That afternoon, in the guard room outside the Chanis Gate beneath Saint Selena Cathedral.
After receiving treatment through Ritual Magic, Leonard's injuries had greatly improved, but his complexion was still terrible, pale from blood loss.
The Nighthawk lowered his head as he sat in his chair, his eyes vacant, not daring to look ahead.
Across from him, Daly Simone, who had rushed over, looked even worse than he did, as if she had put on whitening makeup. Her face was bloodless, and her lips pale.
She had originally received a notice from the Holy Cathedral and come to deal with the "bomb that kept growing stronger." She had never expected the first news she heard upon arriving in Tingen to be the terrible news of Dunn and the others' deaths.
The woman neither shouted nor raged or cried, which only made Leonard more worried.
Muffled discussions occasionally drifted out from behind the Chanis Gate. The powerful figures sent by the Holy Cathedral were discussing how to deal with Tingen City's Sealed Artifacts. Having lost the suppression of the Saint Relic, they remained somewhat restless even after their seals had been reinforced.
Opinions had split into two camps. Some believed that a new Holy Artifact should be brought in as soon as possible to restore the seals' strength, while others felt there was no need. They could simply lower the Tingen City team's rank, transfer those Sealed Artifacts with living characteristics to other dioceses, and leave behind only the easier-to-seal ones.
Leonard, outside the door, paid no attention to the debate. All he wanted was to be alone in some empty corner, or better yet, to have died in Street Park that morning. At least then he would not have needed to face other people's gazes or the judgment within his