“Please. Mr. Santana.. Please.. Please stop those people..”

Cazerose pleaded desperately while tightly holding my hand.

In that moment, her eyes were filled with tears, and her face bore an intensity of desperation that suggested overwhelming sadness.

“I know it’s a reckless request… But.. But I just can’t.. I can’t stand by and watch something like that. How can they do such things in the name of the Church? They’re clearly people too… All precious children of the Lord…”

Ultimately, Cazerose felt her emotions boiling over and couldn’t continue speaking.

Thick tears began to stream down her face, not just tears of sadness…

But tears filled with the complex agony of her heart.

The shock and fear from the horrific scene just moments ago.

Pure, unfiltered compassion for the dead.

And.. deep anger towards those who committed such atrocities in the guise of God’s name.

Expressing all those feelings without filter through her tears, she earnestly begged me.

To put an end to the horrifying situation happening right before her eyes, and one that was bound to happen again.

However..

“….”

“S-Santana..?”

Regarding her plea, I slowly shook my head.

“I’m sorry. But no matter how much it’s your request, this is something I.. we cannot get involved with.”

“But..”

“Honestly, the reason we’re here is just to travel to our destination. We’re not residents of this place, so we have no business interfering with this city.”

“Th-That’s…”

“I understand your feelings, Cazerose, but there are things we can resolve and things we cannot. Unfortunately, we have to let this go for now.”

“…Ugh.. Sob.. Ugh..”

Cazerose bit her lip, tears streaming down like chicken droppings.

However, while she was the one making the request, she must have already understood the reality.

That no matter how much she wished, stepping into this matter was impossible for us.

As outsiders, our capabilities were severely limited, and we had to leave promptly for the Dragona Empire due to our exiled status.

More than anything, after the Emperor Matthis had died, sticking our noses into the affairs of strangers would only lead to an irreparable situation.

Despite this, in such a difficult situation, Cazerose’s plea stemmed from her inability to accept the events unfolding before her and the certainty that these events had already happened multiple times in the past and would continue to happen.

And… even though I had rejected her for practical reasons, seeing her in this state made me realize once again just how pure-hearted Cazerose truly was.

‘Even knowing the challenges surrounding her, she still tries to act with goodness regardless of profit… I’ve always felt this way, but she truly is a wonderful person.. This Cazerose…’

In both my past and present life, I had never seen anyone so purely dedicated to helping others.

Honestly, while there may be countless people who seem to have done more good than her, when considering the essence of their intentions, no one could compare to Cazerose.

To be frank, one would think that this is how a priest should act, but very few people actually practice it with their body and soul.

‘If only someone like Cazerose were in a slightly higher position, the series of tragedies wouldn’t have happened. She would have been more than capable of stopping the disaster.’

As these thoughts crossed my mind, I couldn’t help but lament the church’s incompetence and corruption that even drove someone like Cazerose to despair and abandon her paladin status, so I squeezed her hand gently to offer comfort.

“..I’m sorry. It’s all I can say.”

“Ugh.. No.. It’s… honestly.. I knew to some extent.. Although it’s a horrific thing that’s inexcusable.. we, as outsiders, have no room to intervene…”

As Cazerose wiped her tears and struggled to respond, suddenly..

“Hey.. Can I hear more about what you just said?”

“..What?”

The next moment, a voice suddenly came from right beside us.

Cazerose and I exchanged surprised looks as we turned to the side.

There, the person we had almost forgotten about, Polena, was still standing by us, looking on with curiosity and anticipation.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I heard you two talking like you might have a way out of this. Is it true? Is there really a way to stop such horrific things from happening?”

“…”

“Haah…”

Seeing that Polena had apparently heard everything we just discussed, Cazerose began to show signs of embarrassment, and at the same time, I let out a deep sigh.

“There might be a way, but as you heard, we are here only as travelers. As outsiders staying for just a day or two, it’s impossible for us to deeply involve ourselves in this city’s matters…”

“Does that mean.. you really do have a method? Can I take that as a yes?”

“Uh… No.. it’s not like we have a method, but more so, we’re not in a position to intervene…”

“Just tell me whether the method exists or not. Is it truly possible to put an end to that hellscape which happens multiple times a day?”

Polena’s crimson eyes sparkled with intensity as she pressed for an answer.

Her demeanor made me feel that I had no choice but to reveal the truth.

And..

“Haah.. Yes.. there’s something. But it’s a very difficult method, and crucially, to execute it, we’d need a fair amount of standing and connections as residents of this city, along with precise knowledge of the internal affairs. Without that, starting at all would be impossible.”

There is a method, but even if I want to execute it, as outsiders, we can’t take part, and we lack the justification to do so.

However…

Immediately after hearing my explanation, Polena’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she began to talk animatedly.

“If that’s the only requirement, then it means it really is possible! That we can prevent such a wretched situation from happening again!”

“…Yes.. um.. I guess..”

Honestly, with those conditions… if information and connections were promptly provided, there were a few ways for me to handle the situation on my end.

However.. as I’ve kept saying, regardless of anything, I couldn’t get involved in this matter, nor did I have the intention to.

And while Cazerose’s eyes sparkled with hope at Polena’s words, delaying any further was not a good idea, and unlike Cazerose, who was filled with compassion, I preferred to operate when there’s something to gain.

Just then, as I pondered how to extricate myself from this situation, Polena suddenly said.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s make a deal.”

“..What?”

I responded, puzzled by Polena’s sudden declaration..

And as I looked at her, Polena smiled, saying:

“I have only one demand: to put an end to the merciless oppression of the so-called ‘heretics’ happening right now in Münhel.”

She spoke with firm confidence.

Curious, I asked her.

“So.. what would you give us in return?”

Since she mentioned a deal, there should be something gained along with something given.

Honestly, I hadn’t planned on moving for a handful of money in a situation like this, but I might as well ask.

And in response to my question, Polena placed her hand atop her ample bosom with a radiant smile and said in a bright voice:

“I will offer myself.”