Visitor To The Hideout

“The Fourth Stigmata”—the 【Holy Sand (Rust Dust)】 Kaine activated at the cost of his own life.

By the time that wound had healed, the sun was already beginning to sink.

‘I’m still mentally exhausted, but my body is fully recovered.’

Vanargand had escorted me back to the hideout in the goblin forest, and I stretched deeply while bathing in sunlight for the first time in hours.

Meanwhile, Ekarraat is still far from fully healed.

Apparently—attacks from holy relics are of the holy attribute and deal extra damage to monsters, so she’s in worse shape than I am.

I restored her outward appearance first so Rin, waiting at the hideout, wouldn’t worry, but inside she’s apparently still a mess.

“I’m beat… I feel like eating fresh game meat that hasn’t been bled…”

“I agree on that. I’ll have Shadows hunt some wild animals.”

I glanced at the flowerbed in front of the log house.

Thanks to Rin’s careful tending, the flowerbed was full of beautiful blossoms.

In the fields, the faster-growing plants already bore green fruit; in about a week they’d be ready to harvest.

“I’m home—Rin, I’m back.”

“Welcome back! Master!”

This house has no corridor.

The parlor, directly connected to the entrance, had Rin sitting in a chair; she stood up to greet me.

And――the unfamiliar guest sitting across from Rin also waved at me.

“Yo—sorry to intrude, big brother Sid.”

…Huh?

…Who?

“’…!!’”

Ekarraat, in the shadows, and I immediately assumed a state of high alert.

A red-haired girl who looked to be in her late teens.

She wore a white robe and bore the sword-and-scales emblem that has been seen more often lately.

“(The location of the hideout has been reported to the Holy Church!?)”

“It seems so…”

“(What are the guards doing…!?)”

A window that popped up in the corner of my vision informed me that the Goblin Lord had been eradicated.

There is no monster in this forest capable of defeating a Goblin Lord.

Nine times out of ten—it was this red-haired brat who took it down.

“Rin! Come here!”

“Master? Is something the matter…?”

Contrary to my mounting sense of crisis, Rin had a bewildered, puzzled look on her face.

It seemed they had been chatting amiably until I returned home.

She felt no caution toward the red-haired girl at all.

‘Sid—she’s met that cleric before. When she went to the capital for supplies, she was harassed by ruffians, and that little girl saved her.’

“Um… I’m sorry for inviting a stranger in without your permission, Master. But Miss Annise seems to have gotten lost in the forest and happened to find this cabin, so I was entertaining her… Also, Miss Annise once saved me from a dangerous situation in the capital, so I’m indebted to her.”

I see… so she used that pretense to lower Rin’s guard and worm her way in.

When the royal palace knights once attacked the manor in the capital, they forcibly took Rin as a hostage; but without Rin realizing she was a hostage, having control over her life and death made things extremely difficult.

If I forcibly attacked this girl, it could cause Rin to form a terrible misunderstanding.

“Don’t be so guarded—big brother Sid.”

The red-haired woman—apparently named Annise—stood up from her chair and approached me.

“Wanna talk outside? Just the two of us.”

“…Fine.”

After telling Rin to “stay inside and be quiet,” I went outside with Annise.

This one defeated the Goblin Lord alone—she’s stronger than she looks.

A Goblin Lord enhanced two stages by 【Shadow Enhancement】 has an Overall Combat Power of 5,000.

That’s comparable to the initial Minotaur’s overall Combat Power.

“First, introductions.”

Annise stood with the sunset behind her (conveniently placing herself backlit)—wearing an innocent smile as she made her opening remarks.

“As you may have guessed, I’m from the Knights of Stigma, the Sixth Stigmata—Annise Redby. Sacrificing a maiden’s womb to the sword, weighing an infant’s prayer on the scales—slaughtering Shadow Necromancers—that’s the official line.”

“Huh?”

Annise let the intimidating aura she wore dissipate and raised both hands in a playful manner.

As if to say she surrendered—she’d given up.

“I was ordered by the Second Stigmata to come take big brother Sid’s life, but honestly, I’m not motivated. If you’re here, it means Senior Kaine failed his mission and died, right? There’s no way someone ranked sixth like me could beat an opponent that even fifth-ranked Selva and fourth-ranked Kaine couldn’t—I’m not about to die on the job at seventeen.”

“You could’ve gained the advantage by taking Rin hostage or something.”

“Of course my superiors told me to do that, right? But you’re not someone who’d be beaten by that kind of advantage, are you? And—I don’t want to be hated by a cutie like little Rinrin—so I…”

Her nonchalant attitude made her true intentions hard to grasp.

She’s clearly a different type from the other Knights of Stigma we’ve faced, the kind who would change expression and attack with naked hatred the moment she saw a member of the Shikai Tribe.

“So, big brother, I have a proposal—will you let me go?”