Declining the carriage and bidding farewell to the two, Syl walked alone toward the Church of the Goddess of Hope in the White Rose District.
Rather than returning to the Church quickly by carriage, Syl wanted to take a walk to adjust her mood, lest something go wrong when she took the Holy Medicine later.
When she handed the envelope to May, Syl had said she was borrowing the Joker's blade to kill, but in truth, she wanted to use the newspaper's power to build even more momentum for the Joker.
Once the matter was reported and the people of Ibiza were riled up with indignation, the Joker would appear, ending it all with the brutal execution of Frank.
This was a plot as satisfying and cathartic as it could get. Through the buildup of these several events, the Joker had surely accumulated enough prestige in the Ivisa District.
The next step was to wait for May to publish the story, and then Syl would use Frank's blood to ignite Ibiza's adoration for the Joker.
Syl was already starting to look forward to what was about to happen.
But before that, Syl had one more thing to do: consume the second bottle of Holy Medicine for the [lamb].
As the sky gradually took on a pale yellow hue, Syl returned to the gates of the Church.
Taking off her glasses, Syl walked through the guards who greeted her and entered the Church.
As it was still working hours, the Church was busy yet orderly; everyone stopped their work to greet Syl upon seeing her.
Syl responded to each one with a smile. Perhaps because news of Syl's return had spread, Annie soon came running down from upstairs in a hurry and found her.
"Your Highness Saintess, you're back," Annie said, looking a bit out of breath as she asked Syl, "Have you had dinner yet, Your Highness?"
Since Syl had returned right around dinner time, if she hadn't eaten, Annie would have to quickly tell the kitchen staff to speed up the food preparation.
"Not yet, let's eat together later," Syl said with a smile, then asked curiously, "Have you seen Archbishop Aishala?"
"Archbishop Aishala?" Annie tilted her head and thought for a moment before saying, "I think I saw her enter your room this morning, and she hasn't seemed to come out since."
"Oh?" Syl figured that Aishala was likely waiting for her.
After all, Aishala had mentioned her promotion yesterday and the day before, so she was probably waiting to give her the Holy Medicine.
Syl just hadn't expected Aishala to wait for so long. Didn't the Archbishop have anything else to do?
After watching Annie run toward the dining hall, Syl began to head upstairs toward her room.
Syl had originally planned to knock, but then she realized there was no reason to knock on her own door, so she pushed it open and walked in.
As soon as she entered, Syl saw Aishala sitting by the round table, seemingly resting with her eyes closed.
"Archbishop Aishala?" Syl closed the door and walked toward her. "I'm back."
Hearing Syl's call, Aishala opened her eyes slightly, squinting as she looked at Syl and asked, "Why back so early today?"
Syl sat down across from Aishala and explained:
"I made a friend today. She said my Holy Medicine has been fully digested, so I thought I'd come back early to take the next one."
"Friend?" Hearing this, Aishala seemed to take a slight interest.
"Yes, she seems to be the Saintess of Justice," Syl thought for a moment and added, "And the nun who follows her, May."
"Oh, Justice." Aishala nodded, seemingly losing interest in prying further instantly, only offering a warning: "Less contact. Bad child."
The gloom in Syl's heart had mostly dissipated during her walk, and now she felt like talking, especially after hearing Aishala's evaluation of Jane.
"Do you know Jane, Archbishop?" Syl asked curiously. "You sound like you know her very well."
Aishala froze for a moment at Syl's question, a hint of confusion flickering in her eyes—this was the first time Syl had seen such an expression from Aishala.
"Not Jane," Aishala shook her head after a long silence. "The previous... Saintess."
"The previous Saintess of Justice?" Syl nodded with an 'I see' expression.
Even though she looked like a little girl, Aishala was already hundreds of years old.
Maybe she had a bit of senile dementia.
She had forgotten that the Saintess of Justice had changed generations.
As Syl was thinking this, the gaze Aishala fixed on her suddenly became resentful.
"You are... thinking... bad... things," Aishala said, frowning slightly as she looked at Syl. "About... me."
"Ahem..." Syl feigned a cough, raising her hand to cover her mouth. "An illusion, it must be an illusion... From the bottom of my heart, I think Archbishop Aishala is the cutest and most respectable Archbishop in the world."
It seemed Syl's praise had some effect. Aishala withdrew her gaze and with a light wave of her hand, a flash of white light appeared, and a bottle of Holy Medicine—identical in design to the previous one—appeared in her hand.
"You can... drink it." Aishala stood up, walked to Syl's side, and solemnly handed the Holy Medicine to her.
Syl reached out with both hands and took the Holy Medicine from Aishala. She locked eyes with Aishala for a second, and after seeing Aishala nod, Syl uncorked the wooden stopper.
This time, drinking the Holy Medicine wasn't as nerve-wracking as the last. Having had the experience once, Syl took a deep breath and tilted her head back to drain the bottle.
A warm current flowed down Syl's throat into her stomach, then spread from her stomach to her limbs.
It had to be said, drinking Holy Medicine was much more comfortable than drinking magic potions.
Even the feeling of swallowing a sun from the first time was gone; only a tingling warmth remained in her body.
This time, even the whispers were much fainter, with only some light voices echoing in Syl's mind—still the same old clichés telling her to disregard everything.
Seeing Syl's calm expression, Aishala asked, "Feeling?"
"Uh... it feels pretty good, quite comfortable," Syl replied after sensing her current physical condition. "I feel like my spiritual power has increased a bit more."
"New... technique? Have?" Aishala seemed to place great importance on this.
"A new technique? Let me see."
As Syl spoke, she closed her eyes. While she appeared to be sensing it, she was actually calling out in her mind:
"System, check skills."
"Skills: [Divine Art: Basic Elemental Control], [Hand of Redemption], [Divine Art: Self-Sacrifice], [Hand of Suffering]"
"[Hand of Suffering]: Detonates the target's internal negative emotions, dealing a slight amount of damage."
Syl extended her hand slightly, and a faint black light emerged in her palm. She looked up at Aishala.
"Why do I feel... like this ability isn't very 'goddess of hope'?" Syl looked at Aishala and then at the black light in her hand, feeling a bit lost.
"...It is fine." Aishala simply raised her hand to dispel the energy in Syl's palm and added flatly, "Do not... release... before others."
Just then, a knock at the door interrupted the question Syl was about to ask.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
"Come in," Syl called out softly toward the door.
"Your Highness Saintess, Archbishop Aishala," Annie said, carrying a tray with two pieces of cake, two cups of black tea, and several newspapers.
"Have some snacks first, dinner will arrive shortly... Your Highness Saintess, these are today's newspapers."
"Thank you, Annie. I'll read them in a bit."
Syl smiled and set the newspapers aside, focusing instead on the cake in front of her.
There was no need for Syl to read the newspapers anymore; the envelope in the headline photo explained everything.
Without even knowing it, May had helped Syl spread the seeds of hatred.
Tomorrow would be the day of Frank's death.