After a brief investigation, Earl Suho confirmed that someone inside the estate had colluded with outsiders to steal the carriage.
It seemed a thorough search of the estate was now necessary.
Once all the culprits who had robbed the carriage were brought back for interrogation, Earl Suho returned to the manor with Truth.
“Um, Miss Truth, I wanted to ask… are you really from five hundred years ago?”
“No, I lied to Suna.”
“Oh… I see…” Suho fell silent for a while before continuing, “At this hour, my daughter usually isn’t asleep yet. You should be able to find her in the study or her room… Ah, Suna!”
Just as Suho was thinking of personally bringing Truth to find Suna and maybe apologize along the way— Suna appeared right in the corridor ahead, her arms full of large bags.
“Uh… Father?” Suna quickly hid the bags behind her back.
She had been packing for a long outdoor journey.
“Look who’s here.”
Suho stepped half a pace to the side, revealing Truth standing behind him.
Truth gave Suna a sweet smile, looking especially radiant under the pale moonlight.
“Eh?!”
Suna’s pupils shrank in an instant.
Her whole body trembled as she staggered two steps backward.
To her, that smile was like a deadly threat… the bloody chapel, Kral’s desperate screams— those memories crashed through her mind like a storm.
Without hesitation, Suna dropped everything she was holding and bolted toward the nearest study room.
“What’s wrong with her?” Suho asked, puzzled.
Truth slowly followed after her and replied, “It’s nothing, I can handle it. This is, um… a girl thing!”
“I see…” Suho didn’t press further.
Kids should resolve their own issues— he still had that troublesome matter to deal with. So he returned to his bedroom on the second floor.
Truth stepped into the study. Books of all sizes were scattered everywhere, and scrawled across the covers in messy handwriting were the same two words— “Demon!”
So studious, huh? Truth blinked, letting a faint crimson glint flash through her pupils…
Meanwhile, in a corner of the study piled with old books, Suna was curled up, trembling as she clutched the brand on her neck.
The brand… it was burning!
Footsteps… approaching footsteps!
Through the gaps in the book piles, Suna could clearly see someone standing in front of them, flipping through the books one by one.
No, no, no— did the demon realize I was trying to escape and come after me? If I’d known, I would’ve just run! And now I’ve brought it back to the house… Father and the others, they’ll all be in danger!
But it was too late.
The demon was right there.
As the book covering Suna’s face was lifted, she instinctively raised her hands to shield her eyes, unable to bear the sight of those ominous, blood-red eyes.
“Eek!” Suna shrieked in fright— only for Truth to gently tap her on the head with a finger.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Wha…” Suna cautiously opened her eyes a sliver and saw Truth looking at her with genuine concern.
And… her eyes were pink.
“Uuu… uwaaah!” Suna instantly threw herself into Truth’s arms.
It was soft— though a bit small.
“I thought you’d been possessed by a demon and died… uuu…”
“What are you talking about? I don’t understand.”
Truth acted completely innocent.
Outside the study, the butler Norton was just passing by in high spirits when he overheard the noise inside.
Peeking through the doorway, he caught a glimpse of Truth’s back.
“What’s going on? Isn’t that the girl who was Kral’s type? Why did he let her go?”
Truth knew about the dungeon.
If word got out about what was happening down there, both he and Kral would be ruined!
Could something unexpected have happened?
With this thought, Norton quietly made his way to the Shelter to confront Kral.
Ten minutes later, under the moonlight, the Shelter still appeared eerily silent.
But Norton could clearly smell the thick scent of blood wafting from the half-open door. He gently pushed it open, and his breathing quickened immediately.
Dried blood was everywhere inside the Shelter.
From the smear trails, he could tell someone had crawled a considerable distance across the floor.
Who? Kral?
No… Even Kral wouldn’t dare commit such cruelty in front of the goddess’s portrait.
Yet the blood had even splattered onto the image of the goddess.
Such blasphemy— Kral would never have done that.
“Kral, are you dead or what?!” Norton shouted, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead.
No answer.
He decided to check the dungeon.
But just then, something in his peripheral vision caught his attention— a shriveled corpse in the corner, skin clinging to bones, face twisted in despair and rage.
“Kral… is dead…”
Standing in the center of the chapel, Norton stared at the dried-up corpse still clad in the robes of a Divine Guide. Panic welled up inside him.
Who? Who did this? That priest?
Or perhaps someone seeking revenge for the victims Kral had tortured?
These past days, Norton had been helping Kral by finding “evil heretics”— he was only responsible for delivering them to the Shelter.
As for whether they were truly evil, that was entirely up to Kral’s judgment.
But if the victims’ families had finally started retaliating… would he be next?
Cold sweat drenched Norton’s entire body.
Should he just flee Deya City?
But if he ran now, he’d lose everything…
Wait— that stash of high-grade healing potions he’d hidden!
The potions were set to be smuggled out of Deya City tonight. Once the deal went through and he had the money, he’d disappear. With that thought, Norton firmly shut the doors of the Shelter.
Until then, no one must find out that Kral was dead.
Meanwhile, back at the Suho estate, inside the study—
“I swear, after you were possessed by the demon, you splattered that Divine Guide’s blood everywhere! I still don’t dare speak of it to anyone!”
Suna’s eyes were red as she recounted the events following Truth’s “loss of consciousness,” describing everything in vivid detail now that she was sure Truth was back to normal.
“I’d never do something like that,” Truth replied, waving it off. “You’re just scaring↓ yourself～”
“I wasn’t talking about you, I meant that demon! Look—see this mark it left on me!”
Suna pulled back her collar to reveal the brand on her neck. She leaned forward, asking seriously:
“Do you know what this mark does?”
Truth touched her own [Hunter’s Mark], tilting her head in thought.
“Umm… I think it’s some kind of blessing?”
“It’s not a blessing!” Suna smacked a book titled Legends and Records of Demon Descents right onto Truth’s face.
“The book clearly says this mark means you’ve been targeted by a demon! Wait a sec—you said you were from five hundred years ago. So maybe back then… demons were actually friendly beings that gave out blessings?”
Her imagination immediately took flight: demons used to grant blessings… could it be that they were actually fallen angels? Had some kind of unspeakable conflict erupted among the gods, causing certain angels to fall?
A divine civil war, perhaps?
“Whoa, what am I even thinking?!”
Suna suddenly shook her head violently, trying to clear the blasphemous thoughts.
I’m disrespecting the gods again. If someone found out, they’d throw me into the Shelter!
Truth, meanwhile, looked thoroughly exasperated.
She thought, If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have joked about the whole ‘blessing’ thing… And seriously, the brainwashing from those Tier 12 gods is so bad— no wonder hardly anyone respects them anymore…
Tftc!