After coming out of the orphanage, Muen wandered in circles and made his way to another remote little alley.

There was no one else in the alley. Only a building in the style of an inn, standing all alone, hidden behind high walls and tiled courtyards.

Muen didn’t go to the building’s front entrance. Instead, he went around to the side wall. When he counted to the one-hundred-thirty-first brick, he took out a sheet of paper folded extremely neatly. Comparing it to the information written on it, he knocked in a very regular rhythm on the bricks at left seven, right three, up two, down nine.

The wall trembled, dust shook loose.

Very quickly, a concealed stone door appeared in front of Muen.

But before Muen stepped inside, a standard square-jawed face suddenly popped out of the darkness, blocking the stone door.

“Who?” the square-jawed man asked warily.

“It’s me.”

Muen greeted him with a smile. “Long time no see, Mr. Jinze.”

“Muen Campbell?”

Jinze’s eyes widened in shock. The moment he thought of how badly he’d been screwed over by this guy before, he immediately looked left and right with caution.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened this time.

“How did you know about this place?”

“This place isn’t easy to find, but...” Muen waved the little slip of paper at Jinze, then folded it neatly in front of him and said smugly, “Of course someone told me.”

“...”

Jinze’s cheek twitched, but he still stepped aside and said helplessly, “She’s on the ninth underground level, Room Zero.”

“Underground again. Why do all you mysterious organizations like putting your headquarters underground?” Muen had heard that the intelligence organization Sevier’s group attacked was also underground, and then there were those black markets that had long since been shut down... So how much stuff was buried under Belrand, exactly?

“What can you do about it?” Jinze rolled his eyes. “Land on Belrand’s surface is so expensive. If all our budget goes into buying a big building, what are we going to use to pay your salaries?”

“...”

Even though he knew Jinze was joking, Muen was still left speechless.

It made way too much damn sense.

“You’ve changed.”

Muen patted Jinze’s shoulder. “You used to be an upright person. I didn’t expect you’d be telling cold jokes now.”

“Screw you.”

Jinze’s eyes practically rolled up into the sky. “Even if I’m upright, when I keep watching a bastard like you come through the back door every now and then, if I don’t get slick and learn to read the room, I’d have been shipped off to some branch where even birds don’t shit a long time ago.”

“...”

Muen was speechless again.

That made even more damn sense.

...

After saying goodbye to Jinze, Muen walked through this hidden underground space. Along the way, he brushed shoulders with many Silent Bureau agents in silver uniforms, all hurrying about.

It seemed that the turmoil the Empire was facing now had already forced even the Silent Bureau—a specialized organization that dealt with Evil Gods—to be mobilized into operation.

Muen let out a silent sigh and arrived at the so-called Room Zero.

But before he could even raise his hand to knock, that seductive voice had already come from inside.

“Come in.”

As if she already knew he was coming.

Muen let out a faint bitter smile and pushed the door open.

“Oh? You actually have time to come to my place?”

Anna stirred her coffee, sitting in an alluring pose atop the desk, crossing her long legs, her movements extremely tempting.

But on that charming pretty face, there was faintly a “keep your distance” air.

“Oh my—Mr. Campbell, who’s about to become a prince consort, coming to a small place like mine... isn’t that a bit too much of you lowering yourself?”

“...”

Muen’s mouth twitched at the words. “Weird. There was clearly no one else back then. How did you know, Senior?”

“You guess?”

Anna blinked playfully.

“I can’t guess.”

Muen suddenly leaned in, forcefully hooking an arm around Anna’s slender waist.

“Teach me, Senior.”

“Teach you what? Teach you how to deal with women?”

“What do you mean ‘deal with’? I’m sincere!”

“Oh my... your so-called sincerity is you being lovey-dovey with Her Majesty the Empress last night, then running over to my place in the morning... Are you going to go over to the Saintess at noon too?”

“Cough, cough! My sincerity can be witnessed by the sun and moon!”

“Stop changing the subject!”

Anna laughed and scolded Muen, but her waist had already softened.

She reached out and hooked Muen’s neck, her long legs clamping around his waist, her alluring eyes meeting his.

“You’re going to the Abyss?”

“Yeah.”

“Too rushed.”

“No choice. It came up suddenly.”

“I attended yesterday’s imperial meeting too. Actually, a lot of ministers’ idea was to directly shrink the defense line.”

“Shrink the defense line?”

“Yes. To the west of the Empire, there’s still the natural barrier of the Morosk Mountains to defend. If we shrink the defense line, there will be much more room and flexibility to maneuver troops and supplies... Forcing ourselves to keep holding up an Abyss defense line that’s already teetering on collapse is too heavy a burden for the Empire, which also has to face the Kingdom’s pressure.”

“But «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» that means we’d have to abandon at least three territories in the Empire’s west.”

“That’s right. Using three territories to buy a buffer zone that gives the Empire room to breathe—strategically, that’s the smarter choice. Otherwise, if we force it and the line collapses completely, what the Empire loses won’t be as simple as just three territories.”

“But that choice didn’t become the final choice.”

“...Who told your empress to be that domineering? She really pushed through this decision against everyone.”

Anna suddenly tightened her hold on Muen and said in a low, lingering voice, “That little empress really does believe in you.”

“And what about you, Senior?”

Muen lowered his head and rubbed his forehead against Anna’s. “Do you believe in me?”

“Who knows?”

Anna tilted her head and smiled coyly. “You guess?”

“I guess... I’m not guessing.”

Muen bit Anna’s lip. “That kind of question doesn’t need guessing, because I already have the answer, don’t I?”

“Heh. Men.”

Anna bit back viciously in retaliation.

Lips and teeth collided.

And then... it turned into a fierce kiss.

They both demanded crazily, because they didn’t know when the next time would be.

When the kiss paused for a moment, Anna stared into Muen’s eyes, and her gaze gradually filled with lust.

Muen also swallowed quietly.

An office... black stockings... a working beauty... how did it suddenly get so stimulating?

But just as Muen waited patiently...

In the end, Anna still didn’t go further.

She lightly patted Muen’s chest, then stood up.

“Forget it. I’ll leave you some energy, so you don’t end up with weak legs before you even get to the Abyss.”

“Senior really is worried about me.”

Muen wasn’t annoyed. He just chuckled.

“Smart mouth.”

Anna wanted to hit Muen hard... but in the end she couldn’t bear it. She only gently smoothed his collar.

“Be careful.”

“Mm.”

“Go early and come back early.”

“Mm.”

“And also...”

Anna suddenly leaned close to Muen’s ear and whispered in a soul-stealing, bewitching murmur:

“I’m not giving up for now. After all, that little empress... still hasn’t been able to call me ‘older sister.’”

“...”

So that was the answer from that night?

Muen was a little surprised, then his expression turned complicated and he smiled.

Sure enough, after you plant a flag, that so-called obedient happy married ending isn’t so easy to achieve anymore.

...

...

“What, th-this... this is real?”

“Yes, Your Highness the Saintess. From the intelligence coming from the Holy City, it does indeed seem that the Kingdom and the Empire are about to go to war.”

“Why at a time like this? Isn’t this taking advantage of someone’s misfortune? And why would the demon race pull all the troops from the Kingdom’s border to the Empire’s border—has the Kingdom actually colluded with the demon race?!”

“Your Highness, with your status, you really shouldn’t say something like that casually.”

Archbishop Canterbury looked at the girl in front of him, who was puffing with anger, and sighed helplessly.

“At present there’s no conclusive evidence. Even the Church has no way to accuse the Kingdom of anything.”

“But... but isn’t this something you can tell at a glance? Damn the Kingdom!”

Liya puffed her cheeks up like an angry little pufferfish. “Using such despicable means—how can I acknowledge people of the Kingdom as believers of the Goddess?!”

“The Goddess is selfless. Of course that won’t do.”

“Then can I mobilize the Holy Choir and attack the Kingdom?”

“Of course that’s even more not allowed. The Church cannot casually participate in disputes between nations. In the treaty that His Holiness the Pope and the kings of all nations signed back then, it was clearly stated that barring special circumstances, the Church cannot casually intervene in worldly affairs. It’s precisely this treaty that exchanged for the nations’ faith in Her Goddess. We cannot break it proactively.”

“Damn it, damn it—then can I draw a circle and curse those bastards?”

“...That, Your Highness the Saintess, please do as you like. Just be careful not to let the believers see.”

Archbishop Canterbury suddenly stood, glanced behind Liya, and sighed.

“Then I’ll go first. Even though the Church cannot proactively join the war, as a mediator, we still have to do our part. Though I feel the Kingdom has planned this for a long time, so they probably won’t listen to anything we say anyway.”

“Go, and remember to help me curse that old king of the Kingdom a few times!”

“...On that point, the Empire will definitely have someone help Your Highness do it.”

Archbishop Canterbury shook his head helplessly and turned to leave, leaving Liya alone here, fuming.

She had grown up in the Empire. Apart from the few years she went to the Holy City for further study, she spent most of her time in the Empire, so naturally her affection for it far surpassed the Kingdom, which she had never even been to.

But she truly couldn’t do anything for the Empire, because she was the Saintess, a Saintess who was supposed to lovingly treat all believers. The Kingdom’s believers were naturally included in that.

Once again, Liya felt the weight and restraint carried by the two words “Saintess.”

“Angry?”

“Yes!”

“Want me to hug you?”

“Yes!”

Liya’s soft body melted, and she slipped right into the arms of that bad guy who had appeared from nowhere.

That familiar scent finally made her feel a little better.

“How long have you been here?”

“Just got here.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“What can you do if you don’t believe me? I really did just get here.”

Muen pointed at the corner of his clothes. “Look—so I could hurry and come see you, my clothes even got soaked with dew.”

“Is that so?”

Liya sniffed like a little puppy, her expression suspicious.

“There really isn’t any woman’s scent. Did you really come to see me directly?”

“Don’t worry. The moment I walked out the door, I came to find you!”

Muen swore.

As for which door he walked out of...

A good man’s manual says: cannot say, cannot tell.

“Then... are you here to say goodbye?”

Liya rubbed against Muen in his arms and pouted as she asked.

“...Yeah.”

Muen’s body paused, then he hugged Liya very gently.

“I’m sorry. I really am here to say goodbye.”