We ended up not seeing her again for the rest of the day. Apparently, she ate separately from everyone else.
Come nightfall, Rosalia and I explored the area surrounding the church while everyone else was asleep. Since I was playing the role of an adventurer, the reverend asked me to handle nightly patrols. Rosalia could have stayed in bed, but she came along after claiming there was safety in numbers.
“I apologize for my earlier behavior, Lord Weiss. I can’t believe I acted like that toward someone I only just met…”
“Don’t worry about it. The curse on her makes everyone other than members of the Hades Church hate her, so it’s only natural you’d feel that way too,” I explained. “I’m only fine because I have White’s divine protection.”
“The Hades Church? They’re the ones who hurt you and made Lady Aigis suffer. We can’t let them get away with this,” she said, before asking, “but, um, why do you know about the curse?”
“Er, thanks to White’s divine protection. Ah ha ha.” I managed to answer with a stupid lie.
“I see!” For her part, Rosalia seemed genuinely impressed. “I should have expected as much from you, Lord Weiss!”
Argh! I feel so guilty!
Meanwhile, Rosalia seemed to remember White, and she let out a lonely sigh. “I really wanted to bring him with us.”
“He’s cute and divine, so I get it,” I said, “but we’d stand out more than necessary with him around, so I had no choice but to leave him with Nyarl. I hope he’s doing all right.”
I recalled White’s adorable little squeaks, which left me feeling just a smidge lonely. When everything here was done, I was going to dote on him so much.
As I was thinking about that—
“Eek!” Rosalia suddenly tripped over her feet and fell into my arms.
“Uh, Rosalia…?”
“Don’t move your face,” she whispered into my ear. “Look up at that building. There’s someone hiding up there.”
“What…?”
I glanced up at the roof of the building Rosalia mentioned, trying to look nonchalant, but I couldn’t see a damn thing. I also didn’t sense anyone up there, but all that really told me was that Rosalia’s adventurer skills definitely hadn’t dulled. My magic was pretty effective, but I didn’t have as much practical combat experience as she did.
“They must be the real deal,” I said to her quietly. “I’ll hide myself with magic, so can you try and lead them toward me?”
“But you’ll be in danger!” she protested.
“You said you’d protect me no matter what, right? I’m not worried. Besides, I’ve gotten stronger.”
“Jeez, that’s so unfair… Okay, fine, but if things look bad, please run.”
With that, Rosalia and I split up. Using my shadow magic, I wiped away my presence, although that meant I couldn’t move at all. Fortunately, I could see just fine, so I’d know the exact time to spring my surprise attack.
After waiting for a bit, I saw ice spears rain down on the area Rosalia had pointed out earlier. Something silver flashed in the distance, and somehow, all of the spears were deflected.
“Ha! To think that someone could sense me. You’re not bad, not bad at all! It must be thanks to God’s divine blessing that I’ve encountered such a powerful enemy here!”
“Who are you?” I heard Rosalia call. “Why are you creeping around this church?”
Rosalia once again fired her magic at the person clad in an old robe, but he simply deflected her barrage with the short swords he had in both hands.
This guy was no joke. My muscles began to tense up.
“My apologies, I, Darkness, cannot afford to reveal my true identity, beautiful young lady.”
“I see,” she said. “So your name is Darkness!”
“H-how do you know my name? Don’t tell me you possess the Appraisal skill?!”
Just like that, my muscles relaxed.
This guy seemed like a total idiot. He was called “Darkness,” huh? That was totally a name straight out of To Love Ru. The moniker itself felt familiar, but I didn’t recall anyone like this in the game. Maybe I’d seen it in the production materials.
Anyhow, this Darkness guy sounded brainless, but in terms of strength, he was a threat. Especially if he could overpower Rosalia.
“Sorry, but I cannot afford to stand out more than I already have. I shall be retreating now!” Rosalia thrust her spear forward, but he used its force to launch himself off the roof of the building while cackling. He then began to spin in midair. Was he just trying to show off?
Well done, Rosalia!
As soon as Darkness landed where Rosalia had been guiding him, I dispelled my magic and cast a new spell.
“To think I hadn’t noticed your presence!” he said. “However, you appear to be rather young! If you do not wish to perish in combat, I advise that you…”
“Tyrant of shadows, capture my foe!”
I ignored Darkness and continued to cast my spell, causing my shadow to become a giant beast. It swung its claws down in an attempt to capture him.
“What?! High-rank magic?!” He let out an astonished yelp…then began to laugh riotously. “Well done, well done! However. However, you are not the only one who can wield magic. To my left arm, a wind beast. To my right arm, a wind raptor. Oh, wind! Coil yourselves around my blades!”
Darkness cloaked both of his short swords in wind, then blocked my shadow beast’s attack with the sword in his right hand while thrusting his other sword into the ground.
“Damn, he can use High-rank magic too? And two different types simultaneously?” I hissed.
Using the wind expelled from his left-hand sword, Darkness shot into the air like a rocket.
“Bwa ha ha ha! Farewell!”
“Get back here!” I commanded. “Shadow beast!”
“Not happening—ah? What?!”
My last-ditch effort to grab Darkness worked; my shadow beast just barely clipped him with its tail, causing his trajectory to shift ever so slightly. He let out a pathetic scream as he went flying off in a tumble.
Was he the Hades worshipper targeting Astesia? He was a pretty weird guy for that job.
“What is all this racket?” Father Claise asked.
“I’m sleepy,” Astesia said with a yawn.
Both of them had come out after hearing all the noise (mostly from Darkness). I wasn’t sure how to explain the ruckus to them, but then Rosalia appeared at my side to give them the details.
“I was on patrol with Royce when a strange man attacked us,” she told them. “He might know something about the missing girl. He was also quite strong, so I think it would be wise to request aid from another church.”
“There really was an intruder? He must be the one who kidnapped Malta…” Astesia remained stoic, but there was anger lacing her words.
Personally, I was more interested in Father Claise. He whispered to himself, “They’ve finally shown up.”
He seemed to know something we didn’t.