Gray raised his index finger to his lips, signaling her to be quiet.
Katy immediately understood and let go of his arm, tiptoeing toward the window.
As she passed the dining table, she grabbed a knife usually used for cutting cake and butter.
Instead of gripping the handle like most people, she gently pinched the tip of the blade with her thumb and forefinger, loosely curling her other fingers, hiding the handle in her palm, poised to stab at any moment.
Watching the girl’s fluid movements, a flicker of surprise crossed Gray’s eyes.
‘This grip—I’ve only seen it in the Ministry of War agents I fought before. It’s a technique assassins learn who are absolutely confident in their strength and control, always ready to throw the knife. And this method shouldn’t be seen in a sixteen-year-old girl from the countryside.’
At that moment, completely unaware that her fabricated background was being doubted, the Calamity Pillar’s inner thoughts were:
‘This Seat’s knife-holding stance, learned from watching TV dramas back then, is really cool.’
Never considering that a casual chuunibyou habit would cause Gray so much misunderstanding, Katy pressed herself against the wall and held her breath.
But Gray didn’t have time to think about it, since the undisguised malice from outside the door was almost spilling in.
He usually didn’t live here, and his landlady Mrs. Farley was away three days out of five, so the uninvited guests could only be targeting Katy.
At that thought, Gray’s eyes turned cold.
Silver fluid surged from the patterns on the back of his right hand, instantly condensing into a sharp short blade in his palm.
‘A longsword is stylish and deals high damage, but it’s not the perfect weapon. In a fight in this narrow hallway, a short-range weapon like this is more handy.’
“Miss Katy, step back.”
He commanded in a breathy voice only the two of them could hear.
The girl obediently nodded, stepped back a few paces to a safe distance, and watched as Gray walked to the door like a predatory beast ready to spring, muscles tense.
He gently grasped the doorknob, giving her a look from the corner of his eye.
Katy immediately understood and answered in a soft, drowsy voice that sounded defenseless, as if just woken up:
“Coming~ Who is it? So early…”
As she spoke, she deliberately made footsteps approaching the door, then quickly stepped back, suppressing the sound.
Gray turned the knob, and the wooden door cracked open.
Creak—
Almost the instant the door opened, a violet-black magical glow flared up.
The military agents outside had clearly done their homework.
They knew their target was a Light-attribute priest girl with monstrous strength, so they had set up a Dark Erosion Hypnosis Array at the door, specifically targeting Light-attribute constitutions.
In their expectations, no matter if the girl inside was strong or a genius close to being a Saint, she would fall to this forbidden dark array.
But the agents had calculated everything except that the one opening the door would be an angry A-rank lightning magic warrior.
Gray emerged from the door, furious and ferocious.
“Eeeek!”
“Gwaah!!!”
The two black-clad agents at the door didn’t even have time to activate their follow-up spells before a blinding azure thunder light flashed.
Gray gave them no time to react.
The moment he pushed through the door, he launched a charging slash wrapped in raging thunder.
The two well-trained military agents only let out half a scream before high-voltage electricity convulsed their bodies, foam spilling from their mouths, and they fell stiffly to the ground like two charred steaks.
Katy, holding the knife, came closer and looked at the two sneaky figures on the ground, fuming.
‘Hmph, whoever trespasses on my territory, This Seat shall strike and break them!’
She raised her hand as if to throw the dining knife like a shuriken and crack their skulls open.
“Don’t!”
Gray’s hand moved faster than her, blocking her.
“If we kill them here, it’ll be trouble.”
He crouched down, flipped open one of their collars, revealing a hidden black badge: a dagger entwined with thorns.
“Indeed, the Ministry of War’s Special Investigation Bureau.”
Gray’s face darkened.
“If we kill these two agents here, the nature of the situation changes. Then we won’t be facing an investigation but a citywide manhunt.”
“So what do we do? Just let them go?”
Katy pouted unhappily.
‘These two were going to hypnotize me! Who knows what kind of mob things they would have done later? And you, Gray, can tolerate that? If it were me, I’d light them up as a warning to others.’
Gray stood up silently, looked at the gradually awakening Knox City in the distance, and a flicker of decision passed through his eyes.
He turned, placed both hands on Katy’s shoulders, and spoke seriously.
“Miss Katy, I think we should run away.”
“Run away?”
Katy blinked in surprise.
Gray nodded, quickly analyzing for his slow-reacting captain.
“Since the military’s agents have already found us—whether it’s because you triggered the Goddess’s Favor in Lothric City, or because we conquered the Third Labyrinth—it means it’s no longer safe here.”
“Not to mention the Church won’t let it go either.”
“Instead of waiting here for agents and the Inquisition to keep showing up, let’s leave Knox City for a while to lay low.”
“Let’s go… to the Holy Branch Forest!”
“Holy Branch Forest?”
Katy thought for a moment and remembered.
‘Though I’m an illiterate Calamity Pillar, I’ve heard of the only elf settlement.’
Gray nodded.
“That’s the elven autonomous region. The military can’t reach there.”
“Most importantly, there’s a direct teleportation network from Knox City to the border.”
“We can get there in half an hour.”
“Perfect for running away.”
“Network passage?”
Katy blinked, looking clueless.
‘As a demon, I only know about teleportation via magic circles or tearing space. I haven’t heard of such high-tech stuff on the Kala Continent.’
“That was also a result of the Dawn Blade back then.”
Mentioning this, Gray’s expression turned complicated.
“I remember we sold that technology to the Noble Union for one copper coin.”
“Now it’s mainly maintained by the Church.”
“That amazing? Half an hour from here to the Holy Branch Forest? That’s so fast!”
Katy put on a country bumpkin’s shock, but inwardly she was stunned.
‘Humans have already advanced their tech tree this far? Demons need to sacrifice lives for large-scale teleportation, but humans already have civilian use? The Demon King still wants to counterattack humans—looks like that counterattack is a no-go. Humans could just send a few army groups through the teleportation portals in no time. The demon race wouldn’t need to fight at all. Better start considering evolution toward monster girls; maybe they’ll survive when firearms appear.’
Seeing the girl’s surprise, Gray thought she was scared.
He sighed and explained in a lowered voice:
“Actually, it’s not as ideal as the Church advertises.”
“The network passage was built on some kind of spatial rift.”
“Since its creation, it’s often spewed out weirdly shaped but extremely violent demonic creatures.”
“Because of the ‘Broken Sword’ incident back then, the technology of the network passage wasn’t fully preserved.”
“Now they have to rely on the Church’s private army to constantly suppress the demons trying to surge out of the passage and maintain the channel’s stability.”
Hearing this, Katy couldn’t help it.
Her mind immediately switched to a certain world called Terra that doesn’t have beast-eared girls.
“So, does this network passage require a really strong big guy to sit on some golden device to maintain it?”
“And if he takes a day off, they have to sacrifice a thousand psykers or something?”
Gray froze, blinked, and wore a “what are you talking about, I don’t understand” expression.
“Big guy? Sacrifice psykers?”
“I’ve never heard of such a background for the network passage.”
“By the way, how does Miss Katy know about this?”
“Ahem, nothing!”
Realizing she had slipped up and played a joke nobody understood, Katy quickly laughed it off.
“I-I heard it from a bard at the tavern!”
“Definitely unreliable made-up stuff! Hahaha!”
Gray found it a bit strange but didn’t press.
After all, drunk bards at taverns could make up any weird thing for drink money—like the original Hero being a time-stopping beautiful girl from another world, or the Demon King actually being a unsatisfied beautiful older lady, or the Saint having an affair with her Saint Knight.
Oh, the last one seemed to be true.
He glanced at the unconscious agents on the floor and suddenly remembered something.
He turned to Katy and mimicked the knife-gripping pose she had just used.
“Speaking of which, Miss Katy, that knife-holding stance of yours.”
Silver fluid instantly mimicked a dagger in his hand, perfectly recreating the finger-pinching blade motion.
“Who taught you that throwing knife grip?”
“I remember only military personnel use that technique in combat.”
Katy’s mouth twitched, feeling cold sweat on her forehead.
‘Oh no, oh no. I absolutely can’t expose that I’m a transmigrator. But how would a normal country priestess know a knife grip that only chuunibyous or professional assassins use?’
No choice.
Keep pinning it on that actually nonexistent little tavern.
“Um…”
Her eyes drifted, fingers twisting her hem.
“Actually, I also saw it at a mysterious little tavern in the countryside when I was a kid.”
“I thought the move was really cool, so I always remembered it.”
She looked up, rubbing her cheek apologetically.
“Sorry, copying cool moves like that is pretty un-cute, isn’t it?”
“How could that be?”
“I just never expected Miss Katy was so… boyish when she was little.”
“What? Does Mr. Gray dislike girls like that?”
The girl gave up and deliberately leaned in, her tone playfully probing.
“No! Not at all!”
Gray quickly shook his head, cheeks slightly flushed, but his voice was earnest.
“Rather, that kind of girl is the partner most male heroes want the most.”
“Partner?”
Katy seized the keyword, stepping forward, forcing Gray to instinctively look away from her gaze.
“Mr. Gray is so lewd.”
“I only asked about your preference, and you’ve already thought about marriage and being partners?”
“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant!”
Realizing his poor choice of words, Gray hastily explained.
“I meant companion, teammate!”
“Or a relationship where you can entrust each other with your backs!”
He didn’t realize every description he gave perfectly matched his relationship with Katy, only making things worse.
“And, compared to those delicate noble priestesses who only scream and hide behind when real danger comes…”
“Well, like Eve—that mischievous girl—everyone actually prefers girls like Miss Katy… like a playful little sister.”
“Oh?”
Katy keenly caught the keyword, narrowing her eyes.
“So, in Mr. Gray’s eyes, I’m just like Sister Eve—just a playful little sister?”
“Uh…”
Gray choked.
Looking into the girl’s clear blue eyes, the warrior, whose battle instinct was as sharp as a beast’s, wisely chose to retreat first.
“Ahem, time is tight.”
“The Ministry of War won’t let this failed operation slide.”
“Hurry up and pack your things—just the essentials.”
Seeing the guy go soft, Katy, who had won the verbal battle, didn’t press further.
She nodded and went to her room to pack.
A few minutes later, when Katy came out with a pitifully small suitcase, Gray was stunned.
“This is… everything?”
“Are you sure, Miss Katy?”
The suitcase only had a few changes of clothes and some simple toiletries, far from the mountain of items Gray thought women packed when going out.
“Yeah.”
Katy shrugged.
Her luggage had always been pathetically small.
She found it hard to understand what those women stuffed into travel bags heavy enough to crush someone.
“Let’s go.”
“To the forest.”
Gray took her small case, and with his other hand, he almost reached for the girl’s hand.
He hesitated, then let it fall back to his trouser seam.
‘In the Holy Branch Forest, I’ll definitely be able to hold Miss Katy’s hand without hesitation!’
Gray set a goal in his heart.
“I’ve always been alone, so I don’t have much stuff anyway.”
“And as long as Mr. Gray is with me, I won’t starve, right?”
Looking at the girl’s easy smile, Gray’s heart inexplicably clenched.
‘A girl with such power, yet she possesses so little in this world it makes my heart ache.’
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