Looking at Cistine with an expression of wanting to cry but with no tears, the light in Muxuan’s eyes flickered uncertainly.
“All right, Your Highness~ This isn’t a big deal~”
After comforting Muxuan for a while, Cistine finally brought up the matter of meeting the survivors again.
After all, time was tight right now, and there wasn’t much left for teasing the Saintess.
Up until now, they’d only just stepped out and walked a few steps.
Muxuan understood the urgency as well, pushing away her unpleasant feelings and focusing on the light power inside her, which had mostly recovered. She glanced at Cistine beside her, then slowly cloaked herself in light.
When the black-haired youth reappeared, Cistine turned her head slightly to look.
“Now, I, the Forty-Second Pope of the Church of Light, have returned!”
“All right, Your Highness, time to go~”
With a single sentence from Cistine, Muxuan’s just-ignited chuunibyou spirit was instantly extinguished.
“It took so much effort to return to this form. Let me savor my presence for a bit.”
“Are you saying, Your Highness, that this was your original form?” Cistine sized up Muxuan with interest, smiling with narrowed eyes.
Seeing Cistine’s smile, Muxuan shivered instinctively.
“You… What are you planning now! I’m at least the Pope right now!”
Cistine just smiled, then took a step closer, leaning toward Muxuan and teasing, “Of course, Your Holiness~ But you know as well as I do, some things are only appearances~”
Catching the meaning behind Cistine’s words, Muxuan immediately stepped back twice.
“I don’t care. In any case, in this form, you are not allowed to call me ‘Your Highness’! You must address me as ‘Your Holiness’!”
“As you wish, Your Holiness~”
When Cistine solemnly placed a hand on her chest and saluted respectfully, Muxuan couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Thank goodness Cistine didn’t continue to tease her.
But Cistine wasn’t wrong.
This appearance was like wearing another’s skin—it wasn’t real. Whether it was the sense of restraint on the chest or the feeling of the legs being wrapped, it constantly reminded her…
Especially that delicate and strange sensation of her legs brushing together with every step—it made Muxuan feel very unnatural…
But at least, by returning to this form, her intelligence had come back.
Remembering how, in that other form, she’d been endlessly teased by Cistine, her mind constantly muddled, Muxuan wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
Her lifelong reputation…
No, she had to pull herself together—she couldn’t let herself get swept up by Cistine’s rhythm again.
Looking on the bright side, she could still show off the greatness of the Pope before these survivors!
“These survivors… Are they all townsfolk from before the coming of the anomalies?”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“Then how did they…”
Was it her imagination, or did it seem that, after she changed back, Cistine’s attitude had grown noticeably colder?
But never mind, that wasn’t a bad thing either. Being at Cistine’s mercy really didn’t feel good—her mind had been in a daze the whole time.
“Kersar should have told you about the quasi-artifact, the Tear of Arlus, right?”
“If [Lailaciel] is the key to regulating the rules here, then the Tear of Arlus is the key to allowing the townsfolk to survive until now.”
Now that her attitude toward Muxuan had cooled, Cistine’s tone was much chillier, and she kept a certain distance between them.
“Would Morsen really give you the Tear of Arlus? And… isn’t the Tear of Arlus supposed to be used to destroy the town?” Muxuan still remembered that Kersar had said that the Tear of Arlus, which Morsen had acquired, was intended for the destruction of the town, and in the end, the town really had become a ruin.
“Your Holiness, you’ve noticed it too, right? That’s just a script produced by the rules here.”
“You must know that in the script, many things don’t match reality. What key characters mention is often only a hint, not fact.”
Leading Muxuan, Cistine walked for an unknown length of time before finally emerging from the corridor and returning to the black mist.
As for answering Muxuan’s questions, Cistine was no longer as patient as she’d been with Muxuan earlier, and there was a trace of impatience in her tone.
Seriously… was the change really that drastic?
Muxuan grumbled inwardly but didn’t say anything more.
“So what do you mean?”
She’d better get things clear—what was the truth, anyway? In this script, Muxuan had been in the dark most of the time.
Not only did she have to carefully analyze everything, she had to remember all those rules that might pop up suddenly—it was exhausting.
Sometimes, her brain just couldn’t keep up.
“It’s simple. Kersar, court mage of the Aredoria Empire, conspired with Bishop Nix to annex this town into the empire’s territory.”
“Morsen didn’t want to provoke the Aredoria Empire, so he forced Chatuut to death to ease the conflict. But the Central Mage Tower gave strict orders not to let the empire seize the town.”
“So both sides started fighting fiercely. In the end, the Mage Association sent three magisters with the Tear of Arlus to deal with Kersar and Nix.”
Cistine didn’t bother to elaborate, summarizing the events quickly and suddenly speeding up her pace.
Seeing this, Muxuan hurried to catch up with Cistine, running toward an area where the black mist was even thicker.
“Why the rush all of a sudden! And you still haven’t explained why the town ended up like this!”
Cistine’s speed was so great that, even with the light power used to hasten herself, Muxuan almost lost track of her.
In terms of physique, Muxuan couldn’t compete with Cistine at all. And, she couldn’t help but feel a chilly draft below…
“That mine!”
“Huh?” Muxuan was a bit dazed—what mine?
The one in the south, detected by Buzaki?
“The mine outside is only a projection. The real mine is inside this rules-bound area.” Sensing Muxuan’s confusion, Cistine explained immediately.
Then, after sprinting a bit further, she finally came to a halt.
By the time Muxuan caught up from behind, Cistine had already changed into the exquisite soft armor that Muxuan had first seen on the Silver Moon Knight.
Her golden hair was tied in a high ponytail, the Holy Sword [Lailaciel] gripped in her hand, driving away the black mist with its gentle glow.
“Is it really that urgent? Weren’t we supposed to see the survivors?”
Panting, Muxuan came up behind Cistine and asked in confusion.
“The being in the mine is awakening. Go that way—there’s a small village. Almost all the survivors are there, along with Morsen.” Cistine’s tone was grave as she marked the approximate location with a faint light, then plunged headlong into the forest ahead.
Watching Cistine vanish into the darkness, Muxuan’s words caught in her throat. She still had questions to ask!
And… Looking at the forest ahead, tinged with traces of blood, then back at the direction Cistine had marked—
After hesitating for a while, Muxuan finally decided to head for the place Cistine had indicated.
She could still sense the staff, but couldn’t bring it in. As for the being Cistine had mentioned, Muxuan had no idea what it was.
If she charged after Cistine recklessly, she might only cause trouble…
But Cistine was so strong… she should be all right, right?