Chapter 167
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 167
Chapter Title: Luna's Judgment
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"It's getting pretty disruptive."
"Leon."
"What."
At that moment, Luna—who'd been keeping quiet at the rear—slowly stepped forward and tugged at Leon's sleeve, pulling him back.
"Save your strength. I'll handle this."
With that, she lightly tapped her foot, vanishing in an instant and reappearing right in the inquisitors' faces.
"Wha—?!"
One flustered inquisitor hurriedly gripped his weapon for a counterattack, but Luna's fist drove forward like it knew the perfect path, smashing him into the ground.
Her hand-to-hand prowess was enough to impress even Leon, far beyond what mere inquisitors could handle.
In a single blow, she shattered the barrier protecting them and turned one into a bloody pulp. She flexed her fingers open and clenched them again.
"I'm useful enough."
It didn't seem like mere bragging.
For some reason, she made no effort to hide her icy contempt toward the heresy inquisitors.
As she moved again, the inquisitors sensed something ominous and shouted desperately.
"B-Block her!!"
Boom!!!
But she closed the distance in a flash, catching a descending axe barehanded. A pure white light gleamed in her small, pale fist.
A primal instinct screamed warnings in their minds.
"I deny you the right to divinity."
Her voice rang out like a verdict.
Her fist shot forward at blinding speed, striking empty air.
Crack!!
A sound like shattering glass echoed as a massive rift tore open in the air.
Her fist never touched the inquisitor's body.
But the sight of that fracturing void drained the color from their faces.
A blinding surge of light erupted next.
A colossal cross of radiance etched itself into the ground, devouring everything in a massive shockwave.
Luna crushed the inquisitors more viciously than usual.
Not a scrap of holy power remained in their corpses.
As if declaring they had no right to it in their flesh.
Thanks to her swift extermination, escorting Saintess Nadia out of the fortress and to safety was a breeze.
"Hoo... What now...?"
Once safety was secured, Nadia wore a gloomy expression.
Her emotions were undoubtedly complicated, but they couldn't stop here.
I ripped the brooch off her clothes.
"Kyaa?!"
"Wh-What are you doing?!"
"It's a tracker."
I glanced it over and tossed it into a nearby spot.
"We need to move fast. If we hurry along this forest path..."
"No need. We'll escape from right here."
"Pardon?"
Confusion spread across their faces.
Ignoring it, I turned to Luna.
"Feeling better?"
"Not bad."
Her words said one thing, but her expression looked a bit downcast, which worried me.
"Then let's head back to Cascadia. No point sticking around and leaving clues."
How the situation unfolded, who was after her, and who sent that secret letter with the time and place.
I had a lot of questions.
"Um... Young Master Leon."
"Yes?"
"My identity..."
"Ah. Brace yourself—might feel nauseous for a bit."
Before I could finish, the warp spell activated.
When I came to, we were already at the Cascadia estate.
"You're wondering how I knew Navel was the saintess?"
Nadia, reeling from the vertigo, blinked wide-eyed at me.
"Y-Yes."
"I knew from the start."
No lies there.
Upon hearing about the incident at the Heresy Inquisitors' outpost in the fortress, Melissa reacted just like I had.
"What? Has the Holy Kingdom lost its mind? Accusing the saintess of all people of heresy?"
"Did... Count Cascadia know too?"
"Ah... yeah. I suspected from the report, but hearing it confirmed it."
"I thought I put on a decent act..."
The acting might've been fine, but the prep was lacking.
"Haa... This is driving me insane. At this rate, I won't die of old age."
One crisis after another.
Melissa looked like her blood was boiling dry.
"I've got so much to handle in the territory already, and now external messes keep piling up..."
She was indeed scrambling to defuse incidents tied to outsiders that could escalate into diplomatic issues or even war.
They'd just glimpsed a solution for the Painas Archipelago, and now the Holy Kingdom was dragging them in—her brain was overloading.
"I'm sorry, my lord."
"No, it was bound to happen eventually. Let's sort out the situation first. Saintess, what's the most urgent matter right now?"
At Melissa's question, Saintess Nadia pulled out a hidden letter.
"This needs to reach the Hael Tribe. It's important..."
"We can send it via a trusted merchant caravan..."
"Sadly, the Hael Tribe is under lockdown. Regular merchants can't get in."
It required someone with real authority, but who in the Holy Kingdom could she trust now?
"Not certain, but it's clear much of the Holy Kingdom's upper echelons is dead set on eliminating you."
The holy knight offered his cautious opinion.
"Lady Nadia, entrust that letter to me."
"Sir?"
"Frankly, I haven't figured out who we can rely on for help right now. You going personally is out of the question, so I'll handle it."
"It's too dangerous! Better if we go together..."
"No, Saintess. Think bigger. You must never expose yourself to risk. The moment you do, not just your life, but everyone here in Cascadia—who've aided you—will be in peril."
Nadia clamped her mouth shut.
"So leave it to me. I'll see the mission through."
The saintess could only relent.
The holy knight left for the Hael Tribe alone, after entrusting her care to us.
Still, one worry nagged, so slipping a banshee into his shadow was decent insurance.
Nadia looked drained—relief or shock, hard to tell.
"Let's talk about something else. I meant to ask earlier—who's trying to kill you right now?"
Everyone knew intel's value.
If she weren't House Cascadia's benefactor, I'd wash my hands of Holy Kingdom drama.
At minimum, we needed to know our enemy.
"Nothing certain, but... the one pulling the strings seems to go by 'Varil.' Probably an alias."
Varil.
I'd heard the name.
"Varil..."
"That guy."
Melissa's confirmation widened Nadia's eyes.
"You know him?!"
"No. Just the name."
The one who handed the Archangel's Halo to Dorn Lu Pascalia in Bernier territory.
"Rushing in blindly would be unwise. So, who sent this letter?"
I showed her the secret note with the time and place.
"No idea... Maybe someone in the Holy Kingdom still wants to help me."
Whoever had detailed intel on a covert assassination plot couldn't be some low-rank church official.
This level of info meant high status.
For a split second, I wondered if it was a trap to justify purging the saintess and us publicly.
But I shook it off.
No fool would play such a reckless gambit lightly.
"Rest easy here for now. Trust your guard with the Hael Tribe matter."
I got her wish to avert war, but with factions now gunning for her over it, obsessing there was foolish.
"Thank you for your concern. I'll never forget this kindness."
She bowed to us.
Then Luna yanked my sleeve like she'd been waiting.
"Leon."
"Yeah?"
"Show Arsha."
She nodded toward the saintess.
"My healing works, but stigmata have unique benefits."
"Is there... a patient?"
Saintess Nadia picked up on Luna's words quick as a whip.
I gave a suitable explanation.
"You heard about my parents before."
"Ah... yes. I remember."
"We rescued our youngest sister recently. She miraculously survived but had been held captive."
"My goodness. That's truly fortunate! May the Lord's blessings be with her..."
She clasped her hands in prayer.
"But... she's got some mental issues. Could you take a look?"
She agreed readily.
"I'll help however I can."
If it meant Arsha regaining her senses, what wouldn't I do?
Arsha still hadn't come around.
The good news: her physical wounds were mostly healed.
Twisted bones reset, blinded eyes restored by Luna's power.
But her mind, shattered by the kraken's aftermath, defied healing.
"My lord... how on earth...?"
Saintess Nadia gasped, hand over mouth at the sight of Arsha.
Like Luna, she could sense Arsha's true state somehow.
"Can you help?"
"No guarantees, but I'll do my utmost."
"Don't push yourself. You've been through enough."
"This is fine."
She sat by Arsha's bed, hands clasped in prayer.
Holy power flowed from her entire body.
Luna's felt greater in sheer volume, but this carried a different essence.
Angels crave stigmata, or so they say.
Perhaps that's proof of true divine favor.