utterly and completely destroyed it. However, there was one thing still standing there, strangely unharmed. Amid the vast nothingness, a statue of the Saint shedding tears of blood stood tall. She was hanging upside down, and a rectangular pit sat directly beneath her head. There was a good chance it had originally been locked up tight and covered by a pedestal, but the statue's protection must not have extended that far, and the mass of flesh must have melted it all away. Kaito squinted, trying to make out what was within. Deep in the darkness, he could make out a set of stairs. They had likely avoided destruction by virtue of being underground. Jeanne strode forth, her steps light as she made her way toward its entrance. "Come now, everyone, let's be on our way. In the quest for truth, you must simply put one foot in front of the other. The words Ask and ye shall receive are rarely true, but this case is one exception to that rule." "The 'truth'... What exactly is down there?" "A place with no connection to the lives of the stray sheepâ€”the ancestral tomb of the royal family. One of the high priests, the Grave Keeper, bears full responsibility for protecting it. But what they're hiding away and guarding so closely aren't just the corpses of geezers who kicked the bucket." Jeanne gave her answer. Unfortunately, though, she stopped short of the most important part. She continued on at her leisurely pace. Kaito gazed in frustration at the swaying, honey-blond hair covering her back. As always, her communication skills were lacking in the extreme. Then he turned his gaze to the ashen earth around him. The current king and the surviving nobles were taking shelter somewhere else at the moment, and they hadn't gotten around to any sort of restoration effort yet. There was nobody there to interfere with them. Jeanne kept walking, her strides almost rhythmical. Now that they'd come this far, there was no turning back. In for a penny, in for a pound, I guess. Kaito followed after her. Hina and the Kaiser did the same. As Jeanne approached the pit the statue was guarding, though, Kaito noticed a white light flickering at the edge of his vision. He thought it might just be an optical illusion, but the lone dot suddenly multiplied. One by one, they ignited, like candles arranged in a ring. Cylindrical lights formed in a circle around Kaito and the others. "Ah, I see. Sure enough, they'd really rather we not enter the tomb. But given that we're in the Capital, they can't exactly use their transfigured paladins. All right, all right, let's have us a look-see. How do y'all wanna dance?" As Jeanne murmured, the lights all transformed into droplets and fell in a cascade, leaving behind people in silver armor. Jeanne cast a glance at the paladins forming a perimeter around herself and the others as though to appraise them. "Enough fucking around... Where is your leader?" Right as she spoke, a particularly bright light flashed directly in front of Kaito and the rest. When the white light bled away, the figure standing in its wake was one that Kaito knew well. "It's been some time, Kaito Sena." "...Izabella." It was the beautiful, silver-haired commander of the Holy Knights: Izabella Vicker. Kaito was about to say something, but he immediately lost his train of thought. When he'd fled from the Capital, he hadn't had a chance to get a good look at her face. But now that he had a chance to see for himself, he noticed her skin was covered in cruel scars. They marked the time she'd used summoning magic in the battle for the Capital. Unable to withstand the force of the mana, her body had burst from within. Kaito unthinkingly let out a shocked cry. "Those wounds... Did you get those when you performed the summoning?! Dammit, I told you that you were being rash!" "How strange of you to say that, Kaito Sena. You turned against mankind. That makes me your enemy, so why lend me any sympathy?" Izabella spoke, her voice filled with puzzlement. Kaito immediately shut up. As the Kaiser shot a mocking glance at him from his side, Kaito bit down on his lip. Oh, right... I'm not really in any position to be worrying about Izabella. Kaito glanced around the gray Capital. He, Izabella, the Torture Princess, and the paladins had all waged a desperate battle to protect the townscape off in the distance. Then he shifted his gaze back to Izabella. For a moment, he felt a weighty sense of fatigue press down on his body. Those days we spent fighting together feel like they were an eternity ago. The situation and the way Kaito now saw the world were so different compared with that episode of his past. He spent a moment immersed in sentimentality. Izabella, unaware of the things going through his head, continued in a detached tone. "I'd thought you a decent, honest man. But for some reason, you betrayed humanity. At this late hour, I shan't ask you your reasons. No matter what they may have been, a paladin's duty is to slay demons and their contractors. You prepared yourself for that reality when you made your pledge back at the square, I hope." "Yeah, that I did. I knew turning my back on humanity would mean becoming your enemy. And even knowing that, I made my choice." "Then it seems neither of us bears a grudge against the other." Izabella clutched the hilt of her sword, then drew it in a single smooth motion. The paladins followed her lead. Steel glinted brightly in the gray, muted land. Then, one by one, they pointed their consecrated blades at the Kaiser's contractor. "Yet we must kill you. For the sake of our orders, for the sake of mankind, and for the sake of the world." "Oh, how very illogical!" Suddenly, a loud voice rang out. Its tone was bright and cheery, yet its echo had a strange coldness to it. Confused at hearing the young girl's voice, Izabella blinked. "Who-who's there? Who do you have there with you, Kaito Sena?" "I beg your pardon. It is I." Jeanne popped out from behind Kaito. She must have hidden there at some point. As she did, Izabella's face twitched. Jeanne's words had been sorely lacking as an introduction, true, but the reason Izabella had stiffened up lay elsewhere. Oh, right. Now that I think about it, her getup's even more degenerate than Elisabeth's. Jeanne's outfit, opulent and far more lascivious than was appropriate for her age, seemed to have overloaded Izabella's straitlaced brain. She looked to be at a loss for words. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Jeanne dived right in. "I beg your pardon again, but did you, by any chance, leave your brain behind somewhere, miss?" "What? What are youâ€”" "Who did you receive that order from? Who among the Church's leadership suggested it?" "Wait. What are you implying by that, young lady?" "Who exactly managed to locate Kaito Sena? It can't have been mere coincidence. Whoever found him must have been tracking his movements. Why, then, did they not report it to the units pursuing him? What was the order you received, miss? It couldn't have been just to kill the Kaiser's contractor. They must have added the rider 'before he enters the underground tomb,' didn't they? And they surely gave that part of the order the utmost priority, if I had to guess. Why is that, do you think?" Jeanne mechanically pressed Izabella for answers. Izabella regarded her with suspicion at first, but her expression grew gradually more and more serious. She'd clearly realized that Jeanne wasn't simply spouting nonsense. Izabella's subordinates exchanged nervous glances as well. They, too, must have found the whole situation fishy. Still expressionless, Jeanne began talking at insane speeds. "Have you ever felt as though there were a secret unit among the paladins' ranks? Have you never found it suspicious, the fact that so many of the most promising recruits got snatched away? And after Godd Deos's death, did you not get the sense that suspicious matters began cropping up not just within the paladins but the Church itself?" As a clincher, Jeanne opened her rosy eyes wide, then posed Izabella a solemn question. "What proof do you have that all that is for the sake of mankind or the world?" "Who are you?" The way Izabella was addressing Jeanne had clearly changed. Despite Jeanne's age, Izabella was now dealing with her as an equal. The tension in the air took on a different note. Lowering her sword for a moment, Izabella ventured a question to Jeanne. "Just what do you think you're doing, Izabella?" A hard, unfriendly voice rang out. Izabella looked up in surprise, and Kaito cast his gaze overhead as well. One of the Church's communication devices was flying up in the gray sky. While it had the same shape as a normal device of its type, its appearance also seemed to be different in a way. Its abnormal size seemed to almost be a testament to how it had received God's favor. Its pure-white wings were conspicuously oversized as well, creating an overall impression of pomp and splendor. To put it bluntly, it seemed excessive, and in poor taste. The person on the other end, likely one of the high priests, droned on in an overbearing voice. "A contractor's ears are unfit for a paladin's words. You'll merely sully yourself. Kill him, now." "Please, Yah Llodl, wait. She could have information of someâ€”" "Nonsense! What kind of fool sits around and listens to what a demon contractor's ally has to say?! Everything coming out of their mouths is a lie, intended to lead the faithful astray! Is that what you want?! This kind of nonsense is why we lost so many men at the Plain of Skewers, and your brother among them!" The man's heavy-handed rebuke left no room for arguments or rebuttals. Izabella reflexively bit down on her lip. Kaito looked up at the orb with scornful eyes. Then, after a few seconds of silence, he calmly spoke. "...Yah Llodl, was it? You know, you're not like Godd Deos." "Ah, so even a contractor like you can tell. You're rightâ€”I'm different from that man. I'm not the same as that fool who was obliterated by a demon without ever coming to understand genuine faith or the Saint's true will." The voice let out a twisted laugh. Godd Deos had been in charge of managing the paladins, and the level of trust they'd placed in him had been high. A number of the paladins standing in waiting trembled with anger. Kaito heaved a long sigh. With a look of gentle remorse on his face, he shook his head. "I once accused Godd Deos of being a spectator. But I take that all back." "How odd. Who knew contractors were even capable of introspection? The man may have been incompetent, but I imagine he'd be gratified by that." "You won't set foot on the battlefield. You won't even show your face. You're the biggest damn coward I've ever met. I can tell just by your voiceâ€”you're an overgrown pig of a man." "Youâ€”!" As Kaito gave his assessment, his tone was dispassionate and uninterested. The voice cut off, appalled by the sudden affront. Hearing his master's diatribe, the Kaiser gave an amused laugh in a rare display of approval. "Ha, he speaks truth! Those who refuse to display their own strength are weaklings! Those who fight without knowledge are fools! Those who titter incessantly are incompetent! Their lives have no value, and they are, to a man, swine!" Suddenly, the orb began spinning and emitting light, then gave its wings a hard flap to demonstrate its irritation. White feathers rained down violently from above, and the person on the other side