Trap 2

But when he saw a line of horseback riders heading toward his church in the distance, Hershey assumed they were nobles or wealthy men wandering through the countryside.

It was only when the riders drew closer that Hershey saw they were flying the banner of Arda Earl.

He immediately ran out to greet them.

"Thank the Heavenly Father. Your arrival truly fills me with joy."

When he reached the group, he saw that the man mounted on the white horse was Paul Greiman.

"I happened to come to Totol Village today. I remembered that I had a friend here, so I decided to stop by and see you."

Paul smiled as he spoke, then swung down from his horse.

A friend?

Hershey froze. In truth, he and Paul had only met once, at the church in Franklin Harbor.

"Come on!" Paul grabbed his hand. "Show me around your church!"

"Please follow me, Earl Greiman."--

In the church courtyard, Odennell and Mariana continued discussing the details of their operation.

"Odennell, did you find out that he would be coming to this village?"

"Yes, Crimson Flame Lady."

"But this village covers a large area. How can you be sure Lord Greiman will come to this church? What if he just wanders around somewhere else and leaves? Wouldn't all your preparations be wasted?"

"Heh heh, then we'll have to find some excuse to lure him here. I wonder whether our magic performances over the past few days have had any effect. Of course, we have other methods as well..."

"Hmph. I'm just afraid none of them will work."

Hearing this, Odennell impolitely looked Mariana up and down.

"Mariana, if none of our other methods work, don't we still have you?"

"Me?"

"Oh, you're an exceedingly charming woman. Perhaps all you need to do