Chapter 365 – Corner of the Church -2-

“This happened during a recent pilgrimage.”

When Atra stopped laughing and started talking, Roman listened.

“Me and Majella are always exposed to scandalous and unjust rumors. However, most of them are exaggerated due to the nature of the rumors, so when we come across the truth, most of them are not that big of a deal.”

According to the saint, most of them were.

“You mean… Has something changed recently?”

As Roman let go of her words, Atra opened her moist lips.

“At night, while traveling in the mountains and forests to find a village where it was rumored that a demon was kidnapping children, we encountered demons with low intelligence. We also encountered many black magicians who had taken over an unknown village to provide sacrifices.”

“Hasn’t that ever happened during your pilgrimage?”

“It’s not like it never happened. But this… Um…”

Forcibly lifting her eyelids heavy from fatigue.

Roman, who had been watching the saint trying to somehow choose her words, pictured her situation and offered her opinion.

“The frequency is too strange to dismiss as a coincidence. The sense of ominousness is similar to an alarm bell ringing in the intuition itself. Is that it?”

“Just as you mentioned…! Exactly!”

“I recognized that something was messy and not a good situation.”

“I’m glad that somehow the message was conveyed…”

Atra nodded eagerly to Roman’s guess, scratching the itch.

“Saint. But there is something I have difficulty understanding.”

“What do you think? I’m really sorry brother, but I’m currently not good at managing my physical strength, so my head and tongue feel stiff, so I apologize if there’s anything I’m lacking.”

Before Roman could hear the answer, he stopped Atra, who was trying to shake her head.

I pushed the bowl with the remaining dessert in it and placed it in front of her.

“It’s not that kind of problem. I simply don’t know what the saint wants to ask me from what you just said.”

At Roman’s words, Atra lowered her gaze and responded in a low voice as if confessing a sin.

“Actually, no matter how I try to ask a question about that, it seems like it would be an intrusion into your work and personal life. I would like to ask for your understanding first…”

“It doesn’t really matter. I’ll answer what I can.”

“Brother Roman, when he listens, he may feel an unexpected frustration in my speech. The part that I thought was included may be the part that you, the adventurer, did not even think about.”

“I understand the saint’s concerns. She said everything is fine, including that.”

Let’s stick to the attitude that Roman doesn’t care about any topic.

Atra, who was so tense that her neck muscles were tense, blinked her eyes at Roman, who looked somber.

“···.”

“I like general questions. Even though I am an adventurer who has lived my life calculating profits and losses with numbers, I quite like dealing with abstract emotions and concepts.”

“Well then, please excuse your generous mercy, brother.”

“You can take it easy.”

Atra took a deep breath, let out her breath, and got to the point.

“I know that brothers and sisters who live as adventurers experience and see more than any other profession. I also heard that losing a veteran adventurer means that we humans lose a barrier to block monsters.”

“?”

What kind of adventurer would spread such shameful rumors?

That was the first thought that came to mind, but I decided to listen to the end.

“The adventurer profession, which pioneers many areas following requests, is the most sensitive to information about crises, and I also remember accidentally coming across the fact that high-ranking adventurers have a separate information network.”

“I understand what the saint is saying.”

There are some people that come to mind as soon as I hear those words.

In the past, when I had just been promoted to Cheonggeum, there was a recommendation from a meeting with that purpose.

“I wonder if there is any adventurer among high-ranking adventurers who encounters demons with a strange ease or feels a sense of alienation or disconnection while dealing with a warlock like the situation I experienced.”

“Hmm.”

“And on top of that… I wonder if Brother Roman has a different perspective on the current situation.”

That seems to be the end of this question.

Atra’s fork poked at the remaining dessert.

‘···.’

Roman crossed his arms, lost in thought.

It was not an awkward topic for the saint to ask. There is simply too much information that comes to mind.

Information about my past life and what I had gained while living on this continent filled my head and became a complex tangle.

“It is true that I have lived as an adventurer for a considerable amount of time. However, since I do not really interact with other adventurers except for a few adventurers with whom I am a good friend, I cannot say that I am as broad-minded as other high-ranking adventurers.”

This means that I am not included in the information network that high-ranking adventurers belong to.

As soon as she understood her words, the saint expressed her doubts.

“I thought Brother Roman was more sociable than anyone else…”

“I don’t know why you have that impression, but you misunderstand. I don’t have the tendency to approach everyone warmly, and I have a nasty temper, so I have more enemies than friends.”

“That···?”

Skipping the somewhat unconvincing atmosphere.

The answer to the second question was taken out.

“And my perspective on the saint’s experience… Is certainly not a coincidence.”

“Brother, may I know why you think so?”

“Do you know that the saintess does not get along well with the group of warlocks?”

“Of course. I understand that the reason is that each other’s egoism is too strong and they don’t mesh.”

It was a clean analysis with no need to add anything.

Roman began laying the groundwork to provide some information to Atra, who would become a reliable ally.

“I’ll give you an opinion based on the information I’ve collected while living as an adventurer. Just cut out the parts you don’t need and take only the parts you need.”

“···Please.”

Atra hardened her expression and focused, pricking up her ears like an elf.

“The day the saint and I met… A human turned into a devil and committed massacre in the capital. I think it is highly likely that it was the work of Nema Natas, who is rooted in power.”

“I suspect that too.”

“But since there was no clear evidence, it was difficult to make a conclusion and move forward.”

“It’s just as you said, brother. In fact, even if I were to find the evidence, I would be at a loss because I don’t know where Nema Natas is based…”

Roman, who saw Atra with an indifferent expression, used Mana to soundproof his words so that Majella could not hear them.

Majella’s eyes widened and her back fell from the wall.

As soon as I heard Roman’s first words, Atra began.

Her escort, Majella, approached her and halted her by raising her hand in her haste to keep her speech from being interrupted.

*****

The evening after returning from church after showering her with various information.

Eclair came back from work and said hello to everyone who greeted her.

Without even changing out of his uniform, he sat in the living room of the mansion and drew attention from his family.

“Originally, I have to stop by the Adventurer’s Guild tomorrow and find Roman. And I have to deliver this letter.”

“Is it a request?”

A scroll of a familiar shape held in Eclair’s hand.

After hearing the series of procedures for going to the guild. The first thing that came to Roman’s mind was a request from the imperial family.

“No. It’s not a request.”

“What is it that makes our driver so restless?”

Roman, who sat down next to her, wrapped his arms around Eclair’s waist and pulled her.

She held her lover’s hands from her waist to her breasts and kissed her lips in front of everyone.

“···The letter sent from the church has arrived at the imperial court, and all its contents have been confirmed.”

“I thought it would take at least a week to confirm, but it’s much faster than I expected.”

Yesterday, upon returning from church, I sat down with everyone, including Ricke, and read the manuscript.

Atra’s workmanship was much better than expected, so she had clean material with no areas that required modification.

“Not only those who assisted the imperial family, but also His Majesty read each and every letter.”

“···You read all that yourself?”

Her letters, which the saint wrote down on dozens of sheets of paper, were similar to a collection of precedents from her past life.

The withdrawal and punishment imposed by the church that had been around since the early days of the empire. It was a considerable amount of information as it contained a lot of past history and how they responded when it became an issue.

“I think your Majesty is interested as it is a letter posted not by just anyone but by a saint of the church.”

“Even so, isn’t it surprising?”

She thought she would only receive a summary report, but did the old raccoon have a change of heart?

“···Roman tickles.”

I was massaging Eclair’s waist to make her thoughts run smoothly.

Now I have a question.

“Then what about the eclair in your hand?”

As if he was waiting for Roman’s question.

Eclair handed over a scroll with the imperial seal engraved on it and smiled expectantly.

“It’s been a while since I had to come to the imperial palace. His Majesty wants to meet Roman and have a conversation.”

The eyes of the women who had been listening to the conversation with bated breath opened at Eclair’s words.