First, he scanned the garbage dump once. According to the latest information, about 50 demons were currently residing in the system.

The number of mana stones was visibly less than that. The total number of mana stones didn’t match the number of demons.

‘That’s right.’

His brother must have escaped. He must be alive somewhere.

A corner in the west of the garbage dump was covered with a black cloth. The black cloth was slightly sunken at the bottom.

‘…It seems the surviving demons escaped underground.’

His brother must have been with them.

‘Being small and agile, he surely took the initiative to…’

Suddenly, D’Élysée stopped walking.

“…”

D’Élysée slowly bent one knee. The familiar texture of the silk pouch felt unfamiliar.

It was brittle. Dried blood powder fell to his feet. The soaked blood had dried.

D’Élysée’s hand slowly untied the cheese pouch. Each action was extremely slow and deliberate. As if trying to delay the moment of judgment.

Twelve pieces.

The truffle cheese hadn’t diminished at all. Whatever had happened, it was just stained with dirt and blood.

But this wasn’t the only problem.

The pale green eyes moved very slowly to the side of the cheese pouch.

A transparent mana stone.

D’Élysée picked up the mana stone just as slowly. The commander’s warning had long been forgotten.

The pale green eyes turned to the sky. D’Élysée held the mana stone up to the rising sun at dawn.

It was transparent.

Perfectly clean and clear.

Just like his brother.

***

The Papal Headquarters was in turmoil all night. It was a very rare occurrence.

“No matter how much pressure we’re under, the church must maintain neutrality!”

“No, let’s withhold our position statement! There’s nothing to gain by provoking the Imperial Palace now!”

“His Holiness was assaulted last night! How can it be that the culprit hasn’t been caught yet?”

“The Imperial Palace might have attempted a secret assassination!”

“What is the Holy Knight Order doing? This time, we need to take an aggressive stance!”

Everyone was busy. Among the cardinals engaged in fierce debate, the Pope’s figure staggered slightly.

“Your Holiness?”

“Are you alright? You should at least treat your external injuries…”

“It’s not a problem at all. My scratches are nothing compared to last night’s massacre…”

The Pope’s gaze fell. His purple eyes filled with unfathomable sadness.

“How could they do such a cruel thing…”

The Pope’s voice was clearly trembling.

The cardinals fell silent. Even among them, there were those who harbored hatred towards demons, knowingly or unknowingly. But this massacre was a tragedy that could be called a slaughter, even setting aside personal feelings.

“I will now adjourn the meeting. Please proceed with prayers in the chapel to honor the sacrificed demons.”

“Your Holiness, do you mean…”

“Our order will not align with the Empire.”

The Pope said, placing a hand on his chest.

“It’s time to carry out the truth in the name of the Lord. Please disperse.”

In the silence, only the sound of velvet chairs being pushed back echoed. All the cardinals bowed deeply before leaving the grand conference hall.

The Pope soon rose with a graceful gesture.

“Have you found the young believer?”

As he approached the door, a tender question rang out.

“Commander.”

“…”

The door to the conference hall that D’Élysée had entered closed silently.

The midday sun shone through the stained glass on the wall of the conference hall. It was a warm-feeling piece with only warm colors carved.

D’Élysée received the red light pouring down under the stained glass.

Clink.

“?”

A single gem was placed on the long table. The Pope asked cautiously:

“What is this?”

“Please.”

D’Élysée said.

“Please give it back.”

“Commander? Could this be…”

Thud.

Just as the Pope was about to pick up the mana stone, a blood-stained gauntlet covered it. As if protecting it from being touched carelessly. It was a largely unconscious movement.

“This can’t be…”

The Pope seemed to have realized the truth. Cold tears flowed down his soft white cheeks.

“How could they do such a cruel thing to the young believer!”

“…If you could save…”

It was unclear who he was asking to save. D’Élysée’s eyes were empty. Hopelessly vacant, as if he had lost his purpose in life.

“If you could just bring him back to life, I would do anything. Aren’t you blessed with the power of life, Your Holiness?”

“Don’t worry, Commander.”

The Pope slowly placed his hand over the cold gauntlet.

“I will use every means at my disposal.”

The pale green eyes that had been staring blankly into space finally looked down at the Pope.

Though only a short time had passed, the Pope’s beautiful face was a mess. As if he had been assaulted by someone, bruises had formed in various places.

“Ah, you mean this?”

As if it were nothing, the Pope covered the wounds on his face.

“It’s nothing. An unexpected visitor came last night.”

The Pope flinched slightly as if stung when his fingertips inadvertently touched his face. But he quickly straightened his posture.

“However, resolving the current situation takes precedence over treating me.”

An aimless silence settled in the conference hall. But the Pope didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.

“Commander. Perhaps…”

It was then. A cautious hand gently grasped the silver gauntlet.

The Pope’s hands were trembling finely. It seemed to be due to the shock of the massacre.

It was an extremely delicate trembling. Enough to naturally remind anyone that he too was human.

“If it’s not too presumptuous… may I borrow your hand? Just once.”

“…”

“Thank you.”

The Pope took the hazy silence of clouded reason as affirmation. He slowly lifted the silver gauntlet and placed it against his cheek.

The purple eyes, filled with a joyous energy, were hidden beneath gently closed eyelids.

***

D’Élysée didn’t shed a single tear.

The stagnant time didn’t last long either. He simply took a bath and then began diligently carrying out his duties.

“Ah! You’re here, Commander!”

“You’re late, D’Élysée! Where have you been and what were you doing until now!”

Ignoring the Vice Commander’s reprimand, D’Élysée entered the office.

“From now on, the Holy Knight Order will standby in basic combat readiness.”

D’Élysée said as he took his seat at the head of the table. Messages were already pouring in from various countries. In just one day, a mountain of work had piled up for the Commander to handle.

“Postpone the quarterly report submission and assess our current resources. If there are any blacksmiths not yet recruited by the Imperial Palace, summon them all without exception. The Papal Headquarters differs in opinion from the Empire.”

“Is-is war really going to break out like this?”

At the aide’s question, the Vice Commander remained silent with his arms crossed. D’Élysée simply gave orders without emotion.

“Raise the Papal Headquarters’s defense level to maximum. Limit the number of believers allowed into the chapel and strengthen identity verification procedures.”

D’Élysée blindly repeated the actions he had to take. The busier than usual situation was actually helpful.

“D’Élysée, in this massacre, was your…”

Gavin was about to ask something but stopped.

“No. It’s nothing. You should go rest too.”

Gavin said as he left the now-lit office. He seemed quite relieved that D’Élysée didn’t seem to care at all.

“If you’re going to pull an all-nighter, at least eat some late-night snacks. We might have to survive on damn canned food again if war breaks out.”

It was an attempt to lighten the mood with a common experience. But there was no response. Only the sound of a fountain pen scratching paper echoed in the quiet office. D’Élysée was absorbed in processing documents.

Gavin looked at the darkness that had fallen outside the office window. Then he chuckled as if giving up, and quietly left the office.

“I’ll be heading out now too, Commander. I’ll see you again tomorrow.”

It was already past midnight. D’Élysée only nodded once at the aide’s farewell. It was then that someone knocked on the office door.

“Commander.”

The door opened and a holy knight in black armor saluted. The aide passed by the black-armored knight and left the office.

“I’m here to report. We’ve completed the overall search of Easthole.”

D’Élysée still didn’t take his eyes off the documents. The black-armored knight continued undeterred.

“We re-searched the demon hybrid’s house and found a note. We missed it yesterday as it was trampled in mud.”

Meaning it looked like trash.

“Upon closer inspection, we found your name written on it, Commander. We also found additional items of unclear ownership not far from the back window of the house. They weren’t hard to find due to the clotted blood around them.”

“Leave them here.”

“Yes, sir.”

The black-armored knight bowed and turned away.

D’Élysée pushed the items aside and finished processing his work. Only after organizing the remaining documents for a long time did he reach for the search items.

Finally opening the small box, he began to examine it with dry eyes.

“…”

It was an old bundle.

A frog folded from newspaper. A pretty colored pebble. A single sock embroidered with green grape beads.

An empty cigarette pack. A wad of tissues. Two pairs of holey socks. One set of old clothes. A few crudely drawn doodles.

A picture with [Family] scrawled on it.