"Welcome to my holiday cottage."
Douglas sounded as relaxed as though he were inviting a friend to afternoon tea.
"The furnishings may be a little basic, but it's quiet, and it effectively shuts out certain... unnecessary attention."
The cellar was dry, stocked with food, drinking water, and some basic potion ingredients.
Lupin sat on a wooden bed, let out a long breath, and said with a wry smile:
"I feel like a lump of butter thrown into holy water. Douglas, they... were after you."
"Obviously."
Douglas was checking the defensive spells at the cellar entrance and upgrading the shelter's security while he was at it. After all, he had built it just after graduating.
His fingers traced through the air, and silver runes sank into the stone walls, vanishing.
"But I'm sorry I dragged you into this. I did expect the Church to take some measures against me..."
He stopped what he was doing, turned around, and looked at Lupin.
"Remus, think back over their actions. The cage of holy light, the silver powder mist... everything was designed to restrain and weaken you, rather than kill you outright.
"Their encirclement contracted at a pace that drove us precisely toward the center, yet they always maintained a safe distance to attack from."
He held up two fingers, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.
"They had two objectives: first, capture us alive. Second, test us.
"That female knight, Agnese Vieri, is the youngest commander in the Order of Saint Sebastian, known for her forceful tactics and unwavering faith.
"Every command she gave was textbook-perfect, but too perfect, like... a carefully choreographed exercise.
"She was waiting for me to make my move, testing the limits of my ability to handle this standard holy-light encirclement."
"Testing?" Lupin frowned.
A cold sneer curled Douglas's