I Reject the villain’s ending.

Episode 33.

‘The High Priestess, the Paladin, the Deputy High Priestess, and the senior priests. Everyone present at the meeting is a suspect.’

I wiped the smile from my face for the first time in a long time and quickly shook my head.

It was the only thing Eldrakis had left behind before he died, nothing else, not even a body.

Something so important that no one would dare steal it for any reason.

In a world where death was commonplace, we were used to shrugging off the deaths of those around us, but the weight of death was still the same.

“Hmph. Saint, I’m not real, I’m sorry I lost my robe!”

‘I know.’

‘I don’t know, do I?’

“I know. Mei, that you’re not the culprit.”

‘Me, really?’

‘Yes.’

‘Hehehehe, you’re a saint -!’

Mei was quite worried about being mistaken for the culprit, so she let out a whoop and hugged my waist tightly.

But I remained cold and stoic, grabbing her by the shoulders and gently pulling her away from me.

Mei looked up at me, dazed as if expecting me to soothe her.

‘Saint?’

‘I know you weren’t the culprit, but that doesn’t mean you’re not guilty of not protecting your robes properly.’

‘…Yes. I’m sorry, if I had been watching it properly, no one would have stolen it.’

Mei muttered to herself in a deadpan voice.

“Well, you stay here with the book in case the culprit comes back, and if anyone does, just scream. I’ll come running.”

‘Yes!’

I rushed to the doorway, eyes wide and ears perked up as Mei stood alert.

To enter the archives, you must be inspected by the gatekeeper and unlock the door with a special key.

And since there is only one entrance, the gatekeepers must have seen me enter.

‘Hey, gatekeepers, who just came in, or who was here today-’

‘Holeret.’

‘Hooray.’

“Holy shit. The gatekeepers fainted when they saw me earlier.”

I don’t know how weak they are if they haven’t woken up yet. I can’t believe they let these men stand as gatekeepers.

I looked at the gatekeepers on the floor, sighed heavily, and brushed a stray strand of hair out of my face.

“The killer could still be inside, so we’ll just have to lock the door and search the place. Let’s hope he’s still in here.”

He stepped back inside, pushing aside the gatekeepers on the floor with his foot and shutting the door firmly behind him.

There was no way this place would open unless someone had a key.

Thud. The heavy door slammed shut, and he took a deep breath, scanning the vault.

‘Whoa. Now let’s try to catch the poisoned rat.’

With a glance around, I grabbed a thick, hard-covered book and began my patrol, carefully scanning the shelves.

I held my breath, kept my footsteps low, and rolled my eyes cautiously.

“Where could he be, rat?

If it’s already left the room, I can’t catch it, but if it’s inside, it’ll be hiding tight.

‘Probably hiding in the cracks of the bookshelves.

Slowly, one step at a time, he crept forward, looking in every nook and cranny of the bookcases.

The library is rarely visited, so except for the center aisle and my usual spot, it’s dusty.

‘Seo, Saint, no one’s been here yet.’

‘Yes.’

There are no footprints in the dust yet, so the killer has only been in the center aisle and this spot with Mei.

He lifted his head and looked up along the worn bookshelves, then came back with a ladder and peered over the top.

‘Saint, why are you there…….’

‘Shhh.’

‘…….’

Mei quieted her and picked at the dust and dirt that had accumulated on the bookshelf.

“It’s dusty.

Someone had been on this bookcase. Footprints and clothing marks were still in the dust.

‘Footprints of a grown man, and he wore long robes, which means he was a priest, not a paladin.

Paladins wear long, form-fitting robes, which would never leave such marks.

Priests, on the other hand, wear long robes that reach down to their calves, so when they sit down, they drag on the floor.

I turn my head and see footprints all along the bookcase, and as I follow them, they lead to the window.

“Mei, go to that window. It’s the fifth bookcase past the window.”

‘Yes!’

Mei scrambled to the window, pulled back the curtains, and peered through.

Without saying a word, she knew what I had seen on the bookshelf and what she needed to do.

After scrutinizing the window for a while, Mei looked up and said.

‘The window is unlocked. Perhaps whoever took the robes climbed over the bookcase and exited through this window.’

‘I see. If he went out that window, he’d probably fall to his death, since we’re on the fifth floor.’

‘Well, it’s a paladin’s private training ground outside, so maybe someone saw him?’

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

But could a paladin jump on top of a bookcase, step on a bookcase, and climb out through a window without being noticed?

‘Most of the priests are small and weak.’

Even more frail are the senior priests, who sit at their desks, work, and pray in the prayer hall.

Moreover, the senior priests are old, and most people say their knees creak when they climb stairs.

“Am I wrong in my premise?

The thought briefly crossed my mind, but I brushed it aside. Nothing is certain yet, but nothing is wrong.

For now, I had to do something.

‘Mei, why don’t we go down there first?’

‘Yes!’

‘Where are we going?’

‘What? You said go downstairs.’

I scrambled over the bookshelf and jumped down to the window in a single bound as Mei stopped dead in her tracks in the doorway.

I scooped her up in my arms and opened the window.

‘It’s taking us forever to get from here to there.’

‘You’re not going to… jump out the window or anything, are you?’

‘I am.’

‘Well, wait, wait, wait, ugh, ugh!’

Still holding Mei in his arms, he opened the window and jumped out.

‘What?’

‘Kyaaaaak! Save the people-!’

As I stared at her in disbelief, Mei threw her arms around my neck and let out a muffled scream.

The bone-crunching scream that pierced my left ear and pierced my right ear drew the attention of the knights in training.

The paladins dropped the towels they had been wiping the sweat from their faces and dropped their swords from their hands, their pupils trembling as their eyes locked with mine.

‘Saint?!’

‘Hmph, the Saint is jumping with a hostage!’

‘Wee, it’s dangerous! We need to rescue the hostage quickly……!’

Her face contorted as she saw the paladins rushing to her aid.

‘It’s not like I’m a bank robber with a hostage.’

‘You’re not dying!’

Before she fully touched the ground, she wrapped her body in holy power and slowed her rapid fall, floating in thin air as she slowly descended to the floor.

He gently shook Mei, whose eyes were tightly closed.

‘Open your eyes.’

‘Are we dead……? You don’t seem in pain, so we’re already in heaven.’

‘We’re not dead.’

“Black and white. You said you would catch the killer, but I didn’t expect you to turn round and jump suddenly.”

Mei’s eyes widened and her lips pouted as she looked at me accusingly.

I thought of Iros lying in his hospital bed, and the outlandishness of it all felt familiar.

Tears stinging her eyes, Mei snorted and asked.

‘Are we going to see Eldrakis now? I haven’t even found the money in my savings account yet, and I need to pay the water bill.’

‘So you’re not dead yet. Do you want me to kill you?’

‘Are you sure you’re not dead?’

“Yes. So let’s get out and find the killer. We’re running out of time.”

He lowered Mei gently to the ground and held a hand to the paladins swarming this way.

‘Did you see someone jump out of the library during training?’

‘A Saint!’

‘Saint!’

‘……?’

What is he doing running up to me with his shirt off?

I winced and took a quick step backward with my raised hand. He must be right, too, because there are so many good-looking men running towards me with their muscles flexing like that…….

“You look good, but you smell like sweat……!

‘Ugh.’

I frowned. Airos didn’t smell like sweat, always a cool, soft scent, but this was almost like a fire drill.

The paladins, who had thrown down their swords, rushed over and grabbed Mei by the wrist as she stood beside me and pulled her to her feet.

‘What?’

‘Get behind me!’

“Me? No, why?”

A panicked Mei was dragged along and protected behind the paladins’ backs.

Perhaps he thinks that Mei is the one being protected and I am the one in danger.

Swallowing nervously, the paladins supposed to protect me eyed me warily.

Then, as if they were dealing with a wild animal, they moved slowly away from me, some distance away, palms facing down as if to calm me down.

‘Stand, holy woman,’ he said, ‘we must not self-destruct together. The world is still livable, you must not take hostages, and you must not endanger others.”

‘Huh?’

He sounds like Iros, like Iros, like Iros.

‘What are you, offended.’

‘……!’

‘The only thing that can nag me is my pinkie.’

There is only one person who is allowed to nag me and be cheeky, and that is Iros Elijah.

‘All other humans are not worthy of my sympathy.’

The unbridled, twisted humanity that Iros had always kept in check snarled and lifted its head.

He’s already on edge with guilt over the theft of Eldrakis’s robes and sending him to waste away before his eyes, and now this bastard is getting on his nerves.

Just as her evil nature was about to rear its ugly head more, Mei shouted.

‘Come on, Saintess, let’s find the culprit first!’

‘Ah. Right.’

The fierce, flesh-spattering eyes relaxed a little, and the frozen paladins and Mei let out the breath they had been holding.

“Whew, that was scary.

“I’m sorry. I was nervous.”

How long had it been since I’d vowed to be a good person, I almost caught another one. I averted my gaze in embarrassment.

‘In all your training, have you ever seen anyone jump out of a library window or anything suspicious?’

‘You mean… other than the saint?’

“Yes. Not me. Didn’t you see anyone jump before I did, or anything like that?”

‘No, I didn’t see anything. I was in training, so even if I had attention, I would have noticed anything, but I didn’t see anyone suspicious.’

‘We didn’t see it either.’

The paladins nodded in agreement.

Then where the hell did he go? He must have jumped from the fifth floor, and no one noticed and saw him.

‘He must be a ghost or something.’

‘Uh, a ghost?’