After choosing to leave, they regretted it.

Of course Colin understood the meaning of the words.

Rather, this was the lower limit of his coming to Tafia this time. With Aize's guarantee that he would not be his enemy, he could go back and report back.

"...Since Lord Aize has said so, I won't force you. However, we have another mission to perform in Tafia this time. I would like to ask for Lord Aize and the Lord's assistance."

Aize had already guessed what it was, but he still pretended to be confused and asked:

"Oh? What is it?"

"During the previous orc invasion, the kingdom's noble, Duke Brian, colluded with the foreign enemy, committing treason and unforgivable crimes. We must immediately bring him back to the Holy City to face trial!"

Chapter 9 The Improper Hero

As mentioned before, the church's position in this world is actually quite embarrassing.

The long war between humans and demons has caused the nobles and royal families of various countries to have their own armies and be independent, and their attitude towards the church has never been very respectful.

So this time, they had ample motivation to establish their own prestige and example by trying Brian.

However, there is no need for Aize to indulge their needs.

In fact, if you really compare them, he hates these charlatans far more than the nobles.

So, facing the other party's request, he just smiled and said:

"Your Excellency, I'm afraid I can't make the decision on this matter."

"What did you say?"

"My job is to repel the demons. How to punish the traitors is an internal matter of the kingdom. It has nothing to do with their aristocratic customs and so on."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Sheen beside him:

"Duke Brian has now been handed over to Viscount Edgar for custody. He will make appropriate arrangements based on the decisions of the royal family and the nobles. How about... you ask him?"

Colin frowned and looked at Sheen.

And Xien also understood, smiled and said:

"Your Excellency, this matter is a bit difficult to handle. According to the laws of the kingdom, a noble of Brian's rank who commits treason must be tried publicly by the royal family, with the Dukes in attendance."

"So, although Duke Brian is imprisoned here, I am merely guarding him on his behalf. As soon as Her Highness sends me news, I will send him to the capital. Therefore, I have no say in this matter."

This is a typical case of passing the buck.

Heidi to preside over the trial?

Can she host it? No, she doesn't have the ability, you know?

But it can still be used as an excuse.

Seeing Colin's indignant face, Sheen didn't wait for him to speak before adding:

"Of course, the royal family's current situation is rather unique, and I'm aware of that. Personally, I don't mind handing Brian over to the church. But at least we need the approval of the nobles involved in this matter, right? Or... why don't you go ask them?"

Then what else is there to ask.

The power of the church is indeed strong, much stronger than that of a single duke.

But if they were to really dare to take action against even the smallest noble, it would cause a strong backlash from all human nobles, not just those in the kingdom.

It's not impossible that something like "Why is the bishop a heretic?" will happen.

Having completely hit a wall, Colin gritted his teeth, his face looking extremely ugly, but he couldn't utter anything.

Then, the third person sitting next to him, who had never spoken in this conversation, finally took action.

He reached out and patted Colin on the shoulder and said:

"Your Excellency, according to our previous plan, you are still scheduled to visit the church branch in Tafia. If you delay any further, you might be too late."

"Tsk——"

"You can go ahead. I have a few words to say to my old friend."

"okay."

Colin swallowed his breath hard, turned around and said to Aize and Xien expressionlessly:

"Then I'll take my leave now."

After saying this, he left the reception room with his followers and the knights.

You came all the way here and just sat down for a short while, why would you be in a hurry to leave because you don’t have time?

Of course, it was because there was nothing more to say, and staying would only embarrass himself, so he ran away quickly.

It’s really embarrassing when you think about it.

As Colin left, Rosalyn also stood up:

"Well, I'll go ahead too. I'd better participate in the evangelistic activities being held at the Tafia Church branch. Aize, won't you come along?"

Aize looked at the other person and shook his head.

"No, I'm no longer a member of the church. What's the point of participating in this kind of activity?"

Rosalyn smiled and said:

"This has nothing to do with whether you're a church member or not, right? You saved this city, so isn't it natural for you to enjoy the support and gratitude of the people?"

The words sounded good, but when applied to Rosaline, it only made Aize feel cold all over.

"No, never mind."

"Oh, that's a shame. Well, I'll take my leave then."

Rosalyn's expression remained unchanged. After a simple farewell, she left the living room.

Now the only ones left are Aize, Xien, and the third member of the church messenger team.

A man of about the same age as Aize, wearing the standard silver divine armor for heroes, but the edges were painted a deep blue. I wonder if it was his preference.

His hair is light blue and is styled quite smoothly, and his facial features are handsome, but his casual smile and slouched posture give people an inexplicable feeling of being unserious.

He glanced at Rosalyn's back as she left and whistled softly.

He said with a wry smile:

"What a remarkable woman! Her demeanor is so gentle, but when she speaks and acts, there's not a single flaw in her actions. Perhaps her true nature isn't so easy to deal with."

"Do you even need to tell me that?"

Aize shook his head.

Because of Colin and Rosalyn's departure, his attitude suddenly became casual.

She just lay back on the sofa, crossed her legs, squinted her eyes and looked at the man in front of her and said:

"So, what are you doing here again, Wade?"

Wade Walkeran is the name of the man in front of me.

He is a hero like Aize, and the captain of the hero team Gale Shadow.

He has a good relationship with Aize and they can be considered friends. In the previous siege of Tafia, his brave team and subordinate knights also participated in the action.

Wade swung his legs casually, raised his hands and said:

"What? If you have nothing else to do, can't you come and visit an old friend? When you were trapped in the city by orcs and couldn't leave, who wrote to you crying and begging for your father to come and save you?"

"You're fucking tampering with my memory, right? Crawl, crawl, crawl! Hurry up!"

Aize retorted unhappily, picked up the teacup on the table and took a sip, then put away his smile and asked again:

"Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"The church wanted to pull you back, but Colin alone wasn't enough, so they asked me to play the good guy."

Wade shrugged and said so.

It’s pretty much the same as Aize’s guess.

"But I think with the situation of your team, there's really nothing good to come back to. Wouldn't it be nice to just hang out outside? I can't even leave if I want to."

It was for this reason that he didn't say a word the whole time, leaving Colin to perform alone.

This is why the conversation collapsed so quickly, saving Aize a lot of trouble.

In this sense, Aize should indeed thank him.

But how should I put it, this attitude is really...

Forget it, just don’t say it.

Aize changed the subject and asked:

"Before you left for Tafia, did you hear any rumors in the Holy City about the Royal Capital? Or rather, rumors about the princess?"

Wade frowned, then asked with a smirk:

"Why? You don't really like that scheming washboard, do you?"

"Climb! What does that have to do with preferences? I just thought there might be something...wrong."

The three dukes joined forces and laid siege to the city. This was confirmed half a month ago.

But up to this point, it was just preparation to force the emperor to abdicate, and it had not really started.

After all, forcing the emperor to abdicate requires an excuse.

And after what happened with Brian, their attention should have been turned to dividing up the fat meat in front of them. There was no reason to take action so quickly.

So, why is there no news at all after Heidi went back for so many days?

What on earth could have happened that could have caused the royal family and even the capital to fall completely silent?

Aize didn't know, but he had a very strong bad premonition.

How to do it specifically is one thing, but at least you have to figure out what exactly happened first.

Wade nodded, put away his smile, and said:

"Actually, I heard some gossip about this matter. Even if you didn't ask, I wanted to tell you."

"Oh? What news?"

"A few days ago... or was it more than ten days ago? The church headquarters admitted a seriously injured envoy from the royal capital, but he died half a day after being admitted."

Aize frowned:

"The envoy from the royal capital? Seriously injured?"

"Yes, if it was just a serious injury, it would generally be considered the work of bandits or robbers. In fact, that's what the church announced to the public. The problem is... well, you know, I have a sister who works in the church hospital."

"No, I don't know. You have a new sister every three days. How can I remember clearly?"

Aize looked disdainful.

The "sister" this guy is referring to is naturally the woman with whom he maintains that kind of relationship.

Wade was an aristocrat before he traveled through time, and he was also quite a playboy, having many affairs with other women.

It is said that even his death in his previous life was due to his recklessness, and he was killed by his lover with a hatchet, and then he traveled through time and space to become a hero.

But even so, he did not restrain himself after coming to this world. In fact, because of his identity as a brave man, he was admired and not afraid of axes, so he became even worse.

Although he can basically be considered a good person, his relationships with women are quite chaotic.

But thanks to this, he always has some strange intelligence channels and has helped Aize a lot.

Aize was also speechless about this.

Wade scratched his hair:

"Well, anyway, my sister is a medical nun. She told me that the dead messenger was found to have a faint scent of blood plague."

Aize's expression froze for a moment.

"Blood Plague!?"

"Yes, the blood plague... Oh, his death had nothing to do with it; it was purely due to trauma. However, the blood plague was still detected on his body after entering the Holy City. This means that the blood plague must have been extremely rampant in the place where he was previously. What do you think? Is this information sufficient?"