It was a path that ideally shouldn’t pass through the village.
When riding in Ceres’s carriage, at least that carriage was a symbol of power that was well-respected within the Duchy of Kapatia, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about.
However, compared to that, Alebians looked utterly pathetic.
While Alebians had a title of a professor at the Mage Community, which included Evian, that was about it, and it was all too meager compared to Ceres’s stature as the regent of the Duchy of Kapatia.
“Honestly, you’re completely useless. All you do is watch people sneakily.”
Every time Yona cast her cold gaze at Alebians, Alebians would shrink her neck.
The fact that she hadn’t done any outside activities apart from Evian and the Mage Community made it a bit awkward to defend herself.
‘… I should have listened when Ceres said to go out more…’
Being a watcher isn’t easy.
As a leader, you always need to plan and ensure that your plans don’t go awry, so that was her duty.
She had to keep an eye on her surroundings, form hypotheses, prepare countermeasures, and do all that – that’s how Ceres operated.
But Alebians was a different story.
Due to her nature as a watcher, it was difficult for her to wander around here and there.
Her duty and role were to keep a steady eye on her target, so it was only natural that she couldn’t blend into the human world.
But Alebians could not voice that reasoning.
She had no choice.
Given how Yona was right now, anything Alebians said wouldn’t be taken kindly, and it was better for her to just endure it.
Of course, Alebians didn’t know that Yona had some bad feelings towards her, but it was a bit less than what she felt for Ceres.
If Ceres had been there, Yona would have been even harsher.
“I really want to lie down on a comfy bed and get some sleep… right, Rubina?”
For some reason, Rubina, who was munching on snacks beside Yona instead of James, looked up at Yona with wide eyes.
In those black eyes, Yona’s appearance looked rather shabby.
Having been cooped up in the carriage for several days without a wash, her state was far from good.
“Our Rubina is bored to death.”
Yona suddenly lifted Rubina and placed her on her lap.
Though Alex, exuding a divine aura, sitting nearby made for a tingling presence that wasn’t exactly pleasant, Rubina seemed immune to that effect and somehow appeared cuter each passing day.
Meanwhile, the carriage rolled out of the mountain path and onto the main road.
Although it was called a main road, it wasn’t particularly well-maintained, but at least the jolting was reduced enough for the carriage to travel more smoothly.
But it wasn’t particularly decorated, still, the bumpiness of the carriage was at least somewhat reduced.
Fortunately, there was a village not far away, which meant they could replenish food and water.
“Alebians, buy plenty of meat. People need to eat meat to have strength! How can you work without it?”
Last time, the groceries that Alebians brought back were mostly vegetables.
No matter how much you’re an elf and munch on greens, don’t you think you’d get tired of that? Alebians had a mouthful of complaints.
And then James and Kaiyak went out and caught some wild game and fish to tide them over.
“…Got it, pretty girl.”
“Seriously, you have no thoughts at all. With that attitude, what kind of priest are you… Ugh, let’s just drop it.”
Yona pouted and leaned back into the carriage seat.
*
While Alebians headed towards the village, they parked the carriage on a ridge overlooking it.
They each got out of the carriage, stretching and loosening their stiff bodies.
They usually set up camp and slept at night, but that was that, and enjoying the sunlight—even at this late hour—made them feel somewhat refreshed.
“So, have you thought about it?”
Alex approached Yona, who was stretching, and spoke in a low voice.
“……”
Yona glanced at Alex but didn’t respond.
However, compared to how she had jumped at the mention of it before, she was at least a bit better now.
Seeing Yona’s reaction, Alex thought he just needed to persuade her a little more.
Since meeting Sister Aege, Yona’s anger towards the Church of the Celestial God—a fury burning red hot—was cooling down.
Alex didn’t peek into her heart, so he wasn’t certain, but he felt confident.
That’s how anger works.
It burns fiercely, ready to incinerate everything in its path, but as time passes, the flames dwindle when there’s nothing left to burn.
Unless it burns so fiercely that it consumes itself, the fire called anger will eventually die out.
Alex was trying to extinguish her anger by whispering all sorts of sweet words to her.
There was no need to talk about Ludvik at all, starting from Priest Vigrind’s story.
“Yona, think about it. It’s clear that Saint Vigrind is protecting me. Just look at me, the fact that I wasn’t subjected to immediate judgment is proof of that.”
“Yona, think about it. It’s clear that Priest Vigrind has protected me. Look at me, the fact that I wasn’t executed is proof!”
“There’s no question that I was accused of aiding an apostate.”
“I should have been executed on the spot, but dragging it out to a trial? No doubt Priest Vigrind intervened.”
“But in the end, they held a trial. You definitely must have been sentenced to be burned at the stake. If Vigrind really wanted to protect me, they should have stopped that too.”
“Does that even make sense? What kind of saint protects an apostate? There’s no way someone innocent exists.”
“…No, why is it like that?”
“Saint Vigrind must have believed you would come to save me and bought us as much time as possible.”
The truth is unknown.
Alex is just rambling on.
He’s trying to extinguish Yona’s rage and persuade her to abandon this perilous journey to live quietly.
‘…That might be true.’
Alex may not know, but Yona does.
She remembers how desperately Vigrind tried to communicate and how she had vehemently denied it.
But at that time, Yona was too furious and had planned to kill everything in sight, so she didn’t realize it.
“And look at Sister Aege. How benevolent she is! You’ve mentioned it before.”
“What? The best defense is a good offense?”
“No, not that. You said that the closer you get to the Church Region, the crazier the people become.”
“Oh… that.”
In fact, Yona has never even stepped outside Evian, so she wouldn’t know.
That was a story she heard from Aege.
Aege even said—
“The Church Region is a place only madmen can survive…”
At Yona’s mumble, Alex nodded furiously.
Yeah, that’s right.
Yona has such an incredibly simple way of thinking that convincing her with such plausible words will definitely work.
One of the ways to move Yona is exactly that.
“Right, the guys claiming to be the Pope or whatever—aren’t they a bit crazy? There’s no reason for you or us to go mad trying to deal with crazy people, right?”
“Ummm…”
“Those priests like Sister Aege are the norm. Isn’t that right? You’ve seen how much those cathedral knights admired you every time you went to the cathedral?”
That wasn’t entirely untrue.
Every time Yona went to the cathedral, the knights guarding the entrance adored her.
Did they pamper me?
Petting my head was just the basics, and they would sneak me some snacks too.
Considering how precious such sweet treats are in this world, they all treated Yona exceptionally well.
They were truly people who had no shame in calling themselves priests.
“So, let’s not think about turning the entire Church of the Celestial God upside down. I told you, let’s just head to the Katus Empire and escape to the southern continent from there.”
Taking advantage of the absence of the Alebians, they had steadily persuaded her.
Once inside the Katus Empire, we could head straight down, cross the Great Desert, and find a hiding spot somewhere in the southern continent to live.
Alex, Yona, and even Rubina.
How happy would it be for the three of us to live together? Alex’s persuasion was starting to show some effect.
As the flames of rage had significantly cooled down now, even though the demon named Vervaria was present, it didn’t mean there were clear hostilities.
And even though the notion of being the saint of the Demon Realm nagged at her—
‘If I say no, that’ll be that… and they say there aren’t any followers yet.’
Yona was deep in thought.
It was indeed true that Alex was angry because he got seriously hurt, and it was true that she wanted to burn everything about the Church of the Celestial God to the ground.
Her feelings toward Ceres, who had used her, and the Alebians wouldn’t change, but—
Beyond that, the idea of living together with Alex and Rubina felt incredibly sweet.
If it were right in her grasp, it seemed so sweet that there couldn’t be anything better.
“I’ll think about it for now. Stop rushing me.”
She had practically forgotten about her goal of returning to being a man, but that still needed some closure.
Although she had given up on returning to her original world, she still needed to sort that out.
Alex silently rejoiced as he watched Yona struggle with her thoughts.
They were almost there.
Just a little more persuasion, and Yona would surely do as he suggested.
As for Alex—Johannes Spillvan—being a knight of the Church of the Celestial God didn’t matter anymore.
Knowing that the path Yona had aimed for would turn out to be a miserable and tough one beyond what he could imagine, he no longer wanted to see her in pain.
If they could escape, they would.
Running away from the battlefield might be shameful, but running away for Yona was nothing to be ashamed of.
If he could live a peaceful life with her, even if it meant fleeing, he would gladly do so.
Alex made a firm resolution.
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