The next few hours were pretty hectic, to say the least. After Wilson confessed to his crimes, the 5 whoever-they-are also confessed that they conspired with Wilson and most of the knights to kick out the Pope from his throne.

   However, the Pope couldn’t order their arrest immediately, as he can’t identity who’s part of the conspiracy and who’s not. In the end, he has to seek help from the Academy’s Italy branch, which is also located in Vatican City. While waiting for them to arrive, I summoned as many merman soldiers as I could to keep watch so that nobody starts causing problems.

   I also took the keys from Wilson so that I could unlock the handcuffs of my girls, Albenese and Kaoru.

   ‘I’m sorry for not telling you my plan beforehand. You wouldn’t have to be scared otherwise.’ I apologize to them.

   ‘It’s okay. We knew you were planning something when we saw how calm you are, even when we were getting arrested.’ Sakuya tells me.

   Honestly, it was a risky move. Those knights might have done something horrible to them. However, if I insist that they need to stay, Wilson might have suspected that I was planning something.

   ‘I’m just glad that things didn’t end badly. Especially for you, Kaoru.’

   Kaoru shakes his head. ‘I doubt things would have been any different even if I stayed at Japan.’

   ‘But, you could have sought sanctuary at the Academy.’

   ‘And let the knights who were hiding near the HQ ambush him before he could get there?’ Madoka asks me.

   ‘...Oh.’

   ‘That’s why I figured that it’s much safer to come with you, aniki.’

   My girls stare at me when they heard Kaoru calls me that.

   ‘Long story. Which I will tell you at another time.’

   Now’s definitely a bad time since the cavalry is here. Around 100 Italian students of the Academy arrived at the church while being led by 10 teachers. All of the were ready to fight my merman until I told them that they’re with me. And now that they’re here, I had my troop dismissed.

   ‘Are all of you alright?’ one of the teachers asks us.

   ‘Yes, sir. Thank you for coming all the way here.’ Sakuya says.

   ‘Think nothing of it. Pardon the late introduction. My name is Alfredo Cotrone, a senior lecturer at the Vatican City Branch.’

   ‘I am Morifuji Sakuya, student council president of the Tokyo, Japan branch.’ she gestures at Ichika. ‘This is my vice president Kurogane Ichika.’

   ‘Greetings.’ Ichika says formally.

   ‘Hello to you too. Wait. Morifuji? Are you perhaps Principal Morifuji’s daughter?’

   ‘Indeed I am.’

   ‘Pardon me for not recognizing you immediately.’

   ‘There is nothing to apologize for, sir.’

   While all this is going on, the Italian students are rounding up priests and knights alike and put handcuffs on their wrists under the watchful eyes of their teachers. After that, they will be sent to the crypt for interrogation, just like how the Pope has requested.

   Honestly, it’s kind of easy to figure out who’s clean and who’s part of the conspiracy, since it shows on their face.

   Albanese is the Pope’s sole remaining ally for now, which is why he’s standing right beside him soon after the handcuffs are gone from his wrists.

   ‘Foreign visitors, I deeply apologize for the actions my followers have caused you.’ a pause. ‘ex-followers.’

   ‘Please think nothing of it, Your Holiness. The matter has been resolved. That’s all that matters.’ Sakuya tells him.

   Except that it really hasn’t.

   ‘Um, Your Holiness? How are you going to deal with Kaoru?’ I ask the Pope.

   ‘Kaoru? Are you addressing the one with the healing power?’

   ‘Yes, Your Holiness.’

   ‘Hmm, how indeed. That reminds me, which among you is this Kaoru?’

   Kaoru raises up his hand. ‘That would be me, Your Holiness.’

   ‘Tell me, child. Do you have any intention to take over my place as the new Pope?’

   The Pope doesn’t sound intimidating, or upset, or scary, or fearful for his throne. His tone is mild and friendly. It’s like he’s asking Kaoru his favorite food or something.

   ‘None at all, sir.’ Kaoru says quickly.

   ‘Do I have your word for it? It’s very important.’

   ‘Of course, sir. I swear it on my life.’

   ‘Very well. In that case, I shall pretend that I did not hear of your unique power. You are free to go. The same goes for your friends.’

   Kaoru lets out a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you very much, Your Holiness.’

   ‘Are you all rushing to go back to Japan? If not, I would like to extend my hospitality as a host. A proper one this time.’

   I look at the others. ‘I’ve got plenty of time. What about you guys?’

   None of them are dying to go back just yet.

   ‘We’ll be happy to receive your hospitality, Your Holiness.’

   ‘Excellent. Signore Albanese, please arrange their accommodation.’

   ‘Sire, I have already done that. However, they were supposed to check in last night.’

   ‘Check in? You mean you booked them rooms in a hotel?’

   ‘Yes, sire.’

   ‘Bah. You could just cancel the booking. They’re our important guests. The least we could do is to let them stay here in one of our gorgeous rooms.’

   ‘I’ll make arrangement at once.’

   The Pope looks at us again. ‘While the rooms are being prepared, please have a good rest at the dining room. I’ll have my servants prepare some breakfast for you.’

   ‘Thank you, You Holiness.’

   After Albanese calls the hotel to have the booking canceled, he brings us to the dining room. There’s a long dining table made of metal at the center with lots of metal chairs.

   ‘So, is one of us supposed to sit at one end of the table, and you on the other side?’ I ask Albanese.

   ‘No. That would just make talking much more difficult. We’ll just sit opposite each other.’

   ‘That’s good to hear.’

   I turn around to look at the girls who’re busy playing rock-scissors-paper. Kaoru isn’t joining in, and judging from his expression, he’s probably wondering why are the girls playing the game.

   ‘Are you girls done yet?’

   ‘Just a bit more.’ Sakuya answers.

   In the end, Madoka and Mashiro emerge as victors, and they get the privilege to sit next to me.

   A few minutes later, female servants wearing old-style clothes appear with trolleys full of food covered by metallic food covers.

   They put the plate in front of us and take away the cover. On the plate are 3 slices of bacon, 2 sunny-side-ups, 2 pieces of toast, a piece of hash brown and some baked beans.

   ‘Would you like some drinks? We have fruit juices, coffee, and tea.’ one of the servants asks us.

   The girls and Kaoru either ask for fruit juices or tea. I got myself a glass of water. Albanese asked for some coffee.

   ‘So Albanese-san. What’s gonna happen to those people who was part of the plot to overthrow the Pope?’ I ask while eating.

   ‘It depends on His Holiness, really. Maybe he will feel merciful and has those lower ranked ones released on probation. The Church will be much weaker without them, after all.’

   ‘And the high ranked ones?’

   ‘They will either get put behind bars for the rest of their lives, or executed. I can’t really tell which.’

   I want to ask him about Wilson specifically, but I had to pause my conversation since Mashiro and Madoka are busy feeding me the food on their plate.

   ‘Here, Akira. Eat Mashiro’s bacon. It’s delicious.’

   ‘My beans taste very good too.’

   ‘Do you two mind? We’re inside a Church, so act more proper!’

   ‘No need to worry. God will allow that level of flirting.’ Albanese assures.

   ‘You heard him. Now, open wide.’

   ‘Say ahh~.’

   ‘Alright, alright! Ahh~!’

   Meanwhile, my other girls are looking on enviously. Kaoru is the only one who’s eating his breakfast quietly.

   ‘I’ll be questioning the prisoners. What will all of you do in the meantime?’ Albanese asks us once he’s done eating.

   We don’t have anything better to do, so we decide to tag along.

   When we got to the crypt, Albanese decides to group each and every person who got arrested into those who are innocent and those who are guilty. The ones he deems innocent will be let out of their rooms immediately and assist him in questioning.

   ‘I wonder what happened to those Italian students and teachers from the Academy.’ I whisper tat Madoka who happened to stand beside me.

   ‘They probably went back. Even they know better than to overstay their welcome.’

   ‘Even tough they got here by the Pope’s request?’

   Madoka really lowered down her voice when she speaks out her next sentence.

   ‘The Pope really doesn’t take kindly to outsiders. There were information were he had non-believers executed just by sneezing near him.’

   ‘But, he was so friendly when he was speaking to Kaoru!’

   ‘He has wild mood swings. He was always known to be laughing in one second and frothing in the mouth with anger in the next.’

   I blink several times at that. Suddenly, overthrowing him doesn’t sound so bad. If only the alternative wasn’t worse, if that’s even possible. I’m so glad that we were found to be innocent.

   Like I mentioned earlier, it’s pretty easy to distinguish people that belong to each group. Those who are innocent will straight up deny Albanese’s accusation, while those who are guilty just keep on being silent until Albanese has to threaten them.

   The whole questioning took more than three hours. By the time they’re done, only 6 out of 20 people who held important positions are innocent, and the 6 includes Albanese and Oliva. As for the knights, more than 60-70% of the them are guilty, which totally includes Wilson.

   ‘So, who’s going to guard them all until His Holiness decides on what to do with them?’ I ask Albanese.

   ‘Those on guard duty would have to make multiple rounds. It’s risky, but it’s the only way.’

   Man, the Pope needs to stick out recruitment posters pronto, or the Church will be in serious trouble.

   After the interrogation is over, Albanese and those who’re innocent go to report to the Pope. Everyone except Albanese has to stay back to discuss the future of the prisoners, and of the Church after this incident.

   ‘Is it really alright for you to be with us, Albanese-san?’ I ask after we’re outside.

   ‘No need to worry. It was an order from His Holiness, after all. Besides, I doubt anything could be decided over the course of an hour or two. Now then. Shall we go for lunch? I know a good place that serves excellent pasta.’

   My eyes brighten up at his suggestion. ‘Yes, please! I’ve always wanted to eat an authentic pasta made by Italians!’

   ‘Well then, let us go.’

   The others are also fine with having pasta as lunch, so we let Albanese guide us to a restaurant.

   Just like Albanese said, the pasta here is excellent. The spaghetti carbonara they make here is literally the best one I’ve ate so far. I was about to thank Albanese for the excellent recommendation when his phone rings.

   He puts down his fork and takes out the phone fomr his pocket. ‘Yes?’

   The person on the other side starts to speak rapidly.

   ‘Slow down, I have trouble understanding what you’re saying.’

   The speaker speaks a bit slower this time. I still couldn’t hear a proper sentence, but apparently it’s good enough for Albanese.

   ‘What? I’m warning you, if this is your idea of a bad joke…’

   The speaker talks some more.

   ‘...Very well. I’m heading back right now.’

   ‘Is something wrong, Albanese-san?’ I ask after he keeps his phone.

   Albanese lowers down his voice before answering. ‘All of the priests that got imprisoned were assassinated by someone.’

   I almost choked on my pasta when I heard that.

   ‘How on earth did that happen?’ I ask softly.

   ‘I have no idea. I need to ask the guards to find out. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go back immediately. You kids take your time.’

   ‘No, we’re coming with you.’

   And so, we ate our food in record time. After Albanese paid for the food, we rush back to the church. When we’re about to head into the crypt, one of the knights who were standing guard gave us a warning.

   ‘The sight is pretty gruesome. If you’re one of those faint-hearted, you better not go in.’

   I decide to stay back after hearing that. I just ate my lunch, after all. I don’t want to risk puking them all out. In the end, only Albanese went in.

   His face was a bit green when he comes out. The scenery must have been really bad.

   ‘Did you find any clues, Albanese-san?’ I ask him.

   ‘Unfortunately, nothing much. All of them were…ripped apart brutally. I can’t even deduce the weapon that the assassin used, if they were using weapons at all.’

   ‘Did the other prisoners who were locked up nearby heard anything?’

   The knight was the one who answered this.

   ‘We’ve questioned them all in details, but none of them have heard anything.’

   ‘But, why would anyone wants to kill them?’ Kaoru asks.

   ‘My guess is that those priests know about something that they shouldn’t. Now that the secret of their rebellion is out, they got silenced.’ I say.

   ‘I agree.’ Albanese says. ‘The thing is, we never got to find out what that “something” is when we interrogated them, and now we never will.’

   ‘Hold on. Was Wilson killed?’ I ask.

   ‘Wilson? No, he wasn’t.’

   ‘We could interrogate him again. It’s a long shot, but it’s better than nothing.’

   ‘I guess we have no other choice.’

   And so, Wilson was brought out of the room where he was imprisoned. As per my request, he was to be interrogated in the dining room.

   Wilson looks quite defeated when he was first brought out, but his expression became arrogant again when he realized that he was not going to be executed.

   ‘So, what business do you have with me? Are you going to release me due to my excellent past performance?’ he asks smugly.

   ‘He doesn’t know what happened, did he?’ I ask Albanese.

   ‘I think not. The room he was locked up in was pretty far away from the priests’ rooms, so I didn’t bother to question him. And I doubt he passed by those rooms when he was brought here.’

   ‘Wait, what are you talking about?’

   ‘All of your former superiors who got locked up were killed by an assassin.’ I answer him.

   Wilson’s face got several shades paler.

   ‘W-W-What of it? If the assassin didn’t come and kill me the first time, there’s no way he would come back just to finish the job!’

   I suddenly got an idea to lure out the assassin.

   ‘The thing is, the assassin probably killed all those priests to silence them. Maybe because they know some secret that the client of the assassin doesn’t want others to know.’ I tell him.

   ‘If you think I might know the secret, you’re wrong! They didn’t tell me anything! I was just following orders!’

   ‘Ah, but the assassin doesn’t know that, does he? If we, say, spread rumors that you do know the secret, the assassin’s bound to come back to kill you, just in case.’

   ‘Are you saying that you’re using me as bait?’

   ‘That’s right. If you want to increase your chance of survival, you’d better try to recall anything you might have overheard so that we could better identify the assassin.’

   Desperate to survive, Wilson closes his eyes to think of something, anything. A few minutes later, he opes his eyes again in triumph.

   ‘I remember now! Some of them talked about how someone from the Hourglass of Blood will come and take their lives if they ever fail, so they were desperate for the plan to work!’

   ‘The what?’

   ‘I have no idea what they meant either, but I swear! They really mentioned that name!’

   This is bad. Even I don’t know who or what they are. Thankfully, Madoka does.

   ‘They’re a group of assassins originated way back in ancient Egypt. Each members are required to master at least one dangerous dark art upon joining.’

   ‘Why is a bunch of killers who belong an ancient group going around killing priests for their failure?’

   ‘That, I have no clue. Although I might find something if you give me more time.’

   ‘No, leave it for another time. For now, we should concentrate on capturing the assassin.’

   ‘Alright.’ she looks at Albanese. ‘Albanese-san, what happened to those bodies inside the crypt?’

   ‘I asked some knights to collect them and put them inside body bags. I still haven’t decide whether to have them buried or cremated.’

   ‘I know it’s disrespectful, but may I look at one of them?’

   ‘Of course. I believe that they’re still inside the crypt.’

   Now that we’re done with Wilson, he got send back to his room again. As for Madoka, she goes inside the crypt to look at the dismembered bodies. My lunch was slightly digested, so I decide to man up and follow her.

   ‘You don’t have to go in, you know. What if you vomit all over the floor?’ she asks me.

   ‘It’s fine.’ I say stubbornly. ‘Sometimes, a man gotta do what a man gotta do. I can’t let a lady suffer alone.’

   She flashes me a rare smile. ‘My hero.’

   Under the guidance of one of the knights who’re on guard duty, we go inside one of the rooms where there are 3 body bags.

   Madoka first looks around the room while wearing a pair of sunglasses which, according to her, can find traces of magic and allows her to see fingerprints, footprints and other similr things. There are no traces of magic whatsoever.

   ‘So, our mystery assassin came in here and killed all these people without making a sound and alerting anyone? Without using magic?’ I ask.

   ‘It’s too early to tell, actually.’

   Madoka kneels down at one of the body bags. Before she unzips it, she offered up a quiet apology for the owner of the body.

   The smell of blood covered the whole room once the bag got unzipped. Somehow, I manage to stop myself from retching.

   ‘Are you okay?’ Madoka asks me when she saw my expression.

   ‘Yeah. No need…to worry about me.’

   Madoka looks at me in concern some more, then goes back to her autopsy. She starts off by pulling out a pair of black gloves and puts them on. Then, she lifts up an arm and looks at the place where it was cut off. She made sure to look thoroughly at the body parts inside all three body bags. I don’t want to distract her, so I let her work in silence until she’s done.

   Eventually, she puts back a leg inside the bag and closes the zip.

   ‘All done?’ I ask her.

   She nods. ‘Let’s go outside first.’

   Once outside, she disposes her gloves inside the first garbage bin she sees. She also puts back her sunglasses.

   ‘I didn’t know that mercenaries need to study autopsy.’ I say to her while we’re going outside.

   ‘We don’t. When I first became a mercenary, I was quite afraid of seeing dead bodies. So my father had me interned to a forensic pathologist.’

   ‘...Why?’

   ‘His logic is if I have to get used to seeing dead bodies, I might as well learn something while I’m doing it.’

   ‘You had a rough childhood, huh?’

   ‘It was quite fun, actually. Besides, my fear was eventually conquered, so no harm done.’

   We go back to everyone, and Madoka tells us who the assassin might be.

   ‘It’s probably a man called Wessam Morcos.’

   ‘How are you able to tell?’ I ask her.

   ‘When I checked the bodies, they were cut very cleanly, even the bones. Not even an extremely sharp weapon wielded by a master is able to do that.’

   ‘Also, all three bodies were struck from behind, and had something thin covering their mouth while they die, which is why they didn’t scream or make a single sound. From what I can gather, it’s done by a single person, since the bodies were mutilated simultaneously.’

   ‘Lastly, I looked at the ground and the wall. I only saw three sets of footprints. As for the wall, it wasn’t touched at all. The only conclusion I could draw is that the assassin has dived out of one of his victim’s shadow and did his job.’

   ‘So, this Wessam Morcos has the ability to travel through shadows?’ Sakuya asks.

   ‘Yes. And use them as weapons. He’s known as one of the most dangerous ones among the dangerous assassins.’

   ‘Well, now that we know who our assassin is, we could devise up a plan to stop him.’ I say.

   Everyone nod at that.