Chapter 15: The Impure One Is You!

The sealing formation had stopped operating, and the Silence Domain was no longer in effect, yet the second area had still sunk into an unbearable dead silence.

The sealing formation did indeed restrain Fu Leimei to a degree, making her quite uncomfortable, but even running it for a long time could not kill her.

So, compared to fear, what filled her heart at this moment was more the anger of having been provoked.

And a faint bewilderment.

What was the source of his confidence?

Doing this—beyond angering her—what other meaning could it possibly have?

"……"

Fu Leimei stared at this overly young Holy Knight, trying to find an opening on him.

Judging by his strength, he was very weak—one could say openings were everywhere.

Even in her current weakened physical state, she could easily kill him.

But in his spirit, she had not found a single crack.

His soul was wrapped in a faint blessing, guarding him from being influenced by evil, keeping his thoughts pure.

She knew what it was. It was precisely that damned Purity Blessing that kept her from being able to control his mind.

But—no, it wasn't only that.

Even without that blessing, there wasn't the slightest trace of fear of her in his eyes.

"……"

Clearly, when they had first met, although this fellow had looked calm on the surface, there had still been a faint wariness in his eyes, and he could only tread carefully, silently trailing behind that damned old man.

But now… he seemed like an entirely different person.

Valentina, that not-very-bright dimwit dragon, couldn't see through Herbert's disguise, but she was different.

She was the legendary Siren most adept at manipulating others' emotions, able to keenly perceive the change in Herbert.

Ignoring the friendly, gentle mask he wore on the surface, she could sense a calm, deceitful, and arrogant soul.

What on earth had changed him?

Was it his environment? His experiences?

Or perhaps, in truth, nothing had changed at all.

Had the way he behaved before all been an act put on for the Archbishop?

Fu Leimei couldn't quite figure it out.

After a long silence, she finally stared at Herbert and slowly began, "Mortal, do you know what your actions just now imply?"

"Of course."

Herbert smiled and nodded openly. "From your perspective, it's nothing more than provocation, a declaration of war, a threat… however you look at it, it hardly counts as friendly behavior."

Fu Leimei frowned. "Then you…"

"But, is that a problem?" Herbert cut off Fu Leimei's question, laughed, raised an eyebrow, and asked in return, "Must I be friendly to you?"

"Young Lady Fu Leimei, think carefully—even if I didn't act this way, would you have held any goodwill toward me?"

"You wouldn't have."

"You are the prisoner, and I am the warden who manages you. No matter what I do, you will resent the Archbishop and the monastery for imprisoning you, and you will certainly resent me along with them."

The youth stood with his hands clasped behind his back, slightly tilting his head up to look at the enchantingly beautiful mermaid, and said softly:

"You were the one who hated me first."

"Wasn't it?"

Fu Leimei, pressed by his successive questions, fell silent. She truly had no way to refute that point.

The one seen through was not Herbert alone.

She, too.

Because of her arrogance, she had not bothered with much disguise, and the other party had seen her heart laid completely bare.

At the end of his words, Herbert suddenly shifted his tone and said, "But, having said that, I don't want to keep going against you like this forever. That would be far too tiring."

"Rather than both of us wearing a hypocritical mask and going through the motions of false civility here, let's both be more direct and show our true sides."

Herbert extended both hands to display his Holy Stigmata, smiling as he explained:

"So, this time I've shown you my trump card. Although I can briefly control the Sealing Technique, because my current strength is insufficient, I can't keep it running for long."

"So you don't need to worry that I'll torment or threaten you with it from time to time."

He simply stated his own shortcomings outright like this, candidly telling them to a prisoner who ought to hate him.

Handing the enemy a knife?

No.

Because that knife itself was only symbolic, with little actual lethality.

Rather than hiding it away in a furtive manner, it was better to display it openly and generously.

It both declared his own stance and served a certain deterrent effect.

After showing all this, Herbert couldn't help sighing with feeling:

"After all, if I could never get along well with such a beautiful Young Lady like you, that would truly be a pity."

Fu Leimei:?

"After all, you're so good-looking, and your voice is so lovely—I still want to chat with you more."

"Let's get along well!"

Fu Leimei:??

"No, you…"

Fu Leimei's brow rose. This was the second time she had heard Herbert praise her so openly without any concealment.

Last time, she hadn't taken it seriously, just figured he was talking nonsense, but this time—she discovered this guy seemed to be serious!!?

"Wait! Don't tell me you… to me…"

He has improper intentions toward me!?

She instinctively pulled her body back into the water sphere, leaving only half her head outside, staring at Herbert oddly.

"Hm? What's wrong? I've always admired you!"

Herbert seemed to pause for a moment, tilted his head, and said matter-of-factly as if nothing were wrong: "No matter how you put it, beautiful is beautiful, and it won't change just because of your monster identity."

Letting the five senses override the three views?

It's not that complicated.

I'm just a pure looks-obsessed person, that's all.

"Y-y-you-you… but aren't you afraid of breaking your oath?"

Herbert blinked, tilted his head in some confusion, and said puzzled: "Why would that break an oath? Oh, I understand what you mean now…"

"Young Lady Fu Leimei, you've misunderstood, my attitude toward you has always been pure admiration!"

With a righteous expression, he shook his head and said earnestly: "The one with impure thoughts is you!"

Fu Leimei:???

The legendary sea demon wanted to explain that she hadn't!

But she opened and closed her mouth for a long time without getting a word out, pressed her lips together, her face slightly flushed, and curled up in the water blowing bubbles outward nonstop.

Glub glub.

This guy, he… he's not right!

Why do I feel so happy hearing him say these things?

But, but he's also a Holy Knight who doesn't lie, so… does he really think that way?

Really think I'm beautiful!?

The fish tail inside the water sphere swayed rapidly, pushing her body up a bit, exposing most of her upper body.

Herbert: Eh?

This mermaid princess may indeed have high attack and thick HP, but why does she seem to have paper-thin defense?

You can deliberately use your singing to bewitch me, but I can't crave you?

Double standards!

Pure double standards!

"Young Lady Fu Leimei, please explain this clearly to me!"

Glub glub… (I'm not! I didn't!)

And just as Herbert, relying on his identity as a pure Holy Knight, was playing the "naive" card to make a direct attack on the mermaid princess.

A cold, clear voice rang out from the darkness of the third zone.

"The magic power has been drained…"

"Finally, I've waited for this chance."

Friends, I really love bad jokes, lol)

If the male lead of this book sometimes makes you feel like he's totally insane, then I've succeeded.

(laughs)

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(End of this chapter)