Self-Righteous

At the church, the musty smell of the library mingled with the burnt odor drifting in from the incinerator, gradually filling the room.

"What?" Lianke shot her disciple a sideways glance, a hint of surprise in her voice.

She noticed the flush spreading behind her disciple's ears-the last time she had seen that expression was when Carl was in her arms.

"N-nothing."

Carl answered and shifted her gaze away from the seeds.

Ever since she had gone to the Mist Forest, her progress in collecting plant seeds had stalled.

It wasn't that there were no plants in the forest. The manor's requirements for crop seeds were simply too high.

The seeds of ordinary plants displayed only a single box on the panel: [Use: None.]

As a result, Carl had searched the forest for over a month without finding even one usable seed...

"Someone gave you a gift. You should put it away yourself."

"Oh, right!"

As soon as Lianke finished speaking, Carl eagerly stepped forward and took the bag from Sophie's hands.

The bag trembled slightly as it touched his fingertips. Through the fabric, the seeds pulsed faintly, like tiny beating hearts.

He suppressed the urge to enter the manor immediately and instead tucked the bag into his clothes.

"Sophie, was there anything else?"

Lianke glanced at the makeup smudged across the girl's face and asked with a smile.

It was scorching hot, and Sophie had come all this way to deliver a gift. The least Lianke could do was give her a smile.

"There's also some information, Lady Lianke."

Sophie sat up straight, her eyes fixed on her knees.

Her etiquette teacher had taught her not to look important people directly in the eye-it was extremely rude!

"What is it about?"

Lianke leaned back in her chair, her expression kindly.

"Possibly some records concerning the black market."

"Madam Luona told me to deliver them personally to you or Carl."

"I already gave those records to Carl at the entrance earlier!"

Sophie lowered her head and spoke softly.

Her etiquette teacher hadn't lied to her. It really was much easier to talk with her head lowered!

"Carl?" Lianke turned her head.

"Oh, yes, I do have those papers."

Carl, who had been absorbed in matters concerning the seeds, paused in surprise at her words.

Once she came to her senses, he hurriedly reached inside his clothes for the documents.

In his haste, the clip holding the papers together came loose, and more than a dozen sheets scattered through the air.

"Whoosh~"

A breeze blew, sending a sheet of paper drifting toward Chrollo.

"Slap."

Chrollo caught the drifting paper and casually glanced at its contents.

"August 19th, received 23 communion wafers."

Fourteen large characters stretched across the first line of the page.

Chrollo's pupils contracted, and his knuckles turned pale from the force of his grip.

He continued reading. Starting from the second line, transaction after transaction was laid bare.

"Creak, creak."

Chrollo's molars suddenly ground together with a piercing sound, like saw teeth grinding violently against steel.

Didn't Grandpa Will give away the communion wafers he made every week to the nearby residents who couldn't survive?

Why had communion wafers ended up on the black market?!

"August 30th, sold one gold-plated brooch."

As he read the words on the page aloud, Chrollo's expression grew more and more contorted.

Would Grandpa Will have used communion wafers to buy a brooch?

Who had access to the communion wafers and would also think of buying a brooch?

The answer was obvious!

"...Sheila!!!"

The stifling air reverberated in Chrollo's lungs. His whole body felt unbearably hot, and he could barely contain the killing intent in his chest.

He had found that brooch himself in the girl's room.

Bang!

The bookshelf shuddered with a crash, sending accumulated dust tumbling down like an avalanche.

Chrollo's boots ground against the floorboards as he shot toward Sheila like an arrow.

"Were you the one who sold the communion wafers on the black market?"

Seeing Chrollo's bloodshot eyes, Franklin's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly stepped in front of Sheila:

"Chrollo, don't be rash."

"Sheila only just got back. Can't we wait before asking her about it?"

"Get out of my way!"

Chrollo clenched his teeth, his red eyes fixed on Sheila behind Franklin.

Sensing that something was wrong, the members of the Phantom Troupe hurried over.

"What's going on?" Nobunaga asked, puzzled as he looked at his companions locked in a standoff.

He had only looked at a piece of paper. How had the normally calm Chrollo lost his composure like this?!

Bang!

Thrown with tremendous force, a golden brooch embedded itself in the wall.

"This brooch is yours, isn't it?!"

Clutching the documents she had finished reading, Carl walked toward Sheila, her face dark.

And to think he had assumed it was one of Old Will's belongings and had kept it with him, planning to give it to Chrollo as a memento!

Carl too?

Staring at the cracks the brooch had smashed into the wall, Phinks frowned deeply, his doubts growing heavier.

Everything had been fine just moments ago. How had it suddenly come to this?!

"Calm down."

Paku patted Chrollo on the shoulder, trying to soothe him.

"See for yourself."

Not bothering to waste words with Franklin, Carl stepped forward and held the paper straight out to him. "Once you've read it, you can still stop us."

"What?"

Franklin froze at her words and instinctively lowered his eyes to the paper.

"This..."

With just one glance, Franklin's pupils contracted sharply, and he staggered back a step.

Everyone in the room wore a different expression, but almost all of them focused their attention on the paper.

Nobunaga was close enough to see several lines on the page, and he read them aloud:

"Food on the black market is getting more and more expensive. Luckily, there's still a fool who comes by every week to get rid of food."

"Haha, she actually used food to buy a gold-plated brooch. What a fool."

"These green biscuits taste pretty good. Maybe I should ask her to bring more next week."

When Nobunaga read out "the green biscuits taste pretty good," Uvogin suddenly punched the wall, knocking down a layer of plaster.

"August 1st, Del General Store record..."

After checking several times to make sure he hadn't read it wrong, Nobunaga whipped his head around and looked at the girl in the corner:

"You! You sold the communion wafers on the black market?"

Everything pointed to Sheila being the person who had sold the food in the record!

Sheila raised her head at his words and said self-righteously:

"I didn't sell that many. I only sold a little at a time, and I used the Jenny I earned to buy Grandpa Will a new pair of glasses."

"..."

Everyone was at a loss for words.

The communion wafers were meant for the church to provide relief to the residents of Meteor City and keep them from starving to death...

"Sheila, you took the communion wafers and sold them. What are the residents who have no food supposed to do?"

"Did you ever think about that?"

Carl loosened her collar, doing her best to restrain the irritation in her heart, and said in a low voice:

"Or did you only think about yourself?"

"I already said I bought Grandpa Will a present!"

"What does it have to do with me if those lowlifes starve to death?"

Sheila was gradually growing impatient:

"You disappeared for a month. What right do you have to point fingers at me?!"

"Grandpa Will is old, and I'm the one helping with everything at the church. What's wrong with me taking some communion wafers?!"

She didn't understand. It was one thing for her companions not to care about her injuries, but why were they concerned about these trivial matters instead?!

Chrollo's fist brushed past Franklin's ear and slammed into the wall, sending stone chips and debris pattering onto Sheila's shoulders.

"Move!"

He spoke for the second time, his tone growing even more resolute.

Tears slipped one by one from his reddened eyes.