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Just after slicing the last of the giant Monoeye Bats in half, the wiry, middle-aged man dressed in ceremonial robes meant for high-ranking clergy loosened his grip on the three-pronged swords fitted over his hands—an unusual weapon known as a jamadhar.

At that moment, the blades that had been spread open in a T-shape snapped together with a sharp click, merging into a single blade.

“Hm…?”

The man drove the weapon’s tip into the ground within arm’s reach and lightly shook his now-free hands. As he surveyed the scattered corpses of stray dogs, feral cats, and wild rats lying around his feet, he took out a cigar from his pocket, lit it using life magic, and twisted his lips into a faint smirk.

“…So it got away. Failing to take it down with the first strike was a costly mistake.”

He had seen that unguarded back just as predicted, but his bloodlust must have leaked out from being unable to fully restrain himself.

Following standard procedure, he had planned to conceal himself under the cover of night and fog, then strike with a precise thrust to the heart from behind, followed by a diagonal slash to finish it cleanly. But because of his own misstep, his prey managed to dodge the fatal blow by a hair’s breadth, and to make things worse, unnecessary interference disrupted the entire operation.

“To top it off, I got bogged down by those damn small animals attacking me one after another.”

When the purple smoke he exhaled swirled around the surrounding corpses, they were instantly engulfed in blue flames and reduced to ash.

“It’s probably a limited Tamer-type skill… but something’s off.”

He glanced around the now pristine street, devoid of any signs of battle, and finally turned his attention toward the direction where his prey had fled, tilting his head in confusion.

“It definitely used some kind of Evil Eye-type superpower¹, and it is impossible to use two different powers at the same time.”

In fact, of all the protective charms sewn into the lining of his ceremonial robes, the only ones that reacted were those meant to counter Magic Eyes and Evil Eyes. Most likely, it was the limited skill known as the Hypnos mentioned in previous reports.

“So, was it the ability of that brat who barged in halfway through? But if that’s the case, why didn’t it devour his ability?”

The man exhaled another twisting trail of purple smoke and muttered to himself, his expression twisted with dissatisfaction.

Either way, this was a failure. To think that an amateur’s interference would prevent him from fulfilling his mission.

Although the boy had been traveling with his target, his movements and presence were entirely those of an amateur. Most likely, he was just an ordinary person unaware of the situation—part of the target’s camouflage to blend into society. Judging him as harmless, the man had made his move, but he never expected the boy to throw himself in harm’s way to protect the target.

Though he had held back at the last moment, it was only barely. Even if the boy didn’t die instantly, judging by the amount of blood lost, he was probably no longer alive by now.

From the desperate behavior the boy displayed at the end, it was hard to believe he was truly allied with his target. So, he must have been a well-meaning bystander. In that case, the whole situation left a particularly bad aftertaste in more ways than one.

“A textbook case of ‘Haste makes waste,’ I suppose… Ugh, have I grown rusty from too much desk work?”

With a sigh of self-reproach, he spat out the cigar onto the ground and crushed it under the thick sole of his military-grade boot.

“There’s no doubt I made contact with the target… but it’s hard to call that a fatal blow. And that makes things complicated. If I remember correctly, Experiment No. 8 was also given limited transformation abilities. By now, it’s probably changed its face and is already making its escape.”

He scratched his unkempt hair furiously.

“There likely won’t be another attack, but I should at least head over to the Adventurers’ Guild Headquarters and check on the shrine maidens under their protection…”

“I wanted to stay in the shadows if I could…” he grumbled as he grabbed the jamadhar embedded in the ground, unceremoniously shoving it into the leather sheath strapped to his lower back before starting to walk away.

“If I show up at this hour, that boy Lawrence is going to yap my ears off. Well, I doubt he’d be bold enough to use his ‘Judgment’ ability against me, but having him sniff around for nothing would be a real pain.”

Muttering complaints under his breath, the man—Cardinal Callisto—disappeared into the fog.

For a brief moment, the fog cleared, and he caught sight of the hazy moon hanging just above the eaves of a red-roofed house nearby.

At the same time, the church bells tolled throughout the city, signaling bedtime. And there, with the moon at its back, a single cat rose up on the rooftop, spreading the wings on its back as it let out a soft, “—Meow.”

♢♦♢♦♢

The moment Jill took one look at the boy’s condition—cleanly slashed from his left side to his right shoulder²—her gentle gaze turned into one of urgent seriousness.

“「The Great Healing Hand shall kindle your flame of life.」”

Before anyone could react, Jill stepped forward, and a dazzling sphere of light emerged between her hands.

“「Regenerate」”

The supreme-level healing art, which only a few shrine maidens were capable of performing, was unleashed without hesitation, enveloping the boy’s entire body.

The sheer intensity of the power was palpable that even a swordsman unfamiliar with sacred or magical arts could feel it. Even adventurers like Kaisa and Daniella and the two templar knights, who were presumably accustomed to witnessing miracles performed by priests and shrine maidens alike, trembled with awe and emotion.

“This is incredible. If we were to request such healing from the Church through our household, just how much would the cost be…”

The one who spoke with a strangely practical perspective was Simon’s servant, Emil.

“Well, at the very least, it’d start at five large gold coins or Eunice Lira³ in similar value,” Cestlavie remarked with a casual shrug.

Incidentally, unlike the Graviol Empire, there were no iron coins, half-silver coins, or half-gold coins in the Eunice Theocracy. Their economy was based on copper coins, large copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, large gold coins, and paper currency issued by the Church known as “Eunice Lira.”

One copper coin is roughly equivalent to five imperial iron coins (about fifty yen). A hundred copper coins make up one large copper coin (about five thousand yen). Ten large copper coins make up one silver coin (about fifty thousand yen). Ten silver coins make up one gold coin (about five hundred thousand yen). Ten gold coins make up one large gold coin (about five million yen). From five large gold coins and above, it becomes Eunice Lira.

In other words, the cost of this healing alone would blow away about five to ten years’ worth of a citizen’s annual income. Depending on how you look at it, it’s blatant extortion, but there are plenty of wealthy folks who think it’s a cheap price to pay if money can buy them their lives.

“Will the kid be alright? Sure, his life was saved, but if they hit him with the bill later, he might end up hanging himself,” Kaisa said with a shiver.

In response, the two templar knights flashed cheerful smiles at her.

“Please rest assured. Our Church, in its boundless mercy, also accepts charitable contributions through convenient installments.”
“Of course, after a formal Geas is established, his body and social status will temporarily belong to the Church.”
“And the interest rate is only five percent. —Per month, of course.”

In other words, if the total were five large gold coins, the interest would be two gold coins and five silver coins per month. In thirteen months, that would amount to an additional three large gold coins, two gold coins, and five silver coins.