Chapter 36: Don’t Let Anger Rule Your Mind

Cynthia couldn’t pinpoint how the corpses turned undead.
Necromancers were the usual culprits, but the Holy Church’s purge ages ago had nearly eradicated them.
Cooperation with their sworn enemy seemed unlikely.

To prevent No. 27 and No. 29 from rising as undead, Cynthia took precautions.
She plucked a fire element crystal from Ina’s bag, snapped her fingers, and set the mummies ablaze.

Ina’s earlier shopping spree had been halved by Cynthia, but this crystal made the cut.

“You’re lighting a fire in a sewer?!”

Ina’s heart nearly stopped, panic flaring at the thought of a methane explosion.

“What’s wrong with that?”

Cynthia was unbothered, and no blast followed.

“Huh?”

Lorena, catching Ina’s fear, explained, “Miss Ina, this is the purification chamber—an isolated space. Workers rest here. Fire’s safe.”

“Ina, didn’t you notice? No waterways here,” Cynthia added, exasperated, hand on her forehead.
“Sewage gets purified and piped out behind those stones.”

Ina blinked, finally looking around.
The waterway they’d followed was gone.

“Oh… right…”

How’d I miss that?
She cursed her lapse, blaming the assassins’ stress.

And that jerk called me a burden?! You’re the burden!

“Let’s go.”

Ina shot a glare at the burning mummies, tugged Cynthia, and marched toward the waterway’s depths, eager to drop the topic.

But two steps in, she paused, turning to Cynthia with a frown.
“Wait… what’s the Holy Slaughter Canon?”

The question had nagged her too long.
As a Saint of Borus, her ignorance of this Church faction was absurd.

Lorena, too, looked at Cynthia, curious.
She didn’t know Cynthia’s past but sensed her deep knowledge.

Cynthia’s brow furrowed, hesitating.
After a pause, she sighed.

“The Holy Slaughter Canon is a Church organization… trained assassins.”

Ina wasn’t satisfied.
Obviously, I’ve seen them twice.
“That’s it? Why haven’t I heard of them?”

Cynthia gave her an odd look.
“You’re not Church. How would you know?”

I’m literally a Saint!
Ina screamed internally but couldn’t say it.
“Uh, I mean, locked up in Borus so long, I’d know something about the Church, right?”

Locked up?
Lorena’s gaze turned strange.
A Saint’s cushy life, confinement?

She wisely stayed silent, playing along with Ina’s “adventurer” cover.

Cynthia didn’t press, but she clearly didn’t want to dwell on the Canon.
“Normal you wouldn’t know in Borus. They’re directly under the main Church.”

Ina opened her mouth to push, but Cynthia stepped closer, covering her mouth.
“Enough. I get you hate the Church for locking you up, but not now.”

“I’ll explain later, okay?”

“Mmph…”

Ina met Cynthia’s serious eyes, nodding with muffled sounds.

If Cynthia promised details later, Ina could wait.
Plenty of time ahead.

She straightened her rumpled clothes from Cynthia’s protection, rallying.
“Let’s wrap this up and get out!”

Deeper in, they met more Corrupted Spiders and undead—stronger than before.

Ina’s single dark magic bullet no longer sufficed; now, two or three were needed per spider.
Lorena’s sword swings grew labored, especially against the undead.

Among them, she saw familiar faces.

“Hah… these undead… Wei’er… how…”

Lorena’s eyes reddened, lips trembling.
Some wore white clergy robes.
Wei’er, one of them, her shriveled face frozen in pre-death terror.

Lorena had wondered about Wei’er’s absence.
Now she knew.

Anger shook her sword hand.

Cynthia’s hand landed on her shoulder, her voice steadying.
“Calm down. These aren’t like the others.”

She stepped beside Lorena, spear ready, staring coldly ahead.

These were likely the lost A-rank adventurer team.

But Cynthia’s gaze pierced past them, to a blood-red glow watching from the darkness.

Like a predator eyeing prey.