Neither Tie nor Lucarion knew the drug’s exact nature.

They could only roughly guess at its effects.

"Tie thinks it’s definitely medicine that makes everybody obedient!"

"Obedient...?"

"Yeah! So even if somebody does bad things to you, you can’t say you hate it anymore. Eloa said it too. If you drink that medicine, your head starts feeling weird."

"That makes sense."

Basto nodded.

"No matter what they plan to do to those children, in the end it’s much more convenient for them if they turn them into dolls without wills of their own."

The atmosphere immediately grew heavy.

Tie lowered her brows and looked at the squad members.

Basto, who had lost his young daughter.

And Bale, whose younger siblings had nearly been taken away by the Dark Spirit Squad only weeks ago.

None of them looked well.

"By the way. Are you two planning to move alone again this time?"

Allerik suddenly asked from where he had been leaning against the wall, silently observing the situation.

Tie nodded.

"Yeah. Because..."

'My name is Eloa.'

The moment they parted ways with Eloa in the underground labyrinth resurfaced in her mind.

Even after telling them her name, Eloa had never completely lowered her guard.

"If strangers come with us, Eloa might get scared and run away like a kitty."

There was another problem too.

"And Marr only has one body. If everybody leaves and the room stays empty even for a moment, the priests might notice."

The squad members turned toward Marbas.

Under all their gazes, Marbas began hopping in place.

"As expected, only Milady understands how hard I work! Even last night, I had to impersonate Milady all alone, and it was truly exhausting..."

"Mhm, Marrer. Tie knows everything. You worked hard."

"Indeed. Replacing Milady during her absence was an extremely important and dangerous task. Without me, the priests might have noticed Milady was gone, correct?"

"Mhm, yup yup."

"Haah, and tonight I must once again shoulder this perilous and tremendously dangerous mission. Truly, what is duty if not— Kwek!"

Pupu slammed its nose into Marbas.

Tie quietly turned her head away, pretending she had seen nothing.

Bale eased the mood.

"Well... if we all go stomping around together in a place like that, it’s basically the same as shouting, ‘Hey! Look at us!’"

He slipped a dagger between his fingers and spun it idly.

"We’ll keep watch around the area as much as we can, so you and Kkamani just go carefully and come back."

Tie’s face instantly brightened.

"Okay!"

Before, every single squad member would have opposed it.

But after traveling together for so long, they had finally started trusting Tie.

"Eloa even told us the patrol times, so we’ll go very carefully!"

Ribia tightly hugged Tie.

"How can our Milady be this brave and dependable? And even kind too! She’s nothing like the vice captain...!"

"What do you mean, ‘nothing like’? Anybody can see she takes after me."

The door opened, and someone stepped inside.

"Oh, Papa!"

Tie jumped down from the bed and toddled toward the door.

Tesetan, who had just returned from meeting Valentis and the Holy Knights, smiled as he lifted Tie into his arms.

After spinning her around through the air several times, he finally looked at the others.

"I shared the situation with the Holy Knights. Tonight they’ll stir up trouble near the diocesan building, so it should be much easier for Tie and Lucarion to move around."

Tie’s lips parted slightly.

If everyone’s attention shifted toward the diocese, they would not have to worry nearly as much about crossing through the fountain area.

"The problem is..."

However, Tesetan had not finished speaking.

"Luciano invited us to another banquet. Tonight."

The squad members’ expressions immediately hardened, and Basto, as though he had expected this, spoke first.

"Cardinal Mel mentioned it earlier too. Said they planned to continue negotiations over an evening banquet."

"What’s wrong with those bastards? Why are they so obsessed with eating together?"

"What else? It just makes it even more obvious they’re plotting something filthy."

After Bale and Ribia spoke, Allerik nodded.

"This is bad. Until we secure that drug, we need to be careful. But how are we supposed to avoid the banquet now..."

Tie looked at the squad members with round eyes.

'Avoid it?'

The way they said it made it sound difficult, but actually, there were lots of ways not to eat.

Soon, the child abruptly raised her hand as if she had made up her mind about something.

"Tie can do it!"

Every squad member immediately turned to stare at her.

Tie covered her mouth with one hand and smiled mysteriously.

"Because they taught us this in kindergarten..."

Luciano entered the main building with a tired expression.

"The King of the Dead."

Mel, walking one step behind him, lowered his head.

"I just confirmed it again. They said they would arrive at the main hall banquet room on time."

"The King of the Dead? Or his subordinates?"

Mel stiffened with a flinch.

"H-his subordinates..."

"I knew it."

Clicking his tongue, Luciano frowned.

The moment he recalled the report he had received that morning, something close to disgust rose inside him again.

'This is exactly why I hate children.'

The longer Luciano observed Astie up close,

the more she resembled some kind of glittering golden beetle in his eyes.

"Your Holiness."

The priests waiting at the end of the corridor threw themselves flat against the floor. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Beyond them stood the banquet hall doors, wide open.

Passing by the priests, Luciano asked:

"Where is the King of the Dead’s seat?"

Mel gestured with his eyes.

"There. Agavert will probably sit to the left, and the Luminel family to the right."

"Good."

Luciano headed toward his seat.

No sooner had he sat down than Valentis entered the banquet hall.

"It is an honor to greet Your Holiness."

Edmund, Leonardo, and Alexander entered behind him.

Luciano smiled leisurely.

"The Lord’s faithful blades. Please, sit."

And the moment Valentis sat down, Luciano immediately asked:

"Are you comfortable staying within the diocesan building?"

"More than enough."

"I’m glad to hear it. Especially with such an important event approaching, you must rest well and gather your strength."

"We are only grateful for your consideration."

After Luciano smiled, an awkward silence briefly settled over the hall.

Lifting his glass, Luciano silently stared toward the banquet hall entrance.

Dong—

Dong—

The distant sound of bells rang out, announcing the exact hour.

'They should be here by now.'

The thought had barely crossed his mind when—

"We’re here. Really really here!"

A cautious voice drifted in from the wide corridor beyond the doors.

"It’s close, right? Your little legs don’t hurt anymore, right?"

"..."

A vein twitched at Luciano’s brow.

Astie and her squad finally appeared around the corner.

"Captain. Stop sulking already. How much longer are you going to stay mad?"

"...Tie said she wasn’t hungry."

"That’s because you barely ate this morning and kept being stubborn all afternoon!"

Puffed cheeks.

Eyes filled with rebellion.

A limp little body barely being dragged along by large mercenaries holding both her arms.

"What is wrong with this kid?! I told you to eat properly this morning! You ate late in the afternoon, ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) so now you’re not hungry again at dinner?!"

One of them slapped his own chest in despair.

Naturally, Astie only puffed up further and turned away with a dissatisfied:

"Hmph!"

Something inside Luciano slowly began burning as he carefully set down his glass.

At that moment, Astie reached the entrance and met his eyes.

Astie pressed her lips together before awkwardly approaching the table.

Then she bowed deeply toward Luciano.

"...Hello, Mister Bishop."

Under the table, Luciano clenched his fist and forced a smile.

"Yes. You arrived on time."

The moment he lifted a hand, the waiting priests brought out fresh dishes.

They placed the food in front of Astie’s seat.

"I heard you’re a picky eater. Since it turns out you’re a child, I felt obligated to show consideration."

Astie silently examined the dishes in front of her.

'Sweet things, meat, eggs...'

Every dish looked deliberately selected to match a small child’s tastes.

"Now that everyone is here, let us begin."

Luciano was the first to pick up his utensils.

Astie could feel his gaze resting on her.

And right then, Bale spoke beside her.

"Come on, eat. It’s meat, the stuff you like, brat."

Tie silently stared at the meat placed right in front of her nose.

Then—

Shake shake.

With her lips tightly sealed, she shook her head.

"Huh?"

Bale’s mouth fell open in shock.

But Tie went even further and tightly squeezed her eyes shut.

'Next...'

She remembered Ayun from the Quail Class, who fought with the teacher every lunchtime.

Tie abruptly turned her head away.

Exactly like Ayun did.

With a face that clearly declared:

'There will be no peace tonight.'