Chapter 20: Run away but not leave.

The thought of leaving popped into Suna’s mind, and she began weighing the pros and cons based on the information at hand, ultimately making her choice.

[If I stay in this town for too long, not only will I be hunted by those demon hunters and the Ancient God Cult, but this town will get dragged into it too.]

Thinking this, Suna let out a sigh and muttered under her breath.

“Well, I really wanted to stay here a bit longer, but there’s no helping it. I have to leave.”

Having made her decision, Suna began preparing for her departure.

First, she took out a piece of letter paper and wrote a short note to Priest Enrique.

Then, she entrusted the letter to her familiar, a radiant pigeon crafted by Corona Magic, and sent it to Enrique’s room.

Next, using the communication magic common in the Golden Branch Temple, she contacted the demon hunter outpost in the town of Sekend.

In earnest words, she reported that she had discovered and subdued a Nightmare Raider, clearly stating the sighting location and urging them to come quickly.

As for the remains of the Nightmare Raider, Suna thoughtfully prepared a sealing spell for the demon hunters to preserve it temporarily.

Beyond that, she used her remaining magic stone reserves to store her blessing within them, burying the stones near the Nightmare Raider’s remains with specific trigger conditions set.

After finishing these tasks, Suna clapped her hands and bolted toward the southern part of the empire, terrified that her arrangements might end up affecting her too.

Hours later, the demon hunter outpost in Sekend dispatched a five-person demon hunter squad.

But when they arrived at Suna’s location and began their investigation, they stared dumbfounded at the Nightmare Raider’s remains on the ground, “contained” by death.

Equally stunned, and even somewhat bewildered, were the swarms of Decay Omen Cult members who had sensed the Nightmare Raider’s life signal vanish and came to investigate the cause of death and recover the remains.

The two opposing groups froze for a moment before immediately clashing in battle.

The demon hunters were already outnumbered by the Decay Omen Cult members, and as they were forced to fight while retreating, Suna’s trap detonated.

The demon hunters then witnessed most of the Decay Omen Cult members gathered near the Nightmare Raider’s remains melt instantly in a dazzling rain of golden light.

With the enemy inexplicably suffering heavy losses, the demon hunter squad began to turn the tide.

But as these five demon hunters earned great merit by wiping out dozens of Decay Omen Cult members, the cult’s northeastern empire branch, having suffered significant losses, locked horns with the Demon Hunter Guild.

On May 1st, Suna, who had fled to Blackmont City, one of the central cities in the eastern empire, was reading a headline: [The War Against Ancient God Forces in the Northeastern Empire Intensifies!]

Feeling an ominous premonition, she broke out in a cold sweat.

She had thought her actions would only spark a minor conflict to cover her escape, never imagining she’d triggered a small-scale war.

Of course, she was unaware that her trap had obliterated several promising young elites within the Decay Omen Cult’s northeastern branch, leaving not even ashes behind.

Setting down the newspaper, Suna gave a wry smile.

“Now I can only pray that both sides, caught up in their frenzy, don’t dig too deeply into the source of this conflict.”

Muttering this, Suna sipped her black tea while sitting on the second-floor terrace of a Western restaurant, gazing at the bustling crowd on the street below.

“Frosti, why’d you suddenly run into this place?”

“I saw her! Suna’s figure! She’s right there!”

Hearing the noisy yet familiar voices from downstairs, Suna, mid-sip, spat out her tea.

[What the hell? How are they here? I deliberately suppressed my senses to stay low-key and avoid trouble in a big city. Did that backfire?]

These thoughts flashed through her mind, and Suna immediately began devising a plan.

By the time Frosti, dressed in a white gown adorned with azure lace, rushed up to the second-floor terrace, Suna was nowhere to be seen.

The seat Suna had occupied was empty, with only a finished cup of black tea and a folded newspaper left on the table.

“How can she be gone? I saw her! She was right here…”

Biting her lip, Frosti unwillingly scanned the surroundings, searching for the familiar saintly figure from her memory.

But her gaze found no woman in priestly robes.

“Frosti, you must’ve been mistaken. Probably just someone who looked similar.”

Ace, arriving shortly after in a dark gray casual outfit, spoke softly to console Frosti while reaching for her arm.

But Frosti shook off his hand in frustration.

“Stop it, Ace! I know I saw her! She was right here.”

Pointing at Suna’s former seat, Frosti shouted at Ace with a hint of a sob.

Still unwilling to give up, she ran downstairs and asked the waiter behind the restaurant counter where the priest who had been sitting on the second-floor terrace had gone.

Faced with her somewhat accusatory tone, the waiter awkwardly replied that the person had already paid and left.

When Frosti described Suna’s appearance and pressed further to confirm if it was the same person, the waiter’s description of the second-floor guest deviated significantly.

It was as if a hazy veil shrouded the “true” details of Suna’s appearance in the waiter’s memory, causing a distortion.

Hearing the waiter’s response, Frosti’s eyes widened in disbelief, and her head drooped in pain, as if hope had slipped away.

Ace, apologizing to the waiter, pulled Frosti out of the Western restaurant.

“Frosti, it’s okay, it’s okay. You’re just too upset, so you saw an illusion…”

“…”

Amid Ace’s consoling words, Frosti followed him with her head down, silent, but her fists clenched tightly.

In a nearby alley, Suna, quietly watching their departing figures, let out a sigh of relief.

‘Thank goodness [Veil of Truth] can distort perception of actions too, or jumping off the terrace would’ve been too conspicuous. But even with this blessing always active, how did she recognize me so accurately? And if they’re here, is Skull here too?’