Chapter 73: The Church’s Arrival

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“This is my pet?”

“Yes, you used to love it very much.”

“But it was the one that delivered Edward’s letter to me…”

Madam was stunned upon hearing this.

“So did Edward take it away?”

“…Perhaps, I don’t remember.”

But I think that must be what happened.

Edward knew it was my pet, and this raven was surprisingly intelligent. From its current behavior, it seems to be very loyal to its master, even after 3 years it still remembers I’m its owner, so Edward must have used this point to send messages to me.

I wonder what his purpose was back then, keeping a bird that was technically my pet by his side…

Well, it doesn’t matter.

“Peipei——”

The harsh, unpleasant call sounded again, making me frown.

“Shut up.”

“Peipei, stupid——”

That foolish bird, whether it could understand some human speech or simply sense human emotions, fluttered its wings and flew to my shoulder again, lightly pecking my head twice.

“……”

I won’t get angry.

One shouldn’t stoop to a bird’s level.

Suddenly, the “crunch” sound of wheels rolling over snow came from beside us. Madam and I turned our heads to look, a new horned carriage was approaching.

The pure white carriage was decorated extraordinarily lavishly, with pale golden patterns that I couldn’t be more familiar with, considering I had spent quite a few nights inside it.

The horned carriage stopped not far from our view. A not-so-muscular arm lifted the curtain, and the expected casual figure stepped down from the carriage, smiling when he saw me.

“Little Syl.”

I was instantly delighted and called out his name: “Carlos—”

Then I suddenly remembered I hadn’t decided whether to acknowledge him yet, so why was I showing such an expression… I quickly put on a stern face, quietly watching him walk forward, though feeling somewhat puzzled.

Why did this guy come here at this time? And he even changed into silver armor…

Then, I saw two more people step down from the carriage, and I immediately felt short of breath.

Because one of them had white hair and a long beard, with a stern face, looking at least 60 years old. He wore clothes identical to that first robed elder, even looking somewhat similar… seeing him made my heart tremble, as I had developed quite a psychological shadow of this appearance.

The other person appeared even stranger, he actually wore a bird-beak mask that completely covered his face, only showing wine-red hair. A large cloak covered his entire body, the same style as the one Carlos wore — the Pontifical Knight’s iris cloak.

“The journey must have been tiring.”

The Duke greeted them from beside me. Carlos continued walking without pause, smiling as he responded: “Not at all, we were just late to realize.”

Then, under my confused gaze, he reached into his chest and pulled out something wrapped in leather paper… ah, it’s pastries!

Great!!!

“Give it to me quick!”

Before he could even stop walking, I snatched the leather paper package, eagerly opening it as the sweet fragrance wafted to my nose. I swallowed a mouthful of saliva with a “gulp.”

I hadn’t eaten anything since noon, my stomach was completely empty…

My small hands carelessly wiped on my skirt a few times before reaching for the pastries, but was met with a “slap” as someone knocked them away.

“Your hands are filthy.”

Madam gave me a sidelong glance, then extended her ivory-white fingers, picked up a piece of pastry and brought it to my mouth.

“Open up.”

I immediately obediently opened my mouth.

“Ah——”

As the pastry entered my mouth, its rich fragrance spread out. I happily squinted my eyes, quickly chewed a few times, swallowing it almost whole, then looked at her expectantly.

“Ah——”

Madam smiled helplessly: “You must be starving.”

She picked up another piece of pastry and held it up. I quickly chomped it down with an “om nom,” nodding vigorously as I chewed.

I really was starving.

“Sir Carlos is so thoughtful, even I didn’t think of this… we left in such a hurry.”

Madam’s smile didn’t fade, but her words carried some deeper meaning. Her gaze toward Carlos seemed to hold some scrutiny within it.

“Not at all, I was just passing by,” Carlos said.

He maintained his casual demeanor, his sapphire-like blue eyes, which should have been bright, were half-covered by drooping eyelids. After saying those words, he yawned and scratched the back of his head, completely lacking the valor that righteous knights should have in stories.

But at this moment, in my eyes, he was incomparably adorable.

“Just passing by? Carlos, your ‘just passing by’ made us take two extra streets and almost lose the horned carriage from Shanter Castle.” A young man’s voice came from behind Carlos, the tone sounding quite exaggerated. I turned my head to look, and a bird beak came into view. “Let me see what kind of little beauty could… wow——”

After seeing me, the bird-beaked knight let out quite an exaggerated exclamation, swept his cloak with his hand, and bowed deeply to me.

“Beautiful young lady, I am Chris Labres, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“…munch munch…munch munch…mm.” I nodded to him indifferently, looking at Madam and opening my mouth again, “Ah——”

“Someone is greeting you, how can you be so impolite?”

Greeting? He’s just interrupting my eating.

“Haha! It’s fine, Madam, Miss Sylvia is an excellent person, please don’t blame her.”

“I’m very sorry, Doctor Chris, she’s really starving.”

“Not at all, the young lady is very adorable, I quite like her.”

…You’re the one who’s adorable.

However, hearing Madam’s way of addressing him, that bird-beaked knight was actually a doctor? This surprised me somewhat, could doctors also be Pontifical Knights?

“Eat slower.”

Madam wiped away the crumbs from my mouth, her raised corners of her mouth forming a doting curve.

“Miss Sylvia, where are those Gate of Truth heretics?”

The robed elder who came last finally spoke. Although his face was elderly, it carried quite an intimidating presence. His speech was very formal and straight to the point, one look and you could tell he was the type who only cared about business and wasn’t easy to get along with.

I pointed my hand toward the battlefield, and everyone turned their heads to look. From far away, they could see that patch of countless ice spikes, quietly standing in the thin ice mist, refusing to dissipate.

“Are they completely dead?” Carlos asked.

“Mm-hmm.”

I nodded.

“Let’s go take a look.”

“Little Syl, thank you for your hard work.”

Carlos said to me with a smile, and was rewarded with a white-eye roll from me.

By now I could clearly understand why these three people had come here. Carlos had been busy lately, probably all for these matters. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have hurriedly come at this time. He certainly hadn’t come to save me, perhaps he had received information somewhere and tracked down the whereabouts of the Gate of Truth, only to find that I had already taken care of them.

Really… how unreliable.

Probably seeing through my thoughts, Carlos rubbed his forehead and gave me a bitter smile: “This matter is rather complicated. Let’s go take a look first, and after you finish eating, come to our carriage. There are some things we need to discuss… Madam, you don’t mind, do you?”

“Sir Carlos, if I said I minded, what difference would it make?” Madam smiled somewhat playfully, “You big men, how can you need a girl to help you with your work?”

Although these words were said in a joking tone, they were quite impolite. Carlos found it difficult to respond for a moment, then Madam winked at him.

“This shows that our Peipei is quite remarkable.”

She poked my nose.

“Miss Sylvia, to have such ability at such a young age is indeed remarkable… Madam, this matter is of great importance, please excuse us for now.”

“Bishop Hobbs, please go ahead.”

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