“Whoa…”

Oliver, who was watching behind her, gasped.

“It’s more than a hundred yards away, but to shoot him with such accuracy…?”

“Oliver-sama, please take this!”

“!”

Rishe stuffed the divine bow to Oliver’s hands and also ran toward the altar.

She has ignored the dizziness and nausea just now.

I averted the Archbishop’s actions. As for the rest…

She could see Arnold’s back, walking toward the Archbishop with his sword in hand.

The sound of his footsteps amplified the tense atmosphere in the hall.

The dozen or so monks who had their bows at the ready had fled like spiderlings.

“Your Highness Arnold!”

Rishe called out to him, but he showed no sign of turning back.

The Archbishop, crouching on the stairs to the platform, looked up at Arnold and shouted, holding his arrow-studded leg.

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

“Shut up.”

Arnold snapped frostily.

With his back facing her, Rishe couldn’t see what kind of expression he had right now. But she could clearly see the Archbishop’s face as he crawled backwards in an attempt to escape.

“I forbid you to speak.”

“Hi…”

What did the Archbishop see?

He looked cramped and pale and shivery. Arnold took one look at Myria, who was lying on the altar, and said with a look of disinterest.

“I heard that the sister of the previous priestess was very weak. It was deemed difficult for her to bear children, which was why she was spared the treaty.”

“I told you to stay away…”

“And yet…”

His last footstep clicked.

Arnold stopped, gazed down at the Archbishop below, and asked quietly.

“――Why is that ‘girl’ here?”

“Ha!!”

The Archbishop blanched and appealed with his best, gesturing with his hands.

“I was inwardly against it!”

“Huh?”

“It would be foolish to defy Garkhain! That’s why we decided twenty-two years ago to give up the most important treasure of the Order, the Maiden Priestess, to show our intentions!

Rishe squeezed her lips together as she ran to the altar.

The Archbishop didn’t care about Arnold’s silence and just raised his voice.

“But it is not advisable to go against the Cardinal’s plan. That’s why I pretended to agree with them and spent a decade trying to find the right moment! If we keep Miss Myria alive, we will not be able to avoid a confrontation with Garkhain. If that happens, there will be another war and world peace will be disrupted…!”

“…”

“I have no intention of going against Garkhain, even if it means confronting the Cardinal. The decision to bury Miss Myria was made in an attempt to show reverence to you and your father!”

The Archbishop folded his hands tightly in front of his chest.

“All this to create a world of peace.”

“…”

He spoke in a trembling voice, praying not to the Goddess, but to Arnold.

“…Please, just understand that…”

The Archbishop, one of the world’s foremost clergymen, begged Arnold.

But what came back to him was a terrifying voice.

“…And why should I listen to your silly prayers?”

“…!?”

The Archbishop looked up at Arnold with astonishment.

“The world you’re creating is of no value to me…I wouldn’t let you live and let you go, like my father did.”

“K…”

“Just, how convenient it is.”

Arnold probably smiled.

It was easy to tell from the archbishop’s pale face that there had been a change in his expression.

“That treaty seems to be an excellent ground for me to kill you here.”

“No, don’t…”

It was then that Rishe finally reached them.

“Your Highness!”

She grabbed Arnold’s sleeve and called out his name under her breath. But Arnold made no reply or even spared her a glance.

Once again, she called out his name as if pleading.

“Arnold, Your Highness…!”

“…”

After a few seconds of silence, Arnold turned around with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to beg for this guy’s life, are you?”

“That’s right. Please, I beg you, give me that sword.”

However, Arnold looked at her with a smile that hinted at ridicule.

“You can only say that because you were the only one whose life was in danger in this case.”

“…”

“You’re too careless about your own safety. ――It’s as if the fact that ‘once a man dies, he’s finished’ has slipped from your mind.”

Although she cringed inwardly, it didn’t show on her face.

For now, she just stared into Arnold’s eyes and tried her best to appeal.

“You can’t kill him here! If you kill the Krushade Order’s Archbishop, even if it results in Myria-sama’s salvation, the rift with the Order is inevitable.”

“I don’t care. That doesn’t matter.”

“Ah!”

Arnold easily shook off Rishe’s hand.

She wanted to cling onto him to stop him, but Arnold would surely be unmoved. She jumped in front of the Archbishop, but his strength overpowered her all the same.

I won’t let you kill him…I don’t want Your Highness to think that you can only use the same means as your father.

Everything would be over once he killed him.

After all, Rishe knew very well. Arnold wasn’t the kind of person who thought that killing the target was the solution.

But Arnold took another step toward the Archbishop.

Regardless, cut down on his killing intent as much as possible. Distract His Highness! There is no way to divert this man’s thoughts from his anger, even for a moment!!

Arnold regripped his sword to set the angle of the blade.

The Archbishop was frightened out of his wits and seemed paralyzed all over. In the midst of this, Rishe thought desperately.

For instance, what’s the most shocking thing that’s happened to me lately?

Everything almost overrode all of her previous thoughts and feelings.

The moment this thought popped up, a picture flashed back in her mind.

I’ll take that…

With that idea, there was no time for hesitation.

Rishe dashed to Arnold and reached for his neck.

“Your Highness, Arnold!”

“!”

Then, she hugged him tightly around the neck.

Rishe pulled him closer so that she could put her weight on him and looked up at his neck. She stood on tiptoes, aimed at the skin peeking through his collar, and pasted her lips there.

“…What…?”

She didn’t reply.

She then opened her mouth wide and bit Arnold’s neck with a yum…