Today passed rather uneventfully, and yesterday's major incident hadn't affected Loren either.

Such a huge commotion naturally caused a stir, but the Church promptly stepped in to explain, saying that last night's events were due to a conflict erupting between Greed Worshippers and the Church.

They didn't mention that group using Night Magic, nor did they say the Church had actually been utterly outmatched. In short, they managed to placate the people.

The people of Gedlan were still quite trusting of official reports, at least not to the extent of treating them like utter nonsense as the people of Uridia did.

During this time, the Bishop also came to report to Loren on his work progress. His actions were very discreet, known only to a few trusted confidants. By now, the blocking ritual had been set up by them, enveloping the entire Gedlan Kingdom.

With this, Loren was basically free of worries. Under multiple layers of insurance, he could guarantee the Greed Worshippers couldn't affect him.

Having only been at Loren's house for less than a day, Caroline had already grown accustomed to life here. It was far better than her previous wandering life. At most, it was just that the current urgent situation prevented her from going out.

But Caroline was inherently quite lazy. She even felt being kept like this was quite nice. Even if Loren directly locked her in a cage, she wouldn't have much to say about it.

It was just that Loren specifically restricted contact between Mirrorheart and Caroline. Having one pervert in the house with Mirrorheart was enough. Since Caroline already showed signs of turning into a pervert, Loren couldn't possibly let her continue developing in that direction.

As for the sudden addition of another person in the household, everyone had already gotten used to it. Only Naclis routinely expressed a bit of jealousy, but she didn't show any opposition.

She knew that whoever Loren picked up was most likely a witch. On one hand, Naclis didn't want anyone else sharing Loren's affection. On the other hand, she hoped her fellow witches could live better lives. In this world, if a witch wanted to live a normal life, the only method was to seek refuge with Loren.

In all the world, the only one willing to accept them was Loren alone.

After dinner, Loren once again put on that black robe from before.

"Children, I'm going out for a bit. I'll be right back."

He planned to continue probing Koranda. If she really possessed the Justice card, then Loren would have to think about how to get his hands on it.

Killing her outright wasn't very appropriate either, since from the current perspective, she was actually getting things done.

However, Loren also had a reason to kill her: because she had tried to kill witches.

"Might as well let her live a couple more days. Let her finish the work before she dies..."

Pondering these matters, Loren had already arrived at Koranda's doorstep. She hadn't gone out today, since all her subordinates were dead, and investigating alone didn't hold much meaning.

Her residence was arranged by the Church, very discreet, as Koranda's arrival was bound to offend many people, especially the Greed Worshippers she was supposed to investigate.

However, Loren had Movila helping him gather intelligence, so these weren't secrets to him at all.

Koranda herself held many secrets, so after her confidants died, she hadn't requested personnel from the Church either. Now, only she was in her house, which was also very convenient for Loren to make his move.

This time, Loren was just wearing an ordinary black robe, but he had cast Veil of Night on himself. Loren's own Veil of Night was an improved version of this spell. The original Veil of Night only had the effect of concealing one's presence; it couldn't block light.

But Loren's Veil of Night could not only block ultraviolet light, it could even resist light magic.

Loren's reason for doing this was to thoroughly shift the blame onto the Night Worshippers.

After making preparations, Loren used Void-walking to phase through the wall into Koranda's house, quickly locking onto Koranda's location.

He had already appeared before Koranda. At this moment, Koranda was sitting in her bedroom healing her injuries. Dense, intricate root-like growths covered her body, and a green glow emanated from her.

Her eyes were closed, and empty medicine bottles were scattered all around her.

Indeed, that one Night-Rending Comet had truly dealt her no light damage. If she hadn't been diligently healing, even the Justice card probably wouldn't have been able to save her life.

By now, Loren was basically certain the Justice card was in Koranda's hands, but that didn't affect his next step of probing.

"Throat-Severing Slash!"

For this slash, Loren used his full power, applying every available enhancement. A faint glimmer of electricity flashed as the blade fell upon Koranda's neck even before Loren's voice reached her.

At that moment, Koranda also seemed to realize something, her eyes suddenly snapping open. Unfortunately, it was already too late. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Loren hadn't brought Requiem with him when he came out, but this blade was definitely a fine weapon. Loren had already enchanted it to the brim.

Taking this hit, Koranda was sent flying backward. The thick brick wall shattered like paper as Koranda crashed through it.

Loren looked at the blade in his hand. The sensation just now was strange. It didn't feel like cutting into a person, nor like hitting something hard. This odd sensation made Loren increasingly certain the Justice card was in Koranda's possession.

The hole created by Koranda's impact was obscured by dust. The next moment, Koranda charged out from within, the wind pressure she raised scattering the dust.

Her speed was fast, but Loren's dynamic vision still clearly saw her appearance. At this moment, Koranda looked wretched. The wound had caused her face to begin festering, and a bloody line now marred her neck, from which blood continuously seeped.

Loren was confident that his slash just now could have severed an alloy column as thick as a pillar. Yet, even with the advantage of a sneak attack, Loren hadn't been able to instantly kill Koranda with one strike.

The probe had succeeded. Loren had no intention of continuing to engage Koranda. If he truly wanted to kill her, he would have brought Requiem. After all, the dead are best at keeping secrets, and it didn't matter if Loren's secrets were exposed to someone about to die.

"Goodbye."

As soon as Loren's words fell, Koranda felt her five senses being sealed off. This was also an effect of Night Magic.

By the time she recovered, Loren had already vanished without a trace.

...

"Remember to keep an eye on Koranda at all times."

After Loren left, the Crow landed on his shoulder, and Loren took the opportunity to give an instruction.

Now that it was confirmed the Justice card was in Koranda's hands, Loren naturally couldn't let her leave this place.

"Understood."

Loren walked slowly back home. He took out his Little Grudge Notebook and wrote Koranda's name on it.

"Koranda is hiding things from me and tried to harm my witches. I've noted this grudge."

After putting away the Little Grudge Notebook, Loren began planning how to deal with Koranda.

Koranda had come from thousands of miles away to the Gedlan Kingdom just to deal with the Greed Worshippers here.

So, it would be perfectly normal for her to sacrifice herself in the process of fighting the Greed Worshippers, right?

When the time came, Loren would personally sing her funeral dirge. That was a tremendous honor, a treatment ordinary people simply didn't receive.