Chapter 60: It’s About Time

“How did it go, how did it go, did you settle it?”

As soon as Vina saw them, she couldn’t wait to ask.

“We were really lucky. The commander in the mountains is a confidant of the Demon King, and also a General I know.”

Ella smiled sweetly.

“He agreed to send troops to attack the Sea Demon Tribe in the city.”

“Good, good, that’s great! I can’t wait to see that day!”

Hearing such good news, Vina’s peach blossom eyes sparkled.

Ella suspected she might want the city to break out into war even more than herself.

“It’s getting late. Let’s head back.”

They returned to the expedition team, handed two Pearl Oysters to the hunter uncle, and the two girls went down the mountain early.

“We accomplished our goal perfectly today.”

Vina stretched lazily.

“I wonder how the others did~”

During today’s split-up operation, Leah also had a smooth day.

Because of the murder case, the usual little sirens who worked were all hiding in the fish market and wouldn’t come out.

The jobs that no one did had to be filled by humans.

An inexperienced worker cut his hand while cleaning fish, and blood gushed out.

Leah happened to pass by, held his hands, and gave a blessing—instantly, the knife wound was healed.

“My injury’s gone!”

“No wonder you’re from the Royal City, your god really works.”

“So our Lord God here is called the Goddess of Light, right?”

Just like that, the Saintess gained her first Faithful in Harbor City, then her second, third, and by the end of the day, dozens of people had joined the embrace of the Light, all humans.

Since Harbor City didn’t have a Church unit, these Faithful couldn’t become clergy.

But that was fine. Leah gave each of them a little booklet, encouraging them to practice praying more.

In the future, when a Church branch was established here, they would all be the backbone.

On the other side, Celes, who went to the beach, also had a harvest.

She found some old fishermen collecting shells at low tide and managed to strike up a conversation.

But when she asked about the Sea Demon Priest, the atmosphere immediately became tense.

The older fisherman advised her, “Young lady, don’t ask about this, and don’t be curious about it. When your trip is over, leave this city as soon as possible.”

But hearing that only made Celes more concerned.

“Will something bad happen?”

It wasn’t curiosity or recklessness, but her duty.

“If you don’t go looking, nothing will happen.”

The old fisherman spoke earnestly.

“Don’t look for them, don’t look for the Sea Demon Priest, don’t look for the Shrine…”

“Shrine?”

Realizing he had let something slip, the old fisherman quickly fell silent.

No matter what the girl said afterward, he wouldn’t say another word.

As evening approached, the sky grew dark.

On her way back, Celes saw that the sirens who had been hiding for two days had come out, holding all sorts of ritual items.

The shrines and Siren Idols custom-made at the Workshop were being carefully placed in every corner of the streets and alleys.

The humans were used to it and didn’t find it strange.

Celes wanted to ask about the rituals, but just then, a scream came from nearby.

“There’s been another murder!”

She turned and saw a siren corpse spurting blood, and the murderer fleeing at high speed, a cloak completely covering their slim figure.

It wasn’t the same person as last time, but the outfit was identical.

The crowd was in chaos, but not a single siren ran.

They stayed where they were, continuing to arrange the shrines in their trembling hands, insisting on finishing the placement even though their legs were shaking.

“Heretic, heretic, damned heretic, He will never let you go…”

Seeing this, Celes walked over to ask, “Hello, may I—”

“Don’t come any closer!”

The siren was triggered.

“Despicable heretic! He will drown you in the Sea of Despair!”

“……”

There was really no way to communicate.

Forget it, it’s fine.

At least she got some new information about a ‘Shrine’ today, so it wasn’t a total loss.

That would do for now.

When she returned to the inn, she found that her companions had all come back already, even Zero was no exception.

The pink-haired Great Thunder Girl came out to greet her, smiling gently:

“Celes, you’re finally back. Let’s have dinner~”

What was the Hero Squad’s dinner tonight?

Of course, it was sea fish and seafood, just cooked in a few different ways—steamed, roasted, fried, boiled—the local specialties.

But to make today’s ‘trip’ more convincing, Vina brought back some Mountain Delicacies and put them in the pot, making the fish soup even more delicious.

“These are specialties from where we went today. I really didn’t expect it. The so-called mysterious scenic spot turned out to just be the eastern mountain.”

Vina sighed regretfully.

“It’s a pity we didn’t find any useful information, only these things to bring back for you all to try.”

“Yeah.”

Ella chimed in.

“We’re really sorry.”

Of course, no one would blame cute Ella.

At this moment, Zero put down her knife and fork and said, “I didn’t find anything during the day, but I want to go again at night.”

The other girls paused.

“At night?”

Celes was worried.

“That sounds too risky…”

They weren’t familiar with this place, and with the ritual day approaching, everything felt a bit strange.

She clearly didn’t know that two girls in the team had already gone over the mountain today.

“I understand.”

Zero held her teacup with both hands.

“But if they really are a professional assassin organization, day and night will be completely different.”

Since she put it that way, Celes had nothing to object to. Leave professional work to the professionals.

“It’s fine, Zero is really amazing.”

Ella gently tried to smooth things over.

“Back in the Royal City, at night she… um, anyway, she’s really amazing.”

Back in the Royal City, she went out at night and took down a noble, even pulled off a Divine Punishment trick.

If not for her overly professional skills—she was the only one in the entire Royal City who could do it—the culprit would never have been found.

How could she not be amazing?

After dinner, Vina hopped off her chair, stretched, and said, “It’s nice to have energy. I need to rest early. Climbing the mountain back and forth today really wore me out~”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Ella put her hands together.

“Have a good rest~”

Today’s good girl persona task was probably complete.

Everyone at the table had almost finished eating.

Only the most ladylike Leah’s bowl was still more than half full, but her companions were used to it and didn’t mind.

But the Saintess secretly observed everyone, her thoughts turning in her heart.

Tonight, Zero would go out for some free activity, Vina was exhausted and would fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, and as for Celes, she looked stress-free and would surely go to bed early and wake up at dawn.

In other words, tonight was a heaven-sent opportunity!

While sipping her tea, she quietly glanced at the pink-haired Great Thunder Girl, who was still acting as a soft and sweet good girl.

Last time was too rushed, too short, and the effect didn’t last long, so—time for Purification.