Chapter 437

Agnes Menesilia.

The daughter of Menes.

The news that the candidate saint of the Menes Church, whom we had only heard about in stories, had arrived late at night left Lacey and me with a mix of confusion and curiosity as we greeted her.

“Lacey ‘Elmain’ Staldorf… I’ve heard a lot about you, but this is the first time meeting you in person. Let me introduce myself. I’m Agnes Menesilia.”

Agnes, who had entered Lacey’s office, removed the hood she had been wearing and bowed her head towards Lacey.

Is this girl the candidate saint that the Menes Church had been hiding so tightly?

She’s younger than Lacey, but… not as young as I had expected. I thought she would be around Rana’s age.

Looking at her face, which is losing its youthful appearance, and her height, which isn’t much different from Milia’s, she’s probably around fifteen or sixteen years old.

“The person next to you must be Sir Median, the Winter Executioner, whose reputation is well-known? I heard that our church owes you a great deal in Holon. It was the same in Pailoon. On behalf of the church, I would like to express my deepest gratitude.”

Agnes, who had turned her gaze from Lacey, now looked at me and bowed her head once again.

Her tone was several times more polite than before. It was almost embarrassing to be on the receiving end of such gratitude.

“Your words are too kind. It was all thanks to the support of the Menes Church. If anything, I should be the one thanking you.”

I responded appropriately while scanning her. Her sharp eyes seemed more suited to a paladin than a priest, and her body, hidden under her robe, appeared to have the firm muscles of a seasoned warrior.

A typical swordsman’s physique. She even had a sword belt around her waist.

Since I’m the only one allowed to bring weapons into Lacey’s office, the sword itself was still in its sheath.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Menesilia. I heard you wanted to meet me. May I ask why you’ve come at such a late hour?”

Lacey welcomed Agnes with a smile but subtly scolded her by hinting at the time. It didn’t seem to have much effect.

Whether Agnes didn’t understand Lacey’s scolding or simply ignored it, she just glanced out the window at the night sky with an utterly calm demeanor.

“Well, it’s hard to meet secretly during the day, isn’t it? There are too many eyes, and you, Elmain, are always so busy. If I’ve been rude, I apologize. But please understand that I came here to discuss something very important.”

This woman seems to have a strong personality. She’s quite different from the typical image of a ‘saint.’

Then again, Lacey is also far from being a typical saint. Maybe this is normal around here.

“…Please, have a seat. I’d like to hear what’s so important that you came to see me in the middle of the night.”

Lacey, whose expression had stiffened slightly, pointed to the sofa across from her. Her attitude had been strangely sharp since earlier… Even though she’s given up on becoming a saint, having her former rival in front of her must be making it hard for even Lacey to stay composed.

“Thank you for your hospitality. Then, if you’ll excuse me.”

Agnes smiled lightly and walked over to the sofa with confident steps, sitting down gracefully.

The fact that she only followed etiquette when sitting down made it even stranger than not following etiquette at all. It felt like she had learned manners but stopped halfway.

—

“Then, let’s get straight to the point. As I mentioned earlier, why have you come here? If you’re here to form an alliance with us again, we welcome it, but there are a few conditions-”

“I didn’t come here to play politics.”

The immediate rebuttal left Lacey speechless. Her face turned slightly red, as if the word ‘politics’ had struck a nerve.

Well, even I thought her tone sounded more like a politician than a saint candidate. It must have been embarrassing to be called out on it by another saint candidate.

“…My apologies. Yes, you’re right. I jumped to conclusions. Ah, Elpinel, it seems I’ve been influenced by meeting too many of those kinds of people lately. I should reflect on that.”

Seeing her making the sign of the cross and rambling, it seems she was much more embarrassed than I thought. It’s a rare sight for Lacey.

“I may have been a bit too blunt. I’ve been advised many times to tone down my direct speech… but it’s not easy. I apologize.”

Agnes nodded slightly towards Lacey and then picked up a teacup on the table to take a sip.

“Anyway, as you wish, let’s get straight to the point. The reason I came here is because of the assassination of Paulus Eisen Hindenburg, a former cardinal of our church.”

Her tone was strange. Despite the death of someone who was like a father to her, there was no sense of respect for the deceased or sadness over the tragedy in Agnes’s tone.

Her expression was too calm. As if she was saying that someone who deserved to die had finally died.

Lacey seemed to feel the same way, tilting her head slightly.

“Cardinal Paulus? It’s unfortunate that he was killed, but we don’t know much about it either. Contrary to the official statement, the possibility that Cardinal Wolfgang of the Bølberg Church is the real culprit is low…”

“Of course, that’s a lie. I was so dumbfounded by how boldly they announced such nonsense. The Bølberg Church killed Cardinal Paulus? That’s impossible.”

Agnes chuckled. As if mocking the cardinals who tried to cover up the situation with false accusations and lies.

And then.

“I killed him.”

The following statement was truly a shocking confession.

—

“W-what…? What did you just say…?”

Even Lacey, who was listening, doubted her ears. The sudden revelation of the true culprit made me drop cigarette ash on my thigh, and Lacey almost spat out the holy water she was drinking.

“So, I killed him. I approached him from behind and slit his throat. It was easier than I thought.”

Agnes made a gesture of slitting her throat with her hand, her attitude as calm as if nothing was wrong.

What do you mean, what’s wrong? Everything is wrong! A saint candidate killed her own cardinal? That’s like killing a family member in another country.

Of course, Lacey also got rid of Cardinal Drexler, but… while Lacey ended it with ‘retirement,’ this one completely took his life.

[This woman and that woman. Is killing your stepfather and taking his place some kind of virtue for saint candidates? I didn’t know the Holy Kingdom had such beautiful customs.]

Beautiful, my foot. The only country that would consider such a thing a custom is Ka`har.

“Wait, hold on. You’re not joking, are you? Why would you do such a thing…?”

“I had to. Please calm down, I’ll explain everything.”

Agnes soothed Lacey, who had a question mark above her head, and began to reveal her motive for the crime.

—

“Cardinal Paulus… actually, he shouldn’t be called a cardinal. Such a title doesn’t suit a vile apostate who betrayed Menes.”

“What do you mean…?”

“Paulus Eisen Hindenburg. He was serving a god other than Menes. He acted like a devout believer, deceiving everyone… but in reality, he was worshipping an ancient war god, Wodanaz. It’s hard to believe, but it’s true.”

This statement was ten times more shocking than the murder confession.

A cardinal of the Holy Kingdom worshipping an ancient god? That’s an apostle.

The sudden revelation of the second apostle’s identity left me dumbfounded, letting out cigarette smoke.

Paulus was the second apostle? And he’s already dead? Does that even make sense?

“Cardinal Paulus was a heretic…”

Lacey also seemed at a loss for words, muttering softly.

“…Honestly, it’s hard to believe. What evidence do you have…?”

“Menes warned me. At some point, whenever I saw him, my stigmata would ache slightly, giving me an unpleasant feeling. He also gave me hints through dreams.”

…Did the stigmata have that function? Lacey didn’t seem to notice anything.

“Hey, Lacey. Your stigmata…”

“Ahem, Elpinel is a being who rarely conveys His will to the mortal world. It must be because He resides in such a high place.”

Lacey, with her ears red, let out a short cough, understanding what I meant.

So, she didn’t know anything. That was supposed to be normal for her.

The reason she fell behind in the saint competition even before creating the diocese wasn’t just because of her extreme religious views.

“It might have been a mistake, so I kept quiet and watched Paulus for a while… but after he finished a meeting with Elmain, I overheard him muttering to himself in his room and became certain. Most of it was incomprehensible, talking about the Holy Grail plan and pulling down the heavens… but I clearly heard the words ‘as planned by Wodanaz.'”

Agnes stopped speaking and smiled, revealing her canine teeth.

“So that evening, I approached him as usual and slit his throat from behind. He never imagined I had noticed his apostasy. It was as easy as squashing a bug.”

The true culprit of the cardinal assassination case was finally revealed. The shocking truth of the incident, which no one could have anticipated, left even Lacey in a state of disbelief.