Chapter 5

「No, no…」

The next morning, when Herbert painfully escaped from his dream, his mouth still uttered words filled with sorrow and emptiness.

「Even a minotaur won't do, there's a bull, there's a bull! 」

「No, no… Ha! 」

Herbert finally woke up, jerking his eyes open and quickly covering his mouth.

「Gag—」

He leaned over the table and vomited for a long time, trying to expel those horrifying memories along with yesterday's dry bread.

Scary?

Yes, this is terrifying.

Herbert took a long while to recover, locking those forbidden images deep within the recesses of his memory.

This Miss Xie Shen… is way too damn dark!?!

Just as Herbert, eyes brimming with tears, continuously denounced Miss Xie Shen's malice, a color that shouldn't be there flashed in his Yu Guang.

Hm?

「What's this? 」

Herbert looked down and saw pink lines woven with his holy scar, forming an eerie heart shape on the back of his hand—above his head, a giant question mark appeared.

?

Hey, you know what? This little thing actually looks familiar!

I think I've seen plenty of them in my hard drive… huh.

Gulp.

"... Yin, uh, silver pattern?"

No, that can't be right!

This thing shouldn't appear on a man, right!!?

A person can't, at least shouldn't!

Ciallo～(∠ω<)⌒☆

I went diving as a succubus today!

Ta-da!

Succubus Holy Knight!

The kind who eats all four slashes~

Please support me, spam more—

「…Tch! 」

After indulging in self-destructive madness in his mind for a long while, Herbert's consciousness finally returned to normal.

He squinted, silently staring at the back of his hand—those pink lines had long vanished, and no matter how he stimulated it, they never reappeared.

But he knew, with absolute certainty—that scene had not been a delusion from waking up groggy; those things were still there!

Not on his flesh, but deeply engraved upon his soul.

Why could Herbert be so certain?

Because he had just experienced this feeling yesterday.

Yes.

It was the exact sensation of receiving a blessing after taking an oath!

Good news: he received a new blessing.

Bad news: it wasn't granted by a true deity.

He had been generously blessed by an unknown Miss Xie Shen, and marked upon his body—let's call it a demon mark for now.

Whoa!

That Miss Xie Shen knocked me to my knees—she clearly wants me to become a Star Fury!

Less than half a day after becoming a Holy Knight, Herbert regretfully became Miss Xie Shen's lackey, achieving a full half-day performance in the Faithful Challenge.

「What is this? Forced love…? 」

Herbert rubbed his head, feeling a headache.

No, bro, you're ruining me!

No one heard Herbert's cry—because he dared not sob aloud, silently shedding tiny pearls inside his heart.

A gentleman is cautious when alone; walls have ears.

Upon realizing he might become Miss Xie Shen's lackey, Herbert immediately redefined himself as a criminal suspect, prioritizing adaptive caution.

Herbert sniffed hard, holding back the hot tears at his eyes.

Being tormented by a pure blessing wasn't enough—now he's got a Miss Xie Shen blessing too… what the hell?

So bitter.

My life is so bitter!

After sighing again at the twists of his fate, Herbert regained his composure.

Having been cursed his whole life in his past life, his spirit had long grown accustomed to sudden hardships.

No matter what happens, as long as he's alive, life must go on.

「Next, there are only two paths. 」

Continue clinging to the Holy Knight path and report himself to his superiors?

As a Holy Knight, what he should do right now is seek help from the convent's higher-ups, making them deal with everything happening to him.

But to be honest, Herbert hesitated.

Reporting himself would clear him of suspicion, but it would also hand over complete control of his life and death to others.

Moreover, could he truly trust this group of ascetics?

The cases of the mighty ancestors in the holy texts glared brightly, constantly reminding Herbert of the fate awaiting him if he did this.

These ascetics appeared peaceful and detached in daily life, but when confronting evil, they were never gentle souls—they all adhered to the radical creed: "Eradicate evil utterly; better to kill ten thousand by mistake than let one escape!"

The kind of radicalism even the extremists found too extreme.

If the Miss Xie Shen's blessing on him could be removed, that would be best—everyone would be pleased.

But what if… it couldn't?

At that point, what awaited him would likely be neither death nor an endless prison.

Herbert turned his head, gazing into the mirror at his own reflection, seeing the haggard face worn down by a night of nightmares.

And he saw the deep-seated resentment hidden within his pale gray eyes.

Whether death or imprisonment, neither outcome was what he wanted.

He was not a true Holy Knight.

At least not yet—not at this moment—did he possess the resolve to sacrifice himself for order and justice.

Now that his thoughts were clear, the choice before him was obvious.

"Go underwater!"

Herbert picked up his pen and wrote swiftly, offering his reverence to the unnamed entity.

"I have drifted half my life, regretting only that I never met a wise lord. If you will not reject me, I beg to become your adopted father!"

Miss Xie Shen gave no response.

No matter what Herbert wrote on the paper, she no longer replied.

He didn't know whether she was pretending to be aloof or simply unable to respond.

"... Is she only online after midnight?" Herbert suspected, and helplessly accepted her unreliable disappearance.

To avoid drawing attention and evade others' gazes, after burning his chat logs, Herbert went nowhere and returned straight to his post early in the morning.

Although he had no desire to return so soon.

Indeed, the moment he pushed open the prison door, a thunderous roar erupted like a tidal wave, stirring up a gust of air.

"***! ***! *****!"

Young Lady Valentina, kicked the day before, had been waiting long enough—she launched her assault instantly, unleashing everything.

After being mocked, Valentina had intended to let it go, but the more she thought, the angrier she grew, the hotter her fury burned, until her blood rage was fully stacked.

The words she had rehearsed all night poured out in one unstoppable rush.

"***!"

It was utterly cathartic, utterly unfiltered.

Herbert, the target of her rage, said nothing—just smiled and waited patiently for a long while.

When she finally finished, he slowly pulled out the simple earplugs he had already inserted.

"Are you done?"

You can scream—I can't hear you.

As long as I can't hear you, my family won't be hurt.

Valentina:?

"Are you messing with me!? You actually... hmm?"

Enraged, Valentina drew a deep breath, preparing for her second round of outburst—when her nose twitched involuntarily, and her furious expression froze.

Huh?

Her eyes widened gradually, her vertical pupils slowly rounding into circles, giving her an almost dazed, cute look.

Herbert blinked, unsure what she was doing now, ready to slip the earplugs back in.

"You, you how..."

She stared at Herbert for a long time, sniffing again and again, then exclaimed in shock:

"You smell so good!"

Herbert: Huh?

(End of Chapter)