The Holy Church Army would visit other nations in friendly manners. As such, they would generally not carry swords with them.
Yet, Messai brought with her a dagger when she went out today. The reason for that was because she learned that demons might be hiding in the city.
After learning that information, Messai was on her guard everyday...
“You took half a day just to obtain three threater tickets?”
Messai was holding three tokens from the Weissenasche Theater as she looked at her adjutant standing in front of her with a head covered in cold sweat.
“Lady Messai, I’ve only managed to purchase those tickets by requesting the help from the Arcanotech Device Association.”
Messai’s adjutant had underestimated the popularity of the ‘Beauty and the Demon.’
As nobles from all over the world had come to Norland for the world expo, the amount of people in Norland was several times greater than normal. Naturally, the popularity of the movie caught the interest of a great amount of foreigners.
“Now that we have the tickets, we’ll have to determine what sort of jugglery those demons are scheming with our very eyes.”
Right after Messai placed away the three tokens, she smelled an unbearable scent. It was the scent of a demon.
Messai was born with a keen awareness toward demons. She believed that it was the blade bestowed to her by her God, Monicar. It was all so that those sinister and cunning demons would not be able to escape her.
“There’s a demon. The aura’s very weak. It’s not strong.”
Messai’s hand moved toward the dagger on her waist. There were three members of the Holy Church Templars together with her.
Her adjutant seemed to not believe that a demon would dare to walk on the main street in broad daylight. But, the four templars all took stances to prepare for the incoming battle. Seeing that, he was forced with no choice but to take out his own staff.
This was Norland’s most bustling commercial street. Both the Patent Office and Arcanotech Device Association were located on this street.
Because of this, there were a lot of visitors from other countries traveling through this street. One could even see a lot of travelers from other races on the street.
Messai’s gaze quickly swept through the people walking on the street. Her eyes ran through elves, dwarves and humans.
Demons were known for their craftiness. They were capable of disguising themselves as other races.
On the battlefield, Messai has seen a kind of demon that specialized in disguising themselves as others. But, in the end, that demon’s disguise was seen through by her and it died under her sword.
In a short dozen seconds, Messai found the demon. That demon seemed to have disguised itself as a human girl?
“That human girl wearing a gray mage gown is a demon. Follow after her,” Messai ordered the three templars behind her.
There were simply too many travelers on this street. It was not a suitable place to use destructive magic. If they ended up striking one of the foreign visitors, it could become a diplomatic issue between two nations, a major problem.
As such, Messai could only adapt to shadowing the demon and seek an opportunity to strike.
Unfortunately, the Holy Church Templars were exceptionally bad at concealing their auras. Or perhaps Messai’s subordinates had simply never had that sort of training.
Ynor discovered them the moment he was focused by Messai. It was a feeling of malice.
Ynor had felt this sort of sensation many times back in the Demon Realm. For scubbi, they could live by eating ordinary food. But, more than anything, they would devour the lust and desire of other male creatures. Essence served as the best delivery for lust and desire.
Because of that, Ynor possesses a much stronger perception toward desire than ordinary people.
Sansa has been questioning Ynor with all sorts of strange questions. Suddenly, Ynor interrupted her and spoke to Hyrlan who has been quiet the entire time, “There’s people following us.”
“...”
Who? Could it possibly be that some devoted fans of ‘Beauty and the Demon’ recognized Ynor?
Hyrlan slightly moved her head to the side and took a glance behind. Soon, she discovered several aggressive looking knights donned in silvery white armors moving toward them.
In the end, knights were knights. They practically wouldn’t bother to hide themselves even when they’re supposed to tail others. Instead, they would openly display their malicious intentions.
“Could it be, Hyrlan, those are your love pursu...?”
Sansa stopped her teasing after she turned around to look behind. She recognized who those white armored knights were — the Holy Church Army, the Ecclesiastical Templars.
It could be said that those templars were her pride as a citizen of the Messai. People from Messai all yearned to be able to join the Holy Church Army to become a templar after growing up.
But, after witnessing those templars coming toward them with such hostility, Sansa started panicking.
“What’s going on?” asked Sansa.
Hyrlan didn’t answer her. She instead increased her walking pace. She was walking toward the Hearthstone Tavern. Ynor also increased his pace to follow Hyrlan.
But, Ynor only managed to take several steps when golden runes appeared on the ground below. The golden runes turned into chains and trapped Ynor’s ankle. Ynor lost balance and fell to the ground.
“Are... you alright?”
Sansa ran over to Ynor and helped her up. At the same time, she picked up Ynor’s wooden glasses that had fallen to the ground. When Sansa was preparing to return the glasses to Ynor, she was completely stunned.
Following a short moment of shock, Sansa felt very pleasantly surprised.
“You’re... you’re Belle?!”
In only a single second, Sansa recognized Ynor to be the actress playing Belle in ‘Beauty and the Demon.’ While Ynor’s hair color was different from Belle’s, Sansa had seen the movie multiple times. By now, she could even recite some of the lines spoken by the actors.
It was only natural that she also remembered the appearance of the female lead. Earlier, Sansa had a feeling of familiarity when seeing Ynor. And now, she was able to confirm the reason why she felt Ynor to be so familiar!
The female performer that she had always wanted to meet was actually standing right before her. What more of a pleasant surprise could there be in this world?
Oh! She even spoke with Belle earlier! They talked about a lot of things regarding Belle!
Overwhelmed with excitement, Sansa placed her hand on Ynor’s shoulder. But, the instant she did, magic power cold as ice immediately pulverized her pleasantly surprised mood. Her pleasant surprise was replaced with ice-cold astonishment.
It was the aura of demons.
It was the aura possessed by the enemies of the Nation of the Holy Church, the aura possessed by her enemies!
Sansa clearly remembered that it was that Demon Prince that’s a half demon. Why would Belle also be a demon?
Unfortunately, time didn’t allow Sansa to consider that question. Those templars were rushing toward them. Ynor also had a look of pain on his face.
The power of the golden shackles on Ynor’s ankle was increasing by the second. Sansa had seen this sort of Holy Light Magic before. It was not a complicated magic. On the contrary, it was one of the most basic magic. It was something that Sansa could crack easily.
But... why should she save a demon?
Those templars were after that demon. As a citizen of the Nation of the Holy Church, she should provide assistance to the template and help them rid this world of demons.
That was her mission.
Yet, Sansa suddenly recalled how emotional she felt when she was watching that movie. She remembered how she weeped on no end due to the death of the Demon Prince and the separation of the couple.
At that time, she felt that if she had the chance to help Belle or the Demon Prince, she would most definitely extend a helping hand toward them.
Sansa’s faith was being conflicted by her own emotions. She found herself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
In the end, golden runes appeared on Sansa’s hand. The shackles on Ynor’s ankles melted under her runes. Then, Sansa pulled Ynor up the ground.
“I’m afraid that this is the extent that I can help you with,” said Sansa.
