Chapter 6 – Are You Planning to Guide the Way in That Condition?
“Anne, Chloe! Come out here!”
Anne and Chloe, who had been pacing anxiously in the corridor, ran toward Nina at her shout.
It had already been three full hours since Winter left with Kyle. There was still no sign of them returning.
As time dragged on, the girls’ worries grew darker. They had even considered going out to look for her, but Winter’s last order had been clear.
Stay outside.
They could not disobey the Saint they served.
Still, one thought pressed heavily on all their minds.
Winter was not well.
It was almost a miracle she could move around at all.
And that so-called Silver Knight behaved more like a thug than a noble hero. Of course they were worried.
She’s already in poor health…
As Anne ran down the corridor with Chloe, she bit her lip and decided she would ask Winter not to go out alone with him again.
At last, bright white light from the outside enveloped them. The girls squinted.
Beyond the pillars at the entrance, Winter was walking toward them—veil removed, face pale and exhausted.
“Saintess!”
“Saintess, lean on me!”
Chloe and Nina rushed to her first.
“Thank you…”
Winter placed one arm over Chloe’s shoulder and forced a faint smile, but it only made her look worse. She appeared less fine and more like a patient barely standing.
“What happened with Sir Ascalon? Are you really okay?”
“Nina.”
“Ah… I’ll be quiet.”
Anne stepped forward, replacing Chloe at Winter’s side and gently scolding her.
“You suddenly told us to leave, and then you didn’t come back for hours. Do you know how worried we were?”
“I came back safely. Isn’t that enough?”
Anne swallowed her next words when she saw Winter’s condition.
As they helped her inside, Nina suddenly asked,
“By the way… where’s Sir Ascalon?”
“Did you finally bury him in the forest?”
“Chloe!”
“I’m joking!”
Winter paused at the doorway and quietly said,
“…No.”
The girls blinked.
“It might have been the other way around.”
They stared at her in shock.
Winter turned her blood-red gaze toward the setting sun beyond the hills.
***
One hour earlier.
Winter, seated on a tree root, had come to a conclusion.
Kyle Ascalon looked arrogant and rude on the surface—but he was careful.
She had expected him to recklessly swing his sword when he removed his cloak.
Instead, he hunted the demons’ familiars hiding in the camellia forest.
“Screee!”
With a reverse grip, Kyle struck down a rat-like familiar.
“…Seven.”
He calmly counted the ones he had killed.
Winter narrowed her eyes beneath her veil.
If familiars are wandering here, it means part of the sanctuary has been breached.
Demons raised familiars. The stronger the demon, the more numerous and powerful their servants.
And if familiars were here—
Something was deeply wrong.
Winter pressed her fingers against her throbbing temple.
The sanctuary was sacred ground.
That demons could influence it made no sense.
Even worse—she, who had cast it, hadn’t noticed.
Suddenly, a sharp ringing pierced her ears.
“Ah…”
She gripped her trembling arm.
Whether from cold or exhaustion, staying seated was becoming difficult.
Still, she could not let her guard down.
There’s definitely some connection between Kyle and the prophecy.
Ordering him to investigate the forest had not been mere busywork.
She wanted to see whether he was truly tied to her fate.
“You should head back.”
“What if I refuse?”
Kyle turned, clearly irritated.
“Even a Saint won’t be fine in this cold.”
Says the man without a cloak.
Winter clicked her tongue.
He was equally annoyed. She had done nothing but sit there, watching him.
As if monitoring him.
He knelt beside a dying familiar.
Demons always left traces.
If corruption had seeped in for half a year, it might spread further.
Most of the time, even if they identified the demon, they were powerless.
Kyle stood and tossed something at her.
It was his cloak.
She caught it and frowned beneath her veil.
“What are you doing?”
“Take it and go inside.”
She studied the dark green fabric.
“…If you plan to rush this, earning my trust will be difficult.”
Kyle rested a hand on his sword pommel.
“You’re in the way.”
“…What?”
Anger flashed across her face.
“Atlans grows colder after sunset. If you stay, you’ll only exhaust yourself.”
He wasn’t wrong.
But she couldn’t simply leave.
“…What about you?”
“I have more to investigate.”
He didn’t even look at her.
“If you plan to monitor me, be smarter about it.”
So he had noticed.
Winter forced a playful tone.
“Oh? I thought you might lose your way.”
“Guide me? In that condition?”
He strode toward her.
His presence was overwhelming.
She braced herself—
Then warmth touched her neck.
Kyle had removed his glove and pressed his fingers to her pulse.
Her life force felt weak.
All that bravado, yet this frail.
“Are you really planning to guide the way like this?”
Her neck burned where he touched her.
She slapped his wrist away.
“Don’t touch me without permission.”
“I noticed your arm trembling.”
So it was obvious.
“…Fine. I’ll go.”
She stood.
“I’ll return your cloak tomorrow.”
“Keep it.”
She walked away.
When her figure nearly vanished from sight, Kyle sighed.
“…Finally.”
He sheathed his sword.
All familiars were gone.
Thanks to the sanctuary, they had been weaker than expected.
The problem is that a demon breached the sanctuary at all.
He folded his arms.
Even high-ranking demons had never pierced a sanctuary during the war.
Maintaining one usually lasted less than a minute.
The Saint could sustain it indefinitely.
So how?
Why no response from the demon even after its familiars were killed?
What was its goal?
Then a thought struck him.
Perhaps—
He spoke the possibility aloud.
“There may be a collaborator inside the sanctuary.”
