Sarutobi Hiruzen Wants to Conceal the Truth

A day later, on the outskirts of Merendell in the Lion Garden Royal Capital.

Watching the divine body of "Thief Fool" dissolve into particles of light and dust on the ground, Roviel slowly sheathed his sword.

"It's over."

Hearing him speak, Nununi emerged from the shadows. Having experienced this once before, she was not particularly surprised.

"You've gotten much stronger than before," she said.

Last time, he had fought alongside that white-haired girl. Now, he could suppress the enemy all by himself.

The two of them were not actually within Merendell itself, but in a remote spot in the surrounding outskirts. Unlike last time, when they had laid an ambush and waited for the enemy to fall into it, this time he had brought her along to actively seek them out and lure them into revealing themselves. The outcome, however, had been no different.

"Don't let your guard down." Roviel walked over and stopped beside her. "We don't know how many bodies It still has left. If anything happens, contact me like you did this time."

"Mm."

Nununi nodded.

When Father had founded the Funeral Hermit Society, he had hoped to use its intelligence network to evade pursuit by the god's true body and establish a hidden front. He had never expected that this crisis would be resolved in such a way.

"I'm sorry..." she suddenly said. "When we first met, I pinned you to the ground and held a knife to your neck."

"It's fine. I rather enjoyed it, anyway."

"...Enjoyed it?"

Nununi could not quite figure him out. Still, someone like him—a first-rank divine bearer—could be counted on one hand across the entire continent. It was only natural that he might have thoughts she found hard to understand.

His strength had also improved at such an astonishing rate.