By the time we arrived back at Erifell’s apartment, there were four people standing by the entrance. One was Derg. He was dressed in his proper outfit as a church knight, clad in heavy armor which was made of silver. He already had quite the stony face, but now it was more serious than before. Another was Erifell. She had put on a simple dress. Her face was still pale and was leaning against Derg, but she was standing on her own two feet.
“Hey, hey! Erifell! Are you okay?!”
Leen dashed over to the group, waving her arm, and I followed close behind.
“Excuse me. Do you need something from us?”
Before we could get to Erifell, two women blocked our path. They were young, likely in their early teens, and although I didn’t recognize either of them, their Saphirist robes revealed their affiliation.
“You two are from the Carbuncles,” I said.
Ruvy had mentioned that she would send her subordinates to meet up with Derg, and it looked like we had met them at exactly the same time. As I wondered if we should introduce ourselves properly, the pair of them glanced at one another and spoke in some whispers. Then the one that was on my right, the one with light pink hair in plaits that looked like twist bread, stepped forward and glared at me.
“You have quite some gall to show your face in front of us, Hakura Istilla!”
“Huh, guess I’ve become quite famous...”
Being subject to such blatant hatred, I could only slump my shoulders in exhaustion. It wasn’t just Ruvy but the whole organization of the Carbuncles that I’d thrown mud in the face of, so it made sense for them all to resent me. Anyway, that wasn’t important right now.
“Let Erifell lie down,” I said.
Even glancing at her from this distance, I could tell that she was quite worn out. However, the twist bread girl glanced back at Erifell then glared at me.
“That cannot be done. She will be participating in the witch trial,” she said.
“Excuse me? I’m the one who called you lot here.” I’d clarified that I’d be the one to indict Cormeca.
“We looked at the documents and checked with her too. It appears that the reason your name came up was to bring Lady Ruvy here quickly.” Suddenly the twist bread girl clenched her fists and a frown creased her brow. “How dare you...use such cruel...rude language against her!”
Apparently the method I’d employed to bring Ruvy to Esma was frowned upon. Ruvy and her subordinates seemed pretty pissed. It was no surprise. Considering Ruvy’s position, it was like I’d just picked a personal fight with a noble. The girl had more to say, but she held back her words and looked up at me.
“The Carbuncles are an organization that carries out witch trials, adhering to proper protocol. We do not allow misjudgments, and this includes improper indictments.”
“Your leader was rudely accusing me of being the indictor just a minute ago...”
“Does your rudeness know no limit?!”
Oops, I was stirring up unnecessary trouble. What they said made sense, though. Right now, there was someone else I needed to prioritize.
“You’re happy with this, right, Erifell?”
I called out to Erifell from between the two nuns. Erifell was still leaning against Derg, her breathing rough. Although her voice was faint, I saw her give a confident nod as she said, “I apologize...for the hassle...”
“Miss Erifell, please don’t strain yourself!” Derg said.
Erifell coughed. “It’s fine... I need to give...my thanks.” She let go of Derg and came over to us with quivering footsteps. Then she lowered her head very deeply. “Thank you for your cooperation. Without your help...I would have died, unable to do a thing. It is because of you...that I can fight her.”
The key figures in this whole affair were Erifell and Cormeca.
“Leave the rest...to me.”
If Erifell was conscious and willing to take on the trial herself, then we were nothing more than outsiders at this point. We had no way or reason to stop her.
“Please wait! I’m coming with!”
Leen’s shock caused her to chime in. We had been so involved up until now, so I bet she didn’t want to be treated as irrelevant after all that. I understood how she felt.
“An adventurer? Come to the church? Don’t make me laugh!” The girl with twist bread hair spat as she glared at Leen’s emerald Sphere with disgust.
“Uh... Huh?!”
Leen could only open and close her mouth wordlessly. Rage prevented any words from coming to her. As she boggled, she wore an expression I’d never seen before. Her hands that gripped her staff—which was a family heirloom despite how awfully she treated it—were so tight that it started to make some troubling sounds. It looked like I might have to stop her anger from transforming into violence.
Fortunately for me, that didn’t come to pass. Leen’s sense of reason worked overtime to keep her patient, but the brain overload caused her body to simply freeze up.
“We’ll be leaving then,” the twist bread hair girl declared, deciding that the matter was settled. The two nuns bowed at us before walking by with Derg and Erifell in tow.
As they passed us, I caught Derg’s eye. He nodded slightly as if telling me that the rest was in my hands, so I raised a hand in response.