Dinner turned out to be rather modest.

During the meal, the Pope barely ate. He only glanced at Tie from time to time and did nothing else.

And after he left the hall, a long, long wait began.

When the sun, which had only recently hung high in the sky, began sinking toward the horizon,

Cardinal Mel, who had accompanied the mercenary squad ever since the port, approached them.

"Until you are transferred to the camp, you will remain in the Pilgrim House."

"The Pilgrim House?"

Bale repeated, and Mel gave a short nod.

"Yes. Because it has not yet been decided where exactly you will be deployed."

Basto frowned.

Bale let out an incredulous laugh.

"What kind of nonsense is that? You dragged us all the way here, and you still haven’t even determined the battlefield...... is that actually normal?"

But Mel did not even blink.

"Everything is the will of God. Wait until the situation becomes clear and His Holiness gives his command."

Turning sharply, Mel left the hall.

Immediately afterward, the three priests standing behind him stepped forward in unison.

"We will guide you to the Pilgrim House."

The Pilgrim House.

The heavy wooden door on the first floor slammed shut with a dull boom.

Only after confirming that all the priests had left the building did Tie hurriedly jump off the bed.

"......They’re gone!"

The instant she whispered it, her subordinates immediately echoed her words.

[Gone.]

[Gone. Completely.]

Tie quietly inhaled.

Then she carefully climbed down from the bed and placed a hand against the floor.

Magic spread from her fingertips, and she sensed Papa’s aura in the neighboring room.

The priests had assigned each squad member a separate room.

Tie had asked just in case whether she could stay with Papa, but the only answer she received was silence.

Focusing on the released magic, Tie murmured:

"Grandpa and the uncles are far away......."

Valentis’s aura and the others’ could be felt far from the Pilgrim House.

It seemed they really had been escorted out through the back entrance after dinner and housed separately from the mercenary squad.

Tie rose to her feet and approached the open window.

Bathed in the light of the setting sun, the Grand Temple looked quiet and eerie.

There was not even the slightest breeze, as though it were the night before a storm.

And then.

Something flickered faintly in the distance, and a weak gust brushed past Tie’s hair.

The next moment, Lucarion appeared directly before her.

"......Kkamani!"

Tie cried out without hiding her joy.

The small dragon that had flown over slowly took human form.

Hair black as the night sky.

And ruby-red eyes that gleamed beneath any light.

"Tie."

Whispering her name, Lucarion abruptly pulled Tie into his arms.

"I was worried. I feared that man might sense your aura......."

Pressed against him cheek-first, Tie patted Lucarion on the back.

"No, Kkamani, Tie is okay!"

She could clearly hear how wildly his heart was pounding.

And of course, Tie herself had also been anxious the entire time.

She had constantly feared Luciano would sense the World Tree’s power inside her.

But.

"Papa didn’t notice anything!"

Pulling away from Lucarion, Tie whispered:

"The moment he heard Tie was a child, he immediately started looking down on me. You could tell he thought Tie was weak and stupid!"

It seemed Luciano truly had failed to find anything unusual within her.

Then Tie once again remembered the dreadful sensation from the audience chamber.

"Kkamani. Papa’s holy power... is strange."

That power which had carefully licked across her entire body like the tongue of a magical creature.

Tie had not shown it outwardly, but she had felt everything.

And there was something wrong with Luciano’s distorted holy power.

"It’s not like Grandpa’s, or the uncles’, or Papa’s."

After Tie awakened not only magic but holy power as well,

she had begun sensing the holy power of other people.

For example, now she could feel her family’s powers with her entire body.

'Grandpa’s feels like a huge wide lake. Calm and warm.'

'Really? Then what does mine feel like?'

'Little uncle’s is like water droplets dripping from a spring!'

'Ha ha ha, then take a look at my power too, niece.'

Valentis, Alexander, and the other members of the Luminel family.

Everyone who possessed holy power had their own distinct aura.

But fundamentally, it was still the same power, and the one inside Tie belonged to that same source as well.

But.

"And Luciano’s power......."

Recalling the audience chamber, Tie wrinkled her nose.

"It smells bad."

How was she even supposed to describe that smell?

Like rotting dead fish?

Or raw blood?

Tie remembered the World Tree’s words about Luciano being unable to endure the power he had taken for himself.

'So this must be what it meant.'

Lucarion’s eyes fixed on her.

"The holy power inside his body is rotting the whole time."

Silence fell.

Tie tightly grabbed Lucarion’s hand.

"So, Kkamani. Tie came up with a plan!"

Luciano’s power truly was overwhelming.

Even if it smelled bad, it was still incredibly powerful.

But Tie had discovered the weakest point of that power.

"Papa’s holy power keeps moving and shaking inside him. Like it’s about to explode at any moment."

Luciano’s holy power was unstable.

And Tie knew only one other person whose holy power was unstable.

'Papa.'

Tesetan.

Maybe because of the restriction placed inside his heart when he was young?

Papa’s holy power had always been unstable.

The magic and holy power inside him constantly clashed against one another, and one day......

'The day of the duel.'

That was why Papa had lost control back then.

Tie’s face darkened.

Papa survived that day only because Tie absorbed part of his power.

But right now, something else mattered more.

'The important thing is that Luciano’s power shakes far more violently and far more often than Papa’s.'

So then, couldn’t Luciano’s power also spiral out of control the way Papa’s had?

And if that happened, Luciano would not survive it.

'I need to figure out how to make Luciano lose control.'

Deep in thought, Tie suddenly froze.

Because another question had abruptly surfaced in her mind.

"But Kkamani. How has Papa managed to endure all this time?"

There was no way he had never experienced an outburst before now.

Tie’s expression turned serious.

"Wait, maybe this is what the World Tree meant? About Papa devouring souls!"

In order to contain power his body could not withstand.

Papa consumes innocent souls.

That strengthens his body, allowing him to monopolize the World Tree’s power.

"And we still haven’t found the children Papa kidnapped."

Tie anxiously shuffled in place.

"We have to save the children!"

She had questioned the bone friends beneath the ground for a long time already, but still had not managed to discover where the kidnapped children were being held.

Luciano had clearly hidden the place very well.

And then.

"You’re right."

Lucarion, who had remained silent until now, spoke quietly.

"First, we need to find those children. If Luciano truly is suppressing his loss of control, then the method is almost certainly connected to the children he has been kidnapping all this time. So."

Lucarion’s voice dropped even lower.

"While you were talking with Luciano, I examined the surroundings. I thought it would be better to investigate everything in advance while we still had the chance."

Tie nodded.

In truth, Lucarion’s role had been decided long ago.

That was precisely why his name had never officially appeared on the expedition squad roster.

And now that Tie had confirmed Luciano could not sense the World Tree’s power,

Lucarion was finally free to investigate the Grand Temple openly.

"......I found one suspicious place."

Tie’s eyes widened.

"Luciano’s holy power forms a thin layer over the entire Grand Temple of Sercanos. But...... in one specific area, the flow behaves strangely."

"Strangely?"

"Yes. Something absorbs his holy power... and then releases it back out again."

Tie’s mouth fell open.

Something was drawing in holy power with that stale smell... and then spitting it back out?

Tie’s expression turned grave, and she hurriedly blurted out:

"Oh! It’s like static electricity!"