Chapter 60: Secret Friends


    “Ah, aah…! For the children who shed tears, the goddess bleeds!”


    “I don’t know what that is, but it’s certainly not that.”


    In fact, I know very well. Priests who believe in the Goddess of Love have divided the broad concept of love into several categories based on their doctrine.


    Understanding the love of a god with a human body is challenging, so they refined it into a form they could ept.


    Thus, they spent their lives exploring and practicing a few types of love that suited them… but among them, there was one considered the greatest.


    “The loving-kindness of wiping away someone else’s tears with your own blood!”


    “It’s not like that….”


    Among the types of love that humans can understand, loving-kindness is said to be the most simr to that of the goddess.


    Yes, I know too. Though I say it’s not like that with words and cry out for Karen to stop paying attention, I still want to cry…I know all too well what the priests see in someone who purifies divine power out of nowhere and saves people by feeding them blood.


    After all, it was thest treatment method I deliberately introduced!


    The idea that a curse, thrown into chaos by a once-stopped heart, ispletely deceived by the blood of others was just an additionter on.


    The point is, isn’t it super cool that a person, thought to be dead, gets up abruptly after drinking the holy blood (not) flowing from the hand?


    And this is clearly a setting introduced with loving-kindness in mind.


    To pity the sick and heal their wounds with one’s own. How can one resist this!


    But the problem is that the other party is none other than Karen.


    She had been blessed with the ability to see emotions, and based on this, she perceived my unconditional love for this world the other day.


    Yet, to witness the miracle of loving-kindness (it really isn’t) right before her eyes?


    It would be enough to drive Karen, an inquisitor already more devout than the average clergy, to madness.


    “Please do not deny what I see. In these eyes bestowed by the goddess, I see the apostle’spassion and loving-kindness. Stop telling me to ignore what I’ve seen. I would rather be blinded.”


    “No, but… This isn’t really it…”


    “If you are worried about Priest Remilly, it’s alright. The moment I knelt, I temporarily obscured the vision of those around us.”


    “At this close distance, I guess that makes sense… Since you’re an inquisitor.”


    Inquisitors are a bit different from ordinary clergy.


    They hunt heretics with distorted faiths from the One Who Devours the Twilight. They have learned different things than merebat priests or pdins.


    The ability to see through one’s lies. The method of interrogating the truth, a fanatical yet unwavering faith that remains unshaken even in the presence of divine power stemming from the same source, and the ways to conceal oneself and evade the public eye, among others.


    Obscuring one’s sight momentarily shouldn’t be too difficult.


    “Oh Apostle, the Holy One who hase to thisnd after a thousand years, what should I do?”


    “Could you perhaps make today’s events as if they never happened…?”


    As Karen scratched the back of her head in distress, Lydia, who had stepped forward as if to protect me, now wore a puzzled expression and frowned.


    “No.”


    With that firm word, shepletely hid me behind her.


    “Jonah is not what you think. So, stop tormenting him.”


    Though her sword was not drawn, the surging aura was visibly fierce as she spoke.


    “Ah.”


    What a knight escort.


    I almost fell for her because she was so reliable.<hr>


    Lydia looked at Karen, who knelt before Jonah with a passionate gaze and voice.


    Since she was an inquisitor, this was better than her targeting Jonah for death for being associated with One Who Devours the Twilight…


    But that doesn’t mean the current interest and misunderstanding were weed. This was evident just by looking at Jonah’s expression, which seemed to rot away in real-time.


    After all, Jonah was an experimental subject of One Who Devours the Twilight.


    The love Karen saw in him was not of a mere human but closer to that of the goddess.


    It’s because of the faith forcibly instilled in him after stripping away even thest shreds of his humanity. Jonah ims to love everything in the world, but in other words, it means he doesn’t hold anything particrly dear.


    Absorbing the heretical divine power and converting it into pure divine power?


    The human experiments of One Who Devours the Twilight sometimes yield results beyond imagination. There’s even a living witness right around Lydia herself.


    The question at the heart of the experiment conducted on Jonah was this: Can the goddess’s love reside in someone who doesn’t know love? The answer seems to be ‘yes.’


    To be suspiciously well-versed in the methods of One Who Devours the Twilight?


    Although Karen brushed it off, saying it wouldn’t be strange for Jonah to know if he truly were an apostle of the goddess…


    But Lydia knows the truth. Jonah is well aware of these methods because he has either closely observed them or experienced them firsthand.


    Despite knowing the risk of being discovered, Jonah likely acted because he saw his past self reflected in the fallen Ian.


    Andstly, Jonah’s attitude of avoiding involvement with the temple?


    Although Karen seemed to have wanted to nicely package it as if it were some high-minded reason beyond his understanding.


    But to Lydia’s eyes, it appears differently. Jonah is extremely afraid of his past being exposed.


    It’s only natural. A slight mistake could brand Jonah as a heretic of One Who Devours the Twilight… and even if not, the event of being kidnapped as an experimental subject before could be revealed.


    Lydia vividly remembered the juxtaposition of Jonah’s perfect noble etiquette and the fiercely burning desire for revenge that seemed to engulf the world.


    Jonah had chosen to be stronger by enduring hardships in lowly ces rather than livingfortably as an apostle of the goddess.


    The reason was simple: revenge carried out by one’s own hands held meaning.


    In that sense, the de of revenge was best kept as secretive as possible. Only then can it pierce the most vulnerable spot most deeply.


    Perhaps this was why Jonah was obsessed with surprise attacks and assassinations, aiming for such an ultimate goal.


    Unaware of these circumstances, Karen seemed to view Lydia as an obstacle. She began to draw upon her divine power to counter Lydia’s aura.


    Despite having already expended a significant amount of it to save Ian, Karen still possessed a considerable reserve of divine power.


    ‘She’s not an ordinary inquisitor.’


    Resolved, Lydia reached into the air, her hand poised to draw her sword at a moment’s notice. However…


    “Miss Lydia, I won’t me you for wanting to protect Sir Jonah. However, I hope you understand that sometimes overprotection is no different from imprisoning someone. Sir Jonah is destined for greater things in a muchrger arena.”


    “No. You know nothing. I can’t entrust Jonah to someone like you.”


    “It sounds as if you believe you’re different. But in the end, aren’t you just like Miss Ellie, aiming for the grown-up body of Sir Jonah?”


    “You’re wrong.”


    Lydia, who had shaken her head, stealthily nced at Jonah hidden behind her.


    His expression was puzzled, yet he firmly grasped her waist as if his position behind Lydia meant he could ovee any adversity.


    That sight evoked memories of a forest from long ago.


    What had started as a simple prank had evolved into a demonstration of Jonah’s faith in her, and Lydia had reciprocated.


    Even if Jonah himself did not acknowledge it, the oath they had shared that day was real.


    “I am Jonah’s knight.”


    To those who recognized her, Lydia willingly offered her loyalty. Even if it meant turning the world into her enemy, she never wavered in the direction of her sword.


    “A sword that cuts down enemies and a shield that never breaks.”


    Lydia’s heart pounded heavily. Her aura red like mes, and her distinctive red eyes glowed brilliantly—a clear sign of a will that could ignite at any moment.


    “If Jonah does not wish it, no one can force him.”


    Lydia had always aspired to be a knight. She yearned to restore her fallen family’s honor and to retaliate against those who had scorned her.


    Serving nobles, earning des on the battlefield, and indulging in slightly scandalous romances—all appealed to her.


    But above all, Lydia craved something more substantial in this imperfect and chaotic world.


    She sought what she believed to be right—her unwavering conviction.


    “Even if it were the goddess herself, there would be no exception.”


    A knight lives and dies by their conviction.


    And Lydia was the most noble knight of all.


    “You…!”


    Karen ground her teeth as if she had been subjected to sphemy. Lydia, her resolve hardened, was about to draw her rapier from thin air, a weapon well-suited for closebat.


    Peek!


    Jonah, poking his head from beneath Lydia’s armpit, spoke in his usual yful tone.


    “Inquisitor Karen! How about we stop fighting and be secret friends?”


    “…What?”


    “Secret friends, you know, secret friends. We can sometimes talk in private, share tasty food…”


    Jonah’s choice of words,den with impure connotations, left both Karen and Lydia frozen in shock. With a mischievous grin, Jonah continued.


    “We also beat up heretics together.”


    “……”


    “……”


    Lydia tightly closed her eyes.


    But what can she do? He is the lord she has chosen.