Chapter 9 : I get it

“The Demon King’s army is now surrounding the east, south, and north districts. The east is where the main force is, so the strongest among us four—Knight Narl—is stationed there.”

Hilda pointed to the silver coin placed at the north position.

“Next is the north district. Knight Yuna is stationed there. Lastly, the south—since it’s not where the demon army’s main force is, Knight Cain is guarding that area.”

After Hilda’s explanation, Luo Li finally understood the structure of Glorious City.

Since Glorious City didn’t have an inner wall, the outer wall served as its only line of defense. Because of that, almost all of

the main forces had been moved to defend the eastern, southern, and northern walls. Only enough knights to guard the

Sanctuary remained within the city—everyone else had been deployed to the walls.

There were a total of eight Guardian Knights in Glorious City.

Out of those eight, four had been sent away by Martha for various reasons. That meant only four Guardian Knights were left in the city, along with a handful of other knights.

That included Knight Narl at the east wall, Knight Yuna at the north, Knight Cain at the south.

And finally, Hilda, who served as a roaming Guardian Knight—a kind of emergency responder who would be sent wherever help was most urgently needed.

“Alright, I understand the general layout now. But I still need you, Knight Hilda, to bring me the full records of the knights as soon as possible.”

Glorious City, once a shining and powerful city-state, still had strong and reliable walls.

The reason the city eventually fell in the original timeline was mainly because Luo Li, the Saintess, had been captured.

That crushed the army’s morale and led to defeat.

Thinking about this made Luo Li feel a bit more at ease.

The current demon army had not brought enough supplies. It was like a ship setting sail without enough fuel—sure, it could sail, but reaching its destination would be difficult.

But after feeling better, she remembered the present situation.

No matter how she looked at it, things still felt a bit hopeless.

Maybe… maybe she should just slide over there and surrender halfway, saying something like “as long as you don’t touch me, I’ll come quietly”… Maybe that could work…

“No, no! I absolutely can’t surrender! If I surrender now, I’ll really become meat on a butcher’s board! I’ll be the fish, and they’ll hold the knife! No way!”

The situation now was clearly more serious than usual. This wasn’t just life or death.

This was about her chastity.

Luo Li pressed her lips together and thought seriously. She brushed her silver hair behind her ear, and a strand slipped through her fingers. Her long silver hair—if it fell into the hands of demons—would surely be… shared for enjoyment!

“Narl… I still remember this guy a little.”

In the original Saintess’s memories, things were very innocent. She didn’t even understand basic things between men and women, and she knew almost nothing about the outside world.

But the title of Guardian Knight had to be granted directly by the Saintess. So she had at least seen Knight Narl before.

He was a rising star, also from the Dresas family—the same noble house as Knight Adam, the blonde knight from earlier.

Narl was still young—just turned fifteen this year—but even among the eight Guardian Knights, his strength ranked high. He was one of Glorious City’s rare geniuses.

His family had deep roots in Glorious City, and everything they had was based here. Would someone like that betray Glorious City?

It didn’t seem likely.

…But she couldn’t completely rule it out either.

Then came Yuna of the north district.

She was also a female knight and very close with Hilda. Among the eight Guardian Knights, only these two were women. Their relationship was strong.

So Yuna was almost certainly not the traitor.

Finally, there was Cain.

He came from a fallen noble family. If anyone among the Guardian Knights seemed suspicious, he would be the most likely.

But still, it was too early to jump to conclusions.

Luo Li gently gathered the silver hair over her chest. It felt unexpectedly soft and smooth—like fine fur. As her fingers rubbed it, the texture was warm and comforting.

Just as Luo Li was lost in thought about her own safety, noise came from outside.

It sounded like a lot of people cheering—very loud—and some were shouting “Long live the Holy Church!”

Hearing that, Luo Li lifted her head and looked toward the door. The grand door of the Sanctuary creaked open as two people pushed it.

Two nuns rushed in, both with excited expressions. They quickly approached her bedside.

“Your Highness! Moon Angel Sariel has protected us! The demon army… has retreated!”

Luo Li was slightly stunned when she heard that, but she didn’t lose her composure. As usual, a calm smile appeared on her face.

“…I understand.”

The two nuns were amazed by how calm the Saintess was, as if she had already known the demon army would withdraw.

Their minds began to race.

They had both served the previous Saintess before. Back then, she was naïve, clueless, like a country girl who had never seen the world—she understood nothing.

But today, everything about the Saintess seemed… different.

And in this era where people worshiped gods, such a sudden change—especially in the Saintess—was deeply mysterious.

The two nuns finished reporting and, at the Saintess’s command, left the Sanctuary.

Nun A paused at the door, doubt flickering in her eyes.

“Hey… don’t you think the Saintess feels kind of different today?”

Nun B, however, was smiling brightly.

“You don’t get it, do you? She must have received divine guidance! How else could she have known Sister Martha was a demon?”

“Divine guidance? Yeah… that makes sense! That’s the only explanation for why the Saintess suddenly became so smart!”

The two nuns whispered to each other. It was just private chatter, but things like this couldn’t be kept secret for long.

In less than ten minutes, the entire Sanctuary had heard about it.

The rumors became more and more exaggerated—some even claimed they had personally seen an angel descend from the sky.

And the Saintess they were all talking about… was currently sitting on her bed, spacing out.

“…The demon army retreated? Really?”

Luo Li got off the bed.

The cold marble floor was smooth and clean, like a mirror. It reflected the girl’s tightly furrowed brow.

Her small bare feet stepped onto the chilly stone, and the coldness made her body tremble slightly.

“…Something’s not right. The demon army isn’t trying brute force—they’re planning something. A surprise attack? A trick to fool our eyes?”

What she didn’t know was that Hilda, who had gone to gather the records, had heard a rumor on the way back:

“Saintess Luo Li is currently communing with an angel behind closed doors.”

At first, Hilda didn’t believe it. But when she arrived at the Sanctuary and was about to knock and enter, she suddenly heard a voice from inside—a language that didn’t belong to this world.

The language sounded ancient and complex. The Saintess’s voice was quiet, but even a level-50 Guardian Knight like Hilda couldn’t make out what was being said in the echoing halls.

All she could see… was a subtle, meaningful smile on the Saintess’s face.

That strange, hard-to-understand language, that mysterious smile, and all of the Saintess’s completely different behavior lately…

Hilda suddenly understood—

The Saintess was communicating with the divine.