Leonidas kneeled near what should have been inconspicuously tampered-with floorboards. They had long been ripped from their place and the tome he had hidden within was gone.

The out-of-sight method Leonidas had used to hide this book had only been the first layer of protection. Hidden within, he had also used several Blood Magi-related countermeasures to avoid ease of detection. And yet, in the end, he had still failed to protect it.

Leonidas took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

He felt like a fool. No, he was a fool. He had let his sudden success get to his head and he almost pissed it all away in a single bad move. While he had his reasons for rushing his interrogation of Beccerth, and while he had managed to gain the information he needed out of it, Leonidas was certain that there was a slower, more methodical method he could have chosen to maximize his gains and minimize his losses.

Unfortunately, he had let his rage and arrogance get to his head. His will for revenge had become insatiable after six months of secluded training. Even when he was weak, he had never been good at controlling his impulses and lowering his head, but now that he was strong, or at least what some would deem to be so, he had even less reason to rein himself in.

Now look at him. He had lost his most valuable possession to a family far beyond his means to deal with, his mother’s corpse was nowhere to be found, and he didn’t even have any of the Blessing Units he would need to pull out the Ogre head and become a Level 2 Apostle.

Leonidas exhaled, his dull crimson irises smoldering.

He was furious.

His mother had lived a horrible life, suffering every day just so that he could have a chance to live another. He could only think of one way to repay her, to let her know from beyond that he would never forget the sacrifices she had made for him, but now she was gone.

These people trampled on him, tore into the smallest semblance of a home he had, ripped away the strongest reliance he could lean upon, and were likely now still plotting how best to ensure he never rose again.

‘I will raze this town to the ground.’

Leonidas’ hair stood on end, the steel-like protrusions of his tail growing along with it. The bestial aura he radiated seemed to solidify in the air.

It had been a long time since he truly lost control of his rage. The weak didn’t have the right to such emotions, and these events seemed to remind him just how truly insignificant he was.

Indeed, he was weak. But, he wouldn’t allow it to stay that way.

“I guess I should thank you?”

Leonidas’ baritone voice came out even lower than usual as he rose to his full height, his head turning to face the doorway to find Lady Eve standing in silence.

She looked just the same as always. Her torso was tightly wrapped in leather armor that pinched her small waist and flared out at her still outrageously wide hips. Her legs were long and slender, brimming with explosive power. The cargo pants that covered them were just as tight fitting, just a slight shade darker than her short-cut dirty blond hair.

While Lady Eve was very clearly a middle-aged woman, the lines of beauty on her face were unmistakable. The slight wrinkles couldn’t take away from her mature sort of allure, an allure that Leonidas had often spent his time avoiding getting any sort of good look at knowing well that his standing was far too low.

Lady Eve strode into Leonidas’ living quarters without answering immediately. She scanned the region, her expression difficult to read. When she came to a stop, the door happened to click close behind her and she stood just far enough away from Leonidas that she didn’t have to tilt her head up to look at him.

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“I helped you only because I want something in return, and I’m sure you know what that is.”

“You want an explanation that I can’t give you,” Leonidas replied plainly. “But, you knew that before you accepted to help me.”

“Sometimes being too smart gets you killed.”

“You should know better than anyone else that I’m very hard to kill.”

Lady Eve’s gaze narrowed, but she didn’t respond.

“It was Father Barat, wasn’t it.”

“Watch what you—!“

“I already know the answer is yes. I was naive to think that of all the people an Apostle could have at their fingertips that they would choose me of all people to take on a mission, no matter how well I could take care of your horse. Father Barat was the one who informed you of my appearance, he’s probably also the one who told you I worked in the stables. I must say, you’re very good at hiding your motives.”

Back when Lady Eve approached him the second time to join in what was supposed to be Manfroi’s maiden mission, she had mentioned that someone told her that Leonidas had greatly improved. Leonidas hadn’t thought much about it back then, but after seeing Father Barat’s weird behavior during the trial, it all seemed to click.

There was only one person it made sense for Lady Eve to have been talking about back then, there was simply no other in a position to observe him. And, if it had been one of the other Clergymen, they would have fallen under Lady Eve’s wings and not that of her Knights like they had.

That just left a simple question: How could an Apostle and a Father have such a relationship?

The position of Father was very unique. It was taken up by a civilian, but they could sometimes wield authority equal to and even occasionally surpassing that of Apostles.

In exchange, they had to devote their lives to the Church. They couldn’t step foot outside its confines, they were meant to remain chaste and they couldn’t marry nor have a family, only by doing so could the benefits be reaped.

Such an individual, so greatly devoted to their God and no one else, shouldn’t have had such a relationship with an Apostle. Feeding information about Clergyman to an Apostle, and most of all information that would lead to said Clergyman’s death? That was grounds for the very same Death by Purification Father Barat had threatened Leonidas with to be levied toward him.

“It seems you don’t want to listen to my advice about smart people,” Lady Eve said icily.

“I only find it interesting,” Leonidas continued, the slow steps he was taking forward helping him to raise his momentum. “Anabel is a young genius of a family far weaker than yours, but her sense of duty is ingrained in her bones. She willingly sacrificed herself for the sake of giving her Siris family a chance out of their current crisis.

“I, of course, don’t expect everyone to be so valiant. Humans are inherently selfish creatures and given that you were willing even to kill your own nephew for a chance at strength, you could most definitely fall into such a category.”

Lady Eve’s gaze flashed with a dangerous light, but Leonidas only continued as though he hadn’t noticed at all, the dim lights of his living quarters casting shadows over his tall frame.

“On the other hand, you did ultimately sacrifice yourself for your family in the end, no? I can imagine what it must have felt like marrying into the Peyton family all those years ago. Your own brother used you as a pawn to stabilize the family in the wake of your father’s death, what’s not to sympathize about?

“What is extraordinary, though, is that even given your vindictive personality, rather than using your newfound position as the Peyton family’s Mistress to seek revenge on your brother, you actually helped him to reach the station he holds today.

“As far as I can tell, there are only two reasons a woman like you would make such a choice.

“The first reason is that you had come to hate the late Deacon Peyton far more than you hated your own brother. In this case, your first priority would be to seek revenge for years of marriage and heartache.

“However, I like the second reason a lot better. Your heart had already died, there was already no returning to the young woman you once were. Your brother had betrayed you, your husband saw you as nothing more than a useful pawn, and the world had abandoned you.

“In your eyes, the only way forward was to grasp power for yourself.

“The Bruthers family wanted you to use your talent as a Healer and take up the position after the Peyton family was erased. However, you chose to cut ties and become a Fighter instead, drawing a clear line between yourself and the family that had betrayed you.

“The question, though… is why had your heart died? A woman like you doesn’t seem so fragile. You could argue that maybe you had yet to mature into such a state all those years ago, but I’m of the belief that people are who they are. You might be able to slightly change yourself, but someone capable of killing their nephew was always capable of killing their nephew in some respects. The human mind is only so malleable.

“Now, though, there’s quite the convenient answer sitting before me, right? A love story between a Father and an Apostle would be quite the woven tale, don’t you think?”