Sensing that she was still being watched, Helene lowered her head in relief and looked at the elderly man dressed as a bishop. His skin, eyes, expression, and even the details of his movements were indistinguishable from those of a real person, yet her keen senses as a Reaper detected something amiss.
In particular, his "weak point" was different from an ordinary person's. It was neither in his head nor in his chest, but in an inconspicuous spot on the side of his abdomen.
Some kind of mystical construct? Or simply a puppet dreamed up and built by those Artisans?
As she pondered this, she glanced around. None of the other prisoners, William included, responded to the old man's welcome. Only Tia stared at him in a slight daze, as though she had met him before.
A bishop of the Church of Knowledge... Could he be the bishop who saved Tia from the Demoness Sect's pursuit, then sent her out to sea to seek refuge with Miss Angelica? Of course, the one who saved her should have been the real person outside Molora...
Various thoughts surfaced in Helene's mind. Then she adopted an indifferent, even somewhat provocative air and replied to the old man:
"So this is where we're being exiled?"
Her attempt to anger him by asking a question she already knew the answer to failed. The old man merely smiled, stepped closer, and glanced up in the direction Helene had been looking earlier before saying in a gentle voice:
"That's right. Every one of you will receive a second life here... As for how long you live, that's up to you."
As he spoke, he pointed, and the prisoners' handcuffs, shackles, and the additional restraints on some of the more dangerous criminals softened like mud and fell to