“Holy crap, how come there’s no mating session after the back massage? Scammer! Refund me, meow!”
The two people in the living room had just finished their respective showers and were currently immersed in the lingering, suggestive atmosphere of their recent experience.
Amidst the awkward tension of a man and a woman alone in a room, neither of them dared to speak first.
Suddenly, a series of high-pitched complaints drifted in from outside the window.
“Gwah!?”
Katy nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden, scandalous remark, letting out a short cry of alarm.
On the sofa, Gray’s pupils suddenly constricted before he leaned forward and massaged his temples with an expression of helpless frustration.
“Sigh, I say, Eve —”
He let out a long breath and spoke toward the empty window.
“Showing up at someone’s window at this hour and making such dangerous comments… you’re going to get arrested as a peeper or a pervert.”
‘Eve?’
The still-shaken Katy blinked.
‘Wasn’t that the name of the Saint that Gray and Ingram both mentioned?’
“In terms of being a pervert, I’m afraid I’m far from your level now, Gray, meow.”
Along with a heavy thud as it landed, an elegant, long-haired white cat leaped onto the windowsill.
It began to groom its paw with grace, though its ruby-like slit pupils shimmered with a playful light as they swept over the two people inside.
“Having such a cute girl wear stockings just to step on your back while you look so satisfied… tsk, tsk. I never expected you to fall this far after leaving Dawn Blade. It seems the essence of all men is perversion, meow.”
“…Ingram said the same thing when he came over. The two of you really are a match made in heaven; your thought processes are identical.”
Having grown red-faced, Gray immediately launched a counterattack.
“Oh? If I remember correctly, that big tin can has a crush on me, meow. Are you saying you’ve developed an interest in this girl?”
To Katy’s surprise, the white cat called Eve didn’t seem the least bit affected by Gray’s attempts to turn the tables.
Its mouth curled into a remarkably human-like smirk, and it looked at the two blushing occupants with a mischievous gaze.
“Mr. Gray, is this… is this cat lady Eve?”
“Ah, this is a creation of Eve’s Authority. It’s an Ap— Apostle?”
“It’s a Familiar, meow!”
The cat on the windowsill angrily slapped the glass with its paw pads, making a sharp thwack-thwack sound.
“We were teammates for several years, and you don’t even remember what Mio is?”
Gray gave a sheepish laugh.
“But I still remember this white cat’s strange name.”
“What’s so strange about it, meow! Hey, little Priest over there, you be the judge. Isn’t ‘Mio’ a super fitting name for such a cute little cat, meow?”
Katy’s lips twitched.
While naming a cat should be the owner’s freedom, wasn’t it far stranger that a cat was standing on a windowsill, speaking human tongue while simultaneously meowing?
Gray sighed and stood up, moving to open the window and bring the cat inside.
However, the cat seemed to find him too slow.
It used its claws to skillfully flip the latch, darted inside with a nimble leap, and landed steadily on the carpet.
Immediately after, a brilliant white light began to glow from its body.
The moment Gray saw the light, it was as if he had seen something terrifying.
With lightning speed, he squeezed his eyes shut and whipped his head around to face the other direction.
“Miss Katy! Don’t look!”
“Eh?”
Katy was stunned.
In Gray’s memory, while Eve’s Authority did allow her to reshape her created Familiars into a human form nearly identical to her own, the transformation process — did not include a “create clothes” step.
The last time Eve had shapeshifted in front of him, the Ingram standing next to him had nearly gouged his eyes out.
Since both he and Ingram were currently nursing significant injuries and needed to recover, it was best not to provoke that easily jealous Saint Knight right now.
“Alright, alright — don’t be so nervous.”
A girl’s crisp laughter rang out from within the light, carrying a hint of satisfaction at a successful prank.
“I actually wore clothes this time. And even if you did see me, instead of that big tin can Ingram, shouldn’t you be worried about whether this Priest lady next to you will get angry?”
The brilliant glow of the Shapeshifting faded along with the silhouette of the white cat.
Stepping out from the aura was a beautiful girl with cascading, silver-white hair and crimson eyes that were both lively and cunning.
Although she was slightly taller than Katy, and was technically Gray’s former teammate, her delicate doll-like face made it look as though she and Katy were the same age.
The girl gave the surprised Katy a playful salute and a wink.
“Yo, first time meeting you. I am the thirteenth Saint of the Holy See, Eve Avalessia. You can just call me Eve~”
“G-good evening, Holy Maiden.”
Katy hurried to give a nervous bow.
After all, she was facing one of the top two figures in the Church.
Standing beside her, Gray couldn’t help but remind her, “Eve, be serious. Don’t scare Katy.”
“Psh, there’s no need to be so formal.”
Eve curled her lip and flopped onto the sofa without a shred of decorum, her two legs swinging back and forth.
“I spend all day in the Temple having to put on a sour face for those dusty bishops and inflexible Saint Knights. It’s exhausting enough; surely I don’t have to keep up the ‘proper Saint’ act in front of old friends?”
Gray rolled his eyes.
“I wonder who it was that started crying and wailing in front of everyone after their Authority awakened, shouting that they wanted to be the Saint…”
“Wait, wait, stop! Don’t talk about the Saint’s dark history so openly in front of my junior, Mr. Weakest Undefeated!”
Seeing her pull out his derogatory nickname so easily, Gray rolled his eyes at the current Saint.
Her ability to insult others was truly at the pinnacle; she could stab him with a casual remark whenever she pleased.
Eve chuckled.
Then, she keenly sensed Katy’s gaze fixed on her.
In those eyes, besides respect, there seemed to be a hint of… vigilance and worry?
Furthermore, the girl’s eyes kept drifting toward Gray, consciously or otherwise.
“Oho?”
The girl’s crimson eyes darted around, and she understood the situation instantly.
She leaned toward Gray with a giggle and nudged him with her elbow.
“I see~ I was thinking that if you were still struggling to make ends meet because of that Labyrinth boss named No-whatever-ka, I’d allocate some poverty relief funds to you in the name of the Saint. But since you’re already ‘spoken for,’ I won’t try to steal you away.”
Gray felt his temples throb.
“Please don’t steal anyone. The last time we followed a plan you proposed after saying that, the entire team almost died in the Temple.”
“Oh, come on, that was a special case!”
Eve pouted, looking a bit aggrieved as she twiddled her fingers.
“Who told us to accidentally discover that the previous Saint was actually a high-level Blood Demon in disguise? And those old fogies at the Church didn’t even notice! If we didn’t raid the Temple and cut down that imposter, were we supposed to wait until she sucked everyone in the Imperial Capital dry?”
“…”
Beside them, Katy broke into a cold sweat.
What did she mean by “the previous Saint was a Blood Demon in disguise”?
And what was “a single team raiding the Temple”?
Were they really a hero party and not some terrorist group?
“Wait.”
Eve suddenly seemed to find a blind spot and snapped her fingers, looking at Gray.
“You didn’t deny the ‘spoken for’ part just now! So the two of you really are in that kind of relationship! I knew it!!”
“I told you we aren’t!”
Gray’s face turned red as he argued back.
“While my innocence isn’t anything important, you can’t go around slandering Miss Katy’s reputation!”
“Hehe, an explanation is just a cover-up, and a cover-up is just the truth~”
Watching the two of them bicker back and forth, Katy’s impression of the legendary “Dawn Blade” underwent a world-shaking transformation.
After meeting Lobelia and Ingram, she had assumed the legendary party must be composed of formidable individuals who were either silent and stoic or ruthless and cold.
But now…
Katy looked at the silver-haired, red-eyed girl whose eyes were currently sparkling with the thrill of gossip.
Rather than a Saint who stood above tens of thousands and received the worship of priests and bishops, she felt more like a mischievous high school girl cornering a male classmate to gossip during a break.
However, recalling the way she had casually said “the previous Saint was a Blood Demon, so we cut her down,” Katy shrank back.
‘Why do I feel like this current Saint is also a very dangerous person behind that cute facade?’
‘Is there even a single normal person in this team called Dawn Blade?!’
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