After securing the letters in my inventory, I went to the room where Emilia and the others were guided into.
They were taken into a luxurious waiting room with four couches surrounding a table filled with food to the brims. Four female knights stood at attention in the corner of the room, clearly making Eliza, who sat beside Emilia, uncomfortable.
Sandra and Jane stood behind them like servants. Jane was a maid, but why did Sandra stand behind Emilia? Was it because of my order to keep her eyes on the surroundings?
Anyway, when I entered the room, all eyes landed on me, including the female knights that stood at attention.
"Arthur!"
Eliza called me with a delightful smile and a voice filled with happiness.
Emilia also smiled at me, pulling her skirt down. Her panties were shown due to how short her skirt was. It was pulled back due to her sitting, so it didn't really help her whether she pulled it down or not. I could still see her panties.
"How are you girls doing?" I asked, approaching them and sitting on the couch near them.
"We're good," Eliza nodded, looking at me. "But what did you do earlier? Did you greet the one responsible for the church?"
"I did." I nodded at her. "And we will stay in this church for tonight." I continued.
"Is that so?" The brown-haired girl asked. "I guess it's safer than in the hotel as we are in… an unpleasant area."
"I agree," Emilia added, agreeing with Eliza's words. Her face blushed red as she noticed where my gaze landed earlier. "So I guess we are resting for the day?"
"You can say so."
In fact, it would be good if they were resting for tonight. Tomorrow's cleanup would be rather troublesome, and I didn't want anyone to bother me tonight.
The time written in the letter was still a few hours, nearing midnight. So I spoke to Emilia and Eliza in the room, joking around while talking about a random topic. The knights protecting the room left after I ordered them to.
I didn't want anyone to bother us, after all. While these knights lived and were situated in this church, they still followed my order, as it seemed like they looked up to me too.
After talking for a few minutes, talking about various things, Eliza suddenly blushed and asked.
"A-And, Arthur. I-Is it true that… y-you have done it with teacher Emilia?"
Even though the person herself was beside her, Eliza still asked that question straight to me. Her maid, Jane, giggled from behind while looking at her Young Miss acting like an innocent maiden, which was rather strange.
I meant, why did she chuckle? She must've heard about their conversation within the carriage. And Sandra, why did she just nod a few times and perk your ear? Were you also interested in something like that? If so, just say it.
There was also nothing to hide, so I replied positively to Eliza.
"I did. I was also a man, you know? I believe I told you about this at that time."
"You did, but… What teacher Emilia told me was something… ugghh." She couldn't finish her sentence and covered her reddened face with her hands.
I looked at Emilia, and she smiled pervertedly, showing me her panties as she swiped her skirt away. Ah, she gave up hiding it.
"I told her about what we did after hunting."
So that was why Eliza blushed so red to her neck and fidgeted nervously. What we did after hunting was… not vanilla at all, as I had a threesome with Garcia and used a tail plug to train their anal.
Why did Emilia tell Eliza about that? My eyes narrowed as I looked at the perverted teacher.
"Student Eliza was curious about what we did after we parted ways."
That was her answer.
We changed the subject from that to another. I asked how Eliza's progress was with her magic training. It was just a day, but there should be any comments from Emilia.
And as expected, the description from 'Requirement Appraisal' didn't lie to me. Emilia praised Eliza's magic talent, and my tsundere childhood friend blushed further as she tried to deny it.
"N-No, I am not that good!"
After that, we laughed and talked about more subjects, purposely avoiding Duke Bluerose and the engagement letters. I didn't want Eliza to be worried before I dealt with them tonight. At least after I finished, I could expect a little reward from her.
The sky had already turned dark, and a few hours passed as the food on the table was devoured. Sandra was the main reason why our food disappeared. The Dark Elf joined to sit with the maid on the couch across from me after I asked them to.
And when the food was fully gone, the door creaked open, and a church knight entered. Although his body and face were fully covered in metal armor, I recognized that person.
"Your Holiness, may I have your time?" His voice filled with a distraught tone, as if something had gone wrong.
"Sure."
Meanwhile, I replied in an easy-going tone so as not to worry the girls. I turned to them and smiled.
"It seems that I have a duty to uphold. Get comfortable in the church, girls."
"Good luck, Arthur. Have fun with your work." Emilia smiled and waved her hand, probably noticing the emergency in the knight's voice.
Eliza only nodded innocently. She hasn't had enough experience to find something wrong in this situation. It was better if she kept that way for a while, learning slowly so she wouldn't burden her mind.
Sandra stood up, "I shall accompany you, Master."
"No, Sandra." I stopped her by raising my hand. "You stay here. I just need to do some Paladin work, so enjoy the food here. You can ask the nuns or knights if you want some additional food."
As I said that, Sandra nodded slightly and sat back.
"Very well."
After that, I followed Gerald exiting the room. The door behind us closed with a bang, and we walked down the long corridor.
"My apologies. I made the situation with your companion… complicated." The knight apologized with a low tone.
"It's not a problem. You have something urgent to report, no?" I said, walking beside him. Our voices were hushed as we didn't want the nuns who walked past us with bright smiles and flushed faces to hear us.
"Yes." The knight nodded slightly. His metal armor clanked, and his greaves made loud footsteps. However, his voice, which was filled with worries and danger, was clear.
"After handing Arch– former Archbishop to the one responsible for keeping our prisoner, I returned to my post. And just a few minutes ago, two civilians appeared in front of the church with a magic lamp in their hand, reporting that 5 girls had gone missing."
5 girls had gone missing even though Archbishop Jasper was in prison. That meant the Archbishop wasn't the one behind the kidnapping, but I already knew about that from the letters. His duty might only be keeping the news about what happened inside the Duchy and no more than that.
But… It also meant the enemy didn't know that the church had already dealt with Jasper. It was the perfect chance to attack them.
I raised my eyebrows, prompting him to continue.
"This time, the information is complete as there is a witness." Gerald continued as his pace became faster.
"They said flying stone goblins took them and brought them to the direction of the center of the city. And the girls they take all have similarities. They are all more than 18 years old and younger than 23. Most importantly, we found out that all girls missing from the Duchy are all still virgins."
Virgins, huh? So my hypothesis was on point after all.
Also, the flying stone goblin that Gerald mentioned.
"Maybe they were referring to a summoned Gargoyle," I said while facing forward.
We were exiting the church's inner section, going toward a group of people on the corner. Some priests were trying to console two men who sat on the ground; their bodies were filled with sweat.
"Please! Please save our daughters!"
"Save her! I beg you, priest! Please send a church knight to save them! W-We have no trust toward the Duke anymore!"
They begged the priests to help them to get their daughters back. These men were afraid that their daughters would be defiled, used, and killed.
Their fear wasn't unfounded. Getting their daughters kidnapped by flying monsters that looked like a goblin, who were famous for raping girls to procreate, would lead them to think about those things.
I, who looked at them, grinned.
'It's my chance.'
With them here, they would certainly think those monsters were bad and whoever was behind them was the worse guy. Even if I destroyed Duke Bluerose tonight, I wouldn't be blamed and would be seen as a hero who saved their daughters.
So I approached them, kneeling in front of these men. They looked confused, looking at me.
"Don't worry," I said with determination, putting on a serious face. "I'll save your daughter. I swear on my title as the Paladin."
When they heard my title and what I said to them, their faces lit up with hope.
"Thank you! Thank you, Paladin!"
And they thanked me many times while holding onto my shoulders. I only smiled at them while hiding my thoughts.
'Their daughters might have already turned into a Succubus due to Beatrice's influence, though.'
Similar to turning someone into a Devilkin, primordial Succubus had another innate ability. And that was to turn girls who had fallen into their lust into Succubus.
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