“Litt, did you know?”
Otto wasn’t at all angry at Litt’s disdain; he merely swirled the porcelain teacup in his hand with elegant grace.
The black tea left faint traces on the inside of the cup as he gazed at the shimmering liquid, his voice refined and calm.
“There are some things—though they might look like just a piece of clothing… their value can’t be measured by mere Gold Coins.”
“What do you mean…?”
Litt was momentarily stunned.
She blinked, her thick silver lashes fluttering twice before she spoke up.
“Are you saying… that outfit is worth a lot?”
Otto’s movements seemed to pause for an instant, then he let out a barely audible sigh.
Setting down his teacup and collecting his thoughts, Otto put back on that flawless, refined smile, a playful tone threading through his words.
“In terms of the rarity of the materials and the complexity of the craftsmanship, indeed… it is priceless. However—”
Here, his words took a turn.
“I doubt there’s a single merchant in this world who’d have the nerve to accept it.”
Litt’s eyes had sparkled at the first half of his reply, but as she heard the rest, her interest faded, and she yawned in boredom.
“Oh, so it can’t be exchanged for money? Then forget it. If it’s not money, what’s the point? Dear Bishop, please see yourself out, I’m going back to sleep…”
Before the words even finished, she had deftly pulled the blanket over her head, wrapping herself up tightly, her actions exuding a clear “everyone else leave” vibe.
Working and such—it was simply too exhausting.
She had long since lost all motivation and only wanted to laze around.
Isn’t slacking off just wonderful?
Looking at the salted-fish refusing all conversation on the Bed, Otto simply stood up with refined composure, straightening his clothes.
“Is that so?”
His voice remained gentle and courteous, with not a trace of annoyance at being dismissed.
“In that case, I won’t disturb Sister Litt’s precious nap.”
The blond man left the Infirmary.
***
Meanwhile, on the other side.
The moment Red managed to shake off Father Carlos’s clinging, he immediately sprang into action.
Before the incident, he had specially instructed those three to keep an eye on things in the hall.
He hadn’t found anything himself, but maybe they’d have discovered something.
“Brian! Tos! Mason!”
Red quickly spotted three familiar figures near the archway leading to the side corridor.
He strode over, lowered his voice, and got straight to the point:
“How’s the situation? Did you find anything?”
“Red, you’re here?”
Brian, upon seeing Red, spoke up without preamble.
“I don’t know how you figured it out, but we did spot several people acting very suspiciously. However…”
At this point, Brian’s face showed some hesitation, which made Red ask in confusion,
“Is there something you can’t say directly?”
“It’s not that we can’t say it,” Mason replied coolly, his gaze sharp, “The suspicious people we saw… were all wearing the White Church’s robes. We managed to catch one, but—as you can see.”
As he spoke, Mason stepped aside.
Only then did Red notice, lying behind the three of them was a charred figure—humanoid, yet somehow not quite human.
Even though the thing was dead, Red could still sense a vile, sinister magical aura radiating from it.
In less than three seconds, Red understood the creature’s identity.
“…Demon?”
“More accurately, just a few minutes ago, this guy… was still a living follower of the White Church.”
Mason’s answer made Red freeze for a moment.
Humans and Demons are fundamentally different races—how could someone be human just a few minutes earlier?
“Was it a disguise…?”
“No, it wasn’t,” Tos immediately cut in, then continued, “We saw with our own eyes—he drank a cup of some unknown red liquid, and right after that, transformed from a living human into a three-meter-tall Demon.”
Red studied the three of them.
Judging from their faces, this was no made-up story to spook him; it was most likely something that had actually happened.
A person dressed in the White Church’s clothes, after drinking an unknown red liquid, transformed into… a Demon.
Telling this to anyone else, it wouldn’t even be a matter of belief anymore—they’d just think you were mad.
If not for Red’s complete trust in these three brothers, even he would find it hard to believe.
“Red, I know this might be hard to accept, but it really did happen,” Brian said.
“No… I believe you.”
Red let out a sigh, rubbing his temples.
Ever since the time Litt had been kidnapped by that Nun named Molly, he’d already suspected that there might be some outside force infiltrating the White Church.
Now, it seemed his suspicions were fully confirmed.
Even worse…
They weren’t just targeting Litt for abduction.
Judging by the explosion, the culprits might very well be out for Litt’s life.
“Zhoude,” Tos couldn’t help but suggest, “It’s not safe inside the White Church anymore. Aren’t you about to open your shop? I recommend you keep Litt with you for now, and protect her. We only discovered the plot by chance and happened to be on the scene, but what about next time?”
These guys might usually seem unreliable, but in times like these, they were the best kind of comrades.
Brian nodded in agreement.
“That’s right. I’m sure Litt would be happy to help out, too.”
“That’s not the point…”
Red sighed.
Before, he hadn’t wanted to get too close to Litt, but now it really did seem like he ought to stay by her side and keep her safe.
But didn’t Litt also have plenty of people watching out for her from the shadows?
And besides…
Why had Letia been present at that time?
This question had been puzzling Red from the start, and he still hadn’t figured it out.
With what he knew about Letia, there was no way she would ever come to a place like this of her own accord.
She didn’t even care for the activities of her own Holy Church, let alone the religious events of the White Church.
So up to now, Red still couldn’t make sense of her motivation.
Could it be for money?
That thought flashed through his mind; it did seem like the most straightforward explanation.
Letia certainly had an unusual obsession with Gold Coins, but to go out of her way and come all the way to the White Church’s territory just for a possible reward…
That reason felt too flimsy to stand up.
What’s more, the White Church wouldn’t need to have an outsider like her protect their most important person, would they?
Just then, Tos placed a hand on Red’s shoulder, breaking him out of his reverie.
The usual smile was gone from his good brother’s face, replaced by an unprecedented gravity.
“Red, there’s something more important than anything else… In this world, there’s no medicine for regret.”
“This time, we just happened to be there. But what about next time? Or the time after that?”
“As long as the threat hiding inside the White Church isn’t rooted out, Litt will only become more and more endangered by staying there.”
Tos paused, then asked the harshest—yet most unavoidable—question.
“What if—… I mean, what if, Red, next time we don’t make it in time… If Litt really were to… die, right in front of your eyes.”
He forced himself to say the word.
“Could you bear it?”