The Possessor Mistook the Genre for 20 Years

22 – The Saintess Has Changed.

“…It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Inside the tea leaf shop was a truly unexpected figure.

It was Justia, the saintess of the Goddess Church, whose tooth Franz had pulled out not long ago.

Franz stood there, dumbfounded.

‘Why on earth?’

If Justia needed tea leaves, she could have easily bought them from a shop near the Saint Serpia Cathedral.

But this was near the Magic Tower.

Although the Saint Serpia Cathedral was close to the Magic Tower, that was only in a continental sense, and it was certainly not a distance one would travel just to buy tea leaves.

So it was right to assume she had come here for some reason.

Even if meeting her here was a coincidence, meeting her today was inevitable.

Franz hesitated for a moment before naturally greeting her.

“Yes, it’s been a while, Justia.”

To be honest, he wasn’t very pleased.

What reason could there be for the villainess who would destroy the world to come here? She must have brought another incident with her.

Moreover, he still felt guilty about the tooth-pulling incident.

“I didn’t expect to meet you here like this… Well, I guess it doesn’t matter. But the person next to you is…?”

Justia’s gaze turned to Arian.

Arian lightly bowed her head in greeting.

“I am Arian Frigia, the eldest daughter of the Duke of Frigia. I serve as the secretary to the Tower Master.”

“So, you are the young lady of the Duke of Frigia. I am Justia, the saintess of the Goddess Church.”

Justia clasped her hands to her chest and lightly bowed her upper body.

Franz was inwardly displeased with the two of them.

They were always so cold, yet here they were, politely greeting each other.

Anyway, that wasn’t the important thing right now.

“Justia, if you came all the way here, there must be a reason.”

“Well, yes. To be precise, I came to ask you for something… but it’s a bit difficult to talk about it here.”

“Then let’s just buy the tea leaves and talk at the tower. You came here to buy tea leaves anyway, right?”

“Yes. Let’s do that.”

Franz and Justia returned to their original purpose and began to look at the tea leaves.

Arian alternated between looking at the two of them and furrowed her brow.

It wasn’t enough that another woman had appeared, now they were going back to the tower soon.

Arian, who wanted to spend more time outside with Franz, was quite displeased with the situation.

It was all because of that fox in the guise of a saintess who had suddenly appeared.

“Arian, what are you doing? Let’s choose the tea leaves together.”

“Oh, yes.”

Grinding her teeth, Arian hurriedly moved at Franz’s call.

Of course, Franz had no way of knowing Arian’s inner thoughts.

He was just worried that her furrowed brow might mean she was in pain.

“How about this one? I tried it before and it was good.”

“Really? I like this one a bit more.”

“Really? Then let’s buy that one.”

“Let’s look around a bit more…”

Franz nodded.

Honestly, he thought all tea leaves were more or less the same, but it might be an important part for Arian.

It took quite a long time just to choose the tea leaves.

It was a bit worrying to keep Justia waiting for so long, but fortunately, she didn’t seem to mind much.

She kept looking at the tea leaves, as if she had a hobby of drinking tea.

“I’ll just go with this one.”

In the end, what Arian chose was the same tea leaves she usually used.

It wasn’t a special result considering the long time spent, but if Arian was satisfied, that was fine.

Soon, Franz left the tea leaf shop with Arian and Justia.

As time passed, the street was becoming lively.

Merchants opened their shops, and customers were peeking into the stores to buy goods.

Since there hadn’t been much time to leisurely look around in the past year, the scenes felt a bit fresh.

As the three started walking down the street, two holy knights followed at a distance behind them.

They were Justia’s escorts.

By the way.

‘She didn’t quit, huh.’

Franz had definitely told Justia to quit if being a saint was too hard for her.

It was much better for the Goddess Church to lose a saint than to destroy the world.

But judging by her attire and the holy knights following her, Justia was still a saint.

Still, she looked much better than before.

She seemed to have gained some composure, and there didn’t seem to be any particularly unpleasant parts.

To know for sure, he would have to hear it directly from her.

Thinking that, they walked for a while and soon arrived at the Magic Tower.

Justia’s gaze turned to the Magic Tower soaring high into the sky.

“Is this the Magic Tower? It feels a bit different from seeing it from afar.”

“Does it? But actually, I feel the same way every time I see the Serpia Cathedral.”

“Completely the opposite, huh.”

Justia said that and then let out a short laugh.

Franz couldn’t believe his eyes.

Not long ago, she had been busy baring her teeth and fighting, but now she was not only calm but also laughing.

What on earth had happened in this short time?

‘…It should be fine.’

He decided not to worry too much, thinking that good things are good.

Frankly, it was better to be peaceful than to bare one’s teeth.

At that moment, Arian spoke.

“Master of the Tower, aren’t you going?”

Arian’s voice was cold and subdued.

It was because she didn’t like seeing Franz happily chatting with another woman.

Franz, however, was unaware of this.

“Then let’s go.”

“Ah, wait a moment.”

At the saintess’s words, Franz stopped in his tracks.

“What about the holy knights? Can they come into the tower with us?”

“They can come in. The tower is open to everyone anyway.”

In fact, ordinary people couldn’t reach the top floor, but since they came as the saintess’s escort, it would be a bit rude to neglect them as the master of the tower.

So, there was no choice but to allow them to accompany.

Thus, the five of them entered the tower, drawing the attention of many wizards.

And before long, they arrived at the top floor where the master’s office and the secretary’s office were located.

Franz stopped in front of the master’s office at the end of the long corridor.

“Justia, is this something we should discuss alone?”

“Um…”

Justia looked at the two holy knights and Arian, then turned her gaze back to Franz and said,

“These people are fine.”

“Alright, then let’s go in.”

Franz opened the door to the master’s office and entered.

Arian, Justia, and the two holy knights followed.

“Sit wherever you like. Arian, could you please bring some tea?”

Franz said as he took a seat on the sofa.

But then Arian suddenly flinched.

As if she had been caught doing something wrong.

“Arian, why?”

“N-no, it’s nothing. I’ll bring the tea right away.”

Franz was puzzled but didn’t press further.

There was a more important issue at hand.

As Justia sat across from Franz, the real conversation began.

And as with any conversation, it started with a greeting.

“Justia, how have you been?”

“I’ve been alright. But it’s surprising, isn’t it? You asking how I’ve been. I thought you’d get straight to the point.”

She was right.

The old Franz would have gotten straight to the point, listened to what was necessary, and sent her away.

But now, things were different.

The current Franz had experienced two bad ending branches and could be considered a veteran in dealing with villains.

He had come to understand the villain’s state first, almost like a doctor.

“You’ve changed a lot too. Has something happened?”

“Well, you could say I’ve let go of the past. I just understood everything you said that day. I know now that you don’t disregard life. Though I did lose a tooth in the process.”

Franz shuddered at the saint’s words, thrown with a smile.

He thought she was being quiet, but that wasn’t the case.

“I’m sorry about that…”

“I’m joking. Joking. Oh, but the holy knights picked up that tooth. They said they were going to designate it as a relic… Do you need it? It’s a relic, after all.”

Franz realized.

It seemed he had stepped on a landmine.

With his karma, he couldn’t say anything and just listened silently.

It was then.

Clink.

Arian placed a teacup in front of Justia and spoke.

“A relic… That’s nice. Please bring it to the tower.”

“I’m joking. Do you really think my tooth would be designated as a relic? Even if it were, I couldn’t easily bring it to you.”

“I see. That’s a shame. I thought we could have a relic in the tower.”

“…Of course, if Franz wants it, I could make an effort.”

“Aha…”

Arian and Justia were smiling, but the atmosphere was tense.

Arian probably wanted to protect the pride of the tower master as a secretary.

Justia, seeing Arian’s hostility, responded in kind.

In the end, it was up to Franz to sort out the situation.

“Let’s stop here, both of you. This isn’t why we gathered.”

Arian nodded and sat down, while Justia sipped the tea in front of her.

Franz spoke.

“Justia, can you tell us what’s going on?”

“Right. To get straight to the point, we suspect that one of the nobles is involved with the cult. We need you to find out the truth.”

“The cult? Which noble?”

“Duke Ishtar. I heard there’s a social gathering soon. Wouldn’t it be easy to infiltrate?”

Duke Ishtar…?

The name sounds familiar.

Surely….

I think I heard that Yuna, the hero, is in Duke Ishtar’s territory.