There is too much work.

Too much.

Lately, with everything happening all over the continent, the seven calamities, the seven calamity aftermath, that stupid war against the aristocracy, followed by the betrayal from that well-known family and these lower-ranking family, and now this new Holy Paladin Aubrecht and Fifth Archibishop brought with their return, there was no longer any room for rest.

I was tasked along with Archbishop Whiteley to overview the situation with the Aristocracy, but with everything happening, there was no way for me to keep focus.

If the survival of that thing is really true and the fact that he might be the reason why these calamities occurred, then the Aristocracy should be the last of our worries.

There is no way that thing should be left alive. That should’ve been our priority.

Some agreed with me in that regard, but many more were in favor of letting the Pontifex personally deal with this matter.

I really respect the Pontifex, but with all my due respect, I doubt that person would be able to do anything where he is now.

All we are doing is awaiting an impending doom to come at us.

Did they forget what that monstrosity did seven years ago, I should’ve killed it when I could.

If I had, none of us would’ve had to go through this, I almost lost my cousin. I almost died if it weren’t for my staff and the sudden arrival of Holy Paladin Aubrecht and the other remaining fourteen.

Even with all of us, that thing was still able to put up a fight.

Did they forget that?

Scratching my head in frustration, I lay against my chair.

"How long has it been since I had the opportunity to relax."

With what happened during the Night Ecarlate, most of the responsibility for the disaster befell on me.

I admit I was wrong in my behavior at Holy Paladin Aubrecht's banquet reception but wasn't it they who gave birth and were hiding that thing?

Why was I the only one held responsible, five of the fourteen, among which three fellow archbishops were openly antagonizing me?

If it weren’t for the image of the church, I’m sure they would’ve made me publicly apologize.

Since then I was put as an outcast and was tasked to never interfere with any Archbishop duty until my name was cleansed enough.

It was fine by me, for I really needed a good rest.

But that was before the Seven Calamities. With something like that, everything began to fall apart. It’s been roughly two years since then, and there was no longer room for rest.

When things began to quiet down, at least to a reasonable level, one of my most valuable assets, my son-in-law, was taken away from me and brought back dead, only to be told another horrible piece of news.

Everything around me was crumbling apart.

And as if things weren't messy enough, my son-in-law's two sons, according to what I've heard, have fled to the Aurora Academia. That was something I had to take care of with speed, but I was too busy for that for the time being.

I couldn’t help but let out another loud sigh.

Suddenly, I heard a series of knocks on the door.

From the frequency and strength, he put into his knock and his heartbeat, I immediately knew who it was.

"You can enter."

"Good Morning, Father."

Entering the room was a boy of around 16 years old. Trait for trait, he was my carbon image;

He was my first and only son, Zaran.

"Good Morning. What brings you to this old man's room."

"I’m finally ready father, everything was ready for my departure for the Aurora Academia. I’m finally going to see it." He excitedly announced.

"Already?"

"Yes, why? Aren’t you happy for me? I should’ve gone since last year, you know. "

He was 16 now, since last he should’ve gone to the Academia but because of the event of the Seven Calamity, I decided to keep him at home, for even the academia was heavily touched by it, just as much as everyone throughout the Human Continent.

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"Of course, I’m happy. It’s just that I was a little bit … lost in thought. So what you’re going to do once you’re going to be there? "

"Me? I will do like you, join our family faction and then focus on becoming an Archbishop like you. "

"Oh… that’s quite a dream that you have here. I’m sure you’ll make it. "

If I were to listen to my own heartbeat, I would know that I was lying right now, but there was no point in ruining a child's dream.

"Thanks, father." He said before he went up to me and hugged me.

Just at that moment, a knock came at the door. This time it belonged to one of my servants.

"Enter."

A maid opened the door wide, allowing a man to come into view. From the look of him, he was a courier, and in his hand was a giant suitcase.

"My Lord this man, have an urgent delivery coming from his Grace the Holy-Paladin Armand Aubrecht."

"A delivery? From Armand Aubrecht? "

"Yes, my Lord, I was tasked with giving this package by the Holy Paladin himself. He specifically told me to deliver it to you and you alone, my Lord."

"He did?"

"Yes, my Lord. I was tasked with delivering this along with this letter." He said, retrieving a rather unceremonious envellope.

I knew the man wasn’t lying, so I tasked him with putting the package on the nearby sofa along with the letter.

"Well, then father, I think I should leave alone, see you for the dinner."

With that, he left me alone in the room.

"Why would that person send me a letter and a package?"

With the news he brought from his trip to the Iharana Great Forest, I knew that we had many things to talk about, but he never mentioned that during the time we met in person, so why a letter?

I opened the envelope and began reading the content of the letter.

The moment my eyes read it, I couldn’t help but notice how messily written it was. There was no form, it was just written in a way to send a message and nothing else.

As I read, it was as if my heart had stopped beating. My hand couldn’t stop shaking helplessly.

Dear Archbishop Medvedik, I hope you are doing well. I hope your cousin is also doing well, I really hope both of you are doing well, because it would be a shame if you didn’t.

It’s been a long time since we last time we’ve met,

How long has it been?

Seven years, right?

I hope you didn’t forget about me. Because I never forget about you.

You might not recognize me when you see me, but you know, though I gained some height, I remained the same, I still have the same black hair, which I proudly got from my mother, and the same red eyes from my father, which make a very unique combination.

Well, in short you will not miss when you’ll see me.

You know, when I came back to the human continent, because I do, I was afraid, afraid that I had accidentally killed you, in that Seven Calamity, as you cultists call it.

You can't imagine how relieved I was to learn that you and your family were safe: You, your cousin, your son, your daughter, and your grandson were safe.

You really can’t imagine. Do you have any idea how much you, the other fourteen, and every single one of your people were important to me.

You were the buoy that kept me afloat.

The fact that you were out there, well-lodged inside your punny barrier, eating, breathing, and shitting, kept me alive.

Time has finally come for me to reward you for keeping me alive all those years.

Say, Archbishop Gregor Medvedik, do you remember me?

You might know as the Faceless One, but know that I’m not nameless.

I will tell you the name my mother gave me: it is Ronandt.

I came back for you and every single one of you fuckers.

See you soon. Wink* wink*

P.S: I hope you still have your white staff, I really liked the effect it had on you.

P.S II: By the way, there is something inside the suitcase. I stumbled upon it in Beaufort, I think it belongs to you, so I sent it back to you.

Having read the content entirely, the letter fell from my shaking hand.

As the letter implied, I looked at the suitcase.

The suitcase in question wasn’t particularly large, and neither did it look particularly heavy.

I slowly opened the thing, and just as the opening reached halfway, it exploded.

A small explosion

It was not a fire, or smoke that could be seen, but an explosion of blood, innards, and every possibly disgusting liquid that could be imagined coming from a mortal body.

I fell on my butt, not from the explosion but from the horrible smell.

Then, something fell on the ground among the gory mess and rolled toward me.

Wiping the blood on my face to see clearly, I saw what it was.

A head.

It was the head of someone I knew.

Bishop Romani.

He was there that night. He was the one who summoned us to the Rosetta manor, the only living escapee of the squad we sent to apprehend the Faceless One.

Plastered on that lifeless head was such a lively expression of fear.

I was left there unable to utter a single word.

I remained there, hugging my knee amidst the gory mess flooding my room to calm myself.

They were right, it was back, and it really was the one responsible for these calamities.

And it was coming for us.

It was coming for us.

"Hahahaha." I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.