It Was Industry That Rendered Transcendence Obsolete

Hmm, I'd dealt with quite a few of them. There were two at home right now, and one had even advanced into a legendary doctor. Theus thought to himself.

But that was not something he could easily say aloud. It was not that he doubted Beatrice's loyalty; mainly, neither of the Gwens had figured out whether they were [Named Ones].

"As for Lina, she once tried to infiltrate Castel as a member of Moth Chasing Flame. Chloe later caught her out, and she left behind a shell before fleeing. Then she went to the Northern Territory and tried to incite Bazel into attacking Castel... You know how that turned out."

Beatrice nodded, about to say something, when her gaze suddenly sharpened. "Lina left behind a shell?"

"Yeah." Theus froze. "Is that strange?"

"Very strange. Lina was indeed difficult to deal with, and she escaped the Holy See's encirclement several times... but she had never once left behind a shell."

Theus blinked.

Now that he thought about it, it really was rather strange.

Before, Theus had not known how strong [Named Ones] were. But thinking back now, Lina had merely been discovered by Chloe and Isaac at the time. Judging by her later performance, let alone escaping from those two, she could probably have won easily even in a direct fight.

When Moth Chasing Flame fled to Castel, they had already been reduced to just a handful of stragglers. Yet Lina had been able to contend with the Candlelight Society at its peak.

Without counting the Banshees, Lina could basically have taken on all of Castel by herself back then. Even with the Banshees included, she could have escaped easily—the Banshees were not particularly good at tracking.

Hiss...

Beatrice and Theus exchanged a glance, each seeing the unease in the other's