Chapter 79: Your Lifespan Is Short, Isn’t It, Agent Lord?

The tavern was far bigger than Ai’er had imagined.

After going upstairs, the corridor kept stretching ahead, like a passage leading to a secret underground facility in a movie. The lights on either side flickered and shifted, guiding the way to an unknown endpoint.

Ai’er felt a little nervous.

All along the way, no one spoke—not the server leading the way in front, nor Anna and Fina behind her.

In the silence, a path that wasn’t very long became unbearably long…

“We’ve arrived, three ladies.”

The server, along with the other three, stopped in front of a door.

But this door wasn’t the luxurious entrance Ai’er had imagined. It looked more like a utility room door.

The owner of this tavern… was in a place like this?

The next moment, the server pulled a diamond-shaped crystal from behind them and placed it on the doorknob.

As the crystal glowed faintly, the simple door that seemed to belong to a storage room suddenly began to twist and fold, then dissolve into the deep, endless darkness behind it—

As if being swallowed by a black hole.

“Whoa O.O, that’s such a cool way to open a door—wah! An, Anna?!”

Before she could finish, the back of her collar was suddenly yanked by the brown-haired maid.

Lifted up like a kitten, Ai’er was tossed next to Fina. Then—

She caught the gleam of a silver dagger.

“Fina! Take Miss Ai’er and get out of here!

Run back to Master Sebas and the others! The Black God Church is active in the Central Tavern of the Duchy!!”

Killing intent.

At that moment, even though it wasn’t directed at her, Ai’er still felt an eerie chill running down her spine.

But it wasn’t just Anna. That cold sensation seemed to come from all directions, like a mist surrounding Ai’er and the others.

Yet the source of these auras wasn’t aimed at Ai’er herself.

“Miss, what do you mean by this?”

Facing the cold gleam of Anna’s dagger, the server didn’t change his smile at all.

As if the woman in front of him was just a guest acting a bit strangely, nothing serious.

The next moment, the surrounding corridor began to shift.

The walls rippled like water. In the dimming light, in just an instant, black-robed figures emerged from the walls, completely surrounding the three of them.

“Even if I die here, I won’t let you lay a single hair on Miss Elena’s important person!”

A flash of cold light.

The moment black tentacles shot out from all directions, Anna’s dagger swung fiercely, about to draw a crescent-shaped slash—

“Everyone stop!”

At that sound, the black tentacles halted, and Anna froze in place.

“Stop it! We’re not here to fight!

Go back, go back! Back into your walls!”

And so the tentacles retracted into the darkness, and in just a moment, all the black-robed figures vanished.

Seeing this, Anna grew even more confused.

She still stood there, frozen, along with Fina.

“Miss Ai’er? You… you?”

“Agent Lord, we, the believers of the Black God, are overjoyed to meet you so soon.”

While Anna was stammering incoherently, a new black-robed figure emerged from the darkness behind the door.

“But this is not a place for conversation. Please, come in with your attendants.”

He bowed to Ai’er, then stepped aside, clearing the path into the pitch-black darkness.

Ai’er recognized his voice.

This black-robed man was the one who had appeared in her room earlier.

Just as Ai’er was about to respond, her clothes were gently tugged.

She turned around to see Fina looking at her with those ink-blue eyes, shaking her head rapidly and slightly.

Fina’s worried gaze was urging Ai’er not to go inside.

“Anna, Fina…

I’ll explain everything to you later. But for now, will you come in with me?”

So Fina let go, but Anna still seemed at a loss. The hand holding the dagger just hung weakly in midair.

“Miss Ai’er, you… you—I… I don’t want to doubt you, but—

You wouldn’t do anything to betray Miss Elena… would you?”

“I won’t.”

Gently holding Anna’s trembling hand, Ai’er smiled.

…

In the vast, dim space, a brown-haired girl dressed in a black robe with gold embroidery knelt at the very center, praying before a pitch-black statue.

“Oh? The Agent Lord is here?”

After muttering to herself, the brown-haired girl opened her eyes.

She didn’t turn around, but her eyes, which could see the nature of magical power, seemed to gaze behind her—toward the silver-haired girl and the two maids following her.

The next moment, she stood up. Magical power wove into a black veil that concealed her face.

Then she turned around, facing the silver-haired girl who was approaching, and smiled a smile that couldn’t be seen.

“Apostle Lord, Agent Lord and company have arrived.”

The pitch-black darkness beyond the door seemed to be something like a teleportation portal.

After gritting her teeth and passing through, even in the dim light, Ai’er could feel how vast the space was.

Walls that seemed to extend endlessly in all directions, the enormous black statue in the center of her vision, and—

“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, Agent Lord~”

A black veil, a black robe with gold embroidery, and brown hair that Ai’er felt she had seen somewhere before.

But more importantly, those eyes.

Those eyes that seemed to smile yet revealed no emotion—Ai’er felt she had seen them somewhere…

“You think I look familiar?”

Eh O.o?

“You’re wondering how I know what you’re thinking?

You’re so adorable~ If you could see the expression on your face right now, anyone would smile.”

Eh eh eh eh?!

Ai’er felt like this kind of scene had already happened once before.

She hadn’t said a word, yet the other person had guessed what she was thinking.

And so, as Ai’er kept blinking, the veiled figure slowly walked toward her.

Seeing this, Anna immediately tried to rush in front of Ai’er, but the next moment, the maid was shocked to find she couldn’t move at all.

The black tentacles from before had somehow wrapped around Anna’s limbs, locking her in place.

“Ai—!”

The next moment, even her voice disappeared.

Anna couldn’t make a sound, and she couldn’t hear anyone else.

Beside her, Fina’s eyes were vacant, as if she had fallen asleep, frozen in place.

“This attendant of the Agent Lord, please do not disturb the two lords’ conversation.”

The black-robed guide appeared before Anna’s eyes, raising a finger to his lips.

As soon as he finished speaking, the world in Anna’s eyes began to be swallowed by darkness…

But Ai’er didn’t know what was happening behind her. She just stared at the veiled person approaching her.

“You’re curious about my true identity? That’s only natural~ Even though it wouldn’t hurt to let you keep thinking, it’s not conducive to our continued conversation.

After all, with your guard up, it’s hard to open your heart~”

Then she snapped her fingers, and the veil began to dissolve like ash, as if burned by an invisible flame.

“You! You’re Tina?!”

Seeing Ai’er’s shocked expression, the Saintess of the White God Holy Church revealed her signature playful smirk.

“You, you’re the Saintess of the Holy Church?! How can you also be—”

“Please don’t rush to probe my true identity, Agent Lord.”

She pressed an index finger to her cherry-pink lips, cutting off Ai’er’s words.

And then, the next moment, Tina used the words she had prepared long ago to make the silver-haired girl—

Completely freeze.

“Your lifespan is short, isn’t it, Agent Lord?”