Chapter 23
The saintess had changed. “…It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
Inside the tea leaf shop stood a truly unexpected figure. It was Justia, the saintess of the Goddess Church, whose tooth Franz had knocked out not long ago. Spotting her, Franz froze in place.
What the hell is she doing here?
If Justia needed tea leaves, she could’ve easily bought them from a shop near St. Serpian Cathedral. But this was near the Magic Tower. Sure, the cathedral and the tower were close on a continental scale, but it was absolutely not a distance worth traveling just for tea leaves. So, she must have come here personally for some reason. Even if running into her here was a coincidence, meeting her today was inevitable.
Franz paused for a moment before greeting her naturally. “Yeah, it’s been a while. Justia.”
Honestly, he wasn’t thrilled. What reason could a world-destroying villainess have for showing up? She’d probably brought another incident with her. On top of that, he still felt guilty about her missing tooth.
“I never imagined I’d run into you here like this… Well, whatever. But who’s this with you…?”
Justia’s gaze shifted to Arian, who gave a light bow in greeting. “I’m Arian Frigia, eldest daughter of the Frigia Ducal House. I serve as secretary to the Tower Master.”
“A lady of the Frigia Ducal House, I see. I am Justia, saintess of the Goddess Church.”
Justia clasped her hands at her chest and inclined her upper body slightly. Franz inwardly grumbled at the sight of the two exchanging polite greetings, when they were usually so curt with everyone.
Anyway, that wasn’t the point right now. “Justia, if you’ve come all the way here, there must be a good reason.”
“Well, yes. To be precise, I came to ask you for a favor… But it’s a bit hard to discuss here.”
“Then let’s buy the tea leaves and talk at the tower. You came here for tea anyway, right?”
“Yes. Let’s do that.”
Franz and Justia returned to their original purpose, browsing the tea leaves. Arian alternated glances between them, her brow furrowing. Not only had another woman appeared out of nowhere, but they were all heading back to the tower together now. For Arian, who’d wanted more alone time with Franz outside, this was infuriating. It was all that fox in saintess’s clothing who’d shown up so suddenly.
“Arian, weren’t we picking tea together? What’re you doing?”
“Ah, yes.”
Arian, who’d been grinding her teeth, hurried over at Franz’s call. Of course, Franz had no idea what was going on in her head. He just worried that her furrowed brow meant she was in pain.
“How about this one? It was pretty good last time I tried it.”
“Is it? I actually prefer this one a bit more.”
“Yeah? Then let’s get that.”
“W-Wait, let’s look around a little more…”
Franz nodded. Honestly, weren’t all tea leaves pretty much the same? But it might be important to Arian, so whatever.
They spent quite a while just picking tea leaves. He felt a little bad for keeping Justia waiting, but fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind. Maybe she had a hobby for tea, because she kept peering intently at the leaves.
“I’ll just go with this one.”
In the end, Arian picked the exact same tea she always used. It wasn’t a very exciting result after all that time, but if she was satisfied, that was fine.
Soon, Franz exited the tea shop with Arian and Justia. As time passed, the streets had come alive. Merchants were opening shops, and customers were browsing for goods. Having not had time to leisurely stroll around in the past year, the sights felt a bit fresh.
As the three walked, two paladins followed at a distance behind. Justia’s escorts.
She hasn’t quit after all.
Franz had definitely told Justia to quit if being saintess was too much. Losing a saintess would be far better for the church than her destroying the world. Yet her attire and the trailing paladins made it clear she was still playing the role. At least her expression looked much better than before. More relaxed, without any hint of displeasure.
He’d have to hear the details directly to know for sure.
As he walked, thinking that, they’d already arrived at the Magic Tower. Justia’s eyes turned to the towering structure piercing the sky.
“So this is the Magic Tower. It feels different up close than from afar.”
“Does it? I kinda feel the same way every time I see St. Serpian Cathedral.”
“Total opposites, huh.”
Justia chuckled softly with a “fufu.” Franz doubted his own eyes. Not long ago, she’d been baring her teeth in fury, and now she was serene—and even laughing?
What the hell happened in this short time?
…She’ll be fine.
Good was good; he decided not to overthink it. Peaceful was better than snarling, after all.
Then Arian spoke up. “Tower Master, aren’t you going in?”
Arian’s voice was icy cold. She hated seeing Franz chatting and laughing happily with another woman. Not that Franz knew.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Ah, wait a moment.”
Franz stopped at the saintess’s words. “What about the paladins? Can they come into the tower too?”
“Sure, they can. The tower’s open to everyone anyway.”
In truth, ordinary folk couldn’t reach the top floor, but as tower master, it’d be rude to snub the saintess’s escorts. So, he allowed them to accompany.
And so the five entered the Magic Tower under the gaze of numerous mages. Before long, they reached the top floor with the tower master’s office and secretary’s room.
Franz stopped in front of the tower master’s office at the end of the long corridor. “Justia, is this something we need to discuss alone?”
“Hm…”
Justia glanced at the two paladins and Arian, then back at Franz. “These people are fine.”
“Alright, then let’s go in.”
Franz opened the door to the tower master’s office and entered. Arian, Justia, and the two paladins followed.
“Sit wherever. Arian, mind making some tea?”
Franz settled on the sofa as he spoke. But Arian suddenly flinched. Like she’d been caught red-handed or something.
“Arian, what’s wrong?”
“N-Nothing. I’ll bring the tea right away.”
Franz was puzzled but didn’t press. There were more important matters at hand.
Once Justia sat across from him, the real conversation began. Naturally, it started with asking after her well-being.
“Justia, how’ve you been?”
“I’ve been getting by. But this is unexpected. You asking after me. I figured you’d jump straight to the point.”
She was right. The old Franz would’ve cut to the chase, heard what he needed, and sent her on her way. But not now. After surviving two bad-end branches, he was a veteran at handling villainesses. Like a doctor, he first assessed her condition.
“You’ve changed a lot too. Did something happen?”
“Well… I let go of the past, I suppose. I just finally understood everything you said that day. I know now you don’t take life lightly. Though I lost a tooth as payment.”
Franz flinched at the saintess’s laughing remark. No wonder she’d been so quiet—he should’ve known she wouldn’t let it slide.
“Sorry about that…”
“I’m kidding. Kidding. Oh, but the paladins picked up that tooth. They said something about designating it a holy relic…? Want me to bring it? Since it’s a relic and all.”
Franz realized he’d stepped on a landmine. With karma weighing him down, he could only sit silently.
Then—clink. Arian set a teacup in front of Justia and said, “A holy relic… Nice. Bring it to the tower, then.”
“I’m kidding. As if my tooth got designated a relic. Even if it did, I couldn’t just hand it over easily.”
“I see. That’s a shame. I wondered if we could display a relic in the tower.”
“…Of course, if Franz wanted it, I’d pull some strings.”
“Aha…”
Arian and Justia smiled, but the air between them crackled with hostility. Arian was probably defending the tower master’s dignity as his secretary. Justia fired back in response.
In the end, Franz had to step in to defuse it. “That’s enough, both of you. We didn’t gather for this.”
Arian nodded and took her seat, while Justia sipped her tea. Franz said, “Justia, care to tell me what this is about?”
“Yes. To get to the point, I suspect one of the nobles is involved with the heretics. I’d like you to investigate and confirm.”
“Heretics? Which noble?”
“The Duke of Istar. I heard he’s holding a heretic gathering soon. Shouldn’t it be easy to infiltrate?”
Duke of Istar…? A familiar name. Definitely… he’d heard the hero Yuna was in the Istar Duchy.