The words of Cortana, combined with the actions of the knights, led the entire orphanage to agree to temporarily follow her into hiding.

  It could only be said that, as expected of a noble family, even the mansion itself was rger than many functional special buildings, rge enough to house several hundred orphans.

  While on the surface, Jaya seemed calm, internally she was in a state of panic. Her mind had already reached the point of abyss causing her body to react minimally.

  "Wow! This house is so big!"

  In contrast to Jaya, the children, who had little understanding of the wealth divide, could only marvel at the mansion's grandeur.

  "...It's just something built on countless tragedies, there's nothing impressive about it."

  However, Cortana muttered this to herself in a barely audible voice. From her expression, it was clear that she looked down upon this wealth and status.

  But the expression quickly disappeared, and Cortana returned to her normal composure, leading the children into the mansion for a tour.

  "...Miss Jaya, are you alright?"

  Suddenly, Cortana turned around to see Jaya lost in thought.

  "...It's nothing, just feels a bit unreal. This morning, one child was in critical condition, another went missing, and then the next thing I know, several noble saviours arrived, followed by knights causing trouble, and then you saved us again."

  The events of this day, for Jaya—who had grown up in the slums—were simply unfathomable. It felt as if she had lived an entire lifetime of extraordinary events in just a single day.

  "Heh, Miss Jaya, there's no need to worry so much. Those children shouldn’t have to bear such burdens. They should just grow up without worries, and you, too, should do the same."

  "Me?"

  Jaya didn’t quite understand. She was already in her twenties—why should she still live like a child?

  "You grew up in an orphanage, didn't you? You've worked hard all this time."

  "..."

  Hearing these words, Jaya fell into silence.

  From the moment she became aware, she had lived in an orphanage, where she could only rely on others of the same age. After some trials and tributions, she managed to live a "normal" orphanage life thanks to a little sister taken away by a noble. But that didn’t st long, as she soon lost the support, forcing her to struggle to hold on. By the age of eighteen, she had to take on the responsibility of being the orphanage director.

  Through all this, she had never heard a single word of consotion. Rather than feeling touched, what she felt more was that her efforts hadn't been in vain.

  "For all of this, please allow me to express my deepest gratitude."

  In a role reversal from a while ago, when Cortana had bowed to apologise, now Jaya bowed to thank her, in a way reciprocating the gesture.

  "...No, I have my own reasons. You don’t need to do this."

  "My own reasons?"

  At Jaya's confusion, Cortana simply smiled.

  "I... woke up too te and cked the ability. But time waits for no one, and many things cannot be undone..."

  ...

  "I see."

  Meanwhile, in a part of the Shien family mansion, Misako was holding a book.

  "As descendants of those directly blessed by the Goddess of Light, the Shien family isn't entirely subservient to the Holy Light Church."

  "What do you mean?"

  Misako’s statement puzzled Veridith. Wasn’t everyone supposed to worship the Goddess of Light? Why was there infighting involved?

  "When do you think the Holy Light Church was established?"

  In response to Veridith' confusion, Misako posed a key question.

  "It was founded after the Goddess of Light descended and bestowed her blessings upon those three people. In other words, the Holy Light Church is essentially an organisation that relies on the Goddess of Light's name."

  "?"

  "According to these documents, after the downfall of two other families, their positions were inherited by the ‘Light’s Heroes’ and the ‘Saintess’. Although they didn’t descend directly from the Goddess of Light, they were still recipients of divine blessings. The Shien family regards both as representatives of the Goddess of Light and supports them."

  "??"

  "In other words, the Shien family does not follow the Holy Light Church, but the Goddess of Light herself, and her ‘representatives’."

  "…Oh! I understand now! So, the Shien family and the Holy Light Church aren't aligned, right?"

  Veridith tilted her head in confusion before a lightbulb appeared above her head, as she finally understood.

  "But now, it seems like the Holy Light Church holds more power, right?"

  "Exactly. The Holy Light Church has used their control over public opinion and their rge manpower to successfully dominate the Shien family. Tsk tsk, if these documents were ever discovered by the Church, they'd probably rush to burn them and persecute anyone involved."

  Misako closed the book, throwing in a light-hearted jab at the Church.

  '...Although, it seems the Shien family almost fell prey to the Church’s clutches, too…'

  Misako didn’t mention that the documents also detailed the actions of past Shien family heads, with the st one making the most foolish decisions.

  'To get close to the Holy Light Church and even try to instil simir thoughts into his daughter... truly the ultimate waste of a family.'

  It was clear that, if not for the current head of the Shien family—Cortana—awakening to these realities for some reason, the Shien family would already have been swallowed up by the Holy Light Church. After all, the legitimacy of the Church was their biggest weakness.

  To be honest, when Misako first saw her old journal, she nearly choked on her food.

  It was written, 'Thanks to the witch and the sorceress, I was able to see the Church's ugliness!'

  It almost felt like they were everywhere...

  ...

  "Say that again!? What do you mean, ‘you didn’t bring them back’!?"

  In the centre of the Holy City, inside a magnificent church, a man cd in ornate robes was yelling at a group of knights standing before him.

  "We deeply apologise, but upon arrival, we found that a group of unknown individuals had healed the target, even preventing us from carrying out our mission. To make matters worse, the head of the Shien family herself appeared."

  "That damned bitch!!"

  The man grabbed an ornament nearby and threw it onto the floor. From the looks of it, it was worth enough to feed a family of four for an entire year.

  "...Forget it, it’s just a child. It won’t make a difference. There’s plenty more of them..."

  "Sir, I have an idea."

  The one speaking was the knight who had once had his wrist snapped by Aris.

  "Those people seem to be outsiders. What if we joined forces with the Inquisition and arrested them all?"

  "That... sounds like a good pn. Let’s do it."

  The man pondered for a moment before quickly agreeing to the knight’s suggestion.

  In the Holy Light Church Kingdom, heretics and apostates were always the greatest criminals. This excuse would work perfectly.

  ‘...Hmph! Those two women, how dare they sully me? This time, I’ll make them experience true despair!’