Darkness fell, and the undead monsters growing from within Leichina became increasingly rampant. The Holy Wall guarded by the three great angels had already begun to wither.
"Their rate of appearance is even faster than I expected..." Eliyi said from atop the high wall south of Canfoer City. "I wonder whether the Hero can make it in time. This is the first performance I prepared for him... He'd better not miss it..."
"Regarding the undead monsters outside the southern part of the city... does anyone have any opinions or suggestions?" Yetara sat at the head of the dining table, wrapped in a thick mink coat. Canfoer's most prominent figures sat on either side of him.
"May the Supreme God bless us—" Bishop Labrador clasped his hands together. "May Sister Latmimi rest in peace within the divine kingdom of the Supreme God."
"Does Your Excellency Labrador have any good methods for driving back these monsters?" Yetara swirled the red wine in his glass. "The previous Sister Latmimi used her precious life to shield Canfoer's residents from those monsters. I believe Your Excellency Labrador certainly won't stand by and do nothing. I truly hope that, in my lifetime, I can witness Your Excellency perform a miracle and wipe out the monsters..."
"Uh..." Faced with Yetara's barbed questions, Bishop Labrador was clearly unprepared. He gave Brother Abelato, who stood beside him, a meaningful look.
"Lord Yetara," Brother Abelato said, straightening his back, "a few days ago, Risala's Spider Demon attacked Mira Cathedral, causing the deaths of several high-ranking clergy members. Bishop Labrador has already been deeply troubled by this matter, and Sister Latmimi's martyrdom afterward has only made things worse for His Excellency..."
"Enough. Shut your mouth—" Yetara slammed his wineglass onto the dining table. "I am discussing a matter of life and death concerning Canfoer's residents with Your Excellency Labrador. What status do you have? Are you the Pope? The successor to a cardinal? Or the chief nun? A mere monk thinks he deserves to speak at Canfoer's meeting? Get out—"
"You!"
"Hehe—Brother Abelato, I'm perfectly fine here. This is Lord Yetara's residence; no one will harm me. So I won't need your protection for the moment. If I need you later, I'll call for you..." Cardinal Labrador smoothed things over for himself and Yetara.
Oyana, seated beside the cardinal, also gave Abelato a look. Only then did Brother Abelato leave the banquet hall.
"Now that the irrelevant person has left, can we discuss proper business?" Von Molakasu, seated opposite Bishop Labrador, finally spoke after Abelato departed.
"Von, where is your brother? Why didn't he come?" Yetara asked. "As the leader of the Red Daggers' Canfoer branch, isn't it a bit unreasonable for him to skip Canfoer's five-person Round Table Council? Von?"
"Oh~ Dear Lord Yetara—" Von rose from his seat. "My elder brother recently caught a chill and is truly unwell, so he sent me in his place. He knows Lord Yetara is generous and certainly will not blame him. He also instructed me to tell you that next year's taxes from the Red Dagger Guild must be increased by an additional ten percent, so that those Canfoer residents displaced by the monsters may be resettled."
"Oh~ Mr. Molakasu truly is magnanimous. I understand your goodwill..." Yetara's tone became much gentler. "I only wish all the guilds in Canfoer City possessed such generosity as yours~ Don't you agree, Lady Oyana?"
"Very true..." Oyana set down her hookah. "Let us raise our glasses to the Molakasu Family's charity..."
"Thank you~" Von Molakasu raised his jewel-studded cuff and expressed his gratitude to Lord Yetara, Bishop Labrador, and Lady Oyana, leader of the witches.
"By the way," Oyana said after finishing her wine, only then seeming to realize something. "Three of the five members of the Round Table Council are here, and Mr. Molakasu's seat has been taken by his younger brother Von. Then... what about Archmage Dilanna? Isn't she coming?"
"Teacher Dilanna has always been in poor health. Everyone knows that." Von Molakasu lightly brushed back his black hair. "Miss Oyana... didn't you know?"
"I forgot... My apologies..." Oyana said as she drew from her hookah. "When one gets old, one forgets many things. But I still remember the importance of the Round Table Council..."
"Thank you for the reminder, Lady Oyana. Teacher Dilanna had considered that as well." Von tore a gemstone from his cuff and placed it in the very center of the dining table. "Because Teacher Dilanna's health makes it difficult for her to travel, she gave me this so that she could discuss methods for eliminating the undead monsters outside Canfoer City together with Lord Yetara and Your Excellency Labrador."
"Hmm... a Wonderlight Spell..." Oyana exhaled smoke onto Von's gemstone. Then magical spell patterns rooted in the Old Gods emerged upon the wine-red gem.
"May Kunsilanna, Goddess of Midnight, bless you all..." The magical patterns on the gemstone began to display the image of Archmage Dilanna.
As he sipped his wine, Lord Yetara of Canfoer said, "Good evening to you as well, Lady Archmage Dilanna."
Archbishop Labrador clasped his hands together. "May the Supreme God bless you as well—"
Von Molakasu said, "May you remain in good health."
Oyana, leader of the witches, said absentmindedly, "Good evening to you too, Lady Archmage Dilanna."
"Now that everyone is here, I'll briefly discuss the undead monsters outside Canfoer City..." Archmage Dilanna's projection said. "The mages under my command have investigated the matter. Although the undead monsters outside the city originate from the decaying evil power of the evil god Rosa Kevin, there is no direct evidence proving that Rosa Kevin has been resurrected... So please rest assured."
"Nonsense..." Oyana muttered.
"If that is the case, then what caused this sudden outbreak of undead monsters outside the city?" Von asked, gripping the armrest of his chair. "I recall that on Mountain-Sealing Day, Risala's Spider Demon destroyed Mira Cathedral and killed dozens of high-ranking clergy members. Could there perhaps be some connection..."
"According to the speculation of my late friend, Sister Green Milan... May the God of Rest guard her..." Archmage Dilanna's projection said. "Before her death, she suspected that someone within the church had been trading with Risala's Spider Demon, selling the church's holy water to those terrifying monsters at exorbitant prices... And then such a terrible event occurred..."
"Ridiculous~" Oyana interrupted Dilanna with disdain. "Monsters are monsters. How could they use the church's holy water? Aren't they afraid of being purified? Besides, where would monsters get money to buy holy water? This is nothing but baseless nonsense."
"Oh... Let us hope so..." Dilanna's projection smiled at Oyana and Cardinal Labrador. "But if someone truly is trading with Rosa Kevin's remnants, then... that would be truly terrifying... Perhaps this invasion of undead monsters into Canfoer was planned by them..."
"May the Supreme God forgive Sister Green Milan—" Cardinal Labrador said, looking at Dilanna's projection. "I also sent people to investigate the slums south of Canfoer City, but the information I received was that people had consumed too much cursed food, leading to their transformation into undead and monsters."
"Oh?" Yetara's interest was piqued by Bishop Labrador. "What do you mean by that?"
"My lord..." The cardinal clasped his hands together. "Though no one within Canfoer City goes hungry under your wise leadership, people in the villages and slums outside the city continue to die from food shortages and curses. Those poor people live too far from the churches and cannot obtain enough holy water to purify their food and water sources, leaving them no choice but to consume food tainted by the Rosakavin Curse..."
As he spoke, Cardinal Labrador shed two murky tears.
"These curses accumulated over time, causing them to become living corpses and undead, thereby giving rise to the undead monsters outside the city..." Cardinal Labrador looked toward Canfoer's lord, Yetara. "My lord, no matter how impoverished the people outside the city may be, the Ouston Church has never abandoned them—but we truly do not have enough holy water..."
"Mm-hmm..." Lord Yetara turned his head aside, unable to meet Bishop Labrador's gaze. "If the church doesn't even have enough holy water to save people, how could it sell holy water to monsters... That speculation truly does seem rather unreasonable..."
"I think so as well..." Dilanna's projection replied. "That is why I said it was merely Sister Green Milan's speculation..."
"All right—everyone," Von said, clearing his throat. "Let us put aside the mutual accusations for now. The most important thing at present is resolving the matter of the monsters outside Canfoer City."
"I agree—" Yetara was the first to state his position. "What has passed is past. What matters is what we do now."
Meanwhile, inside a residence in the Upper District, Tiadam and Denolan lay in a hot spring bath. The sulfur-scented water washed away Tiadam's fatigue from the day.
"Ah~ What a strange villa..." Tiadam stretched his arms. "It even has its own hot spring... I have to admit, the lives of the rich are beyond anything we can imagine..."
"Um... Tiadam... don't you find this a little uncomfortable?" Denolan, sitting opposite Tiadam, covered her body. "Bathing in front of a woman, aren't you... em... embarrassed?"
"Oh?"
Tiadam looked behind him. Two expressionless, burly maidservants stood on either side of the door like guardian gods, each holding the clothes that Tiadam and Denolan would change into afterward.
"My... God... Rich people really do have unusual tastes..."
Before you continue