The tavern occupied by the Gribblata Knights.

In a small room of the place not yet open for business, Escalion leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed.

He looked the elderly wizard sitting before him up and down, not bothering to hide his suspicion and distrust.

“……”

Escalion remembered that this old man was the wizard who had created a portal to Cirenia before.

Moreover, that day, he had grabbed Belladonna and spouted some strange nonsense.

The vivid memory of her startling and flinching greatly flashed through his mind.

“My lord, there’s no need to be so wary.”

“I’ll decide that for myself. What business do you have with me that brought you here?”

Escalion cut off Fabion’s words abruptly and spoke gruffly.

Fabion looked around awkwardly with an uncomfortable smile at the blatant hostility.

“Is… is the lady not with you?”

Escalion frowned at his behavior of looking for Belladonna as soon as he arrived here.

“Why do you ask about my wife?”

“……”

“I asked why.”

As Escalion growled again in a low voice, Fabion opened his mouth as if he had no choice.

“This morning, I heard news that you and your lady had hurriedly come to Astanya. I came here because I have something I wish to tell the lady.”

“Why don’t you try answering straight instead of beating around the bush? I asked what business you have with my wife.”

Fabion slowly looked Escalion up and down with eyes buried in wrinkles.

He had no idea how much the lord’s wife had told this man, what truths they might be sharing.

He recalled a letter he had hastily received from Belladonna a few weeks ago.

[Fabion, I am leaving Astanya for Gribblata. I’m sorry I can’t continue the investigation with you. But right now, I think leaving this place is more important to me than finding the truth about the Saint. I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly. I’ll be sure to contact you again when I have the chance to explain what happened. – Belladonna]

As someone who had watched her relationship with the Pope since the real Saint Belladonna was very young, it was not difficult to guess that the lord’s wife must have had conflicts with the Pope as well.

There was no way the lord’s wife could endure Astanya, which had been hell for Saint Belladonna as well.

“If she’s not here, I should be on my way.”

Fabion reluctantly stood up, hoping for another chance next time.

As he slowly turned to leave, Escalion, who had moved so quickly it was impossible to tell when he had arrived, blocked his path.

“I’m not finished talking, wizard.”

“……”

Fabion stopped and raised his head.

In his mind, a doubt flashed by whether it was the right choice for the lord’s wife to leave Astanya and go to this terrifying man’s side, but seeing how dreadfully he cherished his wife, he concluded it must be much better than here.

“Unfortunately, I have nothing to discuss with you, my lord.”

“Tell me why you came looking for my wife.”

“My lord.”

“Perhaps.”

At that moment, Escalion opened his mouth and caught his words.

“Are you the wizard from the Papal State who’s been helping Bella?”

At his words, Fabion tightened his grip on his staff.

It seemed the lady had indeed spoken about him.

“My lord, how much do you know?”

“I think I know everything you know.”

“What did the lady say about me?”

At his question, Escalion recalled the night when Belladonna told him all the truths.

Belladonna had briefly explained to him that there was a wizard from the Papal State helping her.

He hadn’t asked for more details about that part as there was so much to hear, but based on the circumstances, this person seemed to be the one.

Escalion looked over Fabion’s face and slowly opened his mouth.

“She said there was a wizard from the Papal State helping her. That he provided assistance from the outside since her movements were restricted.”

“Then that seems to be me.”

“……”

“……”

Soon, the conversation between Fabion and Escalion broke off.

Both were busy exploring each other, as neither was certain how much the other knew.

Eventually, Escalion let out a sigh as he placed a hand on his stiff neck.

“Bella went to look for you just now. But seeing you here before me, it seems your paths have crossed.”

“Ah……”

Fabion let out a troubled groan.

He had packed all his belongings and come out intending to follow her to Gribblata if necessary after hearing the news, but he hadn’t expected to miss the lady on the way.

“If it’s not too presumptuous, may I wait for a while?”

“Do as you please. Hey! Bring this man something to drink.”

The sound of Escalion calling out to the tavern owner as he turned and walked out could be heard.

Left alone in the room set up in a corner of the tavern, Fabion sat back down in the chair with a small sigh.

After catching his breath for a moment, he turned his head to look at the small luggage bag he had brought.

‘Not much time left until the day the Pope’s truth is revealed.’

Just a few days ago, he had finished translating all the records Belladonna had brought him.

Now was the time to use this most valuably in the right place.

[This is the timeline separator]

Before long, the sun set, and darkness gradually settled over the scenery visible through the window.

As evening fell, people began to crowd into the tavern that had started its business.

Among the crowd, Graham looked at Escalion with an anxious face.

“Captain, it’s getting quite late. Why aren’t they back yet?”

“Let’s wait a bit longer.”

Though he didn’t show it much, Escalion was not in a calm state of mind either.

As the chime bell above the tavern door rang again, he quickly turned his head.

But those who entered were not Belladonna and Hazel, but other customers.

“Could they have lost their way? Or is the lady’s business taking longer?”

Graham muttered as he paced back and forth anxiously.

“Graham, please stay still.”

“Surely Hazel, that guy, hasn’t been overcome? But that bastard wouldn’t flinch even if several grown men attacked him, right? Huh? Right? Last time he was fine even when he fought three knights, wasn’t he?”

“I said stay still. You’re driving me crazy with worry.”

Escalion ran his hand roughly through his hair.

At that moment, the tavern door opened again and someone entered. He quickly turned his head again, but it was another unfamiliar face.

No, it was a face he had seen somewhere before.

Escalion stopped his head from turning away fruitlessly and looked at the person who had entered.

A man carrying a young girl who didn’t fit in with this tavern at all approached him without hesitation.

“My lord…!”

“Hey, what’s this? How can you bring a young child into a place like this? It’s not good for education.”

Graham said as he blocked the man’s way.

He tilted his head as he looked at the face of the man he had blocked.

“Huh? Wait. Have we seen him somewhere before? Escalion, why does this young man look familiar?”

Escalion fixed his golden eyes on him without replying.

The anxious look in his eyes and sorrowful face made his heart sink. He had seen this face not too long ago.

At the Papal State, when Belladonna had stopped breathing and collapsed.

“My lord! Something terrible has happened! The Saint has been taken to the Papal State!”

Timothy exclaimed as he shook off Graham’s hand that was blocking him.

At his words, Graham grabbed his shoulders in shock.

“Hey, speak clearly. Where did you say the lady was taken?”

“You may not believe me, but that’s all I can say. At the Papal State… His Eminence the Cardinal took the Saint away…! The knight who was with her lost consciousness and is at our house…”

“Don’t get excited and speak properly.”

Escalion, who had been silently listening to Timothy’s incoherent words, stood up.

He appeared calm on the outside, but anger was swirling in his golden eyes.

Timothy looked up at his huge frame and then opened his mouth again, trying to speak as calmly as possible.

“I saw Saint Belladonna around here. She seemed to be looking for someone else, but I thought meeting like this was also fate, so I invited her to our house. While the knight with her went out to check the surroundings and we were talking, Cardinal Nicholas, who visits our house regularly, came as usual.”

“You mean Nicholas?”

“That’s right. But then… the Cardinal hit the knight who was with the Saint with a club…”

At Timothy’s words, Graham almost reflexively put his hand on the sword at his side. His face hardened with anger.

“Then he grabbed the Saint and took her to the Papal State. The Saint resisted fiercely, so I tried to stop them too… but it was no use.”

Timothy hung his head low.

“How did you find this place?”

“I thought she surely wouldn’t have come here alone, so I wandered around aimlessly. Then I heard someone say people had come from Gribblata through the Astanya portal, so I asked around and found my way here.”

Graham put his hand on Timothy’s shoulder.

“Thank you for letting us know, young man. Captain, what should we do? Those bastards are clearly provoking us, shouldn’t we respond as they want? Shall we gather everyone and storm in right away?”

Instead of answering, Escalion clenched his jaw.

He was so angry that his head wasn’t working properly.

Along with the thought of wanting to sweep away everything in front of him, Papal State or not, a strong desire to immediately plunge a knife into the Pope’s neck shook him.

“This is enough justification. The Papal State has taken not only your younger sister but your wife as well.”

“I, I’m sorry to interrupt, but… His Holiness the Pope has not yet sent back the Imperial Knights he called for the Emperor’s birthday celebration recently, for the purpose of people’s safety.”

“What? Damn it…”

At Timothy’s words, Graham cursed and ruffled his hair roughly.

“Ugh… The Pope was more thorough and clever than we thought. He’s aiming to possibly frame it as treason against the Empire if we charge in and clash with the Imperial Knights like this.”

At that moment, Escalion moved and walked outside.

Graham, seeing his face, grabbed him in alarm.