None of the people present had heard of Parasitic Demon Seeds before. They never imagined demons possessed such methods—especially Alicia, who was unaware despite being a princess.

  "Demons...... having such tactics... why didn’t I know......"

  "You’re the Ninth Princess of this country, aren’t you?"

  "Uh, yes."

  "It’s only natural you don’t know. Demons have many panic-inducing abilities. To avoid damaging morale, the top leaders of various countries reached an agreement to seal away this information. If you want to know more, ask your father—maybe he’ll tell you!"

  "I see. Thank you for the insight!"

  "You’re welcome."

  While Irus answered Alicia’s question,

  Alice looked up at Arthur, her face filled with guilt.

  "Brother Arthur...... I’m sorry. I got infected with something so troublesome. I don’t want to burden you anymore. I, I......"

  Arthur knelt beside her, clutching her hands tightly.

  "Alice, stop! Brother will never think you’re a burden! So don’t say such discouraging words!"

  "Yes, Alice! Never think about giving up!"

  Clea urged from the side.

  "But I......"

  "Alice! I’ll find a way! Brother will definitely find a way——! I——"

  With that, Arthur stood up again and bowed deeply to Irus.

  "Please tell me what to do——!"

  Irus looked at him and sighed:

  "It will be extremely difficult......"

  "No matter how hard it is, I’ll do it!"

  "......There’s only one way to remove a Parasitic Demon Seed—and that is——"

  "Kill the demon who created it!"

  "Other than that, no method will work! Once a Parasitic Demon Seed invades a human body, it bonds with the host’s life force. Forcibly removing it will only result in death!"

  "......"

  "But don’t worry too much. Parasitic Demon Seeds are controlled by their demon creators. This young lady has only suffered physical problems from the seed’s growth over the years—meaning that demon must still be sealed somewhere, unable to connect with the seed."

  "Moreover, while the seed can’t be removed, it can be suppressed——"

  Irus held up the empty bottle she’d used earlier.

  "This potion is actually an exorcism potion developed by the Church a long time ago, specifically to counter various demonic curses. It’s equally effective against Parasitic Demon Seeds. As long as you buy this potion from the Church, you can keep the seed suppressed indefinitely—at the very least, it will ensure this young lady doesn’t have any more episodes."

  "Really——?!"

  Hope ignited in Arthur’s eyes once more.

  "Don’t get too happy yet. This potion isn’t cheap. You’ll need a lot of it to keep the situation under control."

  "It doesn’t matter how expensive it is—I’ll find a way to get the money! And that demon!"

  Arthur had never shown such intense killing intent toward any being.

  "Brother Arthur...... That demon must be very dangerous. You......"

  "Don’t worry, Alice. Even for you, I won’t act recklessly."

  "Mm......"

  After some time, Arthur took Alice back to the orphanage.

  Alicia also took her leave. She’d decided to go to the palace first thing tomorrow to ask her father—how many more secrets were hidden in this world?

  Miko planned to return to the academy with Hulim, but after glancing at her, Hulim said: "Miko, I have something to talk to Irus about. You go ahead."

  "Huh? Then...... hurry up."

  Once only Hulim and Irus remained,

  "Hulim, what do you want to ask?"

  "......Irus, did you hold something back from Arthur earlier?"

  "You’re quite perceptive......"

  "You’re right. There’s one thing I didn’t tell him."

  "......Why?"

  Irus looked at Hulim calmly and countered: "Hulim...... What level of strength do you think a High-Rank Demon capable of creating Parasitic Demon Seeds possesses?"

  "......"

  "They are all Rank S—and among the most powerful of Rank S demons!"

  ......

  Upper District.

  Count Balt’s Residence.

  "Lord Ferno, try mine too~!"

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  "Haha! Alright, alright!"

  Ferno Balt opened his mouth to eat the food fed to him by a beautifully dressed woman beside him. He then picked up his wine glass, swirled it, and sipped triumphantly.

  "That stupid little girl dared to oppose us. Did you see how she looked tonight! It seems her chances of becoming a crown princess are slim! Hahaha~!"

  "Congratulations, Lord Ferno~!"

  "It looks like with Lord Ferno’s support, His Highness the Third Prince’s ascension to the throne is inevitable~!"

  "Yes! Well said—you’ll be rewarded!"

  "Thank you, my lord!"

  "You’re absolutely right. With my, Ferno Balt’s, help, His Highness the Third Prince will definitely ascend to the throne. And then it will be my time to reach great heights!"

  "Lord Ferno, don’t forget us then~!"

  "Haha! I won’t, I won’t!"

  Bang——!

  Just as Ferno was indulging in his revelry, the door was suddenly kicked open, and a group of knights burst in.

  "Ah——!""Ah!"

  The elaborately dressed women screamed and fled to the corners of the room.

  "What! W-Who are you——!?"

  "Hmph! Ferno Balt?"

  A knight captain asked coldly.

  "That’s me! Wait a minute! You’re from the Garrison Knight Order?! What do you think you’re doing breaking into my residence!"

  "What are we doing? Arresting you, of course! Take him away——!"

  Two knights stepped forward aggressively and grabbed him.

  "Wait! What are you doing?! Let go of me! I’m a count! I’m the City Guard Commander! I’m backed by the Third Prince! Let me go! You can’t treat me like this! I want to see the Third Prince!"

  "Cut the nonsense! Move!"

  The knights dragged Ferno Balt out of the room, not sparing a glance at the others.

  Ferno continued shouting and struggling as he was led out.

  Many guards in the residence looked away, pretending not to see.

  This infuriated Ferno completely.

  "You idiots! What are you standing around for?! Your master is being arrested!"

  But the guards bowed their heads even lower, silently repeating to themselves:

  Don’t see me, don’t see me......

  Are you kidding? The Garrison Knight Order was the empire’s most elite force. Even though fewer than twenty knights had arrived, all the guards combined wouldn’t stand a chance against them.

  They were just salaried guards. If it were bandits or others, they might intervene—stopping bandits could earn rewards, and their families would get pensions if they died. But the Garrison Knight Order represented the royal family. Stopping them was a death wish! Whether they survived or not, they’d face retaliation afterward.

  Fearing such consequences, none of the guards dared to intervene.

  Ferno Balt could only be dragged away by the knights, his face filled with despair.

  ......

  Days had passed since the battle at the abandoned church.

  Through Alicia, Hulim learned much about the aftermath.

  In addition to the information Hulim had accidentally found, the knights discovered more evidence of the underground organization’s criminal collusion with numerous nobles.

  Using this evidence, the knight order arrested a group of nobles. Further investigations led to more illegal organizations and a large number of additional nobles being implicated.

  Most of the arrested nobles belonged to the Third Prince’s faction. As a core member and key financier of the faction—with his funds proven to be illegal—Ferno held a wealth of damaging information about the faction.

  The result was a severe blow to the entire Third Prince’s faction.

  It was said that double-digit nobles had their titles revoked, with many more facing various punishments.

  While other crown prince candidates’ factions had taken the opportunity to kick the Third Prince when he was down, the root cause was the Third Prince’s inclusion of too many disreputable nobles in his ranks.

  In short, after this incident, the Third Prince’s faction had to temporarily withdraw from the throne struggle to rebuild and recover.

  Additionally, the incident brought an unexpected benefit to Hulim:

  Djelgete’s tea parties were indefinitely suspended—meaning she was unlikely to face arbitrary trouble from them in the future.

  It was a pleasant surprise.

  But her joy didn’t last long—someone came looking for her......

  "......Djelgete, what do you want?"

  The once-arrogant young lady stood before her, her usual arrogance gone. Although the Baroli Family had escaped punishment due to their powerful connections, as the faction leader, they’d inevitably suffered a heavy blow from the faction’s crisis.

  "Hulim...... I know you have many grievances against us...... And we were almost entirely at fault. For that, I apologize."

  "An apology...... Is that all?"

  "I also want to thank you."

  "Thank you for rescuing Lucy, Hari, and the others!"

  "......"

  The ones who’d been rescued hadn’t come to thank her—instead, the most prominent leader among them had come on their behalf. For a moment, Hulim didn’t know whether to accept the thanks or not......

  "......Djelgete, you really care about those people...... Is it worth it?"

  Djelgete shook her head, answering calmly and seriously: "It’s not about worthiness—it’s the responsibility of those in power."

  "......"

  The responsibility of those in power......

  No......

  As expected——

  Djelgete was still the same arrogant person through and through.

  ......

  It was the third night after the abandoned church incident.

  "......"

  "I told you that Morgar was an idiot."

  Two figures in black robes stood on the roof of a building near the abandoned church. Their bodies seemed to blend perfectly with the night—if they hadn’t spoken, no one would have noticed their presence.

  "I know...... But I didn’t expect him to be this stupid......"

  "Hmph! Before leaving, I warned him not to attract too much attention. What did he do? He could have kidnapped the students quietly, but instead, he had to draw Manacos’s attention! Didn’t he think that academy would be easy to deal with?!"

  "Now look—his death is irrelevant, but all the organization’s long-standing arrangements here are gone too. What an irredeemable fool!"

  "......What’s the point of saying this now? Let’s go back and report this. I have a bad feeling about staying in Langard any longer."

  "Surely not...... That ‘Saint’ wouldn’t care about people like us, would he?"

  "You never know. We should leave quickly......"

  "Fine...... Let’s go."

  Tap, tap, tap!

  Just then, a clear sound of footsteps echoed through the dark, silent night.

  "You won’t be leaving tonight."

  In the middle of the street stood a man dressed in black, with black hair and holding a short black staff. His eyes stared coldly at the two on the roof.

  "Hmm? Who are you?"

  "Hmph! Lackeys of Gulos—didn’t your Pillar of Faith tell you who I am?"

  "Mm, do you know Lord Cassim?"

  At that moment, one of them seemed to recognize the man’s identity, his eyes widening in terror.

  "N-No...... It’s him! Grisa Rando! Run!!!"

  Before he could finish speaking, he fled as fast as he could.

  "What?! Grisa Rando——!?"

  The other man’s eyes also widened when he heard the name. He quickly reacted and turned to run as well.

  Even though their strength was comparable to Morgar’s, neither had the slightest desire to stay and fight.

  "I said...... you won’t be leaving."

  Grisa slowly raised his staff toward the sky.

  In the next moment, the sky was shrouded in a massive shadow. Countless shadowy tentacles descended from above, instantly surrounding the man who’d fallen behind.

  "Damn you—I’ll fight you to the death——!"

  Boom!

  Rocks surged from the ground, forming a giant rock python that shot into the sky.

  But in less than a second, the imposing rock python was completely engulfed by the shadows and fell motionless. The man was then seized by numerous shadowy tentacles.

  "Ah——!!!"

  He let out a single scream before his voice vanished completely into the night.

  "Hmph!"

  Grisa snorted coldly, then looked at the other man, who’d already fled far away—but he had no intention of chasing......

  On the other side, hearing his companion’s scream from behind, the first Gulos member to flee trembled with fear and ran even faster.

  "Bastard! That bastard Morgar! What kind of trouble did he get us into—attracting this guy!!"

  After a while, he realized Grisa didn’t seem to be chasing him. He was amazed, thinking he must be dreaming to have escaped with his life.

  "Roar——!"

  A terrifying shadowy beast suddenly appeared in front of him, its golden eyes staring at him coldly.

  "Ah! Ah——!!!"

  In the next moment, he was swallowed whole by the shadowy beast, followed by the sound of crunching bones.

  Meanwhile, Grisa, still standing in place, seemed to sense something.

  "Sphinger, don’t eat random things."

  "......"

  In the distance, the crunching sound stopped.

  "Pfft——!"

  Then came the sound of something being spat out.

  A few seconds later.

  "Meow~!"

  A black cat with golden pupils emerged from the shadow at Grisa’s feet, rubbing affectionately against his leg.

  Grisa picked it up and stroked its fur gently.

  Then he slowly raised his head, gazing at the distant horizon.

  "Gulos...... Come if you dare. Next time, I’ll stand in front of my students!"