The garden.

The fine rain was blocked by the dense branches, only able to turn into heavy droplets that soaked into the soil. Mottled traces stretched into the distance, then were swallowed by the deep darkness within the woods.

Muen stood at the edge of the garden.

It was very quiet all around. There was no unnecessary sound. Between the plants carefully trimmed by the gardeners, there were only a few drifting shadows.

“This really is a good place to clear your head.”

Muen observed his surroundings. The intoxicating scenery had not faded in the slightest even on a rainy day. The secluded environment specially created by top-tier gardeners could not have been more suitable for relaxing one’s mood.

However, at this time of day, for anyone visiting this place, the banquet soon to be held inside the Ritual Hall—where one would be fortunate enough to personally see Her Holiness the Saintess of the Church—was far more valuable than the scenery here.

“Hm?”

But Muen’s leisure did not last long. As he followed a quiet path deeper inside, before he had walked far, a clear, low hum sounded by his ear.

His gaze slanted sideways, and he took out a short piece of blade radiating a holy aura from his storage magical device.

It was Absolution.

It was warning him.

“In my perception, there’s nothing wrong with this place, and my intuition feels completely normal.”

Muen’s gaze narrowed slightly. With the powerful perception and intuition he had trained up until now, he had found nothing abnormal. Yet if this dagger, which possessed powerful killing ability, was giving a warning...

Deep within his mental space, the black sun turned silently, and Muen’s pupils abruptly became profound.

In the vision covered by black flame, faint, indifferent glimmers like fireflies used the area half a meter before Muen as a boundary, spreading loosely across the other side and invisibly marking off a massive circular area.

These glimmers possessed no killing power at all, and could not even be detected by the vast majority of methods. Their only use was that as long as someone stepped into this area, its owner would inevitably be alerted.

“To be able to cover the entire royal garden without a sound, while I have to rely on this killer weapon forged from a Holy Sword’s raw fragment to notice anything at all...”

Bzz—

“All right, all right, I know you’re still in your growth stage right now, and you’ll be able to do it in the future too... but this isn’t the time to talk about that.”

Muen raised his hand and looked deeper into the garden.

“In other words, Bishop Kore was telling the truth. That person also likes coming here to clear his head... But if it’s only to clear his head, isn’t his own powerful perception enough? Why deliberately...”

Rustle...

The leaves swayed.

Muen’s expression turned solemn, and he immediately withdrew every trace of power from himself that should not be there.

At the end of the path, Archbishop Ision, dressed in wide and solemn clerical robes, slowly walked over. He seemed to be moving very slowly, but in just a few steps, he arrived not far from Muen and looked with slight confusion at this middle-aged priest who had appeared alone in the quiet garden.

“You are...”

“Father Wayne of Kore Church.” Muen bowed. “Good evening, Your Excellency.”

“Oh, that person the young man Kore recommended. I remember this is your first time participating in the choir?”

Muen’s heart tightened. He had not expected Archbishop Ision to actually remember something about him.

Could it be that he had personally reviewed the entire choir list?

That was far too cautious. Fortunately, his identity had been entered into the Church system through Liya’s side, and his record was also completely real. The cathedral alone would not be able to find any issue.

“Yes. My first time.”

Muen’s expression remained normal, without the slightest flaw.

“So I’m a little nervous and came here to clear my head.”

“Ha. Same as me.”

“Hm? Archbishop... what do you mean by that?”

“It’s embarrassing to say, but I’m actually a little nervous too.”

Archbishop Ision looked toward the Ritual Hall, gradually bright with lights as the sky darkened. Under that faint illumination, an unreadable expression appeared on his aged face.

“After all, what comes next is something even I... Ah, look at that. My old habit is acting up again. I’m actually complaining to a young one like you. I really have regressed with age.”

Realizing he had said something he should not have, Archbishop Ision suddenly stopped the subject, smiled faintly, and patted Muen’s shoulder.

“Child, there is no need to be nervous. The Goddess will bless you.”

“...Will she?”

Muen carefully observed Archbishop Ision’s face, but no matter how he looked, when the word “Goddess” was mentioned, Archbishop Ision showed nothing unusual.

At least, not in his expression.

“Of course she will. The Goddess will show compassion to every devout and hardworking person. The aura of Holy Light on you is very rich. That is proof of your ascetic practice, so there is no need to be afraid.”

“...Thank you, Your Excellency.”

“All right, I need to go work. I hope I’ll be able to enjoy your excellent performance later.”

After comforting him again with no airs at all, Archbishop Ision soon disappeared from Muen’s sight.

The wind also stopped, and the rustling of the leaves went completely still.

This contact had been even more... relaxed and ordinary than Muen imagined.

“For now, it seems this ‘Archbishop’ is not as dangerous as I imagined. Or...”

Muen once again rubbed the cold blade of Absolution, marveling that it was indeed a top-tier killing weapon personally forged by the Judgment Archbishop using a fragment of a Holy Sword’s raw material. Not only did it possess the power to kill a Crowned powerhouse, it also had the ability to deceive a Crowned one’s perception.

After all, Muen’s own disguise could not even fool the Witch of Repentance, let alone deceive Archbishop Ision at such close range. The rich aura of Holy Light he had sensed just now was precisely what Absolution emitted.

In that regard, Elizabeth’s alchemical domain was simply...

Bzz!

“All right, all right, I know. I know your growth potential far surpasses Absolution as a one-use weapon, but right now you’re still a little— Ow, don’t poke my butt!”

...

...

After soothing the two especially irritable white-haired tsundere short blades, Muen continued walking deeper into the garden.

He knew that if the Archbishop had truly done anything here, there definitely would not be any traces left. Yet curiosity still drove him deeper.

“As expected, with my current self, trying to obtain information in advance from a powerhouse at that level is still too difficult.”

In the end, he reached a pavilion by a lake, but still discovered nothing.

The faint glimmers Archbishop Ision had previously scattered here also completely vanished with his departure, and the entire garden hurriedly sank into the darkness of night.

Rain struck the lake surface, stirring up ripples.

“Let’s go back.”

Muen withdrew his gaze.

“Are you looking for something here?”

There was someone else?

Muen’s pupils shrank. Unlike with the Archbishop just now, where he had already somewhat expected it in advance, this time it was completely beyond his expectations. His perception was blank, yet that voice abruptly rang out.

Muen almost instantly entered a state of vigilance and turned his head. At the side of the pavilion, he saw a woman.

The woman was dressed in a cleric’s robe, but the details were somewhat different. The golden floral trim was some kind of noble symbol of the Kingdom, while the Holy Light cross pendant worn at her chest undoubtedly symbolized the Church and the Goddess.

“Who are you?” Muen asked warily.

“Oh? There are still priests in Saint Blancfazesiya who don’t know me?”

The woman’s face was ordinary, as ordinary as any woman one might pass by on the street, but some indescribable temperament gave her a presence that could not be ignored.

Yet before she had spoken just now, Muen had not noticed that presence in the slightest.

“I am a priest who was just transferred to Kore Church. I’m not very familiar with this place yet.” Faced with the woman’s question, Muen answered without changing expression.

“I see. Then that’s no surprise.”

The woman smiled gently.

“Allow me to introduce myself. I am the High Priestess in charge of that Ritual Hall, as well as the royal capital’s Sanctuary. You may call me Olive. Like you, I only took this position not long ago.”

“High Priestess...”

Muen quickly recalled information related to the Kingdom, and only then remembered that this so-called High Priestess was actually the head of the Kingdom’s clergy.

The Kingdom was a great nation of believers in the Church of Life. Most of its citizens believed in the Life Goddess, and of course, the Kingdom’s upper levels were unwilling to let the Church monopolize this faith—or rather, the power generated by this faith. Thus, in the name of the Goddess, they established the “Ritual Hall” and the so-called “Sanctuary.”

Both were counterparts to the Church’s cathedrals, and in name, they stood at the peak of the entire Kingdom clerical system. However, the position of “High Priestess” in charge of the “Sanctuary” could be directly appointed by the King.

The meaning behind that went without saying. But the Church had still tacitly allowed the King this disguised act of centralizing power. After all, one of the Church’s principles was not to interfere in the “mortal world.”

Next door in the Empire, the Silent Bureau was about to snatch away all their work. Compared with that, the Kingdom had merely established an institution that borrowed the Goddess’s name to increase its own authority...

It was practically worry-free.

“So it is Your Excellency the High Priestess.”

Muen saluted according to Church etiquette.

“I was rude.”

“It was only a simple question. There is no need to call it rude.”

The High Priestess smiled. “Father, what are you doing here?”

“In a little while, I’ll be reading sacred hymns as a member of the choir beneath the Goddess’s gaze. It’s my first time, so I’m very nervous,” Muen replied.

“Your first time... Then you should be nervous. When I first stood beneath the Goddess’s gaze, I was also very nervous.”

A trace of reminiscence appeared on the High Priestess’s face. “Unfortunately, nothing happened. I did not feel the Goddess’s grace. Looking back now, perhaps I was not devout enough.”

“Your Excellency must be joking. Who here could be more devout than you?” Muen casually flattered her.

“Hehe. True. Who here could compare to me?”

The High Priestess’s lips curved faintly, her meaning profound.

“Perhaps even that old thing from just now is slightly inferior to me.”

That old thing from just now?

Muen’s mind stirred.

“Your Excellency, then why are you here?”

“Me?”

The High Priestess said, “I’m nervous.”

“?”

The corner of Muen’s eye twitched.

Damn it. Was tonight some kind of exam-results day? Why were so many people nervous?

“Don’t look so unbelieving. Of course I’d be nervous. After all...”

The High Priestess rose. Her eyes, extremely beautiful and completely mismatched with her ordinary face, gazed toward some unknown place.

“Tonight is both the beginning of the first stage and the end. For you and me, it is undoubtedly the most important moment.”