Fabiana’s observation of the “sinner” was still ongoing.
She no longer wore her thick, gleaming white armor—just carried the double-winged knight’s helmet and a golden knight’s sword at her waist.
Her face hidden, she shadowed Samimi’s every step, monitoring her at all times.
Samimi’s daily routine was to provide fair treatment to everyone—men, women, young, or old, all received low-cost healing.
After several days of surveillance, Fabiana still hadn’t caught Evil Dog Samimi doing anything evil.
In fact, as a local nun, Samimi was almost too diligent and professional—often offering door-to-door service, rain or shine.
Now that trade caravans were returning to Sweetmelon Town, business was booming again, and most urgent cases were among those travelers.
After all, residents don’t constantly get sick or injured. Even a cold can be cured with a good sleep and some medicine.
Occasionally, an inn worker would come rushing to Sweetmelon Chapel, shouting, “Sister, help!”
Most caravan members suffered from sudden diarrhea and nausea due to local food or water. A simple Tranquility Spell from Samimi usually cleared things up quickly.
There used to be people who received treatment from her and then skipped out on paying—but not anymore.
Now Samimi usually carried her demon-slaying sword while working, and behind her was that armored knight. No one dared skip payment now.
In that sense, Fabiana wasn’t totally useless. At the very least, she made a good bodyguard.
Sometimes, though, things got intense—
“Sister! Help!!”
That day, Samimi, Fabiana, and Niubao rushed to an inn.
The lobby was covered in blood, and agonizing wails could be heard from far away.
“This way, Sister!” a staff member shouted anxiously.
“Niubao, wait at the door,” Samimi instructed.
She and Fabiana stepped into the room, where several injured people lay on the floor. Their wounds were hastily wrapped but still bleeding profusely.
Samimi pulled out scissors and cut the bandages. Blood spurted out immediately from the gory, torn wounds.
“Mass Healing.”
Her expression turned serious as a soft green glow radiated from her body, forming a healing aura that enveloped everyone.
The terrible wounds began to clot and close before their eyes.
After a long while, the screaming quieted. The staff and caravan members watching all exhaled in relief.
“Thank the Sister… I honestly don’t know what we would’ve done,” said a kingdom knight named Gao, face pale.
“What happened?” Fabiana asked.
“The caravan was attacked by a monster,” Gao replied. “Survivors said it was a cyclops demon-bear that suddenly lunged out from the forest. They barely escaped.”
“The wounded are out of immediate danger, but they’ve lost too much blood. They need time to rest and recover,” Samimi said, wiping her hands clean with a towel.
The three stepped outside, leaving the wounded to rest and discuss further.
“Something’s not right. Why are there so many monsters around lately?” Samimi asked.
“Sweetmelon Town is a major trade hub. Beast attacks in the surrounding area are usually rare,” Knight Gao replied.
“……” Samimi fell into thought.
“What’s there to think about? Isn’t it obvious?” Fabiana said coolly. “There’s probably a source of the Abyss nearby. That’s what’s corrupting the local wildlife into monsters. Kill the source, and the monster spawns stop.”
“Where’s the captain?” Samimi asked Gao.
“The captain and the town mayor were summoned to the capital—to receive a reward for helping deal with the Steelback Dragon,” Gao explained.
“How convenient,” Samimi muttered, then asked, “How many of you are left to defend the town?”
“Just me and old Vic for the next few days,” he replied.
“The abyssal source isn’t something we can handle. Once the mayor gets back, he can hire a professional adventuring party to take care of it. For now, let’s just take down the cyclops demon-bear,” Samimi said.
“Yes, I’ll go get Old Vic right away. Sister, we’ll meet you at the town gate once you’re ready,” Gao said, fully trusting her, then ran back to the inn.
“Knight lady, you and Niubao head home first,” Samimi told Fabiana.
“What do you mean by that!?” Fabiana snapped.
“What do you think I mean?” Samimi shot back.
“I’m a knight too! And you’re going off to hunt a demon without me!?” Fabiana shouted.
“You’re the Pure White Knight of the Hero Party, after all,” Samimi said with a mocking tone. “I know your service doesn’t come cheap. Besides, don’t you only take quests that reward you with glory points? I get it. We can’t afford you. Just help me watch over Niubao and go home.”
Then she turned and walked off toward the town gate.
Fabiana’s face turned bright red—thank goodness for her helmet hiding her expression.
“Knight lady, where should we go now?” Niubao asked, also awkwardly unsure.
“…Let’s go home first,” Fabiana said, taking Niubao back with her.
Once they arrived, she bolted into her room, changed into her full white knight armor, grabbed her Shield of Victory, and rushed back out.
“Stay home and wait for us to return, alright?” she gently told Niubao before leaving.
“Take care, Knight Lady,” Niubao said, locking the door after her.
“Playing the good guy, huh? All just an act… you think I don’t see through it?”
Fabiana muttered to herself on her way to the gate.
But when she arrived—no one was there.
She looked down the road and spotted Samimi already heading into the deep woods with two kingdom knights.
Fabiana was fuming. They really didn’t wait for me!
She told herself she hoped the demon-bear would eat them all—but her legs still obediently sped up to catch up.
“Oh my, Lady Pure White Knight, what brings you here?” Samimi grinned mockingly. “You know my financial situation. I really can’t afford to hire you.”
“I don’t want your money,” Fabiana said coldly. “Just shut up.”
“Sure,” Samimi replied—surprisingly not saying anything else.
The kingdom had only two knights left: the newbie Gao and the old veteran Vic. Their combat strength was woefully low. While Fabiana’s personality left much to be desired and her skill was average, her equipment was top-tier.
Their four-person squad headed to the area where the caravan had been attacked—in a corridor deep within the forest.
Some caravans were still traveling the road, but most were speeding up to escape the woods. Clearly, something had gone wrong ahead.
Broken carts lay by the roadside, and bloodstains led off into the distance—undoubtedly the trail left by the cyclops demon-bear.
“I really can’t afford to pay you, Miss Pure White Knight,” Samimi muttered again, still salty.
“I told you to shut up!!” Fabiana snapped.