"Lord Gerhard, what should we do?"
Tonio's face was filled with worry as he looked toward Heim City, which stood completely unscathed. Gerhard, however, wore an entirely different expression.
Instead of concern, he actually seemed rather pleased.
"Well, would you look at that—Heim City's still standing! Guess we won't have to spend money repairing the church after all!"
Hearing that, Tonio stared at him in disbelief.
Wait, was he serious?
At a time like this?
Heim City hadn't just survived—it didn't even have a scratch on its walls. And this man's biggest concern was whether or not they needed to fix the church? Was that really what mattered right now?
Tonio felt utterly exhausted. Ordinarily, there was no conflict between the Church and a fief's lord—most lords were faithful believers of the Lord of Holy Light. The Church merely governed the people's faith.
But Heim City was different.
That man, Hel—he was practically an heretic. He didn't believe in the faith at all.
And besides, how many of the local nobles had he killed already?
Though Hel had carried out his actions discreetly, as the man who actually handled the Church's real business in Heim, Tonio had long suspected what he'd done.
He even suspected that Hel was behind the death of the Knight Guild's president.
Back then, the only reason Tonio and Gerhard survived was because of their Church identities—and because they'd never interfered in Hel's affairs. Otherwise, they would have ended up the same way.
"Lord Gerhard," Tonio said nervously, "maybe we should think of a way to… you know, go back to Mandrake City for now?"
The thought alone made his stomach twist. He knew full well that when they'd fled during the beastmen invasion—causing the nobles and merchants to abandon Heim—Hel must have remembered that.
To put it bluntly, their flight had completely undermined Hel.
"What go back? We're already here, and you're telling me to turn around?"
Gerhard scowled, giving Tonio a hard kick.
"Go tell them to open the gates. It's freezing in this damn carriage—I'm not spending another minute out here!"
"R-right… okay."
Tonio, rubbing his sore backside, didn't dare argue.
Normally, Gerhard couldn't be bothered to manage anything and left all the real work to Tonio—but when he got stubborn, his word was law. So Tonio could only obey.
However, when he called out and identified himself, the soldiers on the wall didn't open the gate. They told him to wait.
Elsewhere, upon hearing of Gerhard's return, Arwin immediately went to find Sebas.
Sebas groaned when he heard the news.
"The young master and I both thought they'd wait until the spring—after the beastmen invasion was over. Never imagined they'd come back now. In less than a month, it'll be spring again—what, are they planning to run away twice?"
Arwin sighed. "Should we just turn them away? But stopping clergymen from entering might cause problems."
He wasn't wrong. Across the three great human empires, the Holy Judgement Church held enormous influence—over eighty percent of the population worshiped the Lord of Light.
The rest were either children… or heretics.
In their previous lives, both Sebas and Arwin had been devout believers themselves. But after becoming what they were now, faith no longer meant much. Still, even if they didn't believe anymore, the people of Heim City still did.
Even in such a remote region, reverence for holy men ran deep.
"Let's contact the young master," Sebas finally said with a weary sigh. "This isn't something we can decide on our own. If these fools mess up his plans, it'll be bad for everyone."
He shook his head again.
"Honestly, if things had gone as we expected, that idiot would never have made it back at all."
Some time later, when Hel received the report, she returned immediately.
Upon seeing Sebas and Arwin, she waved her hand casually.
"Let them in. No matter how I look at it, I've got no reason to keep them out. But—only the clergy. No nobles, no merchants. No one else enters Heim City."
"But, my lady—what about Miss Vivian…?"
"It's fine," Hel said with a faint smile. "I'll have Gerhard leave soon enough. Letting him in now is just to avoid giving anyone an excuse to gossip."
Then her tone turned sly.
"Oh, and prepare everything—I'll be greeting our dear priest personally."
As she turned toward the gate, the mischievous smile on her face made both Sebas and Arwin exchange a knowing glance.
Whenever Hel smiled like that… someone was definitely about to suffer.
At the city gate, Father Gerhard had long since lost his temper.
He, a respected priest, used to be welcomed wherever he went—people bowed and treated him with reverence.
But now? He was being kept waiting outside his own city gate!
What a joke!
He'd only been gone a few days, and now they acted like they didn't even recognize him?
And to top it off, he needed "authorization" just to return home? Ridiculous!
As dusk began to fall and his patience ran thin, the great gates of Heim City finally creaked open.
A squad of armored riders thundered out and surrounded the group.
"By order of the Lord of Heim," one of the knights announced, "the city is currently under full lockdown to prevent beastmen spies from entering. Only members of the Church are permitted inside."
With that, the knights swiftly separated the clergy from the nobles and merchants behind them.
The merchants looked angry, but none dared speak out.
The nobles, on the other hand, immediately exploded with outrage.
"We demand to see Lord Hel! The lord would never give such an order!"
"How dare a mere soldier bar us from entry!"
As they shouted, glowing auras of fighting energy flared around them—more for intimidation than attack.
After all, Hel's reputation still haunted them; none dared strike first.
But the knights only drew their blades in unison—
and the air filled with an equally powerful surge of energy.
"All of them… transcendents?" one noble gasped. "That's impossible!"