Night was supposed to be a lovely time for Anastasia and her disciple to relax together. But today had been one piece of bad luck after another, and a knock at the door interrupted their cuddling.

“Who is it this time?” Anastasia sent out her senses. When she recognized the person outside, a knowing smile crossed her face. “Fenmu, aren’t you going to answer the door?”

I thought you were going to go out and beat them up, Master. Why doesn’t it seem like that’s happening?

“All right.” Fenmu set down what he was doing and got up to open the door.

Kashalia froze when she saw Fenmu. With a strange look on her face, she asked:

“Aren’t you the blacksmith from earlier today? What are you doing here?!”

“This is my home. Where else would I be?” Fenmu shot back, giving her a closer look.

Kashalia had beautiful long blonde hair, and jewel-bright blue eyes set in a lovely face. The dim light made her skin look pale. Even beneath her sacred silver armor, the striking curves of her figure were easy to make out.

As for the priest in her arms, carried bridal-style, her clothes suggested she was a Nun of the Church. She was unconscious, her face twisted in pain, and her body covered in little wounds. Yet those tiny injuries were what had put her to sleep. She also seemed to be a catfolk hybrid, with a pair of inconspicuous cat ears on her head.

“Then please bring your wife out. My companion needs her treatment,” Kashalia said urgently. She’d evidently assumed that Fenmu’s wife was the apothecary.

A skilled blacksmith and an experienced apothecary—and so young, too. How could that be possible?

It was a reasonable assumption. Black Ore Town was, after all, an unremarkable little town, mostly just a place for adventurers to stop over. It was hardly likely to have some master who excelled in several trades.

Fenmu’s mouth twitched. If my master treated her, she might just kill your companion outright. He spread a white cloth over a Coffin and said:

“I’m the apothecary. Put the injured woman here.”

The Radiant Knight was suspicious, but she didn’t have time to stand around agonizing over it. She laid her companion down and watched his every move with a stern expression.

Her gaze suddenly shifted to the purple-haired woman on the bed. The woman was watching her with an amused look, too.

This woman is strong!

Unease welled up inside Kashalia, made worse by the Coffins scattered haphazardly around the room.

Have I walked right into a den of thieves…?!

“Just so we’re clear, I’ll need to remove her clothes to treat her wounds. If you have a problem with that, there’s nothing I can do. You can always buy a Coffin and take her home. Top quality, comfortable, too.”

“...Fine,” the female knight said through gritted teeth. With her keeping an eye on him, he wouldn’t dare try anything out of line.

Fenmu gave her a quick once-over. He’d meant to find a small knife, but couldn’t remember where he’d put it, so he picked up an axe and used its sharp edge to slice open the cotton Nun’s robe. The torn black fabric parted down the middle, revealing the young body beneath.

But Fenmu wasn’t moved in the slightest. A petite figure like that held less appeal for him than a spider girl’s bug butt.

Such practiced hands—steady and quick. Such a cold gaze, not a trace of a healer’s compassion. He’s just like a butcher with countless lives on his hands!” Kashalia thought. She suddenly grew excited—no, nervous. Her breathing quickened, and her chest rose and fell more and more sharply.

How could he not be practiced? Fenmu was the kind of man who’d eaten certain ingredients until they’d become endangered species. The way he cut open the robe was simply a habit left over from preparing food.

“Are you really an apothecary? Do you have a license?” The female knight was starting to think something was seriously wrong.

Fenmu already knew how to treat the catgirl Nun. He picked up a bucket of cloudy, thick white potion, glanced at the unconscious Nun’s cat ears, and said:

“Of course. Though I got my veterinary license. Same difference. This bucket of potion’s pretty expensive, so you’d better be prepared.”

With that, he poured the potion over the poor Nun. The paste-like liquid clung to her body, and, astonishingly, fresh, tender flesh began growing over her rotting wounds. They healed right before their eyes.

Kashalia stared at it all in disbelief, then suddenly grew wary.

—Wait. A potion this effective can’t be cheap, so why did he just splash it all over her like that?! And the poor Nun’s wounds have healed, but she still hasn’t woken up. Could he be holding something back so he can use her as leverage against me?!

“So that’s the game you’re playing!” Kashalia exclaimed, suddenly understanding. Her face filled with indignation, but she didn’t dare think of fighting back—not while Fenmu was still standing beside the Nun with an axe in his hands.

“Huh? What game? I don’t have a board around here,” Fenmu said, looking around in confusion.

And why was the female knight’s face all scrunched up? Even her long legs, encased in light-steel boots, were trembling as if something was bothering her.

“Are you all right? You look like you might be hurt, too,” he asked kindly.

Kashalia sucked in a breath. So he was showing his true colors! He’d given up on treating the Nun and turned his attention to me instead. Now he was insisting I was hurt, too. He wanted to examine my body, didn’t he? He wanted to take off my clothes!

How despicable! I, Kashalia—chaste and devout—never thought I’d be blackmailed one day, and by a man, no less. A vile man who wasn’t even favored by the True Gods! In a moment, his filthy hands would be all over me, then he’d pour that sticky potion all over my body and leave me in the pitiful state of someone being humiliated by a slime, wouldn’t he?!

So the stories in those forbidden books from the ancient eras were all true. Such dark things really did exist in this world. How exciting!

“You’d better remember this. You’ll pay for the malice in your heart one day!” Her mind was in turmoil, but her hands and feet moved with practiced speed—and even a little eagerness—as she began undoing her armor. In the blink of an eye, she’d taken off half of it, exposing her lace underwear.

She knelt on the floor, her face torn with conflict, and crawled toward Fenmu, muttering bitterly:

“You’re just standing there, making me, the victim, suffer this humiliation and shame by forcing me to serve you willingly? You really are the source of all filth!”

But Fenmu had been stunned since the very beginning. He’d never seen anything like this. He hadn’t even said a thing, and she’d started taking her clothes off all by herself. He backed away again and again, putting as much distance between them as he could.

“Are you nuts? Are people from the Church faking injuries just to get stuff on credit now? Get lost!”

“Huh?” Kashalia stared at him in disbelief. That wasn’t the reaction she’d expected. “Weren’t you trying to blackmail me?”

“Blackmail you? What the hell are you talking about? I didn’t say a word, and you started taking your clothes off all by yourself!”