301 Mie's Farewell

It was as if the other side of the night had been blackened with ink.

Inside the mansion where Alice and the others were.

Faint flashes of light, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, would occasionally flicker outside the window, followed by deafening roars like thunder.

The Royal Capital has been completely turned into a battlefield.

Although the commotion outside was countless times more terrifying than any thunderstorm.

But even Alice felt a little more at ease at this moment.

Dekan should have gradually turned this apocalyptic situation around.

Only Cornelia looked out the window with particular concern.

She sensed an undeniable weariness in Dekan's voice when he announced the Shadow Bishop's betrayal to the entire city.

Normally, given Dekan's personality, even if he was exhausted, he would pretend to be very imposing and use a Taunt tone to mess with the other bishops' mentality.

This time, however, Dekan's voice was unusually calm.

Cornelia knew it was a painful exhaustion.

It was precisely because she had always been by Dekan's side that she understood Dekan's thoughts and feelings.

Besides being near his limit, Dekan's mood has inexplicably become quite depressed, as if he has suffered a blow.

She had never seen Dekan like this before.

"Dekan... what exactly happened...?"

Cornelia desperately wanted to get to Dekan's side, even if it was just to hold his hand, as long as he could see her.

Cornelia's mission, however, is to protect Alice and Flora.

Besides the Resurrection Church, they also had to guard against attacks from the Calamity Cult.

Cornelia couldn't help but glance back at her other combat-capable companion.

Mie seemed very sleepy earlier and started to doze off on the sofa.

Cornelia often stayed with Mie during their trip to the Randir Kingdom for the seventh-tier team assessment.

Mie was indeed very sleepy.

"Cheer up, concentrate."

Cornelia patted her cheeks.

At this moment, she needed to concentrate on her work and wait for Dekan's victorious return.

No matter what troubles Dekan has, she will listen to Dekan carefully and then soothe his weary soul with her words.

"Um..."

With a soft murmur, Mie slowly opened her eyes on the sofa.

But this time, her eyes changed; they no longer looked like the Mie's usual gaze.

It has become much colder and harsher.

She seemed to be planning to leave without saying goodbye.

But he found that his wrist was still being gently held by Alice.

Slightly stunned.

She hesitated.

He slowly turned his head and looked at Alice, his expression full of reluctance.

In an instant, it was as if the usual Mie had returned.

It's like waking up from a long dream and still feeling reluctant to let go of the faint memories.

She seemed to have something to say, but hesitated whether or not she should say it.

The brief silence brought Alice's gaze into her eyes.

"Mie... what's wrong...?"

Alice looked somewhat bewildered.

"Alice, if there's something I've been lying to you about for a long time, will you be angry?"

Mie asked softly.

"Huh? Why are you suddenly saying all this... Don't be angry, I promise I won't be angry!"

Alice didn't understand why Mie would suddenly ask that question.

"Then I'll tell you?"

"Mie, you say."

"Do you remember when we first met, you said you'd teach me how to make Magic Card?"

Alice was slightly taken aback when she heard Mie's question.

She recalled her first year of school.

The first thing I did when I met Mie, who lived in the dorm next door, was to brag to her about how amazing I was.

At the time, Mie just kept smiling and nodding, and frequently praised Alice.

Perhaps it was from that time onward that Alice, who had just left the palace and entered the school, began to enjoy being praised more and more.

Pouring it into a cup always works perfectly.

Pity.

A year later, Alice finally met her match.

--Referring to Dekan's boasting about his card-making skills.

Just thinking about it made Alice want to crawl into a hole and disappear.

"What's wrong? No, no, you're not a super skilled Card Crafter either, and you've been keeping it a secret from me all this time, are you?!"

When Alice responded to Mie's question, the first thing that came to mind was the "princess joke" she made in front of Dekan after being spoiled by Mie.

My PTSD is acting up!

"Actually, I'm no worse Dekan."

Mie leaned closer to Alice and whispered in her ear, accompanied by a chuckle.

Mie initially found the princess amusing and couldn't bear to tell her the truth.

So he lied to her, saying he wasn't good at making Magic Card.

Unexpectedly, two years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The lie seemed to gradually become the truth.

"You, you must be making fun of me!"

Alice tried to push Mie away to look at her, but found that Mie had already gently hugged her.

It was unclear whether Mie didn't want Alice to see her expression, or if she simply didn't want to meet Alice's gaze again.

"Apart from that, I have never lied to you."

Mie continued softly to Alice,

"But Mie, a second-year Alchemy Academy student at the Norton Kingdom's Havenlit Academy, is the biggest lie to you."

"What are you saying...? What does this mean...?"

Alice spoke haltingly, then suddenly recalled many things about Mie that she seemed to know nothing about.

Sometimes when Alice asked Mie about her, Mie would just dodge the question. For example, when asked where Mie's home was, Mie would only answer that it was in the north, but Alice didn't know the specific location.

Mie seemed to have finished saying goodbye to Alice, and finally let go of her, glancing at Cornelia and Flora.

"And Cornelia, Flora, I've had a wonderful time with you all. Although I wish I could spend more time with you, this is the final farewell."

"Mie ..."

Cornelia had no idea what Mie was going to do next.

But for some reason, she had a premonition that Mie was leaving and never intended to come back.

Mie stood up, looked at the three of them, a flash of determination in his eyes, before returning to his unfamiliar and cold demeanor.

"I am the Shadow Bishop of the Resurrection Church, and the commander of the Salon Empire's magical special forces. Yes, I am your enemy!"

As he said this, Mie's figure gradually turned into specks of orange light and began to dissipate.

Alice looked flustered and reached out to grab Mie, but could only watch as the faint light gradually dissipated in her hand like sand.

Alice is Card Crafter.

In those final moments, I finally saw the true nature of the vanishing Mie, or rather, the summoned creature.

[Shadow Holy Envoy]

[Category: Summon Card]

[Rarity: Orange Epic]

[Class: 8]

[Effect: Perfectly disguises as any human of rank 6 or below, inherits the summoner's attribute growth potential, synchronizes with the summoner's will, and can be controlled and retrieved from extremely long distances.]

[Note: This is the ultimate evolution of the Substitute Doll, the highest masterpiece of intelligence gathering by the Imperial Commander.]