Chapter 106: A Glimpse of Guilt

Julie’s pupils constricted, and her mouth parted slightly as she gazed at the figures on the city wall. Lucia’s squad stood there, remarkably unharmed. Lovelenica and Lucia each carried someone on their backs—Attestor and Imeline, respectively. From their appearance, none seemed to have suffered any significant injuries.

Julie found it utterly unbelievable. The Monster Hunt Exercise had concluded two hours ago, and many had already presumed the squad had met with disaster. Yet, here they were, standing completely unscathed.

Julie’s emotions surged like a rollercoaster, plummeting from peak to trough. She couldn’t comprehend how Lucia’s team, comprised of three Rank 2 professionals, had survived an ambush by numerous Rank 3 and three Rank 4 professionals.

‘Were the private soldiers and covert guards of the family just useless?’ she wondered.

Even if Lucia and her companions were formidable among their peers, it seemed impossible for them to defeat three Rank 4 professionals while contending with so many others of similar rank.

‘Why? How could they have survived!? Did the Guardian of their assigned area protect them?’

Suddenly, Julie’s eyes sharpened, her gaze fixing on Lovelenica, who bore Attestor on her back.

‘A Guardian, yes, isn’t Lovelenica a Guardian? Could the covert guards have chosen a location precisely within the area Lovelenica was assigned to protect?’

A fierce scowl twisted Julie’s features as she bit her lower lip. Concealed within the crowd, she subtly glared at Lovelenica.

‘It must have been Lovelenica who thwarted the covert guards! She’s a Rank 5 professional, a Beheading Nun who specializes in killing, not healing. She must have been the one interfering with my plans!’

****

In truth, the covert guards had chosen their ambush point strategically. It lay at the very edge of two zones, a spot where, by all accounts, neither zone’s Guardian should have noticed them. Unfortunately for them, Lovelenica was no ordinary human; she was Bloodkin.

From her vantage point on the tower, in her Bloodkin form, her perception was far beyond that of a normal human. This allowed her to observe even the most subtle blind spots.

‘Lovelenica! That damned Vampire!!!’

As Julie seethed with silent curses against Lovelenica, she was suddenly met with Lovelenica’s gaze. From a great distance, those crimson eyes were fixed directly on her.

A jolt of alarm shot through Julie, and she quickly averted her eyes.

‘I was hidden within the crowd,’ she thought, ‘with nearly every professional’s gaze fixed on them. Why, then, was Lovelenica specifically staring at *me*?’

‘Was my gaze too obvious, prompting Lovelenica to notice me?’

‘Or could it be… that she knows those people were the Crimson Family’s private soldiers?’

‘Impossible! That’s absolutely impossible! The family has never divulged any information about their private soldiers to Lovelenica. Even Lady Liliana is unaware of this matter!’

A wave of panic washed over Julie. Either possibility was terrifying.

She had no idea if the covert guards had retreated or been completely annihilated by Lovelenica. All Julie wanted now was to return quickly and report this incident to Elena.

‘Come to think of it,’ she mused, ‘Elena has been tracking Lucia’s squad with a Puppet Familiar. Perhaps Elena already knows the full story and has even devised a countermeasure.’

‘Calm down… the private soldiers carried no identifying information, and after death, they transform into blood, leaving no trace. There’s no way they could expose us, absolutely no way…’

Julie repeatedly reassured herself, forcing a semblance of calm. Still, she dared not lift her gaze to Lovelenica and the others again, fearing she would find Lovelenica still staring at her.

****

In truth, Lovelenica *was* deliberately staring at Julie. From her elevated position on the city wall, she had scanned the crowd, found Julie’s figure, and fixed her gaze upon her with a knowing intensity. The moment their eyes met, Julie instinctively looked away, a clear admission of guilt to Lovelenica.

Even without Julie’s tell-tale reaction, Lovelenica would have known she was responsible. She had read in the original novel how the Crimson Family secretly maintained a vast force of private soldiers, bound by blood contracts. These individuals would turn into blood upon death, leaving no trace behind.

Watching Julie with her head bowed, refusing to meet her gaze, Lovelenica found the sight rather amusing.

‘All for the position of a Saintess, merely to satisfy her wretched vanity, she dispatched the family’s private soldiers to attack Lucia, as well as the completely innocent Attestor and Imeline.’

‘With such a character, it’s no wonder she was born to be Liliana’s servant.’

“Cough, cough… Attestor, you can get down now.”

Noticing that Julie no longer dared to look up, Lovelenica let out two awkward coughs, signaling Attestor to dismount from her back.

Truth be told, during their hurried return to the city wall, Lovelenica had been acutely aware of the soft, yielding sensation pressing against her back.

Lovelenica wasn’t the only one who noticed; Attestor had also become aware of it after a while. However, seeing Lovelenica remain silent and her expression unchanged, Attestor assumed Lovelenica hadn’t noticed, and thus felt too embarrassed to bring it up herself.

In reality, Lovelenica *had* noticed long ago; she had merely been feigning composure.

Now, at last, she could set Attestor down.

“…Oh, thank you, thank you, Miss Lovelenica.”

Attestor stammered slightly, a blush spreading across her small face. She thanked Lovelenica in a hushed tone, then slowly slid off Lovelenica’s back, steadying herself on the city wall.

Her face had been flushed with embarrassment the entire journey. Despite her attempts to adjust her posture, there was simply no place to put that considerable softness at such close quarters; no matter how she shifted, it would press against Lovelenica’s back.

At this moment, her thoughts mirrored Lovelenica’s: ‘Finally, I can get down.’

On the other side of the city wall, Lucia and Imeline’s situation was far more conventional. Imeline, with her petite frame, likely felt nothing amiss during the journey. To both her and Lucia, it simply felt like a nostalgic childhood game. Upon their arrival, they offered a brief thank you before Imeline easily hopped off Lucia’s back.

“It seems everyone was quite anxious for our return, haha.”

Imeline looked down at the professionals gathered below. Their expressions ranged from worry to confusion, some visibly exhaling in relief. All, it seemed, were celebrating Lucia and her team’s safe return.

“A-Attestor! Why is your face so red! Have your injuries worsened!?”

Imeline turned her attention to Attestor, who had just found her footing, only to discover Attestor’s face was flushed crimson. She had no idea what had happened.

Imeline’s immediate thought was that Attestor’s injuries had deteriorated. She instantly rushed to Attestor’s side, supporting her, and then shot a furious glare at Lovelenica.

“Lovelenica! You! Your terrible idea! Look what you’ve done to Attestor! You can’t even carry someone properly! If anything happens to Attestor, I’ll never forgive you!”

“That’s not—”

Lovelenica almost blurted out, ‘I’m not the one!’ She pointed to herself in exasperation.

“You’re blaming me again, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m blaming you!”

Imeline unreasonably jabbed her finger at Lovelenica. Initially, after the battle, her impression of Lovelenica had begun to improve. However, once she remembered the Crimson Family’s orphanage and the subtle, elusive connection between the black-clad figures she saw from the tower, her improved opinion of Lovelenica vanished instantly.

“Enough, Imeline.”

Seeing Imeline’s accusations aimed at Lovelenica, a flushed Attestor gently intervened. She softly pressed down on Imeline’s wrist, which was pointing at Lovelenica, then withdrew her hand from Imeline’s support and shook her head, signaling her to stop talking.

📚 Also on NHV Novels

Radioactive

#EsperXGuideActionAngst

Read Now →
Not interested