Rapid footsteps echoed through a passageway. A man dressed like an ordinary villager walked swiftly, the kindness and simplicity he had shown in the village gone—replaced by a sickly fervor and excitement.
He muttered something as he walked, completely unaware that not far behind him, a pitch-black figure followed silently from the shadows of the rock wall.
Soon both the villager and the pursuer arrived at an open area resembling a cavern. The follower stopped at the entrance, peering through a small hole in the wall.
Inside were more than a dozen figures dressed entirely in black. Among them stood a green-haired man without a hood, repeatedly smashing his head against the cave wall while making frenzied sounds.
"Ah—uu—aaah—!"
Meaningless syllables poured from his mouth. When the villager approached, the green-haired man's head twisted one hundred and eighty degrees, the flesh of his neck contorting grotesquely, his face bearing an expression only a madman could display.
"Did you find something? Discover something? Are they coming? Are they coming?"
The villager whispered something in his ear. The green-haired man immediately waved his hands in delight, his body twisting like a wrung towel.
"At last, at last, at last, at last! Then we must prepare for the day of trial—we must not remain slothful any longer!"
"Ah—!"
The surrounding figures responded with strange cries. Hidden behind the stone wall, the eavesdropping Elsa thought to herself: A bunch of lunatics.
Though she and Meili did not consider themselves good people, they were no different from most workers—they labored and received payment. Their work simply involved bloodshed. But these Witch Cult members were different. They seemed to have no sense of self, living only for the terrifying witch sealed away for hundreds of years.
"If the trial succeeds, let her descend bearing Satella-sama's love. If it fails—chop her up, reduce her to pieces! A filthy being daring to bear a face resembling Satella-sama—an unforgivable blasphemy!"
The green-haired man flailed his twisted limbs in madness, issuing orders.
"Wait along the road… when the target returns, begin the trial immediately—if it fails, bring me the head—"
His writhing body suddenly froze. He turned to the villager who had delivered the message.
"You… are truly slothful."
Suddenly he grabbed the villager, snapping one of his arms with a crack. Then he smashed his fist into the man's face and continued beating him relentlessly.
"Slothful, slothful, slothful, slothful!"
Blood splattered everywhere. The victim accepted the beating silently until he died. Staring at the mangled corpse, the green-haired man explained his reasoning. His head suddenly bent backward at a ninety-degree angle, and his deranged eyes met the purple gaze behind the hole in the cave wall.
"You failed to notice you were being followed. You have disgraced Satella-sama's favor."
Swish!
In an instant, all the Witch Cult members turned toward the cave wall.
"…So I've been discovered," Elsa said calmly, stepping out and standing at the entrance. Looking at the grinning green-haired man, she said, "You may be insane, but your perception isn't bad."
"Heeheehehehe—who are you? Never mind! Whoever you are, you won't leave here alive! My brain trembles—only by killing you can it be satisfied!"
Silently drawing her dagger, Elsa thought, Why did I meddle? As long as I found this place, the mission was already complete.
"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!"
Several cultists rushed forward. Elsa dodged, and in the next moment two heads fell to the ground. Blood instantly marked the beginning of the massacre.
I'll demand five times the payment when I return.
---
Lillian suddenly opened his eyes, staring at the white ceiling above him. Sitting up, he exhaled sharply.
He glanced out the window—it was still midnight. Checking the time, he had slept only about two hours. Rising from bed, he stood by the window and looked outside. For some reason, an unsettling feeling lingered in his heart—a strange sense of foreboding.
He did not completely dismiss such sixth senses. He had experienced similar feelings before in the world of the AOT… Had something happened?
Once the thought arose, sleep became impossible. He changed his clothes and went downstairs. Though Lugunica had no curfew, the streets were deserted in the middle of the night, with no streetlights in sight.
He didn't know what he intended to do—he simply couldn't shake the unease in his heart. Walking along the street, he soon passed a tavern and entered directly. There were no customers inside. Sitting at the counter, he said to the drowsy owner:
"Boss, a cup of hot water."
"…Huh?" The owner rubbed his eyes. "You came here in the middle of the night just to drink hot water?"
"Charge me the price of wine," Lillian replied. "Just bring it."
"Ah, that works."
Hearing this, the innkeeper happily walked into the back room and brought out an iron kettle. There was still quite a bit of the water he had boiled for himself inside, so he poured Lillian a cup. Lillian lifted it and took a few sips, feeling some warmth return to his body.
It was probably autumn now. The daytime weather was still tolerable, but the nights had genuinely turned cold.
As he drank, Lillian chatted casually with the innkeeper. Before long, their conversation drifted to the royal selection.
The innkeeper sighed heavily. "Business has been bad lately. Fewer people are coming here to drink."
"Yeah, consumer spending has dropped."
"Consumer spending dropped? What does that mean… Anyway, if you ask me, Lady Anastasia should become king. She's so good at business—she'd definitely make the country rich. When that happens, my business would improve too."
Lillian shook his head. "A country being rich and its people being rich are two different things."
"Huh? Isn't the country the same as the people?"
Lillian smiled but said nothing further. At that moment, the tavern door was pushed open and a burly man walked in, calling out loudly:
"Boss! Is the strong liquor we ordered ready yet?"
"It's ready, it's ready! I've been waiting just for you—otherwise I'd have closed and gone to sleep long ago!" the innkeeper replied. He pulled out a bundle of bottles tied with leather cords from beneath the counter.
Seeing this, Lillian finally understood why the tavern had stayed open despite having no customers—the owner had been waiting for someone to pick up their order.
As he thought this, he turned to glance at the newcomer and froze for a moment. The man also noticed him and burst into laughter.
"Well, if it isn't Lillian! What a coincidence! What are you drinking there—plain water?"
"So it's Kaitu."
Lillian still remembered him—one of the merchants from the caravan he had encountered on the road after leaving Roswaal's mansion. He had not expected to run into him again here.
"Come, come, Lillian! Why drink water? Let me treat you to a bottle—"
"No need, no need." Lillian waved his hand. "Kaitu, why are you carrying so much alcohol?"
"Hehe." The man grinned proudly. "All my goods sold out—gone in just a few days! So I'm planning to make another trip back with some of the other fellows. Since we're setting out at night, everyone's a bit sleepy, so we ordered some strong liquor to keep us alert."
"Using alcohol to stay awake… sure."
As he spoke, Lillian looked at the man in his forties and suddenly felt a thought stir in his mind.
"Kaitu, you're heading toward the Mathers domain, right?"
"That's right."
Having received confirmation, Lillian, acting on sudden impulse, said, "I have some business there too. Let's travel together."
"Huh?" The man looked surprised, but recalling Lillian's identity as a mercenary, he nodded. "No problem!" After all, an extra person meant extra fighting strength in case anything happened.
That was how the man saw it. As for Lillian, he vaguely sensed that something had gone wrong on Elsa's side.
The task he had given her was to investigate the location of the Archbishop of Sloth and his followers. With the information Lillian had provided—that there were Witch Cult members in the village—someone of Elsa's ability should have been able to follow the trail quickly. His plan had been simple: Elsa would find their location and report back, and then he would trick several high-level fighters into going there and wipe them out in one sweep, resolving the matter smoothly.
But now he felt that something was off.
Noticing Lillian's distracted expression, the man beside him asked curiously, "Lillian, why the sudden urge to go there?"
"Just looking for someone."
"Looking for someone in the middle of the night? That won't be easy."
"Yeah… especially when that person likes wearing black all the time."