rather than calling you aloof, it’s more accurate to say your way of talking makes everyone lose any desire to get along with you. They keep their distance.”
“Fine.”
Ellis didn’t seem bothered by the barbs in Sophie’s words.
The two had worked together a few times, hunting Transcendent-tier magical beasts. Their relationship somewhat resembled that of the former Perfect Saintess Sylvia and the Silver Sword Princess Selina.
Privately, they had almost no interaction. Only when the Holy Land issued orders did they occasionally cooperate.
“Still, allow me to remind you, Miss Sophie— you’d do better to focus on yourself. You’re approaching a bottleneck in your breakthrough. If you reach the Transcendent tier, you’ll qualify to ascend as saintess. That is the path you should walk.”
“Thank you for the reminder, Ellis. I’ve always been aware of that.”
Sophie replied.
After traveling day and night, Sophie finally arrived at the Holy Land.
She first met with Archbishop Belon. As expected, he unleashed a torrent of scolding—her monthly stipend for this month was revoked, and she was to spend three days in secluded reflection facing a wall.
Since the Pope had summoned her, Belon couldn’t delay too long and soon sent her to the sanctum.
Without a moment’s rest, the red-haired saintess candidate entered the sanctum and came before the supreme Pope of the Holy Land, Altes.
“Your Holiness, I apologize for arriving late.”
Sophie bowed to Altes.
“It’s fine. Just be mindful next time.”
Altes remained as kind as ever.
He already knew the reason for her delay but chose not to dwell on it, brushing it aside lightly.
“You should know why I called you here, correct?”
“Your Holiness, you wish to hear about the events deep within the Demon King’s Castle ruins?”
“Exactly.”
Altes nodded.
“The Holy Knights who returned to the Holy Land ahead of you have already given me a detailed report. I understand the general situation. The Demon King Ville—who should have died—has appeared once more, hasn’t he?”
“Demon King Ville…”
Sophie recalled the past.
She had clashed with Ville deep in the Demon King’s Castle ruins, perishing together with him as they both fell into the abyss of death.
“Sophie?”
“Forgive me, Your Holiness. I was recalling the events of that day.”
Sophie quickly gathered her thoughts.
“The Holy Knights and I did indeed encounter a demon resembling Ville deep in the ruins. Would you like me to explain in detail?”
“Yes. Tell me everything you know.”
“As you wish—”
Obeying Altes’s command, Sophie recounted the events meticulously.
From receiving the distress signal at camp with the Holy Knights, to heading deep into the ruins, encountering the demon maid, the Holy Knights being overwhelmed, and finally the maid turning on her.
“…The demon maid seized me. Under that pressure, I lost consciousness. When I awoke, the Holy Knights had already carried me back to camp for treatment.”
“And do you believe that was Demon King Ville?”
“It could have been, or it could not have been, Your Holiness. I have never met Ville in person. My knowledge of him comes only from others’ accounts, so I truly cannot make an accurate judgment.”
“If it truly was Demon King Ville, this would be an extremely grave matter. He is a tremendous threat to humanity—once launching a war against us that nearly brought endless catastrophe. We must treat this with the utmost seriousness.”
“I agree completely, Your Holiness.”
Sophie echoed Altes’s words.
She concealed certain details—for instance, she said nothing about the cross necklace. She simply wanted to end the conversation with the Pope as quickly as possible.
“Sophie, you have more to say, don’t you?”
Altes suddenly asked a strange question.
“…I have reported everything I know.”
“Is that truly the case?”
“Your Holiness, what do you mean?”
Sophie couldn’t grasp his intent.
“Very well. Let me phrase it differently.”
Altes narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharpening.
His next words froze Sophie’s expression—she could scarcely believe her ears.
“Selina, do you truly have nothing to say about the reappearance of Demon King Ville?”