Chapter 100

Chapter 73 The Church Sends Someone

“Is this, my pet?”

“Yes, you used to like it very much.”

“But it was this raven that delivered Edward’s message to me…”

The lady was taken aback.

“So Edward took it away?”

“…Perhaps, I don’t remember.”

But I think it must be so.

Edward knew it was my pet, and this raven is surprisingly intelligent. From its current behavior, it seems very loyal. Even after three years, it still remembers me as its owner, so Edward must have taken advantage of this to send me messages.

I wonder what his purpose was in putting the bird I once kept, which could be considered a pet, by his side…

Forget it, that doesn’t matter now.

“Pepe—”

The hoarse and unpleasant cry sounded again, and I frowned.

“Be quiet.”

“Pepe, idiot—”

That foolish bird, whether it understands some human speech or simply senses human emotions, flapped its wings and flew back to my shoulder, pecking lightly at my head twice.

“……”

I am not angry.

One cannot hold a grudge with a bird.

Suddenly, the sound of wheels crunching through the snow could be heard beside us. My lady and I turned our heads, and a new unicorn carriage approached.

The pure white carriage was decorated extremely lavishly. The light golden patterns on it were all too familiar, after all, I spent many nights inside.

The unicorn carriage stopped not far from our view. A slender arm lifted the curtain, and the expected casual figure emerged from the carriage, smiling upon seeing me.

“Little Hill.”

I was suddenly delighted, and immediately called out his name: “Carlos—”

Then I was startled, realizing I hadn’t decided to acknowledge him yet, why was I showing such an expression… So I quickly put on a stern face, quietly watching him approach, feeling puzzled inside.

What is he doing here at this moment? And he even changed into silver armor…

Immediately afterward, two more people descended from the carriage, and I found myself struggling to breathe.

Because one of them, with white hair and long beard, a stern face, looked to be at least sixty years old, dressed exactly like the first old man in the long robe, even resembling him somewhat… This made me uneasy, as I had developed a psychological aversion to this image.

The other person appeared even stranger, wearing a bird beak mask that completely covered his face, revealing only red hair. A wide cloak covered his entire body, identical in style to the one Carlos wore—the lily-of-the-valley cloak of a Papal Knight.

“You must have had a tough journey.”

The Duke greeted them, and Carlos, without pausing, smiled and replied, “No trouble at all, we were just slow to react.”

Then, under my puzzled gaze, he reached into his chest and pulled out a bundle wrapped in parchment… Ah, it was pastries!

Wonderful!!!

“Give it to me!”

Before he could even stand still, I snatched the parchment wrapper, eagerly opening it. The sweet scent wafted up, and I swallowed hard.

I hadn’t eaten since noon, and my stomach was already empty…

My small hand rubbed frantically against the hem of my skirt, reaching for the pastry, but someone slapped it away with a “slap.”

“Your hands are filthy.”

The lady gave me a look, then extended her ivory-white fingers, picking up a piece of pastry and holding it to my mouth.

“Open up.”

I obediently opened my mouth.

“Ahh—”

The pastry melted in my mouth, releasing a rich aroma. I closed my eyes in bliss, chewed quickly, and swallowed it down, then looked at her hopefully.

“Ahh—”

The lady laughed helplessly, “You must be starving.”

She picked up another pastry and held it up, and I hastily bit into it, nodding vigorously while chewing.

I really was starving.

“Mr. Carlos is indeed thoughtful; even I hadn’t thought of this… We rushed too hastily.”

The lady’s smile did not fade, but her words carried a profound meaning. The look in her eyes when she gazed at Carlos seemed to carry a certain scrutiny.

“Nowhere, nowhere. I was just passing by,” Carlos said.

He still appeared nonchalant, his azure eyes like gemstones, their usual luster half-hidden by drooping eyelids. After uttering those words, he yawned and scratched the back of his head, lacking any of the resolute spirit one would expect from a righteous knight in tales.

But at that moment, in my eyes, he was incomparably adorable.

“Passing by? Carlos, your passing by made us take two extra streets, almost losing the unicorn carriage of Santelburg,” a young man’s voice came from behind Carlos. His tone sounded quite exaggerated. I turned my head and saw a beak-like face, “Let me see, what kind of little beauty could… Wow—”

The beak-faced knight let out an exaggerated exclamation upon seeing me, lifted his hand to adjust his cloak, and bowed deeply towards me.

“Beautiful lady, I am Chris de Labrace. It is a great honor to meet you.”

“…Chew chew… Chew chew… Mm.” I nodded indifferently at him, looking at the lady again, “Ah—”

“Someone is greeting you, how can you be so impolite?”

Greeting? He was just disturbing my meal.

“Haha! It’s fine, Lady. Miss Silviga is a very excellent person. Please don’t blame her.”

“I’m very sorry, Doctor Chris. She is simply too hungry.”

“Not at all, Miss is very cute. I like her very much.”

…You’re the one who’s very cute.

However, listening to the lady’s address, that beak-faced knight was actually a doctor? This surprised me. Can doctors also be Papal Knights?

“Eat slowly.”

The lady reached out to wipe the crumbs from my mouth, her lips curling up in a doting arc.

“Miss Silviga, where are those heretics of the Gate of Truth?”

The old man in the robe who walked over last spoke, his aged face intimidating despite its weathered appearance. He spoke straightforwardly and to the point, clearly someone who only cared about matters and wasn’t easy to get along with.

I pointed toward the battlefield. Everyone turned their heads, and from afar, they could see the countless ice spears standing quietly amidst the thin frost mist, lingering for a long time.

“Dead?” Carlos asked.

“Mm-hm.”

I nodded.

“Let’s go take a look.”

“Little Silviga, you’ve worked hard.”

Carlos smiled at me and received a white eye roll in return.

At this moment, how could I not understand the purpose of these three coming here? Carlos had been busy lately, mostly because of these matters. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have rushed over at this time. Of course, he couldn’t have come to save me. Perhaps he had gotten some information somewhere and traced the whereabouts of the Gate of Truth, only to find out I had dealt with them first.

Really… How reliable is he?

Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Carlos rubbed his forehead and gave me a wry smile, “This matter is complicated. Let’s go take a look first. Once you finish eating, get on our carriage. There are some things we need to discuss… Lady, would you mind?”

“Mr. Carlos, if I say I mind, what can I do?” The lady’s smile held a hint of playfulness, “Why do you big shots need a girl to help out?”

Although this was said jokingly, it was rather impolite. Carlos was momentarily at a loss for words, then the lady winked at him.

“This shows how amazing our Pepé is.”

She pinched my nose.

“Miss Silviga, so young and with such strength, indeed remarkable… Lady, this matter is significant. Please excuse us.”

“Bishop Hobbs, please proceed.”