"Are you done playing? Finally decided to come back?"

"Come... I came back." Xila sat on the couch, head hanging low, looking like a submissive wife who had been maltreated, even lifting her head to look at Lusius.

Lusius had an unpleasant face - or rather, he looked like he was going to eat someone alive. You see, Lusius had always been the kind of person who was gentle and reasonable, never getting angry. It was rare for him to be this furious. If the principal behaved like this towards the students, they would probably never dare to skip or leave early.

However, Lusius did have a reason to be angry. Suddenly leaving such a large academy without a word, and with such a ridiculous reason, was that something a principal should do? There were so many things pressing down on him all at once. Did the headmaster not know that it was already troublesome enough to manage those students?

If Tiran had not promised to help with some of the tasks for the martial arts festival and the daily work at the academy, Lusius would have been worried about overworking himself to death.

As for Xila, who rarely saw Lusius angry, she did not feel lucky at all. She lowered her head and tried hard to think of one thing - how to deceive Lusius and minimize his scolding.

"Well, Lulu..." Xila tried to use a more affectionate nickname.

"Hmm? What did you call me?" Lusius glanced at her gently, his glasses reflecting a faint light.

"Nothing, I just wanted to explain this matter. I was actually studying something very important..."

However, Lusius acted as if he hadn't heard at all. He turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on the clean pot on the table, and veins immediately popped up on his forehead. "Hey, Xila, if I remember correctly, I warned you not to eat in the office, right?"

"Ah! This... I was hungry and forgot..."

Picking up the still hot pot, the dark red wooden tabletop had already been burned by the boiling pot that had just been taken off the stove.

"Do you have anything else to explain?"

"I'm very sorry..."

"Good, use your next three months' salary to replace the tabletop, and then we'll calculate the punishment for your unauthorized departure." Lusius casually handed the pot back.

Aya and Tiran, who were watching from behind, were sweating profusely. This Lusius was quite formidable. He had interrupted Xila's excuse after she had thought about it for half a day and come up with a plan, and then circled back to it. Xila, who had already been caught once, could only endure the beating obediently...

"It reminds me of when I didn't do well on the exam and got scolded by my mom at home..."

"Exam?"

"Never mind." Tiran shook his head. "Let's not disturb them anymore and go to sleep..."

"Yeah, by the way, did we forget something?" Aya slapped her forehead. She hadn't noticed at first, but after Xila came back, she suddenly realized that there seemed to have been three people when they came.

"What?"

"Little Feizi... Hasn't been seen for several days, has she?"

"Oh right..." Princess His Highness' expression froze. Angel had said that she was wandering around the academy city, but she hadn't come back for several nights. Was she kidnapped?

...

Meanwhile, in an ordinary hotel in the academy city, a faint candlelight still flickered in a window on the second floor edge.

The young Theurg smashed his face into the pillow, rubbed it against the rough pillowcase a few times, then turned over and sat up, unable to help but complain, "This place sucks! There isn't even a church here? We're forced to stay in this lousy room!"

Lady Holy Knight shrugged indifferently, "There are always places in the world where the radiance of the gods cannot reach. Besides, the environment here is already quite good. At least we're not camping in the wilderness on a cold rainy night, constantly guarding against undead attacks."

Indeed, even in remote towns and villages, there would usually be a small-scale sanctuary for believers to pray. It is hard to imagine that Mirt is one of the few places in the human world without a dedicated sanctuary, perhaps due to the rivalry between the Academy's Watchers and the Holy Knight Order.

Under normal circumstances, whether it is a Holy Knight Order's expedition or a regular pilgrimage by clergymen, they would not have to worry about basic necessities such as food and shelter, as there are sanctuaries scattered throughout the human world that provide for them.

Considering this, as well as Heinrich's constant urging, Johannes wasted no time and started the journey with just enough money to rent a carriage. Only upon arriving at Mirt did he realize the tragedy.

Under economic pressure, he had to break a gold coin in half to spend, and even the accommodation could only afford the cheapest room. This was almost unbearable for Johannes, who grew up as a disciple of the Pope, accustomed to a noble life.

The room he was staying in had no space left after squeezing two narrow single beds into it. It was a struggle even to turn over, and all the furnishings seemed to be quite old, perhaps older than Johannes himself. The only consolation was that it was relatively clean and had no strange smell.

Nevertheless, as one of the elite new generation in the church, Johannes was not a person who fusses over trivial matters. He accepted his current situation after recovering from his disappointment--

"By the way, Karina, even if I don't mind, as a girl, don't you mind sharing a room with me?"

"If your idea of recovering is asking these boring questions, then please continue to be depressed."

Lady Holy Knight replied mercilessly.

"Ah, so cold. But I'm serious though. What if there's an unforeseen accident at night? Hey, hey, hey, I was just joking. No need to take it so seriously!"

Clang--

Accompanied by the sound of a metal blade unsheathing, the sharp tip of the knight's sword was now less than five centimeters away from Johannes's eyes.

"It's better to be a joke. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind removing a few components from the disciple of the Pope." Karina snorted and slowly sheathed her sword back into its scabbard at her waist. Then, she directly took off her sword and the cloak she wore, leaving only her shirt inside. "I'm going to take a bath."

"But you just said..."

"I can tolerate it. And as a woman and a believer of the gods, is it a problem to like cleanliness?"

"No objections, no objections..." How could he dare have any objections? If he did, a sword might come at him. He, as a Theurgist, had no room to resist at this distance.

Lady Holy Knight didn't say anything else. She simply pushed the door open and went downstairs to the bathroom.

...

This inn, whether in terms of decoration or layout, seemed to have been around for quite some time. Perhaps because of its age, business was not doing well, and there were very few guests staying, so the prices were particularly cheap.

However, even so, there were still commendable aspects.

Karina thought to herself as she pushed open the door to the large bathing area.

Amidst the steam, there was a bathroom that was at least a hundred square meters in size. Three-quarters of the area was occupied by a huge hot tub. Although it fell short compared to the bathrooms of nobles or certain high-end hotels, it was still a pleasant surprise to see such a large bath in a hotel like this.

In the changing room, Karina took off the remaining clothes on her body. She untied the hair tie that restrained her long hair, letting it cascade freely, and her expression softened as well.

As a holy knight, Karina had a well-trained physique that she could be proud of. Although the sharp lines of her muscles were more distinct compared to the typical beauty standards, they were not overly exaggerated. Instead, they exuded a sense of strength that was just right.

It was quite unfortunate that there was a prominent scar on her abdomen. Although holy knights often got injured in battles, most wounds did not leave scars after being treated by priests. Scars were usually left from extremely dangerous and life-threatening injuries.

However, Karina didn't pay much attention to this scar. After placing her clothes in the basket, she wrapped a towel around herself and walked towards the hot tub.

The bathroom was filled with steam, and the damp floor was a bit slippery to walk on barefoot. Because it was already late, the bathhouse appeared deserted, not a single person in sight...

Splash!

Before Karina's toes could touch the water surface, there was a sound of water coming from the depths of the tub, as if something had fallen into the water or suddenly emerged from the bottom.

Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be a young girl?

...

"Hey, are you there, Judge-sama?"

Inside the room, Johannes sat on the bed with his back against the wall, bored and starting to establish contact with the "gardener" using the communication ritual.

"You have no manners at all, using the communication ritual at this time... It's already late at night," Vira's voice carried a hint of dissatisfaction.

"It's my fault, but it's already been several days. Can't you have a sense of urgency...?" Johannes didn't have much hope for this judge anymore. Is this a joke? Where was the efficient, cold-blooded, decisive killing machine that was promised? Were all the public proclamations of the judiciary just a façade?

"It wouldn't have made a difference if you had gone earlier. Considering the current situation, do you think our personnel can handle a Holy Rank?" Vira lazily retorted.

"..."

Of course, they couldn't handle it. Johannes had a clear understanding of his own abilities, but the problem was that this was a mission! Heinrich had given him explicit orders to bring the divine sanction scriptures along! If he couldn't complete it, Johannes even doubted whether he would be hammered into the ground by the enraged archbishop wielding the jet-black, straight staff.

"So, there's no chance if we don't disrupt the situation." On the other end of the ritual, the girl yawned, and it seemed like she was about to fall asleep again.

"Just wait for an opportunity like this?" Johannes felt a bit frantic. The Prince of the Great Hall couldn't afford to wait that long. If the War King decided to unleash his army one of these days, it would be game over.

"Rest assured, haven't you noticed that the Academy City has been getting livelier by the day? Opportunities won't take too long to emerge..."