Chapter 23
At the tea shop, there was an unexpected figure inside. It was Saint Yustia of the Goddess Church, whose tooth Franz had knocked out not long ago. Upon seeing her, Franz stopped in his tracks.
'Why on earth...?'
If Yustia needed tea leaves, she could have easily bought them from a shop near St. Serpia Cathedral. But this was near the Magic Tower. While St. Serpia Cathedral was close to the Magic Tower in continental terms, it was certainly not close enough to come buy tea leaves.
So it was right to assume she had come here for some specific reason.
Although meeting her here was a coincidence, encountering her today was inevitable.
After a brief pause, Franz naturally greeted her. "Yes, it's been a while, Yustia."
To be honest, he wasn't particularly pleased. What other reason could there be for the villainess who would destroy the world to visit? She must have come with another incident in tow.
Moreover, he still felt guilty about knocking out her tooth.
"I didn't expect to meet you here like this... Well, I suppose it's fine. More importantly, who's that beside you?"
Yustia's gaze turned to Arian.
Arian bowed her head slightly in greeting. "I'm Arian Frigia, the eldest daughter of the Frigia Ducal family. I serve as the Tower Master's secretary."
"So you're the young lady of the Frigia Ducal family. I'm Yustia, Saint of the Goddess Church."
Yustia brought her hands to her chest and inclined her upper body slightly.
Franz was inwardly displeased with the two. These usually cold individuals were exchanging polite greetings.
Anyway, that wasn't important right now.
"Yustia, if you've come all this way, I assume you have a good reason."
"Well, yes. To be precise, I came to ask you for something... but it's a bit difficult to discuss here."
"Then let's just buy the tea leaves and talk at the Magic Tower. You came here to buy tea leaves too, right?"
"Yes, let's do that."
Franz and Yustia returned to their original purpose and began examining the tea leaves.
Arian looked back and forth between the two, furrowing her brow. Not only had another woman appeared, but it seemed they would soon return to the Magic Tower. For Arian, who had wanted to spend more time outside with Franz, this situation was quite displeasing. It was all because of that fox in Saint's clothing who had suddenly appeared.
"Arian, didn't you say you wanted to choose tea leaves together? What are you doing?"
"Ah, yes."
Arian, who had been grinding her teeth, hurriedly moved at Franz's call.
Of course, Franz was oblivious to Arian's inner turmoil. He was merely worried that her furrowed brow might indicate she was in pain.
"How about this? I tried it before and it was quite good."
"Really? I rather like this one more."
"Oh? Then let's buy that one."
"L-let's look around a bit more..."
Franz nodded. Honestly, he thought all tea leaves were pretty much the same, but it might be an important matter for Arian.
Thus, quite some time passed just choosing tea leaves.
Franz was a bit worried about keeping Yustia waiting for so long, but fortunately, she didn't seem to mind much.
Perhaps she had a hobby of drinking tea, as she kept examining the tea leaves intently.
"I'll just take this one."
In the end, Arian chose the same tea leaves they usually used.
It was an unremarkable result for the time spent, but if Arian was satisfied, that was fine.
Finally, Franz left the tea shop with Arian and Yustia.
As time had passed, the streets had come alive.
Merchants had opened their shops, and customers were browsing, looking to make purchases.
Having had no time to leisurely look around for the past year, these sights felt somewhat fresh to Franz.
As the three began walking down the street, two Holy Knights followed at a distance. They were Yustia's escorts.
By the way...
'She didn't quit, huh.'
Franz had clearly told Yustia to quit being a Saint if it was too hard.
It was far better for the Goddess Church to lose a Saint than for the world to be destroyed.
But judging by her attire and the Holy Knights following her, Yustia was still a Saint.
Still, her expression looked much better than before.
She seemed more at ease, with no particular signs of displeasure.
He'd have to hear her story directly to know for sure.
Lost in these thoughts as they walked, they soon arrived at the Magic Tower.
Yustia's gaze turned to the Magic Tower, soaring high into the sky.
"So this is the Magic Tower. It feels different seeing it up close."
"Is that so? Actually, I feel the same way every time I see St. Serpia Cathedral."
"We're complete opposites."
Yustia said this and let out a short laugh.
Franz couldn't believe his eyes. Until recently, she had been busy baring her teeth and fighting, but now she was not only gentle but even laughing.
What on earth had happened in this short time?
'...It should be fine.'
He decided not to worry too much about it. After all, peace was better than baring teeth.
At that moment, Arian spoke.
"Tower Master, aren't we going in?"
Arian's voice had sunk coldly.
She disliked seeing Franz chatting happily with another woman.
Of course, Franz was oblivious to this.
"Then let's go."
"Ah, wait a moment."
Franz stopped at the Saint's words.
"What should we do about the Holy Knights? Is it alright for them to enter the Magic Tower?"
"They can come in. The Magic Tower is open to everyone anyway."
In truth, ordinary people couldn't go up to the top floor, but it felt a bit wrong to treat the Saint's escorts poorly as the Tower Master.
So, well, he had no choice but to allow them to accompany.
Thus, the five entered the Magic Tower, drawing the attention of numerous magicians.
Soon after, they arrived at the top floor where the Tower Master's office and the secretary's office were located.
Franz stopped in front of the Tower Master's office at the end of the long corridor.
"Yustia, is this a matter we need to discuss alone?"
"Hmm..."
Yustia looked at the two Holy Knights and Arian, then turned back to Franz and said,
"It's fine if these people are present."
"Alright, then let's go in."
Franz opened the door to the Tower Master's office and entered.
Arian, Yustia, and the two Holy Knights followed.
"Sit wherever you like. Arian, could you prepare some tea?"
Franz said this as he took a seat on the sofa.
But suddenly, Arian's body jerked.
As if she had been caught committing a crime.
"Arian, what's wrong?"
"N-nothing. I'll bring the tea right away."
Franz was puzzled but didn't probe further.
He had more important matters at hand.
As Yustia sat across from Franz, the real conversation began.
And as conversations typically start, it begins with asking after each other's well-being.
"Yustia, have you been well?"
"I've been doing alright. But I'm surprised. You, asking after my well-being? I thought you'd jump straight to the main topic."
She was right.
The old Franz would have immediately gotten to the point, heard what he needed to hear, and sent her on her way.
But now it was different.
The current Franz was a veteran in handling villainesses, having experienced two bad ending branch points.
Like a doctor, he had learned to first assess the villainess's condition.
"You've changed a lot too, haven't you? Did something happen?"
"Well... Let's say I've let go of the past. I simply understood everything you said that day. I now know that you don't disregard life. Though I lost a tooth in the process."
Franz flinched at the Saint's words, spoken with a smile.
He had thought it was too quiet, but of course, it couldn't be.
"I'm sorry about that..."
"It's a joke. A joke. Oh, but the Holy Knights picked up that tooth. I think they said they'd designate it as a Holy Relic... Would you like me to bring it to you? It's a Holy Relic, after all."
Franz realized.
It seemed he had stepped on a landmine.
Moreover, due to his karmic debt, he could only listen silently without saying a word.
At that moment,
Thud-.
Arian set down a teacup in front of Yustia and said,
"A Holy Relic... That's nice. Please, do bring it to the Magic Tower."
"It's a joke. As if my tooth would be designated as a Holy Relic. Even if it were, I couldn't easily give it to you."
"I see. That's a shame. I thought we might be able to bring a Holy Relic into the Magic Tower."
"...Of course, if Franz wanted it, I might be able to pull some strings."
"Ah..."
Arian and Yustia were smiling, but the atmosphere they exuded was quite different—it was fierce.
Perhaps Arian wanted to protect the Tower Master's pride as his secretary.
Yustia probably responded in kind because Arian was being hostile.
In the end, Franz had to step in to resolve the situation.
"Both of you, that's enough. This isn't why we gathered."
At that, Arian nodded and sat down, while Yustia sipped the tea in front of her.
Franz said,
"Yustia, can you tell me what this is about now?"
"Right. To get to the point, we suspect that one of the nobles is involved with a heretical cult. We'd like you to verify if this is true."
"A heretical cult? Which noble is it?"
"Duke Ishtar. I heard he's holding a social gathering soon. Wouldn't it be easy to infiltrate that?"
Duke Ishtar...?
That name sounded familiar.
Surely...
He had heard that Yuna, the Hero, was in Duke Ishtar's territory.