Ch.77Chapter 77 – What Happened at the Founding Festival (3)

# Eterna Lumio Sol.

She, the Saint of the Sun Order and Chief Inquisitor, noticed the presence following her since leaving the Chancellor’s villa.

‘I’m being tracked. I wonder who it is?’

Eterna had detected Lisa Energen using shadow concealment techniques through both her divine abilities granted by the Sun God and the keen senses she had developed as Chief Inquisitor.

If she had been alone, she would have counter-tracked whoever was following her and Pathos using her own shadow concealment techniques.

‘This is troublesome. Since I’m with Lord Pathos, I can’t act independently…’

But currently, Eterna was accompanying Pathos.

What if her independent actions caused something to happen to Pathos?

Eterna and her Sun Order would be directly exposed to the Great Goddess’s wrath.

‘They don’t seem particularly powerful… I should observe the situation for now.’

Eterna had no intention of ruining things with hasty judgment.

She needed to create an opportunity to act separately from Pathos for a moment.

However, she at least needed to inform Pathos that someone was following them.

“Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I just feel like someone is following us.”

So Eterna deliberately showed that she sensed something to let Pathos know they were being tracked.

“Really?”

“Yes, but… whoever it is doesn’t seem to be showing any hostile intent.”

“Then let’s ignore them for now.”

Eterna felt ambivalent about Pathos’s suggestion to ignore the tracker.

She wasn’t sure if he wanted to wait for an opportunity to catch the tracker, if he trusted her as his companion, or if he was simply placing his faith in the Great Goddess.

Eterna reluctantly decided to act independently.

The fact that someone was tracking them indicated that this person was approaching with some kind of intention.

“I’ll be gone for a moment, please wait here.”

“Understood.”

After telling Pathos she would be back shortly, she concealed her presence using divine power.

Then Eterna sensed Lisa, who had been following her and Pathos, moving closer to Pathos.

She realized the tracker’s target was Pathos and quickly approached the pursuer.

“You’d better come out of the shadows right now. Why are you following Lord Pathos?”

Approaching the tracker, Eterna drew her mace and infused it with divine power.

“If you’re approaching Lord Pathos with harmful intentions, I suggest you turn back. Otherwise, I’ll split your head open.”

An ominous aura emanated from Eterna as she stared at the shadow where the tracker was hiding.

“Would you wait a moment, please?”

The tracker hidden in the shadows, field agent Lisa Energen of the Intelligence Bureau, was considerably surprised that Eterna had found her.

Chief Inquisitor, ‘Skull Crusher’ Eterna.

There wasn’t a single Intelligence Bureau agent who didn’t know her name.

This was because Eterna had rescued several Intelligence Bureau agents captured by the Demon Cult on multiple occasions.

So the Intelligence Bureau agents were well acquainted with Eterna.

Lisa Energen herself had once overcome a crisis thanks to Eterna.

Knowing how powerful Eterna was, she dispelled her concealment and revealed herself.

Lisa deactivated her shadow concealment technique and emerged from the shadow of a building.

There was no one else around except the two of them.

That’s why Lisa could boldly deactivate her concealment.

“Hmm? You look familiar.”

When Eterna saw Lisa’s face, she felt a sense of familiarity rather than unfamiliarity.

Emerald green eyes, a black bodysuit covering her entire body, and shoulder-length black hair on a beautiful young woman.

Eterna was certain she had seen such a person somewhere before.

“Were you perhaps once captured by the Demon Cult?”

“…Yes, I was.”

Lisa answered Eterna’s question truthfully.

She had indeed once had her life saved with Eterna’s help, so this was the truth.

“Hmm.”

Eterna activated her Eye of Truth to determine if her words were true.

This was one of Eterna’s abilities that allowed her to discern whether what someone said was true or false.

If the person had been skilled enough to evade detection by this ability, they wouldn’t have been discovered by Eterna in the first place.

“You’re telling the truth. Then let me ask you, why were you following me and Lord Pathos?”

Having confirmed with her Eye of Truth that the other person was speaking the truth, Eterna asked why she had been tracking them.

“I am Lisa Energen, an agent of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau, assigned to protect Lord Pathos by order of His Majesty the Emperor and the Chancellor.”

“An Intelligence Bureau agent?”

Eterna was surprised to hear that the person following her and Pathos was an Intelligence Bureau agent.

Why would an Intelligence Bureau agent be following them?

“Could it be…?”

Eterna seemed not to have heard the part about being assigned protection duty by order of the Emperor and Chancellor, and began to imagine strange scenarios.

Scenarios like the Emperor and Chancellor showing smiles on the surface while plotting behind the scenes to bring Pathos down.

“By order of His Majesty the Emperor and the Chancellor, I am currently protecting Lord Pathos from those with malicious intentions.”

In the end, Lisa had to wait for Eterna’s paranoia to subside before explaining her purpose.

“Ah, I’m sorry. I missed the part about you being on protection duty by order of His Majesty and the Chancellor.”

“It’s fine. These kinds of misunderstandings happen frequently during missions.”

Although she had nearly had her head split open by Eterna’s mace, she decided to let it slide as a common occurrence.

She also acknowledged that it was somewhat foolish of her to have simply followed her protection target without saying anything.

“Ahem, I see. So will you continue to watch over Lord Pathos from the shadows like this?”

“I believe I should. Those targeting Lord Pathos are more likely to move in the shadows rather than in the open.”

Drawing from her experience in the Intelligence Bureau, Lisa considered groups operating in the shadows to be the greatest threat to Pathos.

This made sense, as the deeper the light of the Gelebrio Empire shone, the darker and deeper the shadows became.

Even now, some survivors of the Demon Cult were living within the Gelebrio Empire undetected.

Additionally, the sewer systems in each city were dark and damp, making them suitable places for hiding from watchful eyes.

Considering these factors, Lisa had planned from the beginning to protect Pathos while hiding in the shadows.

She would leave the entities in the light to Eterna, while she dealt with those in the darkness.

“Then I’ll be counting on you from now on. I’ll continue to accompany Lord Pathos, so please prevent any entities from the shadows from endangering him.”

“Likewise, I entrust his protection in the open entirely to you.”

Eterna and Lisa exchanged words of mutual reliance as they looked at each other.

Though they appeared to part ways, they were actually moving together.

Lisa used her shadow concealment technique again to hide within Eterna’s shadow.

Normally, shadow concealment techniques couldn’t be used to hide in the shadow of someone with powerful divine energy or someone several ranks above oneself.

But now that Eterna had acknowledged her presence, Lisa could use her shadow concealment technique to hide by Eterna’s side.

“Did everything go well?”

“Yes, I resolved the matter. Shall we continue our city tour?”

“Certainly.”

Upon meeting Pathos again, Eterna resumed her city guide duties.

As they toured the Founding Festival venue, Pathos and Eterna enjoyed their time together, and Lisa, observing the two, realized something.

‘Is Eterna romantically interested in Lord Pathos?’

For Lisa, who had spent years observing people and gathering information, there was something special about Eterna’s behavior.

“Oh? Are you alright?”

“Haha, I’m fine. My chest is rather large, so I bump into things unintentionally. Please don’t worry about it.”

“Ah, I see…”

While accompanying Pathos, she subtly initiated physical contact using certain body parts.

“During Aurelios’s Founding Festival, they sell many delicious foods. Would you like to visit one of those shops together later?”

“If it’s a shop you recommend, Eterna, I’d certainly be interested in going.”

“Great! No backing out, okay?”

Even mentioning famous shops in the city and suggesting they visit together later.

‘Hmm…’

Lisa became curious seeing the strong and fearsome Eterna treating Pathos with such kindness.

More precisely, she was personally curious about this Pathos who received such kind treatment from Eterna.

And so time passed, until finally the day of the Founding Festival dawned.