Chapter 172 (2/2)

「Then I'll go with you!」Fran cried.

「What are you saying?! I alone am enough. You don't have to sacrifice yourself too.」

「I'm not easygoing enough to live a fun life without you.」

Boltec and Fran seemed to have made up their minds. Gesta watched them, grinning.

「I'll still make you pay the fee for my services. 500,000. Come on, cough it up!」

「What?! You're out of your mind! These people healed my daughter, not you!」

「I'm the one who cast the magic first. Theirs was just a trick that made Fran's body glow.」

「You b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You're rotten to the core!」

「Before you leave, make sure you pay me! Or else—」

「Or else what?」A voice came from the entrance.「Either way, you'll be arrested for breach of trust against the church.」

Everyone turned their eyes towards the door. A black-haired boy stood there, wearing a silver mask and a cloak that covered his whole body.

「Huh? What'd you say?」Gesta asked.

The sudden appearance of an intruder left the priest standing there blankly. The boy took out a few papers from his pocket.

「Are you familiar with these? Contract of sales and deeds of lands you ripped off of people who couldn't pay for the absurd amount you charged them. This one here is a draft you wrote addressed to a n.o.ble, telling him to hush up the people complaining about you. I found similar letters in bulk.」

「H-How'd you get those?!」

「I found them by coincidence. Though I came here because it was necessary.」

The boy shot a glance at Lavia. The note she left said to come to this church as soon as possible. He came here after seeing that. Although, it was pure luck that he came across evidence of the priest's crimes.

「It's not like I looked you up. I just found the doc.u.ments after sneaking into some n.o.ble's house, so I took them. I came here 'cause apparently you were doing something intriguing.」

「Y-You think you'll get away—」

「I could ask you the same. Hear that?」

The boy gestured to his ears. The sound of footsteps and armor clanging came closer and closer, as though guards were heading straight for the church.

「I told you I found other doc.u.ments as well. Where do you think they are right now? Okay, I'll tell you. I tossed them into a certain place. With your name on them, of course.」

Gesta quickly turned around to run, but a stone thrown by the boy crushed his knee, and he screamed.

「It would be troublesome if you escaped, so why don't you lie down there for a while? I'll be taking my leave.」

The boy turned around, his cloak flaring behind him, and left the church.

「Let's go, Paula.」

「O-Okay!」

「Wait!」Boltec stopped them as they started running for the door.「We don't know what's even going on…」

「It's okay. Gesta seemed to have been doing some nasty things. Payment for healing should be given to the church. Forcing people into debt like what he did const.i.tutes breach of trust. It sounds like he's been using n.o.bles to cover his tracks, but if the evidence was sent to the higher-ups, he'll get arrested for breach of trust.」

「Does that mean we don't have to fear him anymore?」

「Yes. Bye now!」

「I-I haven't thanked you yet!」

「You can thank her.」Lavia said, pointing at Paula, and left through the backdoor first.

「Thank you! Thank you so much! You saved Fran by calling that Master of yours.」

「D-Don't mention it. P-Please don't tell anyone about my Master. She doesn't like drawing attention.」

「Of course! About the payment…」

「We don't need the money!」

「But—」

「Bye!」

Paula cut the conversation short and started running. Completely exhausted, she tripped over the groaning priest. She got back on her feet in a hurry and left staggering.

「I can't even make heads or tails of what just happened…」Boltec said.

「Me neither.」Fran said.「But it's strange. It felt like the warm power flowing into me came from the girl named Paula, not her master.」

「Is Father Gesta here?! The royal capital's High Priest has summoned you!」

Five men entered the building; not guards, but temple knights wearing bright armor.

「So, what happened?」

Hikaru, Lavia, and Paula met at the back of the church.

「I… caused trouble for you two again.」Paula said, sitting on the ground, dejected.

Lavia smiled at Hikaru and shook her head. No, she didn't.

「Whatever. Gesta will receive proper punishment. Let's go, Paula.」Hikaru said as he crouched in front of Paula, his back turned to her.

「Wh-What's this, Hikaru-sama?」

「You look like you can barely walk. I'll give you a piggyback ride.」

「What?! I-I-I'm fine! I'll use my healing magic!」

「I can tell you don't have much mana. So stop lying and get on.」

「Uh…」

「Quick. Before the knights arrive.」

Slowly, Paula moved closer.「I-I'm sorry! I must be heavy.」

Hikaru, however, started walking without trouble.「Nah, it's fine. Believe it or not, I'm quite strong.」

「Okay…」

「Maybe I should've gone out with you.」

「Paula?」

「She's asleep.」Lavia said.

「Already?! I was talking to her just now!」

Feeling relieved, Paula fell asleep on Hikaru's back.

「So, Gesta's not the only one doing awful things, right?」Lavia asked.「What about the others?」

「I'll gather more stuff tonight and send them to the royal castle. I might as well. If Kudyastoria wins, they'll probably be dealt with later. I must say, I didn't expect the doc.u.ments to be useful the very same day I found them.」

After that, Boltec and Fran told the authorities everything, except the part about Paula and her master.

As for the church, they believed that after recovering her strength through the priest's magic, Fran overcame her sickness simply because she was still young. Boltec telling them it wasn't anything serious also helped.

After donating 5,000 gilans to the church as payment for the healing services, Boltec and her daughter were released.

「Who's this Silver Face guy?」

The commander of the temple knights grasped the report detailing today's events. Doc.u.ments indicating Father Gesta's malpractice were thrown into the temple knights' station. Before verifying them, the knights hurried to take the priest into custody. That's where they met a boy wearing a silver mask coming out of the church.

The boy, who called himself Silver Face, said he was the one who tossed the doc.u.ments into the station. The knights tried to secure the boy, but failed, losing sight of him.

「A boy got the better of our knights? And the station is on the third floor…」

How did he toss in the doc.u.ments from an open window on the third floor?

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