It wasn’t a regular carriage that ordinary people ride, nor was it the luxurious carriage of nobles.
The carriage emblazoned with a seal shaped like a book was probably the kind a scholar would ride.
It was the kind of carriage that shouldn’t have attracted any attention.
At least, it had nothing to do with Scarlet, and there should have been no interest exchanged in passing by such a carriage.
However, right after passing the carriage, Scarlet suddenly stopped her horse.
“Why are you stopping?”
Scarlet didn’t even hear Serad’s question.
She had caught a glimpse of a man’s face through the carriage window as she passed by.
Even if he hadn’t seen Scarlet, she had surely seen him.
Since they were running through the fields without a town, there were no curtains drawn in the carriage window.
Few people paid attention to the inside, and even less as they were riding horses coming from the opposite direction.
In that coincidence, Scarlet had seen it.
The face she couldn’t forget even in her dreams.
Johannes Spillbahn — it was him.
“Wait, what!?”
Suddenly turning her horse almost made Serad fall off.
Scarlet, who hadn’t noticed Serad, hurriedly turned her horse towards the carriage.
*
“First of all, breathe. Yona, let’s breathe. Take a deep breath. I’m here! I’m right here! Hey! Stay calm, stay calm!”
Alex was doing everything he could to hold Yona’s waist tightly.
That was his best option.
Of course, Alex was flustered, but it was a stroke of luck that he had grabbed Yona first amid the chaos.
“What the heck are you doing showing that face—!!!!”
Yona’s furious scream echoed across the desolate fields.
Once again, anger surged as Yona’s eyes sparkled with rage, ready to kill Scarlet at any moment.
“Ugh…!”
Alex was desperately trying to calm Yona, holding onto her waist with all his strength, but even that was proving too much.
Yona was that enraged.
“…Apostate, I have no business with you.”
“What—?!”
“Sekti!”
Yona’s shouting and Alex’s exclaiming overlapped simultaneously.
But Scarlet, standing where their voices were directed, remained still as if it were none of her business.
“Senpai—!”
“Shut up!”
Alex was sweating profusely.
He had no idea how to deal with this situation.
“Kaiyak, help me, please, help me!”
“Help me, please! Help me!”
Kaiyak, who had been watching from behind, let out a long sigh.
It wasn’t so much that it was a situation he could intervene in, but more that he couldn’t comprehend the situation at all.
The knight in silver armor from the cathedral was someone Kaiyak recognized well.
Having traveled together for quite a long time, it was impossible not to know this person, especially since they had tried to harm Yona.
So, while Kaiyak didn’t have good feelings about it, he thought it was a bit over the top for Yona to be thrashing around like this.
At the time Yona was rescuing Alex, Kaiyak was hiding within her magic.
Therefore, he didn’t know that the one who had tortured Alex was Scarlet.
That made him even more confused about the situation.
But thinking that responding was more important than understanding, Kaiyak approached Yona and grabbed her shoulder.
“Yona, calm down. It looks like Alex has something to say. Alex, you better sort this out quickly—”
And then it happened.
Scarlet boldly approached through the magic that Kaiyak had been suppressing like a volcano ready to explode due to Alex.
Then, in front of Alex, who was about to take a breath of relief after passing Yona to Kaiyak, Scarlet knelt down.
“Senpai…! Finally, finally I’ve met you…!”
And then she removed her helmet.
As soon as the helmet came off, a youthful girl’s face appeared.
Her striking red hair seemed to symbolize why her name was Scarlet.
Her tear-filled eyes were full of affection.
Her pupils reflected a man.
The image of Johannes, even more manly than in her memories.
“Senpai…!”
“Senpai, my foot! You better get lost—! I’m going to kill you, I swear I will! Let go of me, Kaiyak! Let me go!”
Yona couldn’t break free from Kaiyak’s strong grip.
Although she was a saint, her physical strength hadn’t increased, so it was natural.
Kaiyak tightened his hold on the struggling Yona even more.
“It’s just a meeting between priests. Are you two in a senpai-kouhai relationship? Anyway, just watch for a bit, Yona.”
“A senpai-kouhai relationship? That little brat was trying to kill my senpai, and you want me to just watch—!”
At Yona’s shout, Scarlet flinched.
Her head turned towards Yona, almost like a broken doll, as if she might make a creaky sound.
Scarlet lifted her head towards Yona as if she were about to take flight.
“…You think I wouldn’t know that you, a heretic, seduced my beloved senior with that filthy body…?”
“What…?!”
Yona stiffened at Scarlet’s words.
She knew exactly what the implication was, but the absurdity of it left her dumbfounded.
“What are you talking about?”
Alex stepped in front of Scarlet.
It was clear he was trying to block her view of Yona, but at his stance, Scarlet slowly rose from her kneeling position.
“I must kill that filthy harlot who has blinded my senior’s eyes… right now…”
Scarlet, having lost all light, pulled out her mace from behind her.
Some holy power flowed into it, and soon spikes sprouted from the metal head, transforming it into a morning star.
“Scarlet, calm down! Just…”
Alex couldn’t finish his sentence.
The magic bursting behind him was so explosive that he could hardly bear it, and with great effort, he turned to look at Yona.
The magic was soaring like a dragon.
Amidst the crimson fire of magic, only Yona’s figure stood out clearly, and the orange gleam in her eyes felt ominous just to gaze at.
“Alex, get out of the way. If you think I can just endure after hearing such vile slander, I’ll forcibly clear you out of my way.”
Yona’s voice was chilled to the bone.
The sudden onslaught of insults felt like a bucket of cold water was dumped over her, and her mind was now icy.
Scarlet should be killed right here and now.
She should have been killed from the start.
Just because her build reminded Yona of Vigrind, she had offered a shred of mercy, but indeed, the Church of the Celestial God breeds nothing but rotten souls.
“It would be better to just kill her. No matter how you look at it, she’ll only become a hindrance from now on. So, I’ll cleanly put her away.”
Yona muttered, conjuring up magic.
Magic that hadn’t fully released yet was swirling around her lips, and her saintly robe was stained not in black but in a dark red hue.
“Once that harlot is gone, my senior will return to me. He will come back to the Church of the Celestial God…”
White holy energy continuously billowed from Scarlet’s morning star.
Holy power was also emanating from the armor she wore, and Yona and Scarlet glared at each other, each ready to take the other down, gathering magical and holy energy alike.
Just as it seemed they would leap at one another at any moment.
– Wham!
– Crash!
A fierce impact echoed.
Dust swirled up, and when it finally settled, Scarlet was lying on the ground with a dumbfounded expression.
When the dust settled, Scarlet was lying on the ground with a stupid expression on his face.
“…Enough already, Scarlet. If you insult Yona any further, I won’t stand by quietly either.”
Alex was holding a shield.
With just one strong swing of his shield, Scarlet was knocked to the ground.
With nothing but a shield in his hands, this was the result.
“Uh, Senpai…?”
“Yona, you need to calm down too. I’ll make sure to get an apology for you, so just chill out.”
Alex approached Yona.
The moment he got close to the raging magic, a holy aura rose from him, making sizzling sounds as if sparks were flying, accompanied by wispy smoke rising from his skin.
“Calm down, Yona.”
As Alex got closer to Yona, the holy aura emanating from his skin grew even more intense.
That must have been incredibly painful, but Alex didn’t hesitate at all.
With sweat dripping down his face, he approached Yona.
“…Don’t come any closer, bald guy. It’s gonna hurt.”
The magic began to fade.
Her once raging fury diminished as she looked at Alex.
“I’m sorry. Yona.”
Alex reached out his hand.
The magic had somehow quieted down, but remnants of it still lingered, sending electric sensations through Yona’s cheek every time Alex’s hand brushed against it.
Still, Alex gently caressed Yona’s cheek and then pulled her in for a slight hug.
It wasn’t a violent embrace, but Yona didn’t resist; she surrendered herself to his gesture.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry for making you hear that, Yona.”
While holding her close, Alex stroked Yona’s hair.
Pain didn’t matter right now.
At this moment, Yona was everything.
“So, just let me handle this. I will definitely take care of it.”
Yona, who was about to say, “What do you mean — she tried to kill you,” fell silent at the whispering voice of Alex in her ear.
“Don’t worry. The most important thing to me is you. You’re my number one, number two, and number three. You’re my everything. Just trust me.”
With those words, Yona felt her strength leave her body.
After several attempts to say something, Yona let out a deep sigh.
“…You’re being so cheesy; what do you expect me to say to that?”
Only after hearing Yona’s response did Alex release her.
With a glance towards Kaiyak, Alex turned to stare at Scarlet.
In his gaze, there was none of the warmth he had directed at Yona.
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