Clementine walked leisurely down the corridor.
Unlike before, ever since she joined the Theocracy under the identity of Clem, life had been quite comfortable these past few days.
Everyone cared about her feelings. Every matter was arranged with her in mind, and the priests all appeared warm and approachable.
If she had been an ordinary person, she might have fallen for it.
But Clementine knew very well that it was only a façade.
The Theocracy was still the same Theocracy.
Just like when she discovered the restriction placed inside her mind, her first reaction had been annoyance, not surprise.
"Disgusting."
A shadow passed over Clementine's face.
But she quickly calmed herself.
Now was not the time to wallow in resentment.
The most important thing was completing the task Naohara-sama had given her.
...
Inside a uniquely decorated room, a girl stood by the window.
[Thousand Leagues Astrologer]
Former Seventh Seat of the Black Scripture, now the Third Seat. That was the girl's identity.
She had slightly dark blonde hair and wore red-framed glasses, with a black headband tied upright on her head.
Her outfit was a JK-style school uniform that looked completely out of place in this world. On her legs were black garter stockings, and on her feet were small leather boots decorated with heart patterns.
She gave off an intellectual impression, and her figure was also exceptionally well-proportioned.
In short, she was quite eye-catching.
Within the Black Scripture, she was mainly responsible for matters related to knowledge and possessed extremely strong long-range surveillance abilities.
She was essentially the eyes of the Slane Theocracy.
If she were to disappear, the speed at which the Theocracy transmitted information would undoubtedly drop drastically.
"Ah… humanity will probably go extinct."
Gazing at the moon, Thousand Leagues Astrologer muttered quietly.
In just a few short months, the Theocracy had suffered severe losses.
First, the Sunlight Scripture had been mysteriously wiped out.
Then the Black Scripture encountered disaster, and the true divine-class item [Downfall of Castle and Country] disappeared without a trace.
After that, the former Captain of the Black Scripture was captured.
Everything that had happened recently left her feeling lost.
Did humanity really still have a future?
Thousand Leagues Astrologer sighed and walked back into the room.
She kicked off her small leather boots and threw herself face down onto the bed.
"Can't figure it out."
"Forget it. I'll just sleep."
As for the future of humanity, she would leave that headache to the priests.
All she needed to do was live peacefully as a cute girl and carry out her duties in the Theocracy.
Thinking that, Thousand Leagues Astrologer closed her eyes.
But the next moment, a faint sound caught her attention.
"Strange… I feel like someone's here. Am I imagining it?"
Thousand Leagues Astrologer lifted her head and scanned the room, but found nothing.
That left her slightly puzzled.
Had she misheard?
"Maybe I've just been overthinking things lately. My nerves are probably too tense."
After giving herself that explanation, Thousand Leagues Astrologer shook her head and prepared to go back to sleep.
But the moment she closed her eyes, a chill ran across her neck.
At some point, a dagger had been pressed against her throat.
Before she could react, a sharp blow struck the back of her head.
Her vision went dark as she instantly lost consciousness.
...
After an unknown amount of time, her consciousness slowly began to return.
"Mm… where am I…"
Thousand Leagues Astrologer opened her sore, heavy eyes.
She felt awful. Truly awful.
Fragments from before she lost consciousness flashed through her mind.
It seemed… she had been attacked?
And inside the Theocracy, of all places?
Before she could sort out the situation, a calm, magnetic voice quietly reached her ears.
"Sorry for inviting you here in such a way. I hope you don't mind."
The voice instantly snapped Thousand Leagues Astrologer out of her thoughts.
She turned her head and saw three figures nearby.
Clementine wore a bright, cheerful smile.
A crimson glint flickered in her pupils, and sharp fangs occasionally peeked out from between her lips.
Her eyes lingered on Thousand Leagues Astrologer as if she were examining a sweet piece of bread.
Pandora's Actor adjusted the brim of his hat. His face, with only three round markings visible, remained hidden in shadow, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
He gave off an unfathomable feeling.
But Thousand Leagues Astrologer's gaze did not linger on him. Instead, it fixed on the last figure.
Her body trembled.
Her soul trembled.
A fear unlike anything she had ever felt flooded her. It was as if the terror came from another dimension, as if the marrow in her bones was being drained away, as if a cold wind had pierced straight through her entire body.
In a daze, it felt as though countless streams of black mist were seeping into her consciousness. Along with them came an uncontrollable, dark, and bizarre aura of violence that defied description.
Her emotions collapsed into chaos. Her thoughts became fragmented.
Her legs, clad in black garter stockings, weakened as she dropped halfway to her knees. A sudden warmth rushed downward.
Clear liquid dripped from beneath the hem of her skirt, and a faint, unmistakable scent spread through the air.
Naohara, who had been looking at the JK uniform with a hint of nostalgia, suddenly froze.
?
Wait, what is wrong with this girl?
Clementine immediately showed a look of disgust when she saw it.
Pandora stroked his chin thoughtfully, then seemed to realize something.
He pulled out a camera from somewhere and immediately began recording the scene.
"Did she… get scared stupid?"
Naohara placed a finger on Thousand Leagues Astrologer's forehead. After sensing for a moment, his expression turned slightly strange.
No wonder she carried the title [Thousand Leagues Astrologer]. Her sensory abilities were indeed impressive.
With the aid of her talent, simply being close to him had allowed her to vaguely sense a fragment of his true nature through his disguise.
Was that good luck?
Or terrible luck?
He truly had not expected something like this. All the words he had prepared were now useless.
Even forcibly extracting her memories would not help.
Leaving aside the sealing restrictions placed by the Theocracy, even if the extraction succeeded, her current condition would likely only yield broken fragments.
"Sigh… forget it. I was considering doing this anyway. At least now I don't have to think about it."
Naohara shook his head.
A golden drop of blood appeared in the air. With a flick of his finger, it shot straight toward the drooling Thousand Leagues Astrologer.
Seeing this, Pandora thoughtfully cast a barrier around them to prevent too much disturbance.
"Tsk. What a lucky girl."
Clementine glanced at Thousand Leagues Astrologer, who was now wrapped in golden light, and clicked her tongue.
She had originally wanted to find out what this girl tasted like. Looks like that chance was gone.
As the golden light slowly faded, Pandora walked over to Naohara and playfully presented a photograph.
"Naohara-sama, please."
Naohara took the photo and looked at the image playing inside it. The corner of his mouth twitched.
If he remembered correctly, this was a cash shop item.
It could store captured images inside the photograph and replay them in a loop. In the game [Yggdrasil], it was a must-have item for every scenery enthusiast.
Pandora's Actor… no wonder Momonga did not like seeing him.
His mind was undoubtedly sharp, but his thinking jumped all over the place. Even Naohara sometimes felt secondhand embarrassment.
Still… once in a while, it might not be so bad.
Time passed slowly.
When Thousand Leagues Astrologer woke up again, she immediately heard a familiar voice beside her.
"Miss Thousand Leagues Astrologer, you wouldn't want this photo to be seen by anyone else, would you~"